Antonio - I'd rather win and not score
WHUFC.com
Michail Antonio said any personal satisfaction from scoring his third and
fourth goals of the season was wiped out by Watford notching four in reply
on Saturday.
Antonio, whose outstanding from at the start of the 2016/17 season earned
him an England call-up two weeks ago, was the man on the spot again to nod
home twice inside the opening 33 minutes.
But Watford came roaring back to inflict a league defeat on the Hammers for
the first time at their new home – and that left the No30 frustrated.
He said: "I'd rather not score and win the game than score two goals and
lose it. We came out raring to go and started well, but after we got two-up
I think we took our foot off it, and now it's pure frustration.
"We had other opportunities to kill the game, but we didn't manage to do
that and defensively we made a couple of mistakes.
"All we can do is say sorry to the fans for that and move on to the next
game."
No player has scored more Premier League goals with his head over the last
two seasons than Antonio and he just wants the service to keep on coming.
He continued: "I'm hoping to score with my feet now! The service keeps
coming and if it goes there I'm going to score goals. It came today and
hopefully I can keep scoring, but it is more important for us to win games.
"In the first half an hour we showed the threat we have, but we've got to do
that for 90 minutes.
"We can't afford to make the mistakes we did, because in the Premier League
you will get punished.
"We've got to keep going and keep working hard in training."
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Ladies beaten despite impressive display
WHUFC.com
Coventry United 1-0 West Ham United
West Ham United Ladies were beaten 1-0 at Coventry on Saturday though they
were unfortunate to come away with nothing to show for their efforts after
an impressive display.
Manager James Marrs put out a defensive line-up as he looked to recover
quickly from last week's cup defeat to Tottenham Hotspur as Olivia Sammon,
Kat Clifton, Sasha Kelly and Steph Bent came into the starting XI.
And the Hammers frustrated the hosts throughout the first half with Clifton,
Kelly and captain Karen Ray pressing the ball in midfield and the defence
standing firm.
Coventry were restricted to long range efforts for the most part and
goalkeeper Deger Zekhi – in fine form – was equal to all the hosts'
attempts.
West Ham had their own chances throughout the first half with Molly Peters
playing the lone striker role and pestering the Coventry defence with her
pace.
The Hammers faithful, who had made the trip up north to support the girls,
met the half time whistle with cheers and applause with the scoreline
goalless.
The second period continued in the same vein with the Hammers sitting deep,
though the breakthrough came quarter of an hour into the 45.
The Sky Blues' right midfielder broke through the visitors' defence and,
finding the striker, Coventry made no mistake inside the six yard box and
made it 1-0.
The lead brought confidence and the hosts continued to press, but Hannah
Wheeler and Chantelle Mackie stood firm in the centre at the back and dealt
with everything thrown at them.
A rare second half break on 75 minutes gave the Hammers a chance, as Peters
skinned the back line to dance down the left only to be tripped. Chloe
Burr's resulting free-kick was agonisingly just inches away from Whitney
Locke's head.
With five minutes remaining, Marrs introduced Shellie Sumpter and, deployed
on the right wing, she made a difference. The alteration in formation led to
a chance for Burr to strike, and she was just millimeters from grabbing a
late equaliser.
The clash finished with Coventry taking the spoils but all of the West Ham
players could be proud of their performance ahead of their C&K Basildon
match on Wednesday night.
West Ham Ladies: Deger Zekhi, Steph Bent,Olivia Sammon, Karen
Ray, Chantelle Mackie, Hannah Wheeler, Whitney Locke, Kat Clifton, Molly
Peters, Sashe Kelly, Chloe Burr.
Substitutes: Imogen Bennett, Shellie Sumpter, Sarah Wilson.
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Hammers pledge £5k for sick supporter
WHUFC.com
West Ham United are donating £5,000 to help a young supporter get the
emergency treatment that could save his life.
Jack Howard, who is battling kidney cancer for the second time in four
years, has been given just weeks to live, but his family are hoping to raise
£250,000 in a bid to fly him to the United States for pioneering treatment.
Jack's father Nick said, "The NHS has done absolutely everything they can
for Jack but the cancer is not responding to conventional treatments. Now
they are out of options."
The Hammers' Board heard about Jack's plight and wanted to help raise
awareness and funds to help the young Hammer get the treatment that could
save his life.
The family have been advised it could be in the region of £250,000, subject
to an initial examination, and a £75,000 deposit is also required.
West Ham United's donation will take the current total above £35,000, and
Club officials are hoping the pledge may help encourage further donations to
Jack's fund.
Jack's aunt Keely Howard, who set up the crowdfunding page said, "We want to
be ready to go straight away, there is no time to lose, every day, every
week counts against us."
To donate to the fund to help Jack Howard receive the pioneering treatment
in the United States,click here. To help raise awareness of Jack's cause,
please use the hashtag #HelpJack on Twitter.
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West Ham: Crowd trouble at Watford match prompts FA investigation
BBC.co.uk
The Football Association will assess reports of crowd trouble at West Ham's
match with Watford on Saturday before deciding if further action is
required.
The FA is also expected to contact the Hammers about the events in the
stands at their new London Stadium home.
West Ham promised a "zero tolerance" approach to any fans found guilty and
said they would be banned for life.
"We will request courts serve banning orders to prevent these individuals
attending any football," the club said.
West Ham's first season at the London Stadium in Stratford, formerly the
Olympic Stadium, has been marred by unsavoury incidents involving their fans
at the last three matches, with criticisms being made over stewarding and
segregation arrangements.
At the first league match at the venue - against Bournemouth last month -
some fans arrived with tickets for seats that did not exist, while fighting
broke out between rival supporters outside the stadium.
Some of the disturbances are believed to be over persistent standing during
matches, with some fans ejected at the Watford match, which West Ham lost
4-2.
Before the game, West Ham co-chairman David Gold tweeted that the club was
"trying to achieve harmony" between fans who want to sit and those who
wanted "to stand and increase [the stadium's capacity] to 66,000".
On Sunday he wrote: "I want to assure everyone that the club is working flat
out to solve the sitting/standing issue."
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The Stadium of Fright
KUMb.com
Filed: Sunday, 11th September 2016
By: Terry Land
Last November, a couple of days before my appointment at Westfield to
arrange seats and purchase tickets for a group of six of to the "new"
stadium, I received a phone call from our advisor with the idea of prepping
us before our appointment.
I was informed if I wanted a seat similar to my Band D position on the back
row of the Bobby Moore Lower I would be forced to upgrade to Band C for the
Olympic Stadium. Although not disgruntled I was, as the saying goes,
somewhat less than gruntled and asked where we could sit "for atmosphere"
and was told the East Stand. "But", I replied, "They're the most expensive
seats, they won't be making any noise". First silence, then a raucous
clanging sound came down the line.
Fast forward 10 months and I'm in the London Stadium and watching to my left
as a man is ejected from the ground having refused to sit down. He had been
asked by spectators behind him, informed by club letter, asked by stewards,
then warned by the same that if he didn't remain seated he would be thrown
out. Yet he insisted on continuing his most fruitless and stupid of protests
as he was finally bundled out fists flying. Throughout this scene the entire
Bobby Moore Lower Stand were on their feet.
Numerous reports on social media spoke of similar events around the ground,
poor and inexperienced stewarding and a lack of segregation from away fans.
Many drew the conclusion the London Stadium is not a place they would care
to take their children again. If these are as the club insists, merely
"teething troubles" then they need to be sorted – and bloody quick.
High-handed letters to fans informing them they must sit for licensing
purposes in order for the club to squeeze in yet more stroppy customers are
some way short of what's required.
For their part the first thing the club need to do is listen to their paying
public. Many of these issues were highlighted following the Bournemouth game
yet the only visible response was, as mentioned, a letter to fans. Following
yesterday's game the club continued a confrontational approach by reminding
us, as if we didn't already know, we'll be banned for life for fighting.
More forward thinking might include groups set up with fans, within the club
and a more conciliatory tone applied. The owners may believe the new ground
is the best thing to happen to the club but the reality is many fans don't –
and an understanding of that feeling wouldn't appear to have permeated the
boardroom.
The club also need to get on to the stadium owners immediately and sort the
stewarding. Most of the stewards appear poorly trained, many incapable of
making basic decisions and some reportedly antagonistic to fans, furthering
an already poor situation. Lines of command need to be established and
practices reinforced. The decision not to have police present also looks to
be of dubious provenance; we've been very fortunate so far our visitors have
been Watford and Bournemouth not, say, Tottenham and Manchester United.
Most of all the club never seemed to appreciate the London Stadium being, as
its name implies, a stadium not a football ground. It contains football
supporters with all their differing realities and not a Taylor Swift
concert. The Boleyn Ground consisted of informal but nonetheless fairly
strict delineations that harked back to the days of mixed standing and
seating. For instance, those who sat in the old East Upper wouldn't want to
relocate to Chav Corner, likewise a representative Bobby Moore Lower
attendee would not enjoy life in the Family Enclosure. Regrettably, away
from the lower stands behind each goal these differentiations were not made
apparent by the club during the ticketing process, a lamentable failure that
has led to so much of the current bad feeling.
In a smart move the club recruited Directors from Arsenal who had already
experienced a move to oversee our migration under the aegis of Vice-Chairman
Karren Brady. Yet it appears her and her committee didn't understand, or
seemingly want to understand West Ham draw their fanbase from a different
demographic to the Gunners. Despite (or perhaps because of) being married to
a footballer and having spent her entire professional career in the sport
Brady envisaged only the new post-96 Sky fan filling the seats at the new
ground. Such was her confirmation bias she didn't for a second imagine
relatively lower ticket prices would herald a return from the more
traditional, shall we say, unreconstructed supporter. But there they all are
as the Sunday papers bear witness.
It is way too late now for many of the necessary changes to be implemented
to convert the stadium to a football ground. But as a minimum a Family
Enclosure must be reinstated and hang the disruption caused by those who
will need to move – their discomfort would be nothing to those currently
having to protect terrified kids from punch-ups. Further changes could be
made at the end of the season.
By the way, if I didn't explain the noise coming down my phone line at the
beginning of this piece I apologise. It wasn't external, it was in my own
head – and was the sound of alarm bells ringing.
* Read more from Terry at moxycoxy.wordpress.com or follow him on Twitter at
@AMoCS.
Please note that the opinions expressed in this article are those of the
author and do not necessarily represent the views of, nor should be
attributed to, KUMB.com.
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West Ham to seek talks over introducing safe standing areas following fan
trouble
18:49, 11 SEP 2016 UPDATED 18:50, 11 SEP 2016
BY NEIL MCLEMAN
Hammers fans fought among themselves during their 4-2 defeat to Watford,
with the all-seater stadium believed to have played a part in the trouble
TheMirror
West Ham will seek talks about introducing safe standing areas in the
Premier League after trouble among their own fans at the London Stadium.
The club promised a "full review" of security at the former Olympic Stadium
after the "segregation line" between Watford and West Ham fans was breached.
But there was also disturbances between home fans and stewards, employed by
the stadium owners, seeking to ensure supporters remain seated during
matches.
All Premier League and Championship stadiums are required to be all-seating
following the Taylor Report into the Hillsborough tragedy.
The new FA chairman Greg Clarke revealed yesterday he is planning to lobby
the Government to allow the return of new safe standing for top clubs.
Both West Ham co-chairmen David Sullivan and David Gold have previously
spoken in support of the change which is also backed by the Football
Supporter's Association.
And after the Watford game, Gold tweeted: "We are trying to achieve harmony
between fans who want to sit and those who want to stand and increase to
66k."
Safe standing – like in a new section at Celtic Park this season – could see
West Ham increase their capacity to the biggest for any London club and calm
tensions among their fans.
Most Premier League clubs turn a blind eye to standing in sections of their
stadiums. But the move to the London Stadium has seen Hammers fans dispersed
around the new arena – and a culture clash between traditional fans and a
new generation of Premier League supporters.
West Ham plan to relocate unhappy fans to different areas of the new stadium
and are looking at introducing "family areas".
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http://vyperz.blogspot.com
Monday, September 12
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