Preview - QPR
WHUFC.com
All the key info ahead of Sunday's game against Queens Park Rangers
04.10.2014
WEST HAM UNITED v QUEENS PARK RANGERS
BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
BOLEYN GROUND
SUNDAY 5 OCTOBER 2014
KICK-OFF: 4.15PM
REFEREE: ANTHONY TAYLOR
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In brief
West Ham United play their final game before the October international break
on Sunday when they host London rivals Queens Park Rangers.
The Hammers will want to register a second successive home victory,
following the 3-1 win over Liverpool on 20 September.
That three-point haul saw Winston Reid, Diafra Sakho and Morgan Amalfitano
hit the back of the net to cap a dominant display from the Hammers.
Although they could not back it up at Manchester United last week, there
were still many positives to take from the 2-1 defeat and Sam Allardyce will
be targeting a third win of the campaign.
QPR, meanwhile, have lost all three of their away games to date, suffering
4-0 defeats at Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United, before going down
2-1 at Southampton last weekend.
Their sole success came at Loftus Road against Sunderland, and they have
four points from six starts, leaving them in 18th position..
Who are they?
Formed in 1882, Queens Park Rangers' early football was joined the Football
League in 1920, three years after settling at Loftus Road.
Their honours include winning the League Cup in 1967, being runners-up in
the top flight in 1975/76 and reaching the FA Cup final in 1982, when they
lost to Tottenham Hotspur after a replay.
They won promotion back to the top flight via the play-offs last season,
with former Hammer Bobby Zamora netting a dramatic late winner against Derby
County.
Team news
West Ham United
Sam Allardyce still expects to be without Mark Noble, Joey O'Brien and
Cheikhou Kouyate as they continue to come back from injury.
However, Matt Jarvis and Kevin Nolan have both resumed training and hope to
be involved for the London derby, but Guy Demel will be assessed late on
after suffering an injury in training.
QPR
Sandro has been cleared to play after suffering a heavy blow to the head in
last weekend's defeat at Southampton.
Joey Barton and Jordon Mutch have been nursing hamstring injuries and face
fitness tests.
Referee
Sunday's referee will be Anthony Taylor. Taylor is in his fifth season on
the Select Group of referees appointed to control Barclays Premier League
fixtures.
The Greater Manchester-born official started refereeing in the Northern
Premier League in 2002 before being appointed to the Football League list at
the start of the 2006/07 season, refereeing his first match between Wrexham
and Peterborough United in League Two on 12 August 2006.
Taylor's first Premier League appointment was the 3 February 2010 encounter
between Fulham and former West Ham United manager Avram Grant's Portsmouth,
with the Cottagers winning 1-0. In July of the same year, he travelled to
Japan and refereed three J.League fixtures as part of referee exchange
programmes signed between the English FA and Japanese FA
Taylor took charge of West Ham versus Liverpool fixtures in each of the
previous two seasons - a 0-0 draw at Anfield on 7 April 2013 and Liverpool's
2-1 victory here on 6 April 2014.
In all, he has controlled five West Ham matches during his career.
The 35-year-old took charge of Queens Park Rangers' 4-0 Barclays Premier
League defeat at Tottenham Hotspur on 24 August this year - one of eight QPR
fixtures he has refereed previously.
He was appointed to the FIFA List of referees in 2013 and has also taken
charge of UEFA European U21 Championship, UEFA Champions League and UEFA
Europa League qualifiers.
Taylor will be assisted by Gary Beswick and David Bryan, while the fourth
official will be Andre Marriner.
One to watch
West Ham United
Aaron Cresswell has enjoyed a fine start to life in a Hammers shirt, taking
the step up from Championship football in his stride.
The 24-year-old left back was a summer signing from Ipswich Town and has
played every minute of the Hammers' Barclays Premier League campaign to
date.
He will look to get up and down the touchline to assist with the home side's
attacks, while also keeping his eye on a first clean sheet of the campaign.
Queens Park Rangers
Rangers striker Charlie Austin will need to be shackled on Sunday if the
Hammers are to be successful.
The former Swindon and Burnley man joined QPR in summer 2013 and notched 17
league goals to help his new club to promotion.
After scoring spectacularly against Southampton last weekend, his confidence
will be high as he heads into this fixture.
Tickets
Standard tickets for this fixture have now SOLD OUT. However, a limited
number of re-listed Season Ticket Holder seats may be available online
through the Ticket Trader.
Travel
No planned closures will affect the eastern ends of the District or
Hammersmith & City lines on Sunday. Click here for the latest transport news
from Transport for London.
Weather
A dry day with sunny spells is expected on Sunday, with a temperature of 16C
(61F) at kick-off.
Charity
A group of QPR supporters will today make the long 14.5 mile walk from
Loftus Road to the Boleyn Ground in aid of the QPR Tiger Cubs, a football
team for children and young people with Downs Syndrome.
Run in partnership with the Downs Syndrome Association, the Tiger Cubs
project aims to create a multi-tier learning environment that will improve
the participants' overall physical, social and emotional health. The Trust
now runs three sessions for children and one adult's team.
To sponsor the walkers visit virginmoneygiving.com/tigerfeet6
Last meeting
West Ham United 1-1 Queens Park Rangers
Premier League
Saturday 19 January 2013
West Ham United: Jaaskelainen, Reid, Tomkins, O'Brien, Demel, Noble, Jarvis,
Nolan (Vaz Te 89), Diame, J.Cole, Chamakh (C.Cole 62)
Subs: Spiegel, Potts, Collison, Taylor, Diarra
Goal: J.Cole 68
QPR: Cesar, Hill, Onuoha, Nelsen, Fabio, Mbia, Derry, Taarabt (Park 82),
Wright-Phillips (Traore 59), Mackie (Bothroyd 67), Remy
Subs: Green, Ferdinand, Hoilett, Faurlin
Goal: Remy 14
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Cresswell targeting Hoops win
WHUFC.com
Aaron Cresswell is looking forward to Sunday's London derby against Queens
Park Rangers
04.10.2014
West Ham United left-back Aaron Cresswell has taken to life in the Barclays
Premier League like a duck to water. The 24-year-old was one of the Hammers'
first signings in a busy transfer window, as the Club recruited nine new
players in total. With the impressive performances of the recent arricals
such as Diafra Sakho and Enner Valencia grabbing the headlines, Cresswell's
exploits have largely gone under the radar. Speaking ahead of Sunday's
London derby with Queens Park Rangers, he said: "We've put in some good
performances recently and had some good results too. "We should have got
something out of the Manchester United game, especially after they went down
to ten men. But there's a long way to go in the rest of the season, and
we're looking forward to each game."
Cresswell's move to the Boleyn Ground marked an impressive rise through the
Football League. After being released by boyhood club Liverpool at just 15
years old, he joined Tranmere Rovers and then Ipswich Town. "Being released
was heartbreaking. I supported Liverpool as a boy, so to be released by them
was really hard. "In a way it's helped me get where I am today, and I'm very
proud of that. In the end it worked out well for me because you get more
playing opportunities at lower league level."
Speaking about the Hammers' emphatic 3-1 win over Liverpool last time out at
the Boleyn Ground, he said: "It was a good day. I had about nine or ten of
my family down to watch the match. To get the three points was a great
feeling. "I think a couple of them jumped up when Liverpool scored! I'm sure
the West Ham weren't too happy about that, but it was of those moments. I'll
take the three points all day."
So far Cresswell has played every minute of every league match, and he is
set to continue his run in the team. "If I'm honest I've played more than
expected to. But that can only be a good thing. I didn't come in thinking
I'd play a certain amount of times but it's going well for me so far. "I'm
taking it each game as it comes. I'm looking forward to every game we play
and concentrating on doing well for West Ham United."
When comparing the differences between the Premier League and the lower
league, the defender explains: "Everything is very different in the lower
leagues than it is here. Obviously there's more money to spend on facilities
in the Premier League. But at the same time, the same rules apply anywhere
in football, hard work and determination is the key. "When West Ham came
knocking on my door it was impossible to turn down. When I heard they wanted
me, it was an easy decision to make."
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Jarvis looking ahead to QPR
WHUFC.com
West Ham United winger Matt Jarvis cannot wait to be back in first team
action
05.10.2014
West Ham United winger Matt Jarvis is looking forward to facing Queens Park
Rangers this Sunday at the Boleyn Ground. The pacey winger has been out of
action so far this season after he picked up a thigh injury on the eve of
the new campaign. The 28-year-old is near to full fitness as he played 80
minutes in the Under 21s' 2-0 win over Sunderland on Monday night, setting
up Elliot Lee's first of the evening with a pin point corner. "I can't wait
to get back on the pitch," he explained. "I haven't played yet this season
after having a good pre-season so I'm really looking forward to it."
Describing his frustration at missing the Hammers' good start to the league
campaign, he continued: "I'm a terrible spectator, ask anyone they'll tell
you the same. It's very frustrating as I did the whole of pre-season and got
injured just at the end."
In Jarvis' absence new signings such as Morgan Amalfitano and Diafra Sakho
have impressed in their brief time at the Club. "The team have been doing
extremely well so you can't expect to go straight back into the team. I'm
going to have to keep working hard in training and if I get an opportunity I
need to take it. "Competition for places is very important. It's important
to have good strength in depth to help us push up the league."
Jarvis is delighted with the attacking style of football the Hammers have
displayed in 2014/15. "I think everyone has noticed the difference. We're
playing more attacking football, creating more chances and shooting more.
The results have been good but I also think we can still improve. "We want
to improve year on year which means getting into the top ten and then
pushing for a European place. We all want to do the best that we can and the
move to the new stadium will help with that."
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Alex on Song for QPR derby
WHUFC.com
West Ham United midfielder Alex Song is looking ahead to the QPR game on
Sunday
05.10.2014
West Ham United midfielder Alex Song is relishing the prospect of playing
Queens Park Rangers on Sunday at the Boleyn Ground. Having joined the
Hammers from European giants Barcelona on loan, Song is enjoying being back
in the Premier League after a seven year spell at Arsenal. Song's home debut
could not have gone much better for him or West Ham as they secured a 3-1
win over Liverpool in a dominant display. Speaking ahead of his first London
derby since returning to England, Song said: "We need to start like we did
against Liverpool. We have to concentrate on ourselves because we can still
improve and if we do that we'll play very well. "The QPR game is very
important and we have to win if we want to get into the top ten. We have to
be focused and show our desire to win. If we play like we did in the second
half against Manchester United we have a good opportunity to win."
Despite good performances, the Hammers only have seven points for the
efforts so far. With QPR only three points behind, Song knows the team are
in for a tough match "QPR have good players and we need to respect them. But
we are playing at home in front of our fans and we need to win. We will give
our best for them to make them happy this Sunday. "We have to try our best,
if we do that we can finish in the top ten. "We might be able to get Europe
if we play very well, it is possible for sure. For me it is very important
that we aim high. It is also very important for the fans. I'm not saying
we'll get into the top four, but we will try to finish as high as possible
in the league. "Everyone is focused on that, it won't be easy with clubs
like Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal who are very strong. But we have
to stay positive."
Having been used sparingly by Barcelona, Song is nearing full fitness after
featuring in the Hammers' last three matches. "I'm feeling good. In the last
two years I haven't played a lot. In the past I was playing 45 games a year,
then I stopped to about 15 games a year. It is a very big gap, I need a bit
of time but I know I am getting there. When I am back to full fitness you'll
see more of what I can do."
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Sam Allardyce wants West Ham fans to respect QPR's returning old boys
Last Updated: 05/10/14 7:51am
SSN
Sam Allardyce has urged the West Ham fans to give QPR's former Hammers a
warm reception when the two sides meet at Upton Park live on Sky Sports
Super Sunday. Rob Green, Rio Ferdinand and Bobby Zamora have collectively
made more than 500 appearances for the Hammers while Harry Redknapp was West
Ham manager for six seasons from 1994. The quartet are all now plying their
trade on the other side of the capital but Allardyce insists their time in
East London should not be forgotten when they return to Upton Park this
weekend. "I think they should get a warm reception as all three of them were
here for a considerable amount of time - they weren't short-term stays,"
Allardyce said.
We would like them to be very miserable at the end of the game though. "The
year I had Robert (Green) when he helped us get back in to the Premier
League, he was a great professional, and we all know about Rio."Harry has
been managing longer than me - one of the few left who has."I think they
will all come back with an extra determination to return to their old club
and show everyone what they can still do."
Despite making some high-profile signings in the summer, QPR have struggled
so far this season and find themselves sitting 18th in the table.Ferdinand
and Steven Caulker were among the big names to arrive at Loftus Road but the
team have conceded 13 goals in six games - the most in the division – and
questions have been asked about the pair's performances. Alex Song says that
there were several clubs interested in him during the transfer window but
wanted to return to the Premier League and the midfielder is It's a team
game, I don't think you can point out those two individuals," Allardyce
added. "They have had a transition because they've changed the way they have
played - they thought that the back three would work and now they've moved
to a back four. "They will be talking about how much protection they are
getting - or not getting - from the midfield players to stop those goals
going in."
Allardyce has responded to the demands of the West Ham chairmen for a more
attacking style of football this season with the Hammers scoring 10 goals in
their opening six matches. At the heart of the more expansive approach has
been the resurgence of Stewart Downing, who has flourished in a more central
role behind the strikers. Regarding Downing's form this season, Allardyce
said: "His experience means he's made that transition to his new role very
quickly. "A player of his ability gets more possession on the inside than
he does on the outside and that's why he's more impressive. He's not past
his best by any stretch of the imagination. "You only get past your best
when your legs can't carry you where you want to go and Stewart is one of
our fittest players. "There's one angle for Stewart that he should score
more goals for the chances he creates and that he gets, but hopefully he'll
get that more this year playing in a different position."
West Ham entered the weekend lying 13th in the table but only three points
above QPR and the bottom three. Allardyce says it is never too early for
supporters to grow frustrated and believes it is vitally important to
maintain a gap above the relegation spots. "The pressure affects us all if
you're in and around the bottom even at this stage of the season," he said.
"There's no give or take whether it's the start, middle or end of the season
so you have to avoid ever being there if you can. "The only way of doing
that is to make sure you win and if you don't win make sure you draw - if we
had drawn rather than lost some of our games we'd be two or three points
better than we are now."That kind of gap can be important to take the
pressure off so it's almost a six-pointer on Sunday."
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West Ham new boy Diafra Sakho says he NEEDED to be a footballer following
his Dad's sudden death
Oct 04, 2014 22:30 By Steve Stammers
The Hammers' £4.5million summer recruit realised he had to financially
provide for his family after his father suddenly passed away
The Mirror
If Diafra Sakho needed further inspiration to succeed as a professional
footballer it came soon after he arrived in the French city of Metz. Sakho
had just left the sprawling poverty Guedeiawaye near the Senagalese capital
of Dakar and was adjusting to the lifestyle of his new home in an affluent
city in the North East of France. "It was not easy," Sakho recalled. "It was
so different to what I had left behind in Senegal. And back there, of
course, were all my family and friends. It was a new culture. "
But then came the news of the death of his father Mamadou at the age of 55.
His mother Diakha was left with four children to feed and educate and
precious little income. The choice for Sakho was made. "Suddenly I was the
senior man in the house, the oldest," he said. "It was my responsibility to
look after them. It made me even more determined to become a footballer."
And you have to say that he has achieved that aim in impressive fashion. At
18, Sakho knew he was the one wage earner in the family and a huge
proportion of his then modest salary was sent back to his mother.As he
progressed at Metz, so did his bank balance and so did the money he was able
to send to Diakha. "To lose my father was terrible for me but I knew what I
had to do for my mother and my two brothers and sister. It was up to me to
provide for them. That was my role, my duty. It gave perspective in my
life."
He was driven right enough. So much so that in the summer West Ham paid Metz
£4.5 million to bring him to Upton Park. That has enabled the 24-year-old
to ensure that his family in Guediawaye live in a new house, that his mother
can go to the town's huge covered market with the means to ensure the family
is fed and that his brother Amara has decent boots to wear at the Generation
Foot Academy near Dakar where he is emerging as a central defender of some
promise. Education is golddust in Senegal. His sister Orokhya has struck
gold because her elder brother is paying for her eduaction. A far cry from
the days when – in bare feet – Sakho played in the dusty streets. He was
spotted as the same academy which is now nurturing his brother and invited
to Metz. "That wasn't easy at first," he recalled. "Yes, there was some
racism but only some. You ignore that, you work harder and you become a
better player."
And Sakho believes there were some benefits from his early experiences
despite the demanding environment. "It makes you harder, definitely," he
said. "I am not really afraid of anything when I go on the field. It is not
possible to intimidate me. I can look after myself. I have had to learn to
do that on and off the field. "I have had many changes in my life but I have
been able to adapt. I have shown I can handle that. London is great, I love
it. But it is very different to Metz. And that was very different to
Senegal."But I have shown what is possible. Maybe the kids in Senegal may
see me on the television now and I hope they will see what is possible in
their lives."If I can do it, so can they."
And Sakho is certainly making his point on the field with West Ham. He never
shirks a challenge and it is unlikely any defender will be able to bully him
out of a game. "No, I am not afraid or anything like that," he said ahead of
this afternoon's clash with Queens Park Rangers at Upton Park. "After my
experiences, what is there to be afraid of? I love the physical side of the
game in England. It suits me."
He is sure to capture attention back in his homeland this afternoon – and
nowhere will more attention be paid than in the home he has been able to buy
for his family and they will watch the man of the house in action on the
television he bought them. "I am just happy I was able to do that," he said.
"Hopefully I will score a goal for them."
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West Ham star Diafra Sakho started a fire in his apartment while trying to
boil water
POSTED BY ROB PARKER - OCTOBER 5, 2014 - ALL NEWS, ODDBALLS, WEST HAM
Off the Post
West Ham striker Diafra Sakho started a fire in his apartment this week
after he forgot about a pan of water he had left boiling on his stove. The
Hammers new boy started boiling the water then jumped in the shower and
forgot about it. A fire started, which put the lives of him and three
team-mates, damaged his apartment and caused an evacuation of the building.
The incident happened shortly before 8pm on Wednesday evening and was
revealed by West Ham chief executive Karren Brady in her column in The Sun
on Sunday. She wrote: "At 8pm I get a call to say [Sakho] has had a fire in
his apartment which causes damaged and an evacuation. "Everyone in the block
(including three other Hammers) are unhurt. "Apparently, he did all this
making a cuppa by boiling water on his stove while he had a shower. I've
bought him an electric kettle."
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Early squad news on Tomkins and Nolan
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on October 5, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
James Tomkins has been included in Sam Allardyce's squad for today's clash.
Suggestion in the national press earlier in the week that the manager would
not include the central defender have proved false. ClaretandHugh was told
this morning: "James has been included in our 20 man squad and could well be
named to start. Captain Kevin Nolan is also in the squad and as
ClaretandHugh suggested yesterday (Sat) looks likely to get the nod for a
starting place. Our source said: "Nolan is in the squad and will probably
start although nothing is certain until the team sheet appears!"
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Nolan? "Every boss has his pet players"
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on October 4, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & HUgh
I'm fully expecting West Ham to beat Queens Park Rangers at the Boleyn
tomorrow although I don't believe it will be as easy as some may be
thinking. Harrry Redknapp is slowly getting his team together and they were
unfortunate not to come away from in-form Southampton with something last
weekend. With with so many ex Hammers on the way back they'll be well up for
this game. The Hammers, meanwhile, have to bounce back from the
disappointment of failing to get that last minute equaliser against
Manchester United – ruled out by the linesman who got the decision spot on
for me.
That strike of course from Kevin Nolan who looks set to play at the top of
the diamond tomorrow despite the moans and groans from the fans who have
gone off the skipper in recent months. He's called 'Sam's favourite' but the
fact is that every manager has his pet players and that will never change.
Sam Allardyce has relied on the captain to a large extent over his
managerial career because he knows he is a player with a brain who can get
into the box at the right time to score important goals – ten goals or so
from midfield is a pretty healthy return after ll.
I think he will probably play at the tip of the diamond and deserves the
chance to fed off Enner Valencia and Diafra Sakho. If he fails now and in
the games ahead I think he will get them same treatment as any other player
as the manager has several options now. But let's give him a chance.
It's bad news for Diego Poyet who was excellent at Old Trafford but I can
see Nolan doing well in the new system – whatever the fans feelings it was
always going to happen so let's find out whether it can work because there's
plenty on the bench. Although Rangers are looking okay I think the Hammers
will have too much for them and take them to win 2-1
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Sunday, October 5
Saturday, October 4
Daily WHUFC News - 4th October 2014
Big Sam on: QPR
WHUFC.com
Sam Allardyce talks team news, the need to be better defensively and more in
his QPR press conference
03.10.2014
Sam Allardyce faced the media on Friday morning ahead of Sunday's Barclays
Premier League meeting with Queens Park Rangers. The manager was quizzed on
team news, the Hammers' form and the need to triumph in a London derby at
home.
Morning Sam. How do you view the QPR game?
SA: "We're under pressure to get more points on the board. We've played
very, very well in five out of our six league games so far. The fact of the
matter is seven points from those games is simply not enough. We have to
turn performances in to results. I think we should have gained a minimum of
ten or eleven points by now. Unfortunately we only have seven. At this early
stage of the season you can jump places very quickly. The QPR game is almost
a six pointer. We want to go into the international break with a positive
result.
"Harry's team is evolving too. Like us, they've signed a quite a number of
players. I saw their game against Southampton last week. Austin scored an
absolutely outstanding goal. My main concern is stop conceding goals and
making sloppy defensive mistakes. If we'd have done that so far we would
have double figures by now."
QPR were interested in signing Morgan Amalfitano, how hard did you have to
fight them off?
SA: "I don't know to be perfectly honest with you. When we knew Mo Diame was
leaving for Hull we contacted Morgan who was happy to jump on a plane and
come over here which is a very good sign. He couldn't wait to get back in
the Premier League after his experience at West Brom last season. No
disrespect to the French league, but he thought the Premier League was a lot
better, more exciting, and a higher level of football. "We hope he can
continue his good form for the rest of season, he scored a vital goal
against Liverpool."
Stewart Downing is playing well, do you think he should have been included
in the England squad?
SA: "Stewart's playing in a slightly different role here, I don't think Roy
[Hodgson] plays with a man in the hole, or the diamond. Stewart certainly
has the experience, he's handled the switch of position very well. He gets
more possession in the position he's in, so that allows him to become more
effective. Given his qualities that's a good thing for us."
Do you think he's good enough for England?
SA: "He's certainly not past his best by any stretch of the imagination. You
only get past your best when your legs can't take you where you want to go.
But Stewart is one of our fittest players. He probably should score more
goals than he does, but hopefully he'll do that in the new position he's
in."
What actions have you taken on James Tomkins?
SA: "He'll be doing some community work. The bottom line is he shouldn't
have got himself in that situation and he should be acting with more
responsibility. I don't take kindly to a lack of discipline on or off the
pitch. I think it's irresponsible and unacceptable. A player represents
himself and his club. Whether he had a drink or two makes no difference. So
he'll be doing some community work for us. It makes more sense, and is more
effective as a West Ham boy, to be doing community stuff."
QPR are only three points behind you, is it a game you should win on Sunday?
SA: "I don't think there are any games that you think you should win. We've
reached a good level of performance recently, I know the result wasn't good
against Manchester United but if we continue to play like we did we'll do
OK. This game is more important for us than the Liverpool and Manchester
United games."
Diafrao Sakho has scored three goals in three games, how has he been
settling in so far?
SA; "All our new players have contributed massively. They've all settled in
very well. I think the environment we create here, especially at the
training ground, is very welcoming and it's paid dividends. I think they've
settled in even quicker than I expected.
Any team news ahead of QPR?
SA: "Our injury problems haven't changed. We've taken care of the bumps and
bruises we picked up against Manchester United. Anyone who wasn't available
last week, won't be available this week. Mark Noble, Cheikhou Kouyate, Andy
Carroll and Joey O'Brien will all still be out. Guy Demel pulled out of
training in Wednesday so we'll have to see about him. Otherwise everybody
else is raring to go."
What lessons did you learn from last week?
SA: "Our lesson was that we didn't cut out the errors we've been making.
That allowed Manchester United to score two goals in the first 20 minutes.
It's my belief that the vast majority of the goals you concede are from your
own mistakes.
What have you seen from QPR that impressed you so far?
SA: "People have being saying that they're struggling but I don't think you
can say that yet. There hasn't been much in the games they've played so far.
The bottom line these days is what happens in both boxes dictates the
results. We've been attacking well and creating chances so far, so we need
to continue that. There's very little difference between any of the teams
outside maybe the top four of five these days. "Last week Charlie Austin
scored one of the best goals I've seen in a long time, I'm sure Harry knows
he needs to get more goals, but we'll try and stop them doing that come
Sunday."
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'They've brought some good players in'
WHUFC.com
QPR manager and former Hammer Harry Redknapp has praised the recent signings
made by his old club
03.10.2014
Former West Ham United player and manager Harry Redknapp has praised his old
club ahead of Sunday's Barclays Premier League visit of his Queens Park
Rangers side to east London. Speaking in his pre-match press conference,
Redknapp predicted that West Ham would enjoy a productive season and praised
the Hammers' dealings in the summer transfer window. Redknapp's QPR, who are
still seeking their first points on the road in the Barclays Premier League
this term, travel to a sold out Boleyn Ground for a 4.15pm kick-off on
Sunday. "We need a result away from home as quick as we can, that's what we
need," the 67-year-old began, when asked for his thoughts on his team's
chances of success against the Hammers. Redknapp was then asked for his
thoughts on West Ham, and whether Sunday's game was one his team needed to
win if they hope to steer clear of the relegation battle. "I don't see West
Ham as being in a relegation battle," he continued. "I don't see them being
down there. I think they're a team who have bought some good players in and
look a decent team this year. I think they will be in mid-table. "Of course
it's good to go back and see a few old friends - people are there who were
there when I was at the club. It's a fantastic club. I went there at 15 so
all my memories of going there as a kid, it will always be a special club
for me."
Redknapp praised Sam Allardyce for the business conducted by the Hammers
during the summer, in particular the captures of in-form strikers Diafra
Sakho and Enner Valencia, experienced midfielder Alex Song and left-back
Aaron Cresswell. "They've brought some good players in, two good strikers
with pace, Alex Song, they've improved their squad. That's the difference
this year. I've always liked the left-back Cresswell. Sam's a good manager
who has got better players to work with."
Redknapp was also asked for his view on the impact made by attacking coach
Teddy Sheringham - a player he signed for Portsmouth in summer 2003
following Pompey's promotion to the Premier League - and the 48-year-old's
own managerial prospects. "Teddy is a great lad who played for me at
Portsmouth. He was a fantastic player. I don't know what he does
coaching-wise at West Ham, though - you'd have to ask Sam!
"[As for his managerial prospects] I brought Les Ferdinand into Tottenham
with Tim Sherwood and gave them an opportunity when they were out of work,
so why not?"
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Chadwell Chatter
WHUFC.com
Adrian blogs for whufc.com on Manchester United, Liverpool and returning
home this weekend
02.10.2014
Hello everyone,
It will be good to be back at the Boleyn Ground on Sunday and we want to
replicate the performance we gave against Liverpool and get the three points
at home against Queens Park Rangers. We've played well in the last few games
and it's another chance for us to go out there and do the same. With our
fans behind us, it's very important for us because it's a London derby as
well. The team were disappointed that we didn't get anything at Manchester
United last week, because the result was a hard one to take. I think we
deserved a draw - Kevin Nolan's goal in the last minute was a tight call and
we had a lot of chances in the second half. After the first 20 minutes, when
we gave away two goals, we showed a good reaction against a very hard team.
But even though the result didn't go our way, we take great confidence from
both that and the victory over Liverpool. The team are giving good
performances and we have a good opportunity this Sunday for us to keep going
in this way. I'm looking forward to the atmosphere. All games in the Premier
League are important, but this is more important because it is a derby game.
Three points at home, in front of our fans, is what we want and we need to
win the game. We go into an international break then, so if we can get three
points to take us to ten from the first seven would be a good start.
See you on Sunday!
Adrian
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Phillips ready for Brighton game
WHUFC.com
U18s assistant manager Mark Phillips is confident the team can continue
their good form
01.10.2014
West Ham United U18s assistant manager Mark Phillips is hoping his side can
continue their good start to the season against Brighton & Hove Albion. The
Hammers remain unbeaten after six league games after they beat Reading 4-0
at Little Heath last weekend through goals from Josh Pask, Grady Diangana,
Jordan Brown and substitute Oscar Borg. Having won three and drawn three so
far, Phillips is hoping to make it lucky seven unbeaten on the south coast.
He said: "I honestly think we've played better and not won some of our games
this year. On Saturday at Reading we scored goals at the right time. "Once
we were three goals up we really controlled the game. Up until then we
defended well but we still could have used the ball better."
A further positive was the U18s securing their first clean sheet of the
season in Berkshire. "The back five, including the goalkeeper, deserved a
clean sheet, because hey defended very well," Phillips continued. "Reading
put us under a lot of aerial bombardment and they threw a lot at us. But the
handled it all very well."
Striker Jordan Brown has been in terrific goal-scoring form as he netted his
fifth in six games and Phillips is delighted with the progress the young
forward is making. "If I'm honest, the way the season has gone and the way
he is playing, I expect him to score every game. That's a big call but he
always seems to find a way to score. "He takes his chances very well. This
time last year he was snatching at chances, trying to hit the leather off
the ball, but he's matured and he passes it into the corner now. He works
hard to find the space and create opportunities."
Little is known about Saturday's opponents. However they have made a good
adjustment to life in the Barclays U18 Premier League South Group, as they
are level on points with the Hammers on 12 points each. "They're new into
Category One football so we'll have to wait and see what they're like,"
Phillips conceded. "As for us, the team are a hard-working unit. That's the
first thing we expect from them. We've been working this week in training on
starting games stronger, as we haven't started too well in games so far.
"We've had to play catch up a few times. At Southampton we had to come from
2-0 down to beat them 3-2. Obviously that shows great character but it's
making our job harder than it needs to be."
West Ham United U18s taken on Brighton & Hove Albion at the American Express
Elite Football Performance Centre on Saturday 4 October, with kick-off at
11am.
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Ladies earn their Spurs
WHUFC.com
West Ham United Ladies scored a fine 2-0 league victory at Tottenham Hotspur
on Thursday
03.10.2014
West Ham United Ladies returned to winning ways with a fine 2-0 league
victory at Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday evening.Zoe Lipley-Hinton
celebrated her own return to the starting XI with the opening goal just
eight minutes from full-time before April Bowers made sure of victory in the
final minute.Having been beaten 3-0 at home by leaders Portsmouth on Sunday,
the Hammers made the short trip to Ware on Thursday evening looking to
bounce back, and Julian Dicks' side did just that with a fine defensive
performance. An entertaining opening 45 minutes saw both clubs create
chances to open the scoring, but goalkeeper Nikita Runnacles and her
defenders were equal to everything that Spurs could throw at them. Into the
second period and both teams continued to threaten to break the deadlock.
The opening goal finally arrived on 82 minutes, when Lipley-Hinton
celebrated her re-call by firing into the top corner from 15 yards out. The
derby success was confirmed by Bowers, who netted her first goal of the
season in the closing moments of the game to send the West Ham supporters
home happy. Victory avenged the home defeat suffered at the hands of
Tottenham on 4 September and lifted Dicks' team one place to fifth in the FA
Women's Premier League Southern Division table. The Ladies return to action
on Sunday, when Keynsham Town are the visitors to Aveley FC's Mill Field for
a 2pm kick-off, with admission just £4 for Adults and £2 for U16s.
Ladies: Runnacles, King, Revell, Little (c), Bottom, Bowers, Lipley-Hinton,
McCrea, Blanchflower, Kinsman, Sherwood
Subs: Mellors, Baxter, Donohoe, Locke, Humphreys
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Mediawatch - 3 October
WHUFC.com
A review of Friday's media coverage of West Ham United
03.10.2014
West Ham United's Sunday Barclays Premier League clash with cross-London
rivals Queens Park Rangers is the centre of attention in Friday's newspapers
and website coverage.
QPR's former West Ham goalkeeper Robert Green's interview with the Hoops'
official website is the source of a number of stories, with the 34-year-old
relishing his return to the Boleyn Ground this weekend.
The Evening Standard concentrates on Green's hope that he will be afforded a
warm welcome to the stadium where he spent six seasons between the sticks
between 2006-12.
Elsewhere in the same publication, Green's former West Ham team-mate Winston
Reid is concentrating on keeping a first clean sheet of the season against
Harry Redknapp's side.
Online, Football League World speculates that Bolton Wanderers may reunite
Hammers striker Elliot Lee with former team-mate Rob Hall at the
Championship club.
Column-wise, Julian Shea's fan blog in the Metro concentrates on the
'self-belief' running through the squad following a tricky September that
saw the Hammers draw at Hull City, beat Liverpool and edged out narrowly at
Manchester United.
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West Ham v QPR
KO 16:15
3 October 2014
By Simon Brotherton
BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Venue: Upton Park Date: Sunday, 5 October
TEAM NEWS
West Ham defender Guy Demel is a doubt after suffering an unspecified injury
in training this week. Winger Matt Jarvis is hoping to feature for the first
time this season after recovering from a thigh injury.
QPR midfielder Sandro has been cleared to play after suffering a heavy blow
to the head in last weekend's 2-1 league defeat at Southampton. Joey Barton
and Jordon Mutch have been nursing hamstring problems and will face a
fitness test.
MATCH PREVIEW
The last time I saw Sam Allardyce was a fortnight ago when he walked into
the press room grinning like a Cheshire cat. You couldn't blame him: 3-1
wins over Liverpool don't come around terribly often for most managers and
this was a deserved success. Liverpool were poor on the day, but I also
thought West Ham had a nice balance and vibrancy about them with the new
signings settling in well. Aaron Cresswell was assured at the back, Alex
Song gave added rigidity to midfield, while Enner Valencia and Diafra Sakho
were lively further forward. Stewart Downing playing through the middle
wasn't something I'd seen before either, and he excelled in the role.
Lawro's prediction
"On occasions, QPR have not even looked ordinary - they have looked poor.
And despite having some good individuals, they just don't look like a team.
They are searching for an identity at the moment. "West Ham, in contrast,
have impressed me. They look a completely different animal to last season
when they were one of the teams struggling to create chances and score
goals."
After last week's narrow defeat at Old Trafford, it will be interesting to
see if they can build on that last home performance this weekend because
their other two home games this season have both ended in defeat, and by all
accounts, the Southampton performance was one to forget. QPR travel across
the capital for this one as the only Premier League team without a point
away from home so far this season. It's early days of course, but three
games on the road have all ended in defeat and Charlie Austin's strike at
Southampton last week is the only goal they've managed away in that time.
History is against them - it has been 21 years since Rangers last won at
West Ham with a 4-0 success back in 1993. Current manager Harry Redknapp was
the assistant to Billy Bonds at Upton Park at the time. No matter how long
he's in the game, West Ham will always be the club most closely associated
with Harry, due to the amount of time he spent there as a player, assistant
and manager. He's not the only one at QPR with previous ties to the club,
though - Rio Ferdinand, Rob Green and Bobby Zamora are all former West Ham
players who will be in the visitors' dressing room on Sunday.
MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head
West Ham are unbeaten the last four times they have hosted QPR (W2, D2).
QPR's last victory at Upton Park was by 4-0 in August 1993.
West Ham
This season, the Hammers have picked up more points away from home (four)
than they have at Upton Park, where they have won just three points from a
possible nine.
Their overall tally of seven points is two more than at the same stage of
last season.
West Ham are the only side in the Premier League not to have kept a clean
sheet this season.
QPR
QPR are the only Premier League side not to have picked up a point away from
home.
They have scored just one away goal, when Charlie Austin found the net at
Southampton last weekend.
QPR have scored just four goals in total - only Burnley (one) have scored
fewer top-flight goals this season.
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Lee linked with Trotters switch
KUMb.com
Filed: Thursday, 2nd October 2014
By: Staff Writer
Championship side Bolton are keen on taking West Ham's young striker Elliot
Lee on loan. 19-year-old Lee has barely featured for Sam Allardyce's first
team despite having been prolific at times for the Under 21s. With the likes
of Enner Valencia, Mauro Zarate and Diafra Sakho having joined the club this
summer, his chances of doing so have become even slimmer. That has led
Dougie Freedman's Championship strugglers, who currently sit one place off
the bottom of the league having accrued just one win in their opening ten
games, to make enquiries into his availability. Should Lee join Bolton on
loan it would be his second spell away from West Ham, having spent a month
on loan with Colchester United last season. His brief stay at the League One
club saw him feature on four occasions, scoring once in a 2-2 draw at
Rotherham. Most recently he scored both goals in a 2-0 win for the
Development squad against Sunderland at the Boleyn Ground on Monday evening.
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West Ham take in derby date with QPR at Upton Park
Last Updated: 03/10/14 5:25pm
SSN
West Ham United will welcome a familiar face in the form of Queens Park
Rangers boss Harry Redknapp back to Upton Park on Sunday.
The hosts will be hoping to make it an unhappy return for the former Hammers
chief, with Sam Allardyce looking for his side to shake off their
inconsistencies. West Ham have taken seven points from their opening six
fixtures, but have yet to collect back-to-back wins and have already been
breached on 10 occasions. Heading into the international break on the back
of a positive result would help to raise morale and have then pulling in the
right direction once more. QPR, though, will make the journey across London
for another derby date aware that they too need to start piecing
performances together. Stepping back up into the top flight was never going
to be easy, but a return of one win, only four points and four goals sees
them facing an uphill struggle.
Opta stats
QPR have won none of their last five Premier League London derbies (W0 D2
L3), losing the last three in a row.
Each of West Ham's last three home Premier League wins have been followed up
by back to back home defeats.
Rio Ferdinand could make his 500th Premier League appearance in this match
and would become the 11th player to reach this landmark.
There is, of course, still plenty of time in which to turn things around and
in Redknapp they boast one of the most experienced managers currently
working in the Premier League.
Team news
Sam Allardyce has no fresh injury concerns to contend with, but is also
unable to welcome back any of those currently on the treatment table. Matt
Jarvis is the closest to coming back into contention, but the weekend is
likely to come too soon for the England winger and he will be given an
extended break to work on his fitness. Mark Noble, Cheik Kouyate and Joey
O'Brien are also out of action, while Andy Carroll is back in training but
easing his way back from ankle ligament damage.
Harry Redknapp has blamed QPR's injury problems for their slow start to the
season ands hit back at criticism of Rio Ferdinand Joey Barton and Jordon
Mutch will face late fitness tests in a bid to return after hamstring
injuries for QPR. Brazilian midfielder Sandro has been cleared to return
after suffering a heavy blow to the head in last weekend's 2-1 league defeat
at Southampton. Redknapp is expected to continue with a flat back four after
starting the season favouring 3-5-2, which could leave loan recruit
wing-back Mauricio Isla again unlikely to start.
Paul Merson's prediction
QPR are in a bad way at the moment and are struggling in every game. Harry
Redknapp keeps changing his tactics and after six games I'm not sure he
knows what his best team is (a bit like Arsene Wenger). West Ham were
outstanding in their last home game and did well against Man United last
week, especially at the end when they went for it against 10 men. If they
get anywhere near the level they reached against Liverpool then I can't see
how QPR will get anything.
PAUL PREDICTS: 3-0
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West Ham order James Tomkins to carry out extra community work
Last Updated: 03/10/14 2:06pm
SSN
West Ham have ordered defender James Tomkins to carry out extra community
work. West Ham have ordered defender James Tomkins to carry out extra
community work after he was found guilty of assaulting a police officer and
being drunk and disorderly outside a nightclub in December. Tomkins pleaded
guilty to both offences on Monday and was fined £3,500 by magistrates but
West Ham have opted not to punish the player with a fine of their own. West
Ham boss Sam Allardyce says James Tomkins' actions are unacceptable after
the player was convicted of assaulting a police officer The 25-year-old, who
came through the club's youth ranks, will instead carry out extra community
work, including coaching young and disabled footballers in the local area.
"Getting him out in the community - particularly when he's a West Ham boy -
is a much better punishment than fining him," Hammers boss Sam Allardyce
said. "The bottom line is he shouldn't have got himself into that situation
or that position, he should show more responsibility. "I don't take kindly
to a lack of discipline off the field at all - I think it's irresponsible, I
think it's unacceptable, I think a player represents himself but he
represents the club as well and in this case James should hold himself in a
better esteem in the public eye than he did. "Whether he had a drink or two
makes no difference - they have to have as much self discipline when they're
away from the club as they do when they're training every day." Tomkins has
started his side's last five Barclays Premier League matches and will be
included in the squad on Sunday when West Ham host QPR.
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Sam Allardyce hits out at James Tomkins after West Ham defender convicted
for assaulting a police officer
Oct 03, 2014 11:34 By Neil McLeman
The 25-year-old pleaded guilty to the charges on Monday and Allardyce made
clear in his press conference on Sunday his anger with the player
The Mirror
Sam Allardyce has branded James Tomkins' conviction for assaulting a police
officer "irresponsible" and "unacceptable". And the West Ham defender, who
pleaded guilty on Monday, will have to carry out extra community work as a
further punishment from the club. Tomkins, 25, pleaded guilty to assaulting
a police constable, being drunk and disorderly in a public place and
obstructing a constable outside the Sugar Hut nightclub in December - a
venue made famous in The Only Way Is Essex. Allardyce said Tomkins will be
in the squad for Sunday's home match with QPR - but in today's pre-match
press conference he made clear his anger at his star's actions "The bottom
line is he shouldn't have got himself into that situation or position," said
the Irons boss. "He should have more responsibility. "I do not take kindly
to a lack of discipline off the field at all. "It is irresponsible and it is
unacceptable. The player represents not only himself when he goes out, but
he represents the club. In this case, he should hold himself in a better
esteem in the public eye than he did.
"Whether he had a drink and two or not makes no difference. That's your
responsibility today. "I don't take kindly to what he did. They have to have
as much self-discipline when they are away from here as they do when they
are training here every day. "Getting out in and amongst the community is
much better, particularly as he is a West Ham boy, rather than fining him."
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Bilic video: 'Dicks was the hardest'
Posted by Sean Whetstone on October 3, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
Besiktas head coach and former Hammer Slaven Bilic recently spoke to ITV
Sport When asked about his relationship with England and English football he
said: "I like England, I spent the best time of footballing life as well as
my life in general life here. "My son was born here, we had a great time
here in London and in Liverpool, it would be too much to say it is a second
home but it is the place apart from my country that I really like to come"
When asked about tough player image at West Ham he answered "I was in a team
with Julian Dicks so I was not the hardest one in my team" Would he accept a
management job in England? He replied: "I like my job and I have big respect
for my club and I really enjoy it, I like England but I don't want to
promote myself and put myself in a shop window, I will not do it, so I am
happy at Besiktas" So not a NO then for a future West Ham Manager!
See the full video interview here
http://www.itv.com/europa-league/west-ham-cult-hero-bilic-julian-dicks-was-h
arder-than-me#
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Allarydyce unclear on Downing England question
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on October 3, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
Sam Allardyce seems strangely reluctant to give Stewart Downing an
international vote of confidence despite the player's enthusiasm to make an
England recall. No player has made a greater impact for the Irons this
season and only a few days ago the player made it clear he hoped he hadn't
been forgotten. But the Hammers boss refused to give a firm YES when asked
the question this morning claiming instead that he didn't think England
manager Roy Hodgson "plays with a man in the hole, or the diamond." He then
returns to to Downing's value to the club seemingly steering the
conversation in a different direction before again being asked whether he
considered him good enough form the Three Lions. He appeared to re-word his
answer claiming "He's certainly not past his best by any stretch of the
imagination."
And he added: "You only get past your best when your legs can't take you
where you want to go. But Stewart is one of our fittest players. "He
probably should score more goals than he does, but hopefully he'll do that
in the new position he's in."Given the ballyhoo surrounding Andy Carroll's
England aspirations last season, these seem obscure answers. Strange!
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Late tests for Irons duo
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on October 3, 2014 in Whispers
Claret * Hugh
Mark Noble is expected to return to first team duty on October 18 for the
away trip to Burnley. ClaretandHugh has had it confirmed from inside the
club that he is highly unlikely to be involved on Sunday against QPR and
will be given two weeks over the international break to recover from his
shin/calves injury,. Diego Poyet looks set to continue in the midfield role
where he looked comfiortable at Old Trafford last weekend.. Meanwhile, Guy
Demel who took a knock in training and Matt Jarvis both face late fitness
tests for the arrival of the west Londoners. And we have also learned that
Cheikhou Kouyate remains on target to return on November 8
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WHUFC.com
Sam Allardyce talks team news, the need to be better defensively and more in
his QPR press conference
03.10.2014
Sam Allardyce faced the media on Friday morning ahead of Sunday's Barclays
Premier League meeting with Queens Park Rangers. The manager was quizzed on
team news, the Hammers' form and the need to triumph in a London derby at
home.
Morning Sam. How do you view the QPR game?
SA: "We're under pressure to get more points on the board. We've played
very, very well in five out of our six league games so far. The fact of the
matter is seven points from those games is simply not enough. We have to
turn performances in to results. I think we should have gained a minimum of
ten or eleven points by now. Unfortunately we only have seven. At this early
stage of the season you can jump places very quickly. The QPR game is almost
a six pointer. We want to go into the international break with a positive
result.
"Harry's team is evolving too. Like us, they've signed a quite a number of
players. I saw their game against Southampton last week. Austin scored an
absolutely outstanding goal. My main concern is stop conceding goals and
making sloppy defensive mistakes. If we'd have done that so far we would
have double figures by now."
QPR were interested in signing Morgan Amalfitano, how hard did you have to
fight them off?
SA: "I don't know to be perfectly honest with you. When we knew Mo Diame was
leaving for Hull we contacted Morgan who was happy to jump on a plane and
come over here which is a very good sign. He couldn't wait to get back in
the Premier League after his experience at West Brom last season. No
disrespect to the French league, but he thought the Premier League was a lot
better, more exciting, and a higher level of football. "We hope he can
continue his good form for the rest of season, he scored a vital goal
against Liverpool."
Stewart Downing is playing well, do you think he should have been included
in the England squad?
SA: "Stewart's playing in a slightly different role here, I don't think Roy
[Hodgson] plays with a man in the hole, or the diamond. Stewart certainly
has the experience, he's handled the switch of position very well. He gets
more possession in the position he's in, so that allows him to become more
effective. Given his qualities that's a good thing for us."
Do you think he's good enough for England?
SA: "He's certainly not past his best by any stretch of the imagination. You
only get past your best when your legs can't take you where you want to go.
But Stewart is one of our fittest players. He probably should score more
goals than he does, but hopefully he'll do that in the new position he's
in."
What actions have you taken on James Tomkins?
SA: "He'll be doing some community work. The bottom line is he shouldn't
have got himself in that situation and he should be acting with more
responsibility. I don't take kindly to a lack of discipline on or off the
pitch. I think it's irresponsible and unacceptable. A player represents
himself and his club. Whether he had a drink or two makes no difference. So
he'll be doing some community work for us. It makes more sense, and is more
effective as a West Ham boy, to be doing community stuff."
QPR are only three points behind you, is it a game you should win on Sunday?
SA: "I don't think there are any games that you think you should win. We've
reached a good level of performance recently, I know the result wasn't good
against Manchester United but if we continue to play like we did we'll do
OK. This game is more important for us than the Liverpool and Manchester
United games."
Diafrao Sakho has scored three goals in three games, how has he been
settling in so far?
SA; "All our new players have contributed massively. They've all settled in
very well. I think the environment we create here, especially at the
training ground, is very welcoming and it's paid dividends. I think they've
settled in even quicker than I expected.
Any team news ahead of QPR?
SA: "Our injury problems haven't changed. We've taken care of the bumps and
bruises we picked up against Manchester United. Anyone who wasn't available
last week, won't be available this week. Mark Noble, Cheikhou Kouyate, Andy
Carroll and Joey O'Brien will all still be out. Guy Demel pulled out of
training in Wednesday so we'll have to see about him. Otherwise everybody
else is raring to go."
What lessons did you learn from last week?
SA: "Our lesson was that we didn't cut out the errors we've been making.
That allowed Manchester United to score two goals in the first 20 minutes.
It's my belief that the vast majority of the goals you concede are from your
own mistakes.
What have you seen from QPR that impressed you so far?
SA: "People have being saying that they're struggling but I don't think you
can say that yet. There hasn't been much in the games they've played so far.
The bottom line these days is what happens in both boxes dictates the
results. We've been attacking well and creating chances so far, so we need
to continue that. There's very little difference between any of the teams
outside maybe the top four of five these days. "Last week Charlie Austin
scored one of the best goals I've seen in a long time, I'm sure Harry knows
he needs to get more goals, but we'll try and stop them doing that come
Sunday."
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'They've brought some good players in'
WHUFC.com
QPR manager and former Hammer Harry Redknapp has praised the recent signings
made by his old club
03.10.2014
Former West Ham United player and manager Harry Redknapp has praised his old
club ahead of Sunday's Barclays Premier League visit of his Queens Park
Rangers side to east London. Speaking in his pre-match press conference,
Redknapp predicted that West Ham would enjoy a productive season and praised
the Hammers' dealings in the summer transfer window. Redknapp's QPR, who are
still seeking their first points on the road in the Barclays Premier League
this term, travel to a sold out Boleyn Ground for a 4.15pm kick-off on
Sunday. "We need a result away from home as quick as we can, that's what we
need," the 67-year-old began, when asked for his thoughts on his team's
chances of success against the Hammers. Redknapp was then asked for his
thoughts on West Ham, and whether Sunday's game was one his team needed to
win if they hope to steer clear of the relegation battle. "I don't see West
Ham as being in a relegation battle," he continued. "I don't see them being
down there. I think they're a team who have bought some good players in and
look a decent team this year. I think they will be in mid-table. "Of course
it's good to go back and see a few old friends - people are there who were
there when I was at the club. It's a fantastic club. I went there at 15 so
all my memories of going there as a kid, it will always be a special club
for me."
Redknapp praised Sam Allardyce for the business conducted by the Hammers
during the summer, in particular the captures of in-form strikers Diafra
Sakho and Enner Valencia, experienced midfielder Alex Song and left-back
Aaron Cresswell. "They've brought some good players in, two good strikers
with pace, Alex Song, they've improved their squad. That's the difference
this year. I've always liked the left-back Cresswell. Sam's a good manager
who has got better players to work with."
Redknapp was also asked for his view on the impact made by attacking coach
Teddy Sheringham - a player he signed for Portsmouth in summer 2003
following Pompey's promotion to the Premier League - and the 48-year-old's
own managerial prospects. "Teddy is a great lad who played for me at
Portsmouth. He was a fantastic player. I don't know what he does
coaching-wise at West Ham, though - you'd have to ask Sam!
"[As for his managerial prospects] I brought Les Ferdinand into Tottenham
with Tim Sherwood and gave them an opportunity when they were out of work,
so why not?"
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Chadwell Chatter
WHUFC.com
Adrian blogs for whufc.com on Manchester United, Liverpool and returning
home this weekend
02.10.2014
Hello everyone,
It will be good to be back at the Boleyn Ground on Sunday and we want to
replicate the performance we gave against Liverpool and get the three points
at home against Queens Park Rangers. We've played well in the last few games
and it's another chance for us to go out there and do the same. With our
fans behind us, it's very important for us because it's a London derby as
well. The team were disappointed that we didn't get anything at Manchester
United last week, because the result was a hard one to take. I think we
deserved a draw - Kevin Nolan's goal in the last minute was a tight call and
we had a lot of chances in the second half. After the first 20 minutes, when
we gave away two goals, we showed a good reaction against a very hard team.
But even though the result didn't go our way, we take great confidence from
both that and the victory over Liverpool. The team are giving good
performances and we have a good opportunity this Sunday for us to keep going
in this way. I'm looking forward to the atmosphere. All games in the Premier
League are important, but this is more important because it is a derby game.
Three points at home, in front of our fans, is what we want and we need to
win the game. We go into an international break then, so if we can get three
points to take us to ten from the first seven would be a good start.
See you on Sunday!
Adrian
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Phillips ready for Brighton game
WHUFC.com
U18s assistant manager Mark Phillips is confident the team can continue
their good form
01.10.2014
West Ham United U18s assistant manager Mark Phillips is hoping his side can
continue their good start to the season against Brighton & Hove Albion. The
Hammers remain unbeaten after six league games after they beat Reading 4-0
at Little Heath last weekend through goals from Josh Pask, Grady Diangana,
Jordan Brown and substitute Oscar Borg. Having won three and drawn three so
far, Phillips is hoping to make it lucky seven unbeaten on the south coast.
He said: "I honestly think we've played better and not won some of our games
this year. On Saturday at Reading we scored goals at the right time. "Once
we were three goals up we really controlled the game. Up until then we
defended well but we still could have used the ball better."
A further positive was the U18s securing their first clean sheet of the
season in Berkshire. "The back five, including the goalkeeper, deserved a
clean sheet, because hey defended very well," Phillips continued. "Reading
put us under a lot of aerial bombardment and they threw a lot at us. But the
handled it all very well."
Striker Jordan Brown has been in terrific goal-scoring form as he netted his
fifth in six games and Phillips is delighted with the progress the young
forward is making. "If I'm honest, the way the season has gone and the way
he is playing, I expect him to score every game. That's a big call but he
always seems to find a way to score. "He takes his chances very well. This
time last year he was snatching at chances, trying to hit the leather off
the ball, but he's matured and he passes it into the corner now. He works
hard to find the space and create opportunities."
Little is known about Saturday's opponents. However they have made a good
adjustment to life in the Barclays U18 Premier League South Group, as they
are level on points with the Hammers on 12 points each. "They're new into
Category One football so we'll have to wait and see what they're like,"
Phillips conceded. "As for us, the team are a hard-working unit. That's the
first thing we expect from them. We've been working this week in training on
starting games stronger, as we haven't started too well in games so far.
"We've had to play catch up a few times. At Southampton we had to come from
2-0 down to beat them 3-2. Obviously that shows great character but it's
making our job harder than it needs to be."
West Ham United U18s taken on Brighton & Hove Albion at the American Express
Elite Football Performance Centre on Saturday 4 October, with kick-off at
11am.
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Ladies earn their Spurs
WHUFC.com
West Ham United Ladies scored a fine 2-0 league victory at Tottenham Hotspur
on Thursday
03.10.2014
West Ham United Ladies returned to winning ways with a fine 2-0 league
victory at Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday evening.Zoe Lipley-Hinton
celebrated her own return to the starting XI with the opening goal just
eight minutes from full-time before April Bowers made sure of victory in the
final minute.Having been beaten 3-0 at home by leaders Portsmouth on Sunday,
the Hammers made the short trip to Ware on Thursday evening looking to
bounce back, and Julian Dicks' side did just that with a fine defensive
performance. An entertaining opening 45 minutes saw both clubs create
chances to open the scoring, but goalkeeper Nikita Runnacles and her
defenders were equal to everything that Spurs could throw at them. Into the
second period and both teams continued to threaten to break the deadlock.
The opening goal finally arrived on 82 minutes, when Lipley-Hinton
celebrated her re-call by firing into the top corner from 15 yards out. The
derby success was confirmed by Bowers, who netted her first goal of the
season in the closing moments of the game to send the West Ham supporters
home happy. Victory avenged the home defeat suffered at the hands of
Tottenham on 4 September and lifted Dicks' team one place to fifth in the FA
Women's Premier League Southern Division table. The Ladies return to action
on Sunday, when Keynsham Town are the visitors to Aveley FC's Mill Field for
a 2pm kick-off, with admission just £4 for Adults and £2 for U16s.
Ladies: Runnacles, King, Revell, Little (c), Bottom, Bowers, Lipley-Hinton,
McCrea, Blanchflower, Kinsman, Sherwood
Subs: Mellors, Baxter, Donohoe, Locke, Humphreys
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Mediawatch - 3 October
WHUFC.com
A review of Friday's media coverage of West Ham United
03.10.2014
West Ham United's Sunday Barclays Premier League clash with cross-London
rivals Queens Park Rangers is the centre of attention in Friday's newspapers
and website coverage.
QPR's former West Ham goalkeeper Robert Green's interview with the Hoops'
official website is the source of a number of stories, with the 34-year-old
relishing his return to the Boleyn Ground this weekend.
The Evening Standard concentrates on Green's hope that he will be afforded a
warm welcome to the stadium where he spent six seasons between the sticks
between 2006-12.
Elsewhere in the same publication, Green's former West Ham team-mate Winston
Reid is concentrating on keeping a first clean sheet of the season against
Harry Redknapp's side.
Online, Football League World speculates that Bolton Wanderers may reunite
Hammers striker Elliot Lee with former team-mate Rob Hall at the
Championship club.
Column-wise, Julian Shea's fan blog in the Metro concentrates on the
'self-belief' running through the squad following a tricky September that
saw the Hammers draw at Hull City, beat Liverpool and edged out narrowly at
Manchester United.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham v QPR
KO 16:15
3 October 2014
By Simon Brotherton
BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Venue: Upton Park Date: Sunday, 5 October
TEAM NEWS
West Ham defender Guy Demel is a doubt after suffering an unspecified injury
in training this week. Winger Matt Jarvis is hoping to feature for the first
time this season after recovering from a thigh injury.
QPR midfielder Sandro has been cleared to play after suffering a heavy blow
to the head in last weekend's 2-1 league defeat at Southampton. Joey Barton
and Jordon Mutch have been nursing hamstring problems and will face a
fitness test.
MATCH PREVIEW
The last time I saw Sam Allardyce was a fortnight ago when he walked into
the press room grinning like a Cheshire cat. You couldn't blame him: 3-1
wins over Liverpool don't come around terribly often for most managers and
this was a deserved success. Liverpool were poor on the day, but I also
thought West Ham had a nice balance and vibrancy about them with the new
signings settling in well. Aaron Cresswell was assured at the back, Alex
Song gave added rigidity to midfield, while Enner Valencia and Diafra Sakho
were lively further forward. Stewart Downing playing through the middle
wasn't something I'd seen before either, and he excelled in the role.
Lawro's prediction
"On occasions, QPR have not even looked ordinary - they have looked poor.
And despite having some good individuals, they just don't look like a team.
They are searching for an identity at the moment. "West Ham, in contrast,
have impressed me. They look a completely different animal to last season
when they were one of the teams struggling to create chances and score
goals."
After last week's narrow defeat at Old Trafford, it will be interesting to
see if they can build on that last home performance this weekend because
their other two home games this season have both ended in defeat, and by all
accounts, the Southampton performance was one to forget. QPR travel across
the capital for this one as the only Premier League team without a point
away from home so far this season. It's early days of course, but three
games on the road have all ended in defeat and Charlie Austin's strike at
Southampton last week is the only goal they've managed away in that time.
History is against them - it has been 21 years since Rangers last won at
West Ham with a 4-0 success back in 1993. Current manager Harry Redknapp was
the assistant to Billy Bonds at Upton Park at the time. No matter how long
he's in the game, West Ham will always be the club most closely associated
with Harry, due to the amount of time he spent there as a player, assistant
and manager. He's not the only one at QPR with previous ties to the club,
though - Rio Ferdinand, Rob Green and Bobby Zamora are all former West Ham
players who will be in the visitors' dressing room on Sunday.
MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head
West Ham are unbeaten the last four times they have hosted QPR (W2, D2).
QPR's last victory at Upton Park was by 4-0 in August 1993.
West Ham
This season, the Hammers have picked up more points away from home (four)
than they have at Upton Park, where they have won just three points from a
possible nine.
Their overall tally of seven points is two more than at the same stage of
last season.
West Ham are the only side in the Premier League not to have kept a clean
sheet this season.
QPR
QPR are the only Premier League side not to have picked up a point away from
home.
They have scored just one away goal, when Charlie Austin found the net at
Southampton last weekend.
QPR have scored just four goals in total - only Burnley (one) have scored
fewer top-flight goals this season.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Lee linked with Trotters switch
KUMb.com
Filed: Thursday, 2nd October 2014
By: Staff Writer
Championship side Bolton are keen on taking West Ham's young striker Elliot
Lee on loan. 19-year-old Lee has barely featured for Sam Allardyce's first
team despite having been prolific at times for the Under 21s. With the likes
of Enner Valencia, Mauro Zarate and Diafra Sakho having joined the club this
summer, his chances of doing so have become even slimmer. That has led
Dougie Freedman's Championship strugglers, who currently sit one place off
the bottom of the league having accrued just one win in their opening ten
games, to make enquiries into his availability. Should Lee join Bolton on
loan it would be his second spell away from West Ham, having spent a month
on loan with Colchester United last season. His brief stay at the League One
club saw him feature on four occasions, scoring once in a 2-2 draw at
Rotherham. Most recently he scored both goals in a 2-0 win for the
Development squad against Sunderland at the Boleyn Ground on Monday evening.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham take in derby date with QPR at Upton Park
Last Updated: 03/10/14 5:25pm
SSN
West Ham United will welcome a familiar face in the form of Queens Park
Rangers boss Harry Redknapp back to Upton Park on Sunday.
The hosts will be hoping to make it an unhappy return for the former Hammers
chief, with Sam Allardyce looking for his side to shake off their
inconsistencies. West Ham have taken seven points from their opening six
fixtures, but have yet to collect back-to-back wins and have already been
breached on 10 occasions. Heading into the international break on the back
of a positive result would help to raise morale and have then pulling in the
right direction once more. QPR, though, will make the journey across London
for another derby date aware that they too need to start piecing
performances together. Stepping back up into the top flight was never going
to be easy, but a return of one win, only four points and four goals sees
them facing an uphill struggle.
Opta stats
QPR have won none of their last five Premier League London derbies (W0 D2
L3), losing the last three in a row.
Each of West Ham's last three home Premier League wins have been followed up
by back to back home defeats.
Rio Ferdinand could make his 500th Premier League appearance in this match
and would become the 11th player to reach this landmark.
There is, of course, still plenty of time in which to turn things around and
in Redknapp they boast one of the most experienced managers currently
working in the Premier League.
Team news
Sam Allardyce has no fresh injury concerns to contend with, but is also
unable to welcome back any of those currently on the treatment table. Matt
Jarvis is the closest to coming back into contention, but the weekend is
likely to come too soon for the England winger and he will be given an
extended break to work on his fitness. Mark Noble, Cheik Kouyate and Joey
O'Brien are also out of action, while Andy Carroll is back in training but
easing his way back from ankle ligament damage.
Harry Redknapp has blamed QPR's injury problems for their slow start to the
season ands hit back at criticism of Rio Ferdinand Joey Barton and Jordon
Mutch will face late fitness tests in a bid to return after hamstring
injuries for QPR. Brazilian midfielder Sandro has been cleared to return
after suffering a heavy blow to the head in last weekend's 2-1 league defeat
at Southampton. Redknapp is expected to continue with a flat back four after
starting the season favouring 3-5-2, which could leave loan recruit
wing-back Mauricio Isla again unlikely to start.
Paul Merson's prediction
QPR are in a bad way at the moment and are struggling in every game. Harry
Redknapp keeps changing his tactics and after six games I'm not sure he
knows what his best team is (a bit like Arsene Wenger). West Ham were
outstanding in their last home game and did well against Man United last
week, especially at the end when they went for it against 10 men. If they
get anywhere near the level they reached against Liverpool then I can't see
how QPR will get anything.
PAUL PREDICTS: 3-0
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham order James Tomkins to carry out extra community work
Last Updated: 03/10/14 2:06pm
SSN
West Ham have ordered defender James Tomkins to carry out extra community
work. West Ham have ordered defender James Tomkins to carry out extra
community work after he was found guilty of assaulting a police officer and
being drunk and disorderly outside a nightclub in December. Tomkins pleaded
guilty to both offences on Monday and was fined £3,500 by magistrates but
West Ham have opted not to punish the player with a fine of their own. West
Ham boss Sam Allardyce says James Tomkins' actions are unacceptable after
the player was convicted of assaulting a police officer The 25-year-old, who
came through the club's youth ranks, will instead carry out extra community
work, including coaching young and disabled footballers in the local area.
"Getting him out in the community - particularly when he's a West Ham boy -
is a much better punishment than fining him," Hammers boss Sam Allardyce
said. "The bottom line is he shouldn't have got himself into that situation
or that position, he should show more responsibility. "I don't take kindly
to a lack of discipline off the field at all - I think it's irresponsible, I
think it's unacceptable, I think a player represents himself but he
represents the club as well and in this case James should hold himself in a
better esteem in the public eye than he did. "Whether he had a drink or two
makes no difference - they have to have as much self discipline when they're
away from the club as they do when they're training every day." Tomkins has
started his side's last five Barclays Premier League matches and will be
included in the squad on Sunday when West Ham host QPR.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Sam Allardyce hits out at James Tomkins after West Ham defender convicted
for assaulting a police officer
Oct 03, 2014 11:34 By Neil McLeman
The 25-year-old pleaded guilty to the charges on Monday and Allardyce made
clear in his press conference on Sunday his anger with the player
The Mirror
Sam Allardyce has branded James Tomkins' conviction for assaulting a police
officer "irresponsible" and "unacceptable". And the West Ham defender, who
pleaded guilty on Monday, will have to carry out extra community work as a
further punishment from the club. Tomkins, 25, pleaded guilty to assaulting
a police constable, being drunk and disorderly in a public place and
obstructing a constable outside the Sugar Hut nightclub in December - a
venue made famous in The Only Way Is Essex. Allardyce said Tomkins will be
in the squad for Sunday's home match with QPR - but in today's pre-match
press conference he made clear his anger at his star's actions "The bottom
line is he shouldn't have got himself into that situation or position," said
the Irons boss. "He should have more responsibility. "I do not take kindly
to a lack of discipline off the field at all. "It is irresponsible and it is
unacceptable. The player represents not only himself when he goes out, but
he represents the club. In this case, he should hold himself in a better
esteem in the public eye than he did.
"Whether he had a drink and two or not makes no difference. That's your
responsibility today. "I don't take kindly to what he did. They have to have
as much self-discipline when they are away from here as they do when they
are training here every day. "Getting out in and amongst the community is
much better, particularly as he is a West Ham boy, rather than fining him."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Bilic video: 'Dicks was the hardest'
Posted by Sean Whetstone on October 3, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
Besiktas head coach and former Hammer Slaven Bilic recently spoke to ITV
Sport When asked about his relationship with England and English football he
said: "I like England, I spent the best time of footballing life as well as
my life in general life here. "My son was born here, we had a great time
here in London and in Liverpool, it would be too much to say it is a second
home but it is the place apart from my country that I really like to come"
When asked about tough player image at West Ham he answered "I was in a team
with Julian Dicks so I was not the hardest one in my team" Would he accept a
management job in England? He replied: "I like my job and I have big respect
for my club and I really enjoy it, I like England but I don't want to
promote myself and put myself in a shop window, I will not do it, so I am
happy at Besiktas" So not a NO then for a future West Ham Manager!
See the full video interview here
http://www.itv.com/europa-league/west-ham-cult-hero-bilic-julian-dicks-was-h
arder-than-me#
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Allarydyce unclear on Downing England question
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on October 3, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
Sam Allardyce seems strangely reluctant to give Stewart Downing an
international vote of confidence despite the player's enthusiasm to make an
England recall. No player has made a greater impact for the Irons this
season and only a few days ago the player made it clear he hoped he hadn't
been forgotten. But the Hammers boss refused to give a firm YES when asked
the question this morning claiming instead that he didn't think England
manager Roy Hodgson "plays with a man in the hole, or the diamond." He then
returns to to Downing's value to the club seemingly steering the
conversation in a different direction before again being asked whether he
considered him good enough form the Three Lions. He appeared to re-word his
answer claiming "He's certainly not past his best by any stretch of the
imagination."
And he added: "You only get past your best when your legs can't take you
where you want to go. But Stewart is one of our fittest players. "He
probably should score more goals than he does, but hopefully he'll do that
in the new position he's in."Given the ballyhoo surrounding Andy Carroll's
England aspirations last season, these seem obscure answers. Strange!
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Late tests for Irons duo
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on October 3, 2014 in Whispers
Claret * Hugh
Mark Noble is expected to return to first team duty on October 18 for the
away trip to Burnley. ClaretandHugh has had it confirmed from inside the
club that he is highly unlikely to be involved on Sunday against QPR and
will be given two weeks over the international break to recover from his
shin/calves injury,. Diego Poyet looks set to continue in the midfield role
where he looked comfiortable at Old Trafford last weekend.. Meanwhile, Guy
Demel who took a knock in training and Matt Jarvis both face late fitness
tests for the arrival of the west Londoners. And we have also learned that
Cheikhou Kouyate remains on target to return on November 8
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http://vyperz.blogspot.com
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Friday, October 3
Daily WHUFC News - 3rd October 2014
Mediawatch - 2 October
WHUFC.com
Our daily look at the West Ham United stories making the news
02.10.2014
TheFA.com cover the news that Reece Burke has signed his first pro contract
with the Hammers.
Meanwhile, the Mail Online report that James Collins has been called up to
the Wales squad for their UEFA Euro 2016 Qualifiers against
Bosnia-Herzegovina and Cyprus.
Finally, former Hammers boss Gianfranco Zola has emerged as the frontrunner
to become Fulham's next boss, according to Sky Sports.
The views on this page are taken from the local and national media and do
not necessarily reflect the views of West Ham United
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Reid makes defensive points
WHUFC.com
Winston Reid says West Ham United need to tighten up defensively if they are
to pick up points consistently
01.10.2014
Winston Reid believes West Ham United will quickly climb the Barclays
Premier League table as soon as they eradicate costly defensive errors.
Mistakes have arguably cost the Hammers points in defeats by Southampton and
Manchester United and a draw at Hull City, meaning Reid and his team-mates
go into Sunday's visit of Queens Park Rangers in the bottom half. With
fixtures against the Hoops and fellow Barclays Premier League new boys
Burnley next on the agenda, the No2 said West Ham will be looking to tighten
things up at the back.
"I think, first and foremost, we've played some good stuff this year but
unfortunately we haven't got the amount of points we'd like to have," said
the New Zealand captain. "I think we will be looking to be doing two things
this Sunday. One, we want to win the game and score a few goals and two,
from a defensive point of view we want to keep a clean sheet because that's
something we haven't done so far this season. "I think if we can get those
two things right then we'll be all right."
West Ham's uncharacteristic defensive record has been in stark contrast to
their potency in front of goal. The Hammers have scored ten and conceded ten
in their opening six league matches - a record Reid is not altogether proud
of. "We've been good at scoring goals this season so far, but defensively
we've not quite managed to keep a clean sheet. We need to do better in that
regard, not just as a defensive unit but as a whole team. Come kick-off, I'm
sure we'll get it right."
While Reid is confident West Ham can keep Harry Redknapp's side at bay
defensively, he also knows it will not be easy for the home side to find a
way past a familiar figure in the QPR goal. Robert Green played for six
seasons with the Hammers before departing for Loftus Road in summer 2012.
Having shared a dressing room and pitch with Green for two seasons, the
centre-back knows the quality the England international goalkeeper
possesses. "When Greeny was here he was a good goalkeeper for us and I'm
sure he'll be doing his best to stop us," said Reid. "I thought Greeny did
well for us. He spoke a lot and was a great shot-stopper and pulled off some
good saves when we needed him to. "He has been capped by England and has
played a number of years in the Premier League, so he has been around the
block and is an experienced goalkeeper."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Jenkinson called up for England U21s
WHUFC.com
On loan full back Carl Jenkinson is in the England U21 squad for the UEFA
European Championship play-off
02.10.2014
Carl Jenkinson has been selected in Gareth Southgate's England U21 squad for
the Young Lions' UEFA U21 European Championship play-off tie against
Croatia. England's youngsters are a two-legged play-off away from next
summer's tournament finals in the Czech Republic, following a successful
qualifiying campaign, which saw them drop just two points from their ten
games to finish top of Group One. Croatia, meanwhile, finished first in
Group Five, with 19 points from eight matches. Right-back Jenkinson wiill
now hope to add to his five caps at this level across the two games, with
the home leg being played first at Wolverhampton Wanderers' Molineux Stadium
on Friday 10 October.
Southgate's squad will then travel to Croatia for the second leg in Vinkovci
the following Tuesday, with a place in the finals the target.
Jenkinson, who joined West Ham United on loan from Arsenal this summer, has
enjoyed a varied international career to date. Born in Harlow to a Finnish
mother, he has represented both countries at age group level, but elected to
make himself available to England in 2012. The 22-year-old made his senior
debut for Roy Hodgson's side in Sweden in November of the same year.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Hammers commit to new guidelines
WHUFC.com
The Hammers have begun a new concussion screening protocol
02.10.2014
West Ham United have introduced a new Club-wide concussion screening
protocol to help safeguard players of all ages from potentially serious head
injuries. A concussion is a disturbance in brain function caused by a blow
to the head that can result in a wide variety of symptoms and signs,
including headache, unsteadiness, confusion and, in the most severe cases, a
short-term change in personality.
Following a number of high-profile incidents last season - including Guy
Demel suffering a major head injury and concussion at Cardiff City in
January - a decision was taken by the Premier League to formulate new
regulations to protect players based on expert guidelines developed at the
Fourth International Conference on Concussion in Sport held in Zurich in
November 2013. The new Premier League rules make clear that, when a serious
head injury is suffered on the pitch, that the decision of the team doctor
must be final. Each Club also now provides a 'Tunnel Doctor' at home matches
to offer an expert assessment if requested by a team doctor to help support
the medical staff treating players on the pitch and to support injured
players leaving the field of play, by monitoring and treating them as well
as arranging safe onward transfer to the appropriate medical facility when
required. West Ham have taken the guidelines a step further in protecting
all the Club's players, with Dr Weiler and head of medical and sports
science Stijn Vandenbroucke overseeing the introduction of baseline
concussion screening for Hammers players at every age level level. "We are
doing baseline concussion screening - called a SCAT3 (Sport Concussion
Assessment Tool) test - for West Ham players at all ages from 13 upwards,"
Dr Weiler explained. "A Child SCAT3 test is used for children aged 12 and
under. "As a Club, we are committed to taking concussion very seriously and
this process also helps to educate everyone across the Club of its
importance. "At first-team level, Guy Demel was concussed during a match
last season, while young Dan Potts suffered a concussion at Arsenal the
previous season [and Matt Taylor away at Stoke], so the players are
unfortunately acutely aware of the serious nature of concussion, the
unpleasant effects and how horrible it can be. "The new Premier League rules
and our own Club screening will give us the best possible chance to spot
when a player has suffered a concussion, remove them from the pitch and
provide the relevant treatment to enable them to make a full recovery.
Hopefully our commitment across the club will help raise awareness across
the community of the serious nature of concussion so that football players
at all levels, and not just Premier League footballers, are better equipped
to manage concussion safely."
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Happy birthday, Sir
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 2nd October 2014
By: Staff Writer
Everyone at KUMB.com would like to wish Sir Trevor Brooking a very happy
66th birthday. Arguably West Ham United's greatest living legend, Brooking -
born on 2 October 1948 - spent virtually his entire career at the Boleyn
Ground having made his debut in 1967. Capped 47 times by England, a figure
beaten only by Bobby Moore (108 caps), the midfielder made 647 appearances
for the Hammers before finally hanging up his boots in 1984 at the age of
35. However his finest moment came in the 1980 FA Cup Final in which he
stooped to meet Stuart Pearson's 13th-minute cross-cum-shot to score the
only goal of the game. In his new book, 'My Life In Football', Brooking
reveals it is a moment that he is asked to recall more than any other by
supporters. "I remember the goal clear as day," he writes. "The ball
bounced out to Pearson who was at the corner of the 18-yard box on the right
of the goal. Like any striker in that position, Stuart decided to shoot
ather than pass to a team-mate. It was my good luck that his shot was
dragged across the penalty box, hurtling in my direction. "Simply by falling
backwards I was able to divert the ball with my head towards goal. The power
of Stuart's shot was such that not even Pat Jennnings or the two full-backs
on the line could stop it! "As the ball flew into the net the goalscorer -
me - had a quick look at the referee to make sure he wasn't blowing for some
offence and then raced off towards the touchline with arms raised. Billy
Bonds grabbed me, demanding: 'What are you doing scoring with your head!?"
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Ambrosini: I nearly joined West Ham
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 2nd October 2014
By: Staff Writer
Retired former Italian international Massimo Ambrosini has revealed that he
came close to joining West Ham United. The 37-year-old midfielder, capped 35
times for his country hung up his boots at the end of the 2013/14 season
following a long and distinguished career (spent largely at AC Milan).
However Ambrosini, who is currently working as a TV pundit admitted that he
came close to becoming a Hammer last season - before eventually opting to
see out his career in Italy with Fiorentina. "Last year I was very close to
signing for West Ham before going to Fiorentina," he said. "I was still
happy to join Fiorentina but I would have loved to play in England. "I love
the Premier League; the passion, the stadiums and fans there. For them,
football is not a matter of life or death but a game is a good thing.
However, the deal fell through and I'm glad I joined Fiorentina."
KUMB.com reported back in May 2013 how West Ham and representatives of
Ambrosini had discussed a potential transfer. The former Milan star, who
travelled to London for preliminary talks was offered a two-year deal but
decided instead to remain in Serie A.
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Noble snubbed again
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 2nd October 2014
By: Staff Writer
On-loan Carl Jenkinson has been named in Gareth Southgate's latest England
under 21 squad. Right back Jenkinson, who is at West Ham United on a
season-long loan from Arsenal has been named in the junior squad for next
week's European play-off against Croatia. Jenkinson is the only Hammer to
have been selected in either the Under 21 or Senior squad - which represents
a further snub to Mark Noble, who Roy Hodgson's right-hand man Ray Lewington
watched destroy Liverpool little more than a week ago, and the in-form
Stewart Downing.
England Under 21 squad
Goalkeepers
Jonathan Bond (Watford), Jack Butland (Stoke City), Sam Johnstone
(Manchester United).
Defenders
Calum Chambers (Arsenal), Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur), Luke Garbutt
(Everton), Ben Gibson (Middlesbrough), Carl Jenkinson (West Ham United, on
loan from Arsenal), Michael Keane (Burnley, on loan from Manchester United),
Jamaal Lascelles (Nottingham Forest, on loan from Newcastle United), Liam
Moore (Leicester City), Luke Shaw (Manchester United).
Midfielders
Lewis Baker (Chelsea), Tom Carroll (Swansea City, on loan from Tottenham
Hotspur), Jake Forster-Caskey (Brighton & Hove Albion), Will Hughes (Derby
County), Thomas Ince (Hull City), Alex Pritchard (Brentford, on loan from
Tottenham Hotspur), Nathan Redmond (Norwich City).
Forwards
Patrick Bamford (Middlesbrough, on loan from Chelsea), Saido Berahino (West
Bromwich Albion), Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Cauley Woodrow (Fulham).
Full England squad
Goalkeepers
Fraser Forster (Southampton), Ben Foster (West Bromwich Albion), Joe Hart
(Manchester City).
Defenders
Leighton Baines (Everton), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Nathaniel Clyne
(Southampton), Kieran Gibbs (Arsenal), Phil Jagielka (Everton), John Stones
(Everton).
Midfielders
Fabian Delph (Aston Villa), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Adam Lallana
(Liverpool), James Milner (Manchester City), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
(Arsenal), Jonjo Shelvey (Swansea City), Raheem Sterling (Liverpool), Andros
Townsend (Tottenham Hotspur), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal).
Forwards
Rickie Lambert (Liverpool), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Daniel Welbeck
(Arsenal).
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Many happy returns for ex-Hammer
KUMb.com
Filed: Thursday, 2nd October 2014
By: Staff Writer
Former Hammer Robert Green says he is looking forward to making his return
to the Boleyn Ground this weekend. 34-year-old Green spent six seasons at
West Ham between 2006 and 2012 before a contract dispute led to his
departure from the club. However the former England international admitted
today that he was looking forward to returning to his old stomping ground.
"It's nice to go back to somewhere that was my club for six years," he told
qpr.co.uk. "I loved it and everyone there was good to me. I played there for
six years and then I felt it was time to move on and took on a new challenge
with QPR. "Winning at Old Trafford in my first season [at West Ham] to stay
up on the last day has got to be up there as one of my best moments. My last
game, which was winning in the play-off final, was a great day for me and
for everybody at the club."
Green, who made a total of 241 appearances for the Hammers also maintained
that his current and former clubs were of a similar stature. "There's
similarities in ownership and ambition of looking to move on but they feel
like very different clubs," he mused. "They've both got fantastic attributes
but in very different ways. West Ham are moving to a new ground and QPR are
looking to do the same. QPR are competing with Chelsea, Fulham and Brentford
for fans and there's lots of derby games. "On the other side of London you
either support West Ham or Spurs, perhaps even Orient - but you wouldn't put
them in the same bracket."
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MANY HARRY RETURNS
By Bianca Westwood 2 Oct 2014 at 08:00
West Ham till I Die
This is a rush job. It's going to be what you might call short and sweet. I
make no apologies folks…I have had a hectic week. I spent the weekend laid
up in bed battling what felt like a rare and severe strain of influenza. It
hasn't been pretty in my house what with the sneezes and the snots. I've
been keeping Kleenex in business and I had an uncanny likeness for Jim Smith
(in a long wig) from blowing my nose so much. But I digress…
I spent Monday in a horizontal position (not in the good way) and I decided
to recuperate by watching the first season of The West Wing to which I
quickly became addicted. I put off writing my blog, firstly because of my
aforementioned addiction, and secondly because I tend to leave things to the
last minute. In my defence I don't like to write my blog too early in the
week because of the ever-changing nature of events in football land…plus
have you ever watched The West Wing?? Decent.
Tuesday was spent preparing stats and doing my research for Brighton v
Cardiff for the Gillette Soccer Special on Tuesday night (good game by the
way) so my aim was to spend a bit of time on Wednesday writing a lovely blog
for you lovely West Ham fans.
Best laid plans and all that!!
I knew I was due to interview Nathan Dyer at the Liberty stadium that
afternoon, so the wonderful Sky travel girl Laura booked me a train from
Paddington, giving me simultaneously a peaceful journey and the opportunity
to read up on the Swans season, mentally prepare questions, arrive in
Swansea at 1pm, do the interview and finally write my blog on the train back
to London. Perfect.
No.
Get to Woodford station, no tubes. Have to drive. Lovely. Cut a long story
short (well I did say short and sweet) the drive was an 8 hour round trip,
the interview went well but now, instead of getting stuck into The West Wing
season 2, it's late and I'm here ranting to you lot about my pitiful few
days. Do you feel sorry for me yet? No? Ok!
My mum used to say time and again 'never put off till tomorrow what could be
done today', which never failed to aggravate me because more often than not
it was about cleaning my room, but the fact remains, infuriatingly, as
always, she's right! (I'm super tidy now by the way.) So here we are. For
starters I haven't read any of your comments over the weekend so I'm not
sure whether we're still living in a state of blissful optimism or if we're
moaning about the wheels falling off in the not-too-distant future. I do
recall a good many fans on here were predicting an absolute spanking at Old
Trafford but I was quietly confident that that wouldn't happen. And not only
did that not happen but in fact, United were actually hanging on for dear
life by the end.
I knew we were already dealing with a midfield without Kouyate so I was more
than concerned to see Mark Noble out. Plus the fact he's in my fantasy team
so that nugget of information didn't go down brilliantly. Clearly I feared
the worst when we'd conceded two after 22 minutes. It was a bit of a
shambles really, caught out twice like that and opened up like a can of
sardines. It didn't bode well. I tweeted as much saying that normal West Ham
service had resumed, however, I did secretly hope that we had a bit more
about us these days and we would pose some sort of threat for the remainder
of the game. I wasn't disappointed in that respect. After a spot of head
tennis Sakho put us in front and you could tell United were vulnerable. We
more than held our own and although Rooney dominated the backpages the
bylines for us were positive:
~ Diego Poyet showed maturity beyond his years and experience and
demonstrated there is a place for him in the midfield when he's called upon.
~ Diafra Sakho broke a 26 year record by scoring in each of his first four
starts. Even the great Leeeee-roy (I still do that in my head when his name
is mentioned) Rosenior was happy for him and it gives the player plenty of
confidence going forward.
~ We could have nicked it right at the death but for a Nolan forehead and a
scarily accurate linesman.
Sidebar – Nolan being back – personally I'm happy with that. I know a few of
you on here won't be enamoured with the prospect of the returning captain
but despite the shortcomings highlighted frequently and furiously by West
Ham fans, he does tend to pop up with a goal or two at crucial moments. As
he gets older and ever-slower I think his role will become more that of an
impact substitute. Which he'd be terrific at by the way. You just hope Sam
Allardyce picks the best team from the attractive options he now has at his
disposal. I guess we'll see.
~ We showed great character to come back from two goals, we created several
chances, playing through the channels we've got signings who can hurt
opposition with pace, we're continuing to play it on the deck and we are
much, much harder to beat.
~ And finally, we are showing surprising signs of strong self-belief which
is novel for us and, with that in mind, I think we could give QPR one hell
of a beating. With our team now, the best I've seen in a bloody long time,
we should take all three points quite comfortably. And then some!
I interviewed Robert Green last week for Soccer Saturday. I'm sure you'll
give him a warm welcome back when he takes his place between the sticks on
Sunday. But after that I hope you give him hell! He's a great guy though and
a terrifically honest interviewee. He admitted that QPR have not been at it
so far this season, especially at White Hart Lane and Old Trafford where
they got a good hiding. He said they'd been too 'nice', not ruthless enough
defensively and hadn't done enough to put the oppositions back line under
pressure either. I think we've got the personnel now that can really take
advantage of that. QPR did much better last weekend against a Southampton
team currently rampant, but, without Austin's worldy, the defeat would have
been far more emphatic. Kranjcar almost stole another late point for the
second week running with yet another classy free kick but this time the
crossbar had other ideas. We'll have to watch that!
Our old friend Harry has openly admitted he hasn't quite found the best way
to play with his team. He hasn't established the right system. He intended
to adopt a back three like he used to some success during his Portsmouth
days but, like Van Gaal , he had to abandon those plans pretty sharpish. His
back line are still getting to grips with the league and each other. Rio is
obviously not the player he was, his partnership with Steven Caulker is
still a work in progress and the two fullbacks Traore and Isla are wing
backs by trade and are yet to settle adequately into the four. All good news
for us of course and I'm confident Allardyce has identified the weaknesses
to exploit and expose there.
In the centre of the park players like Barton, Sandro and Mutch have
struggled with fitness and in the final third, having sold Loic Remy, QPR
are relying heavily on Austin as the lone front man and the team as a whole
have only managed four goals so far this season.
On top of all that the Hoops are still looking for their first away win. I
don't think they'll get it at the Boleyn. Although, unfortunately for us,
Harry Redknapp's record at his old stomping ground is pretty damn good. P7,
W5, D1, L1. Even Pompey used to give us a slap at home under Harry! Only
Piquionne has provided the claret and blue faithful with any glory over our
former gaffer when we beat Spurs one nil just over four years ago exactly.
I'm dreaming of putting a few more than that past Greeny this weekend.
As I write this there's no solid news online on Noble and I'm assuming he's
out, but with or without him I feel we have more than enough to win quite
resolutely. For me this is far more of a test than the trip to Old Trafford.
The West Ham of yore would undoubtedly give a winless team a big fat juicy
victory for their troubles but I just don't see that happening this time.
For those who return, Rio, Robert, Bobby and Harry, I predict you won't be
having a Super Sunday.
Wasn't exactly short and sweet was it in the end? Once I start I do tend to
go on. Now for The West Wing!
B x
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IN DEFENCE OF HARRY REDKNAPP
By Iain Dale 2 Oct 2014 at 14:00
West Ham Till I DIe
Guest Post by Neil Clack
I doubt there are many subjects that divide West Ham fans opinions as much
as the man who'll be sitting in the opposition dugout this Sunday. For me,
personally, the Redknapp years coincided with a happy time in my life and I
thoroughly enjoyed going to West Ham during that period, so I accept that I
could be looking back through rose-tinted specs here, but the main reason I
rate Redknapp as a manager is simply that I liked the style of football we
played under him.
It didn't always come off, just as it didn't always come off under Greenwood
and Lyall, but I always thought the spirit was there and that Redknapp
strove to play all-out attacking football, with an emphasis on skill and
flair, dribbling and passing along the floor.
Of course, it never reaches our high ideals, and I am aware there is a
certain 'romanticism' attached to the so-called 'West Ham way'. Neither am I
blind to it's faults – with so many players pushed forward, an exposed
defence produces some crazy results. We could be on the receving end of a
right hammering one week, but then out-play opponents and score a few
ourselves the next. As Ron Greenwood put it himself, "if the other team
score three then we'll try and score four!". For me, personally, that is the
kind of football I always want to see.
The Guardian got it spot on I thought when they took a trip down to
Portsmouth's training ground before their FA Cup win in 2008.
On a blustery day at Portsmouth's borrowed training ground in Eastleigh this
week he drilled his players with relish…..only intervening when a short pass
was overlooked in favour of a hopeful long option. Schooled in the West Ham
philosophy of Ron Greenwood and John Lyall, he has an abiding faith in a
passing game but is astute enough to have incorporated the power and pace
necessary in modern football in a squad containing several athletic giants
I have to disagree with those that say Redknapp simpy flung his sides
together any-old-how. Di Canio just did as he wanted and was popping up all
over the place they say….well, yes, that was the idea!
The skilful players, the creators who are your matchwinners, should be
trusted to roam where they want and encouraged to play with freedom, in my
opinion. I'm not going to compare the likes of Di Canio, Berkovic, or Trevor
Sinclair to Cruyff and Maradona, Christian Ronaldo, or Messi, but one of the
main reasons the greats became what they were/are was because their managers
recognised they were intelligent enough to work things out for themselves on
the pitch. They were given loosly-defined roles in the final third, as was
Trevor Brooking by Ron Greenwood for both West Ham and England
I think it's more difficult, and requires a lot more tactical awareness, to
find a system that creates a platform from which flair players can operate
than just setting up your team in a rigid formation where every player has a
clearely defined role – negative tactics that were sadly in vogue with many
British managers a decade or so ago, and took English football backwards, in
my opinion.
John Hartson, in his prime, was a powerful header of the ball, but he also
had good ability when balls were played into his feet, as they often were at
West Ham, often from a central midfield partnership of Bishop and Moncur, a
pairing that would flourish in today's modern Premier league, in my opinion.
Hartson was a a bit of a nutter who sadly went off the rails with alcohol
and gambling problems, culminating in an arrest for assaulting a plant-pot
in his home town in Wales. I think it's unfair to blame the manager for all
that, as discipline was generally good under Redknapp. He banned alcohol
from the players' lounge, introduced the concept of a fitness triainer for
the first time at West Ham and had a reputation for dishing out a rollocking
when it was needed, but sometimes if you have a player with serious
problems, who is a liability, then there's not a lot a manager can do?
Except perhaps get rid of their influence, as Alex Ferguson did several
times with Keith Gillespie, Lee Sharpe, Norman Whiteside, Jaap Stamm and a
few others, inspite of their popularity with the crowd (sadly, so far, it
seems Ferguson knew what he was doing by letting Ravel Morrison go too).
We got excellent money for Hartson (7 million), ripped Wimbledon off really,
and bought Di Canio and Marc Viven-Foe with the proceeds (oh, and Scott
Minto – not quite as good, obviously!). Hartson did very little at Wimbledon
before a renaissance at Celtic in the inferior Scottish league, but he never
did much in the Prem again.
But style of play is so subjective, just personal taste really, noone is
right and noone is wrong, so I'd like to take a closer, more factual look,
at some of the other accusations often aimed at Harry's time at West Ham.
Let's remember where the club was when Redknapp tookover. We were relegation
material, and remained so for a couple of seasons. We had a relatively small
ground and no outside investment, unlike some of our rivals at the time:
Middlesboro, Fulham, Bradford, Blackburn.
Like a politician you can play with statistics and balance sheets to suit
your arguments and Terence Brown certainly did in his first post-Redknapp
chairman's report. Brown is correct though, there was a point (Redknapp's
last season) when we had the 7th largest wage bill in the Premier league and
were not too far behind Arsenal who were in 6th place in the highest wages
list in that one season (although we were way behind the top 5 – Man U,
Leeds, Chelsea, Newcastle and Liverpool).
But what rarely gets mentioned is that there were a whole host of clubs
whose wage bills were not a lot lower than our own at that point –
Middlesboro, Fulham, Sheff Wed, Aston Villa, Bradford, Tottenham, Nottm
Forest and Everton. Infact our wage bill had been significantly lower than
all of those clubs during most of the Redknapp years, and it was only in his
last season that West Ham's reached those levels.
All those clubs were getting themselves heavily into debt. It was not only
us. You had to have a high wage bill, just to be able to compete at that
level.
But this is the crucial bit that rarely gets mentioned either- during his
whole time as maanger, Redknapp was never given money to fund transfers.
Every transfer fee had to be financed by a sale.
At the time of his sacking, Hammers News ran a complete list of all the ins
and outs during Redknapp's time that revealed he had actually made a profit
on transfer fees. The Observer newspaper also at that time published an
article on Premier League spending that showed that overall, ins and outs,
only two Premier league clubs, West Ham and Southampton, did not have a big
minus figure in their total transfer balance during the previous five
seasons.
All the other 15 clubs mentioned above had spent massively on trensfer fees
during that period so, overall, taking into account wages aswell, they had
all spent a lot more money than West Ham. By rights, we should have been
struggling down the bottom of the table, 16th at best, season after season,
but by finishing 8th, 5th, 9th in consecutive seasons we were over-achieving
by a long way.
And I think therein lay the problem. Harry Redknapp was a victim of his own
success and the goalposts got moved. A team that really should have been
battling down the bottom was finishing consistently in the top half,
including a 5th place. Of course, Redknapp was an ambitious manager and
naturally wanted to keep the club moving forward, Brown himself was also
ambitious, stating in one chairman's report during Redknapp's reign that his
aim was to establish the club as a top 8 side and, of course, the fans are
always going to expect more of the same. But, with no investment and a small
ground that was unrealistic, ne impossible.
After years of successful wheelng and dealing eg. Matty Holmes, Cottee,
Bilic, Rieper, Hartson, Lomas, Ian Pearce, Hislop on a free, Sinclair,
Viven-Foe, Kanoute, Sinclair, Lazaridis, many of whom were sold on for big
profits, nooone can dispute that Redknapp spent some of the Rio money badly.
Less than 7 of the £18 million received for Rio went on transfer fees, but,
yes, there are wages to consider. (According to West Ham's chief accountant
Nick Igoe at a fan forum in Feb 2005, the decision to sell Rio was taken by
the board as they feared an EU law was going to abolish transfer fees and
that the defender might leave for free at a later date – he also said
Redknapp was given a 300k bonus "for good service to the club and his good
work in the negotiaitions during the Rio sale").
Christain Dailly at £1.75 milliion was a good signing, in my opinion. A
handy squad player for seven seasons, twice having his contract extended
under Pardew in the Premier league, and, as Pardew often alluded to, Dailly
was an excellent influence around the training ground.
Rigobert Song was sold for a small profit after a year so we didn't lose too
much money on him (Cologne were probably paying some of his wages when he
went on loan there for a few months before being sold to Lens). He went on
to have a decent career at a decent level, captaining Galataseray aswell as
Cameroon.
Todorov, Foxe, Soma – all youngsters bought for their potential.
Unfortunatey injuries blighted Todorov's career so it's difficult to judge
him, but he did have a good goals to appearances ratio in the Premier League
and Championship for Portsmouth and Wigan, before injury wrecked his career.
It's probably fair to say that both Todorov and Foxe (an ever present for
Pompey when they won the Championship) found their correct level in the
Championship, but neither Todorov, Foxe or Soma could have been earning that
high wages at West Ham as we would not have been able to offload them so
easily a year or so after they all joined.
Titi Camara was by far the worst of all Redknapp's signings, the one that is
refered to most, and the one on which hangs the most suspicion. It's
impossible to defend this signing, but at £2 million, he did cost less than
the £3.5 million Liverpool paid for him 18 months earlier. Camara had
actually made a good start to his career at Liverpool, finishing top scorer
behind Owen in 99/2000 and the fans had taken to him up there, but something
went wrong and he fell out with Houllier.
I'm not for one moment going to defend the signing of Camara, but all
managers do make bad signings. Greats managers like Ferguson and Wenger made
a few, wasting millions on the likes of Veron and Jeffers, but I can see the
logic behind the Camara deal. Redknapp probably thought, wrongly, that he
could get the striker back to what he was in France, where he had a very
good scoring record. I believe Redknapp was acting in the best interests of
the club when he made that signing. It was precisely that sort of gambling
attitude that brought us Paulo Di Canio.
Not part of the Rio money, but another signing that often gets lumped in
with it is Gary Charles, an ex England international. Again, classic
Redknapp, believing he could get a player whose career had lost it's way,
back on track. Of course, Redknapp was badly wrong again here, and I am not
pretending it was anything other than a bad buy, but I can see a logic to
the signing. Fortunately, West Ham had sensibly taken out insurance on
Charles' dodgy knee. It may well have been serious alcoholism that finished
Charles' career, but officially it was the knee and the insurance company
paid up the rest of his contract when it was terminated. To put that into
perspective, Charles cost the club, in transfer fee and wages, less than
Vladimir Labant (a Roeder signing), whose 4 year contract was also ripped up
but paid up in full by the club.
It is the accusations and rumours that Redknapp took bungs that leaves a bad
taste for all of us. Who really knows what went on? Maybe Terence Brown
doesn't actually know, though he suspects and has insinuated it, to a few
people.
It's so difficult to seperate rumours from facts, or to know who or what to
believe? That Mark Redkanpp was involved in his father's dealings is one of
the most repeated rumours, but, as far as I'm aware, has no substance? I
once spoke to West Ham's former Chief executive Paul Aldridge about this,
and he dismissed it out of hand. He said that on match days he used to chat
openly in the players lounge with Mark Redknapp, who regularly attended
games, and he thinks maybe that's how the false rumours started (I am aware,
of course, that Aldridge could well have been lying, but my gut feeling is
that he was genuine).
Author Tom Bower investigated Redknapp's transfers as thoroughly as anyone
has, especially the Rio transfer and Song and Camara deals. Thanks to
Terence Brown's assistance, Bower had access to documents, but makes no
reference to Mark Redknapp in his book 'Broken Dreams'. I'm sure Bower would
have said something if Redknapp's son had been involved as it would add to
the sense of scandal he was trying to create. He makes a very big deal of
the relationship between Arsenal's David Dein and his agent son in another
chapter.
The BBC programme from ten years ago, 'Fergie & Son', mainly concentrated on
Alex Ferguson's transfer dealings, but also mentioned Allardyce & son, Mick
MaCarthy & son and Howard Wilkinson & Son, as did several newspaper
articles, which also revealed how Kevin Keegan and Stuart Pearce, manager
and assistant at Man City, both had shares in an agency that City bought
players from. Again, why no mention of Redknapp & son in these programmes
and aticles? It would be such an obvious choice if it was true?
It's often mentioned how Redknapp used 'unscrupulous' agents like Pini
Zahavi, Willie Mckay and Rene Hauge, but the sad fact is Zahavi and Mckay
are two of football's most established fixers and you have to use people
like them if you want to bring good players to your club, especially foreign
players. By condemning deals involving Zahavi and McKay you are condemning
pretty much every manager and Chief executive who's ever worked in the
Premier league.
Behind the sweeping statements, do we know exactly which players were signed
through these agents? As far as I am aware, the only Zahavi player signed by
Redknapp was Eyal Berkovic. However, after Redkanpp left, Zahavi continued
as the agent involved in a number of West ham's signings, such as Rebrov,
Benayoun, Katan, Pantsill, Tevez and Mascherano.
As far as I am aware, there were only three Willie Mckay players signed by
Redknapp – Marc Vivien-Foe, Song and Camara.
According to Bower's 'Broken Dreams', it was actually O'Leary (George
Graham's prodigy) who insisted on Rene Hauge being involved in the Rio deal.
Hauge's ban was over so there was nothing ilegal about it and, as far as I'm
aware, I don't think Hauge was involved in any other West Ham deals does
anyone know? Apart from Soma perhaps?
I am suspicious, and always have been ever since all the rumours first
surfaced years ago, but I am also sceptical as I've met so many supposedly
barstool 'in-the-knows', and even journos, over the years who claim they
know something, but when it comes down to it they know no more than you and
I, and sometimes I can't help feeling that they are just rumours and gossip
that go round like a big game of chinese whispers, getting more embelished
as they're passed on.
A few more points:
- The club's accounts show the wage bill actually rose under Roeder.
- £25 million of the debt upon relegation in 2003 was money spent on the new
stands.
- It's a myth, in my opinion, that we were nearly relegated in Redknapp's
last season. We actually went 6th after beating Charlton 5-0 on Boxing day,
but after the FA Cup run (with good wins at Old Trafford and Sunderland),
key players were rested for two league games before the big quarter final
with Tottenham. We lost, everyone was gutted, and the seson just petered out
into nothing as there was nothing to play for. There were some poor games
and we slipped down the table, not mathematically safe until three games to
go, but I never felt we were ever in danger of going down?
But finally, and this is is the ultimate irony, In the end, the size of the
wage bill and debt didn't matter! (as long as we had remained in Premier
League, which I believe we would have under Redknapp). Scudamore at the
Premier League and the TV companies, with their professional financial
forecasts of a never ending TV bounty, were right after all. Brown and
Deloitte Touche's fears of the TV money drying up were unfounded and wrong.
(In his Chairman's report after sacking Redknapp, Brown got it wrong about
the TV money, and irony of ironies, as a result of those later masssive TV
deals that he never saw coming, Brown was able to sell the club and make a
cool 40 million pound profit for himself!).
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Hammers on Lee for Bolton speculation
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on October 2, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
West Ham claim to have had no contact from Bolton over a possible 93 day
loan move for Elliott Lee. Reports the striker could join former Hammer Rob
Hall at the club were greeted with surprise from the Upton Park hierachy.
One told ClaretandHugh: "We've heard nothing from Bolton on that one. As far
as we know it's just media talk. "Mind you they did their brains on Hall who
has played one Capital League match this season and managed two goals from
24 appearances last term."
Reports emerged earlier today that a 93-day loan deal seeming the most
viable option. Bolton want to boost their attacking option after an abysmal
start to the season which sees them in second off bottom spot in the
Championship. But the Hammers insist that there has been no move for Lee and
our source said: "If he does go out anywhere we will want assurances that he
will get regular first team football but there's been nothing from Bolton."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Hidden Carroll costs send fee up and up
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on October 2, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
The cost of injury stricken Andy Carroll to West Ham United just rises and
rises. A ClaretandHugh probe has discovered that the deal with Liverpool
also includes £500,000 payments for each season we remain in the Premier
League up to four . And despite missing half of last season and managing
just two goals the Irons have handed over the first £500,000 payment to
Liverpool for that campaign. And a top insider told us: "Potentially another
£1.5 million could take the tranafer bill to £18.5 million rather than the
widely quoted 16.5 million."Up to now, hes not the best of buys, as he's
also the highest paid player at the club, but let's hope he comes good."
ClaretandHugh reported this morning that Newcastle had shown interest in the
summer and that the could come back should manager Alan Pardew hold onto his
job
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Noble's "strange" injury
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on October 2, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
Mark Noble's chances of returning to the team for the Queens Park Rangers
game appear to be on the slide. And that means Diego Poyet could again be in
central midfield for the game following his start against Manchester United
last weekend. Hopes had been rising that Noble – given he was in no pain
from the calf/shin injury – would be very much in the frame for Sunday's
game. But following a scan it seems there are some complications with a
source telling ClaretandHugh: "It's a strange injury, we just do not know
how long it will take." The comment was confirmed by www.physioroom.com who
have no projected return date for the midfielder.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Newcaste AC interest may rest on Pardew's future
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on October 2, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
Newcastle United were keen to discover Andy Carroll's availability in the
summer and the Hammers believe they could return if Alan Pardew keeps his
job. ClaretandHugh has discovered from a Boleyn insider that Newcastle were
'sniffing' around in July and August. Pardew's position remains uncertain on
Tyneside but we understand that talks about the former hammers boss' future
could involve discussions about a Carroll return home. The player has two
children living in the city! The Irons are keen to keep the player and
certainly weren't interested in the £10m bid they were likely to receive had
they shown any interest in Newcastle's position. A source told us
exclusively: " Newcastle were sniffing around but Andy has work to do here –
he has things to prove to everybody. "It's been difficult for him and us but
we all know at his best he is a very good player indeed and a real asset.
"There has been no concrete offer from Newcastle but it's reasonable to say
that should Pardew remain at the club there could be."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Downing heads Fabregas, Hazard, Sterling
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on October 2, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
Enner Valencia and Diafra Sakho have been a revelation this season but
Stewart Downing is emerging as the most influential Hammer over the early
games. And since he was used in the diamond formation the guy has truly
blossomed to the point where he is looking for and talking about an England
recall. A new set of stats from @EPL Statman proves the point as Downing now
heads the list of players responsible for creating most Premier League
chances this season.
Here's the full list:
Downing 20
Fabregas 20
Cabella 17
Silva 16
Hazard 15
Sigurdsson 14
Sterling 14
Barton 13
Ramsey 13
Larsson 13
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
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WHUFC.com
Our daily look at the West Ham United stories making the news
02.10.2014
TheFA.com cover the news that Reece Burke has signed his first pro contract
with the Hammers.
Meanwhile, the Mail Online report that James Collins has been called up to
the Wales squad for their UEFA Euro 2016 Qualifiers against
Bosnia-Herzegovina and Cyprus.
Finally, former Hammers boss Gianfranco Zola has emerged as the frontrunner
to become Fulham's next boss, according to Sky Sports.
The views on this page are taken from the local and national media and do
not necessarily reflect the views of West Ham United
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Reid makes defensive points
WHUFC.com
Winston Reid says West Ham United need to tighten up defensively if they are
to pick up points consistently
01.10.2014
Winston Reid believes West Ham United will quickly climb the Barclays
Premier League table as soon as they eradicate costly defensive errors.
Mistakes have arguably cost the Hammers points in defeats by Southampton and
Manchester United and a draw at Hull City, meaning Reid and his team-mates
go into Sunday's visit of Queens Park Rangers in the bottom half. With
fixtures against the Hoops and fellow Barclays Premier League new boys
Burnley next on the agenda, the No2 said West Ham will be looking to tighten
things up at the back.
"I think, first and foremost, we've played some good stuff this year but
unfortunately we haven't got the amount of points we'd like to have," said
the New Zealand captain. "I think we will be looking to be doing two things
this Sunday. One, we want to win the game and score a few goals and two,
from a defensive point of view we want to keep a clean sheet because that's
something we haven't done so far this season. "I think if we can get those
two things right then we'll be all right."
West Ham's uncharacteristic defensive record has been in stark contrast to
their potency in front of goal. The Hammers have scored ten and conceded ten
in their opening six league matches - a record Reid is not altogether proud
of. "We've been good at scoring goals this season so far, but defensively
we've not quite managed to keep a clean sheet. We need to do better in that
regard, not just as a defensive unit but as a whole team. Come kick-off, I'm
sure we'll get it right."
While Reid is confident West Ham can keep Harry Redknapp's side at bay
defensively, he also knows it will not be easy for the home side to find a
way past a familiar figure in the QPR goal. Robert Green played for six
seasons with the Hammers before departing for Loftus Road in summer 2012.
Having shared a dressing room and pitch with Green for two seasons, the
centre-back knows the quality the England international goalkeeper
possesses. "When Greeny was here he was a good goalkeeper for us and I'm
sure he'll be doing his best to stop us," said Reid. "I thought Greeny did
well for us. He spoke a lot and was a great shot-stopper and pulled off some
good saves when we needed him to. "He has been capped by England and has
played a number of years in the Premier League, so he has been around the
block and is an experienced goalkeeper."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Jenkinson called up for England U21s
WHUFC.com
On loan full back Carl Jenkinson is in the England U21 squad for the UEFA
European Championship play-off
02.10.2014
Carl Jenkinson has been selected in Gareth Southgate's England U21 squad for
the Young Lions' UEFA U21 European Championship play-off tie against
Croatia. England's youngsters are a two-legged play-off away from next
summer's tournament finals in the Czech Republic, following a successful
qualifiying campaign, which saw them drop just two points from their ten
games to finish top of Group One. Croatia, meanwhile, finished first in
Group Five, with 19 points from eight matches. Right-back Jenkinson wiill
now hope to add to his five caps at this level across the two games, with
the home leg being played first at Wolverhampton Wanderers' Molineux Stadium
on Friday 10 October.
Southgate's squad will then travel to Croatia for the second leg in Vinkovci
the following Tuesday, with a place in the finals the target.
Jenkinson, who joined West Ham United on loan from Arsenal this summer, has
enjoyed a varied international career to date. Born in Harlow to a Finnish
mother, he has represented both countries at age group level, but elected to
make himself available to England in 2012. The 22-year-old made his senior
debut for Roy Hodgson's side in Sweden in November of the same year.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Hammers commit to new guidelines
WHUFC.com
The Hammers have begun a new concussion screening protocol
02.10.2014
West Ham United have introduced a new Club-wide concussion screening
protocol to help safeguard players of all ages from potentially serious head
injuries. A concussion is a disturbance in brain function caused by a blow
to the head that can result in a wide variety of symptoms and signs,
including headache, unsteadiness, confusion and, in the most severe cases, a
short-term change in personality.
Following a number of high-profile incidents last season - including Guy
Demel suffering a major head injury and concussion at Cardiff City in
January - a decision was taken by the Premier League to formulate new
regulations to protect players based on expert guidelines developed at the
Fourth International Conference on Concussion in Sport held in Zurich in
November 2013. The new Premier League rules make clear that, when a serious
head injury is suffered on the pitch, that the decision of the team doctor
must be final. Each Club also now provides a 'Tunnel Doctor' at home matches
to offer an expert assessment if requested by a team doctor to help support
the medical staff treating players on the pitch and to support injured
players leaving the field of play, by monitoring and treating them as well
as arranging safe onward transfer to the appropriate medical facility when
required. West Ham have taken the guidelines a step further in protecting
all the Club's players, with Dr Weiler and head of medical and sports
science Stijn Vandenbroucke overseeing the introduction of baseline
concussion screening for Hammers players at every age level level. "We are
doing baseline concussion screening - called a SCAT3 (Sport Concussion
Assessment Tool) test - for West Ham players at all ages from 13 upwards,"
Dr Weiler explained. "A Child SCAT3 test is used for children aged 12 and
under. "As a Club, we are committed to taking concussion very seriously and
this process also helps to educate everyone across the Club of its
importance. "At first-team level, Guy Demel was concussed during a match
last season, while young Dan Potts suffered a concussion at Arsenal the
previous season [and Matt Taylor away at Stoke], so the players are
unfortunately acutely aware of the serious nature of concussion, the
unpleasant effects and how horrible it can be. "The new Premier League rules
and our own Club screening will give us the best possible chance to spot
when a player has suffered a concussion, remove them from the pitch and
provide the relevant treatment to enable them to make a full recovery.
Hopefully our commitment across the club will help raise awareness across
the community of the serious nature of concussion so that football players
at all levels, and not just Premier League footballers, are better equipped
to manage concussion safely."
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Happy birthday, Sir
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 2nd October 2014
By: Staff Writer
Everyone at KUMB.com would like to wish Sir Trevor Brooking a very happy
66th birthday. Arguably West Ham United's greatest living legend, Brooking -
born on 2 October 1948 - spent virtually his entire career at the Boleyn
Ground having made his debut in 1967. Capped 47 times by England, a figure
beaten only by Bobby Moore (108 caps), the midfielder made 647 appearances
for the Hammers before finally hanging up his boots in 1984 at the age of
35. However his finest moment came in the 1980 FA Cup Final in which he
stooped to meet Stuart Pearson's 13th-minute cross-cum-shot to score the
only goal of the game. In his new book, 'My Life In Football', Brooking
reveals it is a moment that he is asked to recall more than any other by
supporters. "I remember the goal clear as day," he writes. "The ball
bounced out to Pearson who was at the corner of the 18-yard box on the right
of the goal. Like any striker in that position, Stuart decided to shoot
ather than pass to a team-mate. It was my good luck that his shot was
dragged across the penalty box, hurtling in my direction. "Simply by falling
backwards I was able to divert the ball with my head towards goal. The power
of Stuart's shot was such that not even Pat Jennnings or the two full-backs
on the line could stop it! "As the ball flew into the net the goalscorer -
me - had a quick look at the referee to make sure he wasn't blowing for some
offence and then raced off towards the touchline with arms raised. Billy
Bonds grabbed me, demanding: 'What are you doing scoring with your head!?"
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Ambrosini: I nearly joined West Ham
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 2nd October 2014
By: Staff Writer
Retired former Italian international Massimo Ambrosini has revealed that he
came close to joining West Ham United. The 37-year-old midfielder, capped 35
times for his country hung up his boots at the end of the 2013/14 season
following a long and distinguished career (spent largely at AC Milan).
However Ambrosini, who is currently working as a TV pundit admitted that he
came close to becoming a Hammer last season - before eventually opting to
see out his career in Italy with Fiorentina. "Last year I was very close to
signing for West Ham before going to Fiorentina," he said. "I was still
happy to join Fiorentina but I would have loved to play in England. "I love
the Premier League; the passion, the stadiums and fans there. For them,
football is not a matter of life or death but a game is a good thing.
However, the deal fell through and I'm glad I joined Fiorentina."
KUMB.com reported back in May 2013 how West Ham and representatives of
Ambrosini had discussed a potential transfer. The former Milan star, who
travelled to London for preliminary talks was offered a two-year deal but
decided instead to remain in Serie A.
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Noble snubbed again
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 2nd October 2014
By: Staff Writer
On-loan Carl Jenkinson has been named in Gareth Southgate's latest England
under 21 squad. Right back Jenkinson, who is at West Ham United on a
season-long loan from Arsenal has been named in the junior squad for next
week's European play-off against Croatia. Jenkinson is the only Hammer to
have been selected in either the Under 21 or Senior squad - which represents
a further snub to Mark Noble, who Roy Hodgson's right-hand man Ray Lewington
watched destroy Liverpool little more than a week ago, and the in-form
Stewart Downing.
England Under 21 squad
Goalkeepers
Jonathan Bond (Watford), Jack Butland (Stoke City), Sam Johnstone
(Manchester United).
Defenders
Calum Chambers (Arsenal), Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur), Luke Garbutt
(Everton), Ben Gibson (Middlesbrough), Carl Jenkinson (West Ham United, on
loan from Arsenal), Michael Keane (Burnley, on loan from Manchester United),
Jamaal Lascelles (Nottingham Forest, on loan from Newcastle United), Liam
Moore (Leicester City), Luke Shaw (Manchester United).
Midfielders
Lewis Baker (Chelsea), Tom Carroll (Swansea City, on loan from Tottenham
Hotspur), Jake Forster-Caskey (Brighton & Hove Albion), Will Hughes (Derby
County), Thomas Ince (Hull City), Alex Pritchard (Brentford, on loan from
Tottenham Hotspur), Nathan Redmond (Norwich City).
Forwards
Patrick Bamford (Middlesbrough, on loan from Chelsea), Saido Berahino (West
Bromwich Albion), Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Cauley Woodrow (Fulham).
Full England squad
Goalkeepers
Fraser Forster (Southampton), Ben Foster (West Bromwich Albion), Joe Hart
(Manchester City).
Defenders
Leighton Baines (Everton), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Nathaniel Clyne
(Southampton), Kieran Gibbs (Arsenal), Phil Jagielka (Everton), John Stones
(Everton).
Midfielders
Fabian Delph (Aston Villa), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Adam Lallana
(Liverpool), James Milner (Manchester City), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
(Arsenal), Jonjo Shelvey (Swansea City), Raheem Sterling (Liverpool), Andros
Townsend (Tottenham Hotspur), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal).
Forwards
Rickie Lambert (Liverpool), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Daniel Welbeck
(Arsenal).
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Many happy returns for ex-Hammer
KUMb.com
Filed: Thursday, 2nd October 2014
By: Staff Writer
Former Hammer Robert Green says he is looking forward to making his return
to the Boleyn Ground this weekend. 34-year-old Green spent six seasons at
West Ham between 2006 and 2012 before a contract dispute led to his
departure from the club. However the former England international admitted
today that he was looking forward to returning to his old stomping ground.
"It's nice to go back to somewhere that was my club for six years," he told
qpr.co.uk. "I loved it and everyone there was good to me. I played there for
six years and then I felt it was time to move on and took on a new challenge
with QPR. "Winning at Old Trafford in my first season [at West Ham] to stay
up on the last day has got to be up there as one of my best moments. My last
game, which was winning in the play-off final, was a great day for me and
for everybody at the club."
Green, who made a total of 241 appearances for the Hammers also maintained
that his current and former clubs were of a similar stature. "There's
similarities in ownership and ambition of looking to move on but they feel
like very different clubs," he mused. "They've both got fantastic attributes
but in very different ways. West Ham are moving to a new ground and QPR are
looking to do the same. QPR are competing with Chelsea, Fulham and Brentford
for fans and there's lots of derby games. "On the other side of London you
either support West Ham or Spurs, perhaps even Orient - but you wouldn't put
them in the same bracket."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
MANY HARRY RETURNS
By Bianca Westwood 2 Oct 2014 at 08:00
West Ham till I Die
This is a rush job. It's going to be what you might call short and sweet. I
make no apologies folks…I have had a hectic week. I spent the weekend laid
up in bed battling what felt like a rare and severe strain of influenza. It
hasn't been pretty in my house what with the sneezes and the snots. I've
been keeping Kleenex in business and I had an uncanny likeness for Jim Smith
(in a long wig) from blowing my nose so much. But I digress…
I spent Monday in a horizontal position (not in the good way) and I decided
to recuperate by watching the first season of The West Wing to which I
quickly became addicted. I put off writing my blog, firstly because of my
aforementioned addiction, and secondly because I tend to leave things to the
last minute. In my defence I don't like to write my blog too early in the
week because of the ever-changing nature of events in football land…plus
have you ever watched The West Wing?? Decent.
Tuesday was spent preparing stats and doing my research for Brighton v
Cardiff for the Gillette Soccer Special on Tuesday night (good game by the
way) so my aim was to spend a bit of time on Wednesday writing a lovely blog
for you lovely West Ham fans.
Best laid plans and all that!!
I knew I was due to interview Nathan Dyer at the Liberty stadium that
afternoon, so the wonderful Sky travel girl Laura booked me a train from
Paddington, giving me simultaneously a peaceful journey and the opportunity
to read up on the Swans season, mentally prepare questions, arrive in
Swansea at 1pm, do the interview and finally write my blog on the train back
to London. Perfect.
No.
Get to Woodford station, no tubes. Have to drive. Lovely. Cut a long story
short (well I did say short and sweet) the drive was an 8 hour round trip,
the interview went well but now, instead of getting stuck into The West Wing
season 2, it's late and I'm here ranting to you lot about my pitiful few
days. Do you feel sorry for me yet? No? Ok!
My mum used to say time and again 'never put off till tomorrow what could be
done today', which never failed to aggravate me because more often than not
it was about cleaning my room, but the fact remains, infuriatingly, as
always, she's right! (I'm super tidy now by the way.) So here we are. For
starters I haven't read any of your comments over the weekend so I'm not
sure whether we're still living in a state of blissful optimism or if we're
moaning about the wheels falling off in the not-too-distant future. I do
recall a good many fans on here were predicting an absolute spanking at Old
Trafford but I was quietly confident that that wouldn't happen. And not only
did that not happen but in fact, United were actually hanging on for dear
life by the end.
I knew we were already dealing with a midfield without Kouyate so I was more
than concerned to see Mark Noble out. Plus the fact he's in my fantasy team
so that nugget of information didn't go down brilliantly. Clearly I feared
the worst when we'd conceded two after 22 minutes. It was a bit of a
shambles really, caught out twice like that and opened up like a can of
sardines. It didn't bode well. I tweeted as much saying that normal West Ham
service had resumed, however, I did secretly hope that we had a bit more
about us these days and we would pose some sort of threat for the remainder
of the game. I wasn't disappointed in that respect. After a spot of head
tennis Sakho put us in front and you could tell United were vulnerable. We
more than held our own and although Rooney dominated the backpages the
bylines for us were positive:
~ Diego Poyet showed maturity beyond his years and experience and
demonstrated there is a place for him in the midfield when he's called upon.
~ Diafra Sakho broke a 26 year record by scoring in each of his first four
starts. Even the great Leeeee-roy (I still do that in my head when his name
is mentioned) Rosenior was happy for him and it gives the player plenty of
confidence going forward.
~ We could have nicked it right at the death but for a Nolan forehead and a
scarily accurate linesman.
Sidebar – Nolan being back – personally I'm happy with that. I know a few of
you on here won't be enamoured with the prospect of the returning captain
but despite the shortcomings highlighted frequently and furiously by West
Ham fans, he does tend to pop up with a goal or two at crucial moments. As
he gets older and ever-slower I think his role will become more that of an
impact substitute. Which he'd be terrific at by the way. You just hope Sam
Allardyce picks the best team from the attractive options he now has at his
disposal. I guess we'll see.
~ We showed great character to come back from two goals, we created several
chances, playing through the channels we've got signings who can hurt
opposition with pace, we're continuing to play it on the deck and we are
much, much harder to beat.
~ And finally, we are showing surprising signs of strong self-belief which
is novel for us and, with that in mind, I think we could give QPR one hell
of a beating. With our team now, the best I've seen in a bloody long time,
we should take all three points quite comfortably. And then some!
I interviewed Robert Green last week for Soccer Saturday. I'm sure you'll
give him a warm welcome back when he takes his place between the sticks on
Sunday. But after that I hope you give him hell! He's a great guy though and
a terrifically honest interviewee. He admitted that QPR have not been at it
so far this season, especially at White Hart Lane and Old Trafford where
they got a good hiding. He said they'd been too 'nice', not ruthless enough
defensively and hadn't done enough to put the oppositions back line under
pressure either. I think we've got the personnel now that can really take
advantage of that. QPR did much better last weekend against a Southampton
team currently rampant, but, without Austin's worldy, the defeat would have
been far more emphatic. Kranjcar almost stole another late point for the
second week running with yet another classy free kick but this time the
crossbar had other ideas. We'll have to watch that!
Our old friend Harry has openly admitted he hasn't quite found the best way
to play with his team. He hasn't established the right system. He intended
to adopt a back three like he used to some success during his Portsmouth
days but, like Van Gaal , he had to abandon those plans pretty sharpish. His
back line are still getting to grips with the league and each other. Rio is
obviously not the player he was, his partnership with Steven Caulker is
still a work in progress and the two fullbacks Traore and Isla are wing
backs by trade and are yet to settle adequately into the four. All good news
for us of course and I'm confident Allardyce has identified the weaknesses
to exploit and expose there.
In the centre of the park players like Barton, Sandro and Mutch have
struggled with fitness and in the final third, having sold Loic Remy, QPR
are relying heavily on Austin as the lone front man and the team as a whole
have only managed four goals so far this season.
On top of all that the Hoops are still looking for their first away win. I
don't think they'll get it at the Boleyn. Although, unfortunately for us,
Harry Redknapp's record at his old stomping ground is pretty damn good. P7,
W5, D1, L1. Even Pompey used to give us a slap at home under Harry! Only
Piquionne has provided the claret and blue faithful with any glory over our
former gaffer when we beat Spurs one nil just over four years ago exactly.
I'm dreaming of putting a few more than that past Greeny this weekend.
As I write this there's no solid news online on Noble and I'm assuming he's
out, but with or without him I feel we have more than enough to win quite
resolutely. For me this is far more of a test than the trip to Old Trafford.
The West Ham of yore would undoubtedly give a winless team a big fat juicy
victory for their troubles but I just don't see that happening this time.
For those who return, Rio, Robert, Bobby and Harry, I predict you won't be
having a Super Sunday.
Wasn't exactly short and sweet was it in the end? Once I start I do tend to
go on. Now for The West Wing!
B x
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
IN DEFENCE OF HARRY REDKNAPP
By Iain Dale 2 Oct 2014 at 14:00
West Ham Till I DIe
Guest Post by Neil Clack
I doubt there are many subjects that divide West Ham fans opinions as much
as the man who'll be sitting in the opposition dugout this Sunday. For me,
personally, the Redknapp years coincided with a happy time in my life and I
thoroughly enjoyed going to West Ham during that period, so I accept that I
could be looking back through rose-tinted specs here, but the main reason I
rate Redknapp as a manager is simply that I liked the style of football we
played under him.
It didn't always come off, just as it didn't always come off under Greenwood
and Lyall, but I always thought the spirit was there and that Redknapp
strove to play all-out attacking football, with an emphasis on skill and
flair, dribbling and passing along the floor.
Of course, it never reaches our high ideals, and I am aware there is a
certain 'romanticism' attached to the so-called 'West Ham way'. Neither am I
blind to it's faults – with so many players pushed forward, an exposed
defence produces some crazy results. We could be on the receving end of a
right hammering one week, but then out-play opponents and score a few
ourselves the next. As Ron Greenwood put it himself, "if the other team
score three then we'll try and score four!". For me, personally, that is the
kind of football I always want to see.
The Guardian got it spot on I thought when they took a trip down to
Portsmouth's training ground before their FA Cup win in 2008.
On a blustery day at Portsmouth's borrowed training ground in Eastleigh this
week he drilled his players with relish…..only intervening when a short pass
was overlooked in favour of a hopeful long option. Schooled in the West Ham
philosophy of Ron Greenwood and John Lyall, he has an abiding faith in a
passing game but is astute enough to have incorporated the power and pace
necessary in modern football in a squad containing several athletic giants
I have to disagree with those that say Redknapp simpy flung his sides
together any-old-how. Di Canio just did as he wanted and was popping up all
over the place they say….well, yes, that was the idea!
The skilful players, the creators who are your matchwinners, should be
trusted to roam where they want and encouraged to play with freedom, in my
opinion. I'm not going to compare the likes of Di Canio, Berkovic, or Trevor
Sinclair to Cruyff and Maradona, Christian Ronaldo, or Messi, but one of the
main reasons the greats became what they were/are was because their managers
recognised they were intelligent enough to work things out for themselves on
the pitch. They were given loosly-defined roles in the final third, as was
Trevor Brooking by Ron Greenwood for both West Ham and England
I think it's more difficult, and requires a lot more tactical awareness, to
find a system that creates a platform from which flair players can operate
than just setting up your team in a rigid formation where every player has a
clearely defined role – negative tactics that were sadly in vogue with many
British managers a decade or so ago, and took English football backwards, in
my opinion.
John Hartson, in his prime, was a powerful header of the ball, but he also
had good ability when balls were played into his feet, as they often were at
West Ham, often from a central midfield partnership of Bishop and Moncur, a
pairing that would flourish in today's modern Premier league, in my opinion.
Hartson was a a bit of a nutter who sadly went off the rails with alcohol
and gambling problems, culminating in an arrest for assaulting a plant-pot
in his home town in Wales. I think it's unfair to blame the manager for all
that, as discipline was generally good under Redknapp. He banned alcohol
from the players' lounge, introduced the concept of a fitness triainer for
the first time at West Ham and had a reputation for dishing out a rollocking
when it was needed, but sometimes if you have a player with serious
problems, who is a liability, then there's not a lot a manager can do?
Except perhaps get rid of their influence, as Alex Ferguson did several
times with Keith Gillespie, Lee Sharpe, Norman Whiteside, Jaap Stamm and a
few others, inspite of their popularity with the crowd (sadly, so far, it
seems Ferguson knew what he was doing by letting Ravel Morrison go too).
We got excellent money for Hartson (7 million), ripped Wimbledon off really,
and bought Di Canio and Marc Viven-Foe with the proceeds (oh, and Scott
Minto – not quite as good, obviously!). Hartson did very little at Wimbledon
before a renaissance at Celtic in the inferior Scottish league, but he never
did much in the Prem again.
But style of play is so subjective, just personal taste really, noone is
right and noone is wrong, so I'd like to take a closer, more factual look,
at some of the other accusations often aimed at Harry's time at West Ham.
Let's remember where the club was when Redknapp tookover. We were relegation
material, and remained so for a couple of seasons. We had a relatively small
ground and no outside investment, unlike some of our rivals at the time:
Middlesboro, Fulham, Bradford, Blackburn.
Like a politician you can play with statistics and balance sheets to suit
your arguments and Terence Brown certainly did in his first post-Redknapp
chairman's report. Brown is correct though, there was a point (Redknapp's
last season) when we had the 7th largest wage bill in the Premier league and
were not too far behind Arsenal who were in 6th place in the highest wages
list in that one season (although we were way behind the top 5 – Man U,
Leeds, Chelsea, Newcastle and Liverpool).
But what rarely gets mentioned is that there were a whole host of clubs
whose wage bills were not a lot lower than our own at that point –
Middlesboro, Fulham, Sheff Wed, Aston Villa, Bradford, Tottenham, Nottm
Forest and Everton. Infact our wage bill had been significantly lower than
all of those clubs during most of the Redknapp years, and it was only in his
last season that West Ham's reached those levels.
All those clubs were getting themselves heavily into debt. It was not only
us. You had to have a high wage bill, just to be able to compete at that
level.
But this is the crucial bit that rarely gets mentioned either- during his
whole time as maanger, Redknapp was never given money to fund transfers.
Every transfer fee had to be financed by a sale.
At the time of his sacking, Hammers News ran a complete list of all the ins
and outs during Redknapp's time that revealed he had actually made a profit
on transfer fees. The Observer newspaper also at that time published an
article on Premier League spending that showed that overall, ins and outs,
only two Premier league clubs, West Ham and Southampton, did not have a big
minus figure in their total transfer balance during the previous five
seasons.
All the other 15 clubs mentioned above had spent massively on trensfer fees
during that period so, overall, taking into account wages aswell, they had
all spent a lot more money than West Ham. By rights, we should have been
struggling down the bottom of the table, 16th at best, season after season,
but by finishing 8th, 5th, 9th in consecutive seasons we were over-achieving
by a long way.
And I think therein lay the problem. Harry Redknapp was a victim of his own
success and the goalposts got moved. A team that really should have been
battling down the bottom was finishing consistently in the top half,
including a 5th place. Of course, Redknapp was an ambitious manager and
naturally wanted to keep the club moving forward, Brown himself was also
ambitious, stating in one chairman's report during Redknapp's reign that his
aim was to establish the club as a top 8 side and, of course, the fans are
always going to expect more of the same. But, with no investment and a small
ground that was unrealistic, ne impossible.
After years of successful wheelng and dealing eg. Matty Holmes, Cottee,
Bilic, Rieper, Hartson, Lomas, Ian Pearce, Hislop on a free, Sinclair,
Viven-Foe, Kanoute, Sinclair, Lazaridis, many of whom were sold on for big
profits, nooone can dispute that Redknapp spent some of the Rio money badly.
Less than 7 of the £18 million received for Rio went on transfer fees, but,
yes, there are wages to consider. (According to West Ham's chief accountant
Nick Igoe at a fan forum in Feb 2005, the decision to sell Rio was taken by
the board as they feared an EU law was going to abolish transfer fees and
that the defender might leave for free at a later date – he also said
Redknapp was given a 300k bonus "for good service to the club and his good
work in the negotiaitions during the Rio sale").
Christain Dailly at £1.75 milliion was a good signing, in my opinion. A
handy squad player for seven seasons, twice having his contract extended
under Pardew in the Premier league, and, as Pardew often alluded to, Dailly
was an excellent influence around the training ground.
Rigobert Song was sold for a small profit after a year so we didn't lose too
much money on him (Cologne were probably paying some of his wages when he
went on loan there for a few months before being sold to Lens). He went on
to have a decent career at a decent level, captaining Galataseray aswell as
Cameroon.
Todorov, Foxe, Soma – all youngsters bought for their potential.
Unfortunatey injuries blighted Todorov's career so it's difficult to judge
him, but he did have a good goals to appearances ratio in the Premier League
and Championship for Portsmouth and Wigan, before injury wrecked his career.
It's probably fair to say that both Todorov and Foxe (an ever present for
Pompey when they won the Championship) found their correct level in the
Championship, but neither Todorov, Foxe or Soma could have been earning that
high wages at West Ham as we would not have been able to offload them so
easily a year or so after they all joined.
Titi Camara was by far the worst of all Redknapp's signings, the one that is
refered to most, and the one on which hangs the most suspicion. It's
impossible to defend this signing, but at £2 million, he did cost less than
the £3.5 million Liverpool paid for him 18 months earlier. Camara had
actually made a good start to his career at Liverpool, finishing top scorer
behind Owen in 99/2000 and the fans had taken to him up there, but something
went wrong and he fell out with Houllier.
I'm not for one moment going to defend the signing of Camara, but all
managers do make bad signings. Greats managers like Ferguson and Wenger made
a few, wasting millions on the likes of Veron and Jeffers, but I can see the
logic behind the Camara deal. Redknapp probably thought, wrongly, that he
could get the striker back to what he was in France, where he had a very
good scoring record. I believe Redknapp was acting in the best interests of
the club when he made that signing. It was precisely that sort of gambling
attitude that brought us Paulo Di Canio.
Not part of the Rio money, but another signing that often gets lumped in
with it is Gary Charles, an ex England international. Again, classic
Redknapp, believing he could get a player whose career had lost it's way,
back on track. Of course, Redknapp was badly wrong again here, and I am not
pretending it was anything other than a bad buy, but I can see a logic to
the signing. Fortunately, West Ham had sensibly taken out insurance on
Charles' dodgy knee. It may well have been serious alcoholism that finished
Charles' career, but officially it was the knee and the insurance company
paid up the rest of his contract when it was terminated. To put that into
perspective, Charles cost the club, in transfer fee and wages, less than
Vladimir Labant (a Roeder signing), whose 4 year contract was also ripped up
but paid up in full by the club.
It is the accusations and rumours that Redknapp took bungs that leaves a bad
taste for all of us. Who really knows what went on? Maybe Terence Brown
doesn't actually know, though he suspects and has insinuated it, to a few
people.
It's so difficult to seperate rumours from facts, or to know who or what to
believe? That Mark Redkanpp was involved in his father's dealings is one of
the most repeated rumours, but, as far as I'm aware, has no substance? I
once spoke to West Ham's former Chief executive Paul Aldridge about this,
and he dismissed it out of hand. He said that on match days he used to chat
openly in the players lounge with Mark Redknapp, who regularly attended
games, and he thinks maybe that's how the false rumours started (I am aware,
of course, that Aldridge could well have been lying, but my gut feeling is
that he was genuine).
Author Tom Bower investigated Redknapp's transfers as thoroughly as anyone
has, especially the Rio transfer and Song and Camara deals. Thanks to
Terence Brown's assistance, Bower had access to documents, but makes no
reference to Mark Redknapp in his book 'Broken Dreams'. I'm sure Bower would
have said something if Redknapp's son had been involved as it would add to
the sense of scandal he was trying to create. He makes a very big deal of
the relationship between Arsenal's David Dein and his agent son in another
chapter.
The BBC programme from ten years ago, 'Fergie & Son', mainly concentrated on
Alex Ferguson's transfer dealings, but also mentioned Allardyce & son, Mick
MaCarthy & son and Howard Wilkinson & Son, as did several newspaper
articles, which also revealed how Kevin Keegan and Stuart Pearce, manager
and assistant at Man City, both had shares in an agency that City bought
players from. Again, why no mention of Redknapp & son in these programmes
and aticles? It would be such an obvious choice if it was true?
It's often mentioned how Redknapp used 'unscrupulous' agents like Pini
Zahavi, Willie Mckay and Rene Hauge, but the sad fact is Zahavi and Mckay
are two of football's most established fixers and you have to use people
like them if you want to bring good players to your club, especially foreign
players. By condemning deals involving Zahavi and McKay you are condemning
pretty much every manager and Chief executive who's ever worked in the
Premier league.
Behind the sweeping statements, do we know exactly which players were signed
through these agents? As far as I am aware, the only Zahavi player signed by
Redknapp was Eyal Berkovic. However, after Redkanpp left, Zahavi continued
as the agent involved in a number of West ham's signings, such as Rebrov,
Benayoun, Katan, Pantsill, Tevez and Mascherano.
As far as I am aware, there were only three Willie Mckay players signed by
Redknapp – Marc Vivien-Foe, Song and Camara.
According to Bower's 'Broken Dreams', it was actually O'Leary (George
Graham's prodigy) who insisted on Rene Hauge being involved in the Rio deal.
Hauge's ban was over so there was nothing ilegal about it and, as far as I'm
aware, I don't think Hauge was involved in any other West Ham deals does
anyone know? Apart from Soma perhaps?
I am suspicious, and always have been ever since all the rumours first
surfaced years ago, but I am also sceptical as I've met so many supposedly
barstool 'in-the-knows', and even journos, over the years who claim they
know something, but when it comes down to it they know no more than you and
I, and sometimes I can't help feeling that they are just rumours and gossip
that go round like a big game of chinese whispers, getting more embelished
as they're passed on.
A few more points:
- The club's accounts show the wage bill actually rose under Roeder.
- £25 million of the debt upon relegation in 2003 was money spent on the new
stands.
- It's a myth, in my opinion, that we were nearly relegated in Redknapp's
last season. We actually went 6th after beating Charlton 5-0 on Boxing day,
but after the FA Cup run (with good wins at Old Trafford and Sunderland),
key players were rested for two league games before the big quarter final
with Tottenham. We lost, everyone was gutted, and the seson just petered out
into nothing as there was nothing to play for. There were some poor games
and we slipped down the table, not mathematically safe until three games to
go, but I never felt we were ever in danger of going down?
But finally, and this is is the ultimate irony, In the end, the size of the
wage bill and debt didn't matter! (as long as we had remained in Premier
League, which I believe we would have under Redknapp). Scudamore at the
Premier League and the TV companies, with their professional financial
forecasts of a never ending TV bounty, were right after all. Brown and
Deloitte Touche's fears of the TV money drying up were unfounded and wrong.
(In his Chairman's report after sacking Redknapp, Brown got it wrong about
the TV money, and irony of ironies, as a result of those later masssive TV
deals that he never saw coming, Brown was able to sell the club and make a
cool 40 million pound profit for himself!).
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Hammers on Lee for Bolton speculation
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on October 2, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
West Ham claim to have had no contact from Bolton over a possible 93 day
loan move for Elliott Lee. Reports the striker could join former Hammer Rob
Hall at the club were greeted with surprise from the Upton Park hierachy.
One told ClaretandHugh: "We've heard nothing from Bolton on that one. As far
as we know it's just media talk. "Mind you they did their brains on Hall who
has played one Capital League match this season and managed two goals from
24 appearances last term."
Reports emerged earlier today that a 93-day loan deal seeming the most
viable option. Bolton want to boost their attacking option after an abysmal
start to the season which sees them in second off bottom spot in the
Championship. But the Hammers insist that there has been no move for Lee and
our source said: "If he does go out anywhere we will want assurances that he
will get regular first team football but there's been nothing from Bolton."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Hidden Carroll costs send fee up and up
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on October 2, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
The cost of injury stricken Andy Carroll to West Ham United just rises and
rises. A ClaretandHugh probe has discovered that the deal with Liverpool
also includes £500,000 payments for each season we remain in the Premier
League up to four . And despite missing half of last season and managing
just two goals the Irons have handed over the first £500,000 payment to
Liverpool for that campaign. And a top insider told us: "Potentially another
£1.5 million could take the tranafer bill to £18.5 million rather than the
widely quoted 16.5 million."Up to now, hes not the best of buys, as he's
also the highest paid player at the club, but let's hope he comes good."
ClaretandHugh reported this morning that Newcastle had shown interest in the
summer and that the could come back should manager Alan Pardew hold onto his
job
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Noble's "strange" injury
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on October 2, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
Mark Noble's chances of returning to the team for the Queens Park Rangers
game appear to be on the slide. And that means Diego Poyet could again be in
central midfield for the game following his start against Manchester United
last weekend. Hopes had been rising that Noble – given he was in no pain
from the calf/shin injury – would be very much in the frame for Sunday's
game. But following a scan it seems there are some complications with a
source telling ClaretandHugh: "It's a strange injury, we just do not know
how long it will take." The comment was confirmed by www.physioroom.com who
have no projected return date for the midfielder.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Newcaste AC interest may rest on Pardew's future
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on October 2, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
Newcastle United were keen to discover Andy Carroll's availability in the
summer and the Hammers believe they could return if Alan Pardew keeps his
job. ClaretandHugh has discovered from a Boleyn insider that Newcastle were
'sniffing' around in July and August. Pardew's position remains uncertain on
Tyneside but we understand that talks about the former hammers boss' future
could involve discussions about a Carroll return home. The player has two
children living in the city! The Irons are keen to keep the player and
certainly weren't interested in the £10m bid they were likely to receive had
they shown any interest in Newcastle's position. A source told us
exclusively: " Newcastle were sniffing around but Andy has work to do here –
he has things to prove to everybody. "It's been difficult for him and us but
we all know at his best he is a very good player indeed and a real asset.
"There has been no concrete offer from Newcastle but it's reasonable to say
that should Pardew remain at the club there could be."
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Downing heads Fabregas, Hazard, Sterling
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on October 2, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
Enner Valencia and Diafra Sakho have been a revelation this season but
Stewart Downing is emerging as the most influential Hammer over the early
games. And since he was used in the diamond formation the guy has truly
blossomed to the point where he is looking for and talking about an England
recall. A new set of stats from @EPL Statman proves the point as Downing now
heads the list of players responsible for creating most Premier League
chances this season.
Here's the full list:
Downing 20
Fabregas 20
Cabella 17
Silva 16
Hazard 15
Sigurdsson 14
Sterling 14
Barton 13
Ramsey 13
Larsson 13
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