Daily WHUFC News - 2nd February 2013

Swansea City match preview
WHUFC.com
All the background information ahead of West Ham United's Saturday home
match with Swansea City
01.02.2013

WEST HAM UNITED v SWANSEA CITY
BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
SATURDAY 2 FEBRUARY 2013
KICK-OFF: 3PM
REFEREE: LEE PROBERT
FULL AUDIO AND TEXT COMMENTARY - WEST HAM TV
iPHONE APP I TWITTER I FACEBOOK I PODCAST

Introduction
• West Ham United are back at the Boleyn Ground this Saturday looking to
make it four home games unbeaten with Swansea City travelling to east London
in the Barclays Premier League.
• The Hammers have defeated Norwich City and drawn with Manchester United
and QPR in E13 in recent weeks.
• Swansea haven't visited the Boleyn Ground for a league fixture since
December 1982, but they did take on the Hammers at the Boleyn Ground in an
FA Cup third round game in 1999, which ended 1-1.
• Michael Laudrup's side are in their second season in the Barclays Premier
League and have reached this season's Capital One Cup final after defeating
Chelsea in the semi-finals.
• Sam Allardyce's side will be looking to avenge a 3-0 defeat suffered at
the Liberty Stadium on the second weekend of this Barclays Premier League
season, which formed part of a three-game winning streak for the Swans at
the start of the campaign.
• The Hammers will also be looking to put Wednesday's loss at Fulham behind
them, with Kevin Nolan netting their goal in the 3-1 defeat.
• Emanuel Pogatetz could be in line for a debut after joining the Hammers on
loan from German side VfL Wolfsburg on Monday. The 30-year-old defender has
a wealth of Barclays Premier League experience from a five-year spell at
Middlesbrough between 2005-10.
• The Hammers clash with Swansea City is one of eight games taking place in
the Barclays Premier League on Saturday. The following games will also take
place; QPR v Norwich is the early kick-off at 12.45pm, the 3pm fixtures are
Arsenal v Stoke City, Everton v Aston Villa, Newcastle United v Chelsea,
Reading v Sunderland, Wigan Athletic v Southampton and Fulham v Manchester
United is the late kick-off at 5.30pm.

Statistical analysis
Head of Performance Analysis David Woodfine said statistics suggested West
Ham United were hugely unfortunate to lose at Fulham on Wednesday evening.
The Hammers out-passed the Cottagers by 374 to 285. Of those, 152 passes
went forward to Fulham's 103, while the visitors crossed the ball 27 times
to eleven and won eight corners to Fulham's two.
Physically, West Ham also out-performed their hosts, running more than 1,200
metres more than Fulham in total. The Hammers' players also ran more than
2km more than their opponents at high intensity.
"From these statistics, we can see that the team are producing a lot of the
key ingredients required for winning football matches," said Woodfine.
"We passed the ball far more often and in more dangerous areas than Fulham,
crossed the ball more than twice as many times as our hosts and ran further
and at a higher intensity than the Cottagers, but did not reap the rewards
of our work.
"We have reached a consistently high level in our home matches this season
and, if we can replicate this level of performance, we will be able to turn
it into points."

Last time out
Barclays Premier League
Wednesday January 30 2013
Fulham 3-1 West Ham United
West Ham United: Jaaskelainen; Demel (Taylor 67), Reid, Tomkins, O'Brien;
Diame, Noble, Nolan; J Cole (Carroll 76), Chamakh (C Cole 56), Jarvis
Subs not used: Henderson, Vaz Te, Pogatetz, O'Neil
Goals: Nolan 48
Barclays Premier League
Tuesday January 29 2013
Sunderland 0-0 Swansea City
Swansea City: Tremmel; Tiendalli, Williams, Chico, Davies; Dyer, de Guzman,
Britton (Graham 75), Hernandez (Lamah 66); Shechter (Ki 60); Michu
Subs not used: Cornell, Bartley, Routledge, Rangel

Previous meeting
• Saturday's visit of Swansea City will be the first time the South Wales
side have travelled to the Boleyn Ground since January 1999 when the two
sides were paired together in the third round of the FA Cup. Swansea led for
much of the second period, but Julian Dicks' 87th minute strike secured a
1-1 draw and a replay at the Vetch Field.

West Ham United: Hislop, Potts, Ruddock, Dicks, I.Pearce, Sinclair,
Lazaridis (Omoyinmi 82), Lomas, Berkovic (J.Cole 65), Hartson (Abou 70),
I.Wright
Goal: Dicks 87
Swansea City: Freestone, Jones, Howard, Bound, Smith, Cusack, Roberts,
Thomas, Coates, Watkin, Alsop
Goal: Smith 61

Background
• West Ham United and Swansea City have met 52 times over a period of 90
years, the Hammers have won 23, Swansea have won 17 and 12 have ended in a
draw.
• The first meeting between the two sides came on 7 January 1922 in the FA
Cup and ended in a 0-0 draw. The replay on 11 January also ended 0-0, and
the two sides met for the third time in nine days on 16 January when Swansea
won 1-0 to progress.
• West Ham visited Wales twice last season, beating Cardiff City 2-1 in the
npower Championship in March before winning 2-0 in the Play-Off semi-final.
• Joe Cole made his first West Ham debut as a substitute in the 1-1 FA Cup
third-round draw against Swansea City on 2 January 1999.

Last six meetings
(Premier League unless stated)
25 Aug 2012 Swansea City v West Ham United L 0-3
13 Jan 1999 Swansea City v West Ham United L 1-0 (FA Cup third-round replay)
02 Jan 1999 West Ham United v Swansea City D 1-1 (FA Cup third round)
07 Oct 1985 Swansea City v West Ham United W 2-3 (Milk Cup)
24 Sep 1985 West Ham United v Swansea City W 3-0 (Milk Cup)
05 Apr 1983 Swansea City v West Ham United W 1-5 (Division One)
Overall record v Swansea City (all competitions) W 23 D 12 L 17

Ten-year record
West Ham United
2011/12 Championship 3rd (86 points - promoted via Play-Offs)
2010/11 Premier League 20th (33 points)
2009/10 Premier League 17th (35 points)
2008/09 Premier League 9th (51 points)
2007/08 Premier League 10th (49 points)
2006/07 Premier League 15th (41 points)
2005/06 Premier League 9th (55 points)
2004/05 Championship 6th (73 points - promoted via Play-Offs)
2003/04 Championship 4th (74 points)
2002/03 Premier League 18th (42 points - relegated to Championship)
2001/02 Premier League 7th (53 points)
Swansea City
2011/12 Premier League 11th (47 points)
2010/11 Championship 3rd (80 points)
2009/10 Championship 7th (69 points)
2008/09 Championship 8th (68 points)
2007/08 League One 1st (92 points)
2006/07 League One 7th (72 points)
2005/06 League One 6th (71 points)
2004/05 League Two 3rd (80 points)
2003/04 League Two 10th (59 points)
2002/03 League Two 21st (49 points)
2001/02 League Two 20th (51 points)

Referee
• Saturday's referee will be Lee Probert.
• Forty-year-old Probert will officiate a West Ham United fixture for the
second time this season, having also been the man in the middle for the 3-2
defeat to Liverpool on 9 December.
• He began refereeing in 1986 before being promoted to the Football League
assistant referees' list in 1998, and made the step up to referee in the
league five years later.
• Probert was promoted to the Select Group of Premier League referees in
summer 2007.
• In 2010, he took charge of the FA Trophy final between Barrow and
Stevenage Borough at Wembley, before returning to the Home of Football to
act as fourth official for the 2011 FA Cup final between Manchester City and
Stoke City.
• In 24 matches this season, Probert has issued 69 yellow cards and sent off
two players. His last assignment was for last Sunday's FA Cup tie between
Oldham Athletic and Liverpool, which saw the League One Latics shock Brendan
Rodgers' side.
• On Saturday, Probert will be assisted by Gary Beswick and Ron Ganfield,
while the fourth official will be Phil Dowd.

Team news
• Andy Carroll made his comeback from a knee injury in Wednesday's defeat at
Craven Cottage and the striker will be looking to play some part again when
Swansea City come to east London.
• James Collins and George McCartney remain sidelined with injury, but new
loan signing Emanuel Pogatetz will add to Sam Allardyce's defensive options.
• Swansea sold striker Danny Graham to Sunderland on transfer deadline day,
and Swans boss Michael Laudrup opted not to make any last minute additions
to his squad,
• Neil Taylor and Kemy Agustien are both missing for the visitors with ankle
injuries.

Old boys
• The only player to have had an affiliation with both clubs who could take
part on Saturday is Swansea's Leon Britton. The London-born midfielder
joined West Ham United in 1998 for a fee of £400,000, a record fee for a
16-year-old at the time. He didn't however make a single appearance for the
Hammers and left the club to join Swansea in 2003 after a successful loan
spell.

General Information
• Tickets are sold out for Saturday's fixture. For all other ticket
information, the box office can be accessed here
• The weather forecast for Saturday is a bright, but cold one, with the sun
due to be shining at 3pm with a temperature of 5C.
• Please be aware that engineering works on the London Underground District
Line means there will be no service between South Kensington and
Bromley-by-Bow on Saturday. There will also be no service on the Hammersmith
and City Line between Kings Cross and Barking. Replacement buses will
operate on both lines.
• In addition, there is no service on the Metropolitan Line between Baker
Street and Aldgate and on the Docklands Light Railway between Canning Town
and Beckton
• Greater Anglia and c2c services will be operating as normal.
• Supporters who drive to the Boleyn Ground should take note of new parking
restrictions in the London Borough of Newham

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Big Sam on: Swansea City
WHUFC.com
Big Sam speaks to the media ahed of West Ham United's clash with Swansea
City
01.02.2013

Sam Allardyce is delighted the transfer window has finally slammed shut, so
that he can get back to concentrating solely on matters on the pitch.
Swansea City are Saturday's visitors to the Boleyn Ground and Big Sam
insists that it is the Swans' defensive prowess, as well as their attractive
brand of possession football, that has laid the foundations for a second
successful season in the Barclays Premier League. The Hammers, meanwhile, go
in search of a first league win since New Year's Day and Allardyce remains
confident that his side's excellent home form will stand them in good stead
for Saturday.

Sam, how glad are you that the transfer window has finally closed?

SA: "Well I think we're all waking up this morning and whether we've done as
much as we wanted to or not, we'll all be pleased that we can focus purely
on the football matches we've got between now and the end of the season. I
think that all the usual mayhem has taken place yet again and we've all been
in the middle of it at some stage or another. Of course the distraction is a
huge part of trying to get through this period and still trying to produce
the results. For us, we haven't got the results we wanted for one reason or
another. We've strengthened the team as best we possibly can and the most
important thing at the end of yesterday was that we kept Mohamed Diame.

"You're always disappointed in this window, because it has always been so
ferocious in terms of what you want to do. We've brought in players to
strengthen a squad that has already proven that they can cope at this level
at the first of time asking back in the Barclays Premier League. We've tried
to strengthen that to give us a little boost and hopefully we've done that."

How do you think you can lift the team and squad to pick up more points?

SA: "It's pretty simple really. We've got to get back to being defensively
solid as a unit. If you look at the team we're playing on Saturday, the
reason they're so successful is contrary to what you all think, it's because
they have the best defensive record in the league. When they score a goal
they win a game of football and they don't concede many, in fact they hardly
concede any. When you win, that brings you the greatest reward of all,
because three points for a win and only one for a draw make a massive
difference to anybody in the league.

"Swansea have been outstanding both in and out of possession, that's what
has impressed me the most. From our point of view, I don't think we've had a
clean sheet since West Bromwich Albion away and because of that we have not
managed to secure the wins we wanted to. The games we should have won we
ended up drawing and those we should have drawn we've lost."

You're taking on a Swansea team in top form...
SA: "They're in top form. I watched the Sunderland game and they should have
won it right at the very end. But then you look at the statistics and
Sunderland played 90 minutes at home with no shots on target whatsoever.
That shows you how good a team Swansea are.

Are you concerned that you haven't won since New Year's Day?
SA: "We're very concerned at this moment in time. We've only taken five
points out of the last eight games, which we all know isn't good enough. But
you can have these spells, it's not unique to us. For Fulham it was only a
third win in 16 matches, Norwich have been the same. Lots of teams like us
have had this spell just now, where we've gone a considerable amount of time
without enough wins. We know that we've got to put that right.

"We started the season absolutely brilliantly and the rest of the season had
been going very well until the injuries hit and once the injuries hit, it
devastated the team at the time and we've now suffered in terms of results."

The biggest boost for you must be Andy Carroll, is he ready to play a full
game against Swansea?
SA: "I wouldn't say Andy's ready to play a full game, but he's ready to play
some part of the game. Because he hasn't played a competitive game, apart
from the 15 minutes he got at Fulham, after eight or nine weeks out. Having
a fit squad is the main objective of everyone at the football club at the
moment. Because that is our major concern and has been our over the last
four to six weeks. Particularly defensively and even at the moment, we've
got James Collins and George McCartney injured, which is why we had to bring
in Emanuel Pogatetz.

How do you approach Saturday's game?

SA: "I have to say our home performances, nearly all season, have been
nothing other than very, very good. Results haven't followed some of the
games. We've got to continue with that form and that will give us an
opportunity to win. We have to be aware of how good Swansea are out of
possession. They're going to be looking to play on the break against us and
if anything a foreign coach is probably better at planning his strategy
playing on the break than perhaps we are. We have to be aware of that and
not get caught by the spaces that we leave behind when trying to break that
very solid defence down.

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Carroll eyes Swans start
WHUFC.com
Andy Carroll wants to shoot the Hammers back to winning ways on Saturday
01.02.2013

Hammers striker Andy Carroll is itching to make up for lost time after
stepping up his comeback from a knee injury with a 14-minute substitute
appearance in Wednesday's 3-1 defeat at Fulham. The big Geordie has been out
since late November but returned to the Barclays Premier League fray at
Craven Cottage with Sam Allardyce's men looking to close a deficit caused by
goals from Dimitar Berbatov and Hugo Rodallega. West Ham couldn't rescue a
point on this occasion, but Carroll was happy to be back and he is looking
forward to helping the team as they move on to Saturday's visit of Swansea
City. Speaking exclusively to West Ham TV, Carroll said: "Obviously we were
disappointed with the result but to be back on the pitch was great for me
because I've been out injured for a while now. "I've been wanting to get out
there since I've been injured - I've been in the gym and treatment room
working hard to get fit. It's taken a while but I'm back and it was a great
feeling to get those few minutes under my belt."

The England international forced a save from Cottagers keeper Mark Schwarzer
with his very first touch after replacing Joe Cole on Wednesday, and the
former Newcastle man felt his side were a little unfortunate not to take
something from the contest after a strong start to the second period which
saw them briefly level through Kevin Nolan. He continued: "I had a little
chance as soon as I came on with my first touch, I caught it quite well but
the keeper was there in the right place, right time. I think overall we were
unlucky not to get a result. "The gaffer had a word with us at half-time to
tell the lads what he expected, and we went out there and showed in the way
we started what we're about. We put the ball in the box, got a few chances
and Kev put his away for a good goal. The disappointing thing was that they
got straight back in the lead, because we were on top of them at that stage
and we could have pushed on to get the win.
"They put the first chance they created after our goal away and it's
disappointing for the lads, but we've got to keep at it and think about the
next game now.
"Straight away our focus goes on to Swansea at the weekend. We've had a
tough run lately, we need to put points on the board, the lads know that,
and I'm sure once we get that result, the others will follow."

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Potts enjoying life on the touchline
WHUFC.com
Steve Potts hopes defeat in the FA Youth Cup is now all but forgotten for
his Under-18 side
31.01.2013

Steve Potts admits he has been bitten by the coaching bug, as he prepares
for Saturday's visit of West Bromwich Albion to Little Heath in the Barclays
U18 Premier League Tier One Stage. Though it has barely been 18 months since
he joined the staff at West Ham United's Academy, the Hammers' long-serving
full-back is quickly growing accustomed to life on the other side of the
touchline. Following a spell at the helm of the U16s, Potts takes charge of
only his third contest as U18s coach on Saturday, having made the step up at
the turn of the year. "All in all I've only been doing it for a year and
half and you're forever learning," he said. I played the game for a number
of years, but this is the other side of it. It's a big learning curve for me
as well. I'm enjoying it, I've grown into it really, I must admit. When I
first came in, it gets a grip of you, that's for sure."

Potts' young side head into the weekend's clash bidding to make it two wins
out of two in the Barclays Premier League U18 Tier One. Tottenham Hotspur
avenged a 1-0 league defeat at the hands of West Ham with a 5-2 FA Youth Cup
win at the Boleyn Ground ten days later, but Potts is not envisaging a
hangover from that evening. "Some of the boys have been involved in the
Development Squad, but for the majority of the players this will be the
first game since [the FA Youth Cup exit]," Potts confirmed. "It was a
disappointing result, very disappointing for the boys but they've just got
to try and put that behind them and push on to the next game on Saturday.
"The players have been fine. Obviously everyone took a big knock that night,
result wise, in such a big competition as the Youth Cup is. We got back in
over the next day or two and you can see everyone's disappointment, you can
see it in their face, which is natural. But once they've been out training I
can't fault them. They've been really training well."

West Ham ran out comprehensive 4-0 winners at home to the Baggies in Group 1
earlier this season, before falling to a 2-0 defeat in November's reverse
fixture. Potts, however, insists with the likely change of personnel, that
previous encounters are of no great import. "I think our team make up and
the opposition's changes depending on Development Squads and first-team
squads, with players getting pulled into those. So I don't think it has much
bearing at all. The classic example of that was Tottenham. We played them in
the league and then in the cup and obviously got two different results. So I
don't think you can read too much into it. "I just hope we can play to our
potential on Saturday, that's the main thing. I personally think there are a
number of good players here at this level and levels below. The main thing
is pushing the boys as much as we can. Whether they're in the U18s, or
hopefully if they're doing well, they get pushed on further into the
Development Squad. Obviously the ultimate thing is getting to the first
team, and that's all that matters."

Kick-off at Little Heath on Saturday is at 11am, with admission and parking
both free of charge.

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West Ham v Swansea
KO 15:00
1 February 2013
Last updated at 13:33
By Simon Brotherton
Match of the Day commentator

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Venue: Upton Park Date: Saturday, 2 February

TEAM NEWS

West Ham's Andy Carroll is likely to again start on the bench as he builds
up match fitness after a knee injury. The Hammers are still without
defenders George McCartney (knee), James Collins (hamstring) and Dan Potts
(concussion).

Swansea goalkeeper Michel Vorm is still sidelined by a knee injury and will
again be replaced by Gerhard Tremmel. The Swans will have fewer attacking
options to select from after Danny Graham's departure to Sunderland on
transfer deadline day.

MATCH PREVIEW

Sam Allardyce was one of the busier managers during the transfer window,
adding Joe Cole, Marouane Chamakh, Wellington Paulista and Emanuel Pogatetz
in an attempt to give his West Ham squad a bit of a boost. An excellent
autumn which saw them perform above expectations has been replaced by a
slightly more concerning run of results in which they've won just one of the
last nine matches in the Premier league.

The reality probably lies somewhere in the middle between the excellent
start of just three defeats from the opening 12 games and the recent run of
just two wins from the next 12, of which eight have ended in defeat. They
are neither as good as the first run nor as bad as the recent one, so their
current mid-table placing of 13th strikes me as about right. Swansea arrive
in rude health with a Wembley final to look forward to against Bradford in
the Capital One Cup, a brand of football that is easy on the eye and a
seven-match unbeaten run that further cements their current place in the top
half of the table. It's all a far cry from when they last played at Upton
Park in the third round of the FA Cup 14 years ago. Swansea were a mid-table
team in the fourth tier back in those days, a whopping 72 places behind West
Ham at the time, and yet they came within a whisker of winning the tie at
the first attempt. Jason Smith headed Swansea into the lead after an hour,
and as West Ham tried to get back in the game, Harry Redknapp, their manager
at the time, threw on a 17-year-old by the name of Joe Cole for his debut.
In the end, Julian Dicks earned the Hammers a replay with a late equaliser
but Swansea weren't to be denied and won the second game 1-0.

MATCH FACTS

Head-to-head
Swansea beat West Ham 3-0 in their only previous Premier League meeting,
which came last August.
The Swans have not won on any of their last nine visits in all competitions.
Their last victory was a 2-1 success in August 1956.

West Ham
West Ham have had just one win in their last nine league matches. They have
lost three of the last four.
The Hammers have only claimed eight points from the last 36 available.
West Ham have won just one of their 11 matches against top-half teams this
season (W1, D3, L7).
Andy Carroll has scored once in his last 17 Premier League matches.

Swansea
Swansea are unbeaten in seven league games.
The Swans have kept five clean sheets away from home in the league this
season and conceded just nine away goals - they are the only team yet to
concede double figures away from home in the Premier League.
Three of Swansea's last four away matches have been 0-0 draws.
Michu has scored four league goals in London this season.

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David Sullivan and West Ham player 'threatened by agent'
BBC.co.uk

West Ham co-owner David Sullivan alleges he and a player were threatened
with violence by an agent during January's transfer window. Sullivan has
called for the FA to look into agents' conduct and cap fees. He said: "I can
see it spilling over into violence in the future, unless there is
legislation from the FA. He was previously an owner of Birmingham City from
1993-2010 where he brought in Karren Brady as managing director "I had an
agent threaten me and one of our players with physical violence, because he
thought he was being cut out of a deal."

QPR manager Harry Redknapp, whose club were one of the more active teams in
the market during the transfer window, had earlier said: "Every agent seems
to be trying to screw each other. It's like gang warfare out there. "It is
scary. If you've got a deal for a player, another agent will try to scupper
that deal if he is not involved in it. It's unreal. It's unbelievable what's
going on. They're all fighting for big money, that's the problem."

Sullivan claimed the financial demands by agents had got out of control
adding: "We are talking millions of pounds here around a transfer and not
enough deals to go around. There are too many agents and not enough
transfers to feed them. Agents who would once demand £50,000 for their part
in a transfer now want £500,000 to £1m to either bring a player or keep a
player. It is quite outrageous and the FA should cap the amount paid to
agents for their work. "I heard of one agent, who took over representation
of a player for one day, and he wanted to be paid between £1.25m and £1.5m
for his part in negotiating a new contract."

Sullivan also praised West Bromwich Albion chairman Jeremy Peace over his
handling of Peter Odemwingie, who was refused a transfer to QPR and has now
been told not to attend training until next week. Sullivan said:
"[Odemwingie] drove down to QPR and was actively trying to force a transfer,
but Mr Peace refused to cave in. He held his ground. "He would not be
bullied. You cannot give in to players like this. It is the same as giving
in to terrorists or kidnappers. If you pay the ransom, they will only come
back for more. "Consequently, Mr Peace has done a great service to
football."

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It was vital Mohamed Diame stayed - Sam Allardyce
BBC.co.uk

Manager Sam Allardyce says it was more important West Ham retained
midfielder Mohamed Diame rather than make any more signings on transfer
deadline day. Speculation had surrounded Diame, 25, but the window closed
with the Senegalese still at the club. Allardyce said: "The most important
thing at the end of yesterday was probably keeping hold of Mo Diame." West
Ham had brought in three players earlier in January, though Allardyce failed
to add to that on Thursday. Diame has made 19 appearances in the Premier
League since joining on a free transfer in July after he turned down a
contract extension with Wigan.
Allardyce had suggested Diame could still leave if any side met the release
clause in his contract. Despite links to Arsenal, this did not occur, with
fellow defensive midfielder Alou Diarra and goalkeeper Stephen Henderson
making the only late exits. On the other side of the market, defender
Emanuel Pogatetz, midfielder Joe Cole and forward Marouane Chamakh had all
been acquired by the Hammers. "For us we haven't got the results we wanted
to try and get for one reason or another but we haven't gone too heavy into
the financial side of the market," Allardyce added. "You're always
disappointed in this window, I've never been delighted at the end of a
window, in January anyway. It is always ferocious in terms of what you want
to do but we have done as well as we possibly can do."

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Barnet sign Dominic Vose and release Taiwo Atieno
BBC.co.uk

Barnet have signed former West Ham midfielder Dominic Vose on a one-year
deal and released striker Taiwo Atieno. The 19-year-old Vose, who was
released by the Hammers in December, had a loan spell with Braintree in Blue
Square Bet Premier last season. Atieno, 27, made four appearances for the
Bees after joining in December. The much-travelled Kenyan scored in the win
over Bradford at the start of January but the club have opted not to extend
his deal.

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Sullivan reveals threats of violence
KUMB.com
Filed: Friday, 1st February 2013
By: Staff Writer

West Ham United's co-owner David Sullivan has claimed he was threatened with
physical violence by a football agent during the transfer window. The
64-year-old, who celebrated three years as co-owner of the club last month
insists he is "glad" that the winter window has now ended after he was
forced to endure threats from an unnamed agent who believed he was being
overlooked. Sullivan, who also called for a cap to the fees agents can
charge told the Daily Mail: "People do desperate things when they are
desperate. We are talking millions of pounds here around a transfer and not
enough deals to go around. "There are too many agents and not enough
transfers to feed them. In this window, I have had an agent threaten me and
threaten one of our players with physical violence, because he thought he
was being cut out of a deal. "I heard of three or four agents trying to
jump in on other deals. Some of these people are like scavengers. I can see
it spilling over into violence in the future, unless there is legislation
from the FA to curb the practices. "It was all deeply unpleasant and I'm
glad it's over. Now we can get on with the football."

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Just Chamakh it in the net!
KUMB.com
Filed: Friday, 1st February 2013
By: Charlie Clayton

A veteran shot-stopper, a defensive fortress and a powerful midfield. What's
missing? Goals.

Coming up from the Championship, we knew we had to invest in a goalscorer
and over the summer and buying Mobido Maiga looked like a good start. I was
hopeful. Him and our Carlton up front looked like a decent partnership.

Then, out of nowhere, we signed a seemingly deadly partnership; Matt Jarvis
and Andy Carroll. Everybody could see it, Jarvis with his deadly pace and
ability to beat a man before drifting a ball across for one of the greatest
headers of the ball in English football. Surely we had that missing piece of
puzzle to keep us where we belong.

An opening win against Aston Villa was a good start, a game followed by the
best performance of the season so far - a 3-0 walkover against Fulham. It
was a more than convincing start. Andy Caroll was on fire; even without
being on the scoresheet he played a big part in two of the goals. It all
looked so good.

However getting your hopes up, as a West Ham fan, is not the cleverest thing
to do and it rarely pays off. Carroll limped off in his opening game with a
hamstring injury. It was worthwhile though; a great win over Fulham and
everyone expected him to be back in a couple of games and be just as good,
if not better.

Walking out of Upton Park that night, everybody's hopes were high. If we
could perform like that every week, there wouldn't be a relegation battle in
sight.

Being a West Ham fan however, nothing is ever as good as it seems. Making
his comeback against QPR, Big Andy wasn't on the goal sheet for the next
seven games he played in. Things started getting worrying and he needed to
score fast before we became the second club - along with Liverpool - to
label him a flop.

So who better to score against than our biggest Premier League opponents,
Tottenham? West Ham had the chance to be heroes. Most of all though, Andy
had the chance to be a hero. Unsurprisingly, this didn't happen and in a
unconvincing 3-1 loss at at White Hart Lane, the fact that Andy had finally
netted was more relief than joy. The England international had to be on the
right path now though, coming back from injury and scoring a few games
later?

Well, not exactly.

Coming off for what looked like a routine substitution in a good performance
against Manchester United, it was later revealed he had twisted his knee. He
was to miss the next two months which, coincidently, was our toughest period
of the season with visits to and from teams like Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton
and Liverpool. It was a deadly blow to be dealt.

The festive period came and went with losses to Arsenal, Everton and
Liverpool and a surprise win against the Blues of Stamford Bridge. More
importantly, the january window was in full flow with the purchase of Joe
Cole to give the same service Jarvis had been providing but from the other
side of the pitch.

Service to who though? We needed a striker who could take Carroll's place
until he was fully fit or take his place permanently, if he didn't step back
in with all guns blazing.

Big Sam didn't disappoint on the business side of things with a loan deal
for Arsenal's Moroccan striker Mauroane Chamakh being put through early on.
People immediately labelled him a flop which I thought was extremely harsh;
Arsene Wenger doesn't buy a player for nothing and 90 per cent of the time,
the buy pays off.

Just because Chamakh struggled at the Gunners doesn't mean he's a bad
player. Stepping into any Premier League side is a challenge, let alone a
side with the reputation and expectations of the Gunners. Anyhow, he must
have something for Arsene to buy him in the first place and knowing
Allardyce and the way he plays, it was most likely a strong heading ability.

Chamakh made his claret and blue debut against Queens Park Rangers at home.
It was a very frustrating game finishing 1-1. On the positive side though,
it was a good performance from West Ham and, more importantly, a good
performance from Chamakh. However, much like Mr. Carroll, he failed to net
having one effort cleared off the line and another well save thereby denying
the striker his debut goal.

On a positive note, he didn't get injured - which I suppose counts as moving
in the right direction.

His second game, against Fulham, wasn't the greatest performance I've seen
from the Hammers this season. In fact, I would even go to say it was one of
the worst. Once again, our much-talked-about solid midfielder Mo Diame
played well but our defence couldn't handle Dimitar Berbatov. Chamakh failed
to put the ball in the net once again with Nolan scoring our only goal in a
disappointing 3-1 loss away from home.

With two Premier League strikers on loan and a budget that seems very tight,
the only option for cover for the two loanee strikers and Carlton Cole was
Modibo Maiga who is also beginning to fall away from the team. Therefore,
Big Sam looked across the Atlantic for a goalscorer. The decision was made
to bring Cruzeiro striker Wellington Paulista to West Ham United.

The Brazilian has an impressive scoring record and is hungry for goals. This
can only be positive. Once again a deadly header of the ball he seems to be
one of the best on the ground back in his home league. Nevertheless, much
like Chamakh, it is a big step up from a smaller league like the Liga Da
Brazil or the French Ligue 1 to the Premier League. It doesn't matter how
much hunger and commitment you show, if you're not good enough, you wont
make it.

Scoring in his first reserve game and getting him back up to fully fitness,
Paulista looks to be the most promising out of all of our singings this
window as he can be back-up to the striker and play down the wing, letting
Joe Cole rest or rotate with the Brazilian. This is why I believe he could
be a key player nearer the end of the season for West Ham United - but will
it be enough?

Is he the one who will keep us up? Is Chamakh? Is Carroll?

We're currently in a downward spiral that's engulfing my beloved Irons at a
disastrous rate. Anyone willing to step up and put the ball into the back of
the net should start for this club. Players today don't have the same loyal
feeling that used to come with waring the Claret and Blue strip. Hopefully
this will return in the coming weeks because come the end of the season, I
still think we are going to need all the help we can get.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham United v Swansea City
KUMB.com
Filed: Friday, 1st February 2013
By: Preview Percy

Next up we return to the green green grass of home where we play hosts to
Swansea City. Kick-off is at the right-thinking person's preferred time of
3pm on Saturday.

It's been a while so I bid you pray welcome for the return of the tube
engineering works which we've missed so much of late. Basically the District
Line is running only between Bromley-By-Bow and Upminster and the
Hammersmith & City line is also out of action. So if you use the District
from central London you might wish to entertain the thought of using the
Jubilee line as far as West Ham then waiting for what will probably be a
much reduced District service to Upton Park from there. You're welcome.

Our visitors this weekend sit in rude health, occupying as they do 8th spot
with 34 points from their 24 matches played so far. However they've been one
to mark your "X" next to on the pools coupons of late, having drawn 4 of
their last 6 matches. Three of these have been 0-0 draws away from home, at
Reading, Everton & Sunderland, so it may be worth having a think before
going for your first goalscorer bet. The other draw was a 2-2 home share of
the spoils against Villa whilst the remaining two matches resulted in
victories over Fulham at Craven Cottage (2-1) and 3-1 at home to Stoke.

Of course the big news down that way in recent weeks has been their
qualification for the League Cup final by defeating Chelsea in the Battle of
Ballboygate. This can be summed up as follows: Spoilt brat who probably
deserves a kicking holds onto ball and gets a kicking. Overpaid Chelsea
muppet gets deserved red card for violent conduct. Meanwhile the poor little
podgy soul who was at the centre of the affair has apparently received death
threats, which is something that that bloke who keeps forgetting to mention
that he's fatboy's ghost writer when he slags us off appears to have made no
comment on. Funny that.

We've just completed transfer deadline day. The current transfer window
system is a ludicrous innovation of the past few years and seems to have
been invented purely to give Sky the opportunity to fill their sports news
channel with stuff on what would otherwise be a quiet month. They go a bit
OTT don't they. It only takes the announcement that someone's reserve team
'keeper is on their way to a League 2 side for a month's loan for Jim
White's head to explode. Swansea had a relatively quiet window, with the
major news being the departure of striker Danny Graham off to Sunderland.
Newcastle fan Graham was roundly booed when coming on as a sub up there last
week. That one is destined to end in tears I tells ya.

The Swans main transfer dealing happened in the summer when they picked up
Michu, who is being described by many as the signing of the season.
Tottenham were offered him for free when he was at Celta Vigo, and then
again last year for £2.2m, which was the buyout clause in force while he was
at Rayo Vallecano. So that's another one they nearly signed then.

There's a bit of a doubt over their first choice 'keeper. Dutchman Michel
Vorm has been suffering with a 'knee problem of late. He's said to be close
to a return but if he's not ready they will turn to the German Gerhard
Tremmell, who had a spell as a kid with our old chums 1860 Munich.

Leon Britton, the two foot tall ex-Hammer is likely to feature in midfield.
He cost us a cool £400,000 as a 16 year old but never quite made it at the
Boleyn. When asked about this his response was quite refreshing: "I wasn't
good enough". In the recent match against Chelsea he finished the game with
a bandaged head after a stray elbow from Ramires. Who knows what damage he
might have sustained had he thrown himself onto the ball. There were some
stats published recently that suggested that Britton was statistically the
best passer in Europe or something. Whilst I'm not a fan of these Opta
things – it lists Jamie Carragher's occupation as "footballer" for example –
he's certainly not looked out of place at the top level.

Michu is the club's top scorer this term with 13 in the league. Next in the
League list is Jonathan De Guzman with 6. De Guzman is on a season's loan
from Villareal and is a pretty cosmopolitan character all told. He's
Canadian by birth, and, in addition to Canada, he also qualifies to play at
international level for Jamaica and the Philippines. However, having seen
his big brother up sticks to seek a football career in France, he did
something similar, ending up in Rotterdam where he signed for Feyenoord.
En-route he picked up Dutch citizenship and a few (Carry-on style joke
warning) er, Dutch Caps at U21 level. A spell at Mallorca followed before a
transfer to Villareal where, following a change in coach, he found
opportunities limited, hence his presence in South Wales.

Us? Well the transfer window ended quietly, despite all the speculation over
Diame. A new 'keeper and a left back would have been nice but since we are
still relatively broke we were always going to be short of options. We
therefore need to make the best use of what players we do have available to
us. Which is what made Wednesday night so worrying. I'm not one to jump on
the "anti-manager" bandwagon and start calling for his head but I do think
it was a mistake to start with Chamakh against Fulham. On the evidence of
his appearances so far he doesn't seem to have brought much to the table so
far. Furthermore, in Carlton Cole we had a forward who has scored more times
against Fulham than any other club and, unlike Chamakh, he would have, at
least made something of a nuisance of himself.

Of course things weren't helped by yet another indefensible display from the
officials. Now one can understand marginal offside decisions getting missed
but ntheir first goal had three players, including the goalscorer, all
sitting 3-4 yards offside. This sort of thing is happening every week and
standards have slipped so far that the rest of Europe regards our officials
as a joke. They're right. The sooner match officials are controlled by
someone willing to take action against those who are not up to standard,
rather than protecting them the better.

Injury news is that the usual long-term absentees will still be out. We're
one down in midfield where Alou Diarra seems to have talked himself into a
swift departure from the Boleyn and is off to Rennes. The good news is that
Carroll is now on the available list. I'd hope that Pogatetz is being
considered to partner Reid. No disrespect to Tomkins but Reid always seems
more at home with the more traditional central defensive partner and we've
not been at our best at the back since Ginge caught hamstring.

Prediction? Well the run of form that we're going through has knocked my
usual optimistic mood into touch. My bunions are playing up as well and my
usual happy-go-lucky demeanour has been further dented by the Avram Grant
Rest Home's failure to sign a younger, more attractive Matron during the
recent Rest Home transfer window. I'm therefore going to place the Rest Home
transfer fund (£2.50) on a 1-1 draw for this one.

Enjoy the game!

When Last We Met At The Boleyn: Drew 1-1 (FA Cup 3rd round January 1999)
Swansea were in whatever they called Division 4 at the time so, given our
traditional frailty against lower league teams, they were probably nailed on
to go through. A late Dicks effort (assisted by a 'keeper error) sent the
match to a replay. The match was notable only for marking the debut of Joe
Cole. We lost the replay. Obviously.

Referee: Lee Probert. Took charge of the home match against Liverpool. Let's
hope he and his assistants don't miss anything like, say, 5-yard offsides or
blatant penalties, or they might be punished by being promoted to a cup
final or something.

Danger Man:Michu. Their best player who Spurs will probably end up having to
pay £20m+ for one day.

Daft Fact Of The Week: Swansea's rise from the basement has been well
documented. The moment that they probably look back on and say "well we can
laugh about it now, but at the time…." took place in 1995/96. A consortium
was on the brink of buying the club and appointed a chap called Kevin Cullis
as manager. His previous experience had been with non-league Cradely Town.
Not as manager, mind, but as youth team coach. He was so out of his depth
that at half time in his second match a couple of the senior pros threw him
out of the changing room and gave the team talk themselves. The club's owner
cancelled the deal to sell the club and Cullis resigned or was sacked
depending on whose version you care to believe. Seven years later, Cullis
went on to do two 9 month spells inside for fraud and handling stolen
insurance certificates. Funny old world innit.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
And that's a wrap
KUMB.com
Filed: Friday, 1st February 2013
By: Staff Writer

Stephen Henderson has re-joined Ipswich Town on loan - thereby concluding
West Ham United's winter transfer window business. The former Portsmouth
goalkeeper has returned to Portman Road on loan for the remainder of the
season, leaving 20-year-old Raphael Spiegel as the club's back-up to current
number one Jussi Jaaskelainen.

Sam Allardyce signed four new players in total during January including
former fans' favourite Joe Cole, but failed to land the left back he had
been seeking or a goalkeeper to challenge Jaaskelainen, whose form has
dipped alarmingly in recent weeks.

The Hammers boss chased several full-backs during January including
Blackburn's Martin Olsson, Juve's Reto Ziegler and Aston Villa's Stephen
Warnock - and was strongly linked with a move for Olsson's team mate at
Ewood Park, Paul Robinson - but was left frustrated having failed to land
any of them.

However both Allardyce and the club's supporters will no doubt be heartened
by the news that influential midfielder Momo Diame remains at the club,
despite being strongly tipped to leave ahead of last night's transfer
deadline.


Transfer Window Ins and Outs
(first team squad only)

Ins
Joe Cole (free transfer, Liverpool)
Marouane Chamakh (loan, Arsenal)
Wellington Paulista (loan, Cruzeiro)
Emanuel Pogatetz (loan, Wolfsburg)

Outs
Yossi Benayoun (loan ended, Chelsea)
Alou Diarra (loan, Rennes)
Stephen Henderson (loan, Ipswich Town)

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham v Swansea preview: Sam Allardyce has Premier League problems
Last Updated: February 1, 2013 12:10pm
SSN

Struggling West Ham United will be desperate to end their worrying slump in
form when they host Swansea City on Saturday. Sam Allardyce has seen his
side take just five points from their last nine games to fall down the table
after a previously promising return to the Premier League. Last season's
Championship play-off winners are now 13th in the top flight and seven
points from the relegation places, which will be a concern heading in to the
later months of the campaign. The midweek London derby defeat by Fulham was
the most recent setback for Allardyce, who has spoken of his relief at
making it through the transfer window with his key men. And his attention
will now be fully focused upon defeating Swansea and earning what would be
only West Ham's third league win in two months. But Michael Laudrup's
visitors will arrive in London with full confidence after an excellent
2012/13 to date. The Capital One Cup finalists, along with their manager,
are already contenders for the best performers of the season and they
arguably deserved more from Wednesday's draw at Sunderland. Swansea are
unbeaten in the Premier League in 2013 and will expect at least a share of
the points at Upton Park.

West Ham
Last 6
3-1
5-1
1-1
1-0
3-0
2-2
Andy Carroll will continue his return from injury when West Ham United host
Swansea City in the Premier League on Saturday. The on-loan Liverpool
striker made his first appearance in two months after injury when appearing
as a second-half substitute in Wednesday's 3-1 defeat by Fulham. Manager Sam
Allardyce will be without George McCartney (knee) and Daniel Potts (head
injury). Struggling West Ham will also be unable to call on Alou Diarra
after the midfielder was loaned to Rennes on transfer deadline day.

Swansea
Last 6
0-0
0-0
3-1
1-0
0-0
0-2
Star man Michu will have to carry Swansea's striking responsibility at West
Ham after Danny Graham was sold to Sunderland on the final day of the
transfer window. Sixteen-goal Michu is therefore Michael Laudrup's main
striking option after the club failed to bring in any cover on Thursday.
Capital One Cup finalists Swansea are still without Neil Taylor and Kemy
Agustien due to ankle problems.

Opta Facts

West Ham have kept just one clean sheet in their last 10 Premier League
games at Upton Park
Swansea have drawn five of their last seven league games, winning the other
two
West Ham have put in more crosses than any other Premier League side this
season

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Liverpool and West Ham have Andy Carroll agreement
Last Updated: February 1, 2013 4:45pm
SSN

Liverpool have already agreed to sell striker Andy Carroll to West Ham at
the end of the season, according to Hammers co-owner David Sullivan. The
England international, a £35million signing from Newcastletwo years ago,
made the move from Anfield to Upton Park on a season-long loan deal in the
summer.
Carroll's time with the Hammers has been badly hampered by injury and he has
managed just one goal from nine Premier League starts and two substitute
appearances. Sullivan admitted that despite reaching an accord with their
Premier League rivals, they have yet to agree terms with the powerful
striker over a permanent switch and is keen for the 24-year-old to prove his
worth over the final 14 games of the Premier League season. In an exclusive
interview with MailOnline, he said: "I am often asked about Andy Carroll's
deal. It is a season-long loan. Liverpool had an option to take him back in
January, but he has been injured. "West Ham have an agreement with Liverpool
to sign him at the end of the season, but we have no agreement with the
player. "It was his desire to come to West Ham to prove himself to Liverpool
and that hasn't changed. "He has had injuries since he came, but he is back
to fitness now and we have 15 games left... we need some goals and some
points, so let's see."

Sullivan also revealed how West Ham were keen to do more business during the
January transfer window, only to lose out to Leeds in their pursuit of
defender Stephen Warnock, while interest in Reto Ziegler and Paul Robinson
also came to nothing. He added: "For all the deals you have read about,
there were 30 others we were trying. I thought we had Stephen Warnock from
Aston Villa and he said he was signing. "Our contract offer was for six
months with an extension based on appearances and he accepted that. Then he
changed his mind and signed for a Championship team in the north. "We had a
deal for the Olympiakos left-back, but when Warnock said yes, we scrapped
that. Then, when we tried to get the other deal back on, the chap had gone
somewhere else.
"We then spoke to Juventus left-back Reto Ziegler, who's on loan in Russia
and tried to make that happen, but he went to Turkey. "We tried to bring in
goalkeeper Paul Robinson from Blackburn, but he had an injury and hasn't
played often and we had a bit of doubt."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham manager Allardyce happy to focus on football as transfer window
closes
Last Updated: February 1, 2013 2:28pm
SSN

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce is pleased to be focusing on playing matters
again after the "usual mayhem" of the January transfer window. The Hammers
boss was delighted to keep hold of Senegal international Mohamed Diame, a
rumoured target for Arsenal and Tottenham, despite the midfielder having a
release clause in his contract. As well as retaining Diame, Allardyce signed
Joe Cole, Marouane Chamakh and Emanuel Pogatetz in the window. "We will all
be pleased that we can focus purely on the games of football we have between
now and the end of the season," he said. "All of the usual mayhem has taken
place yet again and we've all been in the middle of it at some stage or
another and the distraction is a huge part of trying to get through this
period of time and still produce results. "For us we haven't got the results
we wanted to try to get for one reason or another but we haven't gone too
heavy into the financial side of the market."

Keeping Diame at Upton Park was top of Allardyce's list of aims in the
January transfer window and with that achieved he will now aim to improve a
recent record that has seen his side take just five points from their past
eight games. "We have strengthened and tried to strengthen the team as best
we can and the most important thing at the end of yesterday was probably
keeping hold of Mo Diame," Allardyce said. "We are very concerned at this
moment in time. We have only taken five points out of our last eight games
and we know that is not good enough. "But you can have these spells, it is
not unique to us. Fulham won (against West Ham on Wednesday) and it was only
their third win in 16 matches and Norwich have been the same. "Lots of clubs
like us have had this spell at this moment in time where we have gone a
considerable amount of time without the number of wins we wanted."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Is it Time to Shuffle the Pack and Check Out the Bosman Lists?
By S J Chandos
West Ham Till I Die

There is no doubt that we are currently in the midst of a slump in results.
Ironically, the team negotiated that difficult second phase of fixtures,
against the top sides, only to suffer a dip thereafter. Still, we are where
we are, and there is little doubt that the current squad possesses the
ability to pick up the results and achieve a good final position in the PL.
The task for the management team is three fold. To (1) recapture the prior
'togetherness' and team spirit that characterised the first half of the
season, (2) work on defensive organisation and iron out the silly lapses
that have emerged of late (i.e. that awful second goal conceded against
Fulham) and (3) sharpen up in the final third and start finishing the
chances that we continue to create in abundance.

The overridng positive for me is that our general play remains good. We are
passing the ball well and creating chances. While that is the case, threre
is always improved prospects of turning around a poor run of results.
Another is that some of our most notable injury absentees are returning or
have returned from injury, notably Andy Carroll, Mo Diame, Jack Collison
and,hopefully, George McCartney. It is no coincidence that the recent dip in
results has coincided with the non-availablility of these players.
McCartney, in particular, is a big loss defensively, as he brings
experience, balance and 'know how' to the back four; plus good support play
down the left flank. He is an under-estimated player and has been very much
missed of late. In addition, the January additions to the squad need to
settle and achieve their best form. That is particularly true of Marouane
Chamakh, whose fitness and form has suffered due to his proloned inactivity
this season at Arsenal; while Emmanuel Polentz and Wellington Paulista face
a common challenge of proving that they can make a significant contribution
to the first team. Finally, so far, the outstanding success of the January
window has been Joe Cole's return to the club. He has shown his quality,
particularly in the home games against Man Utd in the FA Cup and QPR, and we
need to manage his fitness, keep him injury free and give him the licence to
continue dictating our forward play.

But more than anything, we need to draw upon the positive spirit in the
squad and get the key players, like Captain Kevin Nolan, Mark Noble, Winston
Reid and Joe Cole, showing real leadership on the pitch. Kevin Nolan in
particular is key in this respect, he must continue to assert his authority,
foster collective spirit and lead by example. He has recently experienced a
personal dip in form, but against Fulham he looked back to his best and,
with a bit more fortune, could very well have scored three goals in that
match.

We do, however, need to shuffle the pack in terms of selection. In
particular, we should look to bring in Polentz's drive and experience to the
defence. The question is whether we pair him with Reid in central defence or
slot him at left-back. Personally, I would retain the Reid-Tomkins
partnership in central defence and initially play him at left-back. There is
also a real temptation to give Spence a run at right-back, but it is almost
certain that Sam Allardyce will pump for experience and select either Demel
or O'Brien. While, the absence of a new keeper, means that we will continue
with Jussi between the sticks.

In midfield, it is likely, barring injury, that we will continue with the
successful triumvirite of Noble-Diame-Nolan, with Joe Cole and Matt Jarvis
either side of the centre forward. For me, there are two variables here,
whether to shuffle things to include either Collison or Vaz Te. There is a
case for seeking to accommodate Collison's strong forward running and
ability to get in to the box and finish. It would certainly be interesting
to combine Collison's forward play with Diame's powerful central midfield
presence. Vaz Te has not had a good season, but he is a talented player, who
possesses the ability to win matches. On current form, he is unlikely to
displace either Joe Cole or Matt Jarvis, but he could play a significant
role from the bench. In terms of the bench, the other big variable, is the
potental selection of Wellington Paulista. He is an unknown quanity and
offers something different up front, either playing as a second striker or
out wide. He appears 100% committed and can undoubtedly finish. Paulista
could yet prove an asset in the final months of this season. I doubt that he
is ready to start, but an introduction to the bench could be in order.
Finally, if Andy Carroll is fit enough, he needs to start, there is no
question about that. We need his hold up play and immense physicality
against Swansea, plus he has to start proving that he can find the back of
the net on a regular basis. If not suffciently match fit, he will be on the
bench and it is a toss up whether Carlton Cole or Marouane Chamakh start up
front.

I personally believe that we need to refresh things by introducing Polentz
at left-back, playing Jack Collison on the right and moving Joe Cole to the
left. That means Matt Jarvis starting on the bench and coming on in the 2nd
half. Up front we could really do with Andy Carroll starting and
recommencing his partnership with Nolan. If Carroll cannot start, go with
Chamakh and hope that he can recover his goal scoring touch. On the bench,
include Carroll or Chamakh, Paulista, Jarvis, O'Neill, Demel or O'Brien,
Speigel and Vaz Te or Carlton Cole.

We failed to add a keeper and left-back in the January window. The question
now is, will we settle for what we have, utilising Polentz at left-back and
waiting for the return of McCartney and Potts? Similarly, will we gamble on
Jussi and Speigel, with Henderson on emergency recall from his loan deal at
Ipswich Town? Or alternatively, will we take a look at the Bosman lists and
see if there are any bargains out there? While, Bosman deals do not involve
an up front transfer fee, they can be quite expensive in terms of sign on
fees and the players terms. Whether there are any further funds, this
season, to finance a Bosman deal(s) is open to conjecture. However, it does
not hurt to see who is available and ready to come straight in and make a
difference, does it?

Finally, the Fulham result was very disappointing and has increased the
pressure on the team to get a result against Swansea. It could be a
difficult match, because Swansea are a good side these days. To win, we need
to dominate the midfield, shackle Leon Britton, who makes their midfield
tick and neutralise their pacy forwards & the goal scoring threat of Michu.
Ironically, this is a match where we could have done with Diarra's defensive
midfield abilities, but that option is now gone, so Noble must perform that
role.. Hopefully we will be successful in disrupting them and imposing our
own high pace game, a la the QPR match, only with better finishing. With
home advantage, we should be looking to secure a 1-0 or 2-1 victory to
attain 30 points, which would crucially put us just 3 wins and a draw from
the magical 40 point PL safety bench mark.

In addition, we really do need the crowd to raise the temperature and get
behind the team. Upton Park is not what it used to be, but it can still be
intimidating when the fans are in the mood to generate the necessary noise.
This game is definitely one to create that type of partisan atmosphere.
COYI!

SJ. Chandos

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It's our sweet FA
By KARREN BRADY
Published: 01st February 2013
The Sun

SAT, JAN 26
THE only Egyptian I know is Mido, whose stay at Upton Park was unproductive.
Still, he is a character and his heart will be bleeding as he hears today of
further slaughter in his country in a tribal war that exploded into a
football riot and has now claimed more than 100 lives. Politics have taken
over. They are even more dangerous in Egypt than football.

SUN, JAN 27
HOUSE-hunting in London and I walk around a nice pad. I spot a picture of
someone I recognise in football posing with Yasser Arafat. Oh my god, I work
out whose house it is and exit quickly. My husband tells me a similar story
— a footballer pal met a girl and went back to her house. As they get cosy
he sees a picture of his boss. He is in the house, and knickers, of his
manager's daughter!

MON, JAN 28
A FASCINATING battle of wills is in play at West Brom. Peter Odem-whingie is
busy living up to that name as he pushes hard to take a profitable dip into
QPR's accounts. Pulling for Albion's rights is chairman Jeremy Peace. I'm
cheering for Peace because he might register a rare win for the binding
agreement of contract. Or up the transfer fee.

TUES, JAN 29
MOST of you, I guess, woke up with a yawn after hearing a parliamentary
committee are again demanding changes at the FA. They want the FA to develop
a backbone and tackle the Premier League. The reality is they might as well
bark at the moon. The Premier League is a rich, powerful and efficient
business generating billions in revenue. While the FA largely are a bunch of
male jobsworths no longer strong enough to lay down the law to a referee let
alone the Premier League. Most fans will agree they like the Prem more or
less as it is. Certainly they like footballers more than they do
politicians.

WED, JAN 30
I THINK I am making progress with regards to the Olympic Stadium following a
meeting of the three principals today. The lawyers are missing, which may be
why so much progress was made. I'm told the plan is to make an announcement
in about three weeks' time. I am more positive than I have ever been that we
will be able to present a world-class stadium for the supporters to vote on.
It's as if Boris is on the penalty spot and only needs to roll the ball into
the net. But having been jilted at the altar before, you never know. My mood
is then then dented by the beating at Fulham.

THURS, JAN 31
MY phone is being t-bombed by players' agents. After I pick it up at 6am,
the average is one call every five minutes up to 1.30am. One of them is
actually asking for a conference call at 12.30am. Are agents crackers as
well as greedy? Generally, players' heads are being filled with figures that
are unrealistic by over-aggressive agents. The funniest thing of all is that
they want to torture me and then expect me to pay for the privilege. "I
ain't working for nothing," they moan. I say: "You aren't working for me."
Transfer window? Hell on Earth.

FRI, FEB 1
IT'S all over. The window closes and Mario Balotelli is an AC Milan player.
This is, of course, former Italian prime minister Berlusconi's club so it
would be as well for Milan citizens to lock up their daughters and their
fireworks. Yes, Bunga Bunga greets Banger Banger and there are cynics in
Italy who are saying that Balotelli's move is designed to help Berlusconi's
election hopes. As if. Anyway, I'd prefer my chances to rest on Coco the
Clown.

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Toast the MOment
Sam's window snifter
The Sun
By TOM GOODENOUGH
Published: 01st February 2013
0

SAM ALLARDYCE raised a glass to the end of the transfer window — after
winning the battle to keep Mo Diame at West Ham. Boss Allardyce spent the
whole of January fearing a big-money offer would come in for the midfielder,
which would be too good for the Upton Park board to refuse. But as the clock
ticked past 11pm, Big Sam cracked open a bottle of brandy and poured himself
a large one in celebration. He revealed: "Everything could have changed in
the flick of a text, an email or a phone call, so it's a massive relief
Diame is still here. "When the deadline passed, I must admit I celebrated
with a glass of brandy." The Hammers failed in a deadline-day bid for Aston
Villa left-back Stephen Warnock.

WEST HAM manager pleased the circus of the January transfer window is over -
and he kept star midfielder But they demonstrated how much they wanted to
keep Diame, 25, by offering the Senegal international a new improved
contract. Allardyce added: "It would not have mattered how much money we
would have got for Diame, it would have been a crushing blow because we
couldn't have done anything with the money at that late stage."

The Hammers boss will try to ease Andy Carroll back into action by playing
him against Swansea today, even though the hitman is not 100 per cent fit.
The £35million Geordie — on a season-long loan from Liverpool — made a brief
cameo in West Ham's 3-1 defeat at Fulham in midweek after coming on as a
substitute. And Allardyce is confident the 24-year-old will get another
outing against the Swans — even if it will not be for the entire match. He
said: "He hasn't played a competitive game apart from the 15 minutes or so
against Fulham after eight weeks out, so he's not ready for a full 90
minutes but he is ready to take part."

The Hammers have picked up only one point from their last five Premier
League games. But with the list of injuries reducing and the transfer window
closing, Allardyce is hopeful his side can get back to winning ways. He
said: "We are very concerned at the moment but these spells are not unique
to us and we know we've got to put that right. "It's about securing as many
points as possible and moving forward to get ourselves in a better position.
"There's been a slight drain of confidence because of the results we've had
and we've got to revert back to the form we had. "We need to keep a positive
mental attitude towards every game and make sure we work hard to get back to
the results we know we can get."

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Agent's threat to Sullivan
By PAT SHEEHAN
Published: 01st February 2013
The Sun

DAVID SULLIVAN claims an agent threatened him and one of his players with
physical violence during the transfer window. West Ham's co-owner revealed
the full extent of how football's middle men try to make money at all costs.
Sullivan, 64, revealed: "In this window, I had an agent threaten me and one
of my players with physical violence because he thought he was being cut out
of a deal. "I heard of three or four agents trying to jump in on other
deals. Some of them are like scavengers." QPR boss Harry Redknapp blew the
lid on what goes on behind the scenes during a month of transfer frenzy as
agents try to grab cash. SunSport columnist Redknapp said agents created a
situation that was likened to gang warfare as £124m was spent in January and
agents took 10 per cent upwards. Sullivan added: "Harry was right. It feels
like gang warfare and I can see it spilling over into violence. "Agents who
once demanded £50,000 for their part in a transfer now want £500,000 to a
million to bring in a player or keep one. "I heard of an agent who took over
representing a player for ONE DAY and he wanted £1.5m for his part in
negotiating a new contract."

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http://vyperz.blogspot.com

Daily WHUFC News - 1st February 2013

Skipper believes form will quickly turn
WHUFC.com
Kevin Nolan is sure West Ham United will put defeat at Fulham behind them
swiftly
31.01.2013

Kevin Nolan insists that it's only a matter of time before the Hammers start
to turn their form around. Wednesday's 3-1 Barclays Premier League defeat at
Fulham continued a disappointing run of away results, which has seen West
Ham fail to take maximum points since November's victory at Newcastle
United.
But Hammers skipper Nolan believes that, with several senior players
returning from injury, Sam Allardyce's men will be in good shape to bounce
back when they take on Swansea City at the Boleyn Ground on Saturday. He
told whufc.com: "We know we're in a fight, but we're not looking behind,
we're looking in front and we're confident that we can still push for that
top ten. We know we've got the quality in there, it's just not going for us
at the moment, whether that's a referee's decision or people making a little
silly mistake here or there. "I'm really confident we can turn this around
and I'm looking forward to what I feel is going to be a good end to the
season and a good push. I've got a great bunch of lads in there, I'm not
worried at all and we've just got to stick together - players, staff and
fans. Our home form has been very good and we've got to put it right against
Swansea on Saturday."

Nolan notched his sixth goal of the campaign to briefly draw the Hammers
level at Craven Cottage, but Hugo Rodallega's header just a minute later
took Fulham towards victory and the midfielder was disappointed to see such
a positive start to the second period go to waste. "We're obviously
disappointed with the result. We haven't scored many goals away from home
and we knew that we'd have to be on our guard, but we've conceded a very
sloppy goal right after we've worked so hard to get back in the game.
"Fulham didn't really cause us many problems throughout the game, but we
could have defended it better, we know that, and we've got to stick
together. "What we've got to do is take our home performances with us when
we go away - we didn't do that on Wednesday and we have to take it on the
chin and look forward to Saturday."

The defending wasn't the only element which disappointed Nolan - he was also
frustrated that Dimitar Berbatov's tenth-minute opener was allowed to stand,
despite the Bulgarian striker appearing to be in an offside position when
Damien Duff delivered the free-kick. "I'm just disappointed because although
we blame the defending for the second goal, the first is two yards offside
and at the end of the day those decisions have to be made correctly, they're
bread and butter.
"We're working on that on the training ground, to make sure we keep a high
line and then drop all together. We've done it there and it's worked
fantastically because he's offside and he hasn't given it and we're 1-0
down. If you get into the break at 0-0 it's different when you're away from
home - fans start getting on their backs and it makes it difficult for
them."

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Henderson joins Ipswich on loan
WHUFC.com
West Ham United goalkeeper Stephen Henderson returns to Portman Road on a
temporary basis
31.01.2013

West Ham United can confirm that Stephen Henderson has rejoined Ipswich Town
on loan until the end of the season. The deal includes a 24-hour recall
option.
The 24-year-old goalkeeper made 16 appearances for the Tractor Boys earlier
this season and will now link up with Mick McCarthy's squad ahead of the
visit of Middlesbrough this weekend. After making his loan switch from
Portsmouth permanent in the summer, the Dublin-born stopper backed-up Jussi
Jaaskelainen in the Barclays Premier League and also made two Capital One
Cup appearances for the Hammers this term. The former Republic of Ireland
U21 international appeared twice for the Development Squad in the first
phase of the Barclays U21 Premier League and is in his country's senior
squad for their friendly against Poland next Wednesday.

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Hammers loan Diarra to Rennes
WHUFC.com
West Ham United confirm loan departure of midfielder Alou Diarra
31.01.2013

West Ham United can confirm that midfielder Alou Diarra has joined French
Ligue 1 club Stade Rennais on loan for the remainder of the 2012/13
campaign.
The 31-year-old linked up with the Hammers in the summer of 2012 for an
undisclosed fee from Olympique Marseille, but has only made one start for
them in the Barclays Premier League this season, after picking up a thigh
injury in training in September. Diarra, who has 44 caps for France to his
name, has spent most of his career in his homeland, with a spell at Bordeaux
between 2007-11 proving to be his most fruitful. Rennes will become the
sixth top flight French side Diarra has figured for, following stints at Le
Havre, Bastia, Lens, Lyon, Bordeaux and Marseille.

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Vaz Te thrilled with boots auction
WHUFC.com
Ricardo Vaz Te reflects on his contribution to the Bobby Moore Fund
31.01.2013

Ricardo Vaz Te was delighted to see his Championship Play-Off final boots
raise £1,700 for the Bobby Moore Fund for Cancer Research UK. The Hammers
No12 kindly donated the lucky footwear, after scoring a dramatic late winner
in West Ham United's 2-1 victory over Blackpool at Wembley. A total of 57
bids were made for the historic piece of West Ham memorabilia, with the
winning bid in the online auction coming in at £1,700. "I was very pleased.
I was hoping to get anything up to £1,000 if possible, because it is all
going for such a wonderful cause," said Vaz Te. "To get almost £2,000 is
incredible, I was delighted. "I am very thankful to the person who was the
highest bidder and to everyone who bid for them. I hope they will be looked
after! I am sure they will be. But I hope they can be cherished like I
cherished them. They brought me so much joy in my career and the part they
played in what was achieved by myself and West Ham last season. "They will
also know like I do, that they will hopefully help a cause that supports
many people who suffer from cancer. So many people's lives are affected by
this and if this money raised by bidding for my boots can help with the work
and research then it can only be a good thing."

Vaz Te donned the purple and orange size 9 1/2 Adidas Adizero TRX boots when
he fired West Ham back into the Barclays Premier League in May 2012. While
he was obviously sad to part with the boots that had brought him upward of
20 goals last term, he was nevertheless thrilled to contribute to such a
worthy cause. "The boots were very special to me," he added. "They were
given to me as a birthday present and I wore them all last season. So for
them to go in that way, I feel like I have helped something and hopefully
someone with the money going to the fund. "I am now looking to create new
memories and achievements for me and West Ham in another pair of boots and
score lots of goals in them. But I will always remember what was achieved in
the other boots and it is a nice memory."

With the club targeting to raise £50,000 for the Bobby Moore fund this
season, the £1700 is a welcome addition to an already healthy pot. To date,
more than £20,000 has been raised, with Joint-Chairman David Sullivan
donating £10,000, in addition to sizeable contributions from the club's
Principal Partner SBOBET, as well as manager Sam Allardyce and club skipper
Kevin Nolan. Two home fixtures have also been designated as Bobby Moore Fund
Awareness Matches, namely the Barclays Premier League visits of Tottenham
Hotspur and Manchester United on 25 February and 9 March respectively. The
Spurs fixture will mark 20 years since Moore's tragic passing and the club
is planning a fitting tribute to the World Cup winning captain, including a
special 100-page commemorative Official Programme.

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French international Diarra departs
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 31st January 2013
By: Staff Writer

Alou Diarra has joined Ligue 1 club Rennes on loan for the remainder of the
season. The 31-year-old French international has made just six appearances
for West Ham since joining the club in the summer from Marseille just five
months ago but has returned to France following recent criticism of the club
and manager Sam Allardyce. Only last week Diarra accused Allardyce of
leaving him in the cold despite being fully fit having returned from a
four-month injury lay-off. "I want to leave," he said. "I've tried to stay
positive but I want a real challenge and I won't get it at West Ham. "With
the current coach in charge, it's impossible. No-one's told me directly, but
I'm not part of his plans so I have to leave. Certain people have said that
I haven't been able to establish myself but they don't know the reality of
my situation. To establish myself, I have to have the chance to do so. "In
every club I've been at I've always had a chat with the coach to find out
what he expected of me, how the team plays, my position etc. Since I
arrived, I've never spoken to the manager. It's just 'hello' and 'goodbye'.
There's no dialogue, no explanation."

Diarra's outburst, which essentially left his position at West Ham untenable
was seen as the final straw by Allardyce who was angered by the player's
stance.

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West Ham snap up promising youngster
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 31st January 2013
By: Staff Writer

Highly-rated Swedish youngster Rinor Nushi is on his way to West Ham. The
17-year-old, who is considered to be one of Sweden's brightest young talents
and recently visited London for a trial will join the Hammers this weekend
having agreed terms with the club. Speaking to fotbolltransfers.com, Nushi -
who joins from Stockholm-based AFC United - said: "It feels surreal, I've
dreamed about this since childhood. I have not really got my head round it
yet. "I want to thank Hamid Kavodvand [AFC United's sporting director] for
all the years he has trained and developed me. I would not be the player I
am without him. "I also want to thank Alex Russian Holm [AFC's Chairman]
who has helped me tremendously, both with the economic part and on the
pitch. He has been like a father to me.
"Everything was perfect when I visited West Ham. The players were nice, the
facilities were perfect, the house, everything. After the first day, I felt
that thrived very well."

Meanwhile Lavodvand told AFC's website: "Nuri enjoyed his time at West Ham
and it was unlikely that we could keep him at AFC United, given how talented
he is." Nushi is the second youngster to be snapped up by West Ham this week
following confirmation of the arrival of young goalkeeper Vit Nemrava.

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West Ham United land young goalkeeper
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 31st January 2013
By: Staff Writer

West Ham are understood to have signed 17-year-old Czech goalkeeper Vit
Nemrava on an 18-month loan. The young goalkeeper becomes the latest
goalkeeper from the Czech Republic to move to east London and follows in the
footsteps of former Hammers legend Ludek Miklosko and ex-reserve stopper
Marek Stech. Nemrava, who plays for FC Slovacko has been a regular member of
the Republic's youth team squads spent time in London with the Hammers last
December. His current club's head coach, Vladimir Krejci, said: "We have
agreed that West Ham will take him on loan until summer 2014 with an option
to make the deal permanent. "It's a big success for our club and the local
college. It just does not happen too often that a player from Slovakia joins
a team which plays in the Premier League."

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Alou Diarra leaves West Ham for loan spell at Rennes
Last Updated: January 31, 2013 9:39pm
SSN

West Ham midfielder Alou Diarra has joined French club Rennes on loan for
the rest of the season. Diarra, 31, joined West Ham last summer from
Marseille, but picked up a thigh injury in training in September and has
played just once for the club. Diarra, who has 44 caps for France to his
name, has spent most of his career in France, most notably in a successful
spell at Bordeaux between 2007-11. Rennes will be the sixth Ligue 1 side
Diarra has played for, following Le Havre, Bastia, Lens, Lyon, Bordeaux and
Marseille. Diarra recently told French media: "I have a three-year contract.
I'm not unhappy financially, but I came to play, not to take an early
retirement. "I am positively at breaking point. At all the clubs where I've
been, I've always had a discussion with the coach, so I know what he
expected of me, how the team plays, my positioning. "But since my arrival at
West Ham I never spoke with the manager. Every day is 'Hello, goodbye'.
There is no dialogue, no explanation." It now seems Allardyce has had a
conversation with Diarra, which has resulted in the central midfielder
leaving Upton Park.

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Modibo Maiga's loan move to Bordeaux from West Ham falls through
Last Updated: January 31, 2013 11:50am
SSN

Bordeaux have confirmed West Ham forward Modibo Maiga will not now be
joining the club on loan this month. The 25-year-old only moved to Upton
Park from Sochaux in the summer, signing a four-year contract with the newly
promoted side. He opened his Hammers account in a Capital One Cup tie
against Crewe in August and also scored a memorable goal against Chelsea in
October. However, he has struggled to command a regular first-team place,
making just two starts so far this campaign. Bordeaux coach Francis Gillot
worked with Maiga at Sochaux and was believed to be targeting him in the
January transfer window.
West Ham boss Sam Allardyce was willing to let the striker make a temporary
move away from the club this month. However, the Hammers were unwilling to
pay part of his wages while he was away from east London, causing the deal
to collapse. Bordeaux chairman Jean-Louis Triaud said: "Maiga won't come.
West Ham didn't want to help for a loan. So, Maiga won't become a Girondins
player."

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By Mirror Football Comments
'I'm at breaking point': Angry Diarra leaves West Ham with parting shot at
Sam Allardyce
The Mirror
31 Jan 2013 21:34
Julian Finney

West Ham midfielder Alou Diarra has joined Ligue 1 side Rennes on loan for
the rest of the season. The 31-year-old arrived at Upton Park from Marseille
last summer, but has struggled to settle in England and last week hit out at
manager Sam Allardyce for a lack of first-team action. He has made one start
in the Barclays Premier League after a thigh injury and spoke to the French
media about his unhappiness, saying: "I have a three-year contract. I'm not
unhappy financially, but I came to play, not to take an early retirement. "I
am positively at breaking point. At all the clubs where I've been, I've
always had a discussion with the coach, so I know what he expected of me,
how the team plays, my positioning. "But since my arrival at West Ham I
never spoke with the manager. Every day is 'Hello, goodbye'. There is no
dialogue, no explanation."

Allardyce responded by saying Diarra just had to speak to him and it appears
talks have now taken place, with the 44-cap France international heading
off.
The departure comes shortly after Aston Villa defender Stephen Warnock
revealed he had turned down the Hammers in favour of a move to Leeds, saying
that the Yorkshire club had made him feel "wanted".

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Fight club: West Ham are in the relegation shake-up but will survive says
Nolan
The Mirror
31 Jan 2013 22:29

West Ham skipper Kevin Nolan admits they have been dragged into a "fight"
for Premier League survival - but insisted they would pull out of their
winter slump. Nolan's sixth goal of the season went to waste as the Hammers
went down 3-1 at Fulham on Wednesday, a defeat which extends their wretched
run to just five points from a possible 27. And although the return, from a
two-month injury lay-off, of England striker Andy Carroll in a 15-minute
cameo as substitute hinted at brighter times ahead, the East Enders have
slipped to 13th and need to apply the brakes. Nolan said: "We are in a
fight, but we are not looking over our shoulders, we are looking ahead and
we're still confident we can push for a top 10 finish. "We know we have got
the quality, but it's just not going for us at the moment, whether it's a
referee's decision or people making silly mistakes. "I'm really confident we
can turn things round if we stick together. Our home form has been very
good, and we have a chance to put things right against Swansea on Saturday."


West Ham were convinced Dimitar Berbatov's opener for Fulham should have
been disallowed - although their defending when Hugo Rodallega put the
Cottagers back in front was abysmal. Nolan added: "I'm just disappointed
because although we blame the defending for Fulham's second goal, the first
was two yards offside. At the end of the day, those decisions have to be
made correctly - they are bread and butter."

On-loan Carroll, who nearly scored with his first touch of 2013, said: "I've
been itching to get back ever since I was injured. "The result wasn't what
we wanted, but I've got some playing time under my belt and put myself in
the frame to start against Swansea."

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Nolan lays into men in black
By DAN KING
Published: 5 hrs ago
The Sun

KEVIN NOLAN has lashed out at the officials in West Ham's 3-1 midweek defeat
at Fulham. The Hammers skipper insists the Cottagers' opener was offside and
that referee Chris Foy should also have given his side two penalties. Nolan,
30, said: "The first goal was two yards offside. I'm not a big fan of
technology and we've got to do this and do that — but it was pathetic.
"That's their bread and butter. There were two blatant handballs as well in
my eyes."

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Diame wants £80k a week to stay with West Ham
... but talks break down
By MIKE McGRATH
Published: 5 hrs ago
The Sun

MOHAMED DIAME'S future at West Ham remains uncertain after contract talks
broke down. The Senegal midfielder has demanded £80,000 a week and is set
for a bitter dispute over fresh terms. Hammers owners David Sullivan and
David Gold were keen on a new deal for the 25-year-old, who only arrived in
the East End from Wigan in the summer. Diame, just back from a hamstring
injury, had a £3.5million release clause that attracted interest from
Tottenham and Arsenal. But no bids were lodged on deadline day which meant
he would be staying at Upton Park. Now hopes of a new deal are in doubt
after opening talks ended acrimoniously — with Diame told his demands would
not be met.

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http://vyperz.blogspot.com

Daily WHUFC News - 31st January 2013

Macca on Fulham defeat
WHUFC.com
Assistant manager Neil McDonald on Wednesday's 3-1 Barclays Premier League
defeat at Fulham
31.01.2013

Neil McDonald believes West Ham United can take heart from their performance
in Wednesday's 3-1 Barclays Premier League defeat at Fulham. The Hammers'
recent indifferent run of results continued at Craven Cottage, but the
assistant manager believes his side were unfortunate to lose in west London.
West Ham fell behind to a controversial Dimitar Berbatov goal early on,
despite the Bulgarian appearing to be offside, and were still behind going
into the break. The visitors roared out of the blocks after half-time and
were level within three minutes when Kevin Nolan expertly finished Mark
Noble's low free-kick. However, just 60 seconds later, slack defending
allowed Hugo Rodallega to head in Damien Duff's cross to put Martin Jol's
side back in front. And West Ham's misery was complete when Joey O'Brien
deflected the ball into his own net in added-time, condemning the Hammers to
a defeat that drops them to 13th in the table. "We were disappointed because
our performance was higher than it has been away from home," said McDonald.
"I thought we played some excellent stuff and mixed the play up really well,
playing through the midfield and dominating the second half. "I thought we
created chance on chance so to come away with nothing is hugely
disappointing considering how we played. "We feel as if their first one is
offside and we could have maybe had a couple of penalties ourselves so that
makes it even worse. We're all disappointed but we'll be in on Thursday
licking our wounds and ready for the game on Saturday against Swansea, when
we need to get some points on the board."

The assistant manager admitted the nature of Fulham's ultimately decisive
second goal was particularly difficult to stomach. "At the training ground
we work on it so that when we do score, we don't concede as quickly as what
we did. It's not just one person, but the whole team who have to try to win
the ball back and try to force Fulham back so they can't create a chance.
"We haven't stopped the cross, which is disappointing, and we certainly
haven't dealt with the ball inside the box, so we've been clinically put to
the sword, I suppose. "We certainly shouldn't have conceded a second goal
like that and we haven't conceded a goal like that during the season. We've
got to make sure we don't do it again, because when we scored the goal we
were right on top and we had Fulham under pressure. "We were hoping it was
only a matter of time before our goal came, so it knocks the stuffing out of
you to concede so soon afterwards when we were putting them under pressure."

Last season, West Ham plundered a club-record number of away wins, but it is
now just one point from a possible 21 on the road. So, why are the Hammers
failing to impose their high-pressure game on teams away from home like they
did in the npower Championship? "First, it is certainly a lot harder when
you come away from home in the Premier League, but we are vastly more
encouraged by our performance. "At Arsenal, I think we had ten minutes when
they were absolutely outstanding and everything they did dropped to them and
they put the ball into the back of the net, they were clinical and killed us
off. I don't think Fulham were like that. "What encouraged us was how many
chances we created and how much football we played in their half. We put
them under pressure, we need to be more clinical ourselves."

One player West Ham hope will help them to punish their opponents in front
of goal is Andy Carroll, who returned from two months out with a knee injury
as a second-half substitute. The England centre forward worked Mark
Schwarzer with a low shot within seconds of his introduction and later fired
an effort over.
"He is going to be very important," McDonald confirmed. "We have lots of
players back fit and that's probably the strongest bench we've had this
season. Everyone is coming back to fitness now and there is going to be one
hell of a competition for places and that's good."

West Ham return to the more plentiful surroundings of the Boleyn Ground on
Saturday, when Swansea City are the visitors. Michael Laudrup's team have
recently reached the Capital One Cup final, and the assistant manager is
hoping they may have one eye on their big day out at Wembley, instead of
being fully focused on the Barclays Premier League. "Our home form has been
very good and we'll try to play on the front foot and create chances. We'll
certainly be doing that against Swansea on Saturday. "We have to try to take
advantage of everything we possibly can and we need to win our home games if
we want to go up the league and put ourselves in a better position than we
are at the moment. "All newly-promoted teams go through these little
patches. We were encouraged by the performance even if we were hugely
disappointed with the result, because we played on the front foot and
created chances. If we can keep that going for the rest of the season, we'll
be fine."

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Fulham 3 West Ham 1
By Tim Oscroft
BBC Sport

Fulham fought back after squandering an early lead to beat West Ham at
Craven Cottage. A header from Dimitar Berbatov saw Fulham take the lead
after 10 minutes despite suspicions of offside. Kevin Nolan reacted to a
quickly-taken free-kick to equalise just after half-time but Hugo
Rodallega's header restored Fulham's lead within a minute. Mladen Petric's
shot from a tight angle went in off West Ham's Joey O'Brien to secure the
win in stoppage time. The result saw Fulham leapfrog over West Ham, now
without a win since New Year's Day, to ease worries after a run that had
seen Martin Jol's side slip down the table. The game's first chance came
after less than 30 seconds when Joe Cole spurned a good opportunity to shoot
wide, but it was the home side who took the lead after just 10 minutes.

Damien Duff's free-kick from the right of the West Ham box floated over a
packed penalty area, before flicking off Brede Hangeland's chest to the
lurking Berbatov on the far post. The Bulgarian nodded the ball past
Jaaskelainen for a simple goal but, together with the West Ham defence, he
looked to the officials to check whether he would be flagged for offside.
Despite replays suggesting that he was, the goal stood to give Berbatov his
eighth of the season. The former Manchester United striker, celebrating his
32nd birthday, was at his languid best as Fulham held their visitors at bay
on the cushion of the early goal. Bryan Ruiz and Rodallega built on neat
work from Berbatov in several moves, with Ruiz drilling a shot at
Jaaskelainen, who also reacted quickly to dive at Rodallega's feet to snuff
out another chance. Cole's early miss apart, West Ham's only other chance of
note in the first half came on the half-hour, when Kevin Nolan saw his
close-range header bounce a yard wide of the post.

Only their second league victory of 2013, Martin Jol's side leapfrog above
Sam Allardyce's West Ham, with a 3-1 victory which they had to work ever so
hard to get. Hugo Rodallega's goal came only 40 seconds after the equaliser
from Kevin Nolan. Berbatov, brilliant in the first half, got the first
albeit from an offside position. Berbatov continued to pose a threat, going
on a loping run late in the first half before shaving the post with his shot
from just outside the area. West Ham looked like a different side in the
opening exchanges of the second half, and they were level three minutes
after the re-start when Kevin Nolan span away from Berbatov at a
quickly-taken free-kick to shoot home from an angle. But Fulham hit back
immediately through Rodallega, who climbed above two West Ham defenders to
head a Damien Duff cross past Jaaskelainen. The flurry of goals roused both
sides, with Mark Schwarzer making a fine save low to his left to deny
another angled effort from Nolan. Berbatov was in the action again with a
shot flashing across Jaaskelainen, but after appearing to tweak a hamstring
his contribution ended with 15 minutes remaining. Andy Carroll went close to
marking his first taste of action since 28 November with a goal within a few
seconds of replacing midfielder Cole, forcing Schwarzer into action with a
low shot from the edge of the area. But the hosts held firm and they sealed
their three points on 90 minutes when Petric, who had replaced Berbatov, saw
his shot from the tightest of angles finally roll in off the unlucky
O'Brien.

Fulham manager Martin Jol said : "West Ham were two points above us, so we
needed this win. We had some good games lately, but could not get the
results. We had a lot of draws, we should have won the Swansea game so we
were struggling. "We had to play Man City and Man United away from home, and
we've got to play United again on Saturday which is not going to be easy for
us. In between we had to play West Ham, and we did what we had to do
tonight. "They were very important, vital points to us and it was vital to
them as well. I'm happy because we got the points, and we're on 28 points
now."

West Ham assistant manager Neil McDonald said : "We work very hard in
training that when we do score we have to keep it tight, unfortunately we
didn't stop the cross and we let him (Rodallega) get his chance which was
disappointing for us. We very rarely concede goals like that. "We have a lot
of positives to take, we created a lot of chances and we have people coming
back, which adds to the squad and hopefully we'll have better results in the
remaining games."

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Paul Robinson: West Ham close in on deal for goalkeeper
BBC.co.uk

West Ham are closing in on a deal for Blackburn goalkeeper Paul Robinson.
The 33-year-old former England international has fallen out of favour at
Ewood Park in recent months.

Paul Robinson factfile
Born: 15/10/1979 in Beverley
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 14.2st
Honours: 2008 League Cup
Clubs: Tottenham Hotspur, Leeds Utd, Blackburn Rovers.
England career: 41 caps

The clubs are close to reaching an agreement on a deal that could see West
Ham goalkeeper Stephen Henderson move in part-exchange. Robinson has yet to
agree personal terms with West Ham, but his relationship with manager Sam
Allardyce is expected to ensure a deal is struck. The former Leeds
goalkeeper was first choice at Blackburn under Allardyce during his spell as
manager. Robinson has privately expressed a preference to remain in the
north of England because of family reasons, but the offer from West Ham may
prove too good to turn down.

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Fulham return to winning ways with 3-1 victory against West Ham
Last Updated: January 30, 2013 11:01pm
SSN

Fulham returned to winning ways after recording just their third victory in
16 Premier League games thanks to a 3-1 home success against West Ham.
Birthday boy Dimitar Berbatov gave the hosts the perfect start with a goal
after just 10 minutes.

Best of the Match

Man of the match: Dimitar Berbatov gets the award after scoring on his 32nd
birthday and proving he's still got it.
Goal of the match: Hugo Rodallega's effort to put Fulham ahead was an
important goal, but Damien Duff's left-wing cross was simply sublime
Moment of the match: Andy Carroll looked a handful when he came on and
immediately tested Mark Schwarzer. Maybe a sign of things to come!
Save of the match: The Australian made an important stop to deny Nolan
scoring his second goal of the game in the second half as he tipped his
curler wide of the far post.
Talking point: Are West Ham in freefall? And can they hang onto their main
man Mohamed Diame? Will this win inspire Fulham to surge up the table?
However, the visitors hit back three minutes into the second half with Kevin
Nolan netting to restore parity, but the lead lasted just 33 seconds as Hugo
Rodallega fired the Cottagers back in front.

And Martin Jol's side made sure of all three points after an unfortuante own
goal by Joey O'Brien in stoppage time. Jussi Jaaskelainen was forced into
action in the eighth minute, parrying away a fierce Bryan Ruiz effort from
20 yards. Fulham pressed and soon broke the deadlock, with Berbatov nodding
home just 10 minutes in. Damien Duff sent across a free-kick from the right,
which looked to take the slightest of touches off Ruiz as it made its way to
Berbatov to head home. It was a moment of luck for the hosts as the
Bulgarian was offside when the ball was whipped in - something the forward
seemed aware of given he looked at the linesman before celebrating. West Ham
showed impressive fight by the Thames, levelling things up through captain
Nolan in the 48th minute.
Mark Noble played a quick free-kick that caught the hosts off guard and
Nolan did well to fire a low left-footed strike from an acute angle past
Mark Schwarzer.
Parity lasted for just a minute, though, as Duff burst down the left flank
and sent in a cross that Rodallega reached ahead of West Ham's defenders to
bundle home. Andy Carroll replaced his former Liverpool team-mate Joe Cole
and forced Schwarzer into action moments into his first appearance since
November 28th. But the victory was secured in stoppage time when O'Brien
inadvertently put into his own goal from Mladen Petric's cross-shot. It was
just Fulham's second league win of 2013 as they moved above their opponents
into 12th position in the standings.

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Panic Stations or Steady As She Goes?
By Iain Dale
West Ham Till I Die

Presenting a radio show while trying to follow the Hammers' fortunes is
sometimes a depressing task. Especially on two successive Wednesday nights
in January. From the reports I have read this was yet another truly deserved
defeat. What on earth has happened to the team which until December boasted
the second best defensive record in the Premier League? Well, I have little
idea, but we have to hope that Sam Allardyce does, otherwise we are in for a
very difficult couple of months indeed. We're not scoring goals and we're
conceding them by the bucketload. A fatal combination. The rot needs to stop
on Saturday.

Many of you will be feeling a sense of panic at the situation we now find
ourselves in.but before we go overboard, let's recognise that we're still in
13th place, seven points off the relegation zone. It is indeed conceivable
that if we don't soon put a few points on the board, we will indeed find
ourselves in a relegation scrap, but let's not press the panic button too
soon.

But a key to our future will be the retention of Mo Diame. This might have
been his last game for us, and by all accounts he played appallingly. Let's
hope the Arsenal and Spurs scouts were present.

Tomorrow is transfer deadline day. I'll try to keep a thread running
throughout the course of the day, even though I will be at work from mid
afternoon. I suspect we will see a little action both in and out of Upton
Park.

Meanwhile, have a drink, put a cold towel over your forehead and keep calm.

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Rat catchers? West Ham chase Romania captain Razvan - and Blackburn's
Robinson
The Mirror
30 Jan 2013 22:30


West Ham are locked in a three-way European fight to land Shakhtar Donetsk's
Razvan Rat, writes Darren Witcoop. Rat, 31, who captains Romania from
left-back, is also wanted by French giants Marseille and Turkish outfit
Besiktas. The Hammers want extra cover at the back before Thursday's
deadline, despite already snapping up ex-Middlesbrough full-back Emmanuel
Pogatetz on loan this week.

* WEST HAM boss Sam Allardyce is also swooping on former employers Blackburn
to sign forgotten keeper Paul Robinson, writes Alan Nixon. England
international Robinson has been told he can leave the Championship club to
get his wages off the payroll and he is set to sign for Hammers to compete
with fellow veteran Jussi Jaaskelainen. Blackburn manager Michael Appleton
is taking Hammers reserve keeper Stephen Henderson as part of the deal - the
pair worked together at Portsmouth before Henderson had to be sold by the
troubled club.

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West Ham assistant manager Neil McDonald upset with refereeing decisions
Last Updated: January 30, 2013 11:20pm
SSN

Assistant manager Neil McDonald slammed some of the decisions made by
referee Chris Foy after watching West Ham fall to a 3-1 defeat at Fulham.
Dimitar Berbatov set Fulham on their way with an earlier opener from what
appeared to be an offside position, only for Kevin Nolan to equalise three
minutes into the second half. Hugo Rodallega restored the hosts' lead and an
own goal by Joey O'Brien sealed only their second win of 2013, to lift them
above their opponents and back into mid-table. The Hammers are just seven
points clear of the relegation zone in 13th and are winless in four league
matches and six games in all competitions now. "We were disappointed that
we're not putting the chances away at the minute," McDonald told Sky Sports.
"That seems to be costing us as well as refereeing decisions. Their first
goal wasn't just one person standing in an offside position, but three of
them, so it's hard to take. "We came out in the second half and forced the
issue. We put Fulham on the back foot and we're pleased with lots of aspects
of our play but disappointed that we conceded another three goals. "Form the
start of the season, if we're in this position, then I'd say we would be
very, very happy. If we keep on playing the way we are playing and we
tighten up, then I'm sure we'll be fine and the form will turn around."

McDonald was pleased with the introduction of Andy Carroll as he made his
first appearance in 11 matches. He added: "We created some good chances and
felt we should have two penalties in the second half."

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