Seven facts you might not know about Sir Trevor Brooking
WHUFC.com
August 29 2017 marks 50 years to the day that a certain Sir Trevor Brooking made his very first appearance for West Ham United. The midfielder played on the right-wing in a 3-3 draw with Burnley at Turf Moor, and so began the start of one of the most iconic careers in West Ham United history.
On the anniversary of Sir Trevor's special day we've taken a look at seven facts about the man himself you might not have known about:
He was also offered deals by Tottenham and Chelsea
Sir Trevor is undoubtedly a West Ham United legend. However things could have gone very differently for the iconic No10 - and he may have never played for West Ham at all - had he and his parents accepted a very different deal.
Brooking's signature at 15 was also pursued by Chelsea and Tottenham, with all three clubs offering him an apprenticeship. Only West Ham United would allow him to finish his studies at school though and despite Chelsea offering his parents a £500 signing fee and a car, Brooking opted to sign with the Hammers in July 1965.
Only three players have made more appearances for West Ham United
What a career Sir Trevor had with West Ham United! The midfielder played for the Club for 18 seasons between 1966-1984, amassing an incredible 643 appearances across all competitions for the Irons.
This number has been bettered by only three other players in the Club's history. The one-and-only Bobby Moore played in just one more match for the Hammers with 644. Frank Lampard Sr featured in 670 matches for West Ham during his career but the record holder, with 799 showings, is Billy Bonds.
He is West Ham United's eighth highest scorer ever
During his West Ham United career Sir Trevor netted 102 goals for the Hammers, a record that has only been bettered by seven other players in the Club's history.
Sir Trevor's best campaign saw the No10 net 11 times in the 1972/73 season for the Hammers, but his consistency across his lengthy spell with the Irons meant he rightfully earned his stance as one of West Ham United's top ever goal-scorers.
He scored the winning FA Cup goal in 1980
Now, you probably knew this one. But it's so good it just had to be mentioned.
Sir Trevor helped the Hammers to win two FA Cups, in 1975 and 1980, and he was the goalscorer in the second of those victories as the Irons saw off Arsenal 1-0.
The midfielder scored a rare header in the 13th minute to hand West Ham United the trophy and is still the last time a club from outside the top flight won the competition.
He has won the most Hammer of the Year awards
Sir Trevor's performances for West Ham United were legendary with the No10 the first player to win three consecutive Hammer of the Year awards - between 1976-1978.
The midfielder ended up winning five Hammer of the Year awards during his career, the only player in the history of the Club to do so with his other wins coming in 1972 and 1984.
Four players - Billy Bonds, Bobby Moore and Julian Dicks - have claimed the award on four occasions and Scott Parker is the only other player to win three consecutive Hammer of the Year honours.
He has managed West Ham United as well
Okay, Sir Trevor's never actually been employed as West Ham United manager, but the former No10 has been the club's caretaker boss on two occasions.
Both of those spells came in 2003. Sir Trevor took charge of West Ham United for the final three games of the 2002/03 campaign, picking up seven points, and also managed the team for 11 matches of the 2003/04 season in the Championship.
Of the 14 games Sir Trevor has been West Ham United's (caretaker) manager he lost just once, and claimed 31 points out of a possible 42.
His variety of nicknames at West Ham United
There's no doubt that Sir Trevor has earned his status as one of the best players to ever grace the pitch for West Ham United, but his different attributes also saw the midfielder given three different nicknames during his time with the Club.
As a youngster Brooking had yet to fully develop and was therefore prone to being outmuscled by opponents. This led to his teammates calling him 'Cyril', after Cyril Lord the carpet salesman, because manager Ron Greenwood had told him "you're always on the floor".
His second was gifted to him due to a lack of natural pace. Although technically sensational Sir Trevor was never blessed with outstanding speed, leasing to his teammates dubbing him 'Boog' - after a slow baseball player called Boog Powell that the team had watched in action during a tour of the United States.
Sir Trevor's final nickname - 'Hadleigh' - comes from the lead character of a television show of the same name known for his gentlemanly conduct. The former No10's lack of bookings during his West Ham United career, and sporting behaviour, saw him called 'Hadleigh' by his teammates.
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International Hammers: Who is playing, who has nearly qualified for the World Cup and where can I watch?
WHUFC.com
The first international break of the 2016/17 season is upon us and that means West Ham United players are jetting all over the world to represent their countries.
No fewer than 18 Hammers have been called-up by their respective nations, with FIFA World Cup qualifiers and friendly matches to be played in venues from Mexico City to Ougadougou and Astana to London.
Here's all you need to know about the Hammers' international commitments over the next fortnight...
Which Hammers have been called-up for international duty?
Eighteen (yes, 18!) West Ham United players have been called-up, including eleven seniors and six at age-group level. Take a deep breath... OK, here we go!
Marko Arnautovic (Austria), Andre Ayew (Ghana), Chicharito (Mexico), James Collins (Wales), Conor Coventry (Republic of Ireland U19), Aaron Cresswell (England), Edimilson Fernandes (Switzerland), Jose Fonte (Portugal), Sead Haksabanovic (Montenegro), Joe Hart (England), Dan Kemp (England U19), Cheikhou Kouyate (Senegal), Arthur Masuaku (DR Congo), Rihards Matrevics (Latvia U19), Domingos Quina (Portugal U20), Anthony Scully (Republic of Ireland U19) and Nathan Trott (England U20)
Unfortunately a 19th Hammer, Manuel Lanzini, was removed the Argentina squad for two FIFA World Cup qualifiers due to a right knee injury.
Where can I watch the Hammers on TV?
ITV, Sky Sports and BT Sport are the official broadcasters of 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in the UK, with ITV covering England games, Sky showing the European matches and BT bringing viewers the African ties.
Starting in Europe, Sead Haksabanovic and Montenegro travel to Kazakhstan in Group E on Friday 1 September, with Sky Sports Football showing the 5pm kick-off, before ITV bring us Joe Hart, Aaron Cresswell and England's Group F qualifier from Malta at 7.45pm.
Sky Sports Football will also be there as James Collins and Marko Arnautovic square-off when Wales host Austria in Group D in Cardiff on Saturday 2 September at 7.45pm.
England's home game with Slovakia at Wembley on Monday (7.45pm) and Wales' trip to Moldova on Tuesday (7.45pm) will be shown by ITV and Sky Sports Mix respectively.
Jose Fonte's Portugal sit second in UEFA Group B, three points behind Edimilson Fernandes' Switzerland. The Euro 2016 champions' qualifier in Hungary on Sunday will be screened live by ITV4 at 7.45pm.
Last but not least, Cheikhou Kouyate's Senegal host Burkina Faso on Saturday at 9pm, live on BT Sport 1.
Getty Images
Are any of our lads close to sealing qualification for Russia 2018?
Yes. Chicharito is the closest, with his Mexico side needing just one more win to secure their place at next summer's FIFA World Cup finals.
El Tri sit top of the CONCACAF Round 5 group with 14 points from six matches. Victory in either their home tie with Panama in Mexico City in the early hours of Saturday morning (2.30am BST) or in Costa Rica next Wednesday (3.05am BST) will be enough to send Mexico to Russia.
Potential DR Congo debutant Arthur Masuaku arrives with his new national team unbeaten at the top of CAF Group A. Victory in their double-header with Tunisia would all but book their place at their second World Cup finals appearance.
What about the younger lads?
Seven teenagers have been called-up at the various age-group levels - three by Republic of Ireland, two by England and one each by Latvia and Portugal.
Fresh from winning the European U19 Championship with England, Nathan Trott is now in the U20 squad for friendly matches with the Netherlands on Thursday and in Switzerland on Monday.
Portugal's Domingos Quina was on the losing side in that U19 final and he too has been included in his country's U20 squad. They host the Czech Republic on Thursday before traveling to the Netherlands on Monday.
Elsewhere, Declan Rice could make his Ireland U21 debut in a European Championship qualifier in Azerbaijan on Tuesday, while Dan Kemp is in the England U19 squad for a home friendly with Poland on Friday.
Conor Coventry, Anthony Scully and Ireland U19s have a friendly double-header with the Czech Republic, while goalkeeper Rihards Matrevics travel to Greece for two matches.
So, can you tell me the full story?
Of course! Here is a complete list of international fixtures potentially involving West Ham United players - in chronological order. For simplicity, all times are BST!
Thursday 31 August
Sead Haksabanovic, Kazakhstan v Montenegro, UEFA Group E, Astana, 5pm
Nathan Trott, England U20 v Netherlands U20, Friendly, Telford, 7pm
Domingos Quina, Portugal U20 v Czech Republic U20, Friendly, Abrantes, 7pm
Edimilson Fernandes, Switzerland v Andorra, UEFA Group B, St Gallen, 7.45pm
Jose Fonte, Portugal v Faroe Islands, UEFA Group B, Porto, 7.45pm
Friday 1 September
Andre Ayew, Ghana v Congo, CAF Group E, Kumasi, 2.30pm
Dan Kemp, England U19 v Poland U19, Friendly, St George's Park, 7pm
Aaron Cresswell/Joe Hart, Malta v England, UEFA Group F, Ta'Qali, 7.45pm
Arthur Masuaku, Tunisia v DR Congo, CAF Group A, Rades, 9pm
Saturday 2 September
Chicharito, Mexico v Panama, CONCACAF Round 5, Mexico City, 2.30am
Domingos Quina, Netherlands U20 v Portugal U20, Friendly, Rijnsburg, 1pm
Rihards Matrevics, Greece U19 v Latvia U19, Friendly, Agrinio, TBC
Cheikhou Kouyate, Senegal v Burkina Faso, CAF Group D, Dakar, 7pm
James Collins/Marko Arnautovic, Wales v Austria, UEFA Group D, Cardiff, 7.45pm
Conor Coventry/Anthony Scully, Republic of Ireland U19 v Czech Republic U19, Friendly, Waterford, 7.45pm
Getty Images
Sunday 3 September
Edimilson Fernandes, Latvia v Switzerland, UEFA Group B, Riga, 7.45pm
Jose Fonte, Hungary v Portugal, UEFA Group B, Budapest, 7.45pm
Monday 4 September
Conor Coventry/Anthony Scully, Republic of Ireland U19 v Czech Republic U19, Friendly, Waterford, 1pm
Rihards Matrevics, Greece U19 v Latvia U19, Friendly, Agrinio, TBC
Nathan Trott, Switzerland U20 v England U20, Friendly, Winterthur, 5pm
Sead Haksabanovic, Montenegro v Romania, UEFA Group E, Podgorica, 7.45pm
Aaron Cresswell/Joe Hart, England v Slovakia, UEFA Group F, Wembley, 7.45pm
Tuesday 5 September
Declan Rice, Azerbaijan U21 v Republic of Ireland U21, Euro Group 5, Baku, 1pm
Cheikhou Kouyate, Burkina Faso v Senegal, CAF Group D, Ougadougou, 5pm
Arthur Masuaku, DR Congo v Tunisia, CAF Group A, Kinshasa, 7.30pm
Dan Kemp, England U19 v Germany U19, Friendly, Mansfield, 7pm
Andre Ayew, Congo v Ghana, CAF Group D, Brazzaville, 7.45pm
James Collins, Moldova v Wales, UEFA Group D, Chisinau, 7.45pm
Marko Arnautovic, Austria v Georgia, UEFA Group D, Vienna, 7.45pm
Wednesday 6 September
Chicharito, Costa Rica v Mexico, CONCACAF Round 5, San Jose, 3.05am
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50 years on: Sir Trevor Brooking remembers his Hammers debut
WHUFC.com
August 29, 1967. Burnley 3 West Ham United 3 in the old First Division. The record books show that West Ham's goalscorers that day were England's World Cup heroes Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters. However, the fixture was also notable for the senior first-team debut of an 18-year-old local lad by the name of Trevor Brooking. Little did anyone present at Turf Moor know then that the tall, slim, dark-haired midfielder would go on to make 643 appearances over a period of 17 years, winning two FA Cups, 47 England caps and five Hammer of the Year awards, with his services to the game eventually earning a deserved knighthood.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary, Sir Trevor recently made a visit to Chadwell Heath, now the dedicated headquarters of West Ham's Academy players and staff, and reflected on the day when it all began for him half a century ago. "Burnley were one of the top sides in the 60s," recalled Sir Trevor. "The day before, Ron Greenwood pulled me aside and said I would be travelling up to Turf Moor with the squad and starting the game. He told me that he preferred to give young players their debut away from home, without the pressure of the home crowd. "I played a wider role on the left of midfield against Burnley which, funnily enough, was the case when I first got my chance with England, before moving to my preferred position in the centre. "It was obviously a big game for me, and a 3-3 draw was a really good result for us up there. Our goalscorers, ironically, were Moore, Hurst and Peters. Not a bad trio!"
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IN SLAVEN WE TRUST….
AUTHOR: EXWHUEMPLOYEE. PUBLISHED: 29 AUGUST 2017 AT 3:50PM
TheWestHamWay.co.uk
Written by Mike Buckler – Block 217
This is my first article for TWHW, and I hope to do many more. I just wish my first one were more positive!
I write this critique with a heavy heart, but a very clear mind. I've been a West Ham supporter my whole life, and have been a season ticket holder through good times and bad. The club hasn't won a single piece of serious silverware (excluding play-off finals) in my lifetime, yet my love for West Ham is unconditional and my loyalty unwavering. That doesn't mean I'll tolerate a lack of strategy and ambition, though, so I'm prepared to speak up when I don't think things are right.
It would be easy to write-off criticism of the manager and team as 'knee-jerk' when we are just two away fixtures into the new season, and the first of those against a resurgent Manchester United. However, the core issues at West Ham have existed for many years, and I therefore think it is time that everyone associated with the club considers the root causes of these issues.
I think our shortcomings, when it comes to performances and results, point to critical flaws with the manager, but we – the supporters – are also not entirely blameless. I'll focus on the manager here, but will write another article soon about the impact on the club of fans being too sentimental and nostalgic.
Slaven Bilic is, on paper, everything West Ham could possibly want from a manager. He proudly wore the claret and blue threads in the prime years of his career, and was part of the Croatian team that finished third in World Cup '98. After retiring as a player, Bilic coached Croatia for over 6 years, leading them to the late stages of an international tournament, and he worked with some very talented players in the process. He is intelligent, articulate, and likeable. And his most compelling attribute- he understands the history and culture of the club, and he is clear as day when talking to the media about what the supporters expect from the players and the team on the pitch.
So why do I believe Slaven is largely at fault for all of the on-field issues?
Well, for me it comes down to three areas where we are seriously lacking, and he is ultimately responsible for all of them.
Quality, depth and balance of the squad
Physical and mental conditioning of the players
Formation, team selection, tactics and playing style
Quality, depth and balance of the squad
If Bilic is responsible for assembling the first team squad, then he is responsible for identifying players that add quality, depth and balance. Whilst there is no doubt in my mind that we have added the right calibre of player this summer, for which he and the Chairmen should be commended, the outcomes of the previous two transfer windows were appalling. £40m spent in less than six months for Ayew, Fonte and Snodgrass might honestly be the worst business in football. Ever.
Subsequently, we are still lacking (reliable) depth in certain positions and the squad is getting worryingly older. If I were in charge, I would sign a pair of young forwards with high potential, one that could play on the left and one to play up top. But the depth and balance of our squad would, of course, be less of an issue if Bilic were more willing to give our talented youngsters a chance in their right positions. For example, I would start Declan Rice alongside Reid (if available) in our next match against Newcastle, because I'm sure he would do a much better job than Fonte or Ogbonna.
Finally, a real irritation for all supporters is that throughout Slaven's tenue as manager he has repeatedly played some of our best players out of position. This is a direct consequence of not adding enough depth to the squad, either through recruitment or giving academy prospects an opportunity. After two games this season it seems that Bilic is less inclined to do this but, as I have already mentioned, I'd like to see Declan Rice given a chance at centre half rather than as a defensive midfielder.
Physical and mental conditioning of the players
One of my biggest concerns right now is that most of the players are lacking match fitness, stamina and discipline. For the last two years, pre-season has been more about travelling around the world playing exhibition-style matches, rather than properly preparing the squad for Premier League football. The pre-season programme and schedule of managers must come under Slaven's responsibility, so he is accountable. You could also argue that we only got off to a flyer in Bilic's first season in charge because we were forced to play competitive Europa League football from the beginning of July.
Let's also consider that if the rumours coming from inside and outside the club are true – that training under Bilic lacks intensity – then there is little wonder why the players are complacent and ill-disciplined on match days. I can't help but feel that Bilic's personality and management style are akin to a teacher at school that is every pupil's mate, but that he isn't strict enough when it matters and therefore doesn't necessarily get the best performance and grades out of the students.
I was part of the majority of supporters that were pleased to see the back of Big Sam, but Bilic could learn a great deal from his obsession with optimising performance through sports science.
Formation, team selection, tactics and playing style
Perhaps the most damning criticism of Bilic is that he doesn't seem to have a preferred system, nor does he appear to know his best eleven when everyone is fit. And when it comes to team selection, he shows loyalty for the wrong reasons- players should be in the team on merit, not because of their CV, or the fact that they were born in Canning Town!
Based on the talent in the squad, I think we should play a system either with four at the back and two up top, or five at the back with one up top. Crucially, without a fit Andy Carroll or Diafra Sakho, which we all know is most of the time, we are not maximising our talent by playing a system with one striker through the middle. Few would argue that Chicharito is our most talented striker, so it is abundantly clear to me that playing him up top on his own will limit his ability to score. I am fully prepared to be proved wrong once we see him joined on the field by Lanzini, but I still feel a system with two strikers would help alleviate the pressure on our defence.
When it comes to tactics and playing style, West Ham has quite a negative identity under Bilic. The formation often invites too much pressure on our defence, and we don't seem to move the ball quickly enough in transition to pose an effective counter attack. Playing two defensive midfielders in front of two centre halves isn't a guarantee to conceding fewer goals. On the contrary, the best teams in the Premier League (generally speaking) keep more clean sheets, and I believe that is in part because they spend more time attacking than defending. If the club succeeds in signing William Carvahlo, then perhaps Bilic will have the confidence to play just one defensive midfielder, which would allow him to give Chicharito a strike partner. Time will tell.
I'd like to conclude the article by saying that I am desperate for Slaven to turn things around, because he seems to be a top bloke and like most West Ham fans I suffer from an illogical sense of sentimentality and nostalgia. The problem, though, is that all of the issues I've covered in this article have existed throughout Bilic's tenure, and I'm not convinced he will change any time soon.
What do you think? I'd like to hear from you!
COYI
Mike Buckler – Block 217
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A TIME FOR COOL HEADS
AUTHOR: EXWHUEMPLOYEE. PUBLISHED: 29 AUGUST 2017 AT 2:09PM
TheWestHamWay.co.uk
Written by @FarehamHammer
Well that was shocking wasn't it? I just could not believe the team list when I saw it and I bet neither could you either. Picking a midfield of Noble, Rice and Fernandes, when you had Kouyate, Obiang and Lanzini on the bench was UTTER MADNESS. A bit like you and I being in bed, flanked by Suzanne Boyle on one side, Beyoncé on the other and deciding to s*** Suzanne Boyle. Some will say Kouyate and Lanzini were not fully match fit. Christ on a bike! We were playing Newcastle a team bereft of any confidence; if we attacked them from the off-it would of paid dividends. Then at the appropriate time, once the damage is done, the manager brings the trio off individually. He is in training every day and should know the level of fitness of each player. Part of me wonders if he picked the starting midfield trio on purpose, in an effort to get The Board to bring in Carvalho. Stupid and suicidal if he did.
Something does not ring right in regards to the chairman and Bilic. Slaven keeps on talking about: net spend, players sold as a result we have money to spend, saying the squad is not is not big enough. Yes, I know he said yesterday that he was "satisfied with his squad"- I don't believe that. I think that he was told that there is no more dough and has had no option but to put a positive spin on things. A while back he said that the board did well and there would be no more big signings. It is clear that the manager desperately wants Carvalho. I think Carvalho's name has been leaked to the media from Slaven's people. Why would G&S leak Carvalho's name to the media? There are no season tickets to be sold and they had delivered in their promise to bring in four proven Premiership quality players. Till Carvalho's name appeared in the media, most were happy with the window They were content to see what transpires in the dying days of the transfer window. If there has been a rift between the board and Slaven over Carvalho, things like that would also affect the players-which in turn results in performances like yesterday.
Well apparently the chairman and Bilic met and had two positive meetings. Those baying for Bilic's blood reminded me of those baying for Jesus's at The Crucifixion. Unlike Pontius Pilate, Gold and Sullivan did not deliver them Slaven's blood. They don't like sacking managers. It would cost a lot of money for starters. They would have to pay off Bilic and his staff, bring in a new manager and his team. He will want to bring in his own signings, what happens to the players bought for Slaven? Far too much dough! I have no doubt though that Sullivan has told Slaven that things must improve on the pitch ASAP. I would guess that Slaven would have told Sullivan that although we have done good business it's not enough-which is true. Our squad's depth is paper thin and unbalanced. We are playing catch up this season, due to last season's summer fiasco and both Slaven and the board are to blame. Look there is no doubt that The Board DO believe in Bilic. The way they went out of their way to land Javier Hernandez speaks for itself. I also think they will sanction a couple more players brought in, possibly even try at this late hour to land Carvalho. Although like anything in life, you don't always get what you want. If that were to happen, I could see someone like Obiang being sold. Sadly Slaven does not seem to rate him somehow.
One of the biggest issues Slaven Bilic has to deal with is the Mark Noble one. Playing Noble is costing West Ham in match after match. No it is not a case of not 'respecting' Noble, some want the boy from Canning Town in the team at any cost. They would rather have the likes of Obiang, who is different class to Noble SOLD, if it meant Noble kept his place in the team. Their basis for keeping him in the team? He's 'West Ham'. Then in that case Slaven, has got to play you or me in the team, as we are 'West Ham'. The simple reality about Noble is this: He has absolutely no pace, offers nothing going forward, resorts to vicious fouls in dangerous positions, as he is too slow to get back. When closed down quickly, is either dispossessed or passes straight to the opposition. He offers nothing offensively, passing anywhere but forward (will come back to that in a mo.). The opposition know he is the weak link and exploit that. Cutting through our midfield like a knife through butter. As a result our defence has no protection. The strikers also get no service, as a result they have to drop to the half way line to collect the ball! How can you hurt the opposition like that?
So what IF we sign William Carvalho? A huge imposing defensive midfielder, not much gets past him. This would surely mean the end of Noble? Ironically not. It could well be The SALVATION of Noble! Some of Noble's best football was played when 'The Wardrobe' Papa Diop played for the Cub. Diop was like Carvalho, a big imposing man. He shielded Noble, giving him time and space on the ball. As a result Noble switched play superbly at times. Popping up here there and everywhere, giving short crisp passes, and keeping the ball moving. Carvalho or no Carvalho a change of captaincy is needed, Noble is not suited to the role of Captain, too quick to lose his head, give it to someone like Zabaleta. Someone who knows how to steady ship that is exactly what we need now. A steady hand. Yes Saturday was bad but time for some leadership on and off the pitch to be shown and get the good ship West Ham United sailing forward. Why not? You know as well as I do, that we have the potential to do that. Bilic? The future is in his hands. Time to deliver! And us the supporters? Win a few games and it will be; Super Slav! Super Slav! Super SLAVEN BILIC!
We are more than a football club, we're a way of life!
COYI!!
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Not another long goodbye…
KUMB.com
Filed: Tuesday, 29th August 2017
By: Paul Walker
We've all been here before, haven't we? Slaven Bilic is on the naughty step again and Lord Sully has the raging hump. Is this just another tedious chapter in the long, long goodbye for yet another manager?
To my recollection, this is the third, maybe second, time in the past year that West Ham's manager has been summoned (never asked politely to pop over for a chat, but summoned by the powers on high) for a showdown with our chairman as yet another calamity in the 'other' Eastenders soap opera gathers speed.
It is always the same. The team lose a string of games, and Bilic gets told he has four games to save his job. I recall way back at the beginning of last season we were out of Europe and getting battered by everybody from Manchester City to Watford. Five defeats in six if I recall.
We are then due to face Spurs, Manchester United twice, Arsenal and Liverpool and Bilic is put under tremendous pressure to turn things around. We end up being unlucky to lose at Spurs and draw at Man U and Liverpool.
Then it happens again. We lose to Chelsea, Bournemouth, Leicester, Hull and Arsenal on the spin. Lose the next one at home to Swansea and Slav is toast, we are told. We win 1-0.
Somehow we claw our way to 11th after one defeat in the last seven. But there is still a far-reaching end of season review and it all totters on through the summer, with Slav changing his medical staff rather than axing his coaches as the board seem to want.
Now after a seemingly never ending tour of the western world--Austria (twice), Bremen (twice), Hamburg, Iceland, Manchester, Southampton, Cheltenham and Newcastle in 41 demanding days, we find ourselves rock bottom of the table and Slav taking the blame.
It's getting tedious, boring and predictable. The same complaints from the fans and the board are repeated over and over. Slav can't organise a defence to save his life, the team show no pace, desire, effort or belief and we are going through new signings ten to the dozen.
Now we are told the board are unhappy with the application, team selection and tactics. Many of the fans who have supported Slav through all this turmoil are turning against him.
It's all turning nasty and the inevitable seems closer than ever. David Sullivan, though, knows he faces a decision he clearly does not want to take. The fan base are split on so many things, but Bilic--to those who are anti-board--is their shining light, the rekindling of a West Ham many feel has gone forever.
You sense that fans who are supportive of the board want a change in management. Light the claret and blue touch paper Dave, and stand well back.
Jamie Redknapp reckons Bilic is still suffering from the transfer shambles of last summer, he may well be right. This window has seen five new players signed, only three who cost a transfer fee. Sullivan was being praised to the heavens for his work in getting Joe Hart, Pablo Zabaleta, Javier Hernandez, Marko Arnautovic to the club.
Even the promising kid, Saed Haksabanovic was considered a coup.
Since then, three weeks have been and gone and nobody has been added to the squad. In that time Bilic has clearly been told to sell to give the club the reduced wage bill to buy someone like William Carvalho.
We have sold £30m worth of players and the spend is about £42m. The worst aspect of the transfer dealings is that of the 18 players who have joined the club since Sam Byram arrived in January 2016, nine have already gone and that will be ten if Jose Fonte is sold to Crystal Palace. That's a shocking situation.
If you go back to the beginning of Bilic's reign, which started in June 2015, we have signed (bought or loaned) 48 players and 22 have already left. How you are supposed to forge a proper squad, team spirit and togetherness after that turnover is beyond me.
The other problem is the slow depleting of our squad. If you ignore the four lads from the academy who were released--they will always be replaced by promotion from within--14 players (sold or loaned)have left the club, and only the five previously mentioned have arrived.
Sullivan has, in effect, launched a culling of the nonsense of last summer, to get flops off the wage bill. But in doing so, Bilic's options have decreased.
The fact that so many injuries have hampered this season's preparation has added to the problem. We were promised two strikers would be signed. We only have Hernandez. Arnautovic, to me, is a wide attacking midfielder. He is not a striker. He can do that job, but so too can Michail Antonio, but it's not something want to be the norm.
We still need a commanding centre-back, a forceful holding midfield player and another striker. Andy Carroll, you may have noticed, is still not fit.
But none of this has happened, and in the last days of the window, I'm not holding my breath. At least Sullivan has not done the stupid thing and sacked a manager in a transfer window. Even now, the uncertainty will clearly put off possible arrivals, that's too obvious for words.
You can tell I am hedging my bets here. I too have grown frustrated with the current situation, and the flood of goals we concede. But don't forget, Bilic was told when he arrived that he had to change the style away from the big Sam era. Some how we don't seem to have hit on a happy medium.
Managers deserve longer than three matches, even if much of the problem is a hang-over from the previous season.
But the problem goes deeper. We are told that senior players are not carrying out instructions, that Mark Noble should be dropped, that people are played out of position.
Worse was a small line in an Ian Herbert report on the Newcastle game in the Mail. Ian's a good operator, and he came up with a carefully worded line: "There are thought to be tensions in the background about an element of Bilic's team selection elsewhere on the field", having previously discussed the problems at central defence.
Later he said "Noble is still an influence but not the player he was." The article was clearly saying this moaning was not coming from a fellow player, but someone behind the scenes. So now we have a non-playing member of the club staff briefing against the manager. That doesn't impress me one bit.
There are many who hope Bilic can turn this around in the four games he seemingly has been given. Huddersfield, Spurs and Swansea at home and West Brom away. Bilic has made mistakes and can clearly be stubborn, but no manager deserves the sort of sustained pressure from within the club that he has had to contend with over the past year.
Injuries and poor judgement in the market, plus the new stadium problems have dealt him a poor hand. I doubt he will survive another showdown with the chairman.
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Slaven Bilic to remain at West Ham for time being
By Sky Sports News
Last Updated: 29/08/17 7:38am
SSN
Slaven Bilic will remain West Ham manager for the time being, according to Sky sources. Sky Sports News understands the Croatian held talks with co-owner David Sullivan over the past two days following Saturday's 3-0 Premier League defeat at Newcastle. West Ham have lost all three of their Premier League matches so far this season and Bilic has been told that performances and results must improve. Sky Sports News understands West Ham were considering dismissing Bilic following the dismal result at St James' Park, which left them bottom of the Premier League. Bilic has also been told that the level of performance - against a newly-promoted team - was totally unacceptable. The 48-year-old has less than 11 months remaining on his current contract and talks about extending his deal were cancelled earlier this year after a series of poor results.
West Ham backed Bilic in the transfer market this summer following a disappointing 2016/17 campaign, with winger Marko Arnautovic arriving from Stoke for a club-record £25m fee. Joe Hart, Pablo Zabaleta and Javier Hernandez have also joined the Hammers, but have so far been unable to inspire their new side to a positive result in the Premier League. West Ham's owners are big admirers of Rafael Benitez, whose own future at Newcastle is uncertain. The Spaniard has recently expressed discontent at the club's activity in the transfer market. Benitez was hours away from becoming West Ham's manager when they appointed Bilic two years ago but he was offered the Real Madrid job at the last minute. Sky Sports News understands Benitez has a release clause in his Newcastle contract that is more than £5m.
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Irons fail in 'keeper bid
KUMB.com
Filed: Tuesday, 29th August 2017
By: Staff Writer
West Ham are reported to have had a bid for Dutch Joroen Zoet turned down. According to De Telegraaf, West Ham's bid of £3million (for a player rated in the £5-6million bracket) was recently rejected by the player's current club, PSV. And it is said that could alert fellow Premier League sides such as Newcastle, who have also been actively monitoring Zoet's situation despite being unwilling to meet his current asking price.
* Former Hammer Ravel Morrison is on his way to Mexico's MX League after agreeing to join Atlas. Still only 24, the troubled midfielder's career has already taken in spells at Manchester United, Birmingham, Queens Park Rangers, Lazio as well as West Ham. But having failed to shine in Serie A last season, Morrison is now heading for even warmer climes; he is expected to complete a free transfer to Atlas - who are currently 13th in the table - within the next day or two.
* Crystal Palace are being linked with an £8million move for West Ham's Jose Fonte. The former Southampton defender, who moved to east London in an £8million deal back in January has failed to settle and could be a surprise out ahead of this week's transfer deadline.
* Summer transfer targets Kevin Wimmer and Keita Balde have completed moves to Stoke City and Ligue 1 Monaco respectively. The Potters are reported to have paid around £18million for Austiran defender Wimmer, whilst Balde will set the French club back some €30million. West Ham emerged as a late contender to sign the 22-year-old striker in mid-July.
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Robert Snodgrass reveals he was forced to quit West Ham because manager Slaven Bilic wouldn't play him in his 'right position'
Robert Snodgrass joined Championship club Aston Villa on loan last week
He made just eight starts since joining the Hammers for £10million in January
Snodgrass says he was concerned about Bilic's plans for him from his debut
By Craig Hope for the Daily Mail
PUBLISHED: 22:32, 29 August 2017 | UPDATED: 22:32, 29 August 2017
Robert Snodgrass says he was forced to quit West Ham after manager Slaven Bilic refused to play him in his preferred position. The Scotland winger joined Championship club Aston Villa on loan last week having made just eight starts since joining the Hammers in a £10million deal from Hull in January. But Snodgrass says he was concerned about Bilic's plans for him as early as his debut. 'I was coming on against Manchester City and he said, 'Where do you want to play, on the left or right?',' Snodgrass recalled. 'I thought, 'You've just signed me and I've played on the right or behind the striker at Hull City all season'. 'I found it very strange. That was my debut. And every time I played I was on the left. I don't know why he did it. 'I came in as (Dmitri) Payet had left and maybe it was a case of 'you can play there', but I'd only filled in on the left a couple of times. I'm not a left midfielder. I hate that position, I don't like it. 'It's fine to play for one or two games but you need to play in your right position, especially on the back of scoring nine goals for Hull. 'When I eventually did speak to him I said, 'You obviously signed me for that type of money and that you must have watched and seen that I wasn't a left midfielder'. 'His answer was basically that when people are confident they can play anywhere. That wasn't the case for me.' Snodgrass added: 'There were a lot of different things involved. There was a lot of broken promises, a lot of dishonesty and I thought this is not what I am about. 'I know myself that when there is a manager who knows how to get the best out of you then it's different - and that's why I chose Villa. I wanted to work with Steve Bruce again. 'At West Ham, he (Bilic) wanted me to play cup games to try and impress but I said I'd done it at international level and Premier League and there was no way on earth I was staying to play cup games. 'I've got nothing to prove to anyone. I've scored nearly 100 goals in my career and done it with a smile on my face. 'He (Bilic) knew I was good about the place and great with all the lads. But I need to play games - it's as simple as that.'
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Aleksandar Mitrovic faces retrospective ban after FA charge Newcastle striker for alleged act of violent conduct
The Toon star's raised arm during their win over West Ham wasn't seen by the on-pitch officials
The Mirror
BYAARON FLANAGAN
18:53, 29 AUG 2017UPDATED19:03, 29 AUG 2017
Aleksandar Mitrovic is facing a three game ban after being charged by the Football Association. The Newcastle striker has been charged with an alleged act of violent conduct from Saturday's win over West Ham. Mitrovic appeared to clash with Manuel Lanzini in an incident that was not seen by any of the match officials at St James' Park. The Serbian was a second half substitute and went on to score the third and final goal in the 3-0 win. An FA statement said: "Aleksandar Mitrovic has been charged for an alleged act of violent conduct which was not seen by the match officials but caught on video. "The Newcastle United forward was involved in an incident with West Ham United's Manuel Lanzini in the 80th minute of the game on Saturday (26 August 2017). "He has until 6pm on 30 August 2017 to respond to the charge."
FA chiefs are able to retrospectively ban footballers for incidents that are not included in a referee's post-match report. The statement continued: "Off the ball incidents which are not seen at the time by the match officials are referred to a panel of three former elite referees. "Each referee panel member will review the video footage independently of one another to determine whether they consider it a sending-off offence. "For retrospective action to be taken, and an FA charge to follow, the decision of the panel must be unanimous."
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Ravel Morrison set for career revival mission... in Mexico
fourfourtwo.com
The Lazio midfielder looks to be on the verge of joining Atlas FC on loan, in yet another bid to revive his career.
The Mirror have reported that former England youth international Morrison will join the Mexican side on a one-year loan deal, with the option to buy included at the end of the contract. The 24-year-old will join Atlas during a tough time – the Guadalajara side are currently fighting relegation and still suffering from the loss of their captain Rafa Marquez, who has been sanctioned by the U.S Treasury Department for an alleged connection to drug trafficking. Morrison was tipped for greatness and spoken about in the same breath as Paul Pogba during his time as a Manchester United youngster. However, due to problems on and off the field, his career has dwindled with short-term stints at Birmingham, West Ham, QPR, Cardiff and Lazio. It was reported that Harry Redknapp was open to taking Morrison on loan at Birmingham for the season (where he'd been on trial this summer), but a move never materialised and Morrison will apparently meet up with his new team-mates imminently.
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Where on earth did it all go wrong for Ravel Morrison?
fourfourtwo.com
In 2011, Ravel Morrison was the star of a Youth Cup-winning Manchester United outfit that featured Paul Pogba. So how come the Frenchman is now worth £90m, while his ex-teammate's in the Championship?
By Andy Mitten
Published
14 April 2017
Gary Neville chose a timely moment to learn the ropes in television. While he was still a player, the right-back commentated for MUTV in the 2010/11 season, climbing up a rickety ladder at Altrincham's Moss Lane ground or into the Old Trafford gantry to watch youth-team and reserve matches. Manchester United's junior side, featuring Paul Pogba and Jesse Lingard, shone, with one player especially sticking out.
"Ravel Morrison's ability was just a scandal," Neville tells FourFourTwo. "He was playing in a midfield three with Pogba and Ryan Tunnicliffe. All of them were outstanding, but Ravel was the principal game changer. He was an unbelievable talent, a Paul Gascoigne-type who could beat men and score some incredible goals. There are few players in central midfield who can beat people – Ravel could drift past them."
United midfield legend Paddy Crerand is prepared to go even further than Neville in his assessment of Morrison's potential. "Ravel was the best youngster I'd seen since George Best," he gushes. This is based on seeing almost every game Morrison played for United youth and reserve teams while working for MUTV. "Even in a side with Pogba, Ravel stood out. He was fast and had a quick football brain – everything a big star should have."
Paul McGuinness worked extensively with Morrison when he was the youth coach at United, a position that he held for 23 years until 2016. "Ravel has the quality that the very best players possess – timing," he tells FFT. "He has the ability to keep the ball until just the right moment to play the pass through the opposition's defence, or to entice some defenders in and then slip right past them."
After a particularly tough 2010/11 FA Youth Cup run which saw them eliminate some top teams, including Liverpool and Chelsea, United met Sheffield United in the two-legged final. The side from Manchester won 6-3 on aggregate with Morrison exceptional, bagging a brace in a 4-1 second-leg victory at Old Trafford. It meant a record 10th FA Youth Cup for United, with Tunnicliffe, Lingard, Pogba and Morrison all pictured with the trophy. They were making some waves.
"Ravel Morrison was younger than me but he was brought up to train with us," said Blackburn Rovers defender Corry Evans, then with United. "You could see his ability – he was effortless as he glided past players and could shoot and score with either foot."
Pogba and Morrison were the first to be given a chance with the first team, the latter making a cameo in a 2010 League Cup Fourth Round victory over Wolves, but neither would make the crucial breakthrough. Both ended up in Italy. Pogba became one of the most sought-after players in world football. Morrison did not.
Born in Wythenshawe in February 1993, Morrison didn't grow up on the vast 1930s council estate near Manchester airport which takes the same name, but rather in the upper working class/lower middle class region of west Manchester, in between Old Trafford and the Carrington training ground. United spotted Morrison while playing for Fletcher Moss Rangers, which picks up some of the best young Mancunian talents, but as Morrison progressed through the Red Devils' ranks, his behaviour and outside influences were becoming an issue.
United felt they'd done as much as they could and given him chance after chance. They had supported him even after he was convicted of intimidating a witness to a knifepoint robbery, for which he'd escaped with a 12-month referral order and was instructed to cough up £2,000 in compensation. And they also backed him after he admitted criminal damage, having thrown his partner's phone from her parents' window. Morrison was referred to Salford's youth offending team for domestic violence counselling, and then fined again.
Others at Old Trafford insist that if Morrison was 10 per cent less talented, his behaviour would have seen him thrown out of football by the time he hit 16
United had a vested interest. Alex Ferguson told senior players that Morrison was the biggest talent he had seen at United at the age of 14. Better than Paul Scholes, better than Ryan Giggs. Others at Old Trafford insist that if Morrison was 10 per cent less talented, his behaviour would have seen him thrown out of football by the time he hit 16.
But Ferguson persisted. He even moved him to the first-team dressing room, but the senior players soon became exasperated with the errant youngster. How could someone so talented, they thought, be at fault so often? Why was he always in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong crowd?
They'd all made the necessary sacrifices to become a professional footballer and they'd reached the very top. The rewards were there for Morrison to see every day – the status, respect and accoutrements of wealth. It frustrated them even more that someone with such natural talent appeared to be throwing it all away.
Morrison has been portrayed as a thick thug, but those who know him well insist that is not the case. His intelligence extends beyond what he can do with a football, but circumstances in his life haven't helped him.
People hold back when they're talking about Morrison. He turned 24 in February but his career is still alive and they don't want to damage his prospects. He is not the bore sitting at the end of the bar saying what could have been. He's still a professional and people who know him hope he'll carve a successful career. Many are Mancunians, who'd love him to fulfil his immense talent and believe he just needs a break.
"He was actually a nice lad," says Crerand, who grew up in Glasgow's notorious Gorbals. "Quiet and respectful. Sometimes when you grow up with a group of lads, some go astray and you don't. When you're the one getting a few quid, that can be an issue."
Personal problems
Many have tried to help him. When Morrison played for England U21s, scoring twice against Lithuania in October 2013, boss Gareth Southgate thought he had him on the straight and narrow and hoped that he would soon be playing with the senior team. Roy Hodgson agreed.
There's a clip of a Morrison goal from one of Southgate's training sessions which shows his outrageous skill. A cross comes in, and just as he appears ready to volley it, he turns his body and flicks the ball in with the back of his leg – it earned a second round of applause in that session. He scored similar goals at United.
Other coaches in England's younger age groups who'd experienced Morrison found him more difficult to work with and were reluctant to take him away on three-day trips abroad. "He's had deep-rooted issues and you can either point to him and say he doesn't know how to behave and is at fault," a United source explains to us, "or you can say he is a by-product of his upbringing, a victim who needs some help and guidance. He thought that things that were socially unacceptable were acceptable. He comes from an environment where gangs are prevalent and authority is distrusted, where you look after your own if there's an issue, not call the police."
Ferguson had worked with players from tough backgrounds before, including some of his very best. Although he'd finally said goodbye a year earlier, the Scot didn't mention Morrison in his second book, published in 2013. He did, however, in his 2015 tome titled Leading. Sadly there are examples of players who have similar backgrounds to Giggs or Cristiano Ronaldo who, despite enormous natural talent, just aren't emotionally or mentally strong enough to overcome the hurts of their childhood and their inner demons," wrote Ferguson. Ravel Morrison might be the saddest case. He possessed as much natural talent as any youngster we ever signed, but he kept getting into trouble. It was painful to sell him to West Ham in January 2012 because he could have been a fantastic player. But, over a period of several years, the problems off the pitch continued to escalate and so we had little option but to cut the cord."
"That's a genius goal"
Morrison's transfer fee was £650,000, rising to £2.5 million pending appearances of £25,000 per game. On one level, ample compensation for someone who cost nothing and whose United career amounted to three substitute outings for the first team. "I hope you can sort him out, because if you can he will be a genius," Ferguson told then-Hammers manager Sam Allardyce. "He's a brilliant player," the Scot said. "Brilliant ability, top-class ability. He needs to get away from Manchester – start a new life." "He [Ferguson] let Ravel go for Ravel's benefit, because he could not see it happening at Manchester United," said Allardyce. "It was: 'Get him down there and see if you can get the best out of him, because you'll have a great player on your hands'."
As Pogba moved to Juventus in the summer of 2012 after turning down the highest-ever reserve team contract offered to a Red Devil, Allardyce sent Morrison on loan to second-division Birmingham City. Initially it didn't go well, with senior professionals concerned by his timekeeping, but after a showdown with manager Lee Clark he became one of the Midlanders' star men. Clark was keen for him to stay the following year, but Allardyce wanted him back. Finally, Morrison was taking off in the top flight.
His breathtaking goal in a 3-0 win against Spurs in October 2013 was described like this by Allardyce: "Ravel Morrison picks the ball up in his own half, heads directly for [Jan] Vertonghen and [Michael] Dawson, slips those two like they weren't there, waits for the keeper to go down – a keeper who's shown how good he is at one-on-ones, and how quick he is off the line – then uses his outstanding ability to dink it over him. The genius of Ravel Morrison. That is a genius goalfor me. You will struggle to see a better goal than that this season."
Murky end at West Ham
Morrison was watching his diet, he was well-behaved and he had a professional demeanour. He was the most exciting young Hammer since Joe Cole or Michael Carrick. Then it went wrong and, for once, he doesn't appear to have been at fault. Morrison claimed he was quickly dropped from the team because he refused to sign with the agent Mark Curtis, who has long had links with many of Allardyce's players. Morrison has had several agents or people purporting to represent him. Allardyce denied the claims, but they resurfaced during the investigation that led to him losing his job as England manager after just 67 days. Fulham put a £4 million bid in for Ravel, which West Ham rejected before complaining to the FA for alleged tapping up – as Morrison's former youth coach Rene Meulensteen was managing the Cottagers. Regardless, Morrison's career was, undeservedly, now back in limbo again. When Allardyce left his England post in September, Morrison tweeted: "No 1 listened to a word I said."
Morrison's Hammers contract expired in 2015 – he'd spent a part of 2014/15 on loan at Cardiff before Bluebirds manager Russell Slade cut his stay short. His next destination was Lazio, where he was unable to break into the first team and was criticised by coach Stefano Pioli for a lack of professionalism in training and an unwillingness to learn Italian. Lazio are contracted to pay his wages – and collect his fines when he does not show up – through until June 2017.
Last chance saloon?
This January, Morrison trained with Wigan Athletic under Warren Joyce, his former coach at United's reserve team. "Ravel's obviously not played a lot of football recently," Joyce said, "but I know how much of a talent he is from my days at Manchester United. It's a unique opportunity for us really because we have got a chance to have a look at him and assess his fitness." Wigan didn't push for Morrison, whose wages at Lazio were too high, but QPR did and he chose to join them for a second spell. He had fared well in west London during a 2014 loan, scoring six goals in 17 games. "I've grown up and matured a lot," Morrison admitted on signing for the west Londoners. "No more messing around – I am focussed and that has been my mindset for the last six months. I'm excited to be given the chance to play football again." Many hope he's right, though they remain cautious. "He should be a star, that kid," laments Crerand. "He's still young and he's still got time but he's also wasted time, and if Alex Ferguson couldn't get the best out of him, who can?"
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SLAVEN BILIC: THE CASE FOR THE DEFENCE
By Dan Coker 29 Aug 2017 at 17:00
WTID
After attending the match at Newcastle on Saturday, I've kept in touch with comments on WHTID over the Bank Holiday weekend. I spent the weekend in Northumberland as part of the trip up north for the game and have been surprised and saddened at the strength of the response from the posts and comments since – I do, however, respect each and every one of those views and know they come, in all cases, from a love of West Ham United.
Regular readers of the comments section will know I'm a huge supporter of Slaven Bilic. I make no apologies for that and I recognise this piece flies in the face of the majority of comments but I felt someone had to stick their head above the parapet.
I wanted Slaven to take charge of West Ham United a year before he did. I was delighted when he did and the wonderful last season at the Boleyn is a testament to Slaven's transfer priorities (Payet, Lanzini and Ogbonna) and relationship with the fans which made that final Upton Park season such a joyous journey. Last season was a tough campaign and reasons have been discussed at length previously – poor signings, a lack of full support from the board (to be discussed later) and a new stadium which is the polar opposite of Upton Park in terms of atmosphere and opposition intimidation. In this article, I will seek to outline why Slaven deserves (a lot) longer in his post as West Ham manager.
1. The New Signings
I think most would agree we have had a decent transfer window. New players take time to gel though and there would be little point in allowing Slaven to sign his first choices in various positions if he was not given time to get it right with those players. Signing Chicharito means a big shift in our style of play. We are trying to play the ball on the floor at the start of moves but, at present, this is slow and methodical, ends up going backwards to the defence or Joe Hart and then the long ball is played anyway. Our play through midfield needs to be sharper and perhaps that is why Slaven has highlighted William Carvalho as a key component to that play – someone who can get the ball from the defence and play it quickly to Manuel Lanzini and get us looking threatening in advanced positions. At Newcastle, we lacked cohesion in our play moving forward and, consequently, devoid of ideas.
Slaven also broke the club's transfer record to sign Marko Arnautovic. The Austrian is clearly a key part of the manager's thinking this season yet, through the forward's own idiocy, has only been available for less than a game-and-a-half of the campaign thus far. Ironically, I was not a fan of signing Arnautovic but Slav has placed significant faith in him and deserves the opportunity to try and embed him into the side, alongside a fit Lanzini – he has not had the chance to pair the two together in the same side as yet.
Many supporters were vociferous throughout last season in the need for us to sign a right-back. We have now signed an orthodox right-back and the same supporters now don't want us to play with a right-back and instead revert to a back three and wing-backs. Pablo Zabaleta is not a right-sided centre-half, nor a right wing-back. He is, however, a right-back which people were screaming blue murder for last season. I am sure there will be occasions when we play three at the back this season, and the formation does suit Sam Byram and Aaron Cresswell, but the board and manager delivered on what many asked for so why ask for a change in formation and push Zabaleta into being a square peg in a round hole?
In essence, Slaven signed these players on what he thought (rightly or wrongly) the club needed after 2016/17. He deserves the opportunity to try to build a team around these new players.
2. Returning Players
If you asked any supporter who are our best centre-half, central midfielder and creative player, I'm sure the vast majority will come back to you and say Winston Reid, Cheikhou Kouyate and Manuel Lanzini. Slaven has been denied the services of Reid for two of our three opening league games, while Kouyate has not completed a half of football in the opening month and Lanzini has only played 45 minutes. Reid, Kouyate and Lanzini are critical figures to the spine of the team and, again, Slaven deserves the opportunity to team them with the new signings over a period of time.
3. Contracts
There is something fundamentally wrong with our board's approach to contracts. Dimitri Payet was made the club's highest-paid player at the end of his first season with the club while Michail Antonio has signed three contracts in under two years at the club. Winston Reid, at 29, has just signed a six-year deal while Robert Snodgrass was brought in on what must have been a huge pay rise from his salary at Hull.
While new contracts are thrown around to players like confetti, our joint owner David Sullivan told the press that Slaven must prove he is not a 'one-season wonder'. Now I appreciate some may say Mr Sullivan may have been proved right and it is certainly true that the club should protect their playing assets as they are the ones who, if signed long-term with the club, will bring in the most money if sold.
But what kind of message do comments like Sullivan's and the contractual situation send to the players? It smacks of the players being looked after whatever their performance level while the manager is the one shunted forward to the firing line. In order to motivate the players, the manager must be seen to have the support of the board at all times and comments like Sullivan's and the fact Slaven sweats on a new contract while the players get extensions and pay rises at the drop of a hat does not seem to be an effective way to run a football club.
4. The Board
Following on from their contractual decisions and media comments, the Board must do more to support their manager. I am more than happy to hold my hands up and say they have done a tremendous job in bringing in the players Slaven wanted this summer but they should support their manager rather than undermine him in an underhand fashion through social or fan media.
Furthermore, and despite the good work done in signing players so far this window, the net spend remains relatively low. Slaven even said in his press conference last week that Newcastle had outspent us in net terms. Slaven clearly believes that William Carvalho is a missing link in what he is trying to achieve this season – we shall see if the board can pull that one out of the hat as I personally do not believe the deal is dead.
It was also the board who took us to a stadium which cannot host a home Premier League game until a month into this season. Starting a season with three league games on the road is not easy for any football club – the fixture list for us pulled out a title contender, a side with a new manager and a newly-promoted club. Each of those scenarios will look to their early home games to lay a marker down for their season and their fans – we have arrived to those grounds as homeless lambs to the slaughter, regardless of who may or may not have the better squad.
I travelled a 620-mile round trip to see us limply lose 3-0 at Newcastle – the Bank Holiday traffic saw me in my car for more than 15 hours there and back over the course of the weekend. Yet I still have faith in Slaven Bilic as the right man to lead our football club and hope sincerely that he is given the opportunity to do so. No other manager in our entire history has taken us to two top-11 finishes in his first two top-flight seasons. He is third out of nine in our Premier League win ratio table (see below). A lot of the early success can be attributed to the form of Payet but, after losing him mid-season last term, Bilic has set about building a new side and deserves the opportunity to make that side gel.
West Ham Managers' Premier League Win %
Alan Curbishley – 37.1%
Alan Pardew – 36.36%
Slaven Bilic – 35.44%
Harry Redknapp – 34.94%
Glenn Roeder – 30.99%
Billy Bonds – 30.95%
Sam Allardyce – 30.7%
Gianfranco Zola – 27.78%
Avram Grant – 18.42%
Of course, we clearly have our problems. Despite my defence of Slav, I can see we are struggling to defend as a team, that we are making far too many individual errors and that we are finding it difficult to work the ball into threatening areas, regardless of which players are available. But I also know that Slaven shows courage in the face of adversity – see the 0-0 draws fought out when devoid of attacking personnel in his first season or the clean sheets when really needed last season. The players dig in for him when they have to, as at Southampton recently, although I recognise we need to lose the 'when they have to' from that statement moving forward.
The pressure is now on to perform at home, a pressure amplified by the results on the road. I have been saying for weeks that we would have a difficult start to the season and the knock-on effect will mean that Huddersfield at home will not simply turn our season around – things could even get worse before they get better as West Brom are no pushovers at The Hawthorns and Tottenham were last season's runners-up. I have also, however, previously stated that our campaign will kickstart in October and November – form and confidence is temporary but class is permanent and we have very good players in our squad. Get them fit and playing together, get two or three wins to boost confidence and belief and I still firmly believe that we have what it takes in our squad – and our manager – to have a very decent 2017/18 season, despite the disastrous start.
COYI
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Gun-wielding motorbike rider 'threatened to shoot West Ham striker Andy Carroll for his £22,000 wristwatch as he drove his Jeep home from training'
Jack O'Brien, 22, denies attempting to rob the England-capped 28-year-old
West Ham striker says he was chased by two men on motorcycles in Essex
Motorbike rider 'repeatedly pointed at him with a gun and demanded his watch'
O'Brien had used the motorbike before - but says it was not him last November
By Martin Robinson, Uk Chief Reporter For Mailonline
PUBLISHED: 12:48, 29 August 2017 | UPDATED: 13:12, 29 August 2017
A gun-wielding motorbike rider tried to rob West Ham striker Andy Carroll of his £22,000 wristwatch as he drove his green Jeep home from training, a trial heard.
Jack O'Brien, 22, denies attempting to rob the England-capped 28-year-old on November 2 2016. The 6ft 4ins footballer was returning home from his club's training ground when he was chased by two motorbikes at around 12.15pm, Basildon Crown Court heard. Prosecutor Simon Gladwell said two motorbike riders chased Carroll after one approached him at traffic lights in Romford Road, Hainault, north-east London and demanded his watch. Mr Gladwell said the rider, who the prosecution allege was O'Brien, 'said to him 'nice watch' and he replied 'thanks'. 'The driver had his visor up. He then said 'give me your watch'. 'Mr Carroll pulled away as the lights were green.' He said that during the incident the motorbike rider 'repeatedly pointed at him with a gun, or pretending to have a gun and demanding to have his watch'.
Mr Gladwell said Carroll did a U-turn and eventually managed to get back to the West Ham training ground, but he was pursued by the two motorbikes for some distance. 'Mr Carroll accelerated away as he was scared, did a U-turn and headed back towards the West Ham training ground,' he said. 'He realised the threat was real.' He continued: 'Mr Carroll was beeping at other cars and driving on the wrong side of the road to get away, but still the motorbikes were following him. 'The first bike got in front of him and approached his front passenger door but Mr Carroll managed to find a gap and get away. 'During part of this incident Mr Carroll called police as he was being pursued.'
Michael Edmonds, defending, said O'Brien, of Navarre Gardens, Romford, was not the motorbike rider. He said O'Brien had used the motorbike, jacket and helmet for crime before, but that it was not him using the motorbike on this occasion. The trial, estimated to last three days, continues.
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Motorcyclist with gun tried to rob West Ham's Andy Carroll of watch, court told
Jack O'Brien denies attempting to rob the 28-year-old striker in November 2016.
BT Sport
FOOTBALL 29/08/17 12:46
A gun-wielding motorbike rider tried to rob West Ham striker Andy Carroll of his £22,000 wristwatch as he drove his green Jeep home from training, a trial has heard. Jack O'Brien, 22, denies attempting to rob the England-capped 28-year-old on November 2 2016. The 6ft 4in footballer was returning home from his club's training ground when he was chased by two motorbikes at around 12.15pm, Basildon Crown Court heard.
Prosecutor Simon Gladwell said two motorbike riders chased Carroll after one approached him at traffic lights in Romford Road, Hainault, north-east London, and demanded his watch. Mr Gladwell said the rider, who the prosecution allege was O'Brien, "said to him 'nice watch' and he replied 'thanks'. The driver had his visor up. He then said 'give me your watch'. Mr Carroll pulled away as the lights were green". He said that during the incident the motorbike rider "repeatedly pointed at him with a gun, or pretending to have a gun and demanding to have his watch".
Mr Gladwell said Carroll did a U-turn and eventually managed to get back to the West Ham training ground, but he was pursued by the two motorbikes for some distance. "Mr Carroll accelerated away as he was scared, did a U-turn and headed back towards the West Ham training ground," he said. "He realised the threat was real." He continued: "Mr Carroll was beeping at other cars and driving on the wrong side of the road to get away, but still the motorbikes were following him.
"The first bike got in front of him and approached his front passenger door but Mr Carroll managed to find a gap and get away. During part of this incident Mr Carroll called police as he was being pursued."
Michael Edmonds, defending, said O'Brien, of Navarre Gardens, Romford, was not the motorbike rider. He said O'Brien had used the motorbike, jacket and helmet for crime before, but that it was not him using the motorbike on this occasion. The trial, estimated to last three days, continues.
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Monaco try to hijack West Ham's William Carvalho transfer with €41m bid - report
The latest West Ham transfer news sees Monaco enter the race for William Carvalho
Football London
BYROB GUEST
11:05, 29 AUG 2017
Ligue 1 champions Monaco are set to try and push through a deal for Sporting Lisbon's William Carvalho, according to reports. French publication L'Equipe claim that Leonardo Jardim's team have opened talks with the Portuguese club after West Ham's move for the player hit a brick wall. The French side have been linked with a move for Anderlecht's Leander Dendoncker, yet L'Equipe report that the 25-year-old is the club's first choice to strengthen their midfield. However, just like the Hammers, agreeing a fee with Sporting could be rather difficult for Monaco. Given West Ham had failed to agree on a fee for Carvalho, it seems that Monaco's offer of €35million, with a further €6million in bonuses, will be turned down as it is below the club's asking price. Although it seemed that a move for Carvalho was dead, there is still a chance that the Hammers could try and push through a deal before Thursday's transfer deadline.
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West Ham reportedly furious over Carvalho saga
BY LONDON FOOTBALL NEWS 29/08/2017
The Daily Mirror say West Ham have given Sporting Lisbon an ultimatum over midfielder William Carvalho. The Hammers are said to have offered £30m plus £5m in add-ons but the Portuguese club have reportedly upped the asking price to £40m. The Mirror say that has left the Hammers furious and that they have told Sporting to accept their offer or there will be no deal. The Mirror also say Slaven Bilic has been given four matches to save his job as West Ham manager.
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BILIC IS CERTAIN TO GO ... EVENTUALLY
By Tony Hanna 29 Aug 2017 at 08:00
WTID
Name two of our best post war managers and I would suggest that nearly everyone would choose one of either Ron Greenwood or John Lyall in their selections? Perhaps many would choose both? Between them, they masterminded all four of our major triumphs in the history of the club. Despite this, the stark reality is John Lyall was sacked and whilst Ron was "moved upstairs" as a token of respect, both managers were removed from their positions due to poor recent performances. It is the fate of nearly every manager in modern day football. A few manage to go on their own terms, whether it be retirement or a move to a bigger club, but a football managers fate is reasonably predictable. So when fans jump on the band wagon for a manager to be sacked, their wishes are normally met – eventually. There is no correct or incorrect, if and when the axe does fall. Only time will tell if the correct decision has been made or not. It is much, much harder to keep a manager in difficult circumstances than to sack him. I will make a prediction now. Our next manager will be sacked due to poor performances or not delivering expectations, however exciting it may be when he arrives. Of course it is entirely possible he may do a great job in which case we will lose him to a bigger club. My money is on the sack. History tells us that sometimes it has been a good move to sack the boss, based on an improvement in the quality of football and or results. But there are also many instances where the decisions have been misguided.
Personally, I have become very frustrated with Slaven for not fixing the bleedin' obvious. For a mid -table club, and that is what we are, we have a pretty good squad of players. I still think Carvalho is the glue that will fix up many problems, but he or any other player of his ilk would struggle as well unless the manager can get the formations right and the tactics. Any glimmer of hope that remains for West Ham to sign Carvalho seem to be disappearing fast with the instability of Bilic's future. That would be a really big missed opportunity. There are solid cases for Bilic to go and the counter is for him to be given more time, especially as we haven't even played a home game yet. A few weeks ago I wrote that in my experience the season takes about eight games before you can get a real guide. I reckon Slav has got about that long to get it right, give or take a game or so. The performance at Newcastle was simply awful but I still maintain that our efforts in the Southampton game indicated that Bilic has not lost the dressing room as yet.
Just a couple of finer points away from the usual dialogue about Bilic, formations and player selections that you may wish to discuss. We are getting so little quality possession nowadays as the opposition week in week out use the high press which either forces errors from us, or we go back to Hart for the long punt. So, someone on the blog wrote on the weekend, why is it when we got a free kick in the opponents half we played a short side ways pass, only to be pressed and the ball found its way all the way back to Hart again….punt! Why did we not play the ball into the opposition box from the free kick? That's what most teams do to us. That was a very good question. Also, back in December 2015 I wrote an article titled "Our New Weapon". With the signing of Antonio we gained not only an exceptional player, but someone with a huge long throw. It was this I was alluding to in my title. Who felt comfortable when we were playing Stoke and Rory Delap grabbed the ball for a long throw? Now, I am not saying that we should become a carbon copy of those Stoke days under Tony Pulis, but I am saying that if we have an "edge", anywhere on the pitch, we should be using it to our maximum advantage. Having a throw in has long been a disadvantage for West Ham. Our inability to keep possession from them is bordering on embarrassing. So why have we not put the opposition on the back foot when circumstances allow for Antonio to hurl a long one into the box? Perhaps it is seen to be too old fashioned? Works though!
Bookies Update……with all the uncertainty around the club at the moment it is difficult to know if the owners will support the manager with any significant funds for the remainder of this window? Personally I would break the bank to get Carvalho but if G&S spent that amount of money how much would there be left for any new manager, should there be one, in the January transfer window? The two cheaper midfield players we have been linked with for months have both drifted heavily in the bookies markets. Jack Wilshere was 4/6 (60%) at one stage and is now a 9/1 chance (10%). Jota was also short odds for many weeks but is now quoted at 4/1 (20%). To be honest there are no other players in the frame to join us with just days to go before the deadline. Never say never though, as we all know, deals can come from nowhere when circumstances demand.
Elsewhere, two transfers that look done are Serge Aurier from PSG to Spurs, and Bony looks like heading back to Swansea. The markets suggest that both Danny Drinkwater and Oxlaide-Chamberlain are talking to Chelsea with the latter looking likely to sign soon. If the Ox does make the move it may well reignite the Gunners interest in Leicester's Riyad Mahrez. Fabian Delph may be heading to Stoke City and Arsenal's Perez could be on his way to Deportivo in deals that will stretch to deadline day.
The odds on Bilic to be first manager to go are 6/4 (40%). Note, this market is not just to get the sack (or leave), but to be the first manager to leave his post in the Premier League. Crystal Palace's Frank de Boer is even money favourite (50%). This will be my last Bookies Update of this transfer window and I hope you have enjoyed them?
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http://vyperz.blogspot.com
Wednesday, August 30
Tuesday, August 29
Daily WHUFC News - 29th August 2017
Bilic: Hard work, handling pressure and potential recruitment
WHUFC.com
Slaven Bilic says 'bad times' like West Ham United's current predicament
need to bring out the best in his management. The Hammers sit bottom of the
Premier League table after three consecutive defeats to start the season at
Manchester United, Southampton and Newcastle United. Speaking after
Saturday's 3-0 reverse at St James' Park, Bilic again lamented the mistakes
that led to the opponents' goals, but knows actions on the training pitch
and in the home opener with Huddersfield Town on Monday 11 September will
speak louder than words. "We have had three games and three defeats," he
began. "Again, we conceded three goals so of course I feel pressure. Of
course, we can say they were three away games but we have no points and we
don't look good. "I hate it [when we make mistakes] but this is a job about
good times and bad times, and you have to show your quality as a manager
more in the bad times than in the good times. So, we have to work very hard
to come out of this situation. I've done it before, of course, and I have to
do it again." "I talked to the guys after the game and I said 'Nobody can
take us out of this situation but ourselves'. There is no other thing to do
than to work hard, to dig in and for us to show the quality we have got on
paper, on the pitch."
Bilic was asked if he will try to remedy the situation by delving into the
transfer market, which closes on Thursday, but he insisted a last-gasp
recruitment drive was not necessarily the answer. "It's not about the
transfer window," he said. "OK, we were looking for one more player, but we
had done a good job on paper in the transfer window. "We made a good squad,
a squad which looked good enough to have a good season. OK, it's still early
in the season, but it's not about the transfer window. It wasn't because of
one player – we didn't look good as a team."
Reflecting further on Saturday's loss, Bilic pointed to defensive errors and
the Magpies' counter-attacking abilities as the major reasons for
Newcastle's victory.
"They were better in the second balls and the transitions and they were
hurting us, to be fair. Then, in the second half, we looked good up until
the second goal and we had a chance and it maybe looked like we were going
to score a goal and turn the game around. "Then we made another mistake in
an area where it is dangerous and they were better than us. The whole game
they were better than us, even though they didn't create anything up until
the first goal. "We knew they didn't have magicians in the middle of the
park, but they were getting second balls and were really good in the
transitions after they were getting them. They totally deserved it."
West Ham return to Premier League action after the international break at
London Stadium on Monday 11 September at 8pm.
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Kemp on wonder-goal v Swansea City: 'I've never scored anything like that!'
WHUFC.com
Dan Kemp has admitted his shock at seeing his long-range effort find the
back of the net in West Ham United U23's 5-2 victory over Swansea City. The
Hammers bested the Swans thanks to strikes from Kemp. Nathan Holland, Toni
Martinez and Grady Diangana but it was the No7's effort that earned gasps of
awe from the supporters at the Chigwell Construction Stadium. With the Irons
leading 3-1 from the first-half Swansea goalkeeper Gregor Zabret found
himself in no man's land after clearing the ball, which fell straight to
Kemp. The 18-year-old showed incredible composure to then launch the ball
over the shot-stopper and into the far corner of the net from around 40
yards. Kemp has now confessed to never scoring a goal from such distance
before but admits he was always going to take the shot once the chance
presented itself. "I knew the 'keeper was out of his goal," Kemp explained
to whufc.com: "As soon as the ball fell to me I didn't have a second
thought. I just decided to have a go and I was buzzing when I saw it go in.
"I've never scored anything like that before! Certainly not from that range.
I'm just delighted that it went in and I got to continue my goalscoring run.
That's three goals for me now and I'm thrilled."
Kemp's finish was the stand-out moment in an action-packed encounter on
Sunday with seven goals between the two sides. Terry Westley's Hammers
controlled the game for large portions and got their reward with five
finishes, and Kemp has praised the manner of the victory. He added: "All the
lads are buzzing. It was a great win and it was a great performance to go
with it as well. It's so important to perform in this way. We're so
pleased."
Kemp's goal and an assist caps a brilliant week for the winger with the No7
also called up to play for the England U19s for matches against Poland and
Germany at the start of September. Kemp is hoping to carry his excellent
West Ham United form onto the international stage next week. "To score such
a goal and get an assist sends me away for international duty on a high.
Winning with the team in this way gives me a lot of confidence and I can't
wait to meet up with the England boys and hopefully get some good wins with
them as well."
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Ray: West Ham United Ladies dug deep to claim exciting Cardiff victory
WHUFC.com
West Ham United Ladies general manager Karen Ray has hailed the work-rate
shown by the team in Sunday's 4-3 win over Cardiff City Ladies. Two goals
from Paige Anderson-James and strikes from Amber Stobbs and Molly Peters was
enough for the West Ham United Ladies to overcome the tough test Cardiff
presented in an entertaining encounter at Rush Green. Sunday's match was a
roller-coaster of emotion as the Hammers twice conceded the lead and even
went behind before scoring two goals in the final 17 minutes to secure a
victory. Ray is delighted with the battling spirit the Ladies team showed in
sweltering conditions and believes the dominance displayed by West Ham ended
in the result the team deserved.
"We are very pleased with today's performance," Ray told whufc.com: "The
Ladies showed a great reaction and really dug deep despite making it hard
for ourselves at times. "Yet again we were the most dominate team and
created many opportunities in the final third. We know we need to be more
clinical. However, you cannot take away from the quality of the finishes
today and the creative build up. "The work rate on a very hot day was
phenomenal. Some of our link up and combination play was excellent, but
admittedly I am a perfectionist so I want us to see the score-line we
deserve."
West Ham United had taken the lead thanks to Anderson-James in the 15th
minutes but Cardiff levelled the match just four minutes later. Stobbs
scored a magnificent effort mid-way through the first half as she lobbed a
stranded Cardiff City goalkeeper, giving the Irons a 2-1 lead at half-time,
but just three minutes after the restart the south Wales side were level
again. West Ham United Ladies fell behind for the first time on 58 minutes
but Peters restored spirit and momentum to the home team with a clinical
finish on 73 minutes. And Anderson-James secured a fantastic win for the
Hammers when her header found the net from a Stobbs cross. Ray has also paid
tribute to the West Ham United fans in attendance at Rush Green on Sunday,
praising their involvement in the 4-3 win and the journey the Ladies team is
undertaking. Ray added: "We have a young squad who continue to learn and
develop in a challenging environment and today we reaped some of the rewards
of patience, trust and belief in the journey we are on. "The crowd were
fantastic too, they really helped encourage the ladies to finish the game
with a win. We play for something far bigger than ourselves, we do this to
grow the game and the club so the young mascots from today can go on to be
professional in years to come. It's about the success of the club, not
individuals and everyone here now buys into that."
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Manuel Lanzini out of Argentina World Cup qualifiers
By Richard Cooke
Last Updated: 28/08/17 10:47pm
SSN
West Ham midfielder Manuel Lanzini has withdrawn from Argentina's squad for
their World Cup qualifiers with a knee injury. Lanzini missed West Ham's
first two Premier League matches of the new campaign after picking up the
knock in pre-season but he did return for Saturday's 3-0 defeat at Newcastle
as a second-half substitute. He was set to be involved in Argentina's
matches away at Uruguay on Friday followed by the home game against
Venezuela next Wednesday.
The 24-year-old's international career has only just got underway. He made
his debut against Brazil in June and then earned his first start under Jorge
Sampaoli as Argentina thrashed Singapore 6-0. Previous to that, Lanzini was
named in Argentina's provisional 35-man squad for the 2016 Olympics in Rio
but again it was a knee injury that forced him to pull out and he returned
to West Ham for treatment.
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BAD TIME FOR A CHANGE - HOW MUCH LONGER FOR SLAVEN ?
By HamburgHammer 28 Aug 2017 at 08:00
WTID
This post could be replaced fairly quickly during the course of the day
depending on the fallout from yesterday's meeting between the board and
Slaven Bilic.
Urgent crisis talks have been held (with further discussions scheduled for
today) to determine whether Bilic will get a few more games to turn things
around and save his skin or if this is the end of the road for him at West
Ham.
Apparently the board are concerned about Bilic's tactics and team selection
and frankly the league table is not a pretty sight right now and it doesn't
lie either, three games, three defeats, ten goals conceded, bottom of the
table. As a club we should and need to aim higher. Over the last few days
more and more critics of the manager have come out of the woodwork demanding
for Bilic to be sacked or walk himself if he wants to avoid the sack.
You all know my stance on Bilic. As a person I love the guy to bits, he is
an intelligent bloke, he seems to genuinely care about West Ham, he is a
good man, easy to root for, a leader with a certain aura and (for a while at
least) he had a good thing going at our club. But now things seem to have
taken a wrong turn putting us on a downward spiral past the point of no
return.
We have a decent team (much better than what the table would suggest
anyway), but our players look helpless out there on the pitch. There is not
a lot of running going on, there is hardly any creativity, we don't chase
the opposition enough, we are second best in most statistics and, as Bilic
has admitted himself, we look awful right now with or without the ball.
Not good. I'm sure Bilic must have an idea of how he wants his team to play.
But either his players don't understand what this gameplan is or are
unwilling (or unable) to follow that gameplan. Funnily enough there is a
similar situation at my beloved Concordia too where the football is going
backwards as well after hiring a new manager last season.
The manager here also seems to have a clear picture in his mind of a certain
style of football, but just like at West Ham it only takes a quick pass or
two to get past all the midfielders and defenders and score plenty of goals
against the Cordi boys.
You won't win many games of football if you concede three goals on average,
no matter if it's the Premier League or 5th level local football in Hamburg.
Yes, a lot of our goals come from individual mistakes, shocking ones at
that. Players need to take their fair share of blame for that, but as you
cannot sack an entire team that's underperforming it's obviously going to be
the manager eventually being shown the door as the easiest option to
kickstart your season.
I don't see a way back for Bilic unfortunately although I would have loved
to see him as our manager for many more years, because in my view he was
pretty much perfect for our club, but the Premier League is a shark tank and
once you have shown a weakness and the fans, rivals and club owners smell
blood there usually is only one solution.
Looks like Bilic's race here is run.
Before we talk about the potential replacements who are being rumoured to
take over from Bilic, let me be crystal clear about my skepticism that
things will suddenly be all rosy and peachy in a West Ham Wonderland after
the arrival of a new manager, the owners are still the same, the modus
operandi in our transfer dealings will not change and certain aspects of our
training ground will remain.
I was shocked to read that apparently there still is no ice bath facility
available at our Rush Green training complex. Bearing in mind the number of
injuries suffered by our players one would imagine certain basic features
being in place at our club to help minimise the number and impact of certain
injuries.
Also it didn't help to play the first four games of the season all away from
home which contributed to the dire situation we're finding ourselves in.
I suppose that comes with the package of only renting a stadium, not owning
it. But we were told that West Ham games would always take priority over
other stuff that happens in our "home" stadium, well, unless it involves
athletics obviously, especially when converting the seats back into football
mode takes about a week, not 48 hours.
Which can happen if you install demountable seating by mistake instead of
proper retractable seating. This is so NOT next level…but I digress.
Replacing the manager can only be one step in our efforts to become a bigger
and better club from top to bottom, the owners have to do their bit too. The
timing of course is very unfortunate if we were to bring in a new manager
today or later this week. With the transfer window closing shut later this
week ideally you would want to see 2-3 more signings, considering the number
of players who have left our club already. Our squad looks threadbare and
unbalanced at this point which will hopefully be addressed in the next few
days, regardless of the manager situation. But do you sign new players when
you cannot even be sure if the new man in charge will actually want and use
them ?
Anyway, first candidate as our new gaffer is Rafa Benitez. At one point two
years ago we were apparently just a few minutes away from nailing down his
signing before he changed his mind and chose Real Madrid instead which took
nobody by surprise really, apart from our owners probably.
It looks like we could sign him now from Newcastle after all if we pay them
a £5 million release fee. The Spaniard no doubt is an experienced head, he
has won cups, titles and trophies in Spain, Italy and England (including the
Champions League of course), so he knows how to manage and win at big clubs.
I have no doubt he could organise our back four into a solid unit again and
drum some tactical discipline into our players to stop us leaking goals
left, right and center. Benitez teams in general are hard to beat which most
fans will be happy enough with at this point. On the other hand former
players of his like Jamie Carragher claim that he is not exactly a great
motivator for the players.
Then again I feel that there is something fundamentally wrong if a Premier
League player looks to his manager for motivational skills in order to be
sharp and up for it.
The next candidate would keep the Balkan theme at West Ham alive and
kicking, with Serbian Slavisa Jokanovic replacing our current Croatian
manager.
Jokanovic is currently managing Fulham and while The Cottagers have started
their Championship season in indifferent fashion so far (6 points from a
possible 15) I understand that he has established a style of football at
Fulham that's both modern and pleasing on the eye.
A bit of a groundhopper as a player (playing for 8 clubs in his career,
spending no longer than 2 years at either of them) he also managed at some
interesting clubs so far, Partizan Belgrade, Muangthong United (Thailand),
Levski Sofia and Hercules (the club, not the divine hero), before managing
Watford and Maccabi Tel Aviv.
He has kept Fulham in the Championship before then reaching last season's
playoff places.
The biggest plus apparently is his technical flexibility, he allows his
teams to play and switch to different formations, according to which players
are at his disposal for any given game and the style, strengths and
weaknesses of the opposition. So, not just Plan A, but also Plan B, C, D and
E.
His general approach is attack minded and possession based, with an emphasis
on supporting the strikers from both wings. As a consequence Fulham are very
dangerous attacking with the ball, much less so when defending. In that
respect he doesn't look like the answer to West Ham's defensive shenanigans
at this point.
Another name in the hat appears to be that of Marco Silva, the current
Watford gaffer who West Ham apparently were interested in signing earlier
this summer, if you believe certain rumours. Silva, being a young manager,
hasn't been around for long, but he certainly has turned a few heads and is
very much flavour of the month among various pundits. He has managed at
Estoril, Sporting, Olympiacos and Hull before. Apart from his Estoril reign
(3 years) he has never stayed more than one season at his previous clubs
which seems to indicate that he moved to another club whenever reaching
another level or opportunity.
The Portuguese football tactician has been known to be a proper teacher to
his players, constantly talking to them about organisation, using space on
the pitch and movement to enable them to make the best decision in crucial
on-field situations whenever they arise. Many West Ham fans will be happy to
hear that Silva's approach is very much focused on keeping clean sheets
first and foremost, with attacking prowess taking a backseat, unless it's a
counter attack.
While managing in Greece the fans there even joked that Silva was so set in
his ways of attacking on the counter that he sometimes told his players to
deliberately give the ball to the opposition in order to win it back again
and go on the counter attack.
Either way the next few days at West Ham will be busy and interesting,
though not necessarily exciting or overwhelmingly positive.
Will Bilic really leave his post this week already and will his replacement
be ready straight away ? Will we make more signings in the next few days ?
Will we get the Carvalho deal over the line after all ?
And will we be able to get some decent training sessions under our belt
during the international break, so the players are in significantly better
shape physically and mentally for our first home game of the season ?
All we can do as fans at this stage is wait, see and drink a nice hot cuppa
from our favourite West Ham themed mug. COYI!
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THE DAVID GOLD INTERVIEW
By Sean Whetstone 28 Aug 2017 at 17:00
WTID
I write this column on a sunbed by the pool in Costa Del Sol. From a selfish
point of view, I have no problem with playing the first four games away from
home. It means for once I don't miss the first home game of the season
because of a family holiday and I miss all the train chaos around South West
Trains engineering works at Waterloo over August.
I have of course been watching all the games from Spain as the international
coverage is much more widespread than our domestic showings so I don't need
to miss a second of the action from my sunny family holiday. When the third
goal went in at Newcastle I droned by sorrows by diving in the deep end of
the pool. I even managed to record our West Ham podcast Moore Than Just A
Podcast from Spain thanks to a great new technology called Zencastr so it
sounds like I am still in the room with George, John and Nigel.
Just before I jetted off to Spain I spoke to West Ham Co Chairman David Gold
for an hour long exclusive interview just one day before West Ham kicked off
their Premier League season. We talked about a range of subjects and Gold
took the opportunity to clarify comments he made on social media about West
Ham's youth players.
In June the Joint Chairman said on twitter
"It's hard for a teenager to break into the first team and it becomes even
harder as the first team gets better but they are, not teenagers forever.
dg"
Gold started by telling me:
"Just remember what I said, I simply said and I put in brackets 'teenagers'
Teenagers breaking into the first team in the Premier League, the greatest
league in the world is difficult, I never said it was impossible, I said it
was difficult but that's not to say when you get to 20 or 21 it starts to
Moorethanget a bit easier. If you take the first game of the season on
Friday night you look at that game and tell me how many teenagers were
playing in that game, I don't know but I am pretty confident that they were
no teenagers playing in that game, were there 20 year old's? well possible
but that is not a teenager, a teenager is 17, 18 or 19."
"I think we have one of the best group of young players (at West Ham) for a
long, long time without me being specific, some have come have gone through
the academy, some have been bought in but we have some very exciting young
players, but are they going to get in the team at 17,18 or 19 ? I doubt it
but what they are being groomed to give them the opportunity to break into
our team when they get in their twenties and they we will see them blossom"
Asked about the age old question whether he would sell up he replied:
"I think David Sullivan has made it clear that he has no desire to sell his
shares, I have made it clear time and time again that I have no desire to
sell my shares.
"My love and passion in my life all revolve around West Ham, I have achieved
many different things in my life and the most driving force in my life is my
football club, our football club. Why would I sell? It's my life, If I sell,
what do I do? Go fishing? I just love the involvement, I have fulfilled my
wildest dreams."
"Here I am now a joint owner with my friend and colleague. Why would I want
to sell? The only time you would sell is in the event that you believed a
buyer could do a better job than you but at the moment we are doing a decent
job.We have never had an offer, we have never had a situation where for the
best interest of the football club we should sell, that has never occurred."
"Until that happens we don't have an issue, even then I would want and I am
sure David (Sullivan) would want also to be part of a new regime if ever
there was such a thing but right now we are very very happy and we think we
are doing OK. It is difficult, we have probably been through the most
traumatic event in probably the history of our football club in migrating to
a new stadium and we think we are doing OK"
Embed from Getty Images
Eighty-year-old Gold also mapped out his succession plan whilst doing
everything possible to live until he is 100. Asked the question he said:
"The situation would be that my daughters would inherit my shares as indeed
young David Sullivan and young Jack will"
"Jack is clearly being groomed as you can see and his passion for the
football club is quite clear, my daughters are business women and their
contribution in the future I think would be very valuable and I could see
both the Sullivan boys and the Gold girls forming a board that would be well
balanced.
"Don't forget my daughters are passionate fans as well. They have obviously
got responsibilities of running Ann Summers the business but that wouldn't
preclude them from being on the board at West Ham at some time in the future
as the young Sullivans would part and parcel of it.This is how David
Sullivan and I see the succession but you never know, there is a long way to
go, hopefully, I am going to live to 100 and I am doing everything possible
to make sure that happens."
"They talk about West Ham being A family, the board is also a family when
you take the Sullivans and Golds, Its a family thing and with West Ham
claiming we are Moore Than A Football Club and you often hear Mark Noble
talk about the family, the West Ham family, I think that we are part and
parcel of that.
Gold explained the situation around the share holder loans David Sullivan
and himself have loaned the club and justified the interest they receive on
them saying the football club is better off while they are worst off from
the arrangement and he withdrew the money from other investments as he
didn't have the money lying under the bed contrary to popular belief. Gold
said:
"When we came into the club, the club had some very caustic debts where they
were paying interest at 10% and not only were they paying a high rate of
interest but they were caustic in the sense what could happen there is if
the club couldn't meet the repayments or the interest they could foreclose
and put the club in administration. If the debt is out debt, we are not
going to foreclose so we are a safer lender because we are only ever going
to take our repayments and don't forget if you go back to the original
(loan) these debts, the interest on these debts were at a very high rate.
The reason was, people didn't want to lend money to West Ham United football
club 10 years ago so the interest rates were very high. We replaced those
high-interest rates with a lower interest rate so the minute we put the
money in and paid off those debts, West Ham were paying 10% now West Ham
United football club, our football club is now only paying interest at 6%."
"To loan West Ham money, it wasn't money that was under the bed and gave to
West Ham and now we are earning 6%, that's not true. To be able to fund
those loans, I had to remove investments that were returning me 10% plus so
I cash in my investments that were showing me a 10% minimum and I loan that
money to West Ham at 6% so I am now 4% worse off, West Ham are 4% better off
because they were borrowing money at 10% and now they are borrowing at 6% so
the football club is better off, it is more secure, the only losers are
David Sullivan and myself because we are loaning money at a lower interest
than we were."
"These investments are basically the inherence of my daughters and I have a
responsibility to ensure that I am doing sensible things. I am not doing
what Mark Goldberg did, I am not doing what Simon Jordan did which to take
their wealth, pump it into the football club and wake up one morning and
their £36m that they sold their business for has disappeared. Now, what use
is Mark Goldberg's Crystal Palace, now what use is Simon's Jordan now to
Crystal Palace."
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Slaven Bilic given four games to save his job after West Ham's disastrous
start to the Premier League season
West Ham sit bottom of the Premier League without a point to their name -
and there could be changes on the horizon
The Mirror
BYNEIL MCLEMAN
22:30, 28 AUG 2017
Slaven Bilic has been given four more Premier League games to save his job
after West Ham's terrible start to the season. The East London club sit
bottom of the table with no points after conceding 10 goals in their first
three games. And the former Croatia coach has been told results must improve
when the Hammers return to play matches at the London Stadium next month.
The manager held his usual post-match debriefing with co-owner David
Sullivan on Monday to discuss the weekend defeat at Newcastle – and ways to
turn around the season. West Ham have played their first four matches way
from home after the World Athletics Championships were staged at the London
Stadium. And starting with newly-promoted Huddersfield on Monday September
9, the Hammers will play three home Premier League games in September with
Tottenham and Swansea also visiting. They also play at West Brom as well and
have a home Carabao Cup tie against Bolton before the next international
break. Mirror Football revealed last week that the West Ham board were
already looking at alternatives to Bilic, who is in the last year of his
contract, after the Southampton defeat. The West Ham board are reluctant
sackers – and kept faith with Sam Allardyce and even Avram Grant during
troubled times.
And there is sympathy for Bilic because of having to start the season with
three away Premier League games as well as a pre-season injury to Manuel
Lanzini.
But the start is also seen as a worrying continuation to the poor form of
the last campaign. Bilic's side lost five straight matches in the spring and
finished the season with only three wins in the last 14 games to end 11th.
This summer there was no Europa League qualifying and West Ham had a better
transfer window but the results have not improved. Record signing Mark
Arnautovic was sent off in his second game while West Ham are still trying
to reach agreement for Sporting Lisbon midfielder William Carvalho. But
after the Newcastle game, Bilic admitted: "It's not about the transfer
window. "OK, we were looking for one more player, but we had done a good job
on paper in the transfer window. "We made a good squad, a squad which looked
good enough to have a good season. OK, it's still early in the season, but
it's not about the transfer window. It wasn't because of one player – we
didn't look good as a team."
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West Ham deliver ultimatum to Sporting Lisbon over William Carvalho as they
attempt to get price lowered
The Hammers are hoping to land Carvalho before Thursday's transfer deadline
- but for a reduced fee
The Mirror
BYJOHN CROSS
22:30, 28 AUG 2017
West Ham have delivered an ultimatum to Sporting Lisbon over defensive
midfielder William Carvalho. The Hammers have bid £30million plus £5m in
add-ons – but the Portuguese club have moved the goalposts by increasing the
initial asking price to £40m. That has infuriated West Ham , who insist
their last offer is final and that they will not be held to ransom. The
Londoners have replied and said, 'Drop the price by £5m, or forget it'.
Portugal's Carvalho, 25, is now the only transfer target on their radar as
they look to back under-pressure boss Slaven Bilic.
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De Boer wants Fonte, Mirror say
BY LONDON FOOTBALL NEWS 28/08/2017
Crystal Palace boss Frank de Boer wants to bid for Jose Fonte in an attempt
to save his job, the Mirror say. The Dutchman is said to be keen to take
former Eagles defender Fonte, 33, back to Selhurst Park from West Ham.
Fonte, who had a two-year spell at Palace and joined West Ham from
Southampton earlier this year, has been overlooked by Slaven Bilic and there
has been speculation that he could move. It comes amid reports that both
Bilic and Palace boss De Boer are in danger of being sacked. West Ham
manager Bilic will reportedly hold talks with the club's co-owner David
Sullivan today and is said to be in danger of being fired after a poor start
to the season. The Sun also say De Boer could be shown the door after just
three matches in charge of Palace. It is claimed that Palace's players are
baffled by his tactics but that the Dutchman is refusing to change.
Meanwhile, Kevin Wimmer is set to undergo a medical ahead of a move from
Tottenham to Stoke City, the Mirror say. Palace were tipped to sign the
Austrian defender and West Brom showed an interest. The Mirror say Stoke
have agreed a deal with Spurs and will pay £15m plus a further £3m in
add-ons.
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Sky Sports presenter releases personal statement on 'Rafa Benitez joining
West Ham' story
Pete Graves of Sky Sports explains why Rafa Benitez could join West Ham and
why criticism from Newcastle fans has been unfair.
TheMag.co.uk
2 hours ago by Jackie Smithfield
Sky Sports presenter Pete Graves has felt compelled to release his own
personal statement on the rumours surrounding the future of Rafa Benitez.
Pete Graves happens also to be a big Newcastle United fan and admits to
feeling hurt after receiving personal criticism for covering the story on
Sky Sports. Following Newcastle's 3-0 win over the Hammers, Sky Sports
reported that a high up source at West Ham had said the position of Slaven
Bilic was under threat due to no points after three matches and the dismal
nature of the defeat at St James Park. The reports also said that West Ham
remained big admirers of Rafa Benitez and Sky revealed that the Newcastle
manager has a buyout clause, with that figure somewhere over £5m.
Using Facebook, Pete Graves explained (see below) exactly why he thinks Rafa
Benitez 'would have to consider any approach from the Hammers if it should
ever materialise'. However, he also says Rafa's 'Love for the fans is so
strong that I believe it could be enough to make him stay'. Pete Graves
urges Mike Ashley to fully back his manager and says that if he (Graves) was
owner of NUFC he'd be 'Giving Rafa Benitez everything he wants'.
Pete Graves on Facebook:
"There's something that's worried me since the day Rafa Benitez arrived at
Newcastle United. Something that has always been at the back of my mind. "A
nagging fear that one day a certain club might come in for him, and believe
it or not – that club was West Ham. "My heart sank a little last (Saturday)
night. The news reached us at Sky Sports News that West Ham were considering
the future of Slaven Bilic and that indeed Rafa Benitez would be top of
their potential list of suitors. Furthermore they were aware there was a
clause, a fairly significant one (more than £5m) but ultimately a way to
effectively buy Rafa Benitez out of Newcastle United. "But why are West Ham
the club that I've feared so long?? Why did I not blink when the links with
China and even Arsenal were reported in the national press? Well the reason
is, because Rafa has always maintained privately that he feels indebted to
West Ham and would have to consider any approach from the Hammers if it
should ever materialise and here's why;
"In 2015 Benitez was on the brink of becoming West Ham's manager. He'd
spoken to the owners and was planning for life at Upton Park. However at the
eleventh hour Real Madrid offered him the opportunity to move to the
Bernabeu and it was too good an offer to turn down. "What impressed Rafa so
much was the way the West Ham board accepted his decision. They understood
that the opportunity to manage Real Madrid was too much for a Spanish
manager to disregard and they gave Rafa their blessing and subsequently
appointed Slaven Bilic. The rest as they say is history and now we are where
we are…Bilic on the brink and Rafa in their thoughts.
"Now let's throw into the mix that Rafa has grown increasingly frustrated at
NUFC this summer. He wanted more investment and he's stood and watched while
even fellow 'promotees' Brighton and Huddersfield have spent significantly
more. Meanwhile West Ham have signed Joe Hart (a player Rafa wanted) and
submitted a bid of close to £40m for William Carvalho (another Rafa target).
Let that sink in…A 40 million pound bid for ONE player, that's more than
Newcastle have spent on six new arrivals so far. That's financial muscle.
"Only this week Rafa said that he no longer viewed NUFC as a long term
project…Not my words, the words of the manager, whilst he's also said he's
"signing the players he can, not the ones he wants". Needless to say the
positivity of last seasons's promotion has disintegrated. And Rafa is
clearly frustrated AND not afraid to tell the world. "Now let's consider
West Ham as a long term project. They have the Olympic Stadium, they are
based in London, in my opinion with the right manager at the helm they could
be challenging the 'big boys' in the next 3-5 years both on and off the
pitch. It's am attractive proposition on paper.
"Now, from a personal point of view, I was gutted to be roundly criticised
by lots of fellow NUFC fans for reporting the story both on air and online
last (Saturday) night. Let me say there's absolutely no agenda from me, so
to be accused of stirring things up or creating stories to disrupt the club
is absolutely ridiculous.
"I love Newcastle United and I have done all my life. As a family we've
still got our season tickets and I travel home and away as often as I can.
Not in the press box but with the fans…I pay for my tickets, I write a
column in the Newcastle United program and let me clear this up once and for
all, I receive no money for this column at all and am not 'on the payroll'
as has been thrown at me in the past.
"I fully understand that rumours of other clubs circling are not easy to
stomach…I know this because I feel exactly the same, but sadly this story
has legs and as someone who works as a sports reporter, but is also actively
aware that the majority of my 'followers' etc are Newcastle fans, I felt it
was my duty to keep you informed with the very latest concerning our
manager. Although I'm sorry that in this instance the news was slightly
concerning.
"Finally this is anything but a done deal and there is still a massive
reason why Rafa Benitez could very well stay at Newcastle United for years
to come and continue to fight for the club…and that reason is quite simply
you lot, the fans. Rafa Benitez could manage for the next one thousand years
and he'll never receive the adoration that he currently receives on
Tyneside. He knows that and his family knows that!
"He can walk on water in Newcastle and rightly so! Subsequently it would
really hurt him to walk away from those loyal Geordie supporters that he's
grown so fond of and this will be forefront in his thinking. His love for
the fans is so strong that I believe it could be enough to make him stay,
but he needs more support financially. Yesterday's brilliant 3-0 win (over
West Ham) and the atmosphere in the ground will also help!
"As we stand today, Slaven Bilic remains West Ham manager and Rafa Benitez
very much the manager of Newcastle United. However if I was the owner of
Newcastle I'd be giving Rafa Benitez everything he wants starting with more
financial muscle in the remaining days of the transfer window. However sadly
I'm not.
"Thoughts welcome. HWTL."
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BT Sport pundits get heated during debate over Slaven Bilic's West Ham
future
The four pundits on the satellite channel were discussing the Hammers heavy
defeat at Newcastle
Football London
BYSAM INKERSOLE
21:00, 28 AUG 2017
BT Sport pundits Robbie Savage, Owen Hargreaves and Rio Ferdinand all agreed
that Slaven Bilic should be given more time to turn things around at West
Ham despite the protestations of presenter Jake Humphrey. The panel were
discussing West Ham's 3-0 defeat on Premier League Tonight over the weekend
and the topic of Bilic's struggling Hammers side came up and was debated.
The Hammers have lost three Premier League games on the spin to start the
season and find themselves planted to the bottom of the table as we head
into the first international break of the season. After Humphrey questioned
the pundits on Bilic and his record of three wins in 17 games and four in
the past 24, here were there resonses.
Robbie Savage
After three games, you'd question your manager? You'd be one of those
sitting there saying he's got to go after three games? That's ridiculous.
Under Sam Allardyce, who did a great job, they got 46 points. Under Bilic
they got 67 points last season, now they move stadium, 11th last season,
what do the West Ham fans expect?
Rio Ferdinand
How much has he spent in this window, £40m? You're going sack him after
three games? You've got to give him time after investing that money to go
and prove it was worth it.
Owen Hargeaves
The pieces of the puzzle are there for West Ham, no question. If they have
their best team fit and healthy, they will be mid table, 10th or maybe 12th.
But with Michail Antonio having been out, Andy Carroll too, Cresswell missed
time, issues in goal - the balance of the side is wrong.
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http://vyperz.blogspot.com
WHUFC.com
Slaven Bilic says 'bad times' like West Ham United's current predicament
need to bring out the best in his management. The Hammers sit bottom of the
Premier League table after three consecutive defeats to start the season at
Manchester United, Southampton and Newcastle United. Speaking after
Saturday's 3-0 reverse at St James' Park, Bilic again lamented the mistakes
that led to the opponents' goals, but knows actions on the training pitch
and in the home opener with Huddersfield Town on Monday 11 September will
speak louder than words. "We have had three games and three defeats," he
began. "Again, we conceded three goals so of course I feel pressure. Of
course, we can say they were three away games but we have no points and we
don't look good. "I hate it [when we make mistakes] but this is a job about
good times and bad times, and you have to show your quality as a manager
more in the bad times than in the good times. So, we have to work very hard
to come out of this situation. I've done it before, of course, and I have to
do it again." "I talked to the guys after the game and I said 'Nobody can
take us out of this situation but ourselves'. There is no other thing to do
than to work hard, to dig in and for us to show the quality we have got on
paper, on the pitch."
Bilic was asked if he will try to remedy the situation by delving into the
transfer market, which closes on Thursday, but he insisted a last-gasp
recruitment drive was not necessarily the answer. "It's not about the
transfer window," he said. "OK, we were looking for one more player, but we
had done a good job on paper in the transfer window. "We made a good squad,
a squad which looked good enough to have a good season. OK, it's still early
in the season, but it's not about the transfer window. It wasn't because of
one player – we didn't look good as a team."
Reflecting further on Saturday's loss, Bilic pointed to defensive errors and
the Magpies' counter-attacking abilities as the major reasons for
Newcastle's victory.
"They were better in the second balls and the transitions and they were
hurting us, to be fair. Then, in the second half, we looked good up until
the second goal and we had a chance and it maybe looked like we were going
to score a goal and turn the game around. "Then we made another mistake in
an area where it is dangerous and they were better than us. The whole game
they were better than us, even though they didn't create anything up until
the first goal. "We knew they didn't have magicians in the middle of the
park, but they were getting second balls and were really good in the
transitions after they were getting them. They totally deserved it."
West Ham return to Premier League action after the international break at
London Stadium on Monday 11 September at 8pm.
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Kemp on wonder-goal v Swansea City: 'I've never scored anything like that!'
WHUFC.com
Dan Kemp has admitted his shock at seeing his long-range effort find the
back of the net in West Ham United U23's 5-2 victory over Swansea City. The
Hammers bested the Swans thanks to strikes from Kemp. Nathan Holland, Toni
Martinez and Grady Diangana but it was the No7's effort that earned gasps of
awe from the supporters at the Chigwell Construction Stadium. With the Irons
leading 3-1 from the first-half Swansea goalkeeper Gregor Zabret found
himself in no man's land after clearing the ball, which fell straight to
Kemp. The 18-year-old showed incredible composure to then launch the ball
over the shot-stopper and into the far corner of the net from around 40
yards. Kemp has now confessed to never scoring a goal from such distance
before but admits he was always going to take the shot once the chance
presented itself. "I knew the 'keeper was out of his goal," Kemp explained
to whufc.com: "As soon as the ball fell to me I didn't have a second
thought. I just decided to have a go and I was buzzing when I saw it go in.
"I've never scored anything like that before! Certainly not from that range.
I'm just delighted that it went in and I got to continue my goalscoring run.
That's three goals for me now and I'm thrilled."
Kemp's finish was the stand-out moment in an action-packed encounter on
Sunday with seven goals between the two sides. Terry Westley's Hammers
controlled the game for large portions and got their reward with five
finishes, and Kemp has praised the manner of the victory. He added: "All the
lads are buzzing. It was a great win and it was a great performance to go
with it as well. It's so important to perform in this way. We're so
pleased."
Kemp's goal and an assist caps a brilliant week for the winger with the No7
also called up to play for the England U19s for matches against Poland and
Germany at the start of September. Kemp is hoping to carry his excellent
West Ham United form onto the international stage next week. "To score such
a goal and get an assist sends me away for international duty on a high.
Winning with the team in this way gives me a lot of confidence and I can't
wait to meet up with the England boys and hopefully get some good wins with
them as well."
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Ray: West Ham United Ladies dug deep to claim exciting Cardiff victory
WHUFC.com
West Ham United Ladies general manager Karen Ray has hailed the work-rate
shown by the team in Sunday's 4-3 win over Cardiff City Ladies. Two goals
from Paige Anderson-James and strikes from Amber Stobbs and Molly Peters was
enough for the West Ham United Ladies to overcome the tough test Cardiff
presented in an entertaining encounter at Rush Green. Sunday's match was a
roller-coaster of emotion as the Hammers twice conceded the lead and even
went behind before scoring two goals in the final 17 minutes to secure a
victory. Ray is delighted with the battling spirit the Ladies team showed in
sweltering conditions and believes the dominance displayed by West Ham ended
in the result the team deserved.
"We are very pleased with today's performance," Ray told whufc.com: "The
Ladies showed a great reaction and really dug deep despite making it hard
for ourselves at times. "Yet again we were the most dominate team and
created many opportunities in the final third. We know we need to be more
clinical. However, you cannot take away from the quality of the finishes
today and the creative build up. "The work rate on a very hot day was
phenomenal. Some of our link up and combination play was excellent, but
admittedly I am a perfectionist so I want us to see the score-line we
deserve."
West Ham United had taken the lead thanks to Anderson-James in the 15th
minutes but Cardiff levelled the match just four minutes later. Stobbs
scored a magnificent effort mid-way through the first half as she lobbed a
stranded Cardiff City goalkeeper, giving the Irons a 2-1 lead at half-time,
but just three minutes after the restart the south Wales side were level
again. West Ham United Ladies fell behind for the first time on 58 minutes
but Peters restored spirit and momentum to the home team with a clinical
finish on 73 minutes. And Anderson-James secured a fantastic win for the
Hammers when her header found the net from a Stobbs cross. Ray has also paid
tribute to the West Ham United fans in attendance at Rush Green on Sunday,
praising their involvement in the 4-3 win and the journey the Ladies team is
undertaking. Ray added: "We have a young squad who continue to learn and
develop in a challenging environment and today we reaped some of the rewards
of patience, trust and belief in the journey we are on. "The crowd were
fantastic too, they really helped encourage the ladies to finish the game
with a win. We play for something far bigger than ourselves, we do this to
grow the game and the club so the young mascots from today can go on to be
professional in years to come. It's about the success of the club, not
individuals and everyone here now buys into that."
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Manuel Lanzini out of Argentina World Cup qualifiers
By Richard Cooke
Last Updated: 28/08/17 10:47pm
SSN
West Ham midfielder Manuel Lanzini has withdrawn from Argentina's squad for
their World Cup qualifiers with a knee injury. Lanzini missed West Ham's
first two Premier League matches of the new campaign after picking up the
knock in pre-season but he did return for Saturday's 3-0 defeat at Newcastle
as a second-half substitute. He was set to be involved in Argentina's
matches away at Uruguay on Friday followed by the home game against
Venezuela next Wednesday.
The 24-year-old's international career has only just got underway. He made
his debut against Brazil in June and then earned his first start under Jorge
Sampaoli as Argentina thrashed Singapore 6-0. Previous to that, Lanzini was
named in Argentina's provisional 35-man squad for the 2016 Olympics in Rio
but again it was a knee injury that forced him to pull out and he returned
to West Ham for treatment.
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BAD TIME FOR A CHANGE - HOW MUCH LONGER FOR SLAVEN ?
By HamburgHammer 28 Aug 2017 at 08:00
WTID
This post could be replaced fairly quickly during the course of the day
depending on the fallout from yesterday's meeting between the board and
Slaven Bilic.
Urgent crisis talks have been held (with further discussions scheduled for
today) to determine whether Bilic will get a few more games to turn things
around and save his skin or if this is the end of the road for him at West
Ham.
Apparently the board are concerned about Bilic's tactics and team selection
and frankly the league table is not a pretty sight right now and it doesn't
lie either, three games, three defeats, ten goals conceded, bottom of the
table. As a club we should and need to aim higher. Over the last few days
more and more critics of the manager have come out of the woodwork demanding
for Bilic to be sacked or walk himself if he wants to avoid the sack.
You all know my stance on Bilic. As a person I love the guy to bits, he is
an intelligent bloke, he seems to genuinely care about West Ham, he is a
good man, easy to root for, a leader with a certain aura and (for a while at
least) he had a good thing going at our club. But now things seem to have
taken a wrong turn putting us on a downward spiral past the point of no
return.
We have a decent team (much better than what the table would suggest
anyway), but our players look helpless out there on the pitch. There is not
a lot of running going on, there is hardly any creativity, we don't chase
the opposition enough, we are second best in most statistics and, as Bilic
has admitted himself, we look awful right now with or without the ball.
Not good. I'm sure Bilic must have an idea of how he wants his team to play.
But either his players don't understand what this gameplan is or are
unwilling (or unable) to follow that gameplan. Funnily enough there is a
similar situation at my beloved Concordia too where the football is going
backwards as well after hiring a new manager last season.
The manager here also seems to have a clear picture in his mind of a certain
style of football, but just like at West Ham it only takes a quick pass or
two to get past all the midfielders and defenders and score plenty of goals
against the Cordi boys.
You won't win many games of football if you concede three goals on average,
no matter if it's the Premier League or 5th level local football in Hamburg.
Yes, a lot of our goals come from individual mistakes, shocking ones at
that. Players need to take their fair share of blame for that, but as you
cannot sack an entire team that's underperforming it's obviously going to be
the manager eventually being shown the door as the easiest option to
kickstart your season.
I don't see a way back for Bilic unfortunately although I would have loved
to see him as our manager for many more years, because in my view he was
pretty much perfect for our club, but the Premier League is a shark tank and
once you have shown a weakness and the fans, rivals and club owners smell
blood there usually is only one solution.
Looks like Bilic's race here is run.
Before we talk about the potential replacements who are being rumoured to
take over from Bilic, let me be crystal clear about my skepticism that
things will suddenly be all rosy and peachy in a West Ham Wonderland after
the arrival of a new manager, the owners are still the same, the modus
operandi in our transfer dealings will not change and certain aspects of our
training ground will remain.
I was shocked to read that apparently there still is no ice bath facility
available at our Rush Green training complex. Bearing in mind the number of
injuries suffered by our players one would imagine certain basic features
being in place at our club to help minimise the number and impact of certain
injuries.
Also it didn't help to play the first four games of the season all away from
home which contributed to the dire situation we're finding ourselves in.
I suppose that comes with the package of only renting a stadium, not owning
it. But we were told that West Ham games would always take priority over
other stuff that happens in our "home" stadium, well, unless it involves
athletics obviously, especially when converting the seats back into football
mode takes about a week, not 48 hours.
Which can happen if you install demountable seating by mistake instead of
proper retractable seating. This is so NOT next level…but I digress.
Replacing the manager can only be one step in our efforts to become a bigger
and better club from top to bottom, the owners have to do their bit too. The
timing of course is very unfortunate if we were to bring in a new manager
today or later this week. With the transfer window closing shut later this
week ideally you would want to see 2-3 more signings, considering the number
of players who have left our club already. Our squad looks threadbare and
unbalanced at this point which will hopefully be addressed in the next few
days, regardless of the manager situation. But do you sign new players when
you cannot even be sure if the new man in charge will actually want and use
them ?
Anyway, first candidate as our new gaffer is Rafa Benitez. At one point two
years ago we were apparently just a few minutes away from nailing down his
signing before he changed his mind and chose Real Madrid instead which took
nobody by surprise really, apart from our owners probably.
It looks like we could sign him now from Newcastle after all if we pay them
a £5 million release fee. The Spaniard no doubt is an experienced head, he
has won cups, titles and trophies in Spain, Italy and England (including the
Champions League of course), so he knows how to manage and win at big clubs.
I have no doubt he could organise our back four into a solid unit again and
drum some tactical discipline into our players to stop us leaking goals
left, right and center. Benitez teams in general are hard to beat which most
fans will be happy enough with at this point. On the other hand former
players of his like Jamie Carragher claim that he is not exactly a great
motivator for the players.
Then again I feel that there is something fundamentally wrong if a Premier
League player looks to his manager for motivational skills in order to be
sharp and up for it.
The next candidate would keep the Balkan theme at West Ham alive and
kicking, with Serbian Slavisa Jokanovic replacing our current Croatian
manager.
Jokanovic is currently managing Fulham and while The Cottagers have started
their Championship season in indifferent fashion so far (6 points from a
possible 15) I understand that he has established a style of football at
Fulham that's both modern and pleasing on the eye.
A bit of a groundhopper as a player (playing for 8 clubs in his career,
spending no longer than 2 years at either of them) he also managed at some
interesting clubs so far, Partizan Belgrade, Muangthong United (Thailand),
Levski Sofia and Hercules (the club, not the divine hero), before managing
Watford and Maccabi Tel Aviv.
He has kept Fulham in the Championship before then reaching last season's
playoff places.
The biggest plus apparently is his technical flexibility, he allows his
teams to play and switch to different formations, according to which players
are at his disposal for any given game and the style, strengths and
weaknesses of the opposition. So, not just Plan A, but also Plan B, C, D and
E.
His general approach is attack minded and possession based, with an emphasis
on supporting the strikers from both wings. As a consequence Fulham are very
dangerous attacking with the ball, much less so when defending. In that
respect he doesn't look like the answer to West Ham's defensive shenanigans
at this point.
Another name in the hat appears to be that of Marco Silva, the current
Watford gaffer who West Ham apparently were interested in signing earlier
this summer, if you believe certain rumours. Silva, being a young manager,
hasn't been around for long, but he certainly has turned a few heads and is
very much flavour of the month among various pundits. He has managed at
Estoril, Sporting, Olympiacos and Hull before. Apart from his Estoril reign
(3 years) he has never stayed more than one season at his previous clubs
which seems to indicate that he moved to another club whenever reaching
another level or opportunity.
The Portuguese football tactician has been known to be a proper teacher to
his players, constantly talking to them about organisation, using space on
the pitch and movement to enable them to make the best decision in crucial
on-field situations whenever they arise. Many West Ham fans will be happy to
hear that Silva's approach is very much focused on keeping clean sheets
first and foremost, with attacking prowess taking a backseat, unless it's a
counter attack.
While managing in Greece the fans there even joked that Silva was so set in
his ways of attacking on the counter that he sometimes told his players to
deliberately give the ball to the opposition in order to win it back again
and go on the counter attack.
Either way the next few days at West Ham will be busy and interesting,
though not necessarily exciting or overwhelmingly positive.
Will Bilic really leave his post this week already and will his replacement
be ready straight away ? Will we make more signings in the next few days ?
Will we get the Carvalho deal over the line after all ?
And will we be able to get some decent training sessions under our belt
during the international break, so the players are in significantly better
shape physically and mentally for our first home game of the season ?
All we can do as fans at this stage is wait, see and drink a nice hot cuppa
from our favourite West Ham themed mug. COYI!
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
THE DAVID GOLD INTERVIEW
By Sean Whetstone 28 Aug 2017 at 17:00
WTID
I write this column on a sunbed by the pool in Costa Del Sol. From a selfish
point of view, I have no problem with playing the first four games away from
home. It means for once I don't miss the first home game of the season
because of a family holiday and I miss all the train chaos around South West
Trains engineering works at Waterloo over August.
I have of course been watching all the games from Spain as the international
coverage is much more widespread than our domestic showings so I don't need
to miss a second of the action from my sunny family holiday. When the third
goal went in at Newcastle I droned by sorrows by diving in the deep end of
the pool. I even managed to record our West Ham podcast Moore Than Just A
Podcast from Spain thanks to a great new technology called Zencastr so it
sounds like I am still in the room with George, John and Nigel.
Just before I jetted off to Spain I spoke to West Ham Co Chairman David Gold
for an hour long exclusive interview just one day before West Ham kicked off
their Premier League season. We talked about a range of subjects and Gold
took the opportunity to clarify comments he made on social media about West
Ham's youth players.
In June the Joint Chairman said on twitter
"It's hard for a teenager to break into the first team and it becomes even
harder as the first team gets better but they are, not teenagers forever.
dg"
Gold started by telling me:
"Just remember what I said, I simply said and I put in brackets 'teenagers'
Teenagers breaking into the first team in the Premier League, the greatest
league in the world is difficult, I never said it was impossible, I said it
was difficult but that's not to say when you get to 20 or 21 it starts to
Moorethanget a bit easier. If you take the first game of the season on
Friday night you look at that game and tell me how many teenagers were
playing in that game, I don't know but I am pretty confident that they were
no teenagers playing in that game, were there 20 year old's? well possible
but that is not a teenager, a teenager is 17, 18 or 19."
"I think we have one of the best group of young players (at West Ham) for a
long, long time without me being specific, some have come have gone through
the academy, some have been bought in but we have some very exciting young
players, but are they going to get in the team at 17,18 or 19 ? I doubt it
but what they are being groomed to give them the opportunity to break into
our team when they get in their twenties and they we will see them blossom"
Asked about the age old question whether he would sell up he replied:
"I think David Sullivan has made it clear that he has no desire to sell his
shares, I have made it clear time and time again that I have no desire to
sell my shares.
"My love and passion in my life all revolve around West Ham, I have achieved
many different things in my life and the most driving force in my life is my
football club, our football club. Why would I sell? It's my life, If I sell,
what do I do? Go fishing? I just love the involvement, I have fulfilled my
wildest dreams."
"Here I am now a joint owner with my friend and colleague. Why would I want
to sell? The only time you would sell is in the event that you believed a
buyer could do a better job than you but at the moment we are doing a decent
job.We have never had an offer, we have never had a situation where for the
best interest of the football club we should sell, that has never occurred."
"Until that happens we don't have an issue, even then I would want and I am
sure David (Sullivan) would want also to be part of a new regime if ever
there was such a thing but right now we are very very happy and we think we
are doing OK. It is difficult, we have probably been through the most
traumatic event in probably the history of our football club in migrating to
a new stadium and we think we are doing OK"
Embed from Getty Images
Eighty-year-old Gold also mapped out his succession plan whilst doing
everything possible to live until he is 100. Asked the question he said:
"The situation would be that my daughters would inherit my shares as indeed
young David Sullivan and young Jack will"
"Jack is clearly being groomed as you can see and his passion for the
football club is quite clear, my daughters are business women and their
contribution in the future I think would be very valuable and I could see
both the Sullivan boys and the Gold girls forming a board that would be well
balanced.
"Don't forget my daughters are passionate fans as well. They have obviously
got responsibilities of running Ann Summers the business but that wouldn't
preclude them from being on the board at West Ham at some time in the future
as the young Sullivans would part and parcel of it.This is how David
Sullivan and I see the succession but you never know, there is a long way to
go, hopefully, I am going to live to 100 and I am doing everything possible
to make sure that happens."
"They talk about West Ham being A family, the board is also a family when
you take the Sullivans and Golds, Its a family thing and with West Ham
claiming we are Moore Than A Football Club and you often hear Mark Noble
talk about the family, the West Ham family, I think that we are part and
parcel of that.
Gold explained the situation around the share holder loans David Sullivan
and himself have loaned the club and justified the interest they receive on
them saying the football club is better off while they are worst off from
the arrangement and he withdrew the money from other investments as he
didn't have the money lying under the bed contrary to popular belief. Gold
said:
"When we came into the club, the club had some very caustic debts where they
were paying interest at 10% and not only were they paying a high rate of
interest but they were caustic in the sense what could happen there is if
the club couldn't meet the repayments or the interest they could foreclose
and put the club in administration. If the debt is out debt, we are not
going to foreclose so we are a safer lender because we are only ever going
to take our repayments and don't forget if you go back to the original
(loan) these debts, the interest on these debts were at a very high rate.
The reason was, people didn't want to lend money to West Ham United football
club 10 years ago so the interest rates were very high. We replaced those
high-interest rates with a lower interest rate so the minute we put the
money in and paid off those debts, West Ham were paying 10% now West Ham
United football club, our football club is now only paying interest at 6%."
"To loan West Ham money, it wasn't money that was under the bed and gave to
West Ham and now we are earning 6%, that's not true. To be able to fund
those loans, I had to remove investments that were returning me 10% plus so
I cash in my investments that were showing me a 10% minimum and I loan that
money to West Ham at 6% so I am now 4% worse off, West Ham are 4% better off
because they were borrowing money at 10% and now they are borrowing at 6% so
the football club is better off, it is more secure, the only losers are
David Sullivan and myself because we are loaning money at a lower interest
than we were."
"These investments are basically the inherence of my daughters and I have a
responsibility to ensure that I am doing sensible things. I am not doing
what Mark Goldberg did, I am not doing what Simon Jordan did which to take
their wealth, pump it into the football club and wake up one morning and
their £36m that they sold their business for has disappeared. Now, what use
is Mark Goldberg's Crystal Palace, now what use is Simon's Jordan now to
Crystal Palace."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Slaven Bilic given four games to save his job after West Ham's disastrous
start to the Premier League season
West Ham sit bottom of the Premier League without a point to their name -
and there could be changes on the horizon
The Mirror
BYNEIL MCLEMAN
22:30, 28 AUG 2017
Slaven Bilic has been given four more Premier League games to save his job
after West Ham's terrible start to the season. The East London club sit
bottom of the table with no points after conceding 10 goals in their first
three games. And the former Croatia coach has been told results must improve
when the Hammers return to play matches at the London Stadium next month.
The manager held his usual post-match debriefing with co-owner David
Sullivan on Monday to discuss the weekend defeat at Newcastle – and ways to
turn around the season. West Ham have played their first four matches way
from home after the World Athletics Championships were staged at the London
Stadium. And starting with newly-promoted Huddersfield on Monday September
9, the Hammers will play three home Premier League games in September with
Tottenham and Swansea also visiting. They also play at West Brom as well and
have a home Carabao Cup tie against Bolton before the next international
break. Mirror Football revealed last week that the West Ham board were
already looking at alternatives to Bilic, who is in the last year of his
contract, after the Southampton defeat. The West Ham board are reluctant
sackers – and kept faith with Sam Allardyce and even Avram Grant during
troubled times.
And there is sympathy for Bilic because of having to start the season with
three away Premier League games as well as a pre-season injury to Manuel
Lanzini.
But the start is also seen as a worrying continuation to the poor form of
the last campaign. Bilic's side lost five straight matches in the spring and
finished the season with only three wins in the last 14 games to end 11th.
This summer there was no Europa League qualifying and West Ham had a better
transfer window but the results have not improved. Record signing Mark
Arnautovic was sent off in his second game while West Ham are still trying
to reach agreement for Sporting Lisbon midfielder William Carvalho. But
after the Newcastle game, Bilic admitted: "It's not about the transfer
window. "OK, we were looking for one more player, but we had done a good job
on paper in the transfer window. "We made a good squad, a squad which looked
good enough to have a good season. OK, it's still early in the season, but
it's not about the transfer window. It wasn't because of one player – we
didn't look good as a team."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham deliver ultimatum to Sporting Lisbon over William Carvalho as they
attempt to get price lowered
The Hammers are hoping to land Carvalho before Thursday's transfer deadline
- but for a reduced fee
The Mirror
BYJOHN CROSS
22:30, 28 AUG 2017
West Ham have delivered an ultimatum to Sporting Lisbon over defensive
midfielder William Carvalho. The Hammers have bid £30million plus £5m in
add-ons – but the Portuguese club have moved the goalposts by increasing the
initial asking price to £40m. That has infuriated West Ham , who insist
their last offer is final and that they will not be held to ransom. The
Londoners have replied and said, 'Drop the price by £5m, or forget it'.
Portugal's Carvalho, 25, is now the only transfer target on their radar as
they look to back under-pressure boss Slaven Bilic.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
De Boer wants Fonte, Mirror say
BY LONDON FOOTBALL NEWS 28/08/2017
Crystal Palace boss Frank de Boer wants to bid for Jose Fonte in an attempt
to save his job, the Mirror say. The Dutchman is said to be keen to take
former Eagles defender Fonte, 33, back to Selhurst Park from West Ham.
Fonte, who had a two-year spell at Palace and joined West Ham from
Southampton earlier this year, has been overlooked by Slaven Bilic and there
has been speculation that he could move. It comes amid reports that both
Bilic and Palace boss De Boer are in danger of being sacked. West Ham
manager Bilic will reportedly hold talks with the club's co-owner David
Sullivan today and is said to be in danger of being fired after a poor start
to the season. The Sun also say De Boer could be shown the door after just
three matches in charge of Palace. It is claimed that Palace's players are
baffled by his tactics but that the Dutchman is refusing to change.
Meanwhile, Kevin Wimmer is set to undergo a medical ahead of a move from
Tottenham to Stoke City, the Mirror say. Palace were tipped to sign the
Austrian defender and West Brom showed an interest. The Mirror say Stoke
have agreed a deal with Spurs and will pay £15m plus a further £3m in
add-ons.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Sky Sports presenter releases personal statement on 'Rafa Benitez joining
West Ham' story
Pete Graves of Sky Sports explains why Rafa Benitez could join West Ham and
why criticism from Newcastle fans has been unfair.
TheMag.co.uk
2 hours ago by Jackie Smithfield
Sky Sports presenter Pete Graves has felt compelled to release his own
personal statement on the rumours surrounding the future of Rafa Benitez.
Pete Graves happens also to be a big Newcastle United fan and admits to
feeling hurt after receiving personal criticism for covering the story on
Sky Sports. Following Newcastle's 3-0 win over the Hammers, Sky Sports
reported that a high up source at West Ham had said the position of Slaven
Bilic was under threat due to no points after three matches and the dismal
nature of the defeat at St James Park. The reports also said that West Ham
remained big admirers of Rafa Benitez and Sky revealed that the Newcastle
manager has a buyout clause, with that figure somewhere over £5m.
Using Facebook, Pete Graves explained (see below) exactly why he thinks Rafa
Benitez 'would have to consider any approach from the Hammers if it should
ever materialise'. However, he also says Rafa's 'Love for the fans is so
strong that I believe it could be enough to make him stay'. Pete Graves
urges Mike Ashley to fully back his manager and says that if he (Graves) was
owner of NUFC he'd be 'Giving Rafa Benitez everything he wants'.
Pete Graves on Facebook:
"There's something that's worried me since the day Rafa Benitez arrived at
Newcastle United. Something that has always been at the back of my mind. "A
nagging fear that one day a certain club might come in for him, and believe
it or not – that club was West Ham. "My heart sank a little last (Saturday)
night. The news reached us at Sky Sports News that West Ham were considering
the future of Slaven Bilic and that indeed Rafa Benitez would be top of
their potential list of suitors. Furthermore they were aware there was a
clause, a fairly significant one (more than £5m) but ultimately a way to
effectively buy Rafa Benitez out of Newcastle United. "But why are West Ham
the club that I've feared so long?? Why did I not blink when the links with
China and even Arsenal were reported in the national press? Well the reason
is, because Rafa has always maintained privately that he feels indebted to
West Ham and would have to consider any approach from the Hammers if it
should ever materialise and here's why;
"In 2015 Benitez was on the brink of becoming West Ham's manager. He'd
spoken to the owners and was planning for life at Upton Park. However at the
eleventh hour Real Madrid offered him the opportunity to move to the
Bernabeu and it was too good an offer to turn down. "What impressed Rafa so
much was the way the West Ham board accepted his decision. They understood
that the opportunity to manage Real Madrid was too much for a Spanish
manager to disregard and they gave Rafa their blessing and subsequently
appointed Slaven Bilic. The rest as they say is history and now we are where
we are…Bilic on the brink and Rafa in their thoughts.
"Now let's throw into the mix that Rafa has grown increasingly frustrated at
NUFC this summer. He wanted more investment and he's stood and watched while
even fellow 'promotees' Brighton and Huddersfield have spent significantly
more. Meanwhile West Ham have signed Joe Hart (a player Rafa wanted) and
submitted a bid of close to £40m for William Carvalho (another Rafa target).
Let that sink in…A 40 million pound bid for ONE player, that's more than
Newcastle have spent on six new arrivals so far. That's financial muscle.
"Only this week Rafa said that he no longer viewed NUFC as a long term
project…Not my words, the words of the manager, whilst he's also said he's
"signing the players he can, not the ones he wants". Needless to say the
positivity of last seasons's promotion has disintegrated. And Rafa is
clearly frustrated AND not afraid to tell the world. "Now let's consider
West Ham as a long term project. They have the Olympic Stadium, they are
based in London, in my opinion with the right manager at the helm they could
be challenging the 'big boys' in the next 3-5 years both on and off the
pitch. It's am attractive proposition on paper.
"Now, from a personal point of view, I was gutted to be roundly criticised
by lots of fellow NUFC fans for reporting the story both on air and online
last (Saturday) night. Let me say there's absolutely no agenda from me, so
to be accused of stirring things up or creating stories to disrupt the club
is absolutely ridiculous.
"I love Newcastle United and I have done all my life. As a family we've
still got our season tickets and I travel home and away as often as I can.
Not in the press box but with the fans…I pay for my tickets, I write a
column in the Newcastle United program and let me clear this up once and for
all, I receive no money for this column at all and am not 'on the payroll'
as has been thrown at me in the past.
"I fully understand that rumours of other clubs circling are not easy to
stomach…I know this because I feel exactly the same, but sadly this story
has legs and as someone who works as a sports reporter, but is also actively
aware that the majority of my 'followers' etc are Newcastle fans, I felt it
was my duty to keep you informed with the very latest concerning our
manager. Although I'm sorry that in this instance the news was slightly
concerning.
"Finally this is anything but a done deal and there is still a massive
reason why Rafa Benitez could very well stay at Newcastle United for years
to come and continue to fight for the club…and that reason is quite simply
you lot, the fans. Rafa Benitez could manage for the next one thousand years
and he'll never receive the adoration that he currently receives on
Tyneside. He knows that and his family knows that!
"He can walk on water in Newcastle and rightly so! Subsequently it would
really hurt him to walk away from those loyal Geordie supporters that he's
grown so fond of and this will be forefront in his thinking. His love for
the fans is so strong that I believe it could be enough to make him stay,
but he needs more support financially. Yesterday's brilliant 3-0 win (over
West Ham) and the atmosphere in the ground will also help!
"As we stand today, Slaven Bilic remains West Ham manager and Rafa Benitez
very much the manager of Newcastle United. However if I was the owner of
Newcastle I'd be giving Rafa Benitez everything he wants starting with more
financial muscle in the remaining days of the transfer window. However sadly
I'm not.
"Thoughts welcome. HWTL."
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BT Sport pundits get heated during debate over Slaven Bilic's West Ham
future
The four pundits on the satellite channel were discussing the Hammers heavy
defeat at Newcastle
Football London
BYSAM INKERSOLE
21:00, 28 AUG 2017
BT Sport pundits Robbie Savage, Owen Hargreaves and Rio Ferdinand all agreed
that Slaven Bilic should be given more time to turn things around at West
Ham despite the protestations of presenter Jake Humphrey. The panel were
discussing West Ham's 3-0 defeat on Premier League Tonight over the weekend
and the topic of Bilic's struggling Hammers side came up and was debated.
The Hammers have lost three Premier League games on the spin to start the
season and find themselves planted to the bottom of the table as we head
into the first international break of the season. After Humphrey questioned
the pundits on Bilic and his record of three wins in 17 games and four in
the past 24, here were there resonses.
Robbie Savage
After three games, you'd question your manager? You'd be one of those
sitting there saying he's got to go after three games? That's ridiculous.
Under Sam Allardyce, who did a great job, they got 46 points. Under Bilic
they got 67 points last season, now they move stadium, 11th last season,
what do the West Ham fans expect?
Rio Ferdinand
How much has he spent in this window, £40m? You're going sack him after
three games? You've got to give him time after investing that money to go
and prove it was worth it.
Owen Hargeaves
The pieces of the puzzle are there for West Ham, no question. If they have
their best team fit and healthy, they will be mid table, 10th or maybe 12th.
But with Michail Antonio having been out, Andy Carroll too, Cresswell missed
time, issues in goal - the balance of the side is wrong.
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http://vyperz.blogspot.com
Monday, August 28
Daily WHUFC News - 28th August 2017
Martinez reveals pride in West Ham United U23's five-star win
WHUFC.com
Toni Martinez has expressed his pride at how well West Ham United U23s
performed in the 5-2 win over Swansea City on Sunday. Martinez scored two of
West Ham United's five finishes in an impressive victory over the south
Wales side, with Nathan Holland, Dan Kemp and Grady Diangana also finding
the back of the net.
The 20-year-old is thrilled with the Hammers' showing in the victory and is
delighted with how he and his teammates carried themselves to a dominant
win. "I'm feeling really good," Martinez told whufc.com: "It was very
important to win the game and today was a great performance by everyone. I'm
really proud of all of my teammates."
It took West Ham United just 21 seconds to take the lead in a frantic and
entertaining encounter at the Chigwell Construction Stadium. Holland scored
with a superb strike after the Irons took possession from Swansea's
kick-off. Martinez believes the Irons' incredible start to the game comes
down to the work put in on the training field. The forward said: "It all
comes down to training. We've been training so hard this week. We started
the match with a lot of quality and we were able to score after 21 seconds.
Nathan [Holland] hit a perfect shot and it was a perfect start for us."
Martinez hit the third and fifth goals for West Ham although there had been
some contention that the forward's second finish was in fact an own-goal.
However the Spaniard was insistent that the ball ended up in the net from
his head and is eager to continue his goalscoring run when West Ham United
return to action on Thursday, against Tottenham in the Premier League
International Cup. "It's my goal," Martinez laughed when asked about his
second finish: "The second is a good header. I'm really happy with it. "My
first goal was down to a good combination with Kempy [Dan Kemp]. It was a
lovely one-two in the box. I got a bit lucky but it was really good to
score. I'm delighted to score twice. "We want to keep working and keep
getting wins. If I can keep scoring I'm happy."
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Terry Westley praises perfect performance from U23s
WHUFC.com
Terry Westley praised a perfect performance from his Under-23 side as the
young Hammers ran out comfortable 5-2 winners over Swansea on Sunday
afternoon.
Goals from Nathan Holland, Grady Diangana, Dan Kemp and two from Toni
Martinez – his first of the season – ensured West Ham romped to victory over
last year's PL2 Division Two champions. From start to finish, it was the
perfect display. "I've got to give tribute to the players, all the staff
that work with the players" Westley said. "Today is a combination of
everything we've done, everyone involved in the academy because that was
near on the perfect performance. "Make no mistake, that was a really strong
outfit [Swansea] that were taken to the sword today from our attacking play
today."
The two sides met in Division Two last season, with Swansea City winning on
both occasions, but on Sunday, it was certainly Terry Westley's men who flew
into the ascendency. 21 seconds after kick-off, Nathan Holland wriggled his
way through two Swansea defenders, into the box and slotted coolly into the
bottom corner to give the Hammers a dream start. "We've really got to come
out of the blocks hard and quick – that was the message to the group today"
Westley explained.
"And we did that better than they did. Right from kick-off, we got the
ball, we drove at them and he's scored a magnificent goal."
Holland produced a man-of-the-match display, at the heart of most of West
Ham's dangerous attacking play, and Westley was full of praise for the
number eleven once more: "That's possibly as good as I've seen anyone play
at this level for a long, long time. Both with and without the ball, but
every time he got the ball he was an absolute threat."
George Byers levelled the score on 16 minutes for Swansea, but from then on
West Ham were in control. Holland turned provider for the second goal,
combining with Grady Diangana who fired his shot from the edge of the box in
to the top corner. Diangana almost scored minutes later when his shot, at
the end of a superb solo-dribble, hit the underside of the crossbar before
it was then cleared. The biggest celebration of the afternoon came when West
Ham scored their third of the afternoon just before half-time. Without a
goal in competitive football this season, Toni Martinez finally ended his
run by scoring a classic goal-poachers effort from close range as the match
entered first half stoppage time. After half-time, Dan Kemp scored the goal
of the afternoon as he lobbed the Swans goalkeeper from the best part of 40
yards out, before the game was finally wrapped up when Martinez headed in
Holland's cross from close range.
West Ham remain unbeaten this season, after their opening day draw with
Everton and last Monday's win at Tottenham, and Westley admits that the
Hammers expectations for the campaign are beginning to change. "We looked at
Friday's results, and so if you start pitching it and wondering where you
could be – from 'maybe survival' to now 'we could do a little better than
that'. "I really think our attacking play and regaining the ball is as good
as anything I've seen so far, so with that attacking play and that high
press, we've got a chance against anybody."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Hart: We'll sit down together as a unit and put this right
WHUFC.com
When the going gets tough, the tough get going, and there are not many
footballers with a tougher character than Joe Hart. As England's No1
goalkeeper for nearly a decade and a two-time Premier League champion, Hart
has spent his entire career under the most intense of spotlights. For that
reason, while he is honest enough to admit that West Ham United have started
the season poorly, he is experienced enough to know that the Hammers still
have ample opportunity put things right. To do so, though, Hart says they
need to ignore any external pressures and look within. "It's been a
frustrating start to the season and we've only really got ourselves to
blame, so we'll have to get together as a team, as a unit, and put this
right because it's not good enough," he said, following Saturday's 3-0
defeat at Newcastle United. "We're going to put our finger on it, but it's
that important and that serious that I think we should out our finger on it
as a group and as a team. It's not about talking now, but about actions. "We
need to get this international break out of the way. The lads who are going
away need to go away, enjoy their football and come back, and the boys who
are still here need to get ready for Huddersfield."
Hart is one of a host of seasoned, senior internationals in the West Ham
dressing room, including a number of national-team captains. And when times
are hard, as they unmistakably are at present, he knows that those sensible
and mature heads will be needed to eradicate the factors which have led to
three straight defeats to start what was hoped would be a successful season.
"Unfortunately, we're going to have to do that [press the reset button and
pick up points from 35 games rather than 38], because we've got no other
choice," he observed. "We're not going to panic because it's three games in,
but it's hard to look at the bigger picture when you're so emotional and so
raw. "I've been in situations like this before and I've been in a lot better
ones and you need to stay level-headed, organised and you need to keep the
belief in each other, have it out in any which way you need to have it out,
and all pull in the same direction."
Hart's last but not least words were saved for the Claret and Blue Army, who
have travelled nearly 1,000 miles to Manchester, Southampton and Newcastle
for very little reward. "We have phenomenal support," said the stopper, who
made a number of impressive saves at St James' Park. "To ask them to do four
away games in the first month and for it to not go exactly how we wanted it
to, rightfully a few of them told us to do one and that's their right. "I'm
always grateful for any support. I know it costs a lot of money and emotion
to be a supporter of a football club. "Emotionally it's taxing and
financially it's taxing, so we can give them a little clap and whatever, but
we've got to take the tough stuff [when we don't produce the desired
results]. We do appreciate the fans and there is only one way to show our
appreciation and one thing they really care about and it's not us clapping
them but getting results for them."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Slaven Bilic's position put under review as West Ham eye Rafael Benitez as
successor
By Kaveh Solhekol
Last Updated: 27/08/17 3:25am
SSN
West Ham boss Slaven Bilic says it's crucial to be confident in the bad and
good times after reports his future is under review. Slaven Bilic's position
as West Ham United manager is under review after their latest defeat at
Newcastle United, according to Sky Sources. The club's owners David Sullivan
and David Gold have stood by previous managers but Sky Sports News
understands they are considering dismissing Bilic after losing all three of
their opening Premier League games this season. A senior source at the
Hammers has told Sky Sports News that the team's performance in a 3-0 defeat
at St James' Park on Saturday was totally unacceptable and the board were
very worried by what they saw.
Sky Sports News has been told "no decision has been made yet" over whether
to keep Bilic or to dismiss him with the international break coming up, but
"there will be in the next few days". West Ham's owners had stood by Bilic
after a disappointing campaign last season and backed him in the transfer
market this summer by committing funds players such as Joe Hart and Javier
Hernandez. But they are now worried that the Croatian will not be able to
get the best out of the squad they have assembled. Bilic has one year left
on his contract and talks about extending his deal were cancelled earlier
this year after a series of poor results. West Ham's owners are big admirers
of Rafael Benitez, whose own future at Newcastle is uncertain. The Spaniard
has recently expressed discontent at the club's activity in the transfer
market. Benitez was hours away from becoming West Ham's manager when they
appointed Bilic two years ago but he was offered the Real Madrid job at the
last minute. Sky Sports News understands Benitez has a release clause in his
Newcastle contract that is more than £5million.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Sacking West Ham manager Slaven Bilic would be harsh, says Jason Burt on
Sunday Supplement
Last Updated: 27/08/17 12:21pm
SSN
Jason Burt says there is a real concern over Slaven Bilic's future at West
Ham, but insists any sacking would be harsh at this stage. Sacking West Ham
manager Slaven Bilic this early in the season would be harsh, says Jason
Burt on the Sunday Supplement. Bilic saw his side lose 3-0 at Newcastle on
Saturday, as West Ham sit bottom of the Premier League without registering a
single point from three games. Despite being heavily backed in the transfer
market this summer, Bilic's position is under review, according to Sky
sources, but the Daily Telegraph's chief football correspondent Burt says
any decision to sack him seems crazy.
He said on Sunday Supplement. "The nature of the defeat has caused real
ruptures at West Ham. I think there's real concern now, losing all three
games and conceding 10 goals. "I think it's a real hangover from last
season, when there was talk as to whether Bilic would survive. "I think
they're going to have a discussion with the manager this week, possibly as
early as Monday. They do have a Monday debrief at West Ham anyway, but I
think it's going to take on a new dimension going into the international
break. "It seems crazy, in some ways, three games into the season after
letting him bring in the players he wants, and I think it would be harsh.
But the concern is there from the board. "I think it's in the balance, I
think it's under consideration, but I think it would be harsh."
The Sunday Times' football correspondent Jonathan Northcroft also believes a
decision this early in the season would be wrong, particularly given the
investment in the squad so far this summer. "The judgement shouldn't be so
quick. What I don't understand is, if they had doubts coming out of last
season, why allow Bilic the investment and wages, I mean Chicharito, Pablo
Zabaleta and Joe Hart are big wage investments as much as anything else. "To
make a change so quickly would be another example of the craziness of the
business sometimes, to make this huge investment and without even playing a
home game to get rid of him. I would have thought he's done enough to earn a
bit more time."
Neil Custis believes Bilic's signings have not improved the team, and says
bringing in experience in Joe Hart, Pablo Zabaleta and Javier Hernandez has
not necessarily worked. "You look at his recruiting of Hart, Zalabeta and
Hernandez, and it actually doesn't look good. Zabaleta has been found out
quickly, a brilliant player for Manchester City, but was on the wane. Hart
has been poor. "Hernandez, people were saying how they couldn't understand
why Manchester United got rid of him. I could understand why they got rid of
him, because every time he started a game he barely made an impact."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
WILL BILIC'S STUBBORNNESS COST HIM HIS JOB?
By Blind Hammer 27 Aug 2017 at 17:00
WTID
Blind Hammer wonders if Bilic has sufficient flexibility for the task.
Readers of my column will know that I have been concerned all summer about
West Ham's preparation for the upcoming season. I fundamentally disagreed
with the statements from the club hierarchy that our defence was "OK" and
that we flirted with relegation last season because we lacked strikers.
It was obvious to most observers last season, not least those of us who
attended games that our overwhelming weakness was our defence. This is not a
recent but long running flaw in both Bilic and our team. A year ago we were
shipping 4 goals at home to Watford following the conceding of 4 goals away
to West Bromwich Albion. Since January 2016 we have had one of the worst
defences in the league.
The reason that addressing weaknesses in defence should be a priority should
be obvious but we should spell it out. No less a person than Sir Trevor
Brooking explained it best a few years ago. He explained that in the hardest
and most competitive league in the world the most difficult thing to do is
to score goals. If you set up a team which is easy to score goals against in
this harsh environment you will pour enormous pressure on the offensive part
of the team. Equally importantly you will decimate any confidence in the
team. No team can thrive by shipping goals and will instead approach matches
fatalistically, expecting to lose. Your team and attackers must at least
feel that scoring 1 or 2 goals will win a game. If you cannot do this you
will inevitably be a candidate for relegation.
These were wise words by Sir Trevor but Bilic seems a stranger to these
truths. Two weeks ago I expressed frustration that Bilic is experiencing a
problem that he has actually solved before. The fact is that he can set up a
West Ham team that does not routinely concede goals. However Bilic has only
been able to do this in recent history by playing 3 at the back. Despite the
relative success of this formation and the calamitous failure of playing
with a back 4 I could not understand how, over the summer, Bilic and his
team showed no interest in preparing to play this formation. All summer the
preparation and transfer recruitment priorities ignored the option of
playing 3 at the centre of our defence. The club publically announced that
Burke and Oxford were not required because we already had "4 "centre backs".
Given that our centre backs are suffering from similar injury proneness as
that experienced by our forwards this statement only makes sense if you
never intend to develop the option of playing 3 centre backs. Why is this
option so obviously despised by Bilic and his team? From the top to the
bottom of the club they seemed determine to jettison the option of playing
this formation. It is not just Plan B but appears to be Plan Z, only
resorted to in extremis.
Bilic obviously has a stubborn streak. This is normally a good thing, with
self-belief and confidence essential aspects of a successful Manager.
However he persisted with the Antonio experiment for far too long and he is
now showing similar inflexibility with his tactical formations.
Bilic has apparently resisted changes to his coaching and fitness team. Only
the medical team has been refreshed, a team Bilic himself did not appoint.
The deficit in defensive coaching is clear now for all to see.
I wrote before the season that we could enter the home game against
Huddersfield without a single point and that we would still need patience. I
retain this patience but Bilic's inflexibility, his insistence on playing a
failing tactical system against the evidence of not just the last 3 games
but the last 18 months is stretching my own patience thin,
There is still time to recruit quality defensive cover and for Bilic to
recover his tactical nouse. If however Bilic continues to be blind to the
deficit in defensive personnel within the squad, and he continues to play a
predictable and easily countered system of fighting fire with fire even my
patience will be stretched. If Bilic plays a naïve tactical set up to invite
yet another heavy home defeat, most likely against spurs his days may be
rightly numbered. If he repeats the famous win last season against Spurs,
incidentally achieved by playing 3 at the back, the pressure will be off and
many will forgive the pain of recent weeks.
COYI
David Griffith
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
WHAT ON EARTH IS WRONG AT OUR CLUB?
By S J Chandos 27 Aug 2017 at 08:00
WTID
That is a question that is undoubtedly exercising the minds of a lot of West
Ham fans at present. We have had a good summer transfer window, even to this
point, but it is just not translating on the pitch. West Ham's performance
at St James Park was an embarrassment. There is no two ways about it, they
were right royalty outplayed and outfought by a team that had hitherto been
struggling even more than us. Even without Arnautovic we should have had
more than enough to get a result, but this is a team lacking cohesion,
conviction and, perhaps worst of all, belief. Yes, the early season absences
of Lanzini, Kouyate and Reid have not helped, but we should have the basic
strength in depth now to cope without them.
If there was not a crisis before, there certainly is one now and predictably
the knives are out for Bilic. I cannot blame the fans for seeing Bilic's
management as the essential root cause of our poor results. It seems that
the struggles of last season have just tipped over in to this current
season. Yet, Bilic has been backed by the board in the transfer market, but
he cannot seem to gel the players in to an effective unit. Why do Bilic and
his staff seem to be unable to motivate the players and get half-way-decent
performances? Something is clearly and fundamentally wrong at the club and
it must be put right as soon as possible. At this point, I am not clear if
Bilic will do that or a new manager will replace him (whoever that might
be?) and be given that responsibility? What I do know is that although Bilic
takes the flack, there are also questions to be asked about the basic
professional pride and application of the playing staff. What I have seen
from our players this season is just not good enough.
We probably have not reached the point at which there will be a change of
manager. The impression I get is that Bilic is genuinely popular with the
club's owners. And it is almost certain they will give him the rest of the
transfer window to bring in one or two extra additions. The clock is likely
to start ticking once the window closes and we face Huddersfield Town at
home, which is now a massive game for Bilic and the club. Lose and the board
could conceivably bring forward their plans to replace him. Win and he will
buy himself some much needed extra time. More than anything, Bilic needs his
senior players to rally around and give him a timely and inspired
performance on 11 September 2017. I do not think the board want to sack
Bilic, but they will if the situation does not change markedly. In the
highly charged world of the PL there is no room for sentiment. West Ham need
to be in the top tier. Beyond that 'bottom line,' they need to be seen to be
moving forward as a club.
Bilic is in a very uncomfortable place right now and one feels for him. He
is due to discuss the situation with the co-owners this week. No doubt his
position will be made clear to him at that meeting. The trigger fingers at a
lot of PL clubs would be getting very itchy right about now, but I believe
that Sullivan and Gold will hold fire for a further period of time to see if
Bilic can turn it around.
Personally, if I was in Bilic's shoes I would start working on a 3-5-2
system for the Huddersfield Town match, giving Zabaletta and Cresswell the
latitude to push forward down the flanks. I might also be very tempted to
recall Adrian to the team. We shall see on 11 September 2017 whether Bilic
agrees?
SJ. Chandos.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Bilic's West Ham haven't been bad for just three games - they've been poor
for 12 months
West Ham's manager is under enormous pressure after the club fell to a third
defeat in a row
Football London
BYSAM INKERSOLE
17:11, 27 AUG 2017
It's not as if we are all reacting to the first three games of the new
season - West Ham under Slaven Bilic have been poor for the past 12 months.
It's not just the three games this season he is being judged on either, it's
in fact three wins in the last 17 games and by anyone's standards, that's
unnacceptable. Saturday's debacle at St James' Park was one of the worst
performances by a West Ham team under Bilic, it was just awful. If it were
not for Joe Hart, it could have been five or six. There have been some bad
ones - West Brom away last season, Watford at home, Liverpool at home to
name just three - but yesterday was simply shocking. Last seasons transfer
windows were abysmal as only Andre Ayew, Arthur Masuaku and Edimilson
Fernandes remain in and around the first team. Jose Fonte is woefully out of
form and his fellow January signing, Robert Snodgrass, has been loaned out
to Aston Villa just eight months after signing. Simone Zaza, Havard
Nordveit, Gokhan Tore, Jonathan Calleri, Sofiane Feghouli, Ashley Fletcher -
all players signed last summer - didn't make the grade. The Croat needed a
strong start to the season to even entertain the idea of extending his
contract past this season - you can absolutely rule that out now. Whether it
is this summer or sooner, Bilic is unlikely to be in charge of West Ham next
season barring a miraculous turn around.
Tactically, Bilic has been found wanting and his team selection even more
so. Fernandes isn't ready for the first team, Mark Noble is clearly on a
downhill slide, Declan Rice is - while extremely talented - very raw and
young - yet that was the starting midfield against Newcastle with Cheikhou
Kouyate on the bench. Rice made a mistake that led to Newcastle's opening
goal by Joselu yesterday and what did Bilic do? Subbed the kid off which is
poor man management. It was up to Joe Hart to give encouragement to Rce
after the mistake, gee him up, then his manager hooked him at half time.
Snodgrass has since tore into the manager for playing him out of position,
we've seen Fernandes playing left wing, we've seen Michail Antonio play
right back as well, remember that? Bilic persists with the one main striker
too - Javier Hernandez this season - who is as far removed from a target man
as you can be. It's pointless lumping the ball up to him like Andy Carroll,
Chicharito needs the ball to feet. The lack service up to him in the opening
three games has been non-existent. It's a case of when, not if, Bilic is
dismissed or he might even walk. The Hammers board have been very tentative
when it comes to getting rid of managers but this time around, they can't
be. Will Bilic be in the dugout for the first home game of the season? Who
knows, but it's not a definite he will be there.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Aston Villa loanee Robert Snodgrass on his deteriorating relationship with
West Ham boss Slaven Bilic
Snodgrass has joined AVFC on loan until the end of the season
Birmingham Mail
BYMAT KENDRICK
18:00, 27 AUG 2017
Aston Villa loanee Robert Snodgrass has given a brutally honest assessment
of why he had to get away from West Ham. Snodgrass has joined Villa on a
temporary deal until the end of the season, just seven months after signing
for the Hammers. The 29-year-old Scotland international is excited and
relieved to be reunited with his former Hull boss Steve Bruce at Villa. His
relationship with Slaven Bilic deteriorated because the West Ham manager
insisted on playing him out of position, says Snodgrass. Bilic wanted to use
him on the left-wing as a replacement for Dimitri Payet, whereas Snodgrass
prefers to play on the right or as a No.10.
"I think last season my quality was scoring goals and creating goals and I
did that in the first part of the season (at Hull)," said Snodgrass. "I went
to West Ham and I had a manager that played me out of position. To be honest
with you it was very tough to take. "Sometimes , with the way you've been
brought up, you try to just put your heart on your sleeve and play anywhere.
"To get the best out of any player you need to play him in his best
position, it's as simple as that."
Snodgrass, who has also played for Leeds United and Norwich City, insists
most of his success has come playing on the right or as a second striker.
"I've done it my full career," he said. "I've scored goals, created goals
everywhere I've been. "You need to play your right position and this is the
reason why I made the step to try and go and play football. "I spoke to the
manager there (West Ham) and said to him, 'You wanted me to try and replace
Payet, it's not my position'. "I couldn't have made that any more clear.
When I spoke to him this season I said 'I need to play my position, I need a
run of games in my position'. "This is the reason why I've come here. "I've
got a manager who knows what I'm about. "He's signed me for a lot of money
at Hull. To get the best out of any player you need to play them in their
right position, it's as simple as that."
Snodgrass, who is contracted to West Ham until summer 2020, is set to make
his Villa debut after the international break when Brentford visit Villa
Park in the Championship on September 9. "I just get a smile on my face
talking about it," he said. "It's a terrific club with a great set of fans.
"I've played against them many times and I just can't wait. "I haven't
enjoyed not knowing what's happening (at West Ham). "Nobody's spoken to me
at West Ham really and it's a weird feeling.
"I've always had a Bristish-based manager who has talked to me and had a
good relationship with, so to have that feeling back is a good feeling. "I
can't wait. I've got that feeling knowing what the Championship's all about,
knowing you're coming here with some terrific players. "The lads have got
some great quality, there's some great lads here that I've worked with.
"Once you go on that run of games and believing that you can achieve
promotion. That's the key, everybody needs to believe." Snodgrass was
talking to Villa's official media channels.
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Doubts over Slaven Bilic's future could derail West Ham's William Carvalho
transfer
The latest West Ham transfer news sees fresh doubts of William Carvalho's
proposed Hammers move
Footbal London
BYKEVIN BEIRNE
15:30, 27 AUG 2017
Fresh doubts have been cast over West Ham's move for William Carvalho with
reports claiming that Slaven Bilic could be about to be sacked as Hammers
manager.
The Croat is coming under increased pressure following his side's third
straight league defeat of the season on Saturday. The east Londoners were
thrashed 3-0 by Newcastle in a limp display at St James' Park which has some
fans questioning Bilic's ability to lead the team forward. Bilic's opposite
number yesterday, Rafael Benitez, has become the frontrunner to take over
the reigns at the London Stadium. With just a few days remaining until the
transfer window shuts at the end of the month, the Hammers are running out
of time to get a deal for Carvalho over the line. But the Portuguese
midfielder may be forced to reevaluate his desire to join West Ham if the
rumours over Bilic's sacking intensify. Carvalho's proposed move to West Ham
has been held up by disagreements over his transfer fee.
The Hammers are said to be growing increasingly frustrated with Sporting
Lisbon's negotiating tactics, accusing the Portuguese club of moving the
goalposts over their asking price. They have even sent out feelers about a
move for Sunderland's Didier Ndong as an alternative for the Euro 2016
winner. But if Carvalho does not receive reassurances over who is manager
will be should he make the switch to England, he may decide to simply stay
put in Lisbon for now.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham may return for Slavisa Jokanovic, months after eyeing him as Bilic
replacement
HITC
Olly Dawes
According to The Express, Fulham boss Slavisa Jokanovic is likely to be in
the frame for West Ham United, as they consider the future of manager Slaven
Bilic.
After a disappointing season last term, the West Ham board decided to back
Bilic rather than sack him, enabling him to bring in Joe Hart, Pablo
Zabaleta, Marko Arnautovic and Javier Hernandez to boost his squad. However,
results in the opening stages of this season have been poor. Whilst three
successive away games is a tough start, due to West Ham's London Stadium
being used for athletics, 4-0, 3-2 and 3-0 defeats at Manchester United,
Southampton and Newcastle United respectively aren't good enough. Slavisa
Jokanovic Head Coach of Fulham looks on prior to the Carabao Cup First Round
match between Wycombe Wanderers and Fulham at Adams Park on August 8, 2017
in High Wycombe, England. The defeat at Newcastle was particularly awful,
and Sky Sports report that West Ham are now claiming that Bilic's position
is under review, as the Hammers consider making an early season change in
the dugout. Whilst Newcastle boss Rafael Benitez could be a target, The
Express claim that West Ham are likely to be back in the market for Fulham
boss Slavisa Jokanovic, months after their initial interest.
Sky Sports claimed back in April that West Ham were keen to land Jokanovic
if they decided to let Bilic go, but the Serbian ended up staying at Craven
Cottage when Bilic's future was secured. Jokanovic impressed last season,
taking Fulham to the play-offs with an attractive brand of football, though
he has been frustrated by the club's transfer policy, and Fulham have made a
shaky start to the season. West Ham may now choose to go back in for
Jokanovic this summer should they choose to replace Bilic, offering him a
chance in the Premier League having been replaced as Watford boss after
winning promotion in 2015. Fulham won't want to lose Jokanovic, but given
his frustration over his lack of input in the club's signing, he may well
fancy a move to the London Stadium.
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http://vyperz.blogspot.com
WHUFC.com
Toni Martinez has expressed his pride at how well West Ham United U23s
performed in the 5-2 win over Swansea City on Sunday. Martinez scored two of
West Ham United's five finishes in an impressive victory over the south
Wales side, with Nathan Holland, Dan Kemp and Grady Diangana also finding
the back of the net.
The 20-year-old is thrilled with the Hammers' showing in the victory and is
delighted with how he and his teammates carried themselves to a dominant
win. "I'm feeling really good," Martinez told whufc.com: "It was very
important to win the game and today was a great performance by everyone. I'm
really proud of all of my teammates."
It took West Ham United just 21 seconds to take the lead in a frantic and
entertaining encounter at the Chigwell Construction Stadium. Holland scored
with a superb strike after the Irons took possession from Swansea's
kick-off. Martinez believes the Irons' incredible start to the game comes
down to the work put in on the training field. The forward said: "It all
comes down to training. We've been training so hard this week. We started
the match with a lot of quality and we were able to score after 21 seconds.
Nathan [Holland] hit a perfect shot and it was a perfect start for us."
Martinez hit the third and fifth goals for West Ham although there had been
some contention that the forward's second finish was in fact an own-goal.
However the Spaniard was insistent that the ball ended up in the net from
his head and is eager to continue his goalscoring run when West Ham United
return to action on Thursday, against Tottenham in the Premier League
International Cup. "It's my goal," Martinez laughed when asked about his
second finish: "The second is a good header. I'm really happy with it. "My
first goal was down to a good combination with Kempy [Dan Kemp]. It was a
lovely one-two in the box. I got a bit lucky but it was really good to
score. I'm delighted to score twice. "We want to keep working and keep
getting wins. If I can keep scoring I'm happy."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Terry Westley praises perfect performance from U23s
WHUFC.com
Terry Westley praised a perfect performance from his Under-23 side as the
young Hammers ran out comfortable 5-2 winners over Swansea on Sunday
afternoon.
Goals from Nathan Holland, Grady Diangana, Dan Kemp and two from Toni
Martinez – his first of the season – ensured West Ham romped to victory over
last year's PL2 Division Two champions. From start to finish, it was the
perfect display. "I've got to give tribute to the players, all the staff
that work with the players" Westley said. "Today is a combination of
everything we've done, everyone involved in the academy because that was
near on the perfect performance. "Make no mistake, that was a really strong
outfit [Swansea] that were taken to the sword today from our attacking play
today."
The two sides met in Division Two last season, with Swansea City winning on
both occasions, but on Sunday, it was certainly Terry Westley's men who flew
into the ascendency. 21 seconds after kick-off, Nathan Holland wriggled his
way through two Swansea defenders, into the box and slotted coolly into the
bottom corner to give the Hammers a dream start. "We've really got to come
out of the blocks hard and quick – that was the message to the group today"
Westley explained.
"And we did that better than they did. Right from kick-off, we got the
ball, we drove at them and he's scored a magnificent goal."
Holland produced a man-of-the-match display, at the heart of most of West
Ham's dangerous attacking play, and Westley was full of praise for the
number eleven once more: "That's possibly as good as I've seen anyone play
at this level for a long, long time. Both with and without the ball, but
every time he got the ball he was an absolute threat."
George Byers levelled the score on 16 minutes for Swansea, but from then on
West Ham were in control. Holland turned provider for the second goal,
combining with Grady Diangana who fired his shot from the edge of the box in
to the top corner. Diangana almost scored minutes later when his shot, at
the end of a superb solo-dribble, hit the underside of the crossbar before
it was then cleared. The biggest celebration of the afternoon came when West
Ham scored their third of the afternoon just before half-time. Without a
goal in competitive football this season, Toni Martinez finally ended his
run by scoring a classic goal-poachers effort from close range as the match
entered first half stoppage time. After half-time, Dan Kemp scored the goal
of the afternoon as he lobbed the Swans goalkeeper from the best part of 40
yards out, before the game was finally wrapped up when Martinez headed in
Holland's cross from close range.
West Ham remain unbeaten this season, after their opening day draw with
Everton and last Monday's win at Tottenham, and Westley admits that the
Hammers expectations for the campaign are beginning to change. "We looked at
Friday's results, and so if you start pitching it and wondering where you
could be – from 'maybe survival' to now 'we could do a little better than
that'. "I really think our attacking play and regaining the ball is as good
as anything I've seen so far, so with that attacking play and that high
press, we've got a chance against anybody."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Hart: We'll sit down together as a unit and put this right
WHUFC.com
When the going gets tough, the tough get going, and there are not many
footballers with a tougher character than Joe Hart. As England's No1
goalkeeper for nearly a decade and a two-time Premier League champion, Hart
has spent his entire career under the most intense of spotlights. For that
reason, while he is honest enough to admit that West Ham United have started
the season poorly, he is experienced enough to know that the Hammers still
have ample opportunity put things right. To do so, though, Hart says they
need to ignore any external pressures and look within. "It's been a
frustrating start to the season and we've only really got ourselves to
blame, so we'll have to get together as a team, as a unit, and put this
right because it's not good enough," he said, following Saturday's 3-0
defeat at Newcastle United. "We're going to put our finger on it, but it's
that important and that serious that I think we should out our finger on it
as a group and as a team. It's not about talking now, but about actions. "We
need to get this international break out of the way. The lads who are going
away need to go away, enjoy their football and come back, and the boys who
are still here need to get ready for Huddersfield."
Hart is one of a host of seasoned, senior internationals in the West Ham
dressing room, including a number of national-team captains. And when times
are hard, as they unmistakably are at present, he knows that those sensible
and mature heads will be needed to eradicate the factors which have led to
three straight defeats to start what was hoped would be a successful season.
"Unfortunately, we're going to have to do that [press the reset button and
pick up points from 35 games rather than 38], because we've got no other
choice," he observed. "We're not going to panic because it's three games in,
but it's hard to look at the bigger picture when you're so emotional and so
raw. "I've been in situations like this before and I've been in a lot better
ones and you need to stay level-headed, organised and you need to keep the
belief in each other, have it out in any which way you need to have it out,
and all pull in the same direction."
Hart's last but not least words were saved for the Claret and Blue Army, who
have travelled nearly 1,000 miles to Manchester, Southampton and Newcastle
for very little reward. "We have phenomenal support," said the stopper, who
made a number of impressive saves at St James' Park. "To ask them to do four
away games in the first month and for it to not go exactly how we wanted it
to, rightfully a few of them told us to do one and that's their right. "I'm
always grateful for any support. I know it costs a lot of money and emotion
to be a supporter of a football club. "Emotionally it's taxing and
financially it's taxing, so we can give them a little clap and whatever, but
we've got to take the tough stuff [when we don't produce the desired
results]. We do appreciate the fans and there is only one way to show our
appreciation and one thing they really care about and it's not us clapping
them but getting results for them."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Slaven Bilic's position put under review as West Ham eye Rafael Benitez as
successor
By Kaveh Solhekol
Last Updated: 27/08/17 3:25am
SSN
West Ham boss Slaven Bilic says it's crucial to be confident in the bad and
good times after reports his future is under review. Slaven Bilic's position
as West Ham United manager is under review after their latest defeat at
Newcastle United, according to Sky Sources. The club's owners David Sullivan
and David Gold have stood by previous managers but Sky Sports News
understands they are considering dismissing Bilic after losing all three of
their opening Premier League games this season. A senior source at the
Hammers has told Sky Sports News that the team's performance in a 3-0 defeat
at St James' Park on Saturday was totally unacceptable and the board were
very worried by what they saw.
Sky Sports News has been told "no decision has been made yet" over whether
to keep Bilic or to dismiss him with the international break coming up, but
"there will be in the next few days". West Ham's owners had stood by Bilic
after a disappointing campaign last season and backed him in the transfer
market this summer by committing funds players such as Joe Hart and Javier
Hernandez. But they are now worried that the Croatian will not be able to
get the best out of the squad they have assembled. Bilic has one year left
on his contract and talks about extending his deal were cancelled earlier
this year after a series of poor results. West Ham's owners are big admirers
of Rafael Benitez, whose own future at Newcastle is uncertain. The Spaniard
has recently expressed discontent at the club's activity in the transfer
market. Benitez was hours away from becoming West Ham's manager when they
appointed Bilic two years ago but he was offered the Real Madrid job at the
last minute. Sky Sports News understands Benitez has a release clause in his
Newcastle contract that is more than £5million.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Sacking West Ham manager Slaven Bilic would be harsh, says Jason Burt on
Sunday Supplement
Last Updated: 27/08/17 12:21pm
SSN
Jason Burt says there is a real concern over Slaven Bilic's future at West
Ham, but insists any sacking would be harsh at this stage. Sacking West Ham
manager Slaven Bilic this early in the season would be harsh, says Jason
Burt on the Sunday Supplement. Bilic saw his side lose 3-0 at Newcastle on
Saturday, as West Ham sit bottom of the Premier League without registering a
single point from three games. Despite being heavily backed in the transfer
market this summer, Bilic's position is under review, according to Sky
sources, but the Daily Telegraph's chief football correspondent Burt says
any decision to sack him seems crazy.
He said on Sunday Supplement. "The nature of the defeat has caused real
ruptures at West Ham. I think there's real concern now, losing all three
games and conceding 10 goals. "I think it's a real hangover from last
season, when there was talk as to whether Bilic would survive. "I think
they're going to have a discussion with the manager this week, possibly as
early as Monday. They do have a Monday debrief at West Ham anyway, but I
think it's going to take on a new dimension going into the international
break. "It seems crazy, in some ways, three games into the season after
letting him bring in the players he wants, and I think it would be harsh.
But the concern is there from the board. "I think it's in the balance, I
think it's under consideration, but I think it would be harsh."
The Sunday Times' football correspondent Jonathan Northcroft also believes a
decision this early in the season would be wrong, particularly given the
investment in the squad so far this summer. "The judgement shouldn't be so
quick. What I don't understand is, if they had doubts coming out of last
season, why allow Bilic the investment and wages, I mean Chicharito, Pablo
Zabaleta and Joe Hart are big wage investments as much as anything else. "To
make a change so quickly would be another example of the craziness of the
business sometimes, to make this huge investment and without even playing a
home game to get rid of him. I would have thought he's done enough to earn a
bit more time."
Neil Custis believes Bilic's signings have not improved the team, and says
bringing in experience in Joe Hart, Pablo Zabaleta and Javier Hernandez has
not necessarily worked. "You look at his recruiting of Hart, Zalabeta and
Hernandez, and it actually doesn't look good. Zabaleta has been found out
quickly, a brilliant player for Manchester City, but was on the wane. Hart
has been poor. "Hernandez, people were saying how they couldn't understand
why Manchester United got rid of him. I could understand why they got rid of
him, because every time he started a game he barely made an impact."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
WILL BILIC'S STUBBORNNESS COST HIM HIS JOB?
By Blind Hammer 27 Aug 2017 at 17:00
WTID
Blind Hammer wonders if Bilic has sufficient flexibility for the task.
Readers of my column will know that I have been concerned all summer about
West Ham's preparation for the upcoming season. I fundamentally disagreed
with the statements from the club hierarchy that our defence was "OK" and
that we flirted with relegation last season because we lacked strikers.
It was obvious to most observers last season, not least those of us who
attended games that our overwhelming weakness was our defence. This is not a
recent but long running flaw in both Bilic and our team. A year ago we were
shipping 4 goals at home to Watford following the conceding of 4 goals away
to West Bromwich Albion. Since January 2016 we have had one of the worst
defences in the league.
The reason that addressing weaknesses in defence should be a priority should
be obvious but we should spell it out. No less a person than Sir Trevor
Brooking explained it best a few years ago. He explained that in the hardest
and most competitive league in the world the most difficult thing to do is
to score goals. If you set up a team which is easy to score goals against in
this harsh environment you will pour enormous pressure on the offensive part
of the team. Equally importantly you will decimate any confidence in the
team. No team can thrive by shipping goals and will instead approach matches
fatalistically, expecting to lose. Your team and attackers must at least
feel that scoring 1 or 2 goals will win a game. If you cannot do this you
will inevitably be a candidate for relegation.
These were wise words by Sir Trevor but Bilic seems a stranger to these
truths. Two weeks ago I expressed frustration that Bilic is experiencing a
problem that he has actually solved before. The fact is that he can set up a
West Ham team that does not routinely concede goals. However Bilic has only
been able to do this in recent history by playing 3 at the back. Despite the
relative success of this formation and the calamitous failure of playing
with a back 4 I could not understand how, over the summer, Bilic and his
team showed no interest in preparing to play this formation. All summer the
preparation and transfer recruitment priorities ignored the option of
playing 3 at the centre of our defence. The club publically announced that
Burke and Oxford were not required because we already had "4 "centre backs".
Given that our centre backs are suffering from similar injury proneness as
that experienced by our forwards this statement only makes sense if you
never intend to develop the option of playing 3 centre backs. Why is this
option so obviously despised by Bilic and his team? From the top to the
bottom of the club they seemed determine to jettison the option of playing
this formation. It is not just Plan B but appears to be Plan Z, only
resorted to in extremis.
Bilic obviously has a stubborn streak. This is normally a good thing, with
self-belief and confidence essential aspects of a successful Manager.
However he persisted with the Antonio experiment for far too long and he is
now showing similar inflexibility with his tactical formations.
Bilic has apparently resisted changes to his coaching and fitness team. Only
the medical team has been refreshed, a team Bilic himself did not appoint.
The deficit in defensive coaching is clear now for all to see.
I wrote before the season that we could enter the home game against
Huddersfield without a single point and that we would still need patience. I
retain this patience but Bilic's inflexibility, his insistence on playing a
failing tactical system against the evidence of not just the last 3 games
but the last 18 months is stretching my own patience thin,
There is still time to recruit quality defensive cover and for Bilic to
recover his tactical nouse. If however Bilic continues to be blind to the
deficit in defensive personnel within the squad, and he continues to play a
predictable and easily countered system of fighting fire with fire even my
patience will be stretched. If Bilic plays a naïve tactical set up to invite
yet another heavy home defeat, most likely against spurs his days may be
rightly numbered. If he repeats the famous win last season against Spurs,
incidentally achieved by playing 3 at the back, the pressure will be off and
many will forgive the pain of recent weeks.
COYI
David Griffith
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
WHAT ON EARTH IS WRONG AT OUR CLUB?
By S J Chandos 27 Aug 2017 at 08:00
WTID
That is a question that is undoubtedly exercising the minds of a lot of West
Ham fans at present. We have had a good summer transfer window, even to this
point, but it is just not translating on the pitch. West Ham's performance
at St James Park was an embarrassment. There is no two ways about it, they
were right royalty outplayed and outfought by a team that had hitherto been
struggling even more than us. Even without Arnautovic we should have had
more than enough to get a result, but this is a team lacking cohesion,
conviction and, perhaps worst of all, belief. Yes, the early season absences
of Lanzini, Kouyate and Reid have not helped, but we should have the basic
strength in depth now to cope without them.
If there was not a crisis before, there certainly is one now and predictably
the knives are out for Bilic. I cannot blame the fans for seeing Bilic's
management as the essential root cause of our poor results. It seems that
the struggles of last season have just tipped over in to this current
season. Yet, Bilic has been backed by the board in the transfer market, but
he cannot seem to gel the players in to an effective unit. Why do Bilic and
his staff seem to be unable to motivate the players and get half-way-decent
performances? Something is clearly and fundamentally wrong at the club and
it must be put right as soon as possible. At this point, I am not clear if
Bilic will do that or a new manager will replace him (whoever that might
be?) and be given that responsibility? What I do know is that although Bilic
takes the flack, there are also questions to be asked about the basic
professional pride and application of the playing staff. What I have seen
from our players this season is just not good enough.
We probably have not reached the point at which there will be a change of
manager. The impression I get is that Bilic is genuinely popular with the
club's owners. And it is almost certain they will give him the rest of the
transfer window to bring in one or two extra additions. The clock is likely
to start ticking once the window closes and we face Huddersfield Town at
home, which is now a massive game for Bilic and the club. Lose and the board
could conceivably bring forward their plans to replace him. Win and he will
buy himself some much needed extra time. More than anything, Bilic needs his
senior players to rally around and give him a timely and inspired
performance on 11 September 2017. I do not think the board want to sack
Bilic, but they will if the situation does not change markedly. In the
highly charged world of the PL there is no room for sentiment. West Ham need
to be in the top tier. Beyond that 'bottom line,' they need to be seen to be
moving forward as a club.
Bilic is in a very uncomfortable place right now and one feels for him. He
is due to discuss the situation with the co-owners this week. No doubt his
position will be made clear to him at that meeting. The trigger fingers at a
lot of PL clubs would be getting very itchy right about now, but I believe
that Sullivan and Gold will hold fire for a further period of time to see if
Bilic can turn it around.
Personally, if I was in Bilic's shoes I would start working on a 3-5-2
system for the Huddersfield Town match, giving Zabaletta and Cresswell the
latitude to push forward down the flanks. I might also be very tempted to
recall Adrian to the team. We shall see on 11 September 2017 whether Bilic
agrees?
SJ. Chandos.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Bilic's West Ham haven't been bad for just three games - they've been poor
for 12 months
West Ham's manager is under enormous pressure after the club fell to a third
defeat in a row
Football London
BYSAM INKERSOLE
17:11, 27 AUG 2017
It's not as if we are all reacting to the first three games of the new
season - West Ham under Slaven Bilic have been poor for the past 12 months.
It's not just the three games this season he is being judged on either, it's
in fact three wins in the last 17 games and by anyone's standards, that's
unnacceptable. Saturday's debacle at St James' Park was one of the worst
performances by a West Ham team under Bilic, it was just awful. If it were
not for Joe Hart, it could have been five or six. There have been some bad
ones - West Brom away last season, Watford at home, Liverpool at home to
name just three - but yesterday was simply shocking. Last seasons transfer
windows were abysmal as only Andre Ayew, Arthur Masuaku and Edimilson
Fernandes remain in and around the first team. Jose Fonte is woefully out of
form and his fellow January signing, Robert Snodgrass, has been loaned out
to Aston Villa just eight months after signing. Simone Zaza, Havard
Nordveit, Gokhan Tore, Jonathan Calleri, Sofiane Feghouli, Ashley Fletcher -
all players signed last summer - didn't make the grade. The Croat needed a
strong start to the season to even entertain the idea of extending his
contract past this season - you can absolutely rule that out now. Whether it
is this summer or sooner, Bilic is unlikely to be in charge of West Ham next
season barring a miraculous turn around.
Tactically, Bilic has been found wanting and his team selection even more
so. Fernandes isn't ready for the first team, Mark Noble is clearly on a
downhill slide, Declan Rice is - while extremely talented - very raw and
young - yet that was the starting midfield against Newcastle with Cheikhou
Kouyate on the bench. Rice made a mistake that led to Newcastle's opening
goal by Joselu yesterday and what did Bilic do? Subbed the kid off which is
poor man management. It was up to Joe Hart to give encouragement to Rce
after the mistake, gee him up, then his manager hooked him at half time.
Snodgrass has since tore into the manager for playing him out of position,
we've seen Fernandes playing left wing, we've seen Michail Antonio play
right back as well, remember that? Bilic persists with the one main striker
too - Javier Hernandez this season - who is as far removed from a target man
as you can be. It's pointless lumping the ball up to him like Andy Carroll,
Chicharito needs the ball to feet. The lack service up to him in the opening
three games has been non-existent. It's a case of when, not if, Bilic is
dismissed or he might even walk. The Hammers board have been very tentative
when it comes to getting rid of managers but this time around, they can't
be. Will Bilic be in the dugout for the first home game of the season? Who
knows, but it's not a definite he will be there.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Aston Villa loanee Robert Snodgrass on his deteriorating relationship with
West Ham boss Slaven Bilic
Snodgrass has joined AVFC on loan until the end of the season
Birmingham Mail
BYMAT KENDRICK
18:00, 27 AUG 2017
Aston Villa loanee Robert Snodgrass has given a brutally honest assessment
of why he had to get away from West Ham. Snodgrass has joined Villa on a
temporary deal until the end of the season, just seven months after signing
for the Hammers. The 29-year-old Scotland international is excited and
relieved to be reunited with his former Hull boss Steve Bruce at Villa. His
relationship with Slaven Bilic deteriorated because the West Ham manager
insisted on playing him out of position, says Snodgrass. Bilic wanted to use
him on the left-wing as a replacement for Dimitri Payet, whereas Snodgrass
prefers to play on the right or as a No.10.
"I think last season my quality was scoring goals and creating goals and I
did that in the first part of the season (at Hull)," said Snodgrass. "I went
to West Ham and I had a manager that played me out of position. To be honest
with you it was very tough to take. "Sometimes , with the way you've been
brought up, you try to just put your heart on your sleeve and play anywhere.
"To get the best out of any player you need to play him in his best
position, it's as simple as that."
Snodgrass, who has also played for Leeds United and Norwich City, insists
most of his success has come playing on the right or as a second striker.
"I've done it my full career," he said. "I've scored goals, created goals
everywhere I've been. "You need to play your right position and this is the
reason why I made the step to try and go and play football. "I spoke to the
manager there (West Ham) and said to him, 'You wanted me to try and replace
Payet, it's not my position'. "I couldn't have made that any more clear.
When I spoke to him this season I said 'I need to play my position, I need a
run of games in my position'. "This is the reason why I've come here. "I've
got a manager who knows what I'm about. "He's signed me for a lot of money
at Hull. To get the best out of any player you need to play them in their
right position, it's as simple as that."
Snodgrass, who is contracted to West Ham until summer 2020, is set to make
his Villa debut after the international break when Brentford visit Villa
Park in the Championship on September 9. "I just get a smile on my face
talking about it," he said. "It's a terrific club with a great set of fans.
"I've played against them many times and I just can't wait. "I haven't
enjoyed not knowing what's happening (at West Ham). "Nobody's spoken to me
at West Ham really and it's a weird feeling.
"I've always had a Bristish-based manager who has talked to me and had a
good relationship with, so to have that feeling back is a good feeling. "I
can't wait. I've got that feeling knowing what the Championship's all about,
knowing you're coming here with some terrific players. "The lads have got
some great quality, there's some great lads here that I've worked with.
"Once you go on that run of games and believing that you can achieve
promotion. That's the key, everybody needs to believe." Snodgrass was
talking to Villa's official media channels.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Doubts over Slaven Bilic's future could derail West Ham's William Carvalho
transfer
The latest West Ham transfer news sees fresh doubts of William Carvalho's
proposed Hammers move
Footbal London
BYKEVIN BEIRNE
15:30, 27 AUG 2017
Fresh doubts have been cast over West Ham's move for William Carvalho with
reports claiming that Slaven Bilic could be about to be sacked as Hammers
manager.
The Croat is coming under increased pressure following his side's third
straight league defeat of the season on Saturday. The east Londoners were
thrashed 3-0 by Newcastle in a limp display at St James' Park which has some
fans questioning Bilic's ability to lead the team forward. Bilic's opposite
number yesterday, Rafael Benitez, has become the frontrunner to take over
the reigns at the London Stadium. With just a few days remaining until the
transfer window shuts at the end of the month, the Hammers are running out
of time to get a deal for Carvalho over the line. But the Portuguese
midfielder may be forced to reevaluate his desire to join West Ham if the
rumours over Bilic's sacking intensify. Carvalho's proposed move to West Ham
has been held up by disagreements over his transfer fee.
The Hammers are said to be growing increasingly frustrated with Sporting
Lisbon's negotiating tactics, accusing the Portuguese club of moving the
goalposts over their asking price. They have even sent out feelers about a
move for Sunderland's Didier Ndong as an alternative for the Euro 2016
winner. But if Carvalho does not receive reassurances over who is manager
will be should he make the switch to England, he may decide to simply stay
put in Lisbon for now.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham may return for Slavisa Jokanovic, months after eyeing him as Bilic
replacement
HITC
Olly Dawes
According to The Express, Fulham boss Slavisa Jokanovic is likely to be in
the frame for West Ham United, as they consider the future of manager Slaven
Bilic.
After a disappointing season last term, the West Ham board decided to back
Bilic rather than sack him, enabling him to bring in Joe Hart, Pablo
Zabaleta, Marko Arnautovic and Javier Hernandez to boost his squad. However,
results in the opening stages of this season have been poor. Whilst three
successive away games is a tough start, due to West Ham's London Stadium
being used for athletics, 4-0, 3-2 and 3-0 defeats at Manchester United,
Southampton and Newcastle United respectively aren't good enough. Slavisa
Jokanovic Head Coach of Fulham looks on prior to the Carabao Cup First Round
match between Wycombe Wanderers and Fulham at Adams Park on August 8, 2017
in High Wycombe, England. The defeat at Newcastle was particularly awful,
and Sky Sports report that West Ham are now claiming that Bilic's position
is under review, as the Hammers consider making an early season change in
the dugout. Whilst Newcastle boss Rafael Benitez could be a target, The
Express claim that West Ham are likely to be back in the market for Fulham
boss Slavisa Jokanovic, months after their initial interest.
Sky Sports claimed back in April that West Ham were keen to land Jokanovic
if they decided to let Bilic go, but the Serbian ended up staying at Craven
Cottage when Bilic's future was secured. Jokanovic impressed last season,
taking Fulham to the play-offs with an attractive brand of football, though
he has been frustrated by the club's transfer policy, and Fulham have made a
shaky start to the season. West Ham may now choose to go back in for
Jokanovic this summer should they choose to replace Bilic, offering him a
chance in the Premier League having been replaced as Watford boss after
winning promotion in 2015. Fulham won't want to lose Jokanovic, but given
his frustration over his lack of input in the club's signing, he may well
fancy a move to the London Stadium.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
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