Daily WHUFC News II - 30th September 2017

Creator-in-chief Lanzini gives Bilic attacking options
WHUFC.com

Manuel Lanzini's return to the West Ham United squad gives manager Slaven Bilic welcome selection and tactical headaches. Bilic has confirmed the Argentina playmaker is back in the matchday squad for Saturday's Premier League fixture with Swansea City at London Stadium, immediately and markedly increasing the Hammers' threat. To give some indication of Lanzini's importance to West Ham's play in the middle and final thirds of the pitch, the No10 led his team in virtually every attacking category last season. Lanzini created more Premier League chances than any other Hammer in 2016/17 with 56, nearly twice as many as second-highest Michail Antonio's 31. Unsurprisingly, he also played more key passes (54) than any of his teammates. The skilful South American played more forward passes (877) attempted (1,564) and completed (1,367) more passes than any other midfielder or winger, giving him a team-high 87 per cent pass-completion, and serving as further evidence of his incredible influence. He also scored, too, netting eight to finish second to Antonio in West Ham's goalscoring charts last term.
While it is not quantifiable, Lanzini also possesses the invaluable ability to keep the ball in tight situations, using his outstanding technique, impeccable close control and low centre of gravity to wriggle out of trouble and keep his team on the front foot.

So, with the diminutive star now available for selection after recovering from a knee injury, the challenge for Bilic is to work out how to best utilise his unique talents. Statistically and numerically, Lanzini's best position is as a No10, playing in the space behind the centre forwards and between the opposition's defence and midfield. But, in recent weeks, Bilic has opted to use a 3-4-3 formation, with two central midfielders sitting slightly deeper and the attacking work being done by a centre forward – either Andy Carroll or Chicharito – and two wide forwards – Antonio, Chicharito, Andre Ayew or Marko Arnautovic.

All four wide forwards mentioned are versatile and could adapt to a change in system, and the Croatian may be tempted to revert to the 4-2-3-1 shape he used 12 times last season to accommodate Lanzini in his preferred position. Alternatively, he may choose to stick with the three-man defence that has helped shore up the back line, meaning Lanzini would most likely be deployed as one of two attacking midfielders in a 3-4-2-1 formation. Antonio, who is himself in line to feature after recovering from the minor groin problem he suffered last weekend, and Arnautovic both impressed against Tottenham Hotspur and will be disappointed not to be selected from the start. The same can be said for Chicharito, who scored against Spurs, Ayew, who netted in the home win over Huddersfield Town, and Carroll, who has netted five goals in six appearances against Swansea in Claret and Blue. With captain Noble and Kouyate also available, whichever formation he opts for, Bilic has eight senior players vying for five or six places in his team, including the most creative member of his squad, Manuel Lanzini.

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Hammers legends to be honoured at Champions Place
WHUFC.com

Three West Ham United legends are to be permanently honoured at London Stadium when the second phase of Champions Place stones are installed in early October.

Alan Sealey, Frank Lampard Sr and Alan Devonshire have been confirmed as the latest former players to have their career and achievements recognised at our iconic home.

Their images will be placed alongside the thousands of specially-engraved supporters' stones, inscribed with personalised messages at the north-east corner of London Stadium.

Over 1,000 Champions Place stones will be installed in the first phase alongside the three legends from Sunday 1 October, to be in place before the Hammers' first home game after the international break against Brighton & Hove Albion.

A second phase will commence in March, meaning Champions League stones are again available to purchase, giving supporters the chance to take their place in history at the Hammers' home at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

Champions Place provides a lasting tribute to all the players and fans, past and present, that have made West Ham the team we love.

Personalised stones are available to order from just £60 – giving you the chance to make your mark at our new home or purchase a unique Hammers Christmas gift.

Alan Sealey will forever be remembered as the goalscoring hero of West Ham United's greatest-ever victory – the 1965 European Cup Winners' Cup final triumph against TSV Munich at Wembley.

The London-born right-winger joined the Hammers from local neighbours Leyton Orient in 1961 and went on to make 126 appearances for the club, scoring 28 goals over the course of six years under legendary manager Ron Greenwood.

Just weeks after his Wembley heroics, Sealey sustained a badly broken leg in a freak training ground accident. The injury severely curtailed his career and he made just a further five appearances for the Hammers before joining Plymouth Argyle in November 1967.

After finishing his playing days with non-league Romford and Bedford, Alan settled back in Essex, but tragically suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of just 53 in February 1996.

Frank Lampard Sr is second only to the great Billy Bonds in the list of all-time appearances for the club, having turned out 670 times in the claret and blue over the course of an 18-year career.

After progressing through the youth ranks, the East Ham-born defender made his debut in a 3-2 defeat against Manchester City at Upton Park on November 18, 1967 and went on to establish himself as one of the most consistent and reliable defenders in the club's history.

Most comfortable at left-back – although he could also play on the right – Lampard is one of only three players, alongside Bonds and Sir Trevor Brooking – to win the FA Cup twice with West Ham, in 1975 and 1980, when he famously scored a memorable extra-time winner in the semi-final against Everton.

Capped twice by England, after leaving in 1985 Lampard later returned to the club as assistant manager to his brother-in-law Harry Redknapp from 1994 to 2001, during which time the Hammers reached the second-highest top flight finish in the club's history and qualified for Europe in 1999.

Alan Devonshire remains one of the most popular and revered midfielders to have worn the claret and blue shirt. Signed from non-league Southall for just £5,000 in September 1976, the slightly-built former Crystal Palace trainee quickly established himself at the highest level.

A skillful, tricky wide player who could use both feet to equal effect and formed an almost telepathic midfield partnership with Trevor Brooking, Devonshire famously provided the cross that led to Brooking's winning goal in the 1980 FA Cup final against Arsenal.

Capped eight times by England, a tally that would have been far greater had he not suffered a serious knee ligament injury during an FA Cup tie against Wigan in January 1984.

Despite the injury ruling him out for more than a year, Devonshire returned to play a key role in the record-breaking 1985-86 campaign and eventually finished up making 448 appearances for the Hammers, scoring 32 goals, before moving to Watford in May 1990.

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WEST HAM V SWANSEA PREVIEW
AUTHOR: EXWHUEMPLOYEE. PUBLISHED: 30 SEPTEMBER 2017 AT 7:36AM
TheWestHamWay.co.uk
Written by @deportivohammer

29/09/2017

Deportivo Potter

Nothing gets under my skin more than losing to Spurs. But as a club and a team we have to put this game behind us very quickly as there is no time to dwell on what might have been. I must admit that at 3 down i feared to worst, I actually felt at the time that we were going to go on and lose by a big margin. Fortunately that didn't happen and what we did see was a little bit of a fight back and while I was disappointed we couldn´t find the final goal, it was not the hammering I feared.

So on to Swansea City who travel to the London Stadium on the back of a home defeat to high flying Watford. They have only managed to win 1 game this season and that was against Crystal Palace who everyone seems to be able to beat this year. But there is a stat that needs to be watched. They have yet to concede a goal while on their travels in the league this year. This tells me they are set up well, and organised. Not good for us. They are 15th in the league and have just the one point more than us and I fully expect them to be at the bottom of the league this year after selling their best 2 players in the summer.

Ex West ham United academy graduate Leon Britton could return to the team after a knee injury while other midfield options , rejected Renato Sanchez and Tammy Abraham are also small doubts for the game. Nathan Dyer is still recovering from an Achilles injury.

West Ham´s form does not read much better but only the 1 defeat in the last 3 games is something to cheer at least But we need to start picking up 3 points in games now and make sure that by Christmas we are not looking over our shoulder. Will Super Slav be given till then? I hope so as that will mean better results.

Good news regarding our injuries Antonio looks to have been declared fit for tomorrows game which is a real boost to the team. His pace and ability to be a goal threat will be vital in what should be an attacking team for us. Manu Lanzini will hopefully be on the bench as will Hernandez who passed a late fitness test. James Collins and Pedro Obiang will both miss this game but are not thought to be long term injuries.

Predicted Line ups :

West Ham United : Hart, Zabaleta, Reid, Fonte, Cresswell, Noble, Kouyate, Arnautovic, Ayew, Antonio and Carroll

Swansea City : Fabianski, Olsson, Mawson, Fernandez, Naughton, Clucas, Mesa, Sanches, Abraham, Ayew, and Bony

Slav has changed from a back 4 and a back 5 so many times this season its hard to keep up but I think he will try and have as many of his attacking players on the pitch as he can which means I think he will start with 4 at the back. Now I think he will play Carroll up top because he always seems to play well against Swansea plus Ayew will be wanting to do well against his old club and his younger brother. Hernandez I hope we get to see at some point but I think our top goalscorer this year will have to make do with a place on the bench for this game. I will also predict that we will go on and win this game comfortably, much like we did in the Huddersfield game with a nice easy

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WHAT ARE THE ODDS: SWANSEA AT HOME?
AUTHOR: EXWHUEMPLOYEE. PUBLISHED: 29 SEPTEMBER 2017 AT 11:02PM
TheWestHamWay.co.uk

Written by Martin Backhouse @martinbackhouse

Let's get it right, we were very lucky not to get embarrassed last weekend. It wasn't pretty even though the result on paper scoreline suggests it was close. However, we move on! We welcome Swansea to the London Stadium on Saturday in what some are saying is a must win. I'll be honest, I think we need to win this too. A draw wouldn't define our season but a win would do absolute wonders for the confidence of the squad going into the international break. We're 10/11 with Betway to win this one, with the draw at 5/2.

We have only lost one of our last nine Premier League games against Swansea (W5 D3), and they have never kept an away clean sheet at us, conceding 74 goals in 31 games in all competitions, stretching back to an FA Cup match in 1922 (W2 D7 L22). Bearing this in mind, it might be worth a bet on a 1-0 or 2-0 correct score at 11/2 and 7/1 respectively. These two choices are also backed up by the fact that the Swans have allowed their opponents 72 more shots in total & 23 more shots on target than they have attempted themselves in the Premier League this season; the biggest negative differential by a team in 2017-18 so far. They've also scored just three goals and attempted 10 shots on target in the Premier League this season; the same goal tally as Javier Hernandez (3) who has attempted seven shots on target alone.

Talking of the Mexican, he has now scored 40 Premier League goals – all inside the box. The only players with more goals in the competition to have all come from inside the box are John Terry (41) and Tim Cahill (56). Our sponsors have priced him up at 4/1 to score first, 6/4 anytime. Rumour has it he'll start on the bench on Saturday. I hope we play him and Carroll up top together to be honest but I'm not hopeful. Does this mean a return to the starting line-up for Manuel Lanzini? I hope we don't rush him back so a place on the bench would be fantastic. He's available at 13/5 anytime if anyone wants to put their faith in our jewel. Andy Carroll has been involved in eight goals in six Premier League games against Swansea for us, scoring five goals and assisting three. Carroll has been involved in six of the eight home goals we have scored against the Swans in the Premier League (three goals, three assists). He's 4/1 to find the net first, 13/8 anytime.

As you may or may not know, Betway have started to price up some extra markets for West Ham games. There's only one as I type this, and that's odds of 14/1 for West Ham to win, West Ham to have more corners than Swansea, Noble to get carded and Chicharito to score.

I'll be lumping on a West Ham win at 10/11 this weekend; it's going to happen! Good luck with your bets! COYI

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BIG SAM WOULD HAVE MADE A FAR BETTER FIST OF THINGS WITH THE SQUAD THAT SLAVEN HAS AT HIS DISPOSAL
AUTHOR: EXWHUEMPLOYEE. PUBLISHED: 29 SEPTEMBER 2017 AT 10:07PM
TheWestHamWay.co.uk
Written by @farehamhammer

We play it on the floor, we play it on the floor, we are West Ham United and we play it on the floor, The Cusp ear episode, the self-egotistical approach to management. It is easy to see why certain sections of our fan base, didn't take to well to Sam Allardyce. Like him or loathe him, one would have to concede that Sam Allardyce, with the help of Kevin Nolan dragged The Club up by the proverbial jockstraps. The Club had just been relegated under Avram Grant, and was out for the count when Allardyce, took the managerial reigns at The Boleyn Ground. That we are an established Premier League Club is down to one man and that is 'Sam Allardyce'. Now I'm not advocating that we bring Allardyce back to The Club by any means, but I am in no doubt that he would have made a better fist of things, with the squad that Slaven has at his disposal! Than Slaven has done! I will go as far as to say, if Allardyce had been manager in our final season at The Boleyn Ground, with Payet and Lanzini playing at the top of their game. We would have qualified directly for the UEFA League.

Hands up, I was one of those who bought into Slaven, being one of us having played for The Club, and having managed the very attractive Croatian team. I was about to witness the much fabled West Ham 'way' football. Wonderfully inventive football on the deck. My own personal experience of The West Ham 'way', being pitching up at the likes of Charlton, Reading, Blackburn, Bolton and Luton Town, then losing 4-0 or 5-0 and the rest. Players taking the piss, and not bothering their arse, cheating on West Ham and The Club's supporters. I had nagging doubts about Slaven before he signed, but in the euphoria of it all, I put that to the back of my mind. Besiktas supporters had warned us that he would start of well off well but would fade away soon, he would fall out with players, would make poor substitutions and was not the best tactically. I also remembered how easily Fabio Cappello, had outwitted him when he was England manager. England beat Croatia 5-1 in Zagreb, Bilic having no answers, just standing arms folded in the rain. Still it was all about Super Slav and Big bad Sam, when Bilic became The Club manager. I defended him to the hilt, loved the guy's passion, and still do.

Sadly passion does not make you a good football manager. We have resembled an absolute shambles on the pitch lacking in fitness, shape, unbalanced and prone to basic school boy errors. That's what happens when players lose confidence. They may like Slaven as a person, but belief in him as a football manager, has been on the wane for the best part of sixteen months. Six wins in 25 games speaks for itself. All sorts of excuses have been made for Bilic. Squad not good enough, injuries, Sullivan not landing the manager's top targets and acting effectively as Director of Football. Yes Carvalho was not landed, and the squad is three or four players short of having a top squad. As for interference by Sullivan, no sympathy for Slaven. He had no problem outing Dimitri Payet, so I presume he would be prepared to take Sullivan to task, if he was out of order.

And Sullivan's role as director of football? I have always been of the opinion that the manager should have the final say in transfers. I still do. But I also understand why Sullivan, and a few others have an input regards Club transfers. One of the greatest myths is that Bilic identified Dimitri Payet. No he didn't. Payet was first identified by Allardyce and his team, as far back as 2013. It was David Sullivan who brought Payet to The Club. While interviewing Marcelo Bielsa, for the vacant managerial position, he asked Bielsa, if he could bring one player to The Club who it would be. Bielsa identified Payet. The rest is history. What made me really baulk, was when Slaven, tried to bring in Atiba Hutchinson 34 to The Club for eight million pounds. That on the back of bringing Gokhan Tore to The Club. The player arriving on a very expensive loan deal and big wages. So one can understand why Sullivan, wants a hands on role as far as transfers are concerned. Although he has not got a perfect squad, you can bet your bottom dollar, Bilic would be laughed out of town by Sam Allardyce, and if he complained about the hand he has been dealt! Bilic has a squad at his disposal that Sam Allardyce could only have dreamed of, during his tenure as manager of The Club. He would have the squad organised and playing good football! Yes football was dire under Big Sam at times, but make no mistake, it's been just as bad if not worse under Bilic. The big difference being, the quality of player at Sam's disposal, has been far inferior to what Bilic has had. Whether one likes it or not that is a fact. Big Sam would have the likes Ayew, Arnautovic, Hernandez, playing at the top of their game. It would have been a happy and motivated squad, a squad that knew exactly what they were doing and what was expected of them individually.

Given quality players, Allardyce will give you any style of football you want. Speak to Sunderland and Palace fans, they will confirm that. Wilfred Zaha, the talented but enigmatic Crystal Palace winger, admits that he enjoyed and played his best football under Big Sam. He would have made the likes of Lanzini an even better player. One of the great myths spouted about Allardyce, is that he does not like flair players, and wouldn't have been able to attract big name players to the squad. Well you don't attract the likes of Okocha, Djorkaeff, Campo, and Anelka if you are a crap manager. Those are quality players, whom Sam Allardyce got the very best out of. I'm afraid if I was having a party, Slaven, Jack Daniels and Guns n Roses would be the one, however if I had a choice between the two to manage my football club. It's Sam Allardyce who would have been by choice. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, moving to The London Stadium was never going to take The Club instantly to the 'next' level. How could it? When the majority shareholder, David Sullivan has liquid assets of roughly £500m.

It was always going to take time for the extra revenue, created from the move to The London Stadium to kick in. It's going to take steady growth, as more money becomes available we will be able to attract a better class of player. Which will see us climb the table. We may not have landed all our transfer targets, no Club does. But we have should be far higher up the table than we are. The buck stops with the manager. I just cannot see things improving long term under Slaven Bilic, we may win a few on the bounce. But it will always be a case of two steps forward, and three steps back under the likeable Croatian. Whether it is now or the end of the season, The Board is going to have to appoint a new manager. It is going to be a hugely important appointment, we will have spent two years at The London Stadium, and should be ready to compete with some of the bigger clubs. I just hope they ignore social media, that also lead to a lot of negative opinion regards Allardyce for starters. Poll after poll: Should The Manager stay or go. People with agendas. Negativity on the internet spreads like cancer believe you me. I have said it once and will say it again. Forget Rafa and the rest as manager! Brendan Rodgers would be a perfect fit as West Ham manager. Big Sam? He would be looking at the youth we have coming through and our squad, sigh and think: if only. Enjoy the game tomorrow! Remember to take your seat early. The Board are having a minute's applause for Hugh Hefner! Only kidding 😊!

We are more than a football club, we're a way of life!

COYI!!

Farehamhammer!!!
(Edited By Danny Twigg)

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West Ham United v Swansea City
KUMB.com
Filed: Friday, 29th September 2017
By: Preview Percy

Preview Percy takes a look at our last match before the forthcoming international break. So if you want to know what links the collapse of civilisation as we know it with Swansea City, here might be a good place to start. Maybe.....

In a turn up for the books we find ourselves at home for the second week running – nothing to do with the fact that we were late starting at home I am told, just a quirk of the computer. We will be hosting Swansea City. Kick-off is gloriously at 3pm on Saturday (don't get used to it). Trains? Well Shenfield, Wickford Witham and Colchester all feature large on the disruption list this weekend so, as ever, check before you leave.

Swansea then or, if you prefer, Abertawe. Currently 15th in the table with 5 points from their 6 played thus far, leaving them three places and one point above us with their 1-2-3 record. The one win that has come their way this season was the 2-0 defeat of Palace, an achievement for which I understand that they are considering not awarding points in the future. The other two points gained so far have come from goalless draws, both on the road, firstly at Southampton on the opening day of the season and then a couple of weeks back at the Bobby Moore Stadium against Spurs. With the Palace win also coming away from home they are in the unique position of having won all their points this season abroad. Palace's failure to score in any of their matches this season may well have deflected attention away from the fact that Swansea have netted just the three times in the league this term, suggesting that a point might be their first priority this weekend.

According to the work-experience kid of as yet-to-be determined gender wearing a hoodie who seems only able to communicate with some strange grunting noises, they did bring in a number of strikers during the window as the likes of Fernando Llorente disappeared in the direction of the Severn Bridge en route to being allowed to elbow Andy Carroll. I was most disturbed to hear about the re-arrival at the Liberty of former player Wilfried Bony. Nothing against the chap himself and clearly things weren't working out at Man City for him – so much so that even a loan period at Stoke seemed attractive. I'm not even put out by the size of the fee - £12m for a player they had sold for £25m looks decent business on the face of it. No, the thing that annoys me to the extent that we should all march on Parliament to demand a points deduction the equivalent of a small nation's defence budget is this: on his return he has taken the squad number "2". This is just plain wrong on every level. I appreciate that squad numbers are here to stay and that we have become used to people "making the coveted no.37 shirt their own" but dear lord the first eleven shirts ought to at least bear some nod to tradition. Your no.2 ought to be your right back. Or at the very least a defender. You can't stick a no.2 shirt on the back of a centre forward. It's just not right. Civilisation will collapse you mark my words.

The other principal striker brought in came in courtesy of the statutory loan from Chelsea in the form of Tammy Abraham. Abraham impressed on loan (of course) at Bristol City last season and, for all I know, is a perfectly decent young fellow. However, as regular readers will know, this column despairs of the names given to modern footballers. Back in the day your right-back – wearing the no.2 shirt of course was often a balding bloke called Bert. Whatever your inside forward (in the no.10 shirt) was called it certainly wasn't a girl's name like "Tammy". Further investigation from the work-experience kid of as yet-to-be determined gender wearing a hoodie who seems only able to communicate with some strange grunting noises shows that the player's first name is actually "Kevin" and that the "Tammy" bit is short for Tamarebi, deriving from the player's Nigerian heritage. I guess "Kevin" is just a bit too dull for the modern pampered player of today. It was good enough for Kevin Lock who won a Cup Winner's medal back in '75 though, although granted he did have a bit of a girly haircut at the time. Abraham (to get back on topic please - ed) netted 23 times in 41 league appearances for Bristol City earning him both their young player and player of the season gongs and he has been capped by England at U18, U19 and U21 level. On hearing of his ancestry there were recent rumours that the Nigerian FA were to come-a-knocking and these rumours were followed by further rumours that the player might respond positively to such overtures. However the player himself acted promptly to declare that he wanted to continue in the England system. Although only a youngster (19) he has adapted well to the lifestyle of the young professional footballer and already has an incident of driving without a licence or insurance incident under his belt.

The other loan arrival was Portuguese midfielder Renato (dangerously close to a girl's name that) Sanches. Sanches was awarded the "Young Player Of The Tournament" trophy at the conclusion of Euro16 as part of the victorious Portugal side that defeated France in the final. He missed out on this summer's Confederations Cup tournament held in Russia having been sent to Poland to take part in the U21 Euro tournament. Whether the player had been sent to the kids as an attempt to bolster the junior squad or as a reflection of poor form is a reasonable question to pose. Having made a €35-80m (around £30-70m depending on how stingy Thomas Cook were being that day) transfer from Benfica to Bayern prior to Euro16, he failed to make much of an impression in Bavari,a with Lothar Matthaus being quoted as describing the player as "one of the three worst" in Germany last season. Don't hold back Lothar – speak your mind mate. Now depending on whose version you believe Slav was offered Sanches during the "not signing Carvalho" debacle, an offer which, if true, sort of makes you wonder if anyone actually realised just how different Carvalho and Sanches are in terms of position played. It's a bit like going in to sign Lionel Messi and being offered a goalkeeper instead.

Sanches ended up on loan at Swansea, starting the 1-0 home defeat to Newcastle. It's fair to say that it wasn't quite the dream debut he might have wanted. Carrying what is euphemistically referred to as "a bit of timber" he proceeded to give the ball away on numerous occasions before being replaced, leading to what most people have described as "mixed reports" in the press. The reports weren't mixed – they were universally poor.

They also rescued Sam Clucas from Hull as they were circling the plughole en route to the Championship. Clucas has an interesting CV. Starting off at Lincoln City he dropped out of the league having appeared only in cup competitions for the Imps. He joined the Glenn Hoddle Academy, an organisation which, in between telling players how to earn a living as a football pundit despite having nothing interesting or intelligent to say about the game, also takes players who have fallen out of the league system and prepares them for a return to the pro ranks. At the time the Academy had a tie-in with the marvellously named Jerez Industrial who were plying their trade in the Spanish 4th Division. Returning to England he had spells with Hereford, Mansfield and Chesterfield. He signed for Hull in 2015 for £1.3m and left them this summer for over ten times that amount (£15m) which represents a good profit for the Tigers. However the best thing about the player is the fact that he has a cap – just the one mind – for the England C team, the existence of which is always a delight to those of us who live in the Avram Grant Olympic Rest Home For The Bewildered.

Us? Disappointing last week. We didn't play well for the middle third of the game which is when all the damage was done. However, one rather got the impression that the officials were determined to make our part in proceedings an irrelevance. Back in the day when the offside law was first formulated (ah yes I remember it well) the idea was to put paid to the art of goal hanging, that is simply leaving a player to stand for 90 minutes in the box. Kane's first goal was precisely the sort of thing that the law was set up to counter and in the good old days he would have been pulled up for being offside in the build up. Having been allowed to continue there wasn't a hope of a defender getting back to cover – and if scoring a dubious goal isn't obtaining an advantage Lord knows what is.

Then there's this new initiative about diving. The idea is that players get punished retrospectively for the scourge of the modern game that proper supporters hate. However, so restrictive are the requirements for sanction a player has to get another sent off or gain a penalty before anyone can do anything. So Alli's embarrassing effort that gave them the free-kick from which they got their third will remain unpunished because he had the foresight to do it outside the box.

Spurs had adopted much of the traditional Liverpool (the Tottenham of the North) tactics including the committing of foul after cynical foul in order to break up and disrupt play. Possession of anything resembling a vertebra has never been one of Oliver's strong points and his constant tolerance of persistent foul play was just what the doctor ordered for the visitors. Aurier should have received four yellows and a straight red before the first of the two yellows that actually sealed his fate, the red would have been for the shirt pull on Arnautovic in the first half when clean through. That was one of three penalties that should have been awarded, Aurier's flicking the ball away with his arm in the first half and the shove on Carroll at the end being the other two.

I see that the clubs have now been fined £20k each failing to control their players, the melee at the end arising when a frustrated Carroll gave away a foul having just dodged an elbow – which, unsurprisingly, Oliver chose to ignore. I wonder what his reaction would have been had Carroll been the perpetrator rather than the victim? Actually, scrub that I know full well. I have seen elbows thrown four times this season and the only one punished at the time was the one thrown by Arnautovic. In the meantime no punishment will be handed out to Oliver whose gutless efforts were the sole and cause of the melee at the end. In the meantime the good Baroness ought to send the bill to Oliver. The threat of bankruptcy might just get the sods to think about refereeing match properly and if they end up flogging the Big Issue it's no more than PGMOL deserves.

Injury news is that there is talk of roles for Lanzini and even, amazingly, Antonio, though Ginge and Pedro are looking at "after the break" for their return. Other than that everyone else is available.

Prediction? Well there was enough in the second half last weekend to show what could be done if you play with confidence. That confidence had disappeared either side of the interval which was why we were three down. This week will be a different kettle of fish and I am feeling bullish – never a good sign admittedly.

Their lack of goalscoring prowess is something that will concern them and, for that reason, I will this week go for a home win hey let's go the whole hog and go for a clean sheet too as I pop down to Winstone The Turf Accountant and place the £2.50 I was going to contribute to Hugh Hefner's farewell party on a scoreline of 2-0 to us.

Enjoy the game!


When last we met at the Olympic: Won 1-0 (Premier League 8 April 2017)
A five game losing run that had us looking over our shoulders at the form of the principal relegation candidates finally came to an end with a win that was a lot more comfortable than it sounds. An excellent Kouyate goal that deserved a better match than this one was enough to give us all three points.

Referee: Roger East
Well at least he's not a showboater like Oliver, Dean, Jones etc I suppose. Competence is probably a bit much to hope for though on his past form.

Danger Man: Jordan Ayew
Like his brother he has been chipping in with the odd goal here and there and sibling rivalry might just add to his game.

Percy's Poser: Last week, in honour of so-called "Big club" Spurs and their 23,000 "crowd", we recalled a similar-sized crowd at Stamford Bridge by asking: On 26 August 2003 Chelsea were in so-called Champions League action in front of 23,408 "supporters".

Our question was in two parts: 1) What were West Ham doing that evening?, and 2) In front of how many people were they doing it? Congrats to Mrs Constance Lake who was first out of the hat with the responses 1) Beating Bradford City 1-0 and 2) 30,370. So to summarise, we got about 7,000 more for a Championship match than Chelsea got for the so-called Champions League. Those big clubs eh?

For this week's poser we go back a few years to February 1996 when Kevin Cullis took over as manager at Swansea. We ask you : How long was Cullis's reign at what was then the Vetch Field? (and, in true Question Of Sport tradition there will be bonus points for knowing "what happened next?"). First prize will be all the lavabread you can eat.


Good luck everyone!

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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Slaven Bilic believes West Ham are finally ready to shoot their way up the table with attacking stars all available
The Hammers can now call on Michail Antonio, Javier Hernandez, Andy Carroll and Andre Ayew, plus Manuel Lanzini for the first time
The Mirror
BYJON WEST
22:30, 29 SEP 2017

Slaven Bilic believes he finally possesses the fire power to get West Ham shooting up the table - and save his job. The Croat is a man under pressure going into today's home clash with Swansea. The Hammers will kick off in the drop zone and Bilic saw Carlo Ancelotti linked with his job just a few hours after the Italian was sacked by Bayern Munich on Thursday. But Bilic can call upon playmaker Manuel Lanzini for the first time this season following a knee injury and with Michail Antonio, Javier Hernandez, Andy Carroll and ex-Swan Andre Ayew all available he was confident of success. He said: "With Manuel back we have all our attacking options and that wasn't the case a few weeks ago. We have the players that we wanted in our team. "Other teams should now be afraid of us and worrying about how to stop us - they should be thinking how they are going to cope with our awesome front players."
But Bilic made it clear he wouldn't be going gung-ho against a Swansea side that has yet to concede away from home. He said: "I told the players who play there - don't leave a hole and make us into two teams, you have to do a job at the back as well." Bilic admitted that an international break was a nightmare for a vulnerable manager. He said: "Sometimes you go into these games before an international break cautiously, thinking 'don't lose this'. "Nobody likes to lose at any time but especially not when you have two weeks to think about it with no game in a couple of days to make it up. "We want to win this game because it won't be a very pleasant couple of weeks otherwise."

Former Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has also been touted as a potential replacement should the Hammers decide to jettison Bilic. Bilic is used to the speculation but finds it frustrating. He said: "It's a cliche to say 'it's part of the job'. What does that mean? It still doesn't make it normal. Should somebody be able to sledgehammer you and say it is part of the job? No - but it's part of the job!"

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Michail Antonio so determined to play for England he got married in Burton - so he was close to St George's Park
Antonio admits that he and his wife Debbie had hoped to marry in Italy but they made plans in case of a call-up
The Mirror
BYMATT LAWLESS
16:24, 29 SEP 2017

There can be absolutely no doubt over Michail Antonio's desire to play for England. So determined, in fact, the Hammers winger celebrated his summer wedding with his partner Debbie in Burton... just so he could be close to St George's Park if Gareth Southgate came calling. "We planned it just in case I got a call-up for England," he said, proudly showing off his diamond encrusted band in an exclusive chat at EA Sports FIFA 18 launch event. "It was about 20 minutes away from the training ground! "We really wanted to do the wedding in Italy. But we decided, just in case I received a call-up, that we'll just do it there. And then I got injured. "Obviously my missus Debbie was like, 'So we could have got married in Italy!' But at least I was there for the honeymoon."

A hamstring setback towards the end of last season ultimately saw him miss England's World Cup 2018 qualifiers last month. But the uncapped star even took West Ham physic Fraser Young on his stag party in Las Vegas, in a bid to speed up his return to action. "Well, it was different," he laughed. "Every morning we were working on my strength." Frustratingly, injury struck the 27-year-old again last week. He pulled up during the derby defeat by Spurs with a groin problem, which cost him his place in the latest England squad. Fortunately, however, the injury will not keep Antonio out for West Ham and he should feature against Swansea on Saturday. Indeed, the man who fought his way through the ranks of non-League football to become a household Premier League name, is certainly no stranger to overcoming obstacles. And he is keen to remind Three Lions boss Southgate that in order to realise his dream of playing for England at next summer's World Cup in Russia. "That's definitely the plan," he said. "I've had the call-up before. All I need to do now is get my toes back on the pitch. "Russia is next year, so hopefully if I keep playing well, I can be on that plane."
Antonio knows Southgate is watching. The England boss told him so this summer when he suffered his first injury setback. "Gareth Southgate gave me a call. He just said, sorry that this has come at a bad time but keep doing what you are doing and it won't be your last call-up. "So, I've taken that on board. All I need to do is keep playing well and hopefully I can be on the plane next year. "It's one of those things that if you solely put attention on that, it will take your mind away from the game. And that's one thing I have always noticed. Just take one step at a time. "And that step is always the game. If you don't play well in your next game, then you won't get a look. I know if I do things right in the pitch, good things will happen off it."

It's not just England who Antonio harbours great hopes for next year. It's West Ham too. After signing Joe Hart, Pablo Zabaleta, Marko Arnautovic and Javier Hernandez earlier this summer, Antonio believes the club have a greater chance than ever before of lifting silverware for the first time since 1980. "Definitely," he said. "That's why when we play in the cup gages, we give our all. "I was asked on Soccer AM, would you rather qualify for the Champions League in fourth spot or win the FA Cup? Well, I'd want to win the FA Cup every day. "So, it's one of those things where we have to aim to push for the cup and push in the league and see what happens." Michail Antonio was speaking at the EA Sports FIFA 18 launch event. The game is available to buy now on PS4 and Xbox One.

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West Ham could target audacious deal for Carlo Ancelotti, he wanted move in 2011
HITC
Olly Dawes

Carlo Ancelotti lost his job as Bayern Munich boss on Thursday. According to The Mirror, West Ham United are eyeing up Carlo Ancelotti as a possible replacement for Slaven Bilic, following the Italian's exit from Bayern Munich on Thursday. Ancelotti, 58, took the reins at the Allianz Arena last summer following Pep Guardiola's move to Manchester City, with the Italian returning to the game after a year out of work following his exit from Real Madrid in 2015. The Italian enjoyed a strong first season, winning the Bundesliga title in his first season, but he has now lost his job after a 3-0 Champions League defeat at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday. Ancelotti is now the biggest name in the managerial market, and The Mirror note that he could be in the frame for West Ham, if they move on from Slaven Bilic. Many West Ham fans want to see Ancelotti arrive after Bilic oversaw four defeats in the first six games of the Premier League season, and a move could be on the cards in the future. West Ham's hopes of landing the former Champions League winner may be boosted by comments Ancelotti made in 2011, after the Hammers had been relegated to the Championship. Ancelotti was quoted by the Daily Mail as saying that he was interested in the West Ham job as he prepared to leave Chelsea, stating that the atmosphere at West Ham was 'amazing'. Things have changed since; West Ham have moved out of Upton Park into the London Stadium, which has completely changed the atmosphere around the club, and Ancelotti may find that the club isn't quite the same as it was six years ago. Still, Ancelotti was popular in the Premier League and may fancy a return to London, but current boss Bilic should be given a chance to turn things around, starting with today's game against Swansea City.

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West Ham to receive investment boost from Blackstone US finance executive
The Hammers have offered the new director a seat on the club's board
Football London
BYGREG JOHNSON
07:00, 30 SEP 2017

West Ham have become the sixth Premier League club to receive investment from the USA. Blackstone director Albert "Tripp" Smith has taken a 10% stake in the Irons and will sit on the board alongside co-owners David Gold and David Sullivan and Baroness Karren Brady. It is understood that the share purchase was made as a private investment and was not funded or secured on behalf of any company. Smith was a co-founder asset management firm GSO Capital Partners and sold out to Blackstone in 2008 in a deal worth around $1 billion.
According to the Financial Times, the shares were purchased from CB Holding which gained control of 10% of West Ham following the collapse of Iceland's Stramur Investment Bank in 2009. The deal brings to an end an 11-year association between the Irons and Icelandic investment following the share purchases of Eggert Magnússon and Björgólfur Guðmundsson in 2006. Director Daniel Svanstrom has also left his seat on the board. While Smith may not be able to match the deep pockets of the Premier League's richest foreign owners and investors his presence on the board may lead to other opportunities in the USA. Despite their poor form of late on the pitch, West Ham remain a team with immense potential off it, not least due to their tenancy agreement at the London Stadium. The former home of the London 2012 Olympic games is currently the third largest football venue in the country on capacity with 66,000 seats. However, the Hammers have faced criticism for the amount of public money spent on building and converting the ground for their use, as well as the relatively low annual rate that they pay for using the stadium. If they can improve their football, their location could hand them a serious advantage in the years to come.

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West Ham Furious After Finding Out They May Not Earn Anything From The Carabao Cup Clash With Tottenham
By Sridhar Bhamidi on September 30, 2017
ToTheLaneandBack.com

Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United are set for an angry clash of cash row ahead of next month's Carabao Cup clash. As reported by The Sun, the Hammers are fuming with the Lilywhites at being told that they may not earn a penny from the match. This clash, which would be played at Tottenham's temporary home, the Wembley Stadium, could attract a crowd of 50,000. This volatile London derby will most likely be classified as Category C – with a high risk of crowd trouble, considering the intense rivalry among both sets of supporters.
The Carabao Cup rules indicate that the teams involved in a game are entitled to a 45 percent share of the proceeds. The rest of the amount goes to the competition 'pool'. But, the Hammers believe that their clash with London rivals may not get them anything. As quoted by the Sun, a West Ham source said:
"They said we might get nothing from the gate as it costs £300,000 to open Wembley."

West Ham are not the only side affected as it is being reported that Tottenham's previous round opponent Barnsley, who played at the Wembley, will not get a penny from the 23,926 attendance at the national stadium for their fixture.
Responding to these reports, a Spurs spokesman said: "As another club renting a stadium, West Ham are aware and understanding of the costs involved for cup games and the difficulty in any profit being made for such fixtures."

Technically speaking, Spurs' inability stems up from the fact that they are unable to use their own stadium, after having bid goodbye to the White Hart Lane, with the construction of their new stadium underway. This is just a new chapter in the frosty relations between these two London rivals in recent times. Both went head-to-head with bids to take over the Old Olympic Stadium following the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, with things eventually going in favour of West Ham.
It was only last Saturday that they had a feisty encounter in the Premier League which ended 3-2 in Tottenham's favour, thanks to a Harry Kane brace. The match that saw Serge Aurier receive a red card also saw an injury-time bust-up between the players from both sides. Both clubs have been fined for failing to control their players.

Let's hope these sides dish out another classy encounter, sans these bust-ups, in the Carabao Cup clash.

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CLARET AND BLUE ARMY HAPPY TO SEE RETURN OF YOUNG STARFeatured Image
Date: 30th September 2017 at 1:00am
Written by: Forever Westham

West Ham fans have been treated with the news that defender Reece Oxford is set to return to the London Stadium only months after joining Bundesliga side Borussia Monchengladbach on a season-long loan. Sky Sports report the youngster is set to return to the Hammers after leaving for the German club in June.
While Oxford featured heavily in the club's pre-season, he is yet to make a competitive first team appearance having been an un-used substitute in all six of club's top flight games so far this season. Oxford signed a long-term deal with the Hammers in December of last year to secure his long term future at the club, however has not featured in Claret and Blue for over a year after two successive loan spells.
Before his short lived move to Germany, Oxford spent the latter part of last season with Championship side Reading, where he too struggled for game time.
The reason behind Oxford's re-call are unclear as of yet, although it is widely believed the defender will slot straight back into Slaven Bilic's side following their disappointing start to the Premier League season. The Hammers have been leaking goals, conceding 13 so far, more than any other Premier League team, and many of the West Ham fans feel the youngster could be the answer to Bilic's defensive woes …

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WEST HAM LINKED WITH SENSATIONAL SWOOP FOR AXED MANAGERFeatured Image
Date: 30th September 2017 at 1:30am
Written by: Forever Westham

Talks of a potential move for axed Bayern Munich manager Carlo Ancelotti from West Ham have already begun, only hours after the Italian was sacked by the German champions. The former Chelsea and Real Madrid boss was let go by the Bundesliga giants yesterday afternoon following Bayern's 3-0 defeat to PSG in the Champions League which concluded a run of indifferent form in all competitions. Bayern had lost 6 of their last 18 games in all competitions and currently reside in third place in Germany's top flight, a run of form that was deemed poor enough to see Ancelotti shown the door. The ex-Chelsea man could find himself with a job offer on the table soon however, with West Ham reportedly eyeing up Ancelotti as a replacement for 'dead man walking' Slaven Bilic, according to The Guardian.
West Ham co-owners David Gold and David Sullivan are desperate to get rid of the Croatian after a poor start to the season and a break down in relations between the trio, and could do everything in their power to bring Ancelotti to the London Stadium in an attempt to turn the club's fortunes around.
Ancelotti is one of the modern eras most successful managers, with a trophy cabinet that includes three Champions Leagues, Serie A, Bundesliga and Premier League titles as well as numerous domestic trophies from across Italy, Germany and England.

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http://vyperz.blogspot.com

Daily WHUFC News - 30th September 2017

West Ham United v Swansea City: All you need to know
WHUFC.com

West Ham United return to Premier League action on Saturday against Swansea
City, eager for a positive result ahead of the international break.

Check out the information below for everything you need to know ahead of
this weekend's match, including team news, travel information and a special,
weekend-only offer in the Club store on home kits!

Where and when?

West Ham United will play Swansea City at the London Stadium in Stratford on
Saturday 30 September, with kick-off at 15:00 BST.

How to follow:

You can follow the game live via our Matchday Blog on whufc.com, with
updates also available on Twitter throughout the afternoon. You can also
follow the match in different ways on our official Instagram, Facebook and
Snapchat channels!

Due to being a Saturday 3pm kick-off the match is not available for viewing
in the UK. For worldwide broadcast schedules, click here.

Team news:

Slaven Bilic has confirmed that both Manuel Lanzini and Michail Antonio will
be in the squad for West Ham's match with the Swans, having recovered from
their respective injuries.

Pedro Obiang is set to miss out however, after his knock against West Brom.

Match officials:

Referee: Roger East
Assistant Referees: Mark Scholes and Sian Massey-Ellis
Fourth Official: Kevin Friend

Meet the opposition:

With five points from six matches so far in the Premier League this season,
Swansea City have endured a mixed start to the campaign and sit just a point
above the Hammers.

Paul Clement, installed as manager at the start of 2017, has added a host of
top talents to the South Wales team but has also had to contend with losing
two of his top stars from last season - Gylfi Sigurdsson and Fernando
Llorente - in the transfer window.

Renowned for playing attractive football, Swansea have been a feature in the
Premier League since earning promotion in 2011, and the Swans will be eager
for that journey to continue past the end of this season.

Player to watch:

Having scored in our last match, against Tottenham Hotspur, and in the vital
1-0 win against Swansea City last campaign, there was only one player we
could turn to for this coming game.

Cheikhou Kouyate is perhaps one of the Premier League's most underrated
defensive midfielders. The Senegalese international has proven time and time
again that he has the power, pace and ability to mix with Europe's best.

His quality could prove vital against the Swans on Saturday.

Head-to-head:

West Ham claimed two wins against Swansea City last season, both of which
were crucial to the club's campaign in the Premier League.

The first, a 4-1 victory at the Liberty Stadium on Boxing Day, was the
perfect Christmas present for supporters, before Cheikhou Kouyate scored the
only goal of a vital 1-0 victory at the London Stadium in April.

The Irons have only lost twice to Swansea City in ten meetings since the
south Wales side was promoted, of which only one was at home.

Last five meetings:

West Ham United 1-0 Swansea City, Premier League, April 8 2017
Swansea City 1-4 West Ham United, Premier League, December 26 2016
West Ham United 1-4 Swansea City, Premier League, May 7 2016
Swansea City 0-0 West Ham United, Premier League, December 20 2015
Swansea City 1-1 West Ham United, Premier League, January 10 2015

Did you know:
West Ham and Swansea, heading into Saturday's match, boast the same form in
the last six matches across all competitions.

Both teams have won three of their last six games, also drawing two and
losing just once.

How to get there:

There are four train stations that supporters are recommended to utilise to
reach the London Stadium.

Stratford Station makes use of the Central and Jubilee lines as well as the
DLR, Overground and TfL Rail.

Stratford International also uses the DLR line and National Rail.

Pudding Mill Lane is on the DLR line and is just south of the London Stadium
while Hackney Wick makes use of the London Overground.

Other information

West Ham United fans can take advantage of a special retail offer this
weekend, and get 20% off a home kit!

The offer starts midnight on Friday and ends at midnight on Sunday, and is
available both online and instore.

For fans wanting to purchase a home kit on matchday, the Stadium Store will
be open from 9am until kick-off, and will also reopen after the fixture.

This offer does not apply to the home goalkeeper kit.

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"Keep a high tempo by playing Chicharito and Carroll" Steve Lomas looks at
West Ham v Swansea City
West Ham United
Created by West Ham United
on Sep 29, 2017

West Ham United welcome Swansea City to London Stadium on Saturday, eager to
get back to winning ways having enjoyed a decent September in terms of
results. Former Hammer Steve Lomas has taken a look at the biggest talking
points of this weekend's match and where the battle can be won by Slaven
Bilic's side. Andy Carroll boasts an impressive record against Swansea
City. The striker seems to just enjoy playing against the South Wales side.
In six appearances for the Hammers against the Swans the No9 has scored five
goals, and also provided three assists, meaning Carroll has played a role in
eight goals in his six games for the side against Swansea. On Carroll,
Lomas told whufc.com: "When you look at what he did against Huddersfield, he
showed he's clearly a handful. He's crucial. Keeping him fit is of the
utmost importance for the side."

With Chicharito also at Bilic's disposal this season one of the major
talking points has been how both can be played in one starting XI. In some
matches the Mexican has floated out wide of Carroll, but Lomas believes he
may have the answer. "Bilic has tried 3-4-3 but maybe at home a 3-5-2 could
get the best out of both Chicharito and Carroll," Lomas reasoned. "Carroll
up top with Chicharito next to him is a mouth-watering prospect. They can
score goals and cause teams problems."

'Utilise Zabaleta's experience'

A natural leader and born winner, Zabaleta has enjoyed significant success
during his career against Swansea City. The experienced Argentinian, during
his time with Manchester City, played against the Swans eight times. He was
on the winning team in seven of those contests, with the other match ending
in a draw.
Having joined the Hammers from City in the summer Zabaleta has thrived for
the side, particularly since the move to a back-three, which has given the
32-year-old more license to push forward in his wing-back role. Lomas has
also been impressed with what he's seen from Zabaleta and believes it was a
'no-brainer' to bring in a defender of his calibre on a free transfer.
Lomas said: "I watched him against Huddersfield where he was very good. It's
a very tough position to play, especially for a player heading towards the
end of his career. It requires a very athletic player." The former Northern
Ireland midfielder also reckons Zabaleta will be an excellent tutor for Sam
Byram. He added: "Right-back became a difficult position for West Ham when
James Tomkins joined Crystal Palace. He could fill that role really well. It
was a big blow in terms of not having a recognised right-back for a while.
"Bringing in Zabaleta was a no-brainer of a signing, in my opinion. His
experience will be great for Sam Byram. He can learn from Zabaleta and
become an even better player. "Zabaleta is a very good professional and a
great player."

'Beware the Swans on the counter'

Swansea City currently sit one point ahead of West Ham with five, but
interestingly all of those points that the Swans have earned have come on
the road. In three away matches so far in the Premier League Paul Clement's
men have yet to lose, winning once and picking up two draws. In start
contrast the Swans have lost all three of their home games. Lomas believes
this comes down to the style of play Swansea prefer. He said: "The way they
play, it suits them to be on the counter-attack, which in turn is easier to
utilise in away matches. "At home their fans will want them to attack more
and then maybe they are getting caught on the counter-attack themselves.
They'll play that way against West Ham too. Hopefully we can cause some
mayhem in their defence." The loss of two of their biggest stars in Gylfi
Sigurdsson and Fernando Llorente was a big blow to Swansea fans, but Lomas
has warned that Wilfried Bony, who returned to the Liberty Stadium in the
summer, will be out to prove he's still a credible threat. "Losing
Sigurdsson was a big blow. They've brought in a few people but the main
thing for them is Wilfried Bony and can he reproduce the form of his first
spell. On his day, he can be a handful."

'Keep the Swans under pressure'

When it comes to home games against Swansea, history is almost completely on
West Ham's side. The Irons have won four of the last five home contests
against the South Wales team, the most recent of which came in April
courtesy of a Cheikhou Kouyate finish. Anything can happen in 90 minutes on
the pitch, however, and Lomas feels the Hammers need to be prepared for a
tough contest. And the former West Ham star believes the home team need to
put Swansea under a lot of pressure without falling into the trap of
allowing them the chance to counter quickly and in numbers. Lomas said: "I
think it will be a difficult game. The pressure is on after any loss and
it's been a tough start for the Hammers. I think it's about stepping up to a
higher tempo and putting them under pressure. "We had three clean sheets in
a row before the Tottenham game, and the team will want to get back to being
tight at the back. Even conceding one gives teams a chance to take the
points from the game. We need to be careful of Swansea on the counter.
"Ultimately, it's about us. We are at home and we have to put the pressure
on them."

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Betway Insider's View of the Opposition: Swansea City
WHUFC.com

Stick or twist? That is the dilemma facing Paul Clement as he seeks to avoid
the sort of relegation danger that saw both of his two most recent
predecessors at Swansea City sacked in the space of 85 days. Clearly,
Clement did an excellent job in keeping the Swans – who were bottom of the
league when he took over in January – in the top flight. But his work to
tighten up a team that shipped more goals than any side except Hull last
season is now in danger of having a detrimental effect. This time around,
Swansea have conceded fewer times than Liverpool, Arsenal and Everton, but
at the other end have mustered just three goals in six matches and managed
only 10 shots on target – the fewest of any team in the division. That
bodes well for the Hammers, who have already won four of their five home
matches against the Swans since their promotion to the Premier League, three
of which were achieved to nil.

As a result, Swansea have been torn between the defensive solidity of a
5-3-2 – which earned an impressive point away to Spurs in their last trip to
London – and a more adventurous 4-4-2 that saw them get back into, but
ultimately lose, their game against Watford last weekend. The contrast
between the two is clearly affecting the players, with captain Federico
Fernandez admitting his team are not as comfortable in possession as the
Swansea of old. That much was clear in their defeat to the Hornets, with
both goals they conceded coming players from losing the ball on the halfway
line after being pressed in possession.

Certainly, Javier Hernandez – who bagged his first home goal against
Tottenham last time out – has both the quick thinking and the quick feet to
capitalise on such errors. But it is Andy Carroll, a striker who poses an
altogether different sort of threat, who could hold the key. West Ham's No9
has scored five goals in six appearances for the Hammers against today's
opposition, and looks a good bet to open his account for the season on
Saturday.

Key numbers

4 – West Ham have won four of their five Premier League home games against
Swansea.

10 – Swansea have had just ten shots on target this season, the fewest in
the division.

5 – Andy Carroll has scored five goals in six matches for the Hammers
against Swansea.

Recommended bets

West Ham and under 3.5 goals – 6/4

West Ham to keep a clean sheet – 11/8

Carroll to score at any time – 13/8

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Shirt auctions raise £27k for Mexican Earthquake Relief
WHUFC.com

Match-worn shirts from West Ham United's Premier League game against
Tottenham Hotspur have raised £27,000 for the Mexican earthquake relief
appeal. The shirts of Hammers stars including Chicharito, Joe Hart, Andy
Carroll and Mark Noble raised £13,500 at auction, with the Club doubling
that figure to give the final total. All proceeds will go to the victims'
families and survivors of last week's devastating Mexican earthquake,
through an appeal launched by Hammers striker and Mexico international
Chicharito, alongside his Mexico teammate Miguel Layun.
West Ham United Joint-Chairman David Sullivan said: "What happened last week
in Mexico moved us all and it was important that we could help in whatever
way we can. "Chicharito and Miugel Layon have done an incredible job in
launching the appeal and we're delighted that the players' shirts raised so
much at auction.
"By doubling the total, we hope the money raised can help make a small
difference to the people of Mexico."

The devastating 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck southern Mexico last
Tuesday, leaving thousands of families homeless and killing more than 200
people.
West Ham's Chicharito and Porto's Layun launched the #YoXMexico initiative
to aid their compatriots by raising funds that will help deliver food and
supplies to those most affected by the disaster, via Red Cross and Los
Topos, an organisation specialising in cleaning debris. Chicharito added:
"Thank you to the Hammers fans and thank you to the Club for their generous
backing for the appeal and support for the people of my country. "Being so
far from Mexico and seeing the suffering from a distance has been very
painful so Miguel and I felt it was important to give our people a helping
hand. "The money raised by this auction will make a difference at this
difficult time, so we are extremely grateful for your support."

The auctions have now closed, but if you wish to donate to the appeal you
can do so at youcaring.com/yoxmex or follow #YoXMexico on Twitter at
@YoXMexico

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Andre Ayew hungry for victory over brother Jordan
WHUFC.com

Andre Ayew is hungry for victory over brother Jordan when Swansea City
visit. West Ham United's Ghana forward welcomes his younger sibling to
London Stadium this weekend, with sibling bragging rights as well as Premier
League points at stake. Andre and Jordan have faced one another in both
French and English football, with both tasting success, while the famous
sons of African footballing legend Abedi 'Pele' Ayew have lined up together
for Ghana nearly 50 times. For the Hammers No20, the brothers' latest
footballing showdown also means a full house and, he hopes, a tasty
celebration meal on Saturday evening. "As usual, any time I play against my
little brother, the whole family is up to it," Andre told the Official
Matchday Programme. "Everyone comes over, the whole family, whether it's in
London or in Swansea, so now we're playing at home first, so it's going to
be good. Most importantly, we need the points. "Our paths cross a lot,
because most of the time we've played in the same league, so we've been
lucky enough to play versus one another, and also together for Marseille and
in the national team too. "Not a lot of brothers have the chance to feel
what we are experiencing, so I feel we are blessed and our family is
blessed. Football has given us so much, so we just need to give back to the
game."

To read the revealing feature-length interviews with Andre and Jordan Ayew,
order your copy of Saturday's 100-page Official Matchday Programme here.

Issue four of the 2017/18 season also contains an in-depth interview with
cover star Jose Fonte, Carlton Cole's hilarious West Ham Scrapbook, Marko
Arnautovic's hip-hop and reggaetón Playlist and Michail Antonio's FIFA 18
review.

With exclusive columns penned by Slaven Bilic, Mark Noble, David Gold and
Tony Cottee, and interviews with famous fans Essex Cricket star Varun Chopra
and Cleveland Browns linebacker Joe Schobert and much, much more, Saturday's
Official Matchday Programme is not to be missed!

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West Ham United v Swansea City
SAT, 30 SEPT 2017
PREMIER LEAGUE
15:00
Venue: London Stadium
BBC.co.uk

TEAM NEWS

West Ham's Manuel Lanzini is fit again after a month out with a knee injury.
Michail Antonio has overcome the groin problem which forced him off against
Tottenham last weekend.

Swansea captain Leon Britton has recovered from a back injury but head coach
Paul Clement has hinted he may struggle to force his way back into
contention for Saturday's game. Ki Sung-Yueng is set to feature for the
Under-23 side this weekend, having been out since June with a knee injury.

MOTD COMMENTATOR'S NOTES

Simon Brotherton: "Carlo Ancelotti's departure from Bayern Munich means the
gossip surrounding Slaven Bilic has gone into overdrive. "So now even more
of Bilic's time is taken up answering questions regarding his seemingly
tenuous position as West Ham's manager. "In the bottom three with four
points from the opening six matches clearly isn't where the owners figured
they'd be. "Things could change quite quickly though, with winnable-looking
games against Swansea, Burnley, Brighton and Crystal Palace in the next
month. "Swansea are a tough nut to crack, though. Well organised, they're
unbeaten away from home this season and have yet to concede a goal on the
road in the Premier League."

Twitter: @SimonBrotherton

WHAT THE MANAGERS SAY

West Ham manager Slaven Bilic: "It's like we are playing a cup final every
week. It's not like a league game. "But at least we got used to that - or I
got used to that - and we are reacting. Hopefully we will do the same on
Saturday."

Swansea head coach Paul Clement: "We have worked on some things this week
and I want to play a positive line-up on Saturday, a line-up that can get us
the right result. "Good defending gives you a platform, but we have done a
number of sessions this week on getting some of our patterns right
offensively. "I have seen some positive signs in training, as I did in the
second half against Watford, and I am sure the positive attacking
performances are not far away."

LAWRO'S PREDICTION

West Ham did well to get back into the game in their 3-2 defeat by Tottenham
last week, but the scoreline probably flattered the Hammers a bit. Swansea
also lost, at home to Watford, and I am a bit worried about them.
Prediction: 2-0

MATCH FACTS

Head-to-head

West Ham's only defeat in the past nine Premier League games against Swansea
was 4-1 at Upton Park in May 2016 (W5, D3).
Swansea have never kept a clean sheet at West Ham, a 31-match run stretching
back to 1922 in all competitions.

West Ham United

West Ham have lost four of their opening six Premier League matches.
Another defeat would mean they equal their lowest points tally after seven
matches of a Premier League campaign, set last season.
The Hammers have only held the lead for 18 minutes in the Premier League so
far this season. Only Crystal Palace, who are yet to be ahead in a game,
have a worse record.
Andy Carroll has been involved in eight goals in six Premier League games
against Swansea for the Hammers, scoring five goals and assisting three.
All 40 of Javier Hernandez's Premier League goals have been scored inside
the penalty area.

Swansea City

Swansea are unbeaten away from home this season in all competitions (W3,
D2).
They are yet to concede an away goal in this season's top flight. They could
become only the fourth Premier League team not to concede in any of their
first four away games of a season.
Those clean sheets are as many as they had in the previous two seasons
combined.
However, the Swans have only scored three goals and had 10 shots on target
in the Premier League this season.
Their total of 38 attempts on goal this season is the fewest in the Premier
League. Tottenham's Harry Kane has had 41.

SAM's verdict
Most probable score: 1-0 Probability of draw: 26%
Probability of home win: 51% Probability of away win: 23%
SAM (Sports Analytics Machine) is a super-computer created by @ProfIanMcHale
at the University of Liverpool that is used to predict the outcome of
football matches.

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Slaven Bilic: No one mentions it when substitutions work, but get it wrong
and you're alone
SLAVEN BILIC
ES Sport

When I was asked at the start of this season for one wish to be granted, I
replied that I wanted stability. Unfortunately, we haven't yet achieved that
goal. We are still in a period of turbulence, but I remain confident about
the future. The season didn't start well for us — there is no sense in
denying it — so it was never going to be calm and cool after that. We had to
do something — and we did. We changed things a little and the result was
four points and two clean sheets from two games — three if you count the
League Cup win over Bolton. That calmed things down a little, but then one
defeat, at home to Spurs last Saturday, and the winds are blowing again.
At one time in the match it was 3-0 and it looked bad. It was never a 3-0
game, as we proved when the players showed great character to battle back to
3-2. If anyone was going to score another goal at the end it was us, but
time ran out. We were very disappointed. I thought we had done well until a
10-minute spell when we made mistakes for the first two goals. You can't
make avoidable errors against Spurs because they are clinical. They will
punish you, as they showed against us and in the Champions League this week
in Cyprus. Now the turbulence is once again with us, but we are determined
not to let that one result blow us off course. We lost, yes, but, as against
Southampton, we came back from conceding early goals. That, for me, shows we
have good character and that we are a fit team. We must keep that
concentration. You can't afford, when you play against the top teams, to
lose your concentration and discipline, to leave the position where you
should be for 90 minutes.
There was some criticism, also, of my decision, when Michail Antonio had to
leave the field, to bring on Andy Carroll. We had options and I decided on
that one. I also brought on Arthur Masuaku, who crossed the ball for our
second goal, but no one seemed to mention that, just as they didn't talk
about me bringing on Andre Ayew for Chicharito against Huddersfield before
he scored. That is football. When a substitution works — and they don't
always work, no matter who is the manager — everyone would have done it, but
when it doesn't immediately go well, then you are on your own.

That's life.

We have some matches in October which, on paper anyway, give us an
opportunity to pick up points, move up the table and switch off that
spotlight which is on us, at least for a while. After Swansea at home on
Saturday, we have the international break, and then we go to Burnley,
followed by Brighton at home and then Crystal Palace away. We also play
Spurs in the Carabao Cup.

These are crucial games and, with everyone back from international duty fit
and well, we are confident. We shouldn't think too far ahead, though. Let us
just focus on this match against Swansea and see where we are after that.

The match on Saturday is the final one before the players — and we have a
lot of them — go away to represent their countries. Sometimes teams are a
bit cautious in these pre-international break games. No-one wants to lose
because, if they do, they have to live with it for the next couple of weeks;
you don't have another game to make it up a few days later. We are not
absolutely sure how many players will be going. We are still waiting for
confirmation on some, because they are on stand-by.

Back here, we will have a couple of days off, but then be back training. In
the last international break, we also worked on fitness levels, and it
worked well because we looked strong against Huddersfield. Winston Reid, for
example, has to go to Japan for a friendly for New Zealand but he has to
play because their next game is a qualifying tie.

The same questions about my future resurfaced after the Spurs game. There is
no way for me to change that, and I am not going to moan about it because I
have a job I love at a club I love, so what good does moaning do?

It's a simple story. If we win some games, those sorts of questions will be
packed away in a drawer — but it will never be locked. It's been going on
for a long period now but I'm not tired, it won't affect what I do.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
TIME TO STOP BERATING OUR CAPTAIN; HE STILL HAS A KEY ROLE TO PLAY!
AUTHOR: EXWHUEMPLOYEE. PUBLISHED: 28 SEPTEMBER 2017 AT 8:45PM
TheWestHamWay.co.uk
Article by @jasoninge

I was approached by a fellow site writer (@FarehamHammer) a couple of weeks
about writing an article about our club captain, Mark Noble. Paul and I have
strongly debated for many years on twitter about whether or not, Nobes or as
he calls him the 'Canning Town Huff and Puff Merchant' should be in the West
Ham team.

Earlier in the week, Paul wrote an article about the Tottenham defeat and
Mark Noble. Regarding the Spurs game, obviously losing to them lot is a
painful as it gets. It was a weird game; we started very well and were just
wasteful in the final third. Then, what has become a regular occurrence,
sloppy mistakes by the players cost us goals, leaving us with an uphill
battle. However ultimately we didn't get the draw we should have earned with
three penalties shouts turned down. The push on Carroll at the end, left me
furious, having stated to a fellow season ticket holder after the
Southampton game, where Zabaleta gave away the softest of penalties you will
ever see, watch what happens when someone barges Carroll out of the way and
we won't get a penalty! Oh to be a big club, so we actually get some fair
treatment from the match officials. Now a lot has been made of the
substitution to bring on Carroll for the injured Antonio, citing it as yet
another show of Slaven's tactical ineptness. I'm in the minority here, but I
completely understand why tactically Slaven made this change. If you watched
the opening period of the game, Joe Hart in particular was kicking long to
Antonio's head, which is logical, as neither Hernandez nor Arnautovic will
win those headers. Now with Antonio frustratingly going off injured, we lost
our strong, physical outlet and the only real alternative to that is in fact
Andy Carroll. Obviously that meant Hernandez had to switch to the more
withdrawn role, but this suggestion he's playing on the wing is becoming
ridiculous. The system we are currently implementing sees the two players
playing off the central striker as narrow forwards, with the width coming
from the wing backs.

The second part of Paul's article, he put across his reasons as to why he
believes, Mark Noble's time as captain has run its course and it was now
time to give the prestigious honour to summer signing, Pablo Zabaleta. Now,
like most I was delighted when we signed Zaba, with his leadership qualities
and vast experience being the main reason why it's a superb signing. However
in my opinion, Zabaleta's qualities should only go to enhance the teams' key
leaders in the same way the likes of Reid, Collins and Hart do. It is clear
as day that Mark Noble is the linchpin of this current squad and the entire
club for that matter, with the way that his fellow professionals speak so
highly of him. When new players join, they quickly become integrated in a
squad that definitely appears to be a harmonious one, when you compare it to
previous eras. Reflecting on that itself reminds me of the abuse that Nigel
Reo-Coker, Lucas Neil and Kevin Nolan, all received as West Ham captain,
with the vocal minority all feeling they also got preferential treatment by
the manager at that time. Now, what I don't think fans grasp, is when a
manager appoints a captain, he gives it to the man who he believes can
convey his passion and leadership between those white lines, because believe
it or not it's very difficult for the manager to affect the decisions that
the players make out of the pitch (food for thought for those who blame
Slaven for the consistent defensive errors the players make that lead to
goals).

Now I'm sure some will say ok, I respect Noble for everything he's done
previously, make him club captain. We have alternatives and him remaining as
captain, means he will play over either Obiang or Kouyate. For some reason
bewildering reason to me, both players seem to rated so highly amongst a lot
of fans, that you would think they were Sergio Busquets and Yaya Toure,
which they most definitely are not. The Noble haters, would have you believe
that he's a god awful footballer, that slows the play down, can only pass
the ball backwards or sideways, when pressured gives the ball away endlessly
and his reckless tackling puts us under constant pressure. Frankly it's
complete and utter nonsense. If he was really as bad as that he would never
have played over four hundred games for the club, under six different
managers or those people who are far more qualified to judge a footballers
ability than us fans and therefore must be clearly clueless too.
Unfortunately, with those who think they know better every time Mark Noble
does something wrong it is magnified and when other players do the same is
brushed under the carpet. Now as someone who has grown up watching Mark
Noble come through the academy and establish him as a Mr West Ham, I
consider what the haters see as his main weaknesses, actually to be his
biggest strengths. Now, to back up my point I decided to look through data
to show how important Mark Noble is to this team, as well as comparing to
the two players, a lot of fans feel should be in his place instead.

*Stats come from Squawka Passing

Mark Noble Pedro Obiang Cheikou Kouyate
2015/2016 2016/2017 2017/2018 2015/2016
2016/2017 2017/2018 2015/2016 2016/2017 2017/2018
Games Played 37 30 4 24 22 4 34 31
4
Total Forward Passes 1215 865 95 318 662 99 754
633 56
Total Backward Passes 636 504 63 150 218 43 460
410 43
Successful Passes 1607 1191 132 368 722 118 972
879 85
Pass Completion % 86 86 83 78 82 83 79
83 83


As you can see from this the proclaimed opinion from that Mark's passing is
below par is clearly false. The data shows Mark Noble plays more forward
passes than backwards ones by a ratio of almost 2 to 1. As someone that
plays in central midfield and has to very considered in their approach to
when to play safe and when the space is there to go forward, that's what you
would hope for. In addition, a pass completion percentage in the mid 80's
consistently is very good return for any premier league midfielder.
Comparing that to the other two, Pedro does in fact fair slightly better
forward to backward pass ratio than Noble but his completion % is lower.
Cheik's forward to back pass ratio is the lowest of the lot and pass
completion % similar to Obiang's. So basing on the passing debate, it would
be apparent that the weakest of the three is in fact Cheikou Kouyate.

Defence (Tackling & Errors)

Mark Noble Pedro Obiang Cheikou Kouyate
2015/2016 2016/2017 2017/2018 2015/2016 2016/2017
2017/2018 2015/2016 2016/2017 2017/2018
Games Played 37 30 4 24 22 4 34 31
4
Tackles Won 74 32 7 31 57 12 73 53
6
Interceptions 83 40 3 36 32 3 77 80
5
Fouls Committed 36 27 3 20 27 1 36 44
2
Defensive Errors 1 1 0 0 2 0 0
2 0
Errors leading to goals 1 0 0 0 2 0 0
1 0


Evaluating the defensive stats for Nobes, they appear more than adequate. To
only be categorically at fault for 1 goals in the past 3 seasons, reflects
that the complaints about him being dispossessed and costing us goals are
once again false. He intercepts the ball a plenty and doesn't give away a
huge amount of free kicks. You can clearly see it is in fact Kouyate that
commits more fouls and Obiang that errors leading to goals playing less
minutes I might add too.

I conclude with this, Mark Noble is a club legend and has been a
consistently good performer over the last decade, through the good and bad
times. He deserves nothing but admiration and respect from every single West
Ham fan. At 30 years old, he has many a year left, being the captain and a
regular member of this team. It is apparent that the alternatives are in
fact not a class above him. As I stated in my previous article, I live in
hope that one day we will spend the money required to take this club forward
and if that day comes, Mark Noble will gracefully be moved aside. As shown
by the failure to sign William Carvalho for financial reasons, that day
doesn't appear to be near. However we do have a decent squad that I believe
can take us up the league and I will back whatever the manager decides
regarding team selection. I urge my fellow fans to do the same and stop with
the constant negativity towards the owners, players and manager. He deserves
the opportunity to turn things around and get his best team out on the pitch
consistently, which after 6 games he simply hasn't. A positive atmosphere is
needed on Saturday and the win will come.

Come on you Irons!

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West Ham v Swansea preview: Manuel Lanzini, Michail Antonio back to boost
hosts
Last Updated: 29/09/17 12:41pm
SSN

West Ham boss Slaven Bilic has seen his attacking options boosted ahead of
Saturday's visit of Swansea for a game he describes as another "cup final".
Lanzini is fit after a month out with a knee injury and Antonio has shrugged
off the groin problem which forced him off against Tottenham last weekend.
West Ham are back in the bottom three ahead of Saturday's clash but fixtures
against Burnley, Brighton and Crystal Palace loom and Bilic is confident his
side can climb the table. "We have some players back, we have the stability
and we have a good run of games, compared with some of those we have
played," he said. "We beat Swansea twice last season. We'll analyse them and
all that, but to be fair we are at home and it is up to us. "When our backs
are to the wall we are all in this together, and we have always done it.
This is the reason why I am optimistic. I am thinking only about Swansea,
but we have that opportunity now to get out of this."

Team news

With Lanzini and Antonio back in the ranks, defender James Collins (ankle)
and midfielder Pedro Obiang (muscle injury) are the only absentees. Swansea
boss Paul Clement could turn to skipper Leon Britton at the London Stadium.
The veteran's only appearance this season came on the opening day at
Southampton but he has now made a full recovery from a knee injury as head
coach Paul Clement considers his midfield options. On-loan Renato Sanches
and Tammy Abraham could also return as Ki Sung-yueng (knee) and Nathan Dyer
(Achilles) prepare to build their fitness in an under-23 game against
Celtic.

Match stats

West Ham have only lost one of their last nine Premier League games against
Swansea (W5 D3), a 4-1 defeat at the London Stadium in May 2016.
Swansea have never kept an away clean sheet at West Ham, conceding 74 goals
in 31 games in all competitions, stretching back to an FA Cup match in 1922
(W2 D7 L22).
West Ham United have only held the lead for 18 minutes in the Premier League
so far this season - only Crystal Palace (0 mins) have been in front for
less time.
Swansea City have allowed their opponents 72 more shots in total & 23 more
shots on target than they have attempted themselves in the Premier League
this season; the biggest negative differential by a team in 2017-18 so far.
Javier Hernandez has now scored 40 Premier League goals - all inside the
box. The only players with more goals in the competition to have all come
from inside the box are John Terry (41) and Tim Cahill (56).
Slaven Bilic has averaged 1.35 points per league game as West Ham United
manager - this is the best record of any permanent manager the Hammers have
had in the Premier League.

Merson's prediction

West Ham have been a bit better in recent weeks. They had the win over
Huddersfield before getting a solid point away at West Brom. Then came last
weekend's 3-2 defeat to Spurs and if I'm being honest, I thought the
scoreline flattered the Hammers. I thought Slaven Bilic made a bit of an
error in that game because he started with Javier Hernandez up front and
then when Michael Antonio got injured he brought Andy Carroll on. By
starting Hernandez, it tells me Bilic thought he was going to cause
Tottenham more problems with pace and movement in attack so why didn't he
bring on Andre Ayew to replace Antonio? With Carroll on the field I thought
West Ham went from back to front too quickly. They would have worked on a
game plan all week and it all went out the window when it could have stayed
the same. However, I can see them getting back to winning ways here against
a Swansea side, struggling for form and confidence.

PAUL PREDICTS: 2-0 (7/1 with Sky Bet)

Betting

West Ham are marginally odds-on with Sky Bet at 5/6, with Swansea up against
odds of 100/30 to win and 5/2 to secure a draw. Andy Carroll and Javier
Hernandez share favouritism in the first goalscorer betting at 4/1 apiece,
while Tammy Abraham is considered the visitors' main threat at 5/1 to break
the deadlock.

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Oxford's coming home
KUMB.com
Filed: Friday, 29th September 2017
By: Staff Writer

Reece Oxford's season-long loan spell at Borussia Monchengladbach is to end
early. The 18-year-old central defender moved to Germany during the summer
with view to gaining a year's experience in the Bundesliga. However the
England youth international is packing his pags in preparation for a return
to England, after the two clubs agreed to cancel the agreement just two
months into the season. KUMB reported earlier this month how Oxford was
still waiting to make his first start for Monchengladbach - since when he
has remained on the bench, even though his side were thrashed 6-1 defeat at
Borussia Dortmund last week. And it is thought that the Hammers have become
increasingly frustrated at Oxford's lack of game time, leading to the
decision to bring him back to London, some SEVEN months ahead of schedule.
Oxford, who made his first team debut for West Ham at the age of 16 had
previously spent time on loan at Reading, prior to moving to Germany.

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Changes afoot: new director appointed
KUMB.com
Filed: Friday, 29th September 2017
By: Staff Writer

West Ham United have appointed a new American director. J Albert Smith (aka
'Tripp' Smith), who has lived in both the US and UK in recent years has
effectively replaced Swedish director Robert Daniel Svanstrom in the latest
boardroom shake-up. The 42-year-old Swede, who was a non-executive director
of the company between 2015 and 2017 acted as the latest representative of
Straumur, who owned in the region of 10 per cent of West Ham (a legacy of
the club's former Icelandic ownership). According to documents at Companies
House, Svanstrom offically resigned from his position with WH Holding on 21
September - the same day that Smith, 52, was named as a director of the
company, leading to speculation that the bank's share has been sold.

Little is currently known about Smith, a Founder of GSO Capital Partners
(one of the largest alternative asset managers in the world) who is
currently based in Delaware on the US east coast. He is understood to
represent the Blackstone Group, a US-based asset management and financial
services company. Blackstone, whose HQ is based in New York claim to be "one
of the world's leading investment firms", who "seek to create positive
economic impact and long-term value for our investors, the companies we
invest in, and the communities in which we work".

And one of the company's core beliefs states that "in contrast to the
prevailing philosophy of 'other people's money', the firm would always put
significant amounts of its own money in the investments it made."

West Ham United's Board now consists of the following members:

David Sullivan (co-Chair): appointed Jaunary 2010
David Gold (co-Chair): appointed January 2010
Baroness Karren Rita Brady (Vice Chair): appointed January 2010
John Andrew Mollett (Secretary): appointed December 2012
Tara Warren (Marketing): appointed July 2015
J Albert Smith: appointed September 2017

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Reece Oxford to return to West Ham from Borussia Monchengladbach
By Sky Sports News
Last Updated: 29/09/17 12:45pm
SSN

Reece Oxford is to return to West Ham after cutting short his loan at
Borussia Monchengladbach, according to Sky sources. Oxford joined Gladbach
on a season-long loan back in June but is yet to make a first-team
appearance. The centre-half, who can also play in midfield, has been an
unused substitute in all six of the club's Bundesliga games - the most
recent of which ended in a 6-1 defeat at Borussia Dortmund. Oxford was the
Premier League's second-youngest debutant when he started at Arsenal on the
opening weekend of the 2015-16 season. The 18-year-old signed a long-term
contract in December but spent the second half of last season on loan at
Reading and has not played for West Ham for more than a year.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Noble intentions
KUMB.com
Filed: Friday, 29th September 2017
By: Buskerman

I wonder how many fans there are left in The Premier League who can boast
that a local boy captains their side?

Correct me if I am wrong, but I don't recall Hugo Lloris speaking of his
pride at being made Spurs captain after being raised on the mean streets of
N17 and spending every other Saturday of his childhood at White Hart Lane.

Mark Noble is from Canning Town, I'm from Canning Town. If you are from
Canning Town, you will know that tenuous link effectively makes Mark and I
'cousins' to an extent - the type of 'cousins' who have never met and whose
Mums once passed each other in Rathbone Market and shared a nod.

If you are from Canning Town - you will also know that whilst I am allowed
to slag off my cousin, the moment YOU slag off my cousin... that means war.

The reason is quite simple... loyalty.

Cockneys Boys stick together.

Slaven Bilic might have his detractors - but he is nobody's fool. Two of his
very first moves after being given the West Ham hot seat were to add Julian
Dicks to his team and to make Noble his captain.

Slav clearly understands the importance of there needing to be continuity
from management team to pitch, but more so, he understood that the link had
to also be made from the pitch to the stands. Like many of us may well have
done, he chose Mark.

Noble simply IS West Ham. He represents each and every one of us whose dream
it was to turn out for our boyhood club, much less captain them. He
represents the dreams of any of us whose son is showing signs of developing
into a decent player.

He represents the dream. My boy/our boy plays for West Ham.

Slav's decision in his first season in charge seemed like an inspired one.
By the end of that campaign Noble wasn't so much knocking on the door to be
included in the England set up - as he was kicking it down.

That season will no doubt be up there in Mark's memory when he hangs up his
boots as one of his finest. Which brings me to the point...

Whilst so many of us have a special affinity with Noble, a huge amount of
respect for everything that he has done for us and want to show him the same
level of loyalty he has shown us - the question does need to be asked.

The old adage states that 'time waits for no man' - and this is no longer
2015/16.

Many of you will have noticed a downturn in Noble's productivity, and I
would think even the staunchest of his supporters will have a hard time
arguing that his form has not suffered from a significant dip of late.

I hate myself for writing this, but Noble is treading water, and in some
people's eyes, maybe even quicksand. From those heady days of putting the
ball on a sixpence and threading it through the eye of a needle, to now -
something has evidently changed.

Mark seems content with knocking the ball sideways or backwards recently and
its effects on our game is apparent. There is no swift transition from
defence to attack, but in fairness there doesn't seem like there is a player
in the entire squad who could serve to help with that quandary right now.
Perhaps Lanzini aside.

We are all very much aware that the side lacks an identity; we have gone
from a team lightning-quick on the counter to one that seems content with
lumping it forward to big AC (again). Whilst many of us hope that this is a
stabilising tactic from Slav to stem the flow, it also speaks of the type of
personnel in the current squad, or the lack thereof.

So what has happened to Noble? Where is the swashbuckling Noble of 2015/16?

Has Father Time caught up with him? Have his legs gone? I would like to
think not... after all, many will argue that Noble never had legs in the
first instance, his game was not and has never been based on that.

Yet, Noble has gone from looking like a man on top of the world to one who
seems to be carrying it on his shoulders lately.

He finds himself in the unenviable position of being the mouthpiece of the
Board to the fans, whilst trying to support the manager as well. That job
would be a huge cross to bear for anyone, let alone someone who loves the
club as much as he clearly does.

Let's not forget too that he, as much as anyone else, has also been forced
out of his spiritual home at Upton Park, and dumped into the soulless bowl
that is the Olympic Stadium.

The Noble of old had the crowd on his shoulder, the cauldron of noise
spurring him on, the roar of us all carrying him forwards and as a result,
the rest of the team too. It would appear to me that something has been
taken from him, and just maybe from the rest of us as well.

We cannot be too harsh on him, given that we know that Noble was carrying an
injury towards the tail end of last year; that will damage any player's
confidence.

The Premier League is so competitive that if you take your foot off the gas
by even 5 per cent, you will get battered. Get battered and your confidence
will fly out of the window quicker than a bird whose cage door has just been
opened.

Once that happens, are you really going to be nonchalantly spraying the ball
40 yards, and trying that outside of the boot through ball into the channel
- or are you going to play it safe and hope not to be the next player to
make a costly mistake?

None of us wants to see the last remnant of 'our' West Ham taken out of the
side... after all, once that has gone, what is there left?

So where does that leave us? Well, in my opinion, sometimes even 'leaders'
need protecting - perhaps now is the time for us to put our arm around Mark
and give him the support and the love he has given to the club over the
years.

My best thinking says give the lad some time off, and give him the rest and
recuperation he needs to find his way back. In my mind, the best thing we
could do for Noble is to give him some respite, a period out of the firing
line, a bit of time spent with his family, and away from the pressure.

I would love to think that if we gave his battle-scarred body the proper
time to heal and let his mind have the space to miss football and fall back
in love with the game again, who knows?

What I do know is this... the Noble of 15/16 would win a place in most
Premier League sides.

Why should Noble be afforded such special treatment? The reason is quite
simple.... Loyalty.

Cockney Boys stick together.


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.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Reece Oxford to return to West Ham with loan deal at Borussia
Monchengladbach to be terminated
The young defender will return to the London Stadium in December
Football London
BYROB GUEST
12:11, 29 SEP 2017

football.london understands that Reece Oxford will return to West Ham from
Borussia Monchengladbach in December. Despite sealing a loan move to the
Bundesliga club at the start of the summer, Monchengladbach are believed to
have agreed to terminate the deal. While the youngster was expected to make
a big impression for the German side, things haven't gone quite to plan in
his first few months at Borussia-Park. Although chances have been few and
far between in the first team, the defender could actually be in line to
make his first start for Monchengladbach this weekend after their thrashing
at Borussia Dortmund. Manager Dieter Hecking, speaking ahead of the game
against Hannover 96, said: "Reece has taken a step forward in the last few
weeks. "He's a young, talented centre back and if he gets the chance, he has
to make the most of it. "It's nice to see the young players chomping at the
bit and making their case in training. "You can see it in Michaël Cuisance
too – he's already made two appearances in the Bundesliga. "Julio Villalba
has made one short appearance. "We didn't plan this at the start of the
season because we knew the boys needed more game time to get used to this
level of football, but they haven't been able to prove themselves in
competitive matches yet."
With Oxford set to return to east London, he will compete for a spot in
Slaven Bilic's starting XI on his arrival back at the London Stadium. His
disappointing loan spell comes after a similar experience in the
Championship with Reading last season.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
REECE OXFORD SET TO RETURN FROM BORUSSIA MONCHENGLADBACH
MICHAEL OLIVER @MichaelOIiver
ReadWestHam

Many fans questioned why West Ham allowed Reece Oxford to leave for Borussia
Monchengladbach on a season-long loan but it appears as if the talented
teenager will be returning prematurely. The versatile centre-back has yet to
make a single appearance for the Bundesliga side this season and he will be
coming back to East London earlier than expected. Oxford broke into the
first-team early in the 2015/16 season where he made 14 appearances across
all competitions and impressed on his Premier League debut during a 2-0 away
win at Arsenal where he played in a holding midfield position. An ankle
injury caused him to miss much of the first half of last season before he
joined Reading on loan in January where he failed to make much of an impact.
A decision has been made to recall the 18-year-old early where, one would
imagine, he would rejoin the first-team setup at the London Stadium. Declan
Rice has enjoyed a run in the first-team this season as Slaven Bilic
illustrates he's willing to hand opportunities to young players which should
give Oxford the confidence to work his way back into contention.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Anderlecht ace Lukasz Teodorczyk in demand as Liverpool and West Ham joined
in chase
By talkSPORT - @talkSPORT
Friday, September 29, 2017

Torino have joined Liverpool and West Ham in the race for Anderlecht star
Lukasz Teodorczyk. The striker enjoyed a brilliant campaign last season and
he ended up being the top scorer in the Belgian top-flight after netting 22
league goals. The 26-year-old's performances have caught the eye of
Liverpool and West Ham, with both clubs tracking him in the summer. But,
according to Tuttosport, Torino are now trying to sneak in and win the race
for Teodorczyk. The Italian club are on the hunt for a new striker as they
fear their star forward Andrea Belotti could leave soon. The 23-year-old
scored 26 goals last season and he is a target for AC Milan, Chelsea and
Manchester United. And, if Belotti does decide he wants to leave, Torino are
ready to swoop for Teodorczyk as a replacement.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Paul Merson criticises Slaven Bilic's latest West Ham mistakes
HITC
Dan Coombs

Pundit says he felt West Ham manager's decisions against Tottenham made no
sense. Paul Merson has told SkySports he feels West Ham boss Slaven Bilic
executed a confused game plan against Tottenham Hotspur. While the Hammers
suffered an early injury blow to Michail Antonio, Merson says he felt West
Ham should have brought on Andre Ayew instead of Andy Carroll. West Ham lost
the game 3-2, but only managed to get back into it after Spurs were reduced
to 10 men, with Merson commenting that he felt the scoreline 'flattered' the
Hammers. He said: "I thought Slaven Bilic made a bit of an error in that
game because he started with Javier Hernandez up front and then when Michael
Antonio got injured he brought Andy Carroll on. "By starting Hernandez, it
tells me Bilic thought he was going to cause Tottenham more problems with
pace and movement in attack so why didn't he bring on Andre Ayew to replace
Antonio? "With Carroll on the field I thought West Ham went from back to
front too quickly. They would have worked on a game plan all week and it all
went out the window when it could have stayed the same."
Merson believes West Ham will have more success when they host Swansea City
this weekend, and is tipping Bilic's side for a 2-0 victory. The loss to
Spurs puts West Ham under pressure in the Premier League as they have only
one win so far. This has left them in 18th place, inside the relegation
zone, with a goal difference of minus seven. Opponents Swansea City are in
15th, but only have one point more than the Hammers.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
MATCH PREVIEW: WEST HAM V SWANSEA
By Dan Coker 29 Sep 2017 at 08:00
WTID

Blast from the past

Christmas Eve 1955 – Sir Laurence Olivier was in UK cinemas as Richard III,
Dickie Valentine was number one with 'Christmas Alphabet' and another
Dickie, West Ham United inside-forward John Dick, was amongst the goals in a
5-1 victory over this weekend's opponents Swansea City (or Swansea Town as
they were then known) in front of 15,857 at Upton Park.

Dick was joined on the scoresheet that Christmas Eve afternoon by
outside-forward Harry Hooper (pictured below), striker Billy Dare,
right-back John Bond (who would later go on to manage Swansea in the 1980s)
and winger Ken Tucker. The Hammers were struggling two places above the
Second Division relegation zone in 19th place so the win provided some
much-needed Christmas cheer in the East End. Dare would go on to be the
Hammers' top scorer of 1955/56, with 25 goals in 49 matches.

Ted Fenton's Hammers would finish 16th in the Second Division in 1955/56,
while Ronnie Burgess' Swansea would end the campaign in 10th. Sheffield
Wednesday topped the Second Division, Manchester United won the First
Division title and Manchester City won the FA Cup.

West Ham United: Ernie Gregory, John Bond, Malcolm Allison, Noel Cantwell,
Frank O'Farrell, Andy Malcolm, Harry Hooper, Billy Dare, Ken Tucker, Brian
Moore, John Dick.

Club Connections

West Ham United's Andre Ayew could face his previous club. A small number of
players join him in having worn the shirts of both West Ham United and
Swansea City. These include:

Goalkeeper: Noel Dwyer.

Defenders: Andy Melville and Shaun Byrne.

Midfielders: Frank Lampard Junior and Matthew Rush.

Strikers: Tudor Martin, Frank Nouble and Lee Chapman.

John Bond also represented both clubs, playing for the Hammers and managing
the Swans.

Today's focus though is on a player who turned out for West Ham before
representing Swansea later in his career. Jimmy Carr was an outside-left who
was born on 19th December 1893 in Maryhill, Glasgow. He joined Watford in
1908 at the age of 14 and made his Southern League debut as a 16-year-old.
The 20-year-old Carr moved to West Ham United in 1914 and made his debut in
a 1-1 home draw with Swindon on 26th September 1914. With the perfect build
for a winger at 5'7 in height and weighing in at 10st, he scored his only
Hammers goal in his sixth appearance, a 2-0 win over Plymouth at Upton Park
on 5th December 1914. His ninth and final appearance for the Irons was on
the 30th January 1915, in a 1-1 draw at Swindon, the same opposition and
result as his debut.

During World War One, Carr was enlisted into the Army as a Private and
played as a guest for Portsmouth and Kilmarnock in the Wartime Leagues.
After the cessation of hostilities, Carr joined Reading in 1919, spending
four years in Berkshire and making over 100 appearances for the club before
moving to Southampton (he is pictured right during his Reading days). Three
years at The Dell (where he would be an FA Cup Semi-Finalist in 1925) was
followed by the 32-year-old Carr's switch to Swansea Town, as they were then
known, in May 1926.

Carr scored one goal in seven appearances for the Swans but, with the end of
his career approaching, he took the unprecedented step of placing an
advertisement in the Athletic News, stating that he would 'assist a club
outside the League in exchange for a business'. Carr was soon playing for
Southall and running The Red Lion Hotel in the town. Jimmy Carr passed away
in Harrow on 26th June 1980, at the age of 86.

Referee

Saturday's referee will be Roger East; the Wiltshire-based official has been
taking charge of Premier League fixtures since 2012 but has only taken
charge of three previous West Ham matches in the top flight, those being the
1-1 home draw with Stoke in April 2015, the 3-2 home defeat to Leicester in
March 2017 and, more recently, the 0-0 draw with Everton in April.

The 52-year-old has also refereed the Hammers in the FA Cup, for the fourth
round replay win over Liverpool in February 2016 and for the 2-1
quarter-final replay defeat to Manchester United in April of the same year.
He also sent off Portsmouth's Liam Lawrence and West Ham's Frederic
Piquionne in the Irons' 4-3 home win over Pompey in September 2011.

Possible line-ups

Slaven Bilic should have Manuel Lanzini back in the squad after injury – the
Argentine has only appeared once this season, as a half-time substitute at
Newcastle last month. Michail Antonio will be in the squad while James
Collins could have a late fitness test. Pedro Obiang is still sidelined and
Edimilson Fernandes is a doubt. Arthur Masuaku impressed from the bench in a
more advanced role against Tottenham and could be challenging Marko
Arnautovic, who was again below par in a Premier League game for his new
club. Andre Ayew also comes into the reckoning against his former club.
Pablo Zabaleta is one yellow card away from a one-match suspension.

Swansea City will be without injured centre-half Kyle Bartley, while winger
Nathan Dyer is lacking match fitness. Midfield man Sung-Yong Ki will be
playing for the Swans' Under-23 side against Celtic while his team-mates are
in action at London Stadium as he continues his recovery from a knee injury.
Roque Mesa, Renato Sanches and Tammy Abraham are pushing for starts after
appearing from the bench against Watford last weekend.

Possible West Ham United XI: Hart; Fonte, Reid, Ogbonna; Zabaleta, Kouyate,
Noble, Cresswell; Lanzini, Carroll, Chicharito.

Possible Swansea City XI: Fabianski; van der Hoorn, Fernandez, Mawson;
Naughton, Carroll, Mesa, Sanches, Olsson; Ayew, Abraham.

Enjoy the game – Up The Hammers!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Bolton Wanderers boss Phil Parkinson has faith in West Ham United pair Josh
Cullen and Reece Burke after tough start
Marc Iles MarcIles
chief football writer

PHIL Parkinson insists under-fire loanees Reece Burke and Josh Cullen will
come good for Wanderers. The Whites boss leapt to the defence of the young
West Ham United stars, who have endured a tough start to life at the Macron
Stadium Bolton fans had high hopes for the Hammers academy graduates when
they arrived in the summer but they have been caught in the cross-fire of
the club's poor start, with one fans' website even called for them to be
sent back to their parent club. Burke and Cullen, both 21, sat out Tuesday
night's defeat at Bristol City as Parkinson plumped for his most experienced
available line-up.
But the manager is convinced the two players need to be helped along in a
rocky patch of form by the squad's senior heads. "With Josh and Reece I
almost feel they are trying too hard, they are absolutely desperate to get
the win," he told The Bolton News. "They really, really want to do well for
Bolton Wanderers but it's almost working against them at the moment. "Reece
has made a couple of decision-making errors I have never seen him do before,
and it's just that bit of pressure, Josh is the same but we have been asking
him to do a man's job and covering a lot of ground in the centre of the
midfield. At times he hasn't had much help. "Josh needs a Karl Henry to boss
him around and tell him where he should be, rather than a young man having
to take that all on himself."

Parkinson could bring a rested Burke, Cullen and Adam Armstrong back into
the reckoning at Villa Park, buoyed by the performance, if not the result,
at Bristol in midweek. The Whites boss has also come in for criticism from
sections of the support in recent weeks but he is appealing for fans to keep
faith at Villa Park. "It's small steps in terms of where we were last
weekend against Brentford," he said. "But we have to take heart going to
Villa Park. We know we have got to get results, we completely understand.
"Supporters will always feel down when their team has been beaten but you
want to be in my shoes, I promise, I feel it just as badly. "When the lads
stay strong as they did against Bristol City it gives me heart. I believed
all along that we would get results; it hasn't happened yet but I am
confident it will. "We have got good character in the group."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Richard Keys comments on Joe Hart's West Ham United situation
HITC
Shane Callaghan

Richard Keys likes West Ham United's Joe Hart, but disagrees with the loan
system. Richard Keys has written in his blog that although the signing of
Joe Hart represents a "great piece of business" for West Ham United, he
believes it is wrong that loanees typically do not face their parent clubs
in the Premier League.
West Ham pulled off quite a coup in the summer by signing the 30-year-old
goalkeeper on a season-long loan from Manchester City. The Irons travel to
Eastlands on December 2 and Hart is likely to be contractually obliged to
sit that one out. And Keys argues that the Premier League should either
stipulate that loan players can face their parent club, or just "simply stop
the arrangement altogether". The former Sky Sports presenter believes it is
wrong that Hart can potentially scupper other team's chances of the title
whilst boosting City's in the process. "West Ham haven't broken any rules
taking Joe Hart on loan, in fact they've done a great piece of business," he
wrote on his blog. "But it's still wrong that Hart can have the effect on
the title race that he will be keeping goal for The Hammers against all the
challengers - except City. "There are two solutions - let the loanees play
against their parent club - or simply stop the arrangement altogether. I'd
do the latter." Chelsea have five players on loan at Premier League clubs,
Manchester United and City have one, while Liverpool, Tottenham and Arsenal
have none.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
DAVID WOODS COLUMN: Bilic could be sacked after Swansea game.
SWANSEA could prove to be poor Slaven Bilic's swansong tomorrow.
Daily Star
By David Woods, Chief Football Writer / Published 29th September 2017

It's easy to pity the likeable Croatian, but hard to have sympathy for West
Ham's hierarchy. Since moving to the London Stadium it's been more a case of
forever bursting bubbles rather than blowing them. Because let's cut to the
chase, the former Olympic centrepiece is not a football stadium, never has
been and never will be. What it is for the club is a cash cow, capable of
bringing in so much more dosh because of its 66,000 capacity. Rather than
the 35,000 that could be packed into the atmospheric and intimidating Boleyn
Ground. The consequence of moving the four miles from E13 to E20 has been
catastrophic. The Irons have lost their mettle, the heart and soul has gone
from the club. "That walk to the stadium is charmless, the ground itself
uninspiring and one can only guess how awful the view is from some of the
seats at the back" Going to the match against Spurs last Saturday and
walking once again from Stratford, the thought occurred there was something
almost post-apocalyptic about the journey along the shut-off road. The
stroll wasn't helped when I took my bag to be sniffed by an explosive
detector dog and I gave a customary smile at the handler, who then snarled
back in true canine fashion. That walk to the stadium is charmless, the
ground itself uninspiring and one can only guess how awful the view is from
some of the seats at the back. It is against this backdrop that Bilic is
fighting to keep the Hammers in the top flight. Last season they scored just
19 goals at home in the Premier League, in their last one at Upton Park they
bagged 34 as they finished seventh. A loss at 'home' to Swansea tomorrow,
coupled with Bournemouth getting at least a point against Leicester will see
the Hammers in the bottom two and Bilic's odds of being the next manager to
be sacked will shorten. They're already as low at 5-4. You'd love to know
what he really feels about having to play at the Lowdown, sorry London
Stadium. To be fair to the club's fans, on the evidence of last Saturday
they're trying to raise their own game as they bid to get used to the
appalling lack of intimacy. But it's hard to imagine any team ever again
having even the slightest trepidation about playing West Ham away. And easy
to picture supporters pouring out early once more if the team flops again
tomorrow.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Legend Carlo Ancelotti back in the West Ham frame after dramatic sacking by
German giants Bayern Munich
Slaven Bilic is under pressure with his Hammers in the drop zone and the
Italian has expressed an interest in the post before
The Mirror
BYADRIAN KAJUMBA
22:30, 28 SEP 2017

Carlo Ancelotti has immediately been linked with the West Ham manager's job
after his dramatic sacking by German giants Bayern Munich. Slaven Bilic is
still in charge of the Hammers despite weeks of speculation that he is about
to be replaced. But he is under pressure as they have just four points from
six games and remain in the drop zone with one match left, at home to fellow
strugglers Swansea on Saturday, before the October international break.
Ancelotti — who delivered the Double to Chelsea in 2010 and is a three-time
Champions League winning coach — expressed an interest in the West Ham post
six years ago, when the east Londoners had just been relegated to the
Championship.
With bookies installing the Italian at just 10/1 to be the next Hammers
boss, Bilic admitted the speculation affects him. He said: "Sometimes you
laugh, sometimes you are angry, sometimes you are down and other times it
makes you more motivated. "It affects you. Of course it does. You are human.
"I can't moan about my job. I am only fed up talking about it. It is part of
the job and of course I want to get out of this situation. "The only way to
do it is to have more good days than bad days."
Ancelotti's sacking has sparked a power battle at Bayern. The club hierarchy
are split over how best to replace the 58-year-old former AC Milan, Paris
Saint-Germain and Real Madrid boss, who was axed following a disappointing
start to the season. President Uli Hoeness wants Ancelotti's No2 Willy
Sagnol to stay on until the end of the season before making a move for a
rising managerial star, Hoffenheim's 30-year-old Julian Nagelsmann, next
summer. But chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge wants to go after former
Borussia Dortmund boss Thomas Tuchel right away. Tuchel is out of work after
leaving Bayern's big rivals Dortmund at the end of last season and recently
himself rejected interest from West Ham after being sounded out about the
possibility of replacing Bilic. For now, Sagnol has been handed the reigns
at the Allianz Arena on an interim basis.
There were murmurs of discontent at Bayern last season, despite Ancelotti
leading them to a fifth straight German title in his debut season. The
Italian's laid-back approach and preference for giving his stars freedom and
trust to go out and play didn't go down well with a group who felt they
improved as a result of hard taskmaster Pep Guardiola's more demanding style
and clear philosophy. Fallouts with key players such as Arjen Robben, Frank
Ribery and Thomas Muller were also ominous for Ancelotti. The axe fell after
Wednesday's 3-0 Champions League thumping at Paris Saint-Germain — a defeat
which came after Bayern blew a 2-0 lead to draw with Wolfsburg on Friday and
lost 2-0 to Nagelsmann's Hoffenheim at the start of this month. Robben, on
the bench in Paris, was asked afterwards if the team supported Ancelotti,
and replied: "I will not answer that question. It was a painful defeat."
Rummenigge said: "The performance of our team since the start of the season
did not meet the expectations we put to them. "The game in Paris clearly
showed that we had to draw consequences. [Sporting director] Hasan
Salihamidzic and I told Carlo today in an open and serious discussion and
gave him our decision. "I now expect the team to have a positive development
and absolute performance, so we can reach our goals for this season."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Carlo Ancelotti emerges as shock contender for West Ham job as manager
Slaven Bilic faces axe
West Ham have started identifying replacements for Slaven Bilic
Pressure is mounting on the Croatian manager following poor start
Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez is on the club's list of potential candidates
Carlo Ancelotti is also available after being sacked by Bayern Munich
By Sami Mokbel for the Daily Mail and Adam Crafton for the Daily Mail
PUBLISHED: 22:31, 28 September 2017 | UPDATED: 01:36, 29 September 2017

West Ham have started identifying replacements for Slaven Bilic as pressure
builds on the Croatian manager. Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez is on the club's
list of potential candidates to replace Bilic, who is fighting for his job
after a poor start to the season. The Hammers are in the relegation zone,
having earned just four points from their first six games of the Premier
League season. Defeat at home to Swansea on Saturday will only increase the
pressure on Bilic, and the process of identifying his successor is already
under way. Benitez is a long-term managerial target for West Ham, and the
club are also reportedly interested in former Borussia Dortmund boss Thomas
Tuchel. Speaking on Thursday, Bilic admitted he is affected by the
speculation surrounding his job. 'I'm coping with it,' said the 49-year-old.
'I got used to that. I am doing my job. It affects you, of course it does.
You are human. 'I can see that it's happening to some new managers.
Sometimes it's easier when it happens to other managers, sometimes it makes
you more p***ed off when it happens to your colleagues. 'Sometimes you
laugh, sometimes you are angry, sometimes you are down and other times it
makes you more motivated. It is part of the job.'
Both Manuel Lanzini and Michail Antonio have recovered from injury and are
fit to face Swansea. A shock contender for the West Ham job could be Carlo
Ancelotti, who was sacked by Bayern Munich on Thursday just four months
after lifting the Bundesliga title. Assistant manager and former Bayern
right back Willy Sagnol will take over on a temporary basis, but favourite
for the full-time position is 30-year-old Hoffenheim manager Julian
Nagelsmann. Ancelotti's fate was sealed as Bayern lost 3-0 in the Champions
League at Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday night, the club's heaviest
group-stage defeat for 21 years. Bayern have won seven of 10 games this
season and the dismissal appears harsh, despite rumours of dressing-room
discontent. Bayern chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said: 'The
performance of the team since the start of the season did not meet
expectations we put to them. The game in Paris clearly showed that we had to
draw consequences.'

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Former West Ham manager blasts Hammers' form and claims they must finish in
the top half
The pundit claims his former side have to start doing much better under
Bilic
Football London
BYANDY HA
05:30, 29 SEP 2017

Former West Ham United manager and current pundit Gianfranco Zola has told
Sky Sports' The Debate that he thinks the club should be performing a lot
better under Slaven Bilic. Despite high profile summer signings like Marko
Arnautovic, Joe Hart and Javier Hernandez, the Hammers have endured a poor
start to the Premier League season with four defeats in six games and Zola
claims it is time the club kick started their season. "I think it's a club
that deserves to always be in the top half of the table, in my opinion,"
said Zola. "They have great supporters and a very good philosophy of play,
but they haven't been playing well this year, to be honest. I don't know
why, they have good players, but they haven't been playing well."
Zola managed West Ham for two season between 2008 and 2010, and sympathises
with the plight of current boss Bilic, who has received criticism from
sections of fans this season. "Whether it's down to confidence or the fact
that they were missing some players, I don't know, but I think they have to
do better than this. It's a club that deserve more than this," he added.
West Ham's 3-2 defeat at home to Tottenham last weekend means they have
taken just four points from six games.
The Hammers face a huge home clash with Swansea City this weekend, with the
side desperately hoping for a much needed win. Bilic will be buoyed by the
news that Manuel Lanzini and Michail Antonio are set to return to the squad
after injury. Pedro Obiang will miss out despite rumours that the midfielder
could possibly face a late fitness test to be included in the squad.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Why Huddersfield's Wagner could be great Bilic alternative at West Ham
HITC
Tom Seymour

David Wagner has shown the tactical flair at Huddersfield to suggest he
could be the ideal replacement for Slaven Bilic at West Ham. West Ham
manager Slaven Bilic tries to rally the troops during the Premier League
match against Tottenham Hotspur. With speculation increasing that Slaven
Bilic will be sacked as West Ham United manager, the Huddersfield Examiner
reports that Huddersfield Town's David Wagner has emerged as the favourite
to replace him. The Hammers' 3-2 home defeat to Tottenham Hotspur at the
weekend was their fourth defeat in six Premier League matches so far this
season, with their only victory coming against the Terriers. Yet despite
that 2-0 defeat in front of the West Ham hierarchy at the London Stadium,
they are still believed to be impressed with what Wagner has achieved since
becoming Huddersfield boss in 2015.
In his first senior job in management having spent four years as Borussia
Dortmund II chief under the guidance of Jurgen Klopp, the 45-year-old guided
the Yorkshire club to promotion from the Championship via the playoffs
despite the Mirror reporting they were 40/1 outsiders at the start of the
2016/17 campaign.
The former United States international did this in the gegenpressing mould
that was also seen under Klopp at Dortmund and now Liverpool - a style that
is exciting but can leave the defence exposed, as shown by the fact that
Wagner's men were the first team to be promoted with a negative goal
difference. Once in the English top flight the ex-striker appreciated his
side needed to be more defensively sound and his tactics changed
accordingly, with the 0-0 draw against Burnley at the weekend their fourth
clean-sheet in six league outings so far. Only top two sides Manchester City
and Manchester United have conceded fewer than the Terriers' three goals.
This has not taken away from Wagner's desire to play fast-paced, passing
football, however, and simply highlights the tactical awareness of the coach
- something that has not been said much about Bilic.
The Croatian often seems lost when it comes to finding the best style and
formation for his team, despite the fact they added £48.7m (Telegraph) of
new talent to the squad this summer alone. Wagner has got the very best and
more out of his relatively modest resources at the John Smith's Stadium, so
imagine what he could achieve with the likes of Michail Antonio, Javier
Hernandez and Manuel Lanzini at his disposal.

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