Jussi not surprised by solid defence
WHUFC.com
Hammers goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen kept his fourth away clean sheet of
the season on Sunday
28.10.2013
West Ham United's defensive solidity on the road continued at Swansea City
on Sunday - and goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen was not surprised by another
shut out. The Hammers have now kept clean sheets in four of their five
Barclays Premier League games on the road, with Robbie Brady's dubious
penalty at Hull City the only time Jaaskelainen's goal has been breached
away from home. The Finn made saves from Chico Flores and Wilfried Bony
following set plays on Sunday, but was well protected by his backline as the
Hammers made their point. "It was a little disappointing that we couldn't
nick a goal in the first half because we created a couple of good chances,"
Jaaskelainen said. "That wasn't to be, but we defended well as a team and
kept another clean sheet, which gives you a good base to try and build
winning performances. "Clean sheets are what we build from. It's not just me
and the back four, it's the whole team, it's great for everybody in the
squad because the first aim we have is to keep a clean sheet. "I've not had
a run like this [away from home] in my career, but it just tells you how
well we work as a defensive unit. Maybe we just need to focus a little on
our final ball and final finish and we'll be alright."
Jaaskelainen is convinced the cutting edge will soon return if West Ham
continue to perform as they did at the Liberty Stadium. He added: "We passed
the ball pretty well and created some chances. We thought Swansea might get
a little tired towards the end after playing on Thursday night, but to be
fair they put us under a bit of pressure in the last 15 minutes. "They
didn't create many chances though - there were only a couple from corners -
so it was a decent point.
"If you look at it overall, we created some good chances as well and we just
need to be more ruthless and hopefully start scoring."
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Burnley match preview
WHUFC.com
All the information you need ahead of the Hammers' trip to Turf Moor
28.10.2013
BURNLEY v WEST HAM UNITED
CAPITAL ONE CUP FOURTH ROUND
TUESDAY 29 OCTOBER 2013
KICK-OFF: 7.45PM
REFEREE: ROBERT MADLEY
FULL AUDIO AND TEXT COMMENTARY - WEST HAM TV
Introduction
• West Ham United face Championship leaders Burnley in the Capital One Cup
as they look to secure progress to the quarter-finals.
• The Hammers have beaten Cheltenham Town (2-1) and Cardiff City (3-2), both
at the Boleyn Ground, to get to this stage.
• Sam Allardyce's team have been tough to beat away from home so far this
season, losing only once - a 1-0 defeat to Hull City back on 28 September.
• That goal at the KC Stadium remains the only one conceded in five away
Barclays Premier League matches.
• Ravel Morrison has scored in both rounds of the competition so far and
will be hoping to keep that run going against the promotion hopefuls.
• Sean Dyche's team sit proudly top of English football's second tier having
won ten of 13 matches and losing only one.
• Saturday's win over QPR was the Burnley's seventh straight league victory.
• The Clarets have beaten York City, Preston North End and Nottingham Forest
to reach this stage.
• In those three cup ties they have conceded just once whilst finding the
net eight times.
• Danny Ings has been in fine form for Burnley so far this season and has
already accumulated 13 goals, four of which have come in the Capital One
Cup.
Team news
Burnley
• Ex-Hammer Junior Stanislas who, despite not featuring regularly in the
league, is in line to start against his old club having been a strong
performer in their cup run.
West Ham United
• Ricardo Vaz Te will miss the game after dislocating his shoulder against
Swansea City.
• Andy Carroll is still a long-term injury victim while fellow striker
Carlton Cole will hope to feature after coming on as a substitute on Sunday.
• Matt Taylor, Leo Chambers and Adrian will all hope to start after playing
in the previous two rounds.
• Jack Collison could also feature after his loan spell with Bournemouth
came to an end at the weekend.
Background
• West Ham United and Burnley have played each other 79 times with both
sides winning 31 and 17 ending as draws.
• The teams first met on 17 November 1923 with Burnley running out 5-1
winners.
• The Hammers biggest win at Turf Moor came on 28 September 1974 with a 5-3
success in Division One.
Last time out
Burnley 2-0 QPR
Sky Bet Championship
26 October 2013
Burnley: Heaton, Trippier, Mee, Jones, Duff, Shackell, Treacy (Stock 90),
Marney (Edgar 83), Vokes, Ings, Kightly
Subs not used: Lafferty, Stanislas, Cisak, Long, Noble
Goals: Ings 65, pen 88
Swansea City 0-0 West Ham United
Barclays Premier League
27 October 2013
West Ham United: Jaaskelainen, Demel, Reid, Tomkins, Rat, Diame (C.Cole 64),
Nolan, Noble, Morrison (J.Cole 78), Vaz Te (Jarvis 34), Downing
Subs not used: Adrian, Maiga, Taylor, O'Brien
Previous meeting
Burnley 2-2 West Ham United
Championship
24 March 2012
Burnley: Grant, Trippier, Duff, Edgar, Mee, Marney, McCann, Bartley
(Austin), Wallace, Paterson (Stanislas), Ings (McQuoid)
Subs not used: Jensen, Hewitt
Goals: Bartley 25, Paterson 36
West Ham United: Green, McCartney, Collins, O'Brien, Tomkins, O'Neil, Taylor
(Maynard), Nolan, Noble, Collison (Carew), Cole (Baldock)
Subs not used: Lansbury, Potts
Goals: Nolan 68, Tomkins 70
Head-to-head
Last six meetings (Championship unless stated)
24 March 2012 - Burnley 2-2 West Ham United
3 December 2011 - West Ham United 1-2 Burnley
21 February 2011 - West Ham United 5-1 Burnley (FA Cup fifth round)
6 February 2010 - Burnley 2-1 West Ham United (Premier League)
28 November 2009 - West Ham United 5-3 Burnley (Premier League)
5 April 2005 - Burnley 0-1 West Ham United
Overall record v Burnley (all competitions) W 31 D 17 L 31
Ten-year records
West Ham United
2012/13 Premier League 10th (46 points)
2011/12 Championship 3rd (86 points - promoted via Play-Offs)
2010/11 Premier League 20th (33 points)
2009/10 Premier League 17th (35 points)
2008/09 Premier League 9th (51 points)
2007/08 Premier League 10th (49 points)
2006/07 Premier League 15th (41 points)
2005/06 Premier League 9th (55 points)
2004/05 Championship 6th (73 points - promoted via Play-Offs)
2003/04 Championship 4th (74 points)
2002/03 Premier League 18th (42 points - relegated to Championship)
Burnley
2012/13 Championship 11th (61 points)
2011/12 Championship 13th (62 points)
2010/11 Championship 8th (68 points)
2009/10 Premier League 18th (30 points - relegated to Championship)
2008/09 Championship 5th (76 points - promoted to Premier League via
Play-Offs)
2007/08 Championship 13th (62 points)
2006/07 Championship 15th (57 points)
2005/06 Championship 17th (54 points)
2004/05 Championship 13th (60 points)
2003/04 Division One 19th (53 points)
2002/03 Division One 16th (55 points)
Old Boys
• The following players have worn the colours of both West Ham United and
Burnley during their careers: Reg Attwell, Frank Birchenough, Alan Brown,
Herman Conway, Joe Gallagher, Zavon Hines, William Jenkinson, F.Kippax,
Tyrone Mears, Walter Pollard, Junior Stanislas and Jack Tresadern.
Referee
• Tuesday night's referee is Robert Madley.
• Madley will be assisted by Gary Beswick and Ian Hussin, his fourth
official is David Coote.
• In eight matches so far this season Madley has already dished out 36
cards, three of which have been red.
• In his early career, Madley refereed in the Wakefield and District League
and then the West Yorkshire Association Football League. In 2010 he joined
the National List of referees.
• In 2012 Madley was added to the FIFA fifth officials' list.
• In June 2013 Madley was promoted to the panel of Select Group of Referees
who officiate all fixtures in the Premier League.
General information
• Tickets are still available for this fixture but any purchased on the day
of the game will need to be made at Turf Moor. Click here for full details.
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Carlton 'chuffed' to be back
WHUFC.com
Carlton Cole was delighted with his second debut for West Ham United
28.10.2013
Carlton Cole was all smiles after making his second West Ham United debut in
Sunday's 0-0 draw at Swansea City. The England international got his first
taste of competitive action since re-signing for the Hammers two weeks ago
when he entered the fray as a 63rd-minute sub for Mo Diame. Cole admitted he
was delighted to pull on the claret and blue shirt again after a month of
hard work in the Chadwell Heath gym. "It was really good to be out there
again," Cole told West Ham TV. "I was disappointed we didn't win but we were
away from home so you can't ask for much more than getting a clean sheet.
"The boys have been doing well and we've got to give credit to them for only
conceding one goal away from home so far this season. It's a huge credit to
all the playing staff and the management as well. "I'm chuffed to get back
and to be involved in it again. Any footballer will tell you that have to
work hard and the manager has noticed that I was working hard and has given
me a new deal. Hopefully I can push on from here and add to the team and
play a significant role."
Cole marked his first debut for West Ham with a goal against Charlton
Athletic back in 2006 and came close to repeating that feat in the dying
minutes of his second debut on Sunday. James Tomkins' deep free-kick was
expertly flicked on by the new Hammers No24, but Swansea goalkeeper Michel
Vorm was on hand to collect the ball on the line. "I had a couple of
chances. One I put on the far stick for Jarvo [Matt Jarvis] but on another
day I might have waited and volleyed it myself. The second one was a long
ball and I was hoping it would come off my bonce and fly into the top
corner. I had already pictured it going in and was getting ready to go off
and celebrate but it wasn't to be. "We just couldn't get the goal in the
first half. Then we pushed on in the second half with the changes we made.
Me and the other boys that came on pushed as much as we could to get the
goal but we were just unlucky."
The striker will have little time to reflect on what might have been, as
there will be just one day of training on Monday before a Capital One Cup
tie at Burnley on Tuesday evening. With just 48 hours between the two games,
Big Sam is likely to make changes to his starting XI and Cole is hoping to
be one of those brought into the side. "The next game we've got is Burnley
and hopefully we can get goals there. Everyone knows I need minutes for
match fitness. Sunday was a good start on my way to recovery. I'm now hoping
to get the minutes and the goals to get us through to the next round if I
can."
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West Ham United striker Ricardo Vaz Te dislocates shoulder
BBC.co.uk
West Ham forward Ricardo Vaz Te dislocated his shoulder in Sunday's 0-0 draw
with Swansea. The club have not put a timescale on his recovery but the
27-year-old suffered a similar injury last season and was out for almost
three months. The Hammers already have fellow striker Andy Carroll out with
a foot injury. Carlton Cole replaced Vaz Te at Swansea and, after re-signing
for the club earlier this month, he could start at Burnley in the League Cup
on Tuesday.
"I'm chuffed to get back and to be involved in it again," Cole told the West
Ham website. "Any footballer will tell you that have to work hard and the
manager has noticed that I was working hard and has given me a new deal.
"Hopefully, I can push on from here and add to the team and play a
significant role."
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Burnley v West Ham
KO 19:45
28 October 2013
Last updated at 12:46
CAPITAL ONE CUP FOURTH ROUND
Venue: Turf Moor Date: Tuesday, 29 October
Coverage: Watch highlights on The League Cup Show on Wednesday at 2305 GMT,
BBC One.
David Jones serves a one-match ban for Burnley after picking up five
bookings. Scott Arfield, who missed their win over QPR, and Dean Marney,
substituted late on, are rated 50-50 for the Clarets.
Ricardo Vaz Te dislocated his shoulder against Swansea, meaning Carlton Cole
could make his first start since rejoining West Ham. Matt Taylor, George
McCartney and Leo Chambers are also in contention.
MATCH PREVIEW
Burnley take on West Ham with Sean Dyche's praise ringing in their ears -
West Ham meanwhile have had an angry Sam Allardyce to contend with.
Dyche labelled free-scoring Burnley's 2-0 win over QPR as the best he's seen
in his year in charge of the Clarets. In contrast, Allardyce bemoaned his
goal-shy side's wastefulness after a 0-0 draw at Swansea, which means they
have managed just eight Premier League goals in nine matches this season.
Championship leaders Burnley have won their last four League Cup home
matches against Premier League opposition - beating Fulham, Arsenal and
Tottenham at Turf Moor in 2008-09, and Bolton in 2010-11 - and if they
continue that run, Allardyce will have more to moan about on Tuesday night.
MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head
Burnley have never beaten West Ham in a cup competition (P5, L5), however
they have only lost four of their 37 league meetings on home soil with the
Hammers (W23, D10, L4).
Their only previous League Cup meeting came in a two-legged second-round
clash in 1980 which West Ham won 6-0 on aggregate.
The two sides are neck-and-neck with 31 wins each in all competitions (17
draws).
Burnley
Burnley are unbeaten on home soil this season (W7, D2), and have won their
last four League Cup home games against teams from a higher division.
The Clarets average exactly two goals a game from their 16 matches this
season.
The Championship pacesetters have kept nine clean sheets in all
competitions.
Burnley have won their last eight games on the bounce in all competitions.
Four of leading scorer Danny Ings' 13 goals this season have come in the
League Cup.
West Ham
The Hammers have not kept a clean sheet on their League Cup travels in 13
games, and have lost three of their last four away matches in the
competition.
There have been just four goals scored in total in West Ham's last five away
games.
In contrast to their Premier League form, the Hammers have been relatively
free-scoring in the League Cup with five goals in two games.
Ravel Morrison and the absent Ricardo Vaz Te have scored two each in this
season's League Cup.
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Burnley v West Ham United
KUMb.com
Filed: Monday, 28th October 2013
By: Preview Percy
Hide the Sanatogen, it's Preview Percy. Again. Sorry....
Barely has the final whistle blown on one match then another starts as we
traipse up to Turf Moor for a 4th Round League Cup tie with Burnley.
Kick-off is 7.45pm and extra time and penalties will be available if
required to separate the sides should there be a deadlock after 90 or 120
minutes.
They're having a decent season so far. They're top of Division 2 (as we
traditionalists call it) having won all but three of their 13 games – and
they drew two of those three a well. Most recently they beat title rivals
QPR – though by the time Henry Redknapp gets to updating his book you'll
probably find it has turned into a 5-0 win to the visitors. This has left
them on 32 points, thee points clear of Leicester City who leap frogged QPR
into the auto promotion slot. It's been a fairly comfortable ride through
the rounds in this competition as well; a 4-0 win at York was followed by a
2-0 home win over Preston and a 2-1 defeat of Forest in the third round.
The manager is the distinctively-voiced Sean Dyche. Dyche was managing
Watford when a change of ownership led to the installing of Gianfranco Zola.
He pitched up in Burnley in October 2012 when Eddie Howe legged it back to
Bournemouth. Dyche led them to 11th place last term, their 61 points falling
short of the 68 points that were good enough to give Leicester the last
playoff spot.
In terms of sheer numbers they've not got the biggest of squads, which means
that we're unlikely to see much in the way of the League Cup squad rotation
that is de riguer these days. This means that first choice 'keeper Tom
Heaton. Heaton arrived from basket case club Bristol City in the summer, his
contract having expired. He's had a suspension already this season, picking
up two yellows in their only defeat at Brighton. The first yellow was pretty
standard stuff, a foul outside the box. The second was a bit odd though.
Bouncing the ball he went to roll the ball out but changed his mind after a
challenge from an opponent and he picked the ball up again, earning him his
second caution. I wonder how many cautions have ever been given out for that
particular offence.
In midfield they have Basildon-born Michael Kightley. Kightley is currently
on loan from Stoke. Kightley had a bit of a falling out with Tony Pulis last
term, presumably having asked when the training sessions were going to
introduce a football. With Pulis shown the door and Hughes arriving,
Kightley gave the traditional "I want to fight for my place" speech to the
papers. Hughes was so impressed (not) that Kightley ended up on a season's
loan at Turf Moor.
The ex-Hammer in the squad is Junior Stanislas. Stanislas joined the Clarets
in 2011 for an undisclosed fee having failed to impress Sam Allardyce
sufficiently to earn a place in his plans for what turned out to be the
promotion season. He'll be remembered for his role in the infamous 3-1
defeat of Millwall in the League Cup, the nature of his celebrations in
scoring a brace (including a spot kick) drawing criticism from some
quarters. He could also have been the only player with the first name Felix
to have played for us but I'll be damned if I'm going to waste vauable
drining time looking it up.
Up front the current hot shot is Danny Ings, player whose surname sounds
like it's missing a syllable or two. He's got 13 goals this season of which
9 have come in the league. He picked up a pair in Saturday's defeat of
twitchy's lot and is in such form that his manager has been touting him
somewhat optimistically for England status. Ings started off his career at
Southampton before moving along the south coast to Bournemouth. He moved to
Burnley in 2011 following in the footsteps of then manager Eddie Howe.
However it's only this season that he's been able to show any sort of for,
his career at Turf Moor being hampered by a succession of serious knee
injuries. His recovery coupled with the departure of the similarly
talismanic Charlie Austin has meant that he has come into his own this term.
0
Ings's strike partner is Sam Vokes. Quite apart from his contribution on the
goal front (8 - all in the league) it would appear that there is a decent
rapport developing with Ings from which both are benefiting.Vokes signed
from Wolves in 2012 though his Molineux career wasn't exactlly the most
productive. In the four years he was nominally on their books he spent loan
time at no fewer than 6 different clubs, namely Leeds, Bristol City,
Sheffield Hypocrisy, Norwich, Burnley and Brighton. On signing for Burnley
he found his chances limited by the form of the aforementioned Austin and
again his departure for QPR has freed up a space for someone taking full
advantage.
Midfielder David Jones (real surname Bowie probably) who spent a large
portion of last season on loan at Blackburn from Wigan will be missing
having picked up his 5th yellow of the season against QPR. His decision to
Join Burnley in the summer rather than make his loan at Ewood Park permanent
went down really well in Blackburn, I expect.
Fellow midfielder Dean Marney is a doubt having been subbed with a knock on
Saturday, However, despite being sent off in the same game for suggesting
that the lino's eyesight was not all it should be, mascot Bertie Bee will be
available to irritate everyone on the touchline.
And so to us. Another hard-earned point on the road – notwithstanding
Laudrup's mad ramblings about penalties. On another matter how funny was it
to see the obnoxious Steve Bruce complaining about bad refereeing against
Spurs. Strangely he seems to have forgotten how his player dived to win a
penalty against us, something we are happy to remind the hypocritical thick
sorry excuse of a manager of.
I'm sorry, I digress. Back to us and the one bad bit of news was the injury
to Ricardo Vaz Te – it looked like a dislocated shoulder to me which will
mean a lengthy absence for him – which is a shame as he was just beginning
to get into some decent form.
Much will depend on the side Mr Allardyce puts out for this one. In the 2nd
round it was a much changed XI that took on Cheltenham. Against Cardiff it
was a slightly stronger XI that took the field. On that basis we might
expect more of a first XI to be selected, perhaps with Carlton Cole starting
a game for the first time of his second spell, after his sub appearance in
Wales.
I'm going to base my prediction on the idea that we'll be putting out a
strong side. Most observers are predicting a home win for this one – based
on their league form and the fact that we're not in the top half of the
league. Being an awkward so and so I have a feeling that the difference
between the Premier League and Championship is slightly greater than they
might be ready for. So I'm going to place the Avram Grant Olymic Rest Home's
cash prize for anyone who can find a proper fact in Harry Redknapp's book
(£2.50) on a 2-1 win for us, though it may go to extra time.
Enjoy the game!
When Last We Met At Turf Moor – Drew 2-2. (Championship, March 2012) Despite
dominating the match we somehow found ourselves 2-0 down before Nolan and
Tomkins gave us our 5th successive draw. Sam Baldock missed a sitter that
would have given us the extra two points.
Referee: Robert Madely – It's a feature of the League Cup that we get
referees we wouldn't normally encounter during the league season. This will
be this ref's first time in charge of one of our games, though we'll
probably be seeing a bit more of him as he was promoted to the select group
during the summer.
Danger Man: Danny Ings – 13 goals this season is a bit of a giveaway.
Daft Fact Of The Week: Punk-popsters Chumbawumba came out of Burnley. They
were noted for their political ideologies. We can, therefore, only presume
that they were out when call was made asking for permission to use their
single "Tubthumping" in adverts for an ambulance chasing legal outfit. You
know the sort – one of those that ringing me up to ask me if I'd had an
accident that wasn't my fault. (Stock answer: "no – but you will if you
don't stop ringing me"). I bet they are in though when the letters bearing
the royalty cheques arrive.
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RVT facing lengthy lay off
KUMb.com
Filed: Monday, 28th October 2013
By: Staff Writer
Ricardo Vaz Te is set for another spell on the sidelines after it was
confirmed that he dislocated his shoulder during yesterday's goalless draw
at Swansea.
The Portuguese forward was enjoying something of a renaissance having won
his place in the first team back, despite recently stating his intentions to
leave the Club due to limited opportunities. However he now faces another
extensive spell on the sidelines after sustaining this latest injury during
yesterday's 0-0 draw at the Liberty Stadium. Vaz Te was replaced on the half
hour mark during yesterday's game after falling awkwardly whilst defending a
corner. Following some brief treatment on the sidelines, he was led away
before receiving the diagnosis. Although the extent of the damage is yet to
be confirmed, it is likely that Vaz Te will face several weeks on the
sidelines. The forward has scored four goals in his nine appearances for
West Ham so far this season.
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Big Sam's a laugh a minute
KUMb.com
Filed: Monday, 28th October 2013
By: Staff Writer
A video clip of Hammers boss Sam Allardyce has gone viral this morning...
Allardyce was captured by TV cameras laughing in the face of Swansea's Chico
Flores, after the Spanish defender was guilty of play-acting in order to win
a free kick during yesterday's goalless raw at the Liberty Stadium. Having
embarrassed himself by falling to the floor clutching his face, following an
innocuous challenge by Carlton Cole, Flores' reaction was to go toe to toe
with 6'3" Allardyce before being (sensibly) pulled away by team mate and
fellow Spaniard Angel Rangel.
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Ricardo Vaz Te dislocated his shoulder in 0-0 draw at Swansea
Last Updated: October 28, 2013 3:39pm
SSN
West Ham forward Ricardo Vaz Te faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines after
dislocating his shoulder against Swansea. The Portuguese player was taken
off during the first half of the Liberty Stadium clash and his absence means
Hammers boss Sam Allardyce's options in attack are stretched even further.
The club has not put a timescale on his recovery but the 27-year-old
suffered a similar injury last season that kept him out for three months.
Allardyce is already without big-money signing Andy Carroll, who has not
played this season because of a foot injury. But there was a boost for the
Hammers boss in Sunday's 0-0 draw when Carlton Cole came off the bench for
his first appearance since returning to the club, and the former England
striker is happy to be back. "It was really good to be out there again,"
Cole told West Ham TV. "I was disappointed we didn't win but we were away
from home so you can't ask for much more than getting a clean sheet. "The
boys have been doing well and we've got to give credit to them for only
conceding one goal away from home so far this season.
"It's a huge credit to all the playing staff and the management as well.
"I'm chuffed to get back and to be involved in it again. Any footballer will
tell you that you have to work hard and the manager has noticed that I was
working hard and has given me a new deal. "Hopefully I can push on from here
and add to the team and play a significant role."
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Carlton Cole poised to start for West Ham United at Burnley
Last Updated: October 28, 2013 4:01pm
SSN
Carlton Cole is hoping to make his second full 'debut' for West Ham when
they travel to Burnley in the Capital One Cup on Tuesday. The former England
striker rejoined the Hammers earlier this month on a short-term deal, having
been released during the summer after seven years with the club. Cole came
on as a substitute in Sunday's goalless draw at Swansea and with Ricardo Vaz
Te joining Andy Carroll on the treatment table, the 29-year-old looks set to
lead West Ham's attack at Turf Moor. "The next game we've got is Burnley and
hopefully we can get goals there," said Cole. "Everyone knows I need minutes
for match fitness. Sunday was a good start on my way to recovery. I'm now
hoping to get the minutes and the goals to get us through to the next round
if I can. "It was really good to be out there again. I was disappointed we
didn't win but we were away from home so you can't ask for much more than
getting a clean sheet.
"The boys have been doing well and we've got to give credit to them for only
conceding one goal away from home so far this season. It's a huge credit to
all the playing staff and the management as well. "I'm chuffed to get back
and to be involved in it again. Any footballer will tell you that have to
work hard and the manager has noticed that I was working hard and has given
me a new deal. "Hopefully I can push on from here and add to the team and
play a significant role."
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Jack Collison will return to West Ham United
Last Updated: October 28, 2013 6:04pm
SSN
Jack Collison is heading back to West Ham after his one-month loan stay with
Bournemouth came to an end. The Wales midfielder is open to a south-coast
return but will hope to feature for the Hammers in their Capital One Cup
clash with Burnley on Tuesday. He told the Daily Echo: "I will be looking to
play in the League Cup tie and then see where I am after that. I would like
to force my way into the West Ham team but if it's not to be, it's not to
be. "I have had a fantastic time here and would definitely be open to coming
back and trying to improve on what I did. The philosophy of the management
team and the way the team plays suits me. "The training has been magnificent
and you can see from the effort and enthusiasm they put that this club is
only going one way."
The 25-year-old made four appearances during his time with Eddie Howe's men
having played just once for the Hammers in the top flight before heading out
on loan.
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Carlton Cole set for second West Ham full debut against high-flyers Burnley
28 Oct 2013 17:13
TheMirror
West Ham United striker Carlton Cole is in line to make his second full
debut for the Upton Park club against Burnley tomorrow night. The
30-year-old re-joined the club on a short-term deal recently, after being
released earlier in the summer. And with Ricardo Vaz Te out for the
foreseeable future with a shoulder problem, Sam Allardyce is desperately
short of options in attack. Cole, who made a brief cameo appearance against
Swansea on Sunday, has expressed his determination to boost his fitness
against the Championship leaders and with that, get on the scoresheet.
Speaking to West Ham TV, he said: "Everyone knows I need minutes for match
fitness but it was really good to be out there again. "I'm now hoping to get
the minutes and the goals to get us through to the next round."
Elsewhere, midfielder Jack Collison has returned from a loan spell at
Bournemouth and could come into the side, along with Matt Taylor and George
McCartney.
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West Ham's clash against Burnley will be like 'friends reunited' for Matt
Jarvis
28 Oct 2013 22:30
The Mirror
Matt Jarvis is happy to babysit West Ham's kids tonight at Burnley if it
means getting a chance to impress Hammers boss Sam Allardyce. Jarvis is
desperate to play at Turf Moor, despite coming off the bench in Sunday's
goalless draw with Swansea just 50 hours earlier. The £7.5million winger
insists he is not tired and just wants Big Sam, who will play his
youngsters, to give him an opportunity against the Championship leaders. "I
want to play in every game so I'm hopeful of playing on Tuesday night," said
Jarvis. "It's a chance to try and impress the manager and show him that you
should be playing every week. "When you get a chance, you really need to
show what you can do and hopefully get yourself in the team." Jarvis, whose
only goal this season came in the Hammers' win over Cardiff in the previous
round, says he is wary of the threat posed by Burnley. "Burnley have done
extremely well this season," he said. "I know quite a few of their players
so I know what they are all about. "I know Sam Vokes, Michael Kightly, David
Jones and Jason Shackell, so it will be like friends reunited. It will be a
very tough game. "A cup tie is always a great game to play in. We're away so
hopefully we will have a good turn out by the fans and give them something
to shout about by getting through."
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Tuesday, October 29
Monday, October 28
Daily WHUFC News - 28th October 2013
Hammers held at Swansea
WHUFC.com
West Ham United earned a creditable point in an entertaining goalless draw
at Swansea City
27.10.2013
West Ham United were held to a goalless draw against Swansea City on Sunday
afternoon, as the Hammers spurned a series of chances to leave the Liberty
Stadium with all three Barclays Premier League points. Ravel Morrison, Guy
Demel, Mo Diame and Kevin Nolan were all guilty of missing the target in the
first half alone, as Sam Allardyce's men dominated vast swathes of this one.
But for their profligacy in front of goal, West Ham would no doubt have
secured a second successive victory on their travels, though a fifth clean
sheet of the campaign was an excellent second best. It was the visitors who
showed first, in the shape of winger Stewart Downing, whose low left-footed
drive forced Michel Vorm into a smart near-post stop after eight minutes.
The resulting corner, meanwhile, fell at the feet of full-back Demel, but on
the stretch, he could only toe over the bar. At the other end, Wayne
Routledge floated in an inviting centre, but a stooping Alvaro Vazquez could
only head into the grateful arms of Jussi Jaaskelainen. But the Hammers
stopper was soon called into more serious action as he somehow kept out
Chico Flores' bullet header from little more than six yards. Ironically, it
prompted a West Ham breakaway, one that saw Morrison with a sight of goal,
though he dragged his shot across the face of goal. Thereafter, the Hammers
went close on a number of occasions, without succeeding in breaking the
deadlock. Firstly, Razvan Rat's long free-kick saw Kevin Nolan beat Vorm to
it, only for his glancing header to be cleared off the line.
Sam Allardyce's men then won three corners in quick succession with 25
minutes gone, the first of which came after Downing's goal-bound effort had
been deflected behind. The second fell kindly to Morrison from 18 yards,
but his strike, smashed into the ground, couldn't find its way through a
crowded penalty area. But still the Hammers came, with arguably the best
chance falling to Demel, who nodded over the bar from close range. As the
visitors drew breath, Swansea gained a foothold in proceedings, but it was
West Ham who continued to threaten the hosts' goal. In the 44th minute,
Downing's in-swinging free-kick picked out Diame at the far stick, but like
Demel before him, he was unable to direct his header on target. And in
first-half stoppage time yet another presentable opportunity came and went.
Jarvis, a first-half replacement for the injured Ricardo Vaz Te, raced to
the by-line and though his cut-back was an excellent one, Nolan spooned his
effort over the bar, with Morrison perhaps better placed to swipe at goal.
The Hammers, by comparison, were slightly more subdued after the break and
it was the Swans who had the first chance of note, as Vazquez, on the
stretch, was inches from connecting with Nathan Dyer's right-wing centre.
West Ham, however, continued to cause havoc in the opposition box and
Winston Reid, this time, had Vorm in all sorts of trouble, but could only
hook over from under the crossbar. Both sides, meanwhile, shuffled their
packs, with Pablo Hernandez and Wilfried Bony joining the fray for the
Swans, and Carlton Cole coming on in place of Diame. But it was Bony who
nearly made an instant impact. The Hammers struggled to clear a left-wing
corner and when the Ivorian let fly from six yards, Jaaskelainen was equal
to it, diving to his left to palm the ball to safety. While the tempo
hardly slowed, chances were at a premium in the final quarter. Jaaskelainen
dove expertly at the feet of Michu, but the latter was flagged offside in
any case. There would be one final chance for the visitors, but Carlton
Cole's well-timed leap produced a comfortable stop from Vorm, as it ended
honours even in Wales.
Swansea City: Vorm, Rangel, Chico, Williams, Taylor, Britton, de Guzman,
Michu, Dyer, Routledge (Hernandez 60), Vazquez (Bony 67)
Subs: Tremmel, Tiendalli, Amat, Canas, Pozuelo
Booked: Rangel
West Ham United: Jaaskelainen; Demel, Tomkins, Reid, Rat; Nolan, Noble,
Diame (C Cole 64); Downing, Morrison (J Cole 78), Vaz Te (Jarvis 34)
Subs not used: Adrian, Maiga, Taylor, O'Brien
Booked: Demel, Morrison, Cole
Referee: Phil Dowd
Attendance: 20,455
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'Another magnificent clean sheet'
WHUFC.com
Sam Allardyce hailed a supreme defensive display after the Hammers drew 0-0
at Swansea City
27.10.2013
Sam Allardyce admitted it was a case of mixed emotions after watching his
West Ham United side held to a goalless Barclays Premier League draw at
Swansea City on Sunday. The Hammers flew out of the traps and created
several fine chances prior to the interval, with youngster Ravel Morrison
arguably spurning the best of them. Though the Swans were resurgent after
the break, Jussi Jaaskelainen was rarely called upon and Carlton Cole might
have won it with a glancing header at the death. While the winner was to
prove elusive, a fifth clean sheet of the campaign was just reward for
another outstanding display away from home. And Big Sam was rightly elated
with his side's defensive prowess, even if goals are proving hard to come by
just now. "We're disappointed in the dressing room and the lads know that we
should be celebrating a little more than we are," he told West Ham TV. "It's
another magnificent clean sheet, another snuffing out of the opposition and
classic counter-attacking football in the first half. Our movement of the
ball, passing and movement of the players was brilliant, we cut Swansea open
time after time. "But in the end we failed to put the ball in the back of
the net, sadly. It got more difficult in the second half because we didn't
pass it as well as we did in the first, but yet again that superb defensive
quality we've got held out for a point."
Five clean sheets are clearly of huge satisfaction to the Hammers boss, but
Big Sam acknowledged that their points tally to date is disappointing under
the circumstances. He continued: "Five clean sheets out of nine matches and
only nine points is a massive disappointment, on the basis of how we've
played and what we've done up to now in terms of creating chances and not
converting them. "So we've ended up with draws instead of wins and that for
us is a problem at the minute that we've got to continue to try and work on
to improve. Hopefully the lads keep up this magnificent defensive record but
start scoring the odd goal here and there to start getting three points on
the board instead of one."
While the visitors had several clear sights of goal, Big Sam pointed to
Morrison's first-half chance as the one that really got away. The
culmination of an incisive counter-attack, the former Manchester United
youngster opted to go for goal, rather than squaring to Mo Diame, a decision
that both he and his colleagues were left to rue. "All Rav had to do was
roll the ball across for Mo Diame to tap it in and he got a bit greedy and
wanted to score himself," Big Sam confirmed. "You've got to play the best
man in if it's a goalscoring chance and if he's not there, then yes, take
the shot at goal, see if you can score. "After that, Guy Demel and Mo Diame
had chances and chances, balls were dropping down in their box. Even the
goalie tried to punch one in his own net for us!"
"Right at the end there Carlton Cole came on and gave us a bit more of an
attacking thrust. He's had a good header near the end that the goalkeeper's
made a good save from. We're reasonably satisfied with the point, we respect
the point but disappointed we haven't got three." With another hard-earned
away point safely in the bag, the challenge now remains to do likewise at
the Boleyn Ground. Unlike last season, where the Hammers were imperious at
home, they have already suffered three successive home league defeats. Big
Sam, however, is intent on putting that right, starting with Saturday's
visit of Aston Villa. "Five games and one goal conceded off a very dubious
penalty at Hull City is a magnificent record to build on and our main
concern now is to make sure when we play at home that we don't lose any more
matches. "We're going to try and win against Aston Villa and settle that
score at the minute, because three defeats at home on the trot is just not
acceptable for us. In the form that we showed playing in all of those three
games, to have got nothing out of it, we must turn that around on Saturday.
"If we're going to have a good away record this year, we can't start
faltering at home, we've got to be as good as we were last and we haven't
been at the moment in terms of results. Not so much, performances but
certainly in terms of results."
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Swansea 0 West Ham 0
27 October 2013
Last updated at 18:34
By Saj Chowdhury
BBC Sport
Swansea and West Ham settled for a point in a match that contained few
clear-cut opportunities at a rain-drenched Liberty Stadium. West Ham created
more chances than the home side with Stewart Downing forcing saves from
Michel Vorm who then almost punched the ball into his own net. Midfielder
Ravel Morrison also went close when he fired wide from 10 yards. Home keeper
Jussi Jaaskelainen produced two great blocks to deny Swansea's Chico Flores
and Wilfried Bony. The Bony chance was the only effort of note in a second
half that failed to match a relatively entertaining first 45 minutes. Swans
manager Michael Laudrup may be left perplexed at his side's lack of
attacking endeavour in their first goalless draw of the season, while
counterpart Sam Allardyce will have been disappointed by the Hammers'
wastefulness in front of goal. The point lifts West Ham up to 15th, while
the Swans, who made seven changes from the side that started against Kuban
Krasnodar in the Europa League on Thursday, go ninth. Flores drew a
point-blank save from Jaaskelainen but that was the only effort of note from
Laudrup's side during a first 45 minutes which the Hammers controlled. The
visitors had only scored in one of their past five away league games but
winger Downing did his best to remedy that, twice forcing good saves from
Vorm in the first half. There followed a howler by the Dutch keeper when he
fisted a clearance towards his own net and was only spared embarrassment by
the athleticism of defender Angel Rangel, who cleared.
England Under-21 international Morrison, an outside bet for a place in the
senior squad for Brazil, also tested the Swansea goal with a low angled
strike that just drifted past the left-hand upright, while Guy Demel scooped
over from six yards. Both managers made tactical changes in attack midway
through the second half after an uninspiring spell following the restart.
Allardyce brought on striker Carlton Cole for his first appearance of his
second spell with the club, while Laudrup sent on Ivorian Bony. And it was
last season's Dutch league top scorer Bony who had the best and only
opportunity of the half when his fierce strike from eight yards was tipped
over by the ever-alert Jaaskelainen. Swansea now travel to Cardiff for the
first all-Welsh Premier League encounter, while West Ham host Aston Villa.
Swansea manager Michael Laudrup: "I knew it would be very difficult as they
enjoyed huge success playing like this against Tottenham, when they won 3-0
[previous away fixture]. "We knew they would play without a striker and with
six in midfield and it is difficult. "You also know they are so good at
set-pieces and we had some problems when they had four or five in succession
in the first half. "We don't have the tallest guys but in the second half,
despite not being at our best, we controlled it."
West Ham boss Sam Allardyce: "We should have had it over and done with by
half-time. "We showed our classic counter-attacking football, but
unfortunately our finishing qualities let us down. "We limited Swansea to
one header from a set-piece. In the second half we didn't pass it as well as
in the first. It's disappointing. "It's our fifth clean sheet in nine
matches but we have only nine points in total and that's not good enough."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Swansea and West Ham draw 0-0 at the Liberty Stadium
Last Updated: October 27, 2013 6:32pm
SSN
Swansea City and West Ham United drew 0-0 at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday
in the Premier League. The Hammers' dead-ball threat troubled their hosts
all afternoon, with Angel Rangel hooking a long Razvan Rat free-kick off the
line while Guy Demel and Kevin Nolan also spurned good chances. Jussi
Jaaskelainen made two point-blank stops to deny Chico Flores and Wilfried
Bony at the other end, and the hosts also had a late penalty appeal for
handball against Joe Cole turned down as Swansea were left frustrated as the
game finished 0-0.
Best of the match:
Save of the match: Jaaskelainen made an excellent save form point blank
range to deny Chico in the first half.
Moment of the match: Dyer thought he might have won a penalty late in the
game for a handball against Joe Cole. The referee didn't agree.
Man of the match: Chico. Outstanding at the back for Swansea and threatened
the West Ham goal at set pieces.
While neither side picked up the three points, Sam Allardyce will be the
happier of the two managers as his decision to again play without a
recognised striker
for much of the game paid dividends as they restricted Swansea's space in
the middle of the park. They also highlighted Swansea's discomfort defending
set-pieces, which has been no secret given their relative lack of height,
and it proved a recurring theme throughout the contest and will almost
certainly have been noted by Cardiff ahead of next weekend's south Wales
derby. During the early going, West Ham were happy to sit deep and soak up
pressure and hope to capitalise on counter-attack or set-piece
opportunities. On several occasions they also attempted to get Stewart
Downing one-on-one with Neil Taylor, and one such instance saw the England
winger cut in and force a sharp save from Michel Vorm, with Demel prodding
over from the resulting corner. Swansea's first chance fell to Alvaro
Vazquez, who had a poor afternoon, as his low header was held by
Jaaskelainen after a lovely outside-of-the-foot cross from Wayne Routledge.
Both sides then contrived to pass up excellent opportunities in the 20th
minute.
Flores headed straight at Jaaskelainen from point-blank range and West Ham
collected the loose ball and broke through Ricardo Vaz Te, who was later
forced off through injury. He found Ravel Morrison but the Hammers youngster
dragged wide of the far post. Vorm enjoyed a lucky escape as West Ham's
aerial bombardment continued in earnest, the Dutchman came for Rat's long
free-kick and missed it under pressure from Nolan, with Rangel hooking the
ball clear as it headed for the back of the net. Vorm then punched a corner
straight to Morrison, with several Swansea bodies rushing out to block the
shot. Substitute Matt Jarvis, on for Vaz Te, soon beat Rangel and picked out
Nolan, with the West Ham captain spooning over with Morrison better-placed
behind him. Swansea raised the tempo afer the break and Nathan Dyer crafted
an opening for Vazquez by spinning away from Winston Reid and Nolan, but the
striker could not get a touch on the winger's inviting ball. But the hosts'
set-piece demons would not go away, with Vorm unconvincingly punching a
sliced Michu clearance and Jarvis hoist when under pressure, with Nolan
flicking over the bar from the latter. Allardyce threw on Carlton Cole for
his second West Ham debut, while Michael Laudrup introduced Bony for the
ineffectual Vazquez. The Ivorian thought he had given Swansea the lead with
19 minutes to play from, of all things, a set-piece. De Guzman's corner fell
to the striker but Jaaskelainen pushed out his shot from the edge of the
six-yard box, with Mark Noble clearing Flores' follow-up header off the
line. Jarvis then headed over under pressure from Rangel at the other end
after Mohamed Diame had escaped the home defence.
Swansea thought a penalty should have gone their way in stoppage time, but
Phil Dowd waved away appeals that Joe Cole had handled a Dyer cross.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Sam Allardyce felt West Ham did enough to secure all three points
Last Updated: October 27, 2013 9:31pm
SSN
West Ham manager Sam Allardyce felt his team had done enough to secure all
three points at Swansea and believes the lack of a clinical edge in front of
goal has hindered them so far this season. In a turgid game of few clear
chances the Hammers' dead-ball threat troubled their hosts all afternoon,
with Angel Rangel hooking a long Razvan Rat free-kick off the line, while
Guy Demel and Kevin Nolan also spurned sights of goal. Jussi Jaaskelainen
made two point-blank stops to deny Chico Flores and Wilfried Bony at the
other end, but the hosts were most aggrieved by referee Phil Dowd's decision
to turn down a stoppage-time appeal for handball against Joe Cole. The West
Ham substitute had his arm raised as he leapt to block a Nathan Dyer cross
but the game ended goalless. Allardyce again opted to start with a side
containing no recognised striker, and their 4-6-0 formation stymied
Swansea's passing game, while they carried a potent threat from set-pieces
at the other end. Afterwards, Allardyce said: "That's five clean sheets
we've got now. Away from home we've only conceded one goal, from a very
dubious penalty, and that is going to bring us a lot of points because
eventually we will score. "We obviously want to score more if we can but it
looks as though we have to create six or seven chances for ourselves. "That
has got to get better."
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SCOUTS' DISHONOUR OVER COLE EMBARRASSMENT
By Tony McDonald 27 Oct 2013 at 20:29
West Ham Till I Die
SO the Carlton Cole farce finally became reality today, when the player
discarded by manager Sam Allardyce at the end of last season made his
long-awaited reappearance in West Ham's first team as a second half
substitute at Swansea.
It beggars belief that a Premier League club should need to stoop so low as
to have to go cap in hand to a striker who was deemed not good enough just a
few months earlier and put out to pasture.
Naturally, he didn't score in the 25 minutes or so he spent on the field at
the Liberty Stadium but then none of us who have followed his career are
expecting much from a striker whose games-to-goals ratio is right up there
with John Radford's in Hammers folklore. In 287 senior games spanning five
clubs, Cole has mustered just 59 goals - a meagre return by any forward's
standards.
Which makes the decision to re-sign the 30-year-old as cover for the injured
Andy Carroll all the more bewildering and, certainly, it's a damning
indictment of the club's scouting system.
To compound West Ham's self-inflicted embarrassment, we even had to wait for
Cole to get himself reasonably fit again before he could even be considered
for a game. That doesn't say much for his attitude and professionalism
either. He (and his agent) must have been confident that clubs would be
falling at his feet to sign him up after West Ham showed him the door, but
that didn't happen, so he let himself go fitness-wise.
You cannot tell me that there really are no better options than Cole to be
found in Spain's La Liga, Italy's Serie A or Germany's Bundesliga? Are there
no younger options with potential who would be worth a crack? There must be
countless strikers as good (or as bad) as Carlton Cole who would give their
right arm to be given a chance to shine in the English Premier League. And
surely if they are not playing regular first team football in their own
country, their clubs could quite possibly be persuaded to release them on
loan, with a possible view for a longer-term transfer deal. The experience
of playing in the EPL would do them no harm - a win-win situation all round,
you'd think.
Apparently not.
Instead, we find ourselves in the humiliating, embarrassing situation many
Sunday morning football managers face most weeks of the season. You know how
it works . . . you drop a lumbering striker because you have 13 or 14 other
players better than him, but then your centre-forward injures himself
tripping over his daughter's dolls house at home, another player has to go
Christmas shopping with his missus, and a third has been out on a Saturday
night bender and is feeling too ill to even get out of bed the next morning.
So you have no other choice. You pick up the phone an hour before kick-off
and desperately plead with your only last resort to help you out of a fix.
You justify it in your own mind as being marginally better than playing with
10. I guess that's how Allardyce must have been thinking when he saw how
Cole had ballooned in weight and here he was offering him an olive branch.
The difference is, West Ham United is not meant to be run like a Sunday
morning pub team. We should be employing a chief scout who knows the game
inside out and surround him with a network of scouts in all the key areas of
Europe, South America, Africa, Asia, etc . These people should have lots of
promising players on their radar as short-term, middle term and long-term
targets but I have grave doubts that they know what they are doing or what
they are supposed to be looking for. Some days I seriously wonder whether we
have any scouts at all.
OK, so I know the days of Wally St Pier sitting down for a nice cup of rosy
with the parents of a budding schoolboy prodigy in Forest Gate or Barking
are a dim and distant memory. But really, what do our scouts actually do
these days?
You look at our most recent signings -Carroll, Downing, Joe Cole and Jarvis
- and you have to ask if any of our scouts even possess a passport that can
take them beyond the UK, or even outside Liverpool. The exception to this
rule might be the Romanian left-back Rat, although it's probably too early
to judge him. Some of our other signings from overseas in recent times have
been very dubious at best and should be subject of a steward's inquiry.
How come other clubs don't seem to have any problem unearthing new gems
before polishing off their rough edges?
At West Ham we're replacing one injury-prone striker bought at a
ridiculously over-inflated cost, with one who no-one else wants and who has
a poor goal scoring pedigree.
Ah, but Cole's only back here as cover, they'll say. He's just short-term
and won't get a sniff of a chance once Carroll eventually comes back into
the side.
Exactly.
So why even waste a place on the bench on someone we've already decided
isn't up to it? Why not take a punt on a young hopeful, a foreign loanee,
who might turn out to be the next best thing? Their wages wouldn't cost us
any more than Carlton Cole's. It would at least be nice to give chance a
chance.
Not only is Cole not the answer to what the club hopes will be only a
short-term problem, but the bigger picture is also one of major concern.
Carroll is damaged goods, we will never recoup anything like what we paid
for him and he is costing us a fortune in wages. It's all very well saying
he'll be back soon, but for long will he continue to play before suffering
his next injury set-back?
The plan to replace him with a permanent striker who can hack it in the
Premier League should already be well underway.
Anyone know a good scout?
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WHUFC.com
West Ham United earned a creditable point in an entertaining goalless draw
at Swansea City
27.10.2013
West Ham United were held to a goalless draw against Swansea City on Sunday
afternoon, as the Hammers spurned a series of chances to leave the Liberty
Stadium with all three Barclays Premier League points. Ravel Morrison, Guy
Demel, Mo Diame and Kevin Nolan were all guilty of missing the target in the
first half alone, as Sam Allardyce's men dominated vast swathes of this one.
But for their profligacy in front of goal, West Ham would no doubt have
secured a second successive victory on their travels, though a fifth clean
sheet of the campaign was an excellent second best. It was the visitors who
showed first, in the shape of winger Stewart Downing, whose low left-footed
drive forced Michel Vorm into a smart near-post stop after eight minutes.
The resulting corner, meanwhile, fell at the feet of full-back Demel, but on
the stretch, he could only toe over the bar. At the other end, Wayne
Routledge floated in an inviting centre, but a stooping Alvaro Vazquez could
only head into the grateful arms of Jussi Jaaskelainen. But the Hammers
stopper was soon called into more serious action as he somehow kept out
Chico Flores' bullet header from little more than six yards. Ironically, it
prompted a West Ham breakaway, one that saw Morrison with a sight of goal,
though he dragged his shot across the face of goal. Thereafter, the Hammers
went close on a number of occasions, without succeeding in breaking the
deadlock. Firstly, Razvan Rat's long free-kick saw Kevin Nolan beat Vorm to
it, only for his glancing header to be cleared off the line.
Sam Allardyce's men then won three corners in quick succession with 25
minutes gone, the first of which came after Downing's goal-bound effort had
been deflected behind. The second fell kindly to Morrison from 18 yards,
but his strike, smashed into the ground, couldn't find its way through a
crowded penalty area. But still the Hammers came, with arguably the best
chance falling to Demel, who nodded over the bar from close range. As the
visitors drew breath, Swansea gained a foothold in proceedings, but it was
West Ham who continued to threaten the hosts' goal. In the 44th minute,
Downing's in-swinging free-kick picked out Diame at the far stick, but like
Demel before him, he was unable to direct his header on target. And in
first-half stoppage time yet another presentable opportunity came and went.
Jarvis, a first-half replacement for the injured Ricardo Vaz Te, raced to
the by-line and though his cut-back was an excellent one, Nolan spooned his
effort over the bar, with Morrison perhaps better placed to swipe at goal.
The Hammers, by comparison, were slightly more subdued after the break and
it was the Swans who had the first chance of note, as Vazquez, on the
stretch, was inches from connecting with Nathan Dyer's right-wing centre.
West Ham, however, continued to cause havoc in the opposition box and
Winston Reid, this time, had Vorm in all sorts of trouble, but could only
hook over from under the crossbar. Both sides, meanwhile, shuffled their
packs, with Pablo Hernandez and Wilfried Bony joining the fray for the
Swans, and Carlton Cole coming on in place of Diame. But it was Bony who
nearly made an instant impact. The Hammers struggled to clear a left-wing
corner and when the Ivorian let fly from six yards, Jaaskelainen was equal
to it, diving to his left to palm the ball to safety. While the tempo
hardly slowed, chances were at a premium in the final quarter. Jaaskelainen
dove expertly at the feet of Michu, but the latter was flagged offside in
any case. There would be one final chance for the visitors, but Carlton
Cole's well-timed leap produced a comfortable stop from Vorm, as it ended
honours even in Wales.
Swansea City: Vorm, Rangel, Chico, Williams, Taylor, Britton, de Guzman,
Michu, Dyer, Routledge (Hernandez 60), Vazquez (Bony 67)
Subs: Tremmel, Tiendalli, Amat, Canas, Pozuelo
Booked: Rangel
West Ham United: Jaaskelainen; Demel, Tomkins, Reid, Rat; Nolan, Noble,
Diame (C Cole 64); Downing, Morrison (J Cole 78), Vaz Te (Jarvis 34)
Subs not used: Adrian, Maiga, Taylor, O'Brien
Booked: Demel, Morrison, Cole
Referee: Phil Dowd
Attendance: 20,455
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
'Another magnificent clean sheet'
WHUFC.com
Sam Allardyce hailed a supreme defensive display after the Hammers drew 0-0
at Swansea City
27.10.2013
Sam Allardyce admitted it was a case of mixed emotions after watching his
West Ham United side held to a goalless Barclays Premier League draw at
Swansea City on Sunday. The Hammers flew out of the traps and created
several fine chances prior to the interval, with youngster Ravel Morrison
arguably spurning the best of them. Though the Swans were resurgent after
the break, Jussi Jaaskelainen was rarely called upon and Carlton Cole might
have won it with a glancing header at the death. While the winner was to
prove elusive, a fifth clean sheet of the campaign was just reward for
another outstanding display away from home. And Big Sam was rightly elated
with his side's defensive prowess, even if goals are proving hard to come by
just now. "We're disappointed in the dressing room and the lads know that we
should be celebrating a little more than we are," he told West Ham TV. "It's
another magnificent clean sheet, another snuffing out of the opposition and
classic counter-attacking football in the first half. Our movement of the
ball, passing and movement of the players was brilliant, we cut Swansea open
time after time. "But in the end we failed to put the ball in the back of
the net, sadly. It got more difficult in the second half because we didn't
pass it as well as we did in the first, but yet again that superb defensive
quality we've got held out for a point."
Five clean sheets are clearly of huge satisfaction to the Hammers boss, but
Big Sam acknowledged that their points tally to date is disappointing under
the circumstances. He continued: "Five clean sheets out of nine matches and
only nine points is a massive disappointment, on the basis of how we've
played and what we've done up to now in terms of creating chances and not
converting them. "So we've ended up with draws instead of wins and that for
us is a problem at the minute that we've got to continue to try and work on
to improve. Hopefully the lads keep up this magnificent defensive record but
start scoring the odd goal here and there to start getting three points on
the board instead of one."
While the visitors had several clear sights of goal, Big Sam pointed to
Morrison's first-half chance as the one that really got away. The
culmination of an incisive counter-attack, the former Manchester United
youngster opted to go for goal, rather than squaring to Mo Diame, a decision
that both he and his colleagues were left to rue. "All Rav had to do was
roll the ball across for Mo Diame to tap it in and he got a bit greedy and
wanted to score himself," Big Sam confirmed. "You've got to play the best
man in if it's a goalscoring chance and if he's not there, then yes, take
the shot at goal, see if you can score. "After that, Guy Demel and Mo Diame
had chances and chances, balls were dropping down in their box. Even the
goalie tried to punch one in his own net for us!"
"Right at the end there Carlton Cole came on and gave us a bit more of an
attacking thrust. He's had a good header near the end that the goalkeeper's
made a good save from. We're reasonably satisfied with the point, we respect
the point but disappointed we haven't got three." With another hard-earned
away point safely in the bag, the challenge now remains to do likewise at
the Boleyn Ground. Unlike last season, where the Hammers were imperious at
home, they have already suffered three successive home league defeats. Big
Sam, however, is intent on putting that right, starting with Saturday's
visit of Aston Villa. "Five games and one goal conceded off a very dubious
penalty at Hull City is a magnificent record to build on and our main
concern now is to make sure when we play at home that we don't lose any more
matches. "We're going to try and win against Aston Villa and settle that
score at the minute, because three defeats at home on the trot is just not
acceptable for us. In the form that we showed playing in all of those three
games, to have got nothing out of it, we must turn that around on Saturday.
"If we're going to have a good away record this year, we can't start
faltering at home, we've got to be as good as we were last and we haven't
been at the moment in terms of results. Not so much, performances but
certainly in terms of results."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Swansea 0 West Ham 0
27 October 2013
Last updated at 18:34
By Saj Chowdhury
BBC Sport
Swansea and West Ham settled for a point in a match that contained few
clear-cut opportunities at a rain-drenched Liberty Stadium. West Ham created
more chances than the home side with Stewart Downing forcing saves from
Michel Vorm who then almost punched the ball into his own net. Midfielder
Ravel Morrison also went close when he fired wide from 10 yards. Home keeper
Jussi Jaaskelainen produced two great blocks to deny Swansea's Chico Flores
and Wilfried Bony. The Bony chance was the only effort of note in a second
half that failed to match a relatively entertaining first 45 minutes. Swans
manager Michael Laudrup may be left perplexed at his side's lack of
attacking endeavour in their first goalless draw of the season, while
counterpart Sam Allardyce will have been disappointed by the Hammers'
wastefulness in front of goal. The point lifts West Ham up to 15th, while
the Swans, who made seven changes from the side that started against Kuban
Krasnodar in the Europa League on Thursday, go ninth. Flores drew a
point-blank save from Jaaskelainen but that was the only effort of note from
Laudrup's side during a first 45 minutes which the Hammers controlled. The
visitors had only scored in one of their past five away league games but
winger Downing did his best to remedy that, twice forcing good saves from
Vorm in the first half. There followed a howler by the Dutch keeper when he
fisted a clearance towards his own net and was only spared embarrassment by
the athleticism of defender Angel Rangel, who cleared.
England Under-21 international Morrison, an outside bet for a place in the
senior squad for Brazil, also tested the Swansea goal with a low angled
strike that just drifted past the left-hand upright, while Guy Demel scooped
over from six yards. Both managers made tactical changes in attack midway
through the second half after an uninspiring spell following the restart.
Allardyce brought on striker Carlton Cole for his first appearance of his
second spell with the club, while Laudrup sent on Ivorian Bony. And it was
last season's Dutch league top scorer Bony who had the best and only
opportunity of the half when his fierce strike from eight yards was tipped
over by the ever-alert Jaaskelainen. Swansea now travel to Cardiff for the
first all-Welsh Premier League encounter, while West Ham host Aston Villa.
Swansea manager Michael Laudrup: "I knew it would be very difficult as they
enjoyed huge success playing like this against Tottenham, when they won 3-0
[previous away fixture]. "We knew they would play without a striker and with
six in midfield and it is difficult. "You also know they are so good at
set-pieces and we had some problems when they had four or five in succession
in the first half. "We don't have the tallest guys but in the second half,
despite not being at our best, we controlled it."
West Ham boss Sam Allardyce: "We should have had it over and done with by
half-time. "We showed our classic counter-attacking football, but
unfortunately our finishing qualities let us down. "We limited Swansea to
one header from a set-piece. In the second half we didn't pass it as well as
in the first. It's disappointing. "It's our fifth clean sheet in nine
matches but we have only nine points in total and that's not good enough."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Swansea and West Ham draw 0-0 at the Liberty Stadium
Last Updated: October 27, 2013 6:32pm
SSN
Swansea City and West Ham United drew 0-0 at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday
in the Premier League. The Hammers' dead-ball threat troubled their hosts
all afternoon, with Angel Rangel hooking a long Razvan Rat free-kick off the
line while Guy Demel and Kevin Nolan also spurned good chances. Jussi
Jaaskelainen made two point-blank stops to deny Chico Flores and Wilfried
Bony at the other end, and the hosts also had a late penalty appeal for
handball against Joe Cole turned down as Swansea were left frustrated as the
game finished 0-0.
Best of the match:
Save of the match: Jaaskelainen made an excellent save form point blank
range to deny Chico in the first half.
Moment of the match: Dyer thought he might have won a penalty late in the
game for a handball against Joe Cole. The referee didn't agree.
Man of the match: Chico. Outstanding at the back for Swansea and threatened
the West Ham goal at set pieces.
While neither side picked up the three points, Sam Allardyce will be the
happier of the two managers as his decision to again play without a
recognised striker
for much of the game paid dividends as they restricted Swansea's space in
the middle of the park. They also highlighted Swansea's discomfort defending
set-pieces, which has been no secret given their relative lack of height,
and it proved a recurring theme throughout the contest and will almost
certainly have been noted by Cardiff ahead of next weekend's south Wales
derby. During the early going, West Ham were happy to sit deep and soak up
pressure and hope to capitalise on counter-attack or set-piece
opportunities. On several occasions they also attempted to get Stewart
Downing one-on-one with Neil Taylor, and one such instance saw the England
winger cut in and force a sharp save from Michel Vorm, with Demel prodding
over from the resulting corner. Swansea's first chance fell to Alvaro
Vazquez, who had a poor afternoon, as his low header was held by
Jaaskelainen after a lovely outside-of-the-foot cross from Wayne Routledge.
Both sides then contrived to pass up excellent opportunities in the 20th
minute.
Flores headed straight at Jaaskelainen from point-blank range and West Ham
collected the loose ball and broke through Ricardo Vaz Te, who was later
forced off through injury. He found Ravel Morrison but the Hammers youngster
dragged wide of the far post. Vorm enjoyed a lucky escape as West Ham's
aerial bombardment continued in earnest, the Dutchman came for Rat's long
free-kick and missed it under pressure from Nolan, with Rangel hooking the
ball clear as it headed for the back of the net. Vorm then punched a corner
straight to Morrison, with several Swansea bodies rushing out to block the
shot. Substitute Matt Jarvis, on for Vaz Te, soon beat Rangel and picked out
Nolan, with the West Ham captain spooning over with Morrison better-placed
behind him. Swansea raised the tempo afer the break and Nathan Dyer crafted
an opening for Vazquez by spinning away from Winston Reid and Nolan, but the
striker could not get a touch on the winger's inviting ball. But the hosts'
set-piece demons would not go away, with Vorm unconvincingly punching a
sliced Michu clearance and Jarvis hoist when under pressure, with Nolan
flicking over the bar from the latter. Allardyce threw on Carlton Cole for
his second West Ham debut, while Michael Laudrup introduced Bony for the
ineffectual Vazquez. The Ivorian thought he had given Swansea the lead with
19 minutes to play from, of all things, a set-piece. De Guzman's corner fell
to the striker but Jaaskelainen pushed out his shot from the edge of the
six-yard box, with Mark Noble clearing Flores' follow-up header off the
line. Jarvis then headed over under pressure from Rangel at the other end
after Mohamed Diame had escaped the home defence.
Swansea thought a penalty should have gone their way in stoppage time, but
Phil Dowd waved away appeals that Joe Cole had handled a Dyer cross.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Sam Allardyce felt West Ham did enough to secure all three points
Last Updated: October 27, 2013 9:31pm
SSN
West Ham manager Sam Allardyce felt his team had done enough to secure all
three points at Swansea and believes the lack of a clinical edge in front of
goal has hindered them so far this season. In a turgid game of few clear
chances the Hammers' dead-ball threat troubled their hosts all afternoon,
with Angel Rangel hooking a long Razvan Rat free-kick off the line, while
Guy Demel and Kevin Nolan also spurned sights of goal. Jussi Jaaskelainen
made two point-blank stops to deny Chico Flores and Wilfried Bony at the
other end, but the hosts were most aggrieved by referee Phil Dowd's decision
to turn down a stoppage-time appeal for handball against Joe Cole. The West
Ham substitute had his arm raised as he leapt to block a Nathan Dyer cross
but the game ended goalless. Allardyce again opted to start with a side
containing no recognised striker, and their 4-6-0 formation stymied
Swansea's passing game, while they carried a potent threat from set-pieces
at the other end. Afterwards, Allardyce said: "That's five clean sheets
we've got now. Away from home we've only conceded one goal, from a very
dubious penalty, and that is going to bring us a lot of points because
eventually we will score. "We obviously want to score more if we can but it
looks as though we have to create six or seven chances for ourselves. "That
has got to get better."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
SCOUTS' DISHONOUR OVER COLE EMBARRASSMENT
By Tony McDonald 27 Oct 2013 at 20:29
West Ham Till I Die
SO the Carlton Cole farce finally became reality today, when the player
discarded by manager Sam Allardyce at the end of last season made his
long-awaited reappearance in West Ham's first team as a second half
substitute at Swansea.
It beggars belief that a Premier League club should need to stoop so low as
to have to go cap in hand to a striker who was deemed not good enough just a
few months earlier and put out to pasture.
Naturally, he didn't score in the 25 minutes or so he spent on the field at
the Liberty Stadium but then none of us who have followed his career are
expecting much from a striker whose games-to-goals ratio is right up there
with John Radford's in Hammers folklore. In 287 senior games spanning five
clubs, Cole has mustered just 59 goals - a meagre return by any forward's
standards.
Which makes the decision to re-sign the 30-year-old as cover for the injured
Andy Carroll all the more bewildering and, certainly, it's a damning
indictment of the club's scouting system.
To compound West Ham's self-inflicted embarrassment, we even had to wait for
Cole to get himself reasonably fit again before he could even be considered
for a game. That doesn't say much for his attitude and professionalism
either. He (and his agent) must have been confident that clubs would be
falling at his feet to sign him up after West Ham showed him the door, but
that didn't happen, so he let himself go fitness-wise.
You cannot tell me that there really are no better options than Cole to be
found in Spain's La Liga, Italy's Serie A or Germany's Bundesliga? Are there
no younger options with potential who would be worth a crack? There must be
countless strikers as good (or as bad) as Carlton Cole who would give their
right arm to be given a chance to shine in the English Premier League. And
surely if they are not playing regular first team football in their own
country, their clubs could quite possibly be persuaded to release them on
loan, with a possible view for a longer-term transfer deal. The experience
of playing in the EPL would do them no harm - a win-win situation all round,
you'd think.
Apparently not.
Instead, we find ourselves in the humiliating, embarrassing situation many
Sunday morning football managers face most weeks of the season. You know how
it works . . . you drop a lumbering striker because you have 13 or 14 other
players better than him, but then your centre-forward injures himself
tripping over his daughter's dolls house at home, another player has to go
Christmas shopping with his missus, and a third has been out on a Saturday
night bender and is feeling too ill to even get out of bed the next morning.
So you have no other choice. You pick up the phone an hour before kick-off
and desperately plead with your only last resort to help you out of a fix.
You justify it in your own mind as being marginally better than playing with
10. I guess that's how Allardyce must have been thinking when he saw how
Cole had ballooned in weight and here he was offering him an olive branch.
The difference is, West Ham United is not meant to be run like a Sunday
morning pub team. We should be employing a chief scout who knows the game
inside out and surround him with a network of scouts in all the key areas of
Europe, South America, Africa, Asia, etc . These people should have lots of
promising players on their radar as short-term, middle term and long-term
targets but I have grave doubts that they know what they are doing or what
they are supposed to be looking for. Some days I seriously wonder whether we
have any scouts at all.
OK, so I know the days of Wally St Pier sitting down for a nice cup of rosy
with the parents of a budding schoolboy prodigy in Forest Gate or Barking
are a dim and distant memory. But really, what do our scouts actually do
these days?
You look at our most recent signings -Carroll, Downing, Joe Cole and Jarvis
- and you have to ask if any of our scouts even possess a passport that can
take them beyond the UK, or even outside Liverpool. The exception to this
rule might be the Romanian left-back Rat, although it's probably too early
to judge him. Some of our other signings from overseas in recent times have
been very dubious at best and should be subject of a steward's inquiry.
How come other clubs don't seem to have any problem unearthing new gems
before polishing off their rough edges?
At West Ham we're replacing one injury-prone striker bought at a
ridiculously over-inflated cost, with one who no-one else wants and who has
a poor goal scoring pedigree.
Ah, but Cole's only back here as cover, they'll say. He's just short-term
and won't get a sniff of a chance once Carroll eventually comes back into
the side.
Exactly.
So why even waste a place on the bench on someone we've already decided
isn't up to it? Why not take a punt on a young hopeful, a foreign loanee,
who might turn out to be the next best thing? Their wages wouldn't cost us
any more than Carlton Cole's. It would at least be nice to give chance a
chance.
Not only is Cole not the answer to what the club hopes will be only a
short-term problem, but the bigger picture is also one of major concern.
Carroll is damaged goods, we will never recoup anything like what we paid
for him and he is costing us a fortune in wages. It's all very well saying
he'll be back soon, but for long will he continue to play before suffering
his next injury set-back?
The plan to replace him with a permanent striker who can hack it in the
Premier League should already be well underway.
Anyone know a good scout?
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Sunday, October 27
Daily WHUFC News - 22nd October 2013
Jarvo eyeing Swansea success
WHUFC.com
Matt Jarvis wants to win his place back and help West Ham United to victory
at Swansea City
26.10.2013
Fourteen months ago, club-record signing Matt Jarvis made his West Ham
United debut at Swansea City. The Hammers' first away game following their
return to the Premier League did not go to plan for Jarvis and his new
team-mates, however, as defensive errors and wasteful finishing saw the
Swans run out 3-0 winners. On Sunday, Jarvis and company will return to the
Liberty Stadium planning to make a better fist of things second time around.
"It was definitely a tough time there last season but obviously this season
we're going to be going there with a slightly different and hopefully
stronger squad, so hopefully we'll be able to build on our performance and
result at Tottenham," the No7 told West Ham TV. "Swansea are a very good
passing team and that all work well together. They inter-link and everybody
moves around the pitch to create space for others, so they are really
well-drilled and we'll have to be on our game."
Following Sunday's trip to South Wales, West Ham will return to action 52
hours later at Turf Moor, where they will take on Sky Bet Championship
leaders Burnley in the Capital One Cup fourth round. The Clarets have been
in outstanding form this term, winning 12 of their 15 matches in all
competitions, including the last seven, and losing just once - at Brighton
and Hove Albion back on 24 August. Jarvis played alongside no fewer than
four Burnley players at former club Wolverhampton Wanderers - centre-back
and captain Jason Shackell, midfielder David Jones, winger Michael Kightly
and striker Sam Vokes - and the winger is looking forward to facing them on
Tuesday evening. "It's not going to be easy at all, and it's a tough place
to go," Jarvis conceded. "I've played there a few times and I know a few of
their players as well and they really have started well, so it will be a
tough game. "Their two strikers [Vokes and Danny Ings] are scoring goals,
which always helps the team and that's why they are at the top of the
league. "It's quite a testing schedule playing Sunday and Tuesday, but we
have to do that and we have got a great squad, so if the manager wants to
change it up, then whoever plays will be good enough to go and get a win."
Looking further forward, West Ham host Aston Villa in the Barclays Premier
League on Saturday 2 November, continuing a run of games that Jarvis and his
team-mates will believe they can win. After the Kids for a Quid visit of
Villa, the Hammers host Chelsea, Fulham and Sunderland before Christmas,
while they also travel to Norwich City and Crystal Palace ahead of the
festive season. "We have to get back to winning ways at home in front of our
crowd, so hopefully the Villa game can be one where we can do that," said
Jarvis. "We'll be aiming to pick up points from those games to make up for
the ones we missed out on during the first eight games. "We'll be taking it
step by step but we have got a run of games we really hope we can make the
most of and that will be starting at Swansea."
On a personal level, Jarvis has been among the substitutes for the previous
two league games, having started the first six. He is naturally determined
to win his place back in Sam Allardyce's starting XI. "Of course, you always
want to play every week," he stated. "When you are out of the side, you want
to be in it and when you are in it, you want to stay in it. It's one of
those times when, if you get a chance you have to take it. "Hopefully I can
contribute to the way we are playing, because that is what I can do for the
team, getting in behind teams and using my pace to counter-attack. If I am
involved, then hopefully that's what I'll be able to do."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Football turns 150!
WHUFC.com
Football as we know it celebrates its 150th birthday today!
26.10.2013
The year 2013 has seen The Football Association celebrating 150 years since
the eight Founding Fathers of the football met to create the game as we know
it today. The range of special events to mark the anniversary have included
everything from showcase England games against the likes of Brazil and
Scotland at an elite level, through to the Sir Bobby Robson National
Football Day and the honouring of 150 of footballs volunteers at an event
hosted by HRH The Duke of Cambridge at a grassroots level. On 26 October,
The FA will host a Gala Dinner at the Grand Connaught Rooms to mark exactly
150 years to the day since the first meeting took place which formed the
nation's favourite game.
How It All Began
In 1863, Ebenezer Cobb Morley (pictured), a solicitor and sportsman living
in Barnes in south-west London, but originally from Hull, thought that
football should have a set of rules in the same way that the MCC had them
for cricket. So, the captains, secretaries and other representatives of a
dozen London and suburban clubs met at the Freemasons Tavern in Great Queen
Street, near to where Holborn tube station is today. Their purpose was to
form an Association with the object of establishing a code of rules for the
regulation of football. The clubs represented at the first meeting were:
Barnes, Civil Service (War Office), Crusaders, Forest (Leytonstone), No
Names (Kilburn), Crystal Palace, Blackheath, Kensington School, Perceval
House (Blackheath), Surbiton, Blackheath Proprietary School and
Charterhouse. The intention of those original meetings was to standardise
the rules and to iron out differences in the forms currently being played,
not to create a new game. Morley became The FA's first secretary, later its
president, and he drafted modern football's first rules at his Thames-side
home in Barnes.
It took six meetings for The FA to finally approve those rules. The first
match under them was played at Limes Field, a couple of minutes' walk from
Morley's home, on Saturday 19 December 1863. Barnes and Richmond drew 0-0.
The Freemasons' Tavern was extended and remodelled from 1905 and was renamed
the 'Connaught Rooms' in honour of the Grand Master, the Duke of Connaught.
At around the same time, Limes Field was built on with housing that is now
in 'Limes Field Road'. Before The FA was formed, football was in a hybrid
state. Today it spans a world that is caught up in its magic. To those men
of a clear vision and high resolve who first gathered together at the
Tavern, The FA, and all football fans, owes a great debt
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Swansea City v West Ham United
KUMB.com
Filed: Saturday, 26th October 2013
By: Preview Percy
It's an international special from Peview Percy, this week. Ok it's not
particularly special but it does involve going to Wales.....
For our next match we go on a European tour as we visit the Principality
(geo-political term for area that thinks it's a proper country) of Wales
where our hosts will be Swansea City. The match is on Sunday thanks to them
playing in the Europa League, qualifying by virtue of their actually having
won a trophy, as opposed to being given a place as a consolation prize for
not being nearly as good as your deluded fans thought you were, like some
other clubs I could mention. Kick-off is at 4.00pm.
Travel news is that, whilst there are trains running between Paddington and
Swansea, there are engineering works in the Severn Tunnel which means that
you'll be diverted around other parts of Mr Brunel's network en route.
Expect it to take about four hours each way if you're lucky.
Our hosts currently lie in 11th spot with 10 points from the 8 matches
played so far this season, winning three, drawing one and losing four in the
process. Their last six have seen them beat West Brom away (2-0), draw with
Liverpool (2-2 in a match that will forever be remembered as "the Jonjo
Shelvey match), beat Palace away (2-0), lose at home to Arsenal (1-2), lose
at Southampton (2-0) and win last weekend at home to Sunderland (4-0). Last
weekend's win was therefore their first at home of the season, somewhat
surprisingly. In between all that, their defence of the League Cup they
lifted last season came to an end with a 3-1 defeat at Birmingham.
On Thursday they played host in the Thursday Night League to Kuban
Krasnodar. Can't help feeling that the good people at Krispy Kreme Doughnuts
have missed a "rebranding" opportunity there. Swansea were held to a 1-1
draw by the Russians at home, a result that contrasts sharply with their
earlier 3-0 win in Valencia, a result admittedly assisted by the Spaniards
having a player sent off inn the early stages of the match.
After a relatively quiet start to the transfer window, during which manager
Michael Laudrup's agent was spouting out complaints that his client wasn't
getting backed in the transfer market, they suddenly found themselves making
a beeline for the European player tuck shop in the manner of a schoolboy
whose postal order from Gran has finally turned up after being deayed for a
week or two while the postman counted his profits from the Royal Mail share
issue.
They broke their club transfer record in bringing in striker William Bony in
from Vitesse Arnhem for £12m. Bony was one of the strikers we were supposed
to have spoken with during the window. In fact there were few we didn't
speak with or try to sign in that period. Except Darren Bent of course. When
his name came up there was a shuffle, a cough and an awkward silence, before
someone piped up "let's have another look at that 4-6-0 idea again". Bony is
their top scorer at the moment having netted on four occasions. Two of those
have come in the league, including a spot-kick in last week's stroll against
the Mackems. He was top scorer in the Dutch league last term and also picked
up the Dutch "Player Of The Year" award.
Jonjo Shelvey arrived from Liverpool for a relatively modest £5m. In the
match against his former club he ventured from good to 'mare in the blink of
an eye, having as he did a hand in all four goals in the 2-2 game. He
probably had one eye over his shoulder looking for Harry Potter (this
reference has been inserted at the insistence of the Avram Grant Olympic
Rest Home For The Bewildered's zero-hours work experience herbert, who
informs me that he saw it in a film once).
If Swansea (the City rather than the club) didn't have some sort of Latin
quarter it jolly well does now. They signed another three Spanish players in
the form of Alejandro Pozuelo (from Real Betis), Jose Canas (also from Real
Betis) and Jordie Amat (who would have signed from Real Betis but for the
fact that he played for Espanyol). With striker Alvaro Vazquez also on loan
from Getafe I make that seven Spaniards in the Swansea squad at the moment.
I bet you don't find too many Seat Ibizas in the club car park though.
One player they allegedy missed out on during the window was a certain
Ricardo Vaz Te. There was a bt of a tussle with Crystal Palace for the
plyer's services, all of which became a bit academic once our failure to
pick up forward before the window shut meant RVT was going nowhere.
One of the Iberian signings from last season, Michu, recently made his full
international debut for Spain. An absolute steal at £2m from Rayo Vallecano,
he scored highly in last season's "signing of the season" sections of those
end of term reports the papers like to do. He has been quoted as saying that
he has no intention of leaving Swansea, though if rumours are to be believed
the Scousers are set to test that resolve with a £22m bid when the window
next opens. Actually, being Liverpool they are probably already trying to
open "unofficial" (for that read "illegal") lines of communication as we
speak. Michu also found time to become the 13th ruler of the Korean state of
Silla during the first century, and if you're out that way, you can still
see his tomb to this day in Gyeongju. Another tomb that you will soon be
able to visit is that of the Avram Grant Olympic Rest Home For The
Bewildered's work experience herbert who did the research this week.
On the injury front the big miss for them will be the absence of skipper
Ashley Williams. Williams is held in high regard by the Swansea support –
there had been talk of him going to Liverpool so when the news came out that
the scousesrs tapping up had been unsuccessful there were murmurs of
approval all round. Only in Welsh. Williams has a dodgy ankle at the time of
writing and has been out for 5 matches. Definitely out is Williams' fellow
defender Ben Davies who also has an ankle problem, Obviously it's
contagious.
One ought to mention the ex-Hammer in their squad. Leon Britton never made
te grade at the Boleyn – his own comment on his spell with us was that he
"wasn't good enough" - a degree of honesty unheard of in football. Britton
has played in all four divisions for the Swans and is so well regarded the
local town of Briton Ferry is actually named after him, though they were
short of letter "T"s for the roadsigns. I expect.
Us? Well last week proved that going into matches strikerless will work
against lesser teams but when you come up against a half decent side it may
be a different story. Having said that, there was no shame in losing to a
City side for whom both Aguero and Silva were a bit good.
The main injury concern is likely to be Guy Demel, who missed the closing
exchanges of last weekend's match with a "dead leg". Should he not be
available, expect Joey O'B to start on the right hand side of the defence.
Collins is still out with a hamstring problem so the central pairing will
remain unchanged.
The big question is whether or not we will be fielding a striker. The
manager was quoted as saying that Carlton Cole is "miles away" from full
fitness, even though he got through another development squad 90 minutes in
midweek. Should Carlton's fitness level turn out to be closer to that
assessed by his manager than the levels he himself thinks he's at, this
would leave us with Petric or Maiga as the two options should we actually
play a forward. Which means I wouldn't be in the least bit surprised if we
saw 4-6-0 again.
Prediction? Well Swansea are better than Spurs and probably not as good as
Man City. Which points me in the direction of parity. Like us they lack
consistency this season. Whilst there's usually an advantage to be gained
from playing a team 72 hours or so after they've had a European tie, I'd
have fancied us a wee bit more had they just been travelling back from
Russia rather than been simply recovering from a home tie. I'll therefore be
putting the AGORFTB fund to hire Harry Redknapp his own work experience
herbert to work as a fact-checker (£2.50) on a 1-1 draw.
Enjoy the game!
When Last We Met At The Liberty Stadium – Lost 0-3 A bit of a wake up call
after a win on the previous opening week of the season. We had our chances
but failing to take them cost us dear.
Referee: Phil Dowd – Not as portly as he once was referee, whose biased
performance at Old Trafford last term cost us three points and Sam £8,000
after the manager pointed out the obvious.
Danger Men: William Bony – I have a feeling our failure to sign him might
come back to bite us in the proverbial.
Daft Fact Of The Week: Last year Swansea University felt the need to put up
posters, complete with diagrams mind, with instructions for students on,
wait for it, how to sit properly on a toilet seat. A university spokeswoman
told the BBC: 'Swansea University is a multi-cultural campus community and
the informational posters were produced, for use in both male and female
facilities, to help address cultural differences that were unfortunately
causing damage and hygiene issues.' That's what happens when you make
A-levels so easy even Spurs supporters can get to University.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Matt Jarvis hoping West Ham form keeps World Cup dream alive
Last Updated: October 26, 2013 1:48pm
SSN
Matt Jarvis hopes his domestic form at West Ham United will put him in
contention for a place in England's World Cup squad. The tricky winger has
been capped on one previous occasion by his country, during his time at
Wolves. He has seen others edge ahead of him in the creative pecking order
since then, with Tottenham Hotspur's Andros Townsend the latest to shine on
the international stage. Jarvis is refusing to throw in the towel, though,
and believes eye-catching outings for the Hammers will help to put him in
Roy Hodgson's plans for Brazil 2014. The 27-year-old told The Sun: "I want
to play as well if not better than last season - score more goals and add
assists. "And if I can do that, I'll try to get in the England squad. Of
course Andros has given me hope. You can always use that belief that he's
done it, so why can't I?"
Jarvis also believes that Upton Park team-mate Ravel Morrison will come
under consideration next summer following a hugely impressive start to the
season for the Hammers and the England U21s. He added: "I don't see any
reason why Ravel can't make that England squad. He is a fantastic talent.
"He's had a fantastic start to the season and if he can keep playing well
week in, week out he can go very far. "I joined last season and he was out
on loan so I've only really seen him this season. But from what I have seen,
he's been as good as gold."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Joe Cole back West Ham team-mate Ravel Morrison as future England star
Last Updated: October 26, 2013 11:06pm
SSN
West Ham midfielder Joe Cole believes team-mate Ravel Morrison has all the
attributes to become a future star for England. Morrison has made an
impressive start to the campaign, earning his first England U21 caps and
scoring twice in the recent 5-0 victory over Lithuania at Portman Road.
Cole, during his first spell with the Hammers, and Arsenal winger Theo
Walcott both earned their full international debuts as teenagers. And the
31-year-old is confident Morrison is developing well with the World Cup in
mind, and England manager Roy Hodgson keen to promote youngsters. "He's 20
now," said Cole. "That's young but I think Theo went at 17 and I was 19.
"He's got a chance. I think any English players will be thinking they have a
chance. Certainly the young ones because Roy has come out and said he's
going to go with youth over experience. "His attitude is spot-on. He loves
football, which I look for in a player the most. He loves his football. You
can see the joy when he's playing. "You can see him listening when you're
talking to him. He's got a great attitude and that's why he is where he is."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Sam Allardyce hoping to take advantage of Swansea's Euro exertions
Last Updated: October 26, 2013 1:57pm
SSN
West Ham boss Sam Allardyce is hoping his team can take advantage of
Swansea's European exertions on Sunday. Michael Laudrup's side drew 1-1
against Russian outfit Kuban Krasnodar in their Europa League group match in
south Wales on Thursday evening, with a last-minute penalty preventing the
Capital One Cup holders from making it three wins out of three in the
competition. A 2-0 defeat at Southampton followed their last Europa League
outing and Hammers boss Allardyce is hoping fatigue may be a factor.
"There's a chance it can, there's no doubt about that," he said. "Having
experienced the same situation myself when I was at Bolton the most
difficult game to win was always the one after we'd played in Europe.
"Michael Laudrup did make a lot of changes, six changes to the side that
beat Sunderland so we'll have to wait and see. "If there is any advantage we
might be able to take with a few of their players having a bit of fatigue
then hopefully we can capitalise on that. "It's really about our players
going and playing as well as they know they can and that's line has been set
by the performance at Tottenham and I'll be looking for the players to
achieve that at Swansea. If we can achieve that type of performance then
we'll give them a hell of a game."
Allardyce has examined Swansea's 4-0 victory over Sunderland last week -
their first in the Premier League since March - and was impressed. "I think
prior to the Sunderland game I would have talked to the players about any
nervous frailties they (Swansea) might have suffered because of the time
they have gone without winning at home," he said. "I suppose it sounds a lot
longer than it really was, because there was a break when this record was
calculated from last season into this season. "They'll have taken a lot of
confidence from the fact they ended up breaking down Sunderland and getting
four goals so that fear might now have left them. "It's always a difficult
game. They've had a terrific amount of progress over a few years and haven't
looked back for many, many years and they have some really good players.
"Michael will be expecting them to try and turn home games into another
victory and our format is to go and play like we did against Tottenham and
see if we can win the game. "Certainly we need to get some points out of it
because we're way down on the points total I expected after the first eight
games. It's a big game for us to make sure we play our best and get some
points out of."
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18 YEAR WEST HAM FAN BANNED FOR USING A UNDER 16 TICKET
By Sean Whetstone 26 Oct 2013 at 16:47
West Ham Till I Die
Following the discounted community ticket debate of this week there has been
much talk on twitter and West Ham forums about a 18 Year West Ham fan
allegedly fined £1,100 and banned for Life from West ham for using an under
16 ticket.
I often find although there is an element of truth in these internet rumours
some of the facts are wrong or misleading. I have spoken to a source close
to the club and the fan in question himself to get to the bottom of this
story. I understand the 18 year old fan was arrested in the East Stand
during the Manchester City game last weekend.
As there is an ongoing police investigation it wouldn't be fair to name the
fan or discuss any details to prejudice that investigation.
The price of East Stand renewal of Season Ticket (Band 2) for a young adult
(under 22) is £410 this season while the Under 16 season ticket is £255.
That works out a short fall of £155 per season. If you multiple this by two
seasons than you get £310 plus the difference of a large number of away
games which takes it up to the £1100 talked about in tweets and forums.
However this is not a fine imposed by the club. This is what they are asking
for back in lost revenue.
I understand the club has written to the fan this week and suspended his
season ticket card and banned him from the ground until the £1100 is paid
back. Not exactly the life ban that some have suggested unless the debt
remains unpaid for life.
We all know this is wrong but but I can't help feel sorry for this fan who
made a mistake as a young adult and is now paying the price.
Many will point to the high prices of season tickets for a 18 year but the
price of Band 2 ticket rises from Under 16 £255 to £410 for a Young Adult
until they reach the age of 22. That is a 50% discount on the full £820
price for an adult season ticket which many pay over the age of 22.
Some West Ham fans have pointed to a David Gold quote "back to those early
years in the East End. Back then, with no money, there was one thing I could
do. I could bunk into West Ham Football Club at half-time for free"
I suppose It all goes to prove we all do silly things when we are younger.
How much sympathy the police give to this young man remains to be seen.
Hopefully he may get a second chance in life but I don't think that is in
the hands of the club.
Amanda Jacks from the Football Supporters Federation recently blogged about
the right of appeal for Club bans. She says…
"Clubs have the legal right to ban whoever they like (so long as they don't
break equality laws). But surely there must be adequate appeals processes in
place for fans who feel they've been unfairly treated? Not always, and
different clubs handle things in very different ways. It's rare for a
football club to operate any type of "due process" when banning supporters
from their ground. We've heard from fans banned for all manner of reasons
and, in our experience, it can take considerable time to get their bans
lifted. We recognise that clubs have every right to refuse admission to
supporters but feel such a drastic step should only be taken after both
sides have been heard – a transparent banning process that gives a supporter
the chance to have their say. Even when a Football Banning Order has not
been handed out, or a fan has been acquitted by the courts, clubs sometimes
choose to ban fans from their stadium. Is this reasonable? The majority of
clubs offer no processes or procedures acting as judge, jury and
executioner, which leaves fans at the whim of the club Safety Officer who is
often behind such decisions. Thanks to ticket Terms & Conditions supporters
have no right to a refund for games missed if they are season ticket holders
meaning, effectively, clubs are imposing a financial penalty as well as
depriving the supporter of the ability to support his or her team"
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Ravel Morrison backed for England's World Cup squad by West Ham teammate Joe
Cole
26 Oct 2013 22:30
The Mirror
Joe Cole has given a telling insight into the pressures that surround
talented young players such as his West Ham team-mate Ravel Morrison. Cole -
who is 32 next week, and now back at the club where he launched his career -
believes Morrison has the ability to be part of the England squad that goes
to the World Cup finals in Brazil next summer. But Cole can warn the
exciting 20-year-old of the pitfalls of sudden fame. Cole was hailed as the
best of his generation when he burst on the scene with the Hammers as a
teenager - but it was fame at a price. He admitted: "This has been an
amazing journey for me, but it was very daunting at first."
He recalled how he was suddenly the victim of jealousy when there were
reports that, as a 15-year-old, he was earning more than the Prime Minister.
Cole added: "It was a ridiculous story. I was not earning anything at the
time. "The only money I got was £30 a-week pocket money from my mum. "And
when I signed my first contract as an apprentice, it was only £45 a-week.
"It was a harsh lesson. I remember going to school and everybody changed
towards me. It was my first taste of fame and it was not pleasant."
He also feels Morrison will benefit from the advice given at West Ham. Cole
added: "It's a case keep doing what you are doing. You have to keep level
and improve gradually. Ravel has got good experience coming from Manchester
United. "Maybe he wasn't around their first team enough, but he is very much
part of our team. "As for England, it is not premature to talk about that
with Ravel. "He's been outstanding. His attitude is spot on. He loves
football and you see the joy in him when he is playing. "Of course he has a
World Cup chance."
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WHUFC.com
Matt Jarvis wants to win his place back and help West Ham United to victory
at Swansea City
26.10.2013
Fourteen months ago, club-record signing Matt Jarvis made his West Ham
United debut at Swansea City. The Hammers' first away game following their
return to the Premier League did not go to plan for Jarvis and his new
team-mates, however, as defensive errors and wasteful finishing saw the
Swans run out 3-0 winners. On Sunday, Jarvis and company will return to the
Liberty Stadium planning to make a better fist of things second time around.
"It was definitely a tough time there last season but obviously this season
we're going to be going there with a slightly different and hopefully
stronger squad, so hopefully we'll be able to build on our performance and
result at Tottenham," the No7 told West Ham TV. "Swansea are a very good
passing team and that all work well together. They inter-link and everybody
moves around the pitch to create space for others, so they are really
well-drilled and we'll have to be on our game."
Following Sunday's trip to South Wales, West Ham will return to action 52
hours later at Turf Moor, where they will take on Sky Bet Championship
leaders Burnley in the Capital One Cup fourth round. The Clarets have been
in outstanding form this term, winning 12 of their 15 matches in all
competitions, including the last seven, and losing just once - at Brighton
and Hove Albion back on 24 August. Jarvis played alongside no fewer than
four Burnley players at former club Wolverhampton Wanderers - centre-back
and captain Jason Shackell, midfielder David Jones, winger Michael Kightly
and striker Sam Vokes - and the winger is looking forward to facing them on
Tuesday evening. "It's not going to be easy at all, and it's a tough place
to go," Jarvis conceded. "I've played there a few times and I know a few of
their players as well and they really have started well, so it will be a
tough game. "Their two strikers [Vokes and Danny Ings] are scoring goals,
which always helps the team and that's why they are at the top of the
league. "It's quite a testing schedule playing Sunday and Tuesday, but we
have to do that and we have got a great squad, so if the manager wants to
change it up, then whoever plays will be good enough to go and get a win."
Looking further forward, West Ham host Aston Villa in the Barclays Premier
League on Saturday 2 November, continuing a run of games that Jarvis and his
team-mates will believe they can win. After the Kids for a Quid visit of
Villa, the Hammers host Chelsea, Fulham and Sunderland before Christmas,
while they also travel to Norwich City and Crystal Palace ahead of the
festive season. "We have to get back to winning ways at home in front of our
crowd, so hopefully the Villa game can be one where we can do that," said
Jarvis. "We'll be aiming to pick up points from those games to make up for
the ones we missed out on during the first eight games. "We'll be taking it
step by step but we have got a run of games we really hope we can make the
most of and that will be starting at Swansea."
On a personal level, Jarvis has been among the substitutes for the previous
two league games, having started the first six. He is naturally determined
to win his place back in Sam Allardyce's starting XI. "Of course, you always
want to play every week," he stated. "When you are out of the side, you want
to be in it and when you are in it, you want to stay in it. It's one of
those times when, if you get a chance you have to take it. "Hopefully I can
contribute to the way we are playing, because that is what I can do for the
team, getting in behind teams and using my pace to counter-attack. If I am
involved, then hopefully that's what I'll be able to do."
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Football turns 150!
WHUFC.com
Football as we know it celebrates its 150th birthday today!
26.10.2013
The year 2013 has seen The Football Association celebrating 150 years since
the eight Founding Fathers of the football met to create the game as we know
it today. The range of special events to mark the anniversary have included
everything from showcase England games against the likes of Brazil and
Scotland at an elite level, through to the Sir Bobby Robson National
Football Day and the honouring of 150 of footballs volunteers at an event
hosted by HRH The Duke of Cambridge at a grassroots level. On 26 October,
The FA will host a Gala Dinner at the Grand Connaught Rooms to mark exactly
150 years to the day since the first meeting took place which formed the
nation's favourite game.
How It All Began
In 1863, Ebenezer Cobb Morley (pictured), a solicitor and sportsman living
in Barnes in south-west London, but originally from Hull, thought that
football should have a set of rules in the same way that the MCC had them
for cricket. So, the captains, secretaries and other representatives of a
dozen London and suburban clubs met at the Freemasons Tavern in Great Queen
Street, near to where Holborn tube station is today. Their purpose was to
form an Association with the object of establishing a code of rules for the
regulation of football. The clubs represented at the first meeting were:
Barnes, Civil Service (War Office), Crusaders, Forest (Leytonstone), No
Names (Kilburn), Crystal Palace, Blackheath, Kensington School, Perceval
House (Blackheath), Surbiton, Blackheath Proprietary School and
Charterhouse. The intention of those original meetings was to standardise
the rules and to iron out differences in the forms currently being played,
not to create a new game. Morley became The FA's first secretary, later its
president, and he drafted modern football's first rules at his Thames-side
home in Barnes.
It took six meetings for The FA to finally approve those rules. The first
match under them was played at Limes Field, a couple of minutes' walk from
Morley's home, on Saturday 19 December 1863. Barnes and Richmond drew 0-0.
The Freemasons' Tavern was extended and remodelled from 1905 and was renamed
the 'Connaught Rooms' in honour of the Grand Master, the Duke of Connaught.
At around the same time, Limes Field was built on with housing that is now
in 'Limes Field Road'. Before The FA was formed, football was in a hybrid
state. Today it spans a world that is caught up in its magic. To those men
of a clear vision and high resolve who first gathered together at the
Tavern, The FA, and all football fans, owes a great debt
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Swansea City v West Ham United
KUMB.com
Filed: Saturday, 26th October 2013
By: Preview Percy
It's an international special from Peview Percy, this week. Ok it's not
particularly special but it does involve going to Wales.....
For our next match we go on a European tour as we visit the Principality
(geo-political term for area that thinks it's a proper country) of Wales
where our hosts will be Swansea City. The match is on Sunday thanks to them
playing in the Europa League, qualifying by virtue of their actually having
won a trophy, as opposed to being given a place as a consolation prize for
not being nearly as good as your deluded fans thought you were, like some
other clubs I could mention. Kick-off is at 4.00pm.
Travel news is that, whilst there are trains running between Paddington and
Swansea, there are engineering works in the Severn Tunnel which means that
you'll be diverted around other parts of Mr Brunel's network en route.
Expect it to take about four hours each way if you're lucky.
Our hosts currently lie in 11th spot with 10 points from the 8 matches
played so far this season, winning three, drawing one and losing four in the
process. Their last six have seen them beat West Brom away (2-0), draw with
Liverpool (2-2 in a match that will forever be remembered as "the Jonjo
Shelvey match), beat Palace away (2-0), lose at home to Arsenal (1-2), lose
at Southampton (2-0) and win last weekend at home to Sunderland (4-0). Last
weekend's win was therefore their first at home of the season, somewhat
surprisingly. In between all that, their defence of the League Cup they
lifted last season came to an end with a 3-1 defeat at Birmingham.
On Thursday they played host in the Thursday Night League to Kuban
Krasnodar. Can't help feeling that the good people at Krispy Kreme Doughnuts
have missed a "rebranding" opportunity there. Swansea were held to a 1-1
draw by the Russians at home, a result that contrasts sharply with their
earlier 3-0 win in Valencia, a result admittedly assisted by the Spaniards
having a player sent off inn the early stages of the match.
After a relatively quiet start to the transfer window, during which manager
Michael Laudrup's agent was spouting out complaints that his client wasn't
getting backed in the transfer market, they suddenly found themselves making
a beeline for the European player tuck shop in the manner of a schoolboy
whose postal order from Gran has finally turned up after being deayed for a
week or two while the postman counted his profits from the Royal Mail share
issue.
They broke their club transfer record in bringing in striker William Bony in
from Vitesse Arnhem for £12m. Bony was one of the strikers we were supposed
to have spoken with during the window. In fact there were few we didn't
speak with or try to sign in that period. Except Darren Bent of course. When
his name came up there was a shuffle, a cough and an awkward silence, before
someone piped up "let's have another look at that 4-6-0 idea again". Bony is
their top scorer at the moment having netted on four occasions. Two of those
have come in the league, including a spot-kick in last week's stroll against
the Mackems. He was top scorer in the Dutch league last term and also picked
up the Dutch "Player Of The Year" award.
Jonjo Shelvey arrived from Liverpool for a relatively modest £5m. In the
match against his former club he ventured from good to 'mare in the blink of
an eye, having as he did a hand in all four goals in the 2-2 game. He
probably had one eye over his shoulder looking for Harry Potter (this
reference has been inserted at the insistence of the Avram Grant Olympic
Rest Home For The Bewildered's zero-hours work experience herbert, who
informs me that he saw it in a film once).
If Swansea (the City rather than the club) didn't have some sort of Latin
quarter it jolly well does now. They signed another three Spanish players in
the form of Alejandro Pozuelo (from Real Betis), Jose Canas (also from Real
Betis) and Jordie Amat (who would have signed from Real Betis but for the
fact that he played for Espanyol). With striker Alvaro Vazquez also on loan
from Getafe I make that seven Spaniards in the Swansea squad at the moment.
I bet you don't find too many Seat Ibizas in the club car park though.
One player they allegedy missed out on during the window was a certain
Ricardo Vaz Te. There was a bt of a tussle with Crystal Palace for the
plyer's services, all of which became a bit academic once our failure to
pick up forward before the window shut meant RVT was going nowhere.
One of the Iberian signings from last season, Michu, recently made his full
international debut for Spain. An absolute steal at £2m from Rayo Vallecano,
he scored highly in last season's "signing of the season" sections of those
end of term reports the papers like to do. He has been quoted as saying that
he has no intention of leaving Swansea, though if rumours are to be believed
the Scousers are set to test that resolve with a £22m bid when the window
next opens. Actually, being Liverpool they are probably already trying to
open "unofficial" (for that read "illegal") lines of communication as we
speak. Michu also found time to become the 13th ruler of the Korean state of
Silla during the first century, and if you're out that way, you can still
see his tomb to this day in Gyeongju. Another tomb that you will soon be
able to visit is that of the Avram Grant Olympic Rest Home For The
Bewildered's work experience herbert who did the research this week.
On the injury front the big miss for them will be the absence of skipper
Ashley Williams. Williams is held in high regard by the Swansea support –
there had been talk of him going to Liverpool so when the news came out that
the scousesrs tapping up had been unsuccessful there were murmurs of
approval all round. Only in Welsh. Williams has a dodgy ankle at the time of
writing and has been out for 5 matches. Definitely out is Williams' fellow
defender Ben Davies who also has an ankle problem, Obviously it's
contagious.
One ought to mention the ex-Hammer in their squad. Leon Britton never made
te grade at the Boleyn – his own comment on his spell with us was that he
"wasn't good enough" - a degree of honesty unheard of in football. Britton
has played in all four divisions for the Swans and is so well regarded the
local town of Briton Ferry is actually named after him, though they were
short of letter "T"s for the roadsigns. I expect.
Us? Well last week proved that going into matches strikerless will work
against lesser teams but when you come up against a half decent side it may
be a different story. Having said that, there was no shame in losing to a
City side for whom both Aguero and Silva were a bit good.
The main injury concern is likely to be Guy Demel, who missed the closing
exchanges of last weekend's match with a "dead leg". Should he not be
available, expect Joey O'B to start on the right hand side of the defence.
Collins is still out with a hamstring problem so the central pairing will
remain unchanged.
The big question is whether or not we will be fielding a striker. The
manager was quoted as saying that Carlton Cole is "miles away" from full
fitness, even though he got through another development squad 90 minutes in
midweek. Should Carlton's fitness level turn out to be closer to that
assessed by his manager than the levels he himself thinks he's at, this
would leave us with Petric or Maiga as the two options should we actually
play a forward. Which means I wouldn't be in the least bit surprised if we
saw 4-6-0 again.
Prediction? Well Swansea are better than Spurs and probably not as good as
Man City. Which points me in the direction of parity. Like us they lack
consistency this season. Whilst there's usually an advantage to be gained
from playing a team 72 hours or so after they've had a European tie, I'd
have fancied us a wee bit more had they just been travelling back from
Russia rather than been simply recovering from a home tie. I'll therefore be
putting the AGORFTB fund to hire Harry Redknapp his own work experience
herbert to work as a fact-checker (£2.50) on a 1-1 draw.
Enjoy the game!
When Last We Met At The Liberty Stadium – Lost 0-3 A bit of a wake up call
after a win on the previous opening week of the season. We had our chances
but failing to take them cost us dear.
Referee: Phil Dowd – Not as portly as he once was referee, whose biased
performance at Old Trafford last term cost us three points and Sam £8,000
after the manager pointed out the obvious.
Danger Men: William Bony – I have a feeling our failure to sign him might
come back to bite us in the proverbial.
Daft Fact Of The Week: Last year Swansea University felt the need to put up
posters, complete with diagrams mind, with instructions for students on,
wait for it, how to sit properly on a toilet seat. A university spokeswoman
told the BBC: 'Swansea University is a multi-cultural campus community and
the informational posters were produced, for use in both male and female
facilities, to help address cultural differences that were unfortunately
causing damage and hygiene issues.' That's what happens when you make
A-levels so easy even Spurs supporters can get to University.
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Matt Jarvis hoping West Ham form keeps World Cup dream alive
Last Updated: October 26, 2013 1:48pm
SSN
Matt Jarvis hopes his domestic form at West Ham United will put him in
contention for a place in England's World Cup squad. The tricky winger has
been capped on one previous occasion by his country, during his time at
Wolves. He has seen others edge ahead of him in the creative pecking order
since then, with Tottenham Hotspur's Andros Townsend the latest to shine on
the international stage. Jarvis is refusing to throw in the towel, though,
and believes eye-catching outings for the Hammers will help to put him in
Roy Hodgson's plans for Brazil 2014. The 27-year-old told The Sun: "I want
to play as well if not better than last season - score more goals and add
assists. "And if I can do that, I'll try to get in the England squad. Of
course Andros has given me hope. You can always use that belief that he's
done it, so why can't I?"
Jarvis also believes that Upton Park team-mate Ravel Morrison will come
under consideration next summer following a hugely impressive start to the
season for the Hammers and the England U21s. He added: "I don't see any
reason why Ravel can't make that England squad. He is a fantastic talent.
"He's had a fantastic start to the season and if he can keep playing well
week in, week out he can go very far. "I joined last season and he was out
on loan so I've only really seen him this season. But from what I have seen,
he's been as good as gold."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Joe Cole back West Ham team-mate Ravel Morrison as future England star
Last Updated: October 26, 2013 11:06pm
SSN
West Ham midfielder Joe Cole believes team-mate Ravel Morrison has all the
attributes to become a future star for England. Morrison has made an
impressive start to the campaign, earning his first England U21 caps and
scoring twice in the recent 5-0 victory over Lithuania at Portman Road.
Cole, during his first spell with the Hammers, and Arsenal winger Theo
Walcott both earned their full international debuts as teenagers. And the
31-year-old is confident Morrison is developing well with the World Cup in
mind, and England manager Roy Hodgson keen to promote youngsters. "He's 20
now," said Cole. "That's young but I think Theo went at 17 and I was 19.
"He's got a chance. I think any English players will be thinking they have a
chance. Certainly the young ones because Roy has come out and said he's
going to go with youth over experience. "His attitude is spot-on. He loves
football, which I look for in a player the most. He loves his football. You
can see the joy when he's playing. "You can see him listening when you're
talking to him. He's got a great attitude and that's why he is where he is."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Sam Allardyce hoping to take advantage of Swansea's Euro exertions
Last Updated: October 26, 2013 1:57pm
SSN
West Ham boss Sam Allardyce is hoping his team can take advantage of
Swansea's European exertions on Sunday. Michael Laudrup's side drew 1-1
against Russian outfit Kuban Krasnodar in their Europa League group match in
south Wales on Thursday evening, with a last-minute penalty preventing the
Capital One Cup holders from making it three wins out of three in the
competition. A 2-0 defeat at Southampton followed their last Europa League
outing and Hammers boss Allardyce is hoping fatigue may be a factor.
"There's a chance it can, there's no doubt about that," he said. "Having
experienced the same situation myself when I was at Bolton the most
difficult game to win was always the one after we'd played in Europe.
"Michael Laudrup did make a lot of changes, six changes to the side that
beat Sunderland so we'll have to wait and see. "If there is any advantage we
might be able to take with a few of their players having a bit of fatigue
then hopefully we can capitalise on that. "It's really about our players
going and playing as well as they know they can and that's line has been set
by the performance at Tottenham and I'll be looking for the players to
achieve that at Swansea. If we can achieve that type of performance then
we'll give them a hell of a game."
Allardyce has examined Swansea's 4-0 victory over Sunderland last week -
their first in the Premier League since March - and was impressed. "I think
prior to the Sunderland game I would have talked to the players about any
nervous frailties they (Swansea) might have suffered because of the time
they have gone without winning at home," he said. "I suppose it sounds a lot
longer than it really was, because there was a break when this record was
calculated from last season into this season. "They'll have taken a lot of
confidence from the fact they ended up breaking down Sunderland and getting
four goals so that fear might now have left them. "It's always a difficult
game. They've had a terrific amount of progress over a few years and haven't
looked back for many, many years and they have some really good players.
"Michael will be expecting them to try and turn home games into another
victory and our format is to go and play like we did against Tottenham and
see if we can win the game. "Certainly we need to get some points out of it
because we're way down on the points total I expected after the first eight
games. It's a big game for us to make sure we play our best and get some
points out of."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
18 YEAR WEST HAM FAN BANNED FOR USING A UNDER 16 TICKET
By Sean Whetstone 26 Oct 2013 at 16:47
West Ham Till I Die
Following the discounted community ticket debate of this week there has been
much talk on twitter and West Ham forums about a 18 Year West Ham fan
allegedly fined £1,100 and banned for Life from West ham for using an under
16 ticket.
I often find although there is an element of truth in these internet rumours
some of the facts are wrong or misleading. I have spoken to a source close
to the club and the fan in question himself to get to the bottom of this
story. I understand the 18 year old fan was arrested in the East Stand
during the Manchester City game last weekend.
As there is an ongoing police investigation it wouldn't be fair to name the
fan or discuss any details to prejudice that investigation.
The price of East Stand renewal of Season Ticket (Band 2) for a young adult
(under 22) is £410 this season while the Under 16 season ticket is £255.
That works out a short fall of £155 per season. If you multiple this by two
seasons than you get £310 plus the difference of a large number of away
games which takes it up to the £1100 talked about in tweets and forums.
However this is not a fine imposed by the club. This is what they are asking
for back in lost revenue.
I understand the club has written to the fan this week and suspended his
season ticket card and banned him from the ground until the £1100 is paid
back. Not exactly the life ban that some have suggested unless the debt
remains unpaid for life.
We all know this is wrong but but I can't help feel sorry for this fan who
made a mistake as a young adult and is now paying the price.
Many will point to the high prices of season tickets for a 18 year but the
price of Band 2 ticket rises from Under 16 £255 to £410 for a Young Adult
until they reach the age of 22. That is a 50% discount on the full £820
price for an adult season ticket which many pay over the age of 22.
Some West Ham fans have pointed to a David Gold quote "back to those early
years in the East End. Back then, with no money, there was one thing I could
do. I could bunk into West Ham Football Club at half-time for free"
I suppose It all goes to prove we all do silly things when we are younger.
How much sympathy the police give to this young man remains to be seen.
Hopefully he may get a second chance in life but I don't think that is in
the hands of the club.
Amanda Jacks from the Football Supporters Federation recently blogged about
the right of appeal for Club bans. She says…
"Clubs have the legal right to ban whoever they like (so long as they don't
break equality laws). But surely there must be adequate appeals processes in
place for fans who feel they've been unfairly treated? Not always, and
different clubs handle things in very different ways. It's rare for a
football club to operate any type of "due process" when banning supporters
from their ground. We've heard from fans banned for all manner of reasons
and, in our experience, it can take considerable time to get their bans
lifted. We recognise that clubs have every right to refuse admission to
supporters but feel such a drastic step should only be taken after both
sides have been heard – a transparent banning process that gives a supporter
the chance to have their say. Even when a Football Banning Order has not
been handed out, or a fan has been acquitted by the courts, clubs sometimes
choose to ban fans from their stadium. Is this reasonable? The majority of
clubs offer no processes or procedures acting as judge, jury and
executioner, which leaves fans at the whim of the club Safety Officer who is
often behind such decisions. Thanks to ticket Terms & Conditions supporters
have no right to a refund for games missed if they are season ticket holders
meaning, effectively, clubs are imposing a financial penalty as well as
depriving the supporter of the ability to support his or her team"
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Ravel Morrison backed for England's World Cup squad by West Ham teammate Joe
Cole
26 Oct 2013 22:30
The Mirror
Joe Cole has given a telling insight into the pressures that surround
talented young players such as his West Ham team-mate Ravel Morrison. Cole -
who is 32 next week, and now back at the club where he launched his career -
believes Morrison has the ability to be part of the England squad that goes
to the World Cup finals in Brazil next summer. But Cole can warn the
exciting 20-year-old of the pitfalls of sudden fame. Cole was hailed as the
best of his generation when he burst on the scene with the Hammers as a
teenager - but it was fame at a price. He admitted: "This has been an
amazing journey for me, but it was very daunting at first."
He recalled how he was suddenly the victim of jealousy when there were
reports that, as a 15-year-old, he was earning more than the Prime Minister.
Cole added: "It was a ridiculous story. I was not earning anything at the
time. "The only money I got was £30 a-week pocket money from my mum. "And
when I signed my first contract as an apprentice, it was only £45 a-week.
"It was a harsh lesson. I remember going to school and everybody changed
towards me. It was my first taste of fame and it was not pleasant."
He also feels Morrison will benefit from the advice given at West Ham. Cole
added: "It's a case keep doing what you are doing. You have to keep level
and improve gradually. Ravel has got good experience coming from Manchester
United. "Maybe he wasn't around their first team enough, but he is very much
part of our team. "As for England, it is not premature to talk about that
with Ravel. "He's been outstanding. His attitude is spot on. He loves
football and you see the joy in him when he is playing. "Of course he has a
World Cup chance."
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http://vyperz.blogspot.com
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Saturday, October 26
Daily WHUFC News - 26th October 2013
Swansea City match preview
WHUFC.com
All the need-to-know information ahead of Sunday's match against Swansea
City
25.10.2013
SWANSEA CITY v WEST HAM UNITED
BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
SUNDAY 27 OCTOBER 2013
KICK-OFF: 4PM
REFEREE: PHIL DOWD
FULL AUDIO AND TEXT COMMENTARY - WEST HAM TV
iPHONE APP I TWITTER I FACEBOOK I PODCAST
Introduction
· West Ham United travel to the Liberty Stadium on Sunday looking to make it
two consecutive away wins in the Barclays Premier League.
· A 3-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane on 6 October was the
club's last away outing and their first win on their travels this season.
· In their last match the Hammers suffered a 3-1 defeat to Manchester City
at the Boleyn Ground.
· The Hammers have conceded only once away from home this season with that
goal coming via Robbie Brady, who converted a penalty in a 1-0 defeat at the
KC Stadium.
· The players will sport t-shirts celebrating the 150th anniversary of the
FA during the pre-match warm-up.
· In this fixture last year Swansea ran out 3-0 winners at the Liberty
Stadium in Michael Laudrup's second game in charge.
· The Dane has steered his team to tenth place after eight league games,
five places above the Hammers although a West Ham win will see them overtake
the Swans.
· Last time out Swansea recorded a 4-0 home win over Sunderland to record
their first home win of the season.
· The Swans have been inconsistent so far and from their last four games
have two wins and a pair of defeats.
Team news
Swansea City
· Full-back Ben Davies and captain Ashley Williams will miss the game with
ankle injuries.
· Pablo Hernandez may well return after missing the last nine games.
West Ham United
· Alou Diarra, Stephen Henderson and Andy Carroll are definitely out whilst
James Collins may be fit enough to return having missed the Manchester City
game.
· Jack Collison (Bournemouth), Elliot Lee (Colchester), Paul McCallum
(Torquay) and Jordan Spence (MK Dons) are all out on loan.
Background
· West Ham United and Swansea City have met 55 times over a period of 90
years, the Hammers have won 26, Swansea have won 17 and 12 have ended in a
draw.
· The first meeting between the two sides came on 7 January 1922 in the FA
Cup and ended in a 0-0 draw. The replay on 11 January also ended 0-0, and
the two sides met for the third time in nine days on 16 January when Swansea
won 1-0 to progress.
· Joe Cole made his first West Ham debut as a substitute in the 1-1 FA Cup
third-round draw against Swansea City on 2 January 1999.
· The highest scoring game between the two produced nine goals with Swansea
edging it 5-4 at Vetch Field on 2 March 1935.
Last time out
Swansea City 1-1 Kuban Krasnador
UEFA Europa League
24 October 2013
Swansea City: Tremmel, Tiendalli (Rangel), Taylor, Canas, Chico, Amat, Dyer
(Lamah), Shelvey, Bony (Alvaro), Michu, Pozuelo
Subs not used: Vorm, Britton, Monk, De Guzman
Goals: Michu 68
West Ham United 1-3 Manchester City
Barclays Premier League
19 October 2013
West Ham United: Jaaskelainen, Demel (O'Brien 65), Reid, Tomkins, Rat, Nolan
(Petric 83), Noble, Morrison, Diame, Downing, Vaz Te (Jarvis 65)
Subs not used: Adrian, Taylor, C Cole, J Cole
Goals: Vaz Te 58
Previous meeting
Andy Carroll inspired West Ham to victory over Swansea City on his return to
the starting line-up. The big striker netted the only goal of the game after
77 minutes to delight the home crowd and move the Hammers up to eleventh
place.
West Ham United 1-0 Swansea City
Barclays Premier League
2 February 2013
West Ham United: Jaaskelainen, O'Brien, Tomkins, Reid, Taylor, Noble, Diame
(O'Neil), Vaz Te, Nolan (Pogatetz), Jarvis (J Cole), Carroll
Subs not used: Spiegel, C Cole, Collison, Chamakh
Goals: Carroll 77
Swansea City: Tremmel, Rangel, Chico, Williams, Davies, De Guzman, Britton
(Moore), Ki, Hernandez, Michu, Routledge (Dyer)
Subs not used: Cornell, Lamah, Monk, Schecter, Tiendalli,
Head to head
Last six meetings (Premier League unless stated)
2 February 2013 West Ham United 1-0 Swansea City
25 August 2012 Swansea City 3-0 West Ham United
13 January 1999 Swansea City 1-0 West Ham United (FA Cup Third Round Replay)
02 January 1999 West Ham United 1-1 Swansea City (FA Cup Third Round)
07 October 1985 Swansea City 2-3 West Ham United (League Cup Second Round
Second Leg)
24 September 1985 West Ham United 3-0 Swansea City (League Cup Second Round
First Leg)
Overall record v Swansea City (all competitions) W 26 D 12 L 17
Ten-year record
West Ham United
2012/13 Premier League 10th (46 points)
2011/12 Championship 3rd (86 points - promoted via Play-Offs)
2010/11 Premier League 20th (33 points)
2009/10 Premier League 17th (35 points)
2008/09 Premier League 9th (51 points)
2007/08 Premier League 10th (49 points)
2006/07 Premier League 15th (41 points)
2005/06 Premier League 9th (55 points)
2004/05 Championship 6th (73 points - promoted via Play-Offs)
2003/04 Championship 4th (74 points)
2002/03 Premier League 18th (42 points - relegated to Championship)
Swansea City
2012/13 Premier League 9th (46 points)
2011/12 Premier League 11th (47 points)
2010/11 Championship 3rd (80 points)
2009/10 Championship 7th (69 points)
2008/09 Championship 8th (68 points)
2007/08 League One 1st (92 points)
2006/07 League One 7th (72 points)
2005/06 League One 6th (71 points)
2004/05 League Two 3rd (80 points)
2003/04 League Two 10th (59 points)
2002/03 League Two 21st (49 points)
Referee
· The referee for Sunday's game will be Phil Dowd.
· Dowd has already taken charge of the Hammers this season, presiding over a
0-0 draw when West Ham played Newcastle at St James Park.
· Dowd is in his 13h season as a Select Group official, having initially
been promoted to the Barclays Premier League list of referees in 2001.
· Dowd began refereeing in local leagues in 1984, officiating in the
Staffordshire Senior League and Midland Football Alliance. He was appointed
to the Football League list of assistant referees in 1992, before joining
the League's full list of referees in 1997, aged 34.
· The 49-year-old is commonly considered to be one of England's best match
officials, an opinion backed by his appointments as the referee for the 2012
FA Cup and 2010 Football League Cup finals.
· Previously, Dowd was the fourth official at the 2006 FA Cup final between
West Ham United and Liverpool at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.
· The man in the middle will be assisted by Richard West and Marc Perry, and
his fourth official will be Roger East.
General information
· Tickets for this fixture are now sold out.
·The weather forecast for Sunday afternoon is cloudy with a maximum
temperature of 14C.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Big Sam on: Swansea City
WHUFC.com
Sam Allardyce attended his pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday's trip
to Wales
25.10.2013
Sam Allardyce has faced the media ahead of Sunday's trip to the Liberty
Stadium to face Swansea City in the Barclays Premier League. The West Ham
United manager was quizzed on the latest team news, Mark Noble's chances of
an England call-up and Sir Alex Ferguson's book.
Morning Sam, what's the team news ahead of Sunday's game?
SA: "Our injury news is not too bad. We've got no new injuries from what we
had last week. We've still got Alou Diarra, James Collins and George
McCartney out with injury and of course Andy Carroll who everyone knows is
our long term injury. We could do with those players back as quickly as we
can as we're a little light on numbers. Jack Collison will come back from a
loan at the end of this weekend to join back with us after a few very
valuable first team games at Bournemouth as we've got a heavy week. We've
got games Sunday, Tuesday and Saturday so we've got a big week ahead of us.
The players that are available are in good spirits but we could do with the
other players being back fit as quick as possible."
How's Andy Carroll coming along? Reports are surfacing that he's finished
his treatment in Belgium - is that right?
SA: "No, it's not true as he's still got a while to go yet. We'd hope that
he'd be back with us in the next two to three weeks and hopefully that would
be a shout that he could start full training when he does come back. It's
always been a week-by-week assessment, we send one of our physiotherapists
out there every week to monitor his progress on a weekly basis."
How's his morale, as I'm sure it must be a difficult period for him?
SA: "He's frustrated of course. I think he's desperate to play football
again which is what he loves doing most of all. And of course we'll be only
too pleased to get him back in amongst the squad when we get the chance.
Carlton Cole played another game in the Under-21s which they won again last
Monday. Our Under-21s are top of the league which is great news from the
younger end of the football club developing and we've let a few of the
younger players go out on loan this week on the basis of their performances
in the Under-21s. Things are alright apart from we haven't got as many
points on the board as we should have."
You've been persisting without and out-and-out striker, are you likely to
continue that on Sunday?
SA: "I wouldn't say I've persisted because it's only been two games out of
eight. It worked very, very well in the first game and didn't work quite so
well in the second so it'll be our choice in the next two days on whether we
do change the system we play or we don't."
Do you think Carlton Cole is ready to be involved?
SA: "He's ready to be involved in the squad but I don't think he's ready to
start from a match fitness point of view. Carlton's experience, if needed
off the subs bench, could be invaluable at the moment so he'll be in the
squad for Sunday."
Sir Alex Ferguson's book has been in the news as well this week, were you
featured in it originally?
SA: "Yes, I think I got left out! I'm looking forward to getting my free
copy as he said he forgot to put me in it so I'm looking forward to reading
it when it comes out. I'll be trotting down to the launch on 1 November to
see him more than anything else."
Swansea played in the Europa League last night, might that aid you on
Sunday?
SA: "There's a chance it can there's no doubt about that. Having experienced
the same situation myself when I was at Bolton the most difficult game to
win was always the one after we'd played in Europe. He did make a lot of
changes, six changes to the side that beat Sunderland so we'll have to wait
and see.
"If there is any advantage we might be able to take with a few of their
players having a bit of fatigue then hopefully we can capitalise on that.
It's really about our players going and playing as well as they know they
can and that's line has been set by the performance at Tottenham and I'll be
looking for the players to achieve that at Swansea. If we can achieve that
type of performance then we'll give them a hell of a game."
Swansea haven't had a great home record up until they beat Sunderland 4-0 in
their last match. Do you focus on their last game or consider that they're
relatively weak at home?
SA: "Well I think prior to the Sunderland game I would have talked to the
players about any nervous frailties they might have suffered because of the
time they have gone without winning at home. I suppose it sounds a lot
longer than it really was, because there was a break when this record was
calculated from last season into this season. They'll have taken a lot of
confidence from the fact they ended up breaking down Sunderland and getting
four goals so that fear might now have left them. "It's always a difficult
game. They've had a terrific amount of progress over a few years and haven't
looked back for many, many years and they have some really good players.
Michael [Laudrup] will be expecting them to try and turn home games into
another victory and our format is to go and play like we did against
Tottenham and see if we can win the game. Certainly we need to get some
points out of it because we're way down on the points total I expected after
the first eight games. It's a big game for us to make sure we play our best
and get some points out of."
How much better were you hoping to have done by this stage of the season?
SA: "Well I couldn't knock the performances too much but I think we're about
four points short of what we should have achieved. My huge concern is the
fact that we've lost three home games on the trot, that never happened last
season, we only lost four all season at home. That's my biggest worry, our
away performances have been very good but our results haven't matched the
performances. We should of beat Newcastle, we certainly shouldn't have lost
against Hull City we had a good draw at Southampton and a great win against
Tottenham. We've got to make sure we give our all in the Premier League
because we're a 100 per cent team and we need to play at 100 per cent to win
a game of football in the Premier League."
Is it as simple as taking the opportunity of having more shots on target as
you only had two against Manchester City?
SA: "There's no doubt about that. We had 17 attempts and only two on target
and that tells you the story of our incapacity to turn opportunities,
certainly at the end, to put the goalkeeper under pressure. It's well
documented that Joe Hart has recently made a few errors that he doesn't
normally make and my message to the players was try and test him as much as
we possibly can. You can only do that with your attempts being on target and
that may cause the goalkeeper to make a mistake again but we didn't do that
sufficiently enough."
Mark Noble has said this week that he believes he has the ability and the
maturity to play for England, do you agree with that?
SA: "Yes, I don't disagree with that. He's got to continue to perform at a
consistent level and of course between now and next summer his performances
will have to be consistently of the highest quality to attract the attention
of Roy Hodgson. If he thinks he can do that then he's put a huge amount of
pressure on himself to make sure he performs at his highest level which has
always been very good for us."
In general do you think West Ham players are overlooked when it comes to
England selection?
SA: "No I don't. If we had 12 points now instead of eight those players
would be talked about an awful lot more. At the end of the day people talk
about performances and how to play the game of football but ultimately if
you achieve the results at the end of those performances that's where the
attention comes from. If you don't get the points that's when the
performances are quickly and easily forgotten. In the end performances have
to produce results which produces attention in the right way and it gets
people looking to come and watch your players do what they're doing,
certainly at international level."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Chadwell Chatter
WHUFC.com
Winston Reid on clocking up the air miles, Swansea City and New Zealand's
FIFA World Cup Play-Off
25.10.2013
Hello everyone,
I've had a busy few weeks with West Ham United and New Zealand. I've got
used to all the travelling with my national team now, as I've been away a
lot of times. It can be physically and mentally demanding spending hours at
airports and on planes, but it is all part of the job of being a national
team player and, in my case, captain. Obviously it would be best for the
Club if I stayed here and it is tough, but you have to go away and come back
and be professional and I've got no excuses for my performance against
Manchester City because I was OK.
During the international break, we played a training match in Los Angeles,
then travelled to Trinidad and Tobago for a friendly international. While we
were there, we found out we would be playing Mexico next month in a
two-legged Intercontinental Play-Off, with the winners going to next year's
World Cup.
It's going to be difficult against Mexico because they've been to a lot of
World Cups and we have only been to two, so it's not going to be easy. We're
going to go there for the first leg and hopefully we can get a result, then
take them back to New Zealand and do the business there.
Obviously Mexico will not be the same as they were before, but they are
still going to be a good side and we're going to have to be up for it, give
110 per cent and see how far it takes us. We play them at the Azteca
Stadium, which is going to be good and exciting to play there, but the most
important thing is for us to get to the World Cup. We play the first leg
away from home, but we'll have to wait and see if that's an advantage.
Either way, it's going to be tough. My travel itinerary is pretty
interesting! I fly from London to Los Angeles, then Los Angeles to Mexico
City, back to Los Angeles, then to Auckland for the second leg in
Wellington. On the way back, it's the reverse, flying from Auckland to Los
Angeles and then on to London. I'll definitely get some Air Miles for all
that!
Before that, we go to Swansea City on Sunday and they have got a good team
and finished well last year. We've got to do better than we did against
Manchester City and up our levels.
Looking back at last weekend, at the end of the day Manchester City were a
better side than we were and we didn't play up to the same level as we did
at Tottenham. They were simply better than us. Every away game is tough but,
to be fair, I think the boys have done well away from home this season and
if we can keep those sort of performances up, we can take something away
from Swansea. It will be tough, though, because they're a good side. Swansea
did really well to win the Capital One Cup last season and qualify for
Europe, so credit to them. For us, we want to climb the league because our
start hasn't been the best. Hopefully we can kick on in the next couple of
games.
Swansea's manager Michael Laudrup is a legend back in Denmark, where I grew
up. He's the biggest player they have ever had and he played for a lot of
big clubs - Juventus, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Ajax - and did well for the
national team as well, particularly at the 1986 World Cup. He is always
going to be a legend and there are a lot of Danes who follow Swansea because
of him. I never tried to be him in the school playground, though, as I
always stayed at the back as a defender!
I wish a safe and successful journey to the Hammers fans travelling to
Swansea on Sunday and hope all of you have a great weekend.
Come on you Irons!
Reidy
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U18 duo ready for Teesside trip
WHUFC.com
Kieran Bywater and Kyle Knoyle are hoping the Under-18s can continue their
winning run on Saturday
25.10.2013
West Ham United make the long journey up to Middlesbrough this weekend
looking to extend their Barclays U18 Premier League winning run to five
games.
Steve Potts' side have won four consecutive games to shake off a slow start
to the season which saw them win just once in their opening six matches.
Ten goals in ten games from Kieran Bywater have played a major role in
reversing the team's fortunes and the midfielder cannot quite believe his
rich vein of scoring form.
Bywater told West Ham TV: "I would have taken the ten goals at the start of
the season for the whole season! "Obviously I have to keep working hard and
keep helping the team. The goals aren't just all my own work obviously all
the other players have been setting up goals. "I've just been fortunate
enough to get a few good goals myself."
While the captain's run of six goals in his last four games has stolen the
headlines other players in the squad have received recognition of a
different kind.
Right-back Kyle Knoyle represented England U18s earlier this month when he
played the full 90 minutes of a 4-0 friendly win over Hungary. Knoyle was
joined in the squad by Hammers centre-back Reece Burke and he was
justifiably pleased with his selection. "It was an honour to represent
England and hopefully I can get some more caps. The experience itself was a
once in a lifetime opportunity."
With both players seemingly thriving under the guidance of Steve Potts, Mark
Phillips and Tony Carr, the team is going from strength to strength. While
four wins on the bounce have kick-started their season, both players feel as
though they were not getting the results their performances deserved during
their first few games. "We lost 1-0 to Sunderland and we played some great
football and should have come away with a result" explained Knoyle. "From
there we've kept going from the Liverpool game [which we won 5-0] and just
kept cracking on. There's a great atmosphere at the moment and everyone's
really pleased.
"We thought we should be getting the results but now that they've been
coming we just need to crack on from here and keep the atmosphere as it is."
Bywater echoed the thoughts of his team-mate and is hopeful the team will
return to east London with three points from their trip to Teesside. He
said: "We were unfortunate with some of the games at the beginning of the
season. "The performances were there but maybe it was just the finishing or
a little bit of class missing that we didn't quite have but it's clicked in
recent weeks. "We've got four wins on the bounce and hopefully we can make
it five on the weekend."
*West Ham TV will show exclusive highlights from Saturday's Barclays U18
Premier League trip to Middlesbrough on Monday.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Swansea v West Ham
KO 16:00
25 October 2013
Last updated at 14:50
By Steve Bower
BBC Match of the Day commentator
BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Venue: Liberty Stadium Date: Sunday, 27 October
Swansea manager Michael Laudrup must decide whether to play Ashley Williams,
who has missed the last five weeks with an ankle injury. Pablo Hernadez
finally looks set to play after a hamstring problem but Ben Davies (ankle)
is out.
West Ham could be unchanged from the side that was beaten by Manchester City
last weekend. Carlton Cole is not yet match fit, while Andy Carroll, James
Collins, Alou Diarra and George McCartney remain out.
MATCH PREVIEW
With just five league wins between them this fixture offers an opportunity
for both sides to claim a significant victory. For Swansea it would be
back-to-back Premier League wins for the first time in 2013, while having
lost four of their last six, it would be a welcome return to winning ways
for West Ham. Swansea's 4-0 win over Sunderland last weekend was their first
home Premier League win in nine attempts. They have remained unbeaten and
indeed impressed in their Europa League campaign yet it could be argued it
is affecting domestic matters. "The problem for Hammers boss Sam Allardyce
is getting his team to pose a goal threat. They were superb in their win
over Tottenham but were lacking up front in their defeat by Manchester City
last time out."
Ever since their arrival in the top flight, the Liberty Stadium has been a
destination where any team has had to play well to get a result, and Michael
Laudrup will know that reputation and foundation has to remain in place to
get close to last season's ninth-placed league position. The four goals
against Sunderland were a lift too, having scored only six in the previous
seven league matches as record signing Wilfred Bony and Michu still work on
their understanding.
Either man would be welcomed by Sam Allardyce at the moment in the continued
absence of Andy Carroll. The progress on his record signing's fitness must
be top of the West Ham manager's weekly questions.
So far this season Maiga, Vaz Te and Petric have tried unsuccessfully to
fill the void, with the return of Carlton Cole an added option. It makes the
3-0 win at Tottenham in their last away game an even more outstanding
result. I watched them previously in defeat at Hull, where they were
unlucky, but had they been more clinical in front of goal could have been
out of sight. The consistent emergence of Ravel Morrison has been a huge
positive, as has the recent return to fitness of Stewart Downing. Swansea
face their third game in eight days and if the Hammers can rediscover that
White Hart Lane formula they will move above the Swans in the table.
MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head
Swansea beat West Ham 3-0 in their first home game of last season with Michu
scoring his first goal at the Liberty Stadium.
The Hammers have only won four of their 22 league trips to Swansea (D4,
L14).
This fixture has traditionally produced goals; an average of 3.5 goals per
game have been scored across the previous 44 league meetings.
Swansea
Swansea are looking to win back-to-back league games for the first time
since December last year.
All three league wins by Michael Laudrup's side this season have come when
they have kept clean sheets.
There have been more goals scored at the Liberty Stadium this season (16)
than at any other Premier League ground.
The Swans have drawn only once this season - only games involving Palace
(none) have resulted in fewer draws.
West Ham
West Ham are looking to win successive away matches in the Premier League
for the first time since December 2007.
The Hammers have conceded just one away goal in four league matches -Robbie
Brady's controversial penalty at Hull.
Sam Allardyce's side are six points down on this stage of last season when
they had 14 points from their opening eight games.
West Ham have the worst shooting accuracy in the Premier League this season
(29.6%).
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham's Andy Carroll back training in 'two to three weeks'
BBC.co.uk
Sam Allardyce says West Ham striker Andy Carroll could be back training
within a fortnight. The 24-year-old has yet to feature for the Hammers this
season because of a heel injury, which has required treatment both in Europe
and the USA. "We hope he'll be back with us in the next two to three weeks,"
said the West Ham manager. "Hopefully that would be a shout that he could
start full training when he does come back."
Allardyce added: "He is frustrated of course and is desperate to be playing
football again. It's what he loves doing most. I will only be too pleased to
get him back in the squad." The England international, who picked up the
injury during the final game of last season, started 22 Premier League games
for the Hammers during the 2012-13 campaign, while on loan from Liverpool,
scoring seven times. He sealed a £15m permanent move from the Reds during
the summer.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Swansea take on West Ham at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday
Last Updated: October 25, 2013 1:26pm
SSN
West Ham travel to Swansea on Sunday looking for a win to leapfrog their
opponents in the Premier League table. Sam Allardyce's side currently sit in
15th in the table with eight points from their opening eight league games.
The Hammers go into the game on the back of a 3-1 home defeat by Manchester
City last time but will take confidence from their last match on the road -
a 3-0 win at previously unbeaten Tottenham. But it will be tough against a
Swans side who are unbeaten in three games in all competitions at home. That
run began with a 1-0 win over St Gallen in the Europa League and Michael
Laudrup's side followed up with a 4-0 thrashing of Sunderland in the Premier
League and Thursday's last-gasp 1-1 Europa League draw against Kuban
Krasnodar. The Swans climbed to 11th in the table with the mauling of the
Black Cats - with ten points from their opening eight games - and Laudrup
will be eyeing another three points at home.
Paul Merson's prediction
West Ham have had an up-and-down period. They had a great win at Tottenham,
but got beat by Man City and I think Swansea will win on Sunday. They may be
a little light at the back if Ashley Williams and Ben Davies are out, but
Sam Allardyce doesn't really play with forwards so that might not be much of
a problem. It's got to be a home win this one.
PAUL PREDICTS: 2-0
Swansea Badge Swansea
Last 6
Kuban (h)1-1
Sunderland (h)4-0
Southampton (a)2-0
St Gallen (h)1-0
Arsenal (h)1-2
3-1
Swansea boss Michael Laudrup must decide whether to risk Ashley Williams in
Sunday's clash with West Ham. The Wales defender has been sidelined for
almost five weeks due to an ankle ligament problem, but took part in
training earlier this week with Laudrup hoping to give his captain some
match action before the south Wales derby against Cardiff. Left-back Ben
Davies remains out until after the international break with a badly sprained
ankle. But on a more positive note, Pablo Hernandez could finally get back
on the pitch after a hamstring problem.
West Ham Badge West Ham
Last 6
Man City (h)1-3
Tottenham (a)0-3
Hull City (a)1-0
Cardiff (h)3-2
Everton (h)2-3
Southampton (a)0-0
West Ham boss Sam Allardyce has confirmed the club have got no new injuries
from last week. He said: "We've still got Alou Diarra, James Collins and
George McCartney out with injury and of course Andy Carroll who everyone
knows is our long-term injury. "We could do with those players back as
quickly as we can as we're a little light on numbers." To bolster numbers
going forward, Jack Collison will come back from a loan spell at Bournemouth
at the end of this weekend.
Opta Facts
Swansea City will be looking to win successive Barclays Premier League games
for the first time since December 1st 2012.
West Ham have not won back-to-back Barclays Premier League away games since
December 2007
The last three competitive meetings between Swansea and West Ham have seen
the home side win whilst keeping a clean sheet
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Rumours of Andy Carroll's immninent return not true according to Sam
Allardyce
Last Updated: October 25, 2013 5:48pm
SSN
Sam Allardyce has played down reports Andy Carroll could be back in his West
Ham plans as early as next week. The England striker is yet to feature for
the Hammers this season after suffering a problem with his foot which has
needed treatment from some of the top specialists Europe and the United
States can offer. Reports suggested Carroll could return to training after
their clash with Swansea on Sunday but Allardyce was quick to quash any
rumours. "The stories that Andy Carroll is returning to us this week are not
true," the West Ham boss said. "There is still a while to go there. He'll be
back we hope in the next two to three weeks. Hopefully he can start full
training when he does come back. It's always been a week-by-week assessment.
"He is frustrated of course and is desperate to be playing football again,
it's what he loves doing most. I will only be too pleased to get him back in
the squad."
West Ham's other forwards have struggled for goals in Carroll's absence and
Allardyce played without a recognised striker in their last two games, a 3-0
win over Spurs and a 3-1 defeat at home to Manchester City. "It's worked
very well in the first game, not so well in second," he said. "It will be
our choice in the next few days about whether we change the system. "Carlton
Cole played another under-21 game last Monday. Our under-21s are top of the
league, that's great news from the younger end. "I don't think Cole is ready
to start from a match fitness point of view but his experience from the
bench is invaluable at the moment."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Swansea boss Michael Laudrup respects Sam Allardyce's style of play ahead of
Hammers clash
25 Oct 2013 22:30
The Mirror
Michael Laudrup has revealed his admiration for the way Sam Allardyce sticks
to his his principles in the cut-throat industry of management. West Ham
boss Allardyce is often associated with a direct style of play. But stylish
Laudrup believes the Hammers boss deserves respect for his beliefs on the
game. Laudrup said: "I like managers and teams who are very clear about what
they want. I always respect that. There is not one truth in football. "But
there are some managers who say one thing and do another. Sam Allardyce is
very honest about what he wants and what he asks from his players. "You can
see what he wants and they are a strong, physical side." Swansea face West
Ham for the club's third home game in a week and aim to be unbeaten
following a win over Sunderland and a midweek Europa League draw against
Russian outfit Kuban Krasnodar. But Laudrup is wary of the Londoners on the
road following their previous away-day success at Tottenham. He added: "We
want a positive result on Sunday as West Ham are in 'our league' and we're
at home. It is a big chance to get points if we can. "But it will be a tough
one. They are strong and they showed that in the last game they played away
at Tottenham."
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WHUFC.com
All the need-to-know information ahead of Sunday's match against Swansea
City
25.10.2013
SWANSEA CITY v WEST HAM UNITED
BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
SUNDAY 27 OCTOBER 2013
KICK-OFF: 4PM
REFEREE: PHIL DOWD
FULL AUDIO AND TEXT COMMENTARY - WEST HAM TV
iPHONE APP I TWITTER I FACEBOOK I PODCAST
Introduction
· West Ham United travel to the Liberty Stadium on Sunday looking to make it
two consecutive away wins in the Barclays Premier League.
· A 3-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane on 6 October was the
club's last away outing and their first win on their travels this season.
· In their last match the Hammers suffered a 3-1 defeat to Manchester City
at the Boleyn Ground.
· The Hammers have conceded only once away from home this season with that
goal coming via Robbie Brady, who converted a penalty in a 1-0 defeat at the
KC Stadium.
· The players will sport t-shirts celebrating the 150th anniversary of the
FA during the pre-match warm-up.
· In this fixture last year Swansea ran out 3-0 winners at the Liberty
Stadium in Michael Laudrup's second game in charge.
· The Dane has steered his team to tenth place after eight league games,
five places above the Hammers although a West Ham win will see them overtake
the Swans.
· Last time out Swansea recorded a 4-0 home win over Sunderland to record
their first home win of the season.
· The Swans have been inconsistent so far and from their last four games
have two wins and a pair of defeats.
Team news
Swansea City
· Full-back Ben Davies and captain Ashley Williams will miss the game with
ankle injuries.
· Pablo Hernandez may well return after missing the last nine games.
West Ham United
· Alou Diarra, Stephen Henderson and Andy Carroll are definitely out whilst
James Collins may be fit enough to return having missed the Manchester City
game.
· Jack Collison (Bournemouth), Elliot Lee (Colchester), Paul McCallum
(Torquay) and Jordan Spence (MK Dons) are all out on loan.
Background
· West Ham United and Swansea City have met 55 times over a period of 90
years, the Hammers have won 26, Swansea have won 17 and 12 have ended in a
draw.
· The first meeting between the two sides came on 7 January 1922 in the FA
Cup and ended in a 0-0 draw. The replay on 11 January also ended 0-0, and
the two sides met for the third time in nine days on 16 January when Swansea
won 1-0 to progress.
· Joe Cole made his first West Ham debut as a substitute in the 1-1 FA Cup
third-round draw against Swansea City on 2 January 1999.
· The highest scoring game between the two produced nine goals with Swansea
edging it 5-4 at Vetch Field on 2 March 1935.
Last time out
Swansea City 1-1 Kuban Krasnador
UEFA Europa League
24 October 2013
Swansea City: Tremmel, Tiendalli (Rangel), Taylor, Canas, Chico, Amat, Dyer
(Lamah), Shelvey, Bony (Alvaro), Michu, Pozuelo
Subs not used: Vorm, Britton, Monk, De Guzman
Goals: Michu 68
West Ham United 1-3 Manchester City
Barclays Premier League
19 October 2013
West Ham United: Jaaskelainen, Demel (O'Brien 65), Reid, Tomkins, Rat, Nolan
(Petric 83), Noble, Morrison, Diame, Downing, Vaz Te (Jarvis 65)
Subs not used: Adrian, Taylor, C Cole, J Cole
Goals: Vaz Te 58
Previous meeting
Andy Carroll inspired West Ham to victory over Swansea City on his return to
the starting line-up. The big striker netted the only goal of the game after
77 minutes to delight the home crowd and move the Hammers up to eleventh
place.
West Ham United 1-0 Swansea City
Barclays Premier League
2 February 2013
West Ham United: Jaaskelainen, O'Brien, Tomkins, Reid, Taylor, Noble, Diame
(O'Neil), Vaz Te, Nolan (Pogatetz), Jarvis (J Cole), Carroll
Subs not used: Spiegel, C Cole, Collison, Chamakh
Goals: Carroll 77
Swansea City: Tremmel, Rangel, Chico, Williams, Davies, De Guzman, Britton
(Moore), Ki, Hernandez, Michu, Routledge (Dyer)
Subs not used: Cornell, Lamah, Monk, Schecter, Tiendalli,
Head to head
Last six meetings (Premier League unless stated)
2 February 2013 West Ham United 1-0 Swansea City
25 August 2012 Swansea City 3-0 West Ham United
13 January 1999 Swansea City 1-0 West Ham United (FA Cup Third Round Replay)
02 January 1999 West Ham United 1-1 Swansea City (FA Cup Third Round)
07 October 1985 Swansea City 2-3 West Ham United (League Cup Second Round
Second Leg)
24 September 1985 West Ham United 3-0 Swansea City (League Cup Second Round
First Leg)
Overall record v Swansea City (all competitions) W 26 D 12 L 17
Ten-year record
West Ham United
2012/13 Premier League 10th (46 points)
2011/12 Championship 3rd (86 points - promoted via Play-Offs)
2010/11 Premier League 20th (33 points)
2009/10 Premier League 17th (35 points)
2008/09 Premier League 9th (51 points)
2007/08 Premier League 10th (49 points)
2006/07 Premier League 15th (41 points)
2005/06 Premier League 9th (55 points)
2004/05 Championship 6th (73 points - promoted via Play-Offs)
2003/04 Championship 4th (74 points)
2002/03 Premier League 18th (42 points - relegated to Championship)
Swansea City
2012/13 Premier League 9th (46 points)
2011/12 Premier League 11th (47 points)
2010/11 Championship 3rd (80 points)
2009/10 Championship 7th (69 points)
2008/09 Championship 8th (68 points)
2007/08 League One 1st (92 points)
2006/07 League One 7th (72 points)
2005/06 League One 6th (71 points)
2004/05 League Two 3rd (80 points)
2003/04 League Two 10th (59 points)
2002/03 League Two 21st (49 points)
Referee
· The referee for Sunday's game will be Phil Dowd.
· Dowd has already taken charge of the Hammers this season, presiding over a
0-0 draw when West Ham played Newcastle at St James Park.
· Dowd is in his 13h season as a Select Group official, having initially
been promoted to the Barclays Premier League list of referees in 2001.
· Dowd began refereeing in local leagues in 1984, officiating in the
Staffordshire Senior League and Midland Football Alliance. He was appointed
to the Football League list of assistant referees in 1992, before joining
the League's full list of referees in 1997, aged 34.
· The 49-year-old is commonly considered to be one of England's best match
officials, an opinion backed by his appointments as the referee for the 2012
FA Cup and 2010 Football League Cup finals.
· Previously, Dowd was the fourth official at the 2006 FA Cup final between
West Ham United and Liverpool at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.
· The man in the middle will be assisted by Richard West and Marc Perry, and
his fourth official will be Roger East.
General information
· Tickets for this fixture are now sold out.
·The weather forecast for Sunday afternoon is cloudy with a maximum
temperature of 14C.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Big Sam on: Swansea City
WHUFC.com
Sam Allardyce attended his pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday's trip
to Wales
25.10.2013
Sam Allardyce has faced the media ahead of Sunday's trip to the Liberty
Stadium to face Swansea City in the Barclays Premier League. The West Ham
United manager was quizzed on the latest team news, Mark Noble's chances of
an England call-up and Sir Alex Ferguson's book.
Morning Sam, what's the team news ahead of Sunday's game?
SA: "Our injury news is not too bad. We've got no new injuries from what we
had last week. We've still got Alou Diarra, James Collins and George
McCartney out with injury and of course Andy Carroll who everyone knows is
our long term injury. We could do with those players back as quickly as we
can as we're a little light on numbers. Jack Collison will come back from a
loan at the end of this weekend to join back with us after a few very
valuable first team games at Bournemouth as we've got a heavy week. We've
got games Sunday, Tuesday and Saturday so we've got a big week ahead of us.
The players that are available are in good spirits but we could do with the
other players being back fit as quick as possible."
How's Andy Carroll coming along? Reports are surfacing that he's finished
his treatment in Belgium - is that right?
SA: "No, it's not true as he's still got a while to go yet. We'd hope that
he'd be back with us in the next two to three weeks and hopefully that would
be a shout that he could start full training when he does come back. It's
always been a week-by-week assessment, we send one of our physiotherapists
out there every week to monitor his progress on a weekly basis."
How's his morale, as I'm sure it must be a difficult period for him?
SA: "He's frustrated of course. I think he's desperate to play football
again which is what he loves doing most of all. And of course we'll be only
too pleased to get him back in amongst the squad when we get the chance.
Carlton Cole played another game in the Under-21s which they won again last
Monday. Our Under-21s are top of the league which is great news from the
younger end of the football club developing and we've let a few of the
younger players go out on loan this week on the basis of their performances
in the Under-21s. Things are alright apart from we haven't got as many
points on the board as we should have."
You've been persisting without and out-and-out striker, are you likely to
continue that on Sunday?
SA: "I wouldn't say I've persisted because it's only been two games out of
eight. It worked very, very well in the first game and didn't work quite so
well in the second so it'll be our choice in the next two days on whether we
do change the system we play or we don't."
Do you think Carlton Cole is ready to be involved?
SA: "He's ready to be involved in the squad but I don't think he's ready to
start from a match fitness point of view. Carlton's experience, if needed
off the subs bench, could be invaluable at the moment so he'll be in the
squad for Sunday."
Sir Alex Ferguson's book has been in the news as well this week, were you
featured in it originally?
SA: "Yes, I think I got left out! I'm looking forward to getting my free
copy as he said he forgot to put me in it so I'm looking forward to reading
it when it comes out. I'll be trotting down to the launch on 1 November to
see him more than anything else."
Swansea played in the Europa League last night, might that aid you on
Sunday?
SA: "There's a chance it can there's no doubt about that. Having experienced
the same situation myself when I was at Bolton the most difficult game to
win was always the one after we'd played in Europe. He did make a lot of
changes, six changes to the side that beat Sunderland so we'll have to wait
and see.
"If there is any advantage we might be able to take with a few of their
players having a bit of fatigue then hopefully we can capitalise on that.
It's really about our players going and playing as well as they know they
can and that's line has been set by the performance at Tottenham and I'll be
looking for the players to achieve that at Swansea. If we can achieve that
type of performance then we'll give them a hell of a game."
Swansea haven't had a great home record up until they beat Sunderland 4-0 in
their last match. Do you focus on their last game or consider that they're
relatively weak at home?
SA: "Well I think prior to the Sunderland game I would have talked to the
players about any nervous frailties they might have suffered because of the
time they have gone without winning at home. I suppose it sounds a lot
longer than it really was, because there was a break when this record was
calculated from last season into this season. They'll have taken a lot of
confidence from the fact they ended up breaking down Sunderland and getting
four goals so that fear might now have left them. "It's always a difficult
game. They've had a terrific amount of progress over a few years and haven't
looked back for many, many years and they have some really good players.
Michael [Laudrup] will be expecting them to try and turn home games into
another victory and our format is to go and play like we did against
Tottenham and see if we can win the game. Certainly we need to get some
points out of it because we're way down on the points total I expected after
the first eight games. It's a big game for us to make sure we play our best
and get some points out of."
How much better were you hoping to have done by this stage of the season?
SA: "Well I couldn't knock the performances too much but I think we're about
four points short of what we should have achieved. My huge concern is the
fact that we've lost three home games on the trot, that never happened last
season, we only lost four all season at home. That's my biggest worry, our
away performances have been very good but our results haven't matched the
performances. We should of beat Newcastle, we certainly shouldn't have lost
against Hull City we had a good draw at Southampton and a great win against
Tottenham. We've got to make sure we give our all in the Premier League
because we're a 100 per cent team and we need to play at 100 per cent to win
a game of football in the Premier League."
Is it as simple as taking the opportunity of having more shots on target as
you only had two against Manchester City?
SA: "There's no doubt about that. We had 17 attempts and only two on target
and that tells you the story of our incapacity to turn opportunities,
certainly at the end, to put the goalkeeper under pressure. It's well
documented that Joe Hart has recently made a few errors that he doesn't
normally make and my message to the players was try and test him as much as
we possibly can. You can only do that with your attempts being on target and
that may cause the goalkeeper to make a mistake again but we didn't do that
sufficiently enough."
Mark Noble has said this week that he believes he has the ability and the
maturity to play for England, do you agree with that?
SA: "Yes, I don't disagree with that. He's got to continue to perform at a
consistent level and of course between now and next summer his performances
will have to be consistently of the highest quality to attract the attention
of Roy Hodgson. If he thinks he can do that then he's put a huge amount of
pressure on himself to make sure he performs at his highest level which has
always been very good for us."
In general do you think West Ham players are overlooked when it comes to
England selection?
SA: "No I don't. If we had 12 points now instead of eight those players
would be talked about an awful lot more. At the end of the day people talk
about performances and how to play the game of football but ultimately if
you achieve the results at the end of those performances that's where the
attention comes from. If you don't get the points that's when the
performances are quickly and easily forgotten. In the end performances have
to produce results which produces attention in the right way and it gets
people looking to come and watch your players do what they're doing,
certainly at international level."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Chadwell Chatter
WHUFC.com
Winston Reid on clocking up the air miles, Swansea City and New Zealand's
FIFA World Cup Play-Off
25.10.2013
Hello everyone,
I've had a busy few weeks with West Ham United and New Zealand. I've got
used to all the travelling with my national team now, as I've been away a
lot of times. It can be physically and mentally demanding spending hours at
airports and on planes, but it is all part of the job of being a national
team player and, in my case, captain. Obviously it would be best for the
Club if I stayed here and it is tough, but you have to go away and come back
and be professional and I've got no excuses for my performance against
Manchester City because I was OK.
During the international break, we played a training match in Los Angeles,
then travelled to Trinidad and Tobago for a friendly international. While we
were there, we found out we would be playing Mexico next month in a
two-legged Intercontinental Play-Off, with the winners going to next year's
World Cup.
It's going to be difficult against Mexico because they've been to a lot of
World Cups and we have only been to two, so it's not going to be easy. We're
going to go there for the first leg and hopefully we can get a result, then
take them back to New Zealand and do the business there.
Obviously Mexico will not be the same as they were before, but they are
still going to be a good side and we're going to have to be up for it, give
110 per cent and see how far it takes us. We play them at the Azteca
Stadium, which is going to be good and exciting to play there, but the most
important thing is for us to get to the World Cup. We play the first leg
away from home, but we'll have to wait and see if that's an advantage.
Either way, it's going to be tough. My travel itinerary is pretty
interesting! I fly from London to Los Angeles, then Los Angeles to Mexico
City, back to Los Angeles, then to Auckland for the second leg in
Wellington. On the way back, it's the reverse, flying from Auckland to Los
Angeles and then on to London. I'll definitely get some Air Miles for all
that!
Before that, we go to Swansea City on Sunday and they have got a good team
and finished well last year. We've got to do better than we did against
Manchester City and up our levels.
Looking back at last weekend, at the end of the day Manchester City were a
better side than we were and we didn't play up to the same level as we did
at Tottenham. They were simply better than us. Every away game is tough but,
to be fair, I think the boys have done well away from home this season and
if we can keep those sort of performances up, we can take something away
from Swansea. It will be tough, though, because they're a good side. Swansea
did really well to win the Capital One Cup last season and qualify for
Europe, so credit to them. For us, we want to climb the league because our
start hasn't been the best. Hopefully we can kick on in the next couple of
games.
Swansea's manager Michael Laudrup is a legend back in Denmark, where I grew
up. He's the biggest player they have ever had and he played for a lot of
big clubs - Juventus, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Ajax - and did well for the
national team as well, particularly at the 1986 World Cup. He is always
going to be a legend and there are a lot of Danes who follow Swansea because
of him. I never tried to be him in the school playground, though, as I
always stayed at the back as a defender!
I wish a safe and successful journey to the Hammers fans travelling to
Swansea on Sunday and hope all of you have a great weekend.
Come on you Irons!
Reidy
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U18 duo ready for Teesside trip
WHUFC.com
Kieran Bywater and Kyle Knoyle are hoping the Under-18s can continue their
winning run on Saturday
25.10.2013
West Ham United make the long journey up to Middlesbrough this weekend
looking to extend their Barclays U18 Premier League winning run to five
games.
Steve Potts' side have won four consecutive games to shake off a slow start
to the season which saw them win just once in their opening six matches.
Ten goals in ten games from Kieran Bywater have played a major role in
reversing the team's fortunes and the midfielder cannot quite believe his
rich vein of scoring form.
Bywater told West Ham TV: "I would have taken the ten goals at the start of
the season for the whole season! "Obviously I have to keep working hard and
keep helping the team. The goals aren't just all my own work obviously all
the other players have been setting up goals. "I've just been fortunate
enough to get a few good goals myself."
While the captain's run of six goals in his last four games has stolen the
headlines other players in the squad have received recognition of a
different kind.
Right-back Kyle Knoyle represented England U18s earlier this month when he
played the full 90 minutes of a 4-0 friendly win over Hungary. Knoyle was
joined in the squad by Hammers centre-back Reece Burke and he was
justifiably pleased with his selection. "It was an honour to represent
England and hopefully I can get some more caps. The experience itself was a
once in a lifetime opportunity."
With both players seemingly thriving under the guidance of Steve Potts, Mark
Phillips and Tony Carr, the team is going from strength to strength. While
four wins on the bounce have kick-started their season, both players feel as
though they were not getting the results their performances deserved during
their first few games. "We lost 1-0 to Sunderland and we played some great
football and should have come away with a result" explained Knoyle. "From
there we've kept going from the Liverpool game [which we won 5-0] and just
kept cracking on. There's a great atmosphere at the moment and everyone's
really pleased.
"We thought we should be getting the results but now that they've been
coming we just need to crack on from here and keep the atmosphere as it is."
Bywater echoed the thoughts of his team-mate and is hopeful the team will
return to east London with three points from their trip to Teesside. He
said: "We were unfortunate with some of the games at the beginning of the
season. "The performances were there but maybe it was just the finishing or
a little bit of class missing that we didn't quite have but it's clicked in
recent weeks. "We've got four wins on the bounce and hopefully we can make
it five on the weekend."
*West Ham TV will show exclusive highlights from Saturday's Barclays U18
Premier League trip to Middlesbrough on Monday.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Swansea v West Ham
KO 16:00
25 October 2013
Last updated at 14:50
By Steve Bower
BBC Match of the Day commentator
BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Venue: Liberty Stadium Date: Sunday, 27 October
Swansea manager Michael Laudrup must decide whether to play Ashley Williams,
who has missed the last five weeks with an ankle injury. Pablo Hernadez
finally looks set to play after a hamstring problem but Ben Davies (ankle)
is out.
West Ham could be unchanged from the side that was beaten by Manchester City
last weekend. Carlton Cole is not yet match fit, while Andy Carroll, James
Collins, Alou Diarra and George McCartney remain out.
MATCH PREVIEW
With just five league wins between them this fixture offers an opportunity
for both sides to claim a significant victory. For Swansea it would be
back-to-back Premier League wins for the first time in 2013, while having
lost four of their last six, it would be a welcome return to winning ways
for West Ham. Swansea's 4-0 win over Sunderland last weekend was their first
home Premier League win in nine attempts. They have remained unbeaten and
indeed impressed in their Europa League campaign yet it could be argued it
is affecting domestic matters. "The problem for Hammers boss Sam Allardyce
is getting his team to pose a goal threat. They were superb in their win
over Tottenham but were lacking up front in their defeat by Manchester City
last time out."
Ever since their arrival in the top flight, the Liberty Stadium has been a
destination where any team has had to play well to get a result, and Michael
Laudrup will know that reputation and foundation has to remain in place to
get close to last season's ninth-placed league position. The four goals
against Sunderland were a lift too, having scored only six in the previous
seven league matches as record signing Wilfred Bony and Michu still work on
their understanding.
Either man would be welcomed by Sam Allardyce at the moment in the continued
absence of Andy Carroll. The progress on his record signing's fitness must
be top of the West Ham manager's weekly questions.
So far this season Maiga, Vaz Te and Petric have tried unsuccessfully to
fill the void, with the return of Carlton Cole an added option. It makes the
3-0 win at Tottenham in their last away game an even more outstanding
result. I watched them previously in defeat at Hull, where they were
unlucky, but had they been more clinical in front of goal could have been
out of sight. The consistent emergence of Ravel Morrison has been a huge
positive, as has the recent return to fitness of Stewart Downing. Swansea
face their third game in eight days and if the Hammers can rediscover that
White Hart Lane formula they will move above the Swans in the table.
MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head
Swansea beat West Ham 3-0 in their first home game of last season with Michu
scoring his first goal at the Liberty Stadium.
The Hammers have only won four of their 22 league trips to Swansea (D4,
L14).
This fixture has traditionally produced goals; an average of 3.5 goals per
game have been scored across the previous 44 league meetings.
Swansea
Swansea are looking to win back-to-back league games for the first time
since December last year.
All three league wins by Michael Laudrup's side this season have come when
they have kept clean sheets.
There have been more goals scored at the Liberty Stadium this season (16)
than at any other Premier League ground.
The Swans have drawn only once this season - only games involving Palace
(none) have resulted in fewer draws.
West Ham
West Ham are looking to win successive away matches in the Premier League
for the first time since December 2007.
The Hammers have conceded just one away goal in four league matches -Robbie
Brady's controversial penalty at Hull.
Sam Allardyce's side are six points down on this stage of last season when
they had 14 points from their opening eight games.
West Ham have the worst shooting accuracy in the Premier League this season
(29.6%).
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham's Andy Carroll back training in 'two to three weeks'
BBC.co.uk
Sam Allardyce says West Ham striker Andy Carroll could be back training
within a fortnight. The 24-year-old has yet to feature for the Hammers this
season because of a heel injury, which has required treatment both in Europe
and the USA. "We hope he'll be back with us in the next two to three weeks,"
said the West Ham manager. "Hopefully that would be a shout that he could
start full training when he does come back."
Allardyce added: "He is frustrated of course and is desperate to be playing
football again. It's what he loves doing most. I will only be too pleased to
get him back in the squad." The England international, who picked up the
injury during the final game of last season, started 22 Premier League games
for the Hammers during the 2012-13 campaign, while on loan from Liverpool,
scoring seven times. He sealed a £15m permanent move from the Reds during
the summer.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Swansea take on West Ham at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday
Last Updated: October 25, 2013 1:26pm
SSN
West Ham travel to Swansea on Sunday looking for a win to leapfrog their
opponents in the Premier League table. Sam Allardyce's side currently sit in
15th in the table with eight points from their opening eight league games.
The Hammers go into the game on the back of a 3-1 home defeat by Manchester
City last time but will take confidence from their last match on the road -
a 3-0 win at previously unbeaten Tottenham. But it will be tough against a
Swans side who are unbeaten in three games in all competitions at home. That
run began with a 1-0 win over St Gallen in the Europa League and Michael
Laudrup's side followed up with a 4-0 thrashing of Sunderland in the Premier
League and Thursday's last-gasp 1-1 Europa League draw against Kuban
Krasnodar. The Swans climbed to 11th in the table with the mauling of the
Black Cats - with ten points from their opening eight games - and Laudrup
will be eyeing another three points at home.
Paul Merson's prediction
West Ham have had an up-and-down period. They had a great win at Tottenham,
but got beat by Man City and I think Swansea will win on Sunday. They may be
a little light at the back if Ashley Williams and Ben Davies are out, but
Sam Allardyce doesn't really play with forwards so that might not be much of
a problem. It's got to be a home win this one.
PAUL PREDICTS: 2-0
Swansea Badge Swansea
Last 6
Kuban (h)1-1
Sunderland (h)4-0
Southampton (a)2-0
St Gallen (h)1-0
Arsenal (h)1-2
3-1
Swansea boss Michael Laudrup must decide whether to risk Ashley Williams in
Sunday's clash with West Ham. The Wales defender has been sidelined for
almost five weeks due to an ankle ligament problem, but took part in
training earlier this week with Laudrup hoping to give his captain some
match action before the south Wales derby against Cardiff. Left-back Ben
Davies remains out until after the international break with a badly sprained
ankle. But on a more positive note, Pablo Hernandez could finally get back
on the pitch after a hamstring problem.
West Ham Badge West Ham
Last 6
Man City (h)1-3
Tottenham (a)0-3
Hull City (a)1-0
Cardiff (h)3-2
Everton (h)2-3
Southampton (a)0-0
West Ham boss Sam Allardyce has confirmed the club have got no new injuries
from last week. He said: "We've still got Alou Diarra, James Collins and
George McCartney out with injury and of course Andy Carroll who everyone
knows is our long-term injury. "We could do with those players back as
quickly as we can as we're a little light on numbers." To bolster numbers
going forward, Jack Collison will come back from a loan spell at Bournemouth
at the end of this weekend.
Opta Facts
Swansea City will be looking to win successive Barclays Premier League games
for the first time since December 1st 2012.
West Ham have not won back-to-back Barclays Premier League away games since
December 2007
The last three competitive meetings between Swansea and West Ham have seen
the home side win whilst keeping a clean sheet
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Rumours of Andy Carroll's immninent return not true according to Sam
Allardyce
Last Updated: October 25, 2013 5:48pm
SSN
Sam Allardyce has played down reports Andy Carroll could be back in his West
Ham plans as early as next week. The England striker is yet to feature for
the Hammers this season after suffering a problem with his foot which has
needed treatment from some of the top specialists Europe and the United
States can offer. Reports suggested Carroll could return to training after
their clash with Swansea on Sunday but Allardyce was quick to quash any
rumours. "The stories that Andy Carroll is returning to us this week are not
true," the West Ham boss said. "There is still a while to go there. He'll be
back we hope in the next two to three weeks. Hopefully he can start full
training when he does come back. It's always been a week-by-week assessment.
"He is frustrated of course and is desperate to be playing football again,
it's what he loves doing most. I will only be too pleased to get him back in
the squad."
West Ham's other forwards have struggled for goals in Carroll's absence and
Allardyce played without a recognised striker in their last two games, a 3-0
win over Spurs and a 3-1 defeat at home to Manchester City. "It's worked
very well in the first game, not so well in second," he said. "It will be
our choice in the next few days about whether we change the system. "Carlton
Cole played another under-21 game last Monday. Our under-21s are top of the
league, that's great news from the younger end. "I don't think Cole is ready
to start from a match fitness point of view but his experience from the
bench is invaluable at the moment."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Swansea boss Michael Laudrup respects Sam Allardyce's style of play ahead of
Hammers clash
25 Oct 2013 22:30
The Mirror
Michael Laudrup has revealed his admiration for the way Sam Allardyce sticks
to his his principles in the cut-throat industry of management. West Ham
boss Allardyce is often associated with a direct style of play. But stylish
Laudrup believes the Hammers boss deserves respect for his beliefs on the
game. Laudrup said: "I like managers and teams who are very clear about what
they want. I always respect that. There is not one truth in football. "But
there are some managers who say one thing and do another. Sam Allardyce is
very honest about what he wants and what he asks from his players. "You can
see what he wants and they are a strong, physical side." Swansea face West
Ham for the club's third home game in a week and aim to be unbeaten
following a win over Sunderland and a midweek Europa League draw against
Russian outfit Kuban Krasnodar. But Laudrup is wary of the Londoners on the
road following their previous away-day success at Tottenham. He added: "We
want a positive result on Sunday as West Ham are in 'our league' and we're
at home. It is a big chance to get points if we can. "But it will be a tough
one. They are strong and they showed that in the last game they played away
at Tottenham."
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