Daily WHUFC News - 6th April 2018

Ladies earn comeback win to claim Women's Cup
WHUFC.com

Charlton Athletic Ladies 1-2 West Ham United Ladies
Goodmove.co.uk Women's Cup final, The Mill Field, Aveley, Wednesday 4 April
2018

West Ham United Ladies claimed the Goodmove.co.uk Women's Cup thanks to a
2-1 victory over Charlton Athletic Ladies. Despite going behind early on to
a Kit Graham finish, wonder strikes from Andria Georgiou and Molly Clark
secured a fifth consecutive win for the Irons, and a first piece of
silverware since the team was brought in-house. It was a game the Hammers
dominated in terms of chances, with Rosie Kmita and Eliie Zoepfl also both
hitting the bar for Karen Ray's side. It took just four minutes for the
first goal of the contest to be scored. It was Charlton's first attack of
the game, with top scorer Graham sweeping home after some miscommunication
in the Irons' box. Just seconds before it was the Hammers that came close
to opening the scoring. Vice-captain Rosie Kmita hit the cross-bar, having
evaded Charlton's defence, but the missed effort proved costly as the
Addicks netted on the counter attack. Despite going behind West Ham looked
the livelier of the two teams, although Charlton's counter was always a
threat. Ellie Zoepfl also struck the crossbar with a powerful strike from
the edge of the box, while a cross almost deceived goalkeeper Gardner and
looked close to sneaking in at the far post. A lobbed strike from Kmita had
the attending crowd gasping, and Charlton's shot-stopper flapping, but the
fabulous effort was just wide. But, with just moments left of the opening
period, Georgiou struck. The midfielder collected the ball on the edge of
the area and bended in a sensational shot, which found the back of the net
via the underside of the woodwork, sending the Hammers in level at
half-time.

West Ham started the second period with the same tenacity as the first
period, and came close to getting another through a Zoepfl effort. Clark
almost gave the side the lead on 67 minutes with a looping effort, but made
no mistake three minutes later, as the midfielder superbly struck home from
a set-piece. The free-kick swerved past Gardner and nestled into the
corner, putting the Irons in front with 20 minutes remaining. Despite
pressure from Charlton, Ray's team were able to hang on and claim an
incredible final victory. The celebrations at the end of the contest
continued despite the rain, with West Ham Ladies lifting the trophy in front
of the applauding supporters.

West Ham United Ladies: Connatser; Mackie, Wheeler, Austin, Auguste; Clark,
Georgiou, Stobbs (c); Zoepfl, Wealthall (Mabey 90+1), Kmita
Subs not used: Chong, Dunning, Lancaster, Vyan Sampson
Goals: Georgiou 45+3. Clark 70'

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Georgiou: Ladies 'completely deserve' Women's Cup triumph
WHUFC.com

Andria Georgiou could not contain her excitement after West Ham United
Ladies secured the Goodmove.co.uk Women's Cup with a 2-1 victory over
Charlton Athletic Women. It was Charlton who took the lead in Wednesday's
final, thanks to a fourth minute effort from Kit Graham, but Georgiou but
the Hammers on the comeback trail with a sensational goal in the final
moments of the first half.
Molly Clark then hit a sumptious free-kick just 20 minutes from the end to
put the Irons in front, securing the Cup for Karen Ray's side. "We're
absolutely buzzing," An estactic Georgiou told whufc.com: "We've been
working so hard in training and we absolutely deserve this win. The graft
put in by all the girls has been second to none and everyone has just been
pulling in the same direction for this result. We're just all so proud. "I
could feel it coming to be honest. It's just amazing. We knew what Charlton
could do and they hit us early. We were so desperate to score before
half-time but, even though we did, we knew our first half performance wasn't
good enough. "We came out in the second half absolutely raring to go and I
really think we dominated from the 46th minute onwards. We completely
deserve it given how well we've played tonight. So many of the girls played
so well tonight. The atmosphere is amazing, the confidence is sky high, and
we all play football for nights like this."

It wasn't just the players that got praise from Georgiou though, with the
midfielder also making the point of thanking and congratulating the Ladies
coaching team.
Interim head coach Karen Ray was named Manager of the Month for March
earlier in the week, and Georgiou has heaped praise on her and the other
coaches.
Georgiou continued: "I have to give a special mention, not just to Karen,
but all the coaches that work with us. There's a reason we won tonight, and
are now ten games unbeaten, and it's largely down to the incredible work
they do for us behind the scenes. "Karen won Manager of the Month for March
and she thoroughly deserved it. All of them - Karen, Myles, Dan, Neo,
Jackson and Cav - they are a great set of coaches and we're really lucky to
have them. Winning this trophy was just as much for them as it was for us."

It appeared West Ham Ladies would go in at half-time behind, before Georgiou
struck a fantastic finish deep into first-half injury time. It marks the
second finish from distance in the last few games for her, having also
scored a terrific shot against Hull City Ladies last month. "That's two
banging goals now," Georgiou laughed. "It's always amazing to score in a
final, but to get a goal like that, it's just wow! To net from distance,
underside of the bar, I don't even score goals like that in training, so to
do it on this occasion will live with me forever."

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Masuaku: We have to go to Chelsea and play our football
WHUFC.com

Six matches felt more like six months for Arthur Masuaku. West Ham United's
exciting wing-back actually spent eight weeks on the side-lines, watching on
as the Hammers were eliminated from the Emirates FA Cup and dropped down the
Premier League table. Masuaku was therefore desperate to impress on his
return to action in Saturday's vital top-flight meeting with Southampton at
London Stadium – and he did not disappoint. The No26 flew up and down the
left flank all afternoon, providing the cross for Marko Arnautovic's
sensational volley that completed a comprehensive 3-0 victory. For the
24-year-old, playing his part in such an important result helped erase the
memories of two months during which he was unable to help his teammates.
"It was a good feeling to be back on the pitch and I felt good during the
game, except for maybe the last 20 minutes when I started to have cramps,"
he revealed. "It was a great feeling to be back and play at home in front of
the fans. They were behind us from the first minute until the end and it
felt good to be back in the team. "From the very first minute we were on the
front foot and got at them. I think we played better than them, especially
in the first half, and we won in the end and got the three points, which was
the most important thing of all. "For any player, it is important to help
the team and to get an assist Marko was good. Sometimes it works when I
cross the ball and other times it doesn't work, but this time it was a good
one and hopefully I can do this kind of thing again in the next games."
Masuaku was also happy to see another player return to action after a long
absence, as Edimilson Fernandes made his comeback after four months out with
an ankle injury. "Edi was fantastic for us. He is such a good player and he
is young, so he still has time to learn. As soon as he is given an
opportunity, he will always be good, especially in this game when we needed
him and he responded."
Next up for West Ham is a trip across London to face Chelsea at Stamford
Bridge on Sunday. Masuaku produced a Man of the Match performance in the
reverse fixture in December, embarking on eleven dribbles and touching the
ball a team-high 86 times as the Hammers beat the Premier League champions
1-0. This weekend, he is eyeing a repeat. "It's a very difficult game, but
we have to go there and play our football, play as a team and be hard to
beat and why can't we win? "Everybody expected them to win the first
meeting, but we played a very good game and we won, so let's try to do the
same again on Sunday."

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Joao Mario reflects on first Hammers goal, looks forward to Chelsea
WHUFC.com

Joao Mario says his maiden West Ham United goal in Saturday's 3-0 Premier
League victory over Southampton is confirmation that he has settled into
life in east London. And while manager David Moyes labelled the midfielder's
performance his best in a Claret and Blue shirt, the midfielder was happy to
have contributed to a positive and important result and is certainly not
about to rest on his laurels. "When you score, when you participate so well,
it's always nice to be a part of the good moments in a game, that is always
good," said the No18. The Inter Milan loanee's performance against the
Saints saw him open his account for the Club with a rasping, rising shot
from outside the penalty, opening the floodgates for the Hammers in front of
a lively London Stadium crowd. Having hit the net once, the 25-year-old is
keen to continue contributing over the closing seven games of the season,
having initially taken time to settle into English football. "I'm really
happy to be here and I'm enjoying it, you know. It was tough to come here in
January and be at my best, but I'm trying to do my best right now and I'm
happy."

Next up for Joao Mario and his West Ham teammates is a trip to face Chelsea
at Stamford Bridge. The player faced the Blues twice in the UEFA Champions
League while with Sporting Lisbon during the 2014/15 season, losing 3-1 in
west London and 1-0 in Portugal, and is he eager to avoid completing an
unwanted hat-trick on Sunday. "We know it's a different game [to
Southampton], as we're playing away. They're an amazing team but we will do
our best to get some points there. We'll try to play as a team and have some
continuity from the last game."

The Hammers will have a chance to capitalise on an uncertainty inside the
Chelsea ranks, with Antonio Conte's team losing four and winning just two of
their last seven matches in all competitions. Regardless of the Blues' form,
Joao Mario insisted West Ham must be at their best to beat the Blues and
further ease any lingering relegation fears. "Chelsea is a big team and they
have amazing players, so it's never a good time to play against them. We'll
just try our best and we need to be ready. "We need to fight until the end.
Everyone knows the target of the Club, so we just need to be calm and play
and we'll stay in the Premier League, for sure."

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ANTONIO'S BLESSING IN DISGUISE!
AUTHOR: EXWHUEMPLOYEE. PUBLISHED: 5 APRIL 2018 AT 11:56AM
TheWestHamWay.co.uk
Written by @lu_thirty_1

I'm excited to write my first article and thought it's fitting to talk about
Michail Antonio, following his latest and very frustrating setback,
especially during a World Cup year*. I wanted to discuss what Antonio's
meant to our club, whether we've put him in the best situations possible to
succeed and what he means to us going forward.

I'll be honest with you, when we first signed him; I had no clue who he was.
After some digging and watching some videos, I found out that he was still a
fairly young and developing English winger with a lot of pace and power but
quite a big lack in technical ability, in my opinion. The latter is what
confused me the most. I wasn't sure why we signed him and why he signed for
us, given the attacking options we already had. I wasn't convinced that he'd
play for us regularly. I also wasn't sure what position was his best one
which is what I still think that to this day, to some extent.

But, as we all know football has a funny way of working and before we knew
it, as a result of a few injuries to other players, we had an emerging star
on our hands. I don't have long enough to go into detail about all of
Antonio's highlights but his performance against Tottenham springs to mind
as well as that come-back-win against Everton. What I admired about Antonio
is that he worked, worked and worked some more until the doors cracked open.
When I watched him play, the famous quote; 'Hard work beats talent when
talent doesn't work hard' came to mind every single time.

I also loved the fact that he tried to do a job no matter what the
circumstance. We all remember Slaven's right-back nonsense. To me that was
just a losing situation from the beginning and I remember the whole of our
fan base and Antonio himself were left feeling frustrated.

Then, we all know what happened next with a certain Frenchman but let's not
give him our time of day by talking about him and stroking his ego. Again,
though, this was another opportunity for Antonio to step up to the plate,
which I thought he did. He became one of our most important players which is
definitely not what I imagined when he first signed.

Deservedly, at the end of last season, he signed his contract extension. I
know a lot of people have differing opinions on this but in my eyes, he
deserved every penny. I find it hard to accept this notion of 'he signed his
deal and now he doesn't care anymore' that some of our fans stick by. I know
he cares for this club. Contract or no contract, this man has given
everything he could for his shirt. Playing through injury, doing everything
he can to recover quickly, running himself to the ground and as we all saw
on Saturday, leaving the field in tears.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think he's had a great season and he's certainly
had a few moments we'd rather forget, *cough cough* Crystal Palace away.
But, I do know that we're still yet to see a full season from him where he's
played to his strengths and fully fit. I do think some of the criticism he's
received has been quite harsh given everything that's happened in his time
with us so far.

I don't know what goes on behind closed doors but it seems that he club
probably rushed him back too early when he's been hurt on a occasions, due
to our lack of squad depth. That cup game against Arsenal was an idiotic
move by all involved. This latest injury, in my opinion, is also a result
of poor player management from our medical staff and David Moyes himself.
Maybe even Antonio himself to be honest, given how much drive he has to want
to play every game. I reckon I wouldn't be far off by saying that he wanted
to play as soon as possible even if he wasn't 100% good to go.

However, I think Antonio's latest setback is a blessing in disguise for
himself and our club. Missing the rest of the season and going through a
proper pre-season is probably the best thing that could happen for Antonio
and is something that is long overdue. With a player of his strength and
power, you often wonder how long his body can hold out for before needing a
serious break. It looks like we all got that answer on Saturday.

I really hope Antonio can fully recover from his injury and play at a 100%
for us because when he's firing on all cylinders, it's a scary site for any
opposition. He will be one of our best players next year and a partnership
of him, Arnautovic and Lanzini is a very deadly one indeed.

At the end of the day, Antonio has not had a smooth ride at West Ham as the
road has always been bumpy with injuries, playing out of position and a lot
of frustration. The one thing I do know is that Antonio will always give his
all for the shirt and I'm hoping that next year he shows us his true
qualities.

*I'm not saying he would have made the squad, but I think he had a chance if
the latest England squad is anything to go by.

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Hernandez speculation intensifies
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 5th April 2018
By: Staff Writer

Javier Hernandez has refused to guarantee that he'll be at West Ham next
season. The Mexican international, who has been linked with a move away from
east London on numerous occasions since moving to West Ham last summer told
US network Univision that he will wait to see what offers are presented to
him before making a decision on his future. "There has always been
speculation that I'm leaving or staying, I can not guarantee anything," he
said. "I have another two years [on my] contract with West Ham, then you
will see everything else."

However striker Hernandez - who has scored just seven goals for West Ham in
29 appearances this season - did confirm that he asked to leave during the
January transfer windo - an appeal that was rejected. "In the winter I
wanted to get away," he added, "but I was not allowed to." Hernandez, for
whom West Ham paid in the region of £14million last summer has failed to
secure a place in the starting XI under David Moyes or his predecessor
Slaven Bilic in a season punctuated by injury and illness.

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Ladies lift League Cup
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 5th April 2018
By: Staff Writer

West Ham Ladies are the Bostik Isthmian League Cup champions after
recovering from an early setback to beat Charlton Athletic on Wednesday
evening. And the Ladies' heroes on the night were Andria Georgiou and Molly
Clark, who grabbed the winning goal - from a free kick 20 minutes from time
- to secure their first trophy of the season.
Played at Aveley Town's new Parkside stadium, the Addicks drew first blood
after just four minutes when Kit Graham opened the scoring. But an
equaliser from Georgiou deep into first half injury time ensured the Hammers
went into the break on level terms - before Clark secured the trophy for the
Hammers with a stunning set-piece with just 20 minutes of time to play.
"We're absolutely buzzing!" goalscorer Georgiou told whufc.com after the
match and ensuing celebrations had died down. "The graft put in by all the
girls has been second to none and everyone has just been pulling in the same
direction for this result. We're just all so proud. "It's always amazing to
score in a final, but to get a goal like that, it's just wow! To net from
distance, underside of the bar, I don't even score goals like that in
training, so to do it on this occasion will live with me forever."

West Ham Utd: Connatser, Mackie, Wheeler, Austin, Auguste, Clark, Georgiou,
Stobbs, Zoepfl, Wealthall (Mabey 90+1), Kmita.
Subs not used: Chong, Dunning, Lancaster, Vyan Sampson.
Goals: Georgiou (45+3). Clark (70).

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Ambassador Rice aiming for Premier League title
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 5th April 2018
By: Staff Writer

Declan Rice has revealed that he wants to win the Premier League. The
19-year-old defender has broken through to the West Ham first team in recent
months and has received rave reviews for some of his performances. However
having made the breakthrough, Rice - who also acts as an ambassador for the
DT38 charity - has set his sights rather higher, with designs on winning a
league title during his career. My ambition is win the Premier League
title," he told dt38.co.uk. "As a kid watching so many games and seeing so
many teams lift it, it gives me a buzz to go on and try to win the title."

And Rice admits that he'd love to be as successful as his childhood idol,
another player who started his career at the Academy of Football - England
and Chelsea defender John Terry. "Growing up I used to watch videos of him
all the time," added Rice. "Every time I had a match I would try and play
exactly as he did. He's a great idol to look up to for any young centre
back."

Rice's role within the DT38 organisation is to spread awareness amongst
fellow young men regarding testicular cancer, the disease that tragically
accounted for Dylan Tombides four years ago and the most commonly diagnosed
cancer amongst men aged 15-34. And it is a role that he takes responsibly
despite not knowing Tombides, as he was still a member of Chelsea's youth
Academy at the time. "Testicular cancer affects younger men in particular,"
he said. "If you catch it early your chances of getting treated effectively
are much higher and so it's so important that you check yourselves regularly
and seek advice if you notice anything different. "Don't take a risk, don't
be silly, just check yourselves."

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All the world's a stage
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 5th April 2018
By: Staff Writer

A former West Ham striker is receiving rave reviews after giving up the
beautiful game for a career as an actor. John Carew, who spent the 2011/12
season at the Boleyn Ground turned to acting at the end of a long and
successful career that included spells at Roma, Rosenborg and Aston Villa
before a brief spell as a Hammer. His first film, a Canadia horror/survival
production entitled 'Dead of Winter' was well received - as was a follow up
appearance as a gangster a year later in 2015's 'Hovdinger', made in his
home country of Norway. However it is his role in a hit Norwegian TV series
for which he is currently receiving positive reviews from many critics.
'Heimebane', which you might describe as a Scadinavian version of
Footballers' Wives is topping the ratings charts.

Carew, who played 21 times for West Ham during his year in east London and
represented his country on 91 occasions plays an aging professional
footballer - Michael Ellingsen - in a series about a female coach - Helena
Mikkelsen - in a man's world. "What's amazing is that John Carew is
incredibly good, and very charismatic" wrote one reviewer - although not all
have been full positive. According to dagsivasen.no, Carew's character is
"too tame, for monotonous" and "has no record as an actor".

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Hammer eye Fulham swoop
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 5th April 2018
By: Staff Writer

West Ham United are eyeing a double-swoop on Championship club Fulham, ahead
of the summer transfer window. 25-year-old Ryan Fredericks is a key target
of current manager David Moyes, who was at Craven Cottage earlier this week
to watch Fulham take on Leeds Utd in a Championship clash. The Potters
Bar-born defender - who began his career at Tottenham - is available on a
free transfer this summer, three years after moving to Fulham from Bristol
City who he left just 26 DAYS after joining in 2015, citing personal
reasons. Additionally, West Ham are keen to revive the club's interest in
former transfer target Tom Cairney, a player whom Fulham were unwilling to
part company with during January transfer window. West Ham were ready to
offer in the region of £15million to sign the 27-year-old, but the Cottagers
wanted a fee closer to double that in order to tempt them to part with the
former Hull and Blackburn midfielder.

In other transfer news, Newcastle United could be set to reignite their
interest in Javier Hernandez, should they retain their Premier League
status. West Ham's 29-year-old striker rejected the chance to join Newcastle
last summer when opting to move to West Ham instead, but having been barely
used by David Moyes is considering finding a new club instead of remaining
in east London for a second season.

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MANAGEMENT CONTRACTS – WHAT'S THE IDEAL STRATEGY?
By Goatygav 5 Apr 2018 at 17:00
WTID

The answer to the above would vary according to the situation and structure
as well as resources available at any given club. What works for one club
would not, necessarily, work for another. I've always been a fan of
stability. I've often used the near sacking of Sir Alex Ferguson at
Manchester United as a cautionary tale for club owners taking a 'hire and
fire' approach.

So the story goes Mark Robins came off the bench to score the goal on the
7th January, 1990, in the 3rd round of the cup at Nottingham Forest, that
saved Sir Alex's job before he went on to dominate the Premier League's
first decade and a half that followed. Manchester United fans can often be
heard referring to 'Robins Day' in response to fans calling for various
manager's heads. That's not to say that those wanting to sack the incumbent
have always been in the wrong but Manchester United's Board's patience and
loyalty to Ferguson certainly paid off. If any Manchester United team were
labouring in 15th position in January in recent seasons I'm not too sure
that same patience and faith would have been shown. In the years since he's
moved on the club are on their third gaffer in what's become more of a
standard 'you've got three years to mould your team and win things'
approach. Perhaps the so called 'Knee Jerkers' of the time should have
reconsidered their '3 years of excuses' flag hung from the Stretford end
despite AF being in to his 4th year managing the club, having finished
outside the top 10 the previous season, on a winless run of 8 games which
included a League Cup game where they were knocked by Tottenham.

Of course one of those managers, to have succeeded Alex Ferguson, at Old
Trafford is the man currently in charge at West Ham. If recent MO is
anything to go by then, providing Mr Moyes gets the job this Summer, a three
year contract will be offered to DM and his team. Question is – will recent
Modus Operandi be used?

Much discussion is now around whether a Director of Football, or a Technical
Director, is going to be appointed at West Ham. The clubs who've done this
most effectively seem to be those clubs who have a team with an 'identity'.
So what's going to happen at West Ham? Who will set the agenda? Will an
'identity' be established by the board – or will that be left to the DOF, or
TD, to put in place? If someone does come in to sit between the board and
the first team Manager/Head Coach how much will they adapt the 'identity' to
suit the Manager/Head Coach – if at all?

I'm sure these discussions will be taking place at board level. At least I
hope they are. Empire builders are famous for surrounding themselves with
several layers of management before the flack starts flying downstream as
well as up – meeting at the middle management level. With the amount of
flack directed at the board lately I'm sure the owners would welcome that
buffer. Although a slightly different situation the bond villain lookalike
Daniel Levy is often the one who comes in for most criticism when transfers
go wrong at our neighbours in North London despite the fact that Joe Lewis
is the major shareholder there. Would a new DOF or TD be put in the firing
line at West Ham I wonder?
Getting the structure right is going to be as important as getting the right
people for the job. An over-arching strategy is the first port of call to be
locked down otherwise it's simply going to be a case of jumping around from
one tactic to another with no real direction. Before the Gao family takeover
of Southampton FC the Liebherr family had a clear roadmap, identity and
strategy. When you consider what they achieved at the club, balancing their
commitments to the fans whilst keeping the club on a sound financial
footing, you can but admire them. Katharina especially, in the 8 years
following the passing of her father, Markus Liebherr, and her inheritance of
the club, she's run an extremely tight ship (pun not intended). It's a model
to be envied whilst being one that can be improved upon. Imagine if
Southampton had have kept hold of many of the top players they've replaced
over the years. I don't think there would, currently, be anyone to touch
them in challenging the top 6 sides in the Premier League. Since the Chinese
took control of 80% of the club's shares the first team's fortunes seem to
have taken a nosedive. Not that I'm complaining following Saturday's result
against them but which looks the better senior management structure, in
terms of a footballing 'identity' to you: -

I've purposefully not broached the topic of who our manager should be at the
start of next season as I don't believe that to be the right thing to do
with David Moyes still in situ. I'm sure everyone will have ideas in their
heads, as do I, but I'll keep my opinions to myself until such a time as a
decision has been made, by the board, on his future at the club. The main
thing right now is to get behind him and the team and ensure we're in the
top tier come September.

To finish on a high note I'd like to pay tribute to the excellent
performance of the team last weekend. In the first half especially the
players showed a hunger and desire that has been lacking for much of the
season. Great stuff. Although we're not out of the woods quite yet those 3
points were absolutely huge. Now 5 points clear of Southampton if the team
can show more of that same energy and determination we've got a very good
chance of surviving. The job's not done yet but things are certainly looking
much better than they were a week ago.

COYI!

Please check back after the match for the results.

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Moyes has two signings in mind to solve West Ham's midfield problems
HITC
Olly Dawes

West Ham United will be in the market for new signings this summer. West Ham
United gave their survival hopes a major boost on Saturday afternoon with a
3-0 thrashing of Southampton at the London Stadium – and also boosted David
Moyes' chances of a new contract. The Hammers were in top form against the
Saints and now sit five points clear of the relegation zone, with Moyes
edging ever closer to achieving his target of keeping the club in the
Premier League. West Ham will soon have to decide whether to extend the
Scot's contract, and The Mirror report that Moyes could be in line for a new
two-year deal having been convinced that he is the man to lead the club
forward. Moyes would then be charged with the task of improving his squad
ahead of next season, and midfield has to be on area of concern after
failing to land a permanent improvement in January. The Mirror claim that
Moyes wants to keep loanee Joao Mario though, and West Ham may pursue a
permanent deal for the Portuguese international after his goal and assist
against Southampton on Saturday. Mario may cost a hefty fee, and Moyes
seemingly isn't stopping there, as it's also noted that he has been watching
Hibernian midfielder John McGinn ahead of a possible move for his
compatriot.

McGinn wouldn't cost more than £5million and could be the second midfield
signing for West Ham this summer, as Moyes seemingly eyes up one expensive
addition and one cheaper signing in a bid to bulk up his midfield after
issues for Mark Noble, Cheikhou Kouyate and Pedro Obiang this season.

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