WHUFC.com
Wally Downes has praised the unstinting support for West Ham United at West
Bromwich Albion
15.02.2011
Wally Downes has paid tribute to West Ham United's fans for sticking with
their side in Saturday's amazing 3-3 Barclays Premier League draw at West
Bromwich Albion. The Hammers went in three goals down at half-time after an
indifferent first-half performance, only for two goals from Demba Ba and one
from Carlton Cole to headline an outstanding comeback after the break. Coach
Downes was happy with the players' resilience, but equally impressed with
the spirit shown by the 2,500-odd travelling supporters who urged their team
on at The Hawthorns.
"It was massively important that we got a goal early in the second half and
it was even more important that we got three! The good thing was that it
gave the fans some hope and equally it gave us hope. "The way the fans stuck
with us at 3-0 down - I imagine they were fuming at half-time and so were we
- and went for the whole 95 minutes and still had that hope and belief that
we were going to get the winner was terrific. "I'm so pleased with the fact
that we gave the fans who were there some cheer in the second half and some
hope. "We'll be fine. We're a middle-table side on current form at the
moment and we've just got to keep that belief and commitment. As long as
we've got those fans shouting for us at home and away, I'm sure we'll be
fine."
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Noble cause for all
WHUFC.com
The long-serving midfielder said the team had taken great strength from
their weekend comeback
15.02.2011
Mark Noble has hailed the collective spirit that inspired West Ham United to
a precious point at West Bromwich Albion. The midfielder had a hand in all
three goals as the Hammers roared out of the blocks after half-time,
following a disappointing first half that had seen three goals against.
Noble said quite a few things were said during the interval, with the
determination apparent in all. "It was a bit of everyone, really, not just
the staff, because everyone was so disappointed. Emotions were running high.
It isn't the most ideal result for us, but I'm sure we can pull out a lot of
positives from our performance in the second half and go into the next game
against Burnley with some confidence. "It was a good second half, but we
can't start the way we did. It wasn't good enough and we got punished.
Credit to the lads, though, because things were said at half-time and we
showed a bit of pride and didn't let the away fans who travelled up there
down."
Noble said the West Brom experience was a wake-up call to the whole team.
"That's what happens in this league, because no matter where you are in the
table, there are quality players out there. "With their manager going and a
new manager coming in, everyone obviously wanted to impress and keep their
place in the team and that obviously showed in the first half. In the second
half, though, as soon as we got that first goal we sensed that they were on
the back foot and we could really push on. "We had a few really good chances
and were gutted to not come away with the win in the end."
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Lee targets Chelsea victory
WHUFC.com
Olly Lee is looking forward to the challenge of facing Chelsea in the
Barclays Premier Reserve League
15.02.2011
West Ham United will travel to Chelsea on Wednesday keen to build on last
week's impressive 4-1 Barclays Premier Reserve League victory at West
Bromwich Albion. Radoslav Kovac, Cristian Montano, Olly Lee and Freddie
Sears were all on target as the second-string recorded a comprehensive win
over the Baggies. Midfielder Lee believes the confidence drawn from that
result and performance will stand the Hammers in good stead when they take
on the Blues at their Cobham training ground. The 19-year-old also had words
of praise for first-team coach Kevin Keen, who has taken control of the
reserves on a temporary basis following the departure of Alex Dyer to become
assistant manager at Charlton Athletic. "It was a really good result. We
started off a bit slow but then we changed the formation and it really
worked. Everyone upped their game and we played really well. "The senior
boys come down and don't treat it as a training session. They do it properly
and work hard for the team. It might not mean as much to them as it does for
us reserve-team regulars, but they've still got to play and get their
fitness levels up and it's nice for everyone that they give their best.
"Kovi is one of those who has played a few times for us. He obviously
wouldn't want to be playing in the reserves but when he comes down, he gives
his all, helps everyone else out and is good for everyone to have around."
Looking forward to the trip to Chelsea, Lee is eager to maintain the
Hammers' recent return to winning ways. "Cobham is always a nice place to go
and play football, so we'll be doing all we can to turn them over. We played
them at home in November and lost narrowly. It was a close game and we lost
2-1. They just edged us on the night and we didn't play as well as we could.
"Hopefully we will turn up tomorrow and get a win."
Lee had words of praise for recently-departed manager Dyer, while also
thanking Keen for stepping in and ensuring things run smoothly while the
club goes through the process of appointing a replacement. "Alex is
obviously a big miss because he was a top bloke to have around and he lit
the place up. Kev has come in and taken over and he's done brilliantly, to
be fair. He's certainly the right person to oversee the transition period
because everyone likes him and enjoys working with him."
Wednesday's match could see Thomas Hitzlsperger make his second reserve-team
start following his return from a long-term thigh injury, while the likes of
Marek Stech, Zavon Hines, Freddie Sears and Julien Faubert will also be
hoping to impress ahead of Monday's FA Cup fifth-round visit of Burnley.
Kick-off at Cobham on Wednesday is at 2pm. whufc.com will have team news and
live text updates from 1pm.
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Bring the noise
KUMB.com
Filed: Saturday, 12th February 2011
By: Paul Turner
The decision has been made and West Ham United has been given the nod as the
preferred bidder for the Olympic Stadium by the OPLC.
The debate has been raging for a long time about the merits and
disadvantages of the prospect of moving to the Olympic Stadium but now the
debate has to move onto what we as a fan base want to see in the stadium
with regards to the match day experience.
A winning team is a pretty easy one to nail down but what else is on the
table? Apart from the quality of beer and food, the new roof and ticket
prices among many things the most important issue has to be the experience
of watching a football match in the middle of a stadium configured for
athletics. Earlier I was reading the Evening Standard and I came across an
article from one Jermaine Jenas. An 'exclusive', at that.
After going through Jenas' article I honestly though 'Rubbish Footballers
make for Dull Articles' would have made for a better strap line.
Nonetheless, Jermaine admits the Tottenham players have not talked about the
possibility of playing at a different stadium for Tottenham while then
repeating the mantra of the 30,000 season ticket holder waiting list. Yeah,
right. He then goes on to give his own opinion of stadiums with running
tracks. He said:
"I've played at a number of grounds with a track during my club and
international career and the atmosphere is a lot duller than it is if the
fans are closer to the pitch. They feel distant; the view isn't as good and
the fans and players don't have the same connection because everything is so
much further away.
"It's hard to get anything going with the crowd because only those on the
side of the pitch have got a decent view. The atmosphere is definitely worse
and it's almost like you're playing in the park."
I honestly thought that was an incredibly patronising thing to say. Has
Jermaine bothered to ask the fans of Dinamo Bucharest if they feel 'distant'
from the players or if the Spartak Moscow supporters have a bad view of the
action - or the people who watch Al-Ahly and Zamalek in the Cairo National
Stadium (well, not right now but you get the jist) if they can't get
anything going?
I think they proved with a revolution there is no problem getting 'anything
going' in Cairo. It's not up to Jenas to unilaterally decide that playing in
stadiums that host both football and athletic are dull. Anyone is welcome to
search on youtube or any other video website for home matches of the teams
mentioned. There is a plethora of both spontaneous and organised shows of
support for the home side.
I go over Dagenham and Redbridge's ground, Victoria Road a fair few times a
season. There are people who go who enjoy standing in The Sieve and having a
song and a laugh. Its honest to say though that the ground is not a
groundswell of loud, consistent chanting and noise making and up until two
seasons ago three sides of the ground had terracing. To me terracing these
days and vociferous support are not intrinsically connected. The crux of
what I am trying to get at is the main issue that West Ham fans face. No
matter the stadium, no matter the type of stand, as a group of supporters
you make the occasion and you make the atmosphere.
I have been reading on and off the Ultra thread in the General Discussion
and when most people think of ultras on the continent its of banners,
organised displays of support, flares etc. Over here the closest I have seen
to the ultras scene has been support like Aldershot's. Last season I
particularly liked the banner they made for Dagenham mocking them for losing
5-2 in their match earlier that season, only for the Daggers to score three
second half goals to win 3-2 buts that's going off on a tangent.
Accrington Stanley also has a reputation for a good level of support through
a number of means (banners, monetary, chanting for example). Going away from
the organised group of support at time people have held up Stoke City as an
example of when the crowd in general backs its side for prolonged periods of
time. The general groundswell of noise created at the Britannia can make the
opposition support think twice about starting up a bit of support of their
own.
Moving forward to when West Ham United enter the Olympic Stadium for the
start of the 2014/15 season I feel we have to hit the ground running. There
is no need for a section of the ground to be sectioned off as a singing
section (no need for a Reclaim the Shed campaign). There is no need for club
bought banners to cover the front of the upper tiers. What I think is needed
is for a general agreement and acknowledgement that we as fans can do better
then we have done this season and before at the Boleyn and that we can
rubbish the views of people like Jenas who say it wont work.
Do you really want Alan Sugar and Harry Redknapp to be proven right? The
club can help to facilitate people with season tickets - say for example in
the Sir Trevs Lower with the move to the Olympic Stadium so the stand is
'replicated' in terms of people - but it's down to us to make our support
count.
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Downes thanks Hammers fans
Coach believes support from the stands helped to inspire fightback
Last updated: 15th February 2011
SSN
Wally Downes has thanked West Ham's supporters for keeping faith with the
players at West Brom on Saturday. The Hammers endured a terrible opening 45
minutes against their relegation rivals at The Hawthorns, with a 3-0 deficit
at the break seemingly ending any hope they had of leaving the Midlands with
anything to show for their efforts. The optimism which had greeted the
decision to name the club as the preferred bidders for the Olympic Stadium
was disappearing fast, with there every chance another nail could be
hammered into their Premier League coffin. Few could have foreseen what was
to follow, with a remarkable fightback seeing West Ham snatch the
unlikeliest of points. Two goals from Demba Ba and one from his strike
partner Carlton Cole saw the Hammers turn the tie on its head and end the
game disappointed not to have claimed a morale-boosting win.
Cheer
Downes believes the unwavering support offered by a travelling contingent of
some 2,500 fans helped to keep hope alive, with it imperative that similar
backing is offered over the remainder of the season if the club are to steer
clear of trouble. The Hammers' first-team coach told the club's official
website: "I imagine they were fuming at half-time and so we were we, [but]
the way the fans stuck with us at 3-0 down and went for the whole 95 minutes
and still had hope and belief that we were going to get the winner was
terrific. "I'm so pleased with the fact we gave our fans who were there some
cheer in the second half, and some hope. "As long as we've got those fans
shouting for us at home and away, I'm sure we'll be fine."
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Mark's fighting a Noble cause
The Sun
Published: Today
MARK NOBLE admits it would be unthinkable for West Ham to be playing
Championship football in the Olympic Stadium. The midfielder, 23, has warned
team-mates not to let the club's hard work in securing the 50,000-seater in
Stratford be marred by relegation. Noble said: "It's a Premier League ground
and that's where we must be when we go there. "Hopefully we've got enough
firepower now and we can push up the table."
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West Ham's Downes non-plussed by first-half defensive failings
Romford Recorder
Dave Evans, West Ham Correspondent
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
4:38 PM
WEST HAM'S defensive coach Wally Downes must have been asking himself some
serious questions at half time on Saturday. The team had been awful and his
defence the most awful of all, so what was the reason for such a dismal,
embarrassing surrender? The former Brentford manager stood in silence for a
moment and considered the question, perhaps considered the wisdom of
agreeing to an interview in the first place. "It is difficult to say," he
muttered thoughtfully. "You could say that Manuel Da Costa, who came in, has
not played with Winston Reid. There are lots of things that you can try to
put your finger on. We will certainly have to look at the video before we
can find some answers. "In the second half we were more dangerous. We made
them defend and in the first half, I don't think we made them defend enough
because when we applied the pressure they were found wanting."
So, the old attack is the best form of defence ploy was the one that worked
in the end, but surely whoever was in the starting line-up on Saturday,
should have been better prepared for what was coming up? "I said to the
fellas before the game that we are a better team than them and if you
prepare yourself properly and believe you are going to win, then you will
win," said Downes. "In the first half we didn't do that, but there is no way
we are three goals worse than West Brom. I don't think we are three goals
worse than most teams in this division, so after a few choice words at half
time, we turned it around. "We are not three goals worse than them," he
repeated. "If anything we are a three-goal better team than them, but we let
ourselves down in the first half."
That is something of an understatement, but Downes was delighted with the
way things went after the break. "You have to take your hat off to the
players who came on and the players who came out in the second half," he
said. "It was an absolutely magnificent effort to drag themselves back from
a performance that they would not have been proud of in the first half.
"They knew they had let themselves down and hadn't played well enough in the
first half and the way we have been playing recently - picking up points -
that was a disservice to them."
By the end, parity had been restored, but in all honesty there were still
plenty of failings in West Ham's defence. Reid looked raw and was horribly
exposed time and again by Peter Odemwingie, Da Costa looked reckless at
times and his positional ability left a lot to be desired. West Ham have let
in 48 league goals this season. Only Blackpool with 50 and West Brom with 51
have conceded more, but Downes believes that they can come good and get
themselves out of this mess. "If you look at the three strikers we had out
there in the second half, Cole, Piquionne and Ba, there are goals there," he
said. "The more games Da Costa plays, when Tomkins gets fit, Upson as well.
"We are a mid-table side on current form and that is where we will finish
up. "We just have to keep that belief and commitment and as long as we have
got those fans shouting for us, I'm sure we will be fine."
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Reserves: Arsenal v West Ham Utd - Rearranged
Arsenal.com
Please note that the venue and kick off time have been changed for our
Premier Reserve League game away to West Ham United Reserves.
Originally due to kick off at 2pm at West Ham United's Academy, the game
will now take place as under:
West Ham United Reserves v Arsenal Reserves
Tuesday 1st March 2011
Kick off 7.00pm
At Bishop's Stortford FC
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Hammers midfielder praises response against West Brom
1:59pm Tuesday 15th February 2011
Guardian Series
MARK NOBLE believes West Ham's dramatic comeback at West Brom can be the
wake up call the team needs to blast their way out of trouble. The
midfielder, who had a hand in all three of the Hammers' goals at the
Hawthorns on Saturday, admitted a few voices were raised in the dressing
room at half-time, with the visitors trailing by three goals. "It was a bit
of everyone, really, not just the staff, because everyone was so
disappointed," said Noble. "Emotions were running high. It isn't the most
ideal result for us, but I'm sure we can pull a lot of positives from our
performance in the second half and go into the next game against Burnley
with some confidence. "It was a good second half, but we can't start the way
we did. It wasn't good enough and we got punished. Credit to the lads,
though, because things were said at half-time and we showed a bit of pride
and didn't let the away fans who travelled up there down. "We had a few
really good chances and were gutted to not come away with the win in the
end."
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Spurs hooligans jailed for organised fight with West Ham thugs
www.tottenhamjournal.co.uk
By COURT REPORTER
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
12:43 PM
FOOTBALL thugs including a Spurs "General" have been caged for a total of
six years over an organised brawl after a Premiership match. The men joined
a surge of up to 60 troublemakers following the Tottenham Hotspur and West
Ham fixture at Upton Park in 2009. Violence errupted near the ground on
August 23 after Spurs won 2-1, Inner London Crown Court heard. Spurs
"General" Kieran Colletta, 44, and Simon Howlett, 47, rounded up yobs to
confront a Hammers gang who were armed with bottles and glasses on Mile End
Road, led by Anthony Caton, 43. Craig Molski, 32, ran up and down behind the
police line trying to get at West Ham fans. Bottles flew and smashed on CCTV
cameras and Colletta, of Dimsdale Drive, Enfield, could "clearly be seen"
hurling one at rivals. David Lamb, 41, made provocative gestures at West Ham
enemies.
Ringleaders arranged the clash at a summit meeting near a pub shortly
beforehand. Innocent passers-by were forced to dash for cover, and police
feared the situation "would spiral out of control" as they were outnumbered.
The five men, who all have various previous convictions, all denied affray
but were found guilty by a jury. Jailing them today, Tuesday, February 15,
Judge Robert Fraser said: "There's no doubt that football violence is a
scourge on the sport." He said the "serious affray" had put police in an
"exceedingly difficult and dangerous position," adding: "Both the police and
the public were clearly put in the centre of the threats and violence that
resulted. "Each of you played a different part in the affray, but you all
quite obviously participated and contributed to it."
Colletta, who said he was "embarrassed and ashamed" about his role in the
brawl, was jailed for two years for "leading and organising the Spurs
group".
He had four convictions between 1982 and 1990 for blackmail, possessing
stolen goods, possession of an offensive weapon and obstructing a police
officer.
His lawyer Keiran Moroney said: "Perhaps this disorder would have happened
whether he was there or not, and he has been singled out in various ways.
"He had lived an honest life, outside of his involvement with Tottenham
Hotspur and football violence."
Judge Fraser acknowledged Colletta's sentence would have "tragic"
consequences for his family, but said: "It is your actions that have put you
in this position, and I am afraid they are going to have to suffer the
consequences."
Howlett received a reduced sentence of eight months after the court heard he
was the sole carer for his two children aged 14 and 12, one of whom is
physically disabled. Molksi, formerly of Flower Lane, Mill Hill, was jailed
for 10 months, while Lamb, of Kerrison Road, Wandsworth, got eight months.
West Ham's "organiser" Caton, of Paul Street, Hackney, was jailed for 22
months. All were banned from attending football matches involving their team
for six years, and from travelling to major football tournaments abroad. A
sixth man admitted affray and will be sentenced on March 4 while reports are
undertaken.
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Good Week/Bad Week in Serie A
By Terry Daley
http://www.sabotagetimes.com
Posted: 15 February 2011
Football Italia may have long left our screens, but if you still have a
craving for cappuccino then check out our weekly Serie A round-up. Caution:
this post contains bad news for all West Ham fans about their new Olympic
stadium.
Any West Ham fans wondering what it's like to watch their team from a
stadium designed for Olympics should pop over to Rome. I recently had a
chat with a few Roma fans about what they thought of their Stadio Olimpico,
and specifically the experience of watching football behind a running track.
Anyone who's spent any time in Italian stadia will know what kind of
response I got, but just in case anyone is in any doubt , there is very
little to recommend about being a good 20 metres from the goal line.
So before Roma v Brescia I grabbed a couple of locals, luckily a pair who'd
spent some time in England watching football. This is hardly uncommon;
Italian football fans retain a healthy respect for - even fear of - English
football, English stadiums and England in general. This Anglophilia
manifests itself in different ways: for the middle class kids England is the
home of pop music and style, a civilised country where everything is
egalitarian and corruption doesn't exist, where the streets are paved with
gold and everything is possible. Meanwhile, for the kids in the curva,
England is terrace style, excessive drinking and a jolly good dust up. The
middle classes dress like indie boys and drink tea in pubs which cover their
walls with portraits of Princess Diana*; the curva boys bastardise the
casual look to a point past parody's distant horizon and read all the second
rate hoolie porn they can get their hands on. To give you an idea of how
much respect they have for our game, I was repeatedly told we were going to
win the World Cup. Seriously.
So it was no surprise to hear Filippo and Alessandro lament 'poor Hammers',
'our stadium is crap' they said and expressed their shock that England might
be going the Italian way. Make no mistake, this is a disaster for West Ham,
a move that the club has foisted on its fans without once bothering to ask
them, and one that stupefies every Roma or Lazio fan I talk to. Lazio
president Claudio Lotito said late last week that he would have a new
purpose-built stadium ready within three years of being given the council's
permission, and today Unicredit bank will decide who will have the right to
buy Roma from the Sensi family: each bid had to contain plans for a new
ground.
It was no surprise to hear Filippo and Alessandro lament 'poor Hammers',
'our stadium is crap' they said
Down at the bottom of the Curva Sud it's easy to see why clubs are so
desperate to move away from their dusty municipal bowls; it is impossible to
see anything that's happening at the other end, which is where Napoli spent
most of the first half on Saturday night, dominating Roma. Thankfully for
those in the Sud who were interested in watching the game, we got a jolly
good view of the Azzurri ripping Roma to pieces in the second half, making
it clear that their title challenge is for real. Edinson Cavani bagged his
19th and 20th goals of the season, while all around me people spat
quasi-racist abuse about what a bunch of terrible stinking gypsies the
Napolitani are.
For those who haven't followed Italian football since it was hoiked off
Channel 4, this has been something of a strange season: the circus show that
is Milan are top, with coach Massimiliano Allegri somehow keeping the egos
of Robinho, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Antonio Cassano in check; Cavani's Napoli
are three points behind second and Lazio - who were almost relegated last
year - are a further three points back in third. Juve, who on Sunday night
beat deadly rivals Inter 1-0 to the soundtrack of anti-Samuel Eto'o racist
chanting, are well off the pace. As are the champions, in fact, who are now
eight point behind Milan after that defeat. Meanwhile, little old Udinese
are flying, free-wheeling their way up to fifth table thanks to some of the
most cavalier football I've ever seen, this week dishing out a casual 3-0
slapping to relegation fodder Cesena. If they hold onto their players they
could cause some serious damage in next year's Champions League; it's just a
shame you'll have to see it from behind a running track.
*This is not a joke. I've seen it with my own eyes.
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