Arsenal match preview
WHUFC.com
All of the need-to-know information ahead of Boxing Day's clash against
Arsenal at the Boleyn Ground
24.12.2013
WEST HAM UNITED V ARSENAL
BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
THURSDAY 26 DECEMBER 2013
KICK-OFF: 3PM
REFEREE: PHIL DOWD
FULL AUDIO AND TEXT COMMENTARY - WEST HAM TV
iPHONE APP I TWITTER I FACEBOOK I PODCAST
Introduction
• West Ham United welcome Arsenal to the Boleyn Ground on Boxing Day hoping
to extend their unbeaten home run to three games.
• A 0-0 draw against Sunderland back on 14 December was preceded by a 3-0
victory over Fulham on 30 November in the Club's last two home fixtures.
• Last time out, Sam Allardyce's side succumbed to a 3-1 defeat at the hands
of Manchester United at Old Trafford, one of three consecutive away league
defeats.
• That defeat left the Hammers 17th in the table, one point above the
relegation zone although a win over the Gunners could move the home side up
two places.
• Arsenal arrive in east London having lost three of their last four away
matches in all competitions.
• A 6-3 defeat to Manchester City in their last away Premier League outing
followed a 2-0 defeat to Napoli in the Champions League and a 1-0 defeat to
Manchester United back on 10 November.
• Last time out the Gunners drew 0-0 with fellow title contenders Chelsea, a
result which left them second in the league, level on points with
table-toppers Liverpool.
Team news
West Ham United
• Winston Reid (ankle), Stewart Downing (ankle), Andy Carroll (foot),
Ricardo Vaz Te, Stephen Henderson (both shoulder) and Mladen Petric (calf)
will all miss the match through injury.
• Kevin Nolan could be in line for a return after serving a three-match ban
after being sent-off against Liverpool back on 7 December.
Arsenal
• Laurent Koscielny is doubtful for the game with the defender still nursing
a cut to his knee.
• Midfielder Jack Wilshere serves the second of his two-game ban against the
Hammers while Lukas Podolski may return after recovering from a hamstring
injury.
Background
• West Ham United have faced Arsenal 127 times in Premier League, Football
League and domestic knockout competitions. The Hammers have won 33, the
Gunners have won 56 and there have been 38 draws.
• West Ham United's biggest win over Arsenal came on 7 March 1927 when a Vic
Watson hat-trick helped secure a 7-0 Division One win for the Hammers at the
Boleyn Ground.
• West Ham United defeated Arsenal 8-2 in the first meeting between the two
clubs on Christmas Day 1915. Syd Puddefoot scored five times in the fixture,
which was played in the war-time London Combination principal tournament.
• Including war-time competitions, the Hammers have met the Gunners a
staggering 164 times, with West Ham United winning 48, Arsenal winning 73
and there being 43 draws.
• The third and most-recent time that West Ham United won the FA Cup was
against Arsenal, with the Hammers winning 1-0 at Wembley on 10 May 1980. The
1980 final is also the last time a team outside the top-flight has won the
competition.
• Five of West Ham United's first eight games against Arsenal were in the FA
Cup, with just three of the encounters coming in the league.
• West Ham United became the final visiting team to win at Arsenal's old
Highbury home when they chalked up a 3-2 Premier League success on 1
February 2006.
• The Hammers then became the first away side to win to win at Emirates
Stadium, recording a memorable 1-0 Premier League win on 7 April 2007.
• West Ham United midfielder Mohamed Diame and Arsenal midfielder Abou Diaby
were team-mates at the famous Clairefontaine Academy near Paris as
youngsters.
• Twenty players have made their West Ham United debuts against Arsenal.
Harry Hodges was the first in a 4-1 Division One defeat at Highbury on 10
September 1923, with Wayne Bridge the most recent in a 3-0 home Barclays
Premier League defeat on 15 January 2011.
• Ron Cater, Almeric Hall and Ken Bainbridge all made their Hammers' bows in
a 6-0 FA Cup third-round victory over Arsenal at the Boleyn Ground on 5
January 1946. Hall scored twice and Bainbridge once.
• Ray Houghton made his one and only West Ham United appearance as a
substitute in a 2-0 Division One defeat at Arsenal on 1 May 1982.
• Steve Jones made his second West Ham United 'debut' in a 2-0 Premier
League defeat at Arsenal on 17 August 1996.
• The other players to have made their West Ham United debuts against
Arsenal include John Morton (March 1932), Phil Woosnam (November 1958), Pat
Holland (April 1969), Clyde Best (August 1969), Bobby Gould (November 1973),
Danny Williamson (April 1994), Les Sealey (September 1995), Bernard Lama
(March 1998), Gary Breen (August 2002), Dean Ashton (February 2006), Jack
Collison (January 2008), Fabio Daprela and Anthony Edgar (both January
2010).
Last time out
Manchester United 3-1 West Ham United
Barclays Premier League
21 December 2013
West Ham United: Adrian, Demel, Collins (Rat 75), Tomkins, McCartney, Taylor
(Collison 62), Morrison, Noble, Diame, Jarvis (C Cole 71), Maiga
Subs not used: Jaaskelainen, O'Brien, Diarra, J Cole
Goals: C.Cole 81
Arsenal 0-0 Chelsea
Barclays Premier League
23 December 2013
Arsenal: Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Gibbs, Ramsey, Arteta,
Rosicky, Ozil, Walcott, Giroud
Subs not used: Podolski, Monreal, Cazorla, Fabianski, Flamini, Bendtner,
Jenkinson
Previous meeting
Jack Collison's early goal wasn't enough to prevent the Hammers from
slipping to a heavy defeat against Arsenal as the Gunners ran riot in the
second half at the Emirates. The midfielder's 18th minute strike was
cancelled out just four minutes later when Lukas Podolski fired home. A
disastrous ten-minute spell at the start of the second half then downed the
Hammers as Olivier Giroud, Santi Cazorla, Theo Walcott and Giroud again
scored to ensure an emphatic home win for the Gunners.
West Ham United: Jaaskelainen, Demel, Tomkins, Reid (Potts 62), O'Brien,
Noble, Nolan, Collison (Diarra 62), Taylor, C Cole, Vaz Te (Diame 70)
Subs not used: Henderson, J Cole, Jarvis, O'Neil
Goal: Collison 18
Arsenal: Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Vermaelen (Koscielny 57), Gibbs,
Ramsey, Wilshere, Cazorla, Walcott, Giroud (Oxlade-Chamberlain 73), Podolski
(Andre Santos 70)
Subs not used: Mannone, Arshavin, Jenkinson, Frimpong
Goals: Podolski 22, Giroud 47, 57, Cazorla 53, Walcott 54
Last six meetings (Premier League unless stated)
23 January 2013 Arsenal 5-1 West Ham United
6 October 2012 West Ham United 1-3 Arsenal
15 January 2011 West Ham United 0-3 Arsenal
30 October 2010 Arsenal 1-0 West Ham United
20 March 2010 Arsenal 2-0 West Ham United
3 January 2010 West Ham United 1-2 Arsenal (FA Cup third round)
Overall record v Arsenal (all competitions) W 33 D 38 L 56
Ten-year record
West Ham United
2012/13 Premier League 10th (46 points)
2011/12 Championship 3rd (86 points - promoted to Premier League via
Play-Offs)
2010/11 Premier League 20th (33 points - relegated to Championship)
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 to Premier League via
Play-Offs)
2003/04 Division One 4th (74 points)
Arsenal
2012/13 Premier League 4th (73 points)
2011/12 Premier League 3rd (70 points)
2010/11 Premier League 4th (68 points)
2009/10 Premier League 3rd (75 points)
2008/09 Premier League 4th (72 points)
2007/08 Premier League 3rd (83 points)
2006/07 Premier League 4th (68 points)
2005/06 Premier League 4th (67 points)
2004/05 Premier League 2nd (83 points)
2003/04 Premier League 1st (90 points)
Old boys
• Guy Demel spent a season with Arsenal as a youngster, joining the Gunners
as a 19-year-old in 2000. However, the right-back did not make a first-team
appearance for Arsenal and joined German club Borussia Dortmund the
following summer.
• Among the players who have represented both clubs are Jeremie Aliadiere,
Yossi Benayoun, James Bigden, Jimmy Bloomfield, Luis Boa Morte, Liam Brady,
George Burgess, Dick Curtis, Kaba Diawara, Ted Drake, Stan Earle, Bert
Fletcher, Ron Greenwood, Eddie Hapgood, John Hartson, Les Henley, Fergie
Hunt, James Jackson, Bernard Joy, Fred Kemp, Henri Lansbury, Tom Lee, Harry
Lewis, William Linwood, Freddie Ljungberg, Roddy MacEachrane, Jimmy
Marshall, David Noble, John Radford, Stewart Robson, Charles Satterthwaite,
Laurie Scott, Rami Shaaban, Bill Sidley, Bob Stevenson, Davor Suker, Matthew
Upson, Charlie Walker, Nigel Winterburn, Ian Wright, Richard Wright, Bobby
Gould, Seve Walford, Lee Chapman, Manuel Almunia and Clive Allen.
Referee
• The referee for Thursday's game will be Phil Dowd.
• Dowd has already taken charge of the Hammers twice this season, presiding
over 0-0 draws against Newcastle United and Swansea City.
• Dowd is in his 13th season as a Select Group official, having initially
been promoted to the Barclays Premier League list of referees in 2001.
• Dowd began refereeing in local leagues in 1984, officiating in the
Staffordshire Senior League and Midland Football Alliance. He was appointed
to the Football League list of assistant referees in 1992, before joining
the League's full list of referees in 1997, aged 34.
• The 50-year-old is commonly considered to be one of England's best match
officials, an opinion backed by his appointments as the referee for the 2012
FA Cup and 2010 Football League Cup finals.
• Previously, Dowd was the fourth official at the 2006 FA Cup final between
West Ham United and Liverpool at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.
General information
• Click here for tickets.
• The London Underground will be running District and Hammersmith & City
Line services through Upton Park on Boxing Day. Click here for full TfL
travel information.
• However, there will be no service on the c2c or Greater Anglia networks.
• The weather forecast for Thursday is overcast with sunny spells and a
temperature around of 6C.
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Collins looks for Arsenal response
WHUFC.com
West Ham United defender James Collins is up for a London derby contest with
Arsenal
26.12.2013
James Collins was full of praise for West Ham United keeper Adrian after the
No13 was thrown in at the deep end for his Premier League debut at Old
Trafford.
Former Real Betis stopper Adrian has impressed in the Hammers' run to the
Capital One Cup semi-finals and was rewarded with a place between the posts
against Manchester United. West Ham were defeated 3-1, but Collins was
impressed with the Spaniard and believes both he and Jussi Jaaskelainen can
push each other on over the second half of the season. Collins said: "Adrian
did well at Manchester United. He did great at Tottenham in the previous
game and we could have helped him out a bit more at Old Trafford, the
defending wasn't great for the first two goals especially. "We let him down
a little bit, but you can see in training that he's going to be a great
keeper. "It's great that we have him and Jussi pushing each other. Jussi
will probably feel a bit unlucky not to have played last week having kept
eight clean sheets, but we have two great keepers and competition in every
position is good."
The Hammers will be looking to bounce back in their Boxing Day derby with
Arsenal, and Collins is looking forward to the challenge. He continued: "We
knew it would be tough at United, but we are disappointed because we played
well at Tottenham in the previous game, and then didn't follow it up. "We
have two home games now and there is the sense here that we can push on and
get the results we need. Tottenham showed us that, playing so well there can
give us a lot of confidence. "Old Trafford wasn't great but we know we can
beat anyone on our day at home, we need to go into the Arsenal game thinking
we can get a point, or hopefully all three. "I've been impressed with them.
They have a strong squad and spent a lot of money on Ozil in the summer.
With Aaron Ramsey doing so well and coming to the front by scoring goals
they've had a good first half of the season. "You want to play against the
best players in the world and Arsenal certainly have some of them. It will
be a challenge but we have got eight clean sheets this season and another
one on Thursday would be nice. "We build our game on clean sheets. We've had
two in a row at home, so we'll start from there again and if we can keep a
clean sheet we'll only need one goal to win the game."
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On this day - 26 December
WHUFC.com
Craig Bellamy nets twice as the Hammers crush Portsmouth on Boxing day five
years ago
26.12.2013
Classic match
Portsmouth 1-4 West Ham United
Premier League
26 December 2008
Craig Bellamy was the catalyst for West Ham's four-goal thumping of
Portsmouth as the Hammers recorded their first Premier League win over the
South coast side. The striker scored the third and fourth goals after
Carlton Cole and Jack Collison put the visitors ahead after they had fallen
behind early on. Pompey's Nadir Belhadj got the scoring underway in just the
eighth minute before a Bellamy-inspired West Ham launched their superb
comeback.
Complete record - 26 December
1919 Bristol City 0-0 West Ham United (Division Two)
1921 Bury 0-1 West Ham United (Division Two)
1922 West Ham United 0-2 Manchester United (Division Two)
1923 West Ham United 1-0 Aston Villa (Division One)
1924 Cardiff City 2-1 West Ham United (Division One)
1925 Aston Villa 2-0 West Ham United (Division One)
1927 Sheffield United 6-2 West Ham United (Division One)
1928 Newcastle United 1-0 West Ham United (Division One)
1929 Huddersfield Town 3-0 West Ham United (Division One)
1930 Portsmouth 2-0 West Ham United (Division One)
1931 West Ham United 3-1 Grimsby Town (Division One)
1932 Fulham 4-2 West Ham United (Division Two)
1933 Swansea Town 1-1 West Ham United (Division Two)
1934 West Ham United 3-0 Bury (Division Two)
1935 Southampton 2-4 West Ham United (Division Two)
1936 Tottenham Hotspur 2-3 West Ham United (Division Two)
1946 Luton Town 2-1 West Ham United (Division Two)
1947 Sheffield Wednesday 5-3 West Ham United (Division Two)
1949 West Ham United 3-0 Swansea Town (Division Two)
1950 Leeds United 2-0 West Ham United (Division Two)
1951 Luton Town 6-1 West Ham United (Division Two)
1953 Luton Town 3-1 West Ham United (Division Two)
1955 Middlesbrough 2-0 West Ham United (Division Two)
1957 Ipswich Town 2-1 West Ham United (Division Two)
1958 Tottenham Hotspur 1-4 West Ham United (Division One)
1959 Birmingham City 2-0 West Ham United (Division One)
1960 West Ham United 0-3 Tottenham Hotspur (Division One)
1961 West Ham United 2-8 Blackburn Rovers (Division One)
1963 West Ham United 1-2 Blackburn Rovers (Division One)
1964 Birmingham City 2-1 West Ham United (Division One)
1966 Blackpool 1-4 West Ham United (Division One)
1967 West Ham United 4-2 Leicester City (Division One)
1968 Southampton 2-2 West Ham United (Division One)
1969 West Bromwich Albion 3-1 West Ham United (Division One)
1972 West Ham United 2-2 Tottenham Hotspur (Division One)
1973 Chelsea 2-4 West Ham United (Division One)
1974 West Ham United 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur (Division One)
1975 Aston Villa 4-1 West Ham United (Division One)
1977 West Ham United 1-0 Birmingham City (Division One)
1978 West Ham United 0-2 Orient (Division Two)
1980 Queens Park Rangers 3-0 West Ham United (Division Two)
1983 West Ham United 0-1 Southampton (Division One)
1984 Tottenham Hotspur 2-2 West Ham United (Division One)
1985 Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 West Ham United (Division One)
1986 Tottenham Hotspur 4-0 West Ham United (Division One)
1987 West Ham United 1-2 Wimbledon (Division One)
1989 Ipswich Town 1-0 West Ham United (Division Two)
1990 West Ham United 2-0 Oldham Athletic (Division Two)
1991 Aston Villa 3-1 West Ham United (Division One)
1992 Charlton Athletic 1-1 West Ham United (Division One)
1994 West Ham United 1-1 Ipswich Town (Premier League)
1997 West Ham United 1-0 Coventry City (Premier League)
1998 Arsenal 1-0 West Ham United (Premier League)
1999 Wimbledon 2-2 West Ham United (Premier League)
2000 West Ham United 5-0 Charlton Athletic (Premier League)
2001 West Ham United 4-0 Derby County (Premier League)
2002 West Ham United 1-1 Fulham (Premier League)
2003 West Ham United 1-2 Ipswich Town (Championship)
2004 West Ham United 3-2 Nottingham Forest (Championship)
2005 Portsmouth 1-1 West Ham United (Premier League)
2006 West Ham United 1-2 Portsmouth (Premier League)
2007 West Ham United 1-1 Reading (Premier League)
2008 Portsmouth 1-4 West Ham United (Premier League)
2009 West Ham United 2-0 Portsmouth (Premier League)
2010 Fulham 3-1 West Ham United (Premier League)
2011 Birmingham City 1-1 West Ham United (Championship)
Played 66, Won 18, Drawn 12, Lost 36, Scored 95, Conceded 123
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Asamoah Gyan: Sam Allardyce confirms West Ham striker enquiry
BBC.co.uk
Sam Allardyce says West Ham have made enquiries about signing ex-Sunderland
striker Asamoah Gyan in January. Allardyce's side are short of attacking
options due to Andy Carroll's long-term injury-enforced absence. "We'll be
linked with anybody that's a centre forward that might be coming back into
the country," he said. "If there's a player of any sort of quality we try
and find out what the situation might be - but it is nothing more than
that." Representatives of the Ghana forward are understood to have indicated
West Ham are keen on taking the Ghana international to Upton Park on loan
until the end of the season.
Gyan, 28, joined Sunderland in 2010 for £13m , but moved to United Arab
Emirates outfit Al-Ain in 2012.
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Kevin Nolan praised for cancelling West Ham's Dublin Christmas party
By Dev Trehan | Last Updated: 26/12/13 9:34am
SSN
Kevin Nolan has been praised by West Ham academy coach Anwar Uddin for his
decision to shelve the players' annual Christmas party due to the club's
poor league position. The squad were due to fly out to Dublin - the
destination for their Christmas party in 2012 - for their traditional
festive do following their Premier League match away at Liverpool a
fortnight ago. But club-captain Nolan, who was sent off in the 4-1 defeat at
Anfield, cancelled the trip and even reported back for extra training,
despite the fact he was suspended for three matches following the dismissal.
Nolan returns to the squad for their potentially tough encounter at home to
Arsenal on Boxing Day and Uddin insists Nolan's decision to cancel their
Christmas jaunt to Ireland was the right one. "He's the club captain and you
do whatever you see fit," Uddin told skysports.com. "I think it's a smart
thing to do because it's like anything, when you're in a precarious
situation and you're seen maybe having the time of your life in Dublin, it's
probably not the best message to go out to the fans. "I just think that says
a lot about him. It says a lot about the club that they know about that and
they understand that the fans do see them and have a perception of them in a
certain way
"I think that's only a positive thing that the fans can take from them
because it shows that look we're serious about this, yeah we know we're in a
bit of a precarious position but what are we going to do? "Let's get out of
it and we will do everything we can to get out of it and that includes
cancelling the Christmas party, but hopefully the schoolboy coaches don't
cancel their Christmas party because I'm looking forward to that!"
Uddin is best remembered as captain of the last West Ham team to win the FA
Youth Cup, a side which beat Coventry 9-0 over two legs in 1999 and featured
Michael Carrick and Joe Cole. He revealed that he took a similar decision to
Nolan later in his career when he was captain of Dagenham & Redbridge.
"There was a season when I was at Dagenham and Redbridge and we were one
point ahead of Oxford at Christmas," Uddin explained. "We had a weekend away
at Newquay planned and I just said to the players look, do you really think
it's important? "Why don't we save that money, put it in a pot, win the
league and at the end of the league, let's not go to Newquay, let's go a bit
further afield, maybe somewhere like Marbella or Paris. "And that's exactly
what we did."
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West Ham boss Sam Allardyce ready to copy Chelsea blue print to stop Arsenal
Dec 25, 2013 22:30 By Neil McLeman 1 Comments
The Mirror
Sam Allardyce will bid to copy the Chelsea blueprint for stopping Arsenal
at Upton Park today. But the West Ham boss reckons the Gunners are mounting
a title challenge because they have now toughened up at the back. The
Hammers have beaten Arsenal only once at home this century – and lost the
last six meetings home and away, conceding eight goals against them last
season. Big Sam was at the Emirates on Monday to see Jose Mourinho's side
stifle Mesut Ozil and co. And he reckons his relegation-threatened team can
trouble the Gunners the same way. "It was a very good plan for facing
Arsenal," he said. "A very fluent and exciting passing team really got
nullified by Chelsea's good tactics. And a team that bought into the
tactics and worked extremely hard. "I am talking about the ones you perhaps
don't expect, like Willian and Eden Hazard. They all played their part to
try to achieve a result as a team. They had their opportunities to create
and produce the flair but didn't quite do it on the day. "Mourinho set
Arsenal a trap and they didn't cope well with it. I would hope we can start
quick and press Arsenal and get any mistakes out of them."
Allardyce admitted his side "got a bit scared of Manchester United" in the
defeat at Old Trafford and wants them to play without fear against Arsenal.
But the former Bolton and Blackburn boss reckoned Arsene Wenger's team can
no longer be bullied physically since the return of Mathieu Flamini. "They
have become a bit more resilient in their tackling and are not conceding
goals from set pieces or corners that they used to be frail on. "They have
already scored six headers from set-pieces and they have improved in those
two areas which has taken them towards the top of the Premier League.
"Perhaps Flamini has been the big difference and he has gone around geeing
up all the players which they have maybe lacked before. He not only leads by
example but he gets all the other players going as well. "You need to be
good both in and out of possession – otherwise you will not win the league."
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Thursday, December 26
Wednesday, December 25
Daily WHUFC News - 25th December 2013
HAPPY CHRISTMAS!!
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Big Sam on: Arsenal
WHUFC.com
Sam Allardyce speaks to the gathered media ahead of Boxing Day's match
against Arsenal
24.12.2013
Sam Allardyce has conducted his pre-match press conference ahead of Boxing
Day's Barclays Premier League match against Arsenal. Big Sam spoke to the
assembled media about the form of their north London opponents, the return
of Kevin Nolan and his side's latest injury news.
Morning Sam, what's the situation surrounding James Tomkins?
SA: "From a legal point of view it's difficult for me to comment. The only
thing I can say is that I don't think James should have been there
irrespective of whether he got into trouble or not. It's probably the
highest profile public house in this country and I think it would have been
better if he'd have stayed away. From a Club point of view there's nothing
broken in terms of rules because it was five or six days ahead of the next
game. I can't comment any further than that."
Onto the football now and it's Arsenal up next for you, who obviously played
last night?
SA: "I have to put a lot down to the conditions that we didn't see a lot of
action in both boxes last night and when Arsenal sneaked one shot on target
in the whole 90 minutes it shows you how well Chelsea defended. It's
something that we could do with doing against them on Boxing Day, locking
them out like Chelsea did and see what we can get from there."
You've had a couple more days rest than Arsenal, will that be significant?
SA: "It may well be but I think that I could have said that against
Manchester United. In the end it's about your own mentality and your own
desire at this stage of the season to drive yourself through when you get
that little bit more fatigued, because there's so many games coming along in
such a quick period. It's about waking up in the morning and thinking
positively, it's about waking up and saying I'm not tired, it's about going
in and driving yourself on to get results. It lies more in the mental side,
these lads can't be any physically fitter so mentally they've got to drive
themselves on."
Two great clubs in a great Boxing Day fixture, games don't come much better
than this do they?
SA: "We got tumbled over twice last year, not so much at home because it
only happened in the second half when they hit us on the break twice. They
gave us a second half hiding at the Emirates. We'll give it our best shot
and make sure we protect ourselves against Arsenal's abilities like we saw
Chelsea do the other night and then try and exploit some of the weaknesses
that aren't as apparent as they used to be. There's a lot of work now which
has gone on quietly about how well they defend and that's why they're near
the top of the league."
You have Kevin Nolan returning from suspension, how much have you missed
him?
SA: "I think we have. The most important thing we've missed with Kevin is
his goals this year, only scoring one. Because we haven't produced the
results he, like the all the other lads, has received a bit of criticism
here and there. We have to accept it, take it on the chin and just focus on
the fact that we know how well we can play and try to continue to get back
to that level of performance but more importantly when you're in command of
a game try and put a goal in the net to win it. Otherwise you end up where
we are, we haven't scored enough goals this season."
What's the injury situation at present?
SA: "They're all progressing very well. Andy's training on a day-to-day
basis with the rehab boys and improving all the time. He's kicking, turning,
twisting, I watched him train yesterday for an hour or so, he's improving
all the time and I expect him to be back with us shortly. I'm not going to
put days or weeks on it because I don't want to but it won't be too long.
Vaz Te's nearly ready to come back into training. Stewart Downing saw the
specialist and has got a little more healing on the scar and then he can
start training again. Winston Reid's still another few weeks unfortunately
but Kevin's back and the rest of the players have a responsibility to get
through this period with as many points as they can. We've left ourselves
with a massive programme and we're going to use the squad to its full
extent."
Arsenal haven't had a great December, have they gone off the boil?
SA: "I hope so. When you play the top boys you have to play to your very
best on the day and hope that you take advantage of the opportunities you
get or you get a bit of luck. If that goes your way then you can beat
anybody in this league on the day but you need certain factors to be in your
favour. I have to control the factors I can control and make sure the
players play to their best."
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Noble's Christmas message
WHUFC.com
Mark Noble wants West Ham United to enjoy a fruitful festive season
24.12.2013
Mark Noble has urged West Ham United supporters to try to forget about the
Club's current form and enjoy Christmas. The popular midfielder, who has
captained the side twice during Kevin Nolan's recent suspension, spoke to
West Ham TV following Saturday's 3-1 Barclays Premier League defeat at
Manchester United. While he did not shy away from the fact that the Hammers
sit 17th in the table going into the festive season, the No16's message was
one of optimism rather than concern. The No16 says the squad are targeting a
minimum of six points from their three holiday fixtures at home to Arsenal
and West Bromwich Albion and away at Fulham. "My message to the fans would
be to stick with us," he said. "Obviously we had a great first half to the
year finishing tenth and I'm pretty sure that when we get some key players
back like Winston Reid, Stewie Downing and big AC (Andy Carroll) in the New
Year, we'll be fine.
"We just need to keep working hard, not let defeats demoralise us, and look
forward to the next game. "Six points out of nine over Christmas would be
fantastic and that is our aim. Anything less than that would be undercutting
ourselves massively because we need to beat West Brom and we need to beat
Fulham. "We've got a home game against Arsenal and, if we prepare for the
game in the right way, there is every chance we can get something there too
with the crowd behind us at Upton Park. "We just need to look after
ourselves over Christmas and enjoy it by winning games."
Reflecting on Saturday's defeat at Manchester United, Noble felt the Hammers
had an opportunity to gain a positive result at Old Trafford after starting
the game well. However, two first-half goals from Danny Welbeck and Adnan
Januzaj and a second-half strike from Ashley Young meant Carlton Cole's
consolation came too late to affect the final outcome. "Adrian made a great
save early doors and we kept it tight up until their first goal, then they
got a second one and it was tough to come back," said the No16. "I thought
the lads dug in well in the second half and didn't let themselves down. "Old
Trafford is a tough place to go. I know they lost their last two games
there, but they were going to win at some point. It just always seems to be
against us! We are looking forward to the Boxing Day game against Arsenal
now. "Obviously at Spurs they had a few good chances early on but we got the
little bit of luck that we needed. They didn't score in the first half and
we made them pay for that, but going to Old Trafford was a different kettle
of fish. "When Adrian made the save I thought it was going to be our night,
but it wasn't. Anything you get at places like Old Trafford is a bonus, so
we just need to rub our faces and get ready for the next game."
While he was naturally disappointed to lose out at Old Trafford, Noble was
pleased to see Cole grab his second goal since returning to the Club in
October.
"Coley took his goal well one-on-one. He told me he meant to stick it
through the keeper's legs and of course I believe him! It was nice to get a
goal, but the result wasn't so good. We thought we could get something but
it wasn't to be. "We kept on going and had some chances and had one cleared
off the line, then obviously Coley scored. If we had got a goal while it was
only 2-0 then we might have got back in it, but at 3-0 down we still had a
long way to go when we got our goal. "The lads gave their all and also gave
a lot in the week against Spurs, so we'll re-group and make sure we're ready
for the next one."
Moments after Cole had made it 3-1, West Ham made loud appeals for a penalty
when Ravel Morrison's shot hit Tom Cleverley on the hand, only for the
claims to be waved away by referee Mike Jones. Had the spot-kick been
awarded and converted by Noble, the stage would have been set for a
grandstand finish. "It definitely hit him on the arm, but I don't know if he
was inside the box or out. To get those decisions at Old Trafford is a big
ask and we never got it."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham v Arsenal
KO 15:00
24 December 2013
Last updated at 12:29
By Steve Wilson
BBC Match of the Day commentator
BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Venue: Upton Park Date: Thursday, 26 December
TEAM NEWS
West Ham midfielder Kevin Nolan returns for the Boxing Day visit of Arsenal
after completing a three-match ban. Manager Sam Allardyce will continue to
select James Tomkins despite the defender being charged with assaulting a
police officer.
Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere will miss the game as he completes a
two-match suspension. Laurent Koscielny could return, having missed the draw
against Chelsea with a cut to his knee.
MATCH PREVIEW
Arsenal were frustrated by Chelsea on Monday night, with Arsene Wenger
feeling that only one side wanted a football match to break out whilst the
other was happy with a stalemate. That may be true, but it says something
about Arsenal's lack of invention that they could still only muster one shot
on target in the entire 90 minutes. A draw with Chelsea is not a bad result,
but anything other than a win at West Ham would be seen as proof positive
that the Gunners are not yet ready to stay the course in a title race. "If
the Hammers are off their game again like they were at Old Trafford on
Saturday then Arsenal will take them apart but, even if Sam Allardyce gets a
reaction from his West Ham team after that defeat, I still think the Gunners
will find a way through." It would be a fifth consecutive game without a
victory and their autumnal momentum would well and truly have been lost.
West Ham are a bit of a puzzle to me. Every time I look at the league table
they're down at the wrong end of it. But every time I see them play in the
flesh, they win; two victories at White Hart Lane and a thumping of Fulham
at Upton Park. I quite like their midfield, and Ravel Morrison will be a
real star when the consistency that comes with experience begins to kick in.
Their need for a striker is blindingly obvious; Modibo Maiga has shown some
recent improvement and Carlton Cole always puts in a shift, but neither is
likely to get anywhere near double figures over a season. A fit, in-form
Andy Carroll is what they need, but who can say when, and if, that might
happen.
West Ham's record against Arsenal is pretty dismal, six consecutive defeats,
and their next two games against West Brom and Fulham offer far more juicy
prospects of some much-needed points.
MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head
Arsenal have won their last six games against West Ham in league and cup,
and are unbeaten in the last 11 meetings (W9, D2). That unbeaten run
stretches back to the 2006-07 season, when the Hammers won both Premier
League encounters 1-0 (at Upton Park in November 2006 and at the Emirates in
April 2007).
West Ham United
The Hammers have won one of their last 10 league games (W1, D3, L6). They
have failed to score in nine of their 17 league games - the joint worst
record in the top flight. West Ham have won their last three Premier League
games played on 26 December, scoring nine goals in the process. They are
unbeaten in their last two league games at Upton Park, keeping clean sheets
in both matches.
Arsenal
The Gunners have claimed 16 points from their eight away league games, the
joint-best record in the top flight.
Arsene Wenger's only defeat in a Premier League game on 26 December came in
1999 (a 3-2 loss away to Coventry).
This is Arsenal's 100th London derby away from home in the Premier League.
The Gunners have won 44 out of the previous 99 games.
Theo Walcott has scored in his last three league appearances against West
Ham. Olivier Giroud has three goals in two games against the Hammers, while
Santi Cazorla has two in two.
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The (ex) Rev's Christmas message
KUMB.com
Filed: Tuesday, 24th December 2013
By: Elwin Cockett
Elwin Cockett is the former Chaplain to West Ham United FC and the current
Archdeacon of West Ham. Every year Elwin pens a Christmas message for the
readers of KUMB, which this year begins with a look back at recent
successes...
Happy Christmas!
We're a funny lot, us West Ham fans. Our team is struggling in the league,
to say the least, and we all know the old adage about coming down with the
decorations after Christmas, every Christmas. And yet we're still basking in
having won away at Spurs again, and we're all relishing the prospect of a
Capital One Cup semi-final. No-one could say that life as a Happy Hammer is
boring.
Maybe that's because we've learned to enjoy the good times – to savour them,
even – because we don't take them for granted. Quite frankly, we know what
it is to suffer disappointment, and so when there's reason to celebrate we
know how to do that as well.
There has been plenty to celebrate over the years, of course. On hearing the
news a few days ago of David Coleman's death my mind went back to Mexico
1970, England playing Brazil, and his words as West Ham's captain performed
what became one of the most famous tackles in history: "Jairzinho going all
the way to goal – and Moore stops him. What a player this fellow is!"
And whenever two or three Irons supporters are gathered together, a familiar
list of names and dates can be recited. "'64, it starts, 'Sissons, Hurst and
Peters; '65 Sealey's double; '66 Moore, Hurst and Peters (of course)" – and,
depending on their age, it might go on to include later cup victories,
moments like Frank Lampard Senior dancing round the corner flag; the pain of
2006 at Cardiff; play-off nights at the Boleyn Ground; famous victories
against Spurs, Man Utd and the like and great names like Cottee, Devonshire
and Di Canio.
So we members of the West Ham family have much to celebrate, even when times
seem hard – which they're not, really. Not when we compare our lot with that
of the children of Syria, or of the thousands still homeless in the wake of
the typhoon in the Philippines, or of people we all know who are fighting
cancer, or going through bereavement, or worrying about where their family's
next meal is coming from.
The old quote about football being more important than life and death is
rubbish, isn't it. Because we know, as fans, that even if the worst happens
and our team gets relegated, or loses to our nearest rivals, or gets knocked
out of the cup, it really isn't the end of the world, however bad it feels
at the time.
Christmas reminds us that some things – quite a lot of things, actually -
are more important that football. It reminds us that people matter more than
possessions, and that looking out for the next guy matters more than
grabbing everything we can for ourselves. It reminds us that generosity
benefits the giver as well as the recipient, and that selfishness cuts off
its nose to spite its face.
I've been privileged to see some great things this year; people on an
internet forum supporting a fan whose baby grandson had died; the generosity
of a 'Northern Hammer' who has donated over £2000 to a charity helping
children in Ghana to learn to read; and more than a few quiet 'acts of
random kindness' that not many except God and the people involved will ever
know about.
It's those moments that make me proud to be a member of the West Ham family.
So, folks, if you've read this far, let me congratulate you for being part
of that family. Treasure the people in your life, because you never know
what's round the corner for them and for you. Try a few 'acts of random
kindness' for fun, if nothing else. And, in the joy and magic of the
celebrations, I pray that you will encounter something very special and
different this Christmas.
God bless you.
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Adidas - or Pony?
KUMB.com
Filed: Tuesday, 24th December 2013
By: Staff Writer
West Ham United's young supporters were left disappointed after the Club's
stock of junior home replica shorts sold out by the end of November.
As reported here on KUMB yesterday, parents trying to buy replica home
shorts this Christmas have been left disappointed after the Club admitted
they had ran out of certain sizes by the end of November, with no plans to
re-stock this season.
However KUMB has discovered that this is not an issue exclusive to West Ham.
Fellow Premier League Club Stoke City - whose kit and merchandise is also
supplied by the German manufacturer - have run into similar problems since
moving to Adidas.
The kit supplier was forced to issue an apology to Stoke fans at the
beginning of this season after fans were unable to purchase replica home
shirts.
"Adidas is immensely proud of our partnership with Stoke City and we are
working extremely hard to ensure this situation is resolved quickly and
efficiently," read a statement issued on August 26th. "We would like to put
on record how sorry we are for any inconvenience caused to the fans and the
club by the delay in Adidas delivering these items."
However Stoke's problems with Adidas didn't end there. Like West Ham fans,
supporters of the Potters have been unable to purchase the Club's change
socks in adult men's sizes meaning they too are unable to fulfil Christmas
wishes.
"It must be Adidas at fault," wrote one Stoke fan. "The shop should easily
be able to re-stock its socks if they were available from the suppliers and
I can't believe that a commercial enterprise popular for xmas pressies would
make that kind of gaff. Yet another reason to ditch Adidas."
Whilst another angry Potter added: Our connection with Adidas has been
pretty awful. Basic generic Adidas catalogue strips, basic generic training
wear and merchandise along with abysmally low availability of stock and
terrible punctuality by this mammoth company. All this at a higher cost than
ever for the fans."
Yet the story doesn't end there. Bristol City, whose kit is also provided by
Adidas also received an apology from the manufacturer in July for the delay
in making replica kit available.
In a statement (which is becoming familiar by now), they said: "Adidas is
immensely proud of its partnership with Bristol City Football Club and we
would like to put on record how sorry we are for any inconvenience caused to
the fans and the club by the delay in Adidas delivering these items."
Unbelievably Swansea City - another in the Adidas stable - also received an
apology this summer after their replica kit launch was delayed.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham entertain Arsenal at Upton Park
Last Updated: 24/12/13 1:51pm
SSN
Arsenal could reclaim top spot in the Premier League when they travel across
London on Boxing Day to face West Ham. The Gunners' failure to beat Chelsea
at the Emirates Stadium meant they were unable to unseat Liverpool from the
summit going into Christmas. However, the Reds will not be in action until
later on Thursday when they attempt to storm Manchester City's fortress
Etihad, so the opportunity is there for Arsenal to take the perch back.
Arsene Wenger's side are now without a win in their last three league
outings but only their north London rivals Tottenham have picked up more
points on the road so far this season. West Ham, meanwhile, hover just a
point outside the relegation zone after going down 3-1 at Manchester United
on Saturday. Sam Allardyce's side have managed to keep clean sheets in three
of their last four home games, though, and will need to rediscover that
resilience in order to upset Arsenal. Wenger's men won 3-1 in last season's
equivalent fixture in October - Olivier Giroud, Theo Walcott and Santi
Cazorla all netting after Mohamed Diame's opener - and they beat the Hammers
5-1 when they met again three months later.
In total, Arsenal have come out on top in the last six meetings between the
sides. Both clubs boast enviable Boxing Day records in recent seasons. West
Ham have won all of their last three fixtures played on the day after
Christmas, while Wenger has only been beaten once on December 26 - a 3-2
reverse at Coventry in 1999.
This should be an away win, but Arsenal have got to get out of this little
run they're in - they've gone three league games without a win, plus that
defeat to Napoli in Europe. West Ham will sit back and try to get a 0-0 but
Arsenal should have too much for them.
PAUL PREDICTS: 0-3
West Ham
Last 6
Man Utd (a)3-1
Tottenham (a)1-2
Sunderland (h)0-0
Liverpool (a)4-1
C Palace (a)1-0
Fulham (h)3-0
Kevin Nolan returns from suspension, while manager Sam Allardyce will
continue to select defender James Tomkins despite his arrest on Sunday.
There is still no timescale on Andy Carroll's return from long-term foot
trouble. Ricardo Vaz Te and Winston Reid are still several weeks from
fitness, so are not in contention for the Barclays Premier League fixture.
Spanish goalkeeper Adrian could keep Jussi Jaaskelainen on the bench once
again after starting last weekend's 3-1 defeat at Manchester United.
Arsenal
Last 6
Chelsea (h)0-0
6-3
2-0
Everton (h)1-1
Hull City (h)2-0
Cardiff (a)0-3
Arsenal will be without midfielder Jack Wilshere as he completes a two-match
suspension. Centre-half Laurent Koscielny could return after sitting out the
game against Chelsea with a cut on his knee. Forward Yaya Sanogo (back),
midfielders Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Abou Diaby (both knee) remain
sidelined.
Opta Facts
West Ham have lost eight and won none of their last 10 Premier League games
against Arsenal.
Theo Walcott has scored in his last three Barclays Premier League
appearances against West Ham.
This is Arsenal's 100th London derby away from home in the Premier League
and the Gunners have won 44 out of 99; more victories on the road than any
other team in capital clashes.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham boss Sam Allardyce aiming to follow Chelsea's lead and stymie
Arsenal
Last Updated: 24/12/13 1:18pm
SSN
Arsenal have been told to expect another frustrating game when they go to
West Ham for the Boxing Day derby. Home supporters taunted Jose Mourinho
with chants of 'boring, boring Chelsea' as Arsenal struggled to create
chances against their organised opponents at the Emirates on Monday. And
West Ham boss Sam Allardyce, whose side shipped eight goals to Arsenal over
two games last season, plans to follow the Mourinho blueprint on Thursday.
He said: "Arsenal had a very tactical game (against Chelsea). We could do
with locking them out like Chelsea did. "We got tumbled over twice by them
last year, particularly at the Emirates, so we'll protect ourselves on
Arsenal's abilities and then try to exploit their weaknesses." Kevin Nolan
will be back to captain West Ham after serving a ban, but Winston Reid
(ankle) and Andy Carroll (foot) are still out. Allardyce said: "All the
injuries are progressing very well. Andy is improving all the time and we
expect him to be back among the lads very shortly." In the meantime
Allardyce has been linked with a move for former Sunderland striker Asamoah
Gyan, who is currently playing in the United Arab Emirates. He said: "We'll
be linked with anyone who's a centre-forward who might be coming back into
this country. "If there's a player of any sort of quality we try and find
out what the situation might be, but it's nothing more than that."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
BAD BUYS
By ExWHUemployee 24 Dec 2013 at 14:00
West Ham Till I Die
It is that time of year where we will all receive presents that perhaps were
not what we wanted and are a bit of a let-down. The same can be said about
new signings for a club and I thought just before Christmas I would reflect
upon five of Sam's worst signings. I do intend to write more frequently
again for the site, now that work has eased off a bit and I hope future
articles will be of a more positive nature.
Last month I wrote about Big Sam's best signings and promised to follow on
this month with the deals that haven't gone as well. Unfortunately recent
results have meant that doubts have been raised about whether Sam is the
right man for the job. I have always backed him but I think it is fair to
say that this season has been a disappointment so far (the league cup
excluded). I tweeted quite a few bits of information on my twitter account
this week regarding injuries and new potential signings of which one was
meant to be Adebayor. The deal was looking very likely until AVB was sacked
and he is now back in favour. I personally think this would have been a good
signing and now Sam has turned his attention to other forwards for a loan
deal, with Jelavic of Everton being a strong possibility. It is fair to say
that Sam's transfer record has been very varied. When writing this article I
found it quite hard to think who the top five (or should I say bottom
five?!) would be. So I decided that some of the key factors in making my
decision would be the obvious impact on the pitch and the cost to the club.
Modibo Maiga
The Mali international signed for an undisclosed amount reported to be close
to 5 million and is currently on £38,000 a week. He has delivered 2 goals
league goals in his time at the club (although scored a crucial and very
satisfying winner in the Capital one cup v Spurs) and has failed to fill the
void left by Andy Carroll this season. I do feel a bit sorry for him as
clearly he would play better off a target man in a 4-4-2 but he hasn't been
given those opportunities. He showed glimpses of his talent when coming on
as a sub v Spurs but unfortunately this has been very few and far between.
He started his time here with a bit of promise and scored a good goal
against Southampton and got the crucial 3rd against Chelsea but other than a
couple of goals in the capital one cup there hasn't been much else to talk
about. I think it is fair to say that if the club could recruit even half of
what we paid for him in the January window we would take that offer.
Alou Diarra
A former French international midfield captain who had represented his
country, in the summer that he was signed, at Euro 2012. He was also signed
for an undisclosed transfer fee reported to be 2.5m and with wages close to
£40,000 a week. Injuries have majorly disrupted his time here as well as a
reported falling out with Big Sam and his agents over reported lies in his
contract discussions. Things were going so wrong for him at our beloved club
that we sent him out on loan to Rennes. Whether he will play an important
role this season is yet to be seen but I suspect highly unlikely. With the
current defensive "issues" there is talk that he and George McCartney will
get more game time but we shall see.
Matt Jarvis
I was torn about including Matt and really wish I didn't have to but
unfortunately I do not think he has justified the, at the time, club record
transfer fee that we had paid for him which was reported to be around 11m.
Matt clearly has talent and put in 42 successful crosses last season which
was the highest total in the premiership. Although the return of two goals
was disappointing especially when you consider one was an attempted pass. I
think he still has a lot to offer the club and when Andy Carroll gets fit he
should be more productive. I do also wish he would be given a chance on the
right flank where he wouldn't have to cut back to get his cross in! The fact
that he was, until all the injuries, on the sub's bench shows that he hasn't
reached his potential yet.
Emanuel Pogatetz
The player arrived with quite a good CV and a number of years of premiership
experience. He was brought in to cover centre back and left back.
Unfortunately "Mad Dog's" appearances could not have been any worse. In one
of the worst performances I have seen at West Ham in recent years, he came
on at 72 minutes with West Ham 2-1 up against Spurs, we then ended up losing
the game 3-2 and he looked totally out of his depth. Things didn't really
improve much from the Spurs game and needless to say he wasn't signed.
Marouane Chamakh
He was brought in to provide Andy Carroll with competition for a starting
place. Another player who had quite a decent CV and actually held Champions
League scoring records in his time. He arrived with quite high wages and
unfortunately never justified them. To be fair to Marouane he didn't really
get much game time and any chance to prove himself. You knew this transfer
was destined to fail when Jack Sullivan tweeted an apology to the fans for
the purchase. The player unfortunately has come back to haunt us when he
scored the winner in the league encounter.
There are of course a number of players who were "lucky" to miss out on this
top five. Due to the significant impact that it has had on our season Andy
Carroll could be considered. If he was fit I would say he would be in our
top five signings but the gamble to put "all of our eggs into one basket"
has really back fired. I have been told he is targeting a mid-January return
but I won't be counting my chickens (I couldn't resist!) until I see him on
the pitch. I wanted him to stay but I still don't understand how he "passed"
the medical when he was injured at the time.
John Carew is another who commanded quite high wages and delivered very
little impact. It is not often that you have three forwards who are signed
in one season and then sold/released at the end of that season but we said
goodbye to Carew, Baldock and Maynard all of which were not considered good
enough for the premier league. Of course there have been others who could
have been in the top five and I am sure others reading this article will
disagree with my choices. One thing is for certain we really cannot afford
to pick up any more bad buys in the January window!
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Sam Allardyce slams James Tomkins for being at TOWIE nightspot Sugar Hut
after assault charge
Dec 24, 2013 12:53 By Neil McLeman
The Mirror
"I don't think James should have been there, irrespective of whether he got
into trouble or not," says Hammers boss
Sam Allardyce has said James Tomkins should not have been at an infamous
TOWIE nightspot in the early hours of Sunday morning. The West Ham defender
was arrested and charged with assaulting a police officer after an incident
at the Sugar Hut Village in Brentwood. Allardyce said Tomkins would continue
to be picked for West Ham , starting with the Boxing Day visit of Arsenal.
But although the defender had broken no disciplinary code, the Irons boss
was not clearly unimpressed with the 24-year-old being out after midnight.
"Because of the legal side of it, it is difficult for me to comment,"
Allardyce said. "The only thing I can say is that I don't think James should
have been there, irrespective of whether he got into trouble or not. "It is
the biggest profile public house in this country probably and he would have
been better if he had stayed away. "From a club's point of view, there is
nothing he has broken in terms of rules. It is five or six days till the
next game so what will happen from a legal point of view, we will have to
wait and see."
Allardyce said there was no Christmas curfew for players but added: "I
expect them to be professional enough without me telling them what they
should or shouldn't be doing. "Within the confines of what we can do and
what we can restrict them to, based on the fact that we can't ban anyone 100
per cent from doing anything because the PFA wouldn't allow us to do that so
we have certain restrictions about being on licensed premises at a certain
time in the week before the next game comes along and that was well outside
of that."
Tomkins will appear at Basildon Magistrates' Court on January 9. Allardyce
added: "I can't give out any punishment out yet because he has pleaded not
guilty and I think when we come to a conclusion in the case, we can see what
the situation is. "From a football point of view, he is a footballer we
need. He is obviously a big player for West Ham and he is West Ham born and
bred. "It is an incident which we wish had never had happened and we won't
really know the outcome until or if it goes to court. Until then it is: 'Get
on with the job, get on performing well for West Ham if and when he is
selected'."
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Big Sam on: Arsenal
WHUFC.com
Sam Allardyce speaks to the gathered media ahead of Boxing Day's match
against Arsenal
24.12.2013
Sam Allardyce has conducted his pre-match press conference ahead of Boxing
Day's Barclays Premier League match against Arsenal. Big Sam spoke to the
assembled media about the form of their north London opponents, the return
of Kevin Nolan and his side's latest injury news.
Morning Sam, what's the situation surrounding James Tomkins?
SA: "From a legal point of view it's difficult for me to comment. The only
thing I can say is that I don't think James should have been there
irrespective of whether he got into trouble or not. It's probably the
highest profile public house in this country and I think it would have been
better if he'd have stayed away. From a Club point of view there's nothing
broken in terms of rules because it was five or six days ahead of the next
game. I can't comment any further than that."
Onto the football now and it's Arsenal up next for you, who obviously played
last night?
SA: "I have to put a lot down to the conditions that we didn't see a lot of
action in both boxes last night and when Arsenal sneaked one shot on target
in the whole 90 minutes it shows you how well Chelsea defended. It's
something that we could do with doing against them on Boxing Day, locking
them out like Chelsea did and see what we can get from there."
You've had a couple more days rest than Arsenal, will that be significant?
SA: "It may well be but I think that I could have said that against
Manchester United. In the end it's about your own mentality and your own
desire at this stage of the season to drive yourself through when you get
that little bit more fatigued, because there's so many games coming along in
such a quick period. It's about waking up in the morning and thinking
positively, it's about waking up and saying I'm not tired, it's about going
in and driving yourself on to get results. It lies more in the mental side,
these lads can't be any physically fitter so mentally they've got to drive
themselves on."
Two great clubs in a great Boxing Day fixture, games don't come much better
than this do they?
SA: "We got tumbled over twice last year, not so much at home because it
only happened in the second half when they hit us on the break twice. They
gave us a second half hiding at the Emirates. We'll give it our best shot
and make sure we protect ourselves against Arsenal's abilities like we saw
Chelsea do the other night and then try and exploit some of the weaknesses
that aren't as apparent as they used to be. There's a lot of work now which
has gone on quietly about how well they defend and that's why they're near
the top of the league."
You have Kevin Nolan returning from suspension, how much have you missed
him?
SA: "I think we have. The most important thing we've missed with Kevin is
his goals this year, only scoring one. Because we haven't produced the
results he, like the all the other lads, has received a bit of criticism
here and there. We have to accept it, take it on the chin and just focus on
the fact that we know how well we can play and try to continue to get back
to that level of performance but more importantly when you're in command of
a game try and put a goal in the net to win it. Otherwise you end up where
we are, we haven't scored enough goals this season."
What's the injury situation at present?
SA: "They're all progressing very well. Andy's training on a day-to-day
basis with the rehab boys and improving all the time. He's kicking, turning,
twisting, I watched him train yesterday for an hour or so, he's improving
all the time and I expect him to be back with us shortly. I'm not going to
put days or weeks on it because I don't want to but it won't be too long.
Vaz Te's nearly ready to come back into training. Stewart Downing saw the
specialist and has got a little more healing on the scar and then he can
start training again. Winston Reid's still another few weeks unfortunately
but Kevin's back and the rest of the players have a responsibility to get
through this period with as many points as they can. We've left ourselves
with a massive programme and we're going to use the squad to its full
extent."
Arsenal haven't had a great December, have they gone off the boil?
SA: "I hope so. When you play the top boys you have to play to your very
best on the day and hope that you take advantage of the opportunities you
get or you get a bit of luck. If that goes your way then you can beat
anybody in this league on the day but you need certain factors to be in your
favour. I have to control the factors I can control and make sure the
players play to their best."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Noble's Christmas message
WHUFC.com
Mark Noble wants West Ham United to enjoy a fruitful festive season
24.12.2013
Mark Noble has urged West Ham United supporters to try to forget about the
Club's current form and enjoy Christmas. The popular midfielder, who has
captained the side twice during Kevin Nolan's recent suspension, spoke to
West Ham TV following Saturday's 3-1 Barclays Premier League defeat at
Manchester United. While he did not shy away from the fact that the Hammers
sit 17th in the table going into the festive season, the No16's message was
one of optimism rather than concern. The No16 says the squad are targeting a
minimum of six points from their three holiday fixtures at home to Arsenal
and West Bromwich Albion and away at Fulham. "My message to the fans would
be to stick with us," he said. "Obviously we had a great first half to the
year finishing tenth and I'm pretty sure that when we get some key players
back like Winston Reid, Stewie Downing and big AC (Andy Carroll) in the New
Year, we'll be fine.
"We just need to keep working hard, not let defeats demoralise us, and look
forward to the next game. "Six points out of nine over Christmas would be
fantastic and that is our aim. Anything less than that would be undercutting
ourselves massively because we need to beat West Brom and we need to beat
Fulham. "We've got a home game against Arsenal and, if we prepare for the
game in the right way, there is every chance we can get something there too
with the crowd behind us at Upton Park. "We just need to look after
ourselves over Christmas and enjoy it by winning games."
Reflecting on Saturday's defeat at Manchester United, Noble felt the Hammers
had an opportunity to gain a positive result at Old Trafford after starting
the game well. However, two first-half goals from Danny Welbeck and Adnan
Januzaj and a second-half strike from Ashley Young meant Carlton Cole's
consolation came too late to affect the final outcome. "Adrian made a great
save early doors and we kept it tight up until their first goal, then they
got a second one and it was tough to come back," said the No16. "I thought
the lads dug in well in the second half and didn't let themselves down. "Old
Trafford is a tough place to go. I know they lost their last two games
there, but they were going to win at some point. It just always seems to be
against us! We are looking forward to the Boxing Day game against Arsenal
now. "Obviously at Spurs they had a few good chances early on but we got the
little bit of luck that we needed. They didn't score in the first half and
we made them pay for that, but going to Old Trafford was a different kettle
of fish. "When Adrian made the save I thought it was going to be our night,
but it wasn't. Anything you get at places like Old Trafford is a bonus, so
we just need to rub our faces and get ready for the next game."
While he was naturally disappointed to lose out at Old Trafford, Noble was
pleased to see Cole grab his second goal since returning to the Club in
October.
"Coley took his goal well one-on-one. He told me he meant to stick it
through the keeper's legs and of course I believe him! It was nice to get a
goal, but the result wasn't so good. We thought we could get something but
it wasn't to be. "We kept on going and had some chances and had one cleared
off the line, then obviously Coley scored. If we had got a goal while it was
only 2-0 then we might have got back in it, but at 3-0 down we still had a
long way to go when we got our goal. "The lads gave their all and also gave
a lot in the week against Spurs, so we'll re-group and make sure we're ready
for the next one."
Moments after Cole had made it 3-1, West Ham made loud appeals for a penalty
when Ravel Morrison's shot hit Tom Cleverley on the hand, only for the
claims to be waved away by referee Mike Jones. Had the spot-kick been
awarded and converted by Noble, the stage would have been set for a
grandstand finish. "It definitely hit him on the arm, but I don't know if he
was inside the box or out. To get those decisions at Old Trafford is a big
ask and we never got it."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham v Arsenal
KO 15:00
24 December 2013
Last updated at 12:29
By Steve Wilson
BBC Match of the Day commentator
BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Venue: Upton Park Date: Thursday, 26 December
TEAM NEWS
West Ham midfielder Kevin Nolan returns for the Boxing Day visit of Arsenal
after completing a three-match ban. Manager Sam Allardyce will continue to
select James Tomkins despite the defender being charged with assaulting a
police officer.
Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere will miss the game as he completes a
two-match suspension. Laurent Koscielny could return, having missed the draw
against Chelsea with a cut to his knee.
MATCH PREVIEW
Arsenal were frustrated by Chelsea on Monday night, with Arsene Wenger
feeling that only one side wanted a football match to break out whilst the
other was happy with a stalemate. That may be true, but it says something
about Arsenal's lack of invention that they could still only muster one shot
on target in the entire 90 minutes. A draw with Chelsea is not a bad result,
but anything other than a win at West Ham would be seen as proof positive
that the Gunners are not yet ready to stay the course in a title race. "If
the Hammers are off their game again like they were at Old Trafford on
Saturday then Arsenal will take them apart but, even if Sam Allardyce gets a
reaction from his West Ham team after that defeat, I still think the Gunners
will find a way through." It would be a fifth consecutive game without a
victory and their autumnal momentum would well and truly have been lost.
West Ham are a bit of a puzzle to me. Every time I look at the league table
they're down at the wrong end of it. But every time I see them play in the
flesh, they win; two victories at White Hart Lane and a thumping of Fulham
at Upton Park. I quite like their midfield, and Ravel Morrison will be a
real star when the consistency that comes with experience begins to kick in.
Their need for a striker is blindingly obvious; Modibo Maiga has shown some
recent improvement and Carlton Cole always puts in a shift, but neither is
likely to get anywhere near double figures over a season. A fit, in-form
Andy Carroll is what they need, but who can say when, and if, that might
happen.
West Ham's record against Arsenal is pretty dismal, six consecutive defeats,
and their next two games against West Brom and Fulham offer far more juicy
prospects of some much-needed points.
MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head
Arsenal have won their last six games against West Ham in league and cup,
and are unbeaten in the last 11 meetings (W9, D2). That unbeaten run
stretches back to the 2006-07 season, when the Hammers won both Premier
League encounters 1-0 (at Upton Park in November 2006 and at the Emirates in
April 2007).
West Ham United
The Hammers have won one of their last 10 league games (W1, D3, L6). They
have failed to score in nine of their 17 league games - the joint worst
record in the top flight. West Ham have won their last three Premier League
games played on 26 December, scoring nine goals in the process. They are
unbeaten in their last two league games at Upton Park, keeping clean sheets
in both matches.
Arsenal
The Gunners have claimed 16 points from their eight away league games, the
joint-best record in the top flight.
Arsene Wenger's only defeat in a Premier League game on 26 December came in
1999 (a 3-2 loss away to Coventry).
This is Arsenal's 100th London derby away from home in the Premier League.
The Gunners have won 44 out of the previous 99 games.
Theo Walcott has scored in his last three league appearances against West
Ham. Olivier Giroud has three goals in two games against the Hammers, while
Santi Cazorla has two in two.
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The (ex) Rev's Christmas message
KUMB.com
Filed: Tuesday, 24th December 2013
By: Elwin Cockett
Elwin Cockett is the former Chaplain to West Ham United FC and the current
Archdeacon of West Ham. Every year Elwin pens a Christmas message for the
readers of KUMB, which this year begins with a look back at recent
successes...
Happy Christmas!
We're a funny lot, us West Ham fans. Our team is struggling in the league,
to say the least, and we all know the old adage about coming down with the
decorations after Christmas, every Christmas. And yet we're still basking in
having won away at Spurs again, and we're all relishing the prospect of a
Capital One Cup semi-final. No-one could say that life as a Happy Hammer is
boring.
Maybe that's because we've learned to enjoy the good times – to savour them,
even – because we don't take them for granted. Quite frankly, we know what
it is to suffer disappointment, and so when there's reason to celebrate we
know how to do that as well.
There has been plenty to celebrate over the years, of course. On hearing the
news a few days ago of David Coleman's death my mind went back to Mexico
1970, England playing Brazil, and his words as West Ham's captain performed
what became one of the most famous tackles in history: "Jairzinho going all
the way to goal – and Moore stops him. What a player this fellow is!"
And whenever two or three Irons supporters are gathered together, a familiar
list of names and dates can be recited. "'64, it starts, 'Sissons, Hurst and
Peters; '65 Sealey's double; '66 Moore, Hurst and Peters (of course)" – and,
depending on their age, it might go on to include later cup victories,
moments like Frank Lampard Senior dancing round the corner flag; the pain of
2006 at Cardiff; play-off nights at the Boleyn Ground; famous victories
against Spurs, Man Utd and the like and great names like Cottee, Devonshire
and Di Canio.
So we members of the West Ham family have much to celebrate, even when times
seem hard – which they're not, really. Not when we compare our lot with that
of the children of Syria, or of the thousands still homeless in the wake of
the typhoon in the Philippines, or of people we all know who are fighting
cancer, or going through bereavement, or worrying about where their family's
next meal is coming from.
The old quote about football being more important than life and death is
rubbish, isn't it. Because we know, as fans, that even if the worst happens
and our team gets relegated, or loses to our nearest rivals, or gets knocked
out of the cup, it really isn't the end of the world, however bad it feels
at the time.
Christmas reminds us that some things – quite a lot of things, actually -
are more important that football. It reminds us that people matter more than
possessions, and that looking out for the next guy matters more than
grabbing everything we can for ourselves. It reminds us that generosity
benefits the giver as well as the recipient, and that selfishness cuts off
its nose to spite its face.
I've been privileged to see some great things this year; people on an
internet forum supporting a fan whose baby grandson had died; the generosity
of a 'Northern Hammer' who has donated over £2000 to a charity helping
children in Ghana to learn to read; and more than a few quiet 'acts of
random kindness' that not many except God and the people involved will ever
know about.
It's those moments that make me proud to be a member of the West Ham family.
So, folks, if you've read this far, let me congratulate you for being part
of that family. Treasure the people in your life, because you never know
what's round the corner for them and for you. Try a few 'acts of random
kindness' for fun, if nothing else. And, in the joy and magic of the
celebrations, I pray that you will encounter something very special and
different this Christmas.
God bless you.
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Adidas - or Pony?
KUMB.com
Filed: Tuesday, 24th December 2013
By: Staff Writer
West Ham United's young supporters were left disappointed after the Club's
stock of junior home replica shorts sold out by the end of November.
As reported here on KUMB yesterday, parents trying to buy replica home
shorts this Christmas have been left disappointed after the Club admitted
they had ran out of certain sizes by the end of November, with no plans to
re-stock this season.
However KUMB has discovered that this is not an issue exclusive to West Ham.
Fellow Premier League Club Stoke City - whose kit and merchandise is also
supplied by the German manufacturer - have run into similar problems since
moving to Adidas.
The kit supplier was forced to issue an apology to Stoke fans at the
beginning of this season after fans were unable to purchase replica home
shirts.
"Adidas is immensely proud of our partnership with Stoke City and we are
working extremely hard to ensure this situation is resolved quickly and
efficiently," read a statement issued on August 26th. "We would like to put
on record how sorry we are for any inconvenience caused to the fans and the
club by the delay in Adidas delivering these items."
However Stoke's problems with Adidas didn't end there. Like West Ham fans,
supporters of the Potters have been unable to purchase the Club's change
socks in adult men's sizes meaning they too are unable to fulfil Christmas
wishes.
"It must be Adidas at fault," wrote one Stoke fan. "The shop should easily
be able to re-stock its socks if they were available from the suppliers and
I can't believe that a commercial enterprise popular for xmas pressies would
make that kind of gaff. Yet another reason to ditch Adidas."
Whilst another angry Potter added: Our connection with Adidas has been
pretty awful. Basic generic Adidas catalogue strips, basic generic training
wear and merchandise along with abysmally low availability of stock and
terrible punctuality by this mammoth company. All this at a higher cost than
ever for the fans."
Yet the story doesn't end there. Bristol City, whose kit is also provided by
Adidas also received an apology from the manufacturer in July for the delay
in making replica kit available.
In a statement (which is becoming familiar by now), they said: "Adidas is
immensely proud of its partnership with Bristol City Football Club and we
would like to put on record how sorry we are for any inconvenience caused to
the fans and the club by the delay in Adidas delivering these items."
Unbelievably Swansea City - another in the Adidas stable - also received an
apology this summer after their replica kit launch was delayed.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham entertain Arsenal at Upton Park
Last Updated: 24/12/13 1:51pm
SSN
Arsenal could reclaim top spot in the Premier League when they travel across
London on Boxing Day to face West Ham. The Gunners' failure to beat Chelsea
at the Emirates Stadium meant they were unable to unseat Liverpool from the
summit going into Christmas. However, the Reds will not be in action until
later on Thursday when they attempt to storm Manchester City's fortress
Etihad, so the opportunity is there for Arsenal to take the perch back.
Arsene Wenger's side are now without a win in their last three league
outings but only their north London rivals Tottenham have picked up more
points on the road so far this season. West Ham, meanwhile, hover just a
point outside the relegation zone after going down 3-1 at Manchester United
on Saturday. Sam Allardyce's side have managed to keep clean sheets in three
of their last four home games, though, and will need to rediscover that
resilience in order to upset Arsenal. Wenger's men won 3-1 in last season's
equivalent fixture in October - Olivier Giroud, Theo Walcott and Santi
Cazorla all netting after Mohamed Diame's opener - and they beat the Hammers
5-1 when they met again three months later.
In total, Arsenal have come out on top in the last six meetings between the
sides. Both clubs boast enviable Boxing Day records in recent seasons. West
Ham have won all of their last three fixtures played on the day after
Christmas, while Wenger has only been beaten once on December 26 - a 3-2
reverse at Coventry in 1999.
This should be an away win, but Arsenal have got to get out of this little
run they're in - they've gone three league games without a win, plus that
defeat to Napoli in Europe. West Ham will sit back and try to get a 0-0 but
Arsenal should have too much for them.
PAUL PREDICTS: 0-3
West Ham
Last 6
Man Utd (a)3-1
Tottenham (a)1-2
Sunderland (h)0-0
Liverpool (a)4-1
C Palace (a)1-0
Fulham (h)3-0
Kevin Nolan returns from suspension, while manager Sam Allardyce will
continue to select defender James Tomkins despite his arrest on Sunday.
There is still no timescale on Andy Carroll's return from long-term foot
trouble. Ricardo Vaz Te and Winston Reid are still several weeks from
fitness, so are not in contention for the Barclays Premier League fixture.
Spanish goalkeeper Adrian could keep Jussi Jaaskelainen on the bench once
again after starting last weekend's 3-1 defeat at Manchester United.
Arsenal
Last 6
Chelsea (h)0-0
6-3
2-0
Everton (h)1-1
Hull City (h)2-0
Cardiff (a)0-3
Arsenal will be without midfielder Jack Wilshere as he completes a two-match
suspension. Centre-half Laurent Koscielny could return after sitting out the
game against Chelsea with a cut on his knee. Forward Yaya Sanogo (back),
midfielders Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Abou Diaby (both knee) remain
sidelined.
Opta Facts
West Ham have lost eight and won none of their last 10 Premier League games
against Arsenal.
Theo Walcott has scored in his last three Barclays Premier League
appearances against West Ham.
This is Arsenal's 100th London derby away from home in the Premier League
and the Gunners have won 44 out of 99; more victories on the road than any
other team in capital clashes.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham boss Sam Allardyce aiming to follow Chelsea's lead and stymie
Arsenal
Last Updated: 24/12/13 1:18pm
SSN
Arsenal have been told to expect another frustrating game when they go to
West Ham for the Boxing Day derby. Home supporters taunted Jose Mourinho
with chants of 'boring, boring Chelsea' as Arsenal struggled to create
chances against their organised opponents at the Emirates on Monday. And
West Ham boss Sam Allardyce, whose side shipped eight goals to Arsenal over
two games last season, plans to follow the Mourinho blueprint on Thursday.
He said: "Arsenal had a very tactical game (against Chelsea). We could do
with locking them out like Chelsea did. "We got tumbled over twice by them
last year, particularly at the Emirates, so we'll protect ourselves on
Arsenal's abilities and then try to exploit their weaknesses." Kevin Nolan
will be back to captain West Ham after serving a ban, but Winston Reid
(ankle) and Andy Carroll (foot) are still out. Allardyce said: "All the
injuries are progressing very well. Andy is improving all the time and we
expect him to be back among the lads very shortly." In the meantime
Allardyce has been linked with a move for former Sunderland striker Asamoah
Gyan, who is currently playing in the United Arab Emirates. He said: "We'll
be linked with anyone who's a centre-forward who might be coming back into
this country. "If there's a player of any sort of quality we try and find
out what the situation might be, but it's nothing more than that."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
BAD BUYS
By ExWHUemployee 24 Dec 2013 at 14:00
West Ham Till I Die
It is that time of year where we will all receive presents that perhaps were
not what we wanted and are a bit of a let-down. The same can be said about
new signings for a club and I thought just before Christmas I would reflect
upon five of Sam's worst signings. I do intend to write more frequently
again for the site, now that work has eased off a bit and I hope future
articles will be of a more positive nature.
Last month I wrote about Big Sam's best signings and promised to follow on
this month with the deals that haven't gone as well. Unfortunately recent
results have meant that doubts have been raised about whether Sam is the
right man for the job. I have always backed him but I think it is fair to
say that this season has been a disappointment so far (the league cup
excluded). I tweeted quite a few bits of information on my twitter account
this week regarding injuries and new potential signings of which one was
meant to be Adebayor. The deal was looking very likely until AVB was sacked
and he is now back in favour. I personally think this would have been a good
signing and now Sam has turned his attention to other forwards for a loan
deal, with Jelavic of Everton being a strong possibility. It is fair to say
that Sam's transfer record has been very varied. When writing this article I
found it quite hard to think who the top five (or should I say bottom
five?!) would be. So I decided that some of the key factors in making my
decision would be the obvious impact on the pitch and the cost to the club.
Modibo Maiga
The Mali international signed for an undisclosed amount reported to be close
to 5 million and is currently on £38,000 a week. He has delivered 2 goals
league goals in his time at the club (although scored a crucial and very
satisfying winner in the Capital one cup v Spurs) and has failed to fill the
void left by Andy Carroll this season. I do feel a bit sorry for him as
clearly he would play better off a target man in a 4-4-2 but he hasn't been
given those opportunities. He showed glimpses of his talent when coming on
as a sub v Spurs but unfortunately this has been very few and far between.
He started his time here with a bit of promise and scored a good goal
against Southampton and got the crucial 3rd against Chelsea but other than a
couple of goals in the capital one cup there hasn't been much else to talk
about. I think it is fair to say that if the club could recruit even half of
what we paid for him in the January window we would take that offer.
Alou Diarra
A former French international midfield captain who had represented his
country, in the summer that he was signed, at Euro 2012. He was also signed
for an undisclosed transfer fee reported to be 2.5m and with wages close to
£40,000 a week. Injuries have majorly disrupted his time here as well as a
reported falling out with Big Sam and his agents over reported lies in his
contract discussions. Things were going so wrong for him at our beloved club
that we sent him out on loan to Rennes. Whether he will play an important
role this season is yet to be seen but I suspect highly unlikely. With the
current defensive "issues" there is talk that he and George McCartney will
get more game time but we shall see.
Matt Jarvis
I was torn about including Matt and really wish I didn't have to but
unfortunately I do not think he has justified the, at the time, club record
transfer fee that we had paid for him which was reported to be around 11m.
Matt clearly has talent and put in 42 successful crosses last season which
was the highest total in the premiership. Although the return of two goals
was disappointing especially when you consider one was an attempted pass. I
think he still has a lot to offer the club and when Andy Carroll gets fit he
should be more productive. I do also wish he would be given a chance on the
right flank where he wouldn't have to cut back to get his cross in! The fact
that he was, until all the injuries, on the sub's bench shows that he hasn't
reached his potential yet.
Emanuel Pogatetz
The player arrived with quite a good CV and a number of years of premiership
experience. He was brought in to cover centre back and left back.
Unfortunately "Mad Dog's" appearances could not have been any worse. In one
of the worst performances I have seen at West Ham in recent years, he came
on at 72 minutes with West Ham 2-1 up against Spurs, we then ended up losing
the game 3-2 and he looked totally out of his depth. Things didn't really
improve much from the Spurs game and needless to say he wasn't signed.
Marouane Chamakh
He was brought in to provide Andy Carroll with competition for a starting
place. Another player who had quite a decent CV and actually held Champions
League scoring records in his time. He arrived with quite high wages and
unfortunately never justified them. To be fair to Marouane he didn't really
get much game time and any chance to prove himself. You knew this transfer
was destined to fail when Jack Sullivan tweeted an apology to the fans for
the purchase. The player unfortunately has come back to haunt us when he
scored the winner in the league encounter.
There are of course a number of players who were "lucky" to miss out on this
top five. Due to the significant impact that it has had on our season Andy
Carroll could be considered. If he was fit I would say he would be in our
top five signings but the gamble to put "all of our eggs into one basket"
has really back fired. I have been told he is targeting a mid-January return
but I won't be counting my chickens (I couldn't resist!) until I see him on
the pitch. I wanted him to stay but I still don't understand how he "passed"
the medical when he was injured at the time.
John Carew is another who commanded quite high wages and delivered very
little impact. It is not often that you have three forwards who are signed
in one season and then sold/released at the end of that season but we said
goodbye to Carew, Baldock and Maynard all of which were not considered good
enough for the premier league. Of course there have been others who could
have been in the top five and I am sure others reading this article will
disagree with my choices. One thing is for certain we really cannot afford
to pick up any more bad buys in the January window!
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Sam Allardyce slams James Tomkins for being at TOWIE nightspot Sugar Hut
after assault charge
Dec 24, 2013 12:53 By Neil McLeman
The Mirror
"I don't think James should have been there, irrespective of whether he got
into trouble or not," says Hammers boss
Sam Allardyce has said James Tomkins should not have been at an infamous
TOWIE nightspot in the early hours of Sunday morning. The West Ham defender
was arrested and charged with assaulting a police officer after an incident
at the Sugar Hut Village in Brentwood. Allardyce said Tomkins would continue
to be picked for West Ham , starting with the Boxing Day visit of Arsenal.
But although the defender had broken no disciplinary code, the Irons boss
was not clearly unimpressed with the 24-year-old being out after midnight.
"Because of the legal side of it, it is difficult for me to comment,"
Allardyce said. "The only thing I can say is that I don't think James should
have been there, irrespective of whether he got into trouble or not. "It is
the biggest profile public house in this country probably and he would have
been better if he had stayed away. "From a club's point of view, there is
nothing he has broken in terms of rules. It is five or six days till the
next game so what will happen from a legal point of view, we will have to
wait and see."
Allardyce said there was no Christmas curfew for players but added: "I
expect them to be professional enough without me telling them what they
should or shouldn't be doing. "Within the confines of what we can do and
what we can restrict them to, based on the fact that we can't ban anyone 100
per cent from doing anything because the PFA wouldn't allow us to do that so
we have certain restrictions about being on licensed premises at a certain
time in the week before the next game comes along and that was well outside
of that."
Tomkins will appear at Basildon Magistrates' Court on January 9. Allardyce
added: "I can't give out any punishment out yet because he has pleaded not
guilty and I think when we come to a conclusion in the case, we can see what
the situation is. "From a football point of view, he is a footballer we
need. He is obviously a big player for West Ham and he is West Ham born and
bred. "It is an incident which we wish had never had happened and we won't
really know the outcome until or if it goes to court. Until then it is: 'Get
on with the job, get on performing well for West Ham if and when he is
selected'."
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http://vyperz.blogspot.com
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Tuesday, December 24
Daily WHUFC News - 24th December 2013
Potts returns from Pompey
WHUFC.com
Dan Potts is back at the Boleyn Ground following his loan spell with Sky Bet League Two Portsmouth
23.12.2013
Dan Potts has returned to West Ham United upon the completion of his loan spell at Sky Bet League Two outfit Portsmouth. The Hammers full-back made five appearances for Pompey during his month on the south coast, but was unable to arrest the Club's league slump. Still only 19, Potts featured in two draws and three defeats, with newly-appointed Richie Barker's men in 19th spot, two points clear of the drop zone. Potts was left out of the squad that lost 2-0 at Bristol Rovers on Saturday and will now team up with the Hammers once more for the festive period. Elsewhere, Jordan Spence continues to impress for League One Milton Keynes Dons, who romped to a 3-0 home win over Port Vale. Spence played the full 90 minutes - his ninth start for the club - as the Dons wrapped up the points inside 32 minutes, courtesy of Stephen Gleeson, Ben Reeves and Patrick Bamford goals. The result sees Karl Robinson's side climb one spot to eleventh, having now recorded three successive wins and clean sheets in all competitions. Also in League One, Blair Turgott started as Colchester United triumphed 2-0 at Oldham Athletic. Turgott played 69 minutes before being replaced by Clinton Morrison, by which time the U's had already sealed the game thanks to Ellis Plummer's own goal and a Jabo Ibehre strike. Pelly Ruddock, meanwhile, is having a similarly successful stint with Skrill Conference Premier side Luton Town, who are unbeaten in nine in league and cup. The Hatters entertained Gateshead on Saturday, easing to a 4-2 home win and, in doing so, moved to within a point of league leaders Cambridge United. Twenty-year-old Ruddock started and completed the contest, as the Hatters hit four within the hour, before twice conceding in the latter stages.
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Demel looking ahead
WHUFC.com
Defender not dwelling on Old Trafford defeat as Arsenal visit looms
23.12.2013
Guy Demel says West Ham United have to put the defeat at Manchester United out of their minds now in order to bring festive cheer to fans in the London derby against Arsenal on Boxing Day. The defender was speaking after the 3-1 loss at Old Trafford and said while it was disappointing to lose following the Capital One Cup win over Tottenham Hotspur in mid-week, it was a case of now looking to the next match. "It is always disappointing to lose any game of football, maybe people didn't expect us to get anything there [Old Trafford] but we went there to try and see what we could do, so we are very disappointed at the result and that we didn't play as well as we would have wanted to. "But we have to pick ourselves up again and learn from what we did do right and what we didn't do right and focus on putting it towards a good performance and hopefully a point or more against Arsenal on Boxing Day."
Demel spent a year at the Gunners between 2000 and 2001, although he didn't make a first-team appearance for Arsene Wenger's team during that time, before his transfer to Borussia Dortmund, with whom he won the Bundesliga. He then moved on to Hamburg before arriving at West Ham in August 2011.
He says that it will be tough but the Hammers have to make the fact they are at home a key element in trying to get a result. "We all know Arsenal is a great side and a force this season, but we are at home, it is a London derby and you know, if we can get our performance right, take our chances that we create and keep it tight at the back, and then we always give ourselves a chance. "Our last two games at home have been a win and a draw, with two clean sheets also in those matches, so we want to keep that going and hopefully send our fans home happy on a Boxing Day match, these games are special. We know that if they see us trying to do what we can to get the result, they will be behind us, so we have to go into the match to do our best."
He added: "It is not easy, we are having tough times this season but we must just stay strong to change our position in the league as we need points and have to keep working hard to do this."
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West Ham's James Tomkins charged with police assault
BBC.co.uk
A Premier League footballer has been charged with assaulting a police officer over an incident at an Essex night club popular with celebrities. West Ham player James Tomkins, 24, was refused entry at the Sugar Hut Village in Brentwood early on Sunday and security staff called police. Mr Tomkins was taken into custody and charged with assault, resisting arrest and being drunk and disorderly. He will appear at Basildon Magistrates' Court on 9 January, police said.
Earlier in the day he had played against Manchester United at Old Trafford. A police spokesman said: "Officers were called by security staff from the Sugar Hut Village shortly before 00:30 GMT on Sunday following reports of a disturbance." He added that Mr Tomkins, from Brentwood, was later charged with one count of assaulting a police officer, one count of resisting arrest and one count of being drunk and disorderly in a public place. The defender was released on police bail until his court appearance.
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Three managers in a year? I did it in a month!
KUMB.com
Filed: Monday, 23rd December 2013
By: Staff Writer
Danny Potts has returned to West Ham United following an eventful five-week stint on loan at League Two Portsmouth. The 19-year-old full back featured on five occasions for the 2008 FA Cup winners during his brief spell on the South coast without managing to finish on the winning side. And bizarrely, he worked under three different managers during that brief 35-day period.
Guy Whittingham brought Potts to Portsmouth on November 20th but was fired just seven days later. Andy Awford was subsequently placed in caretaker charge before Richie Barker became the Club's latest permanent manager on December 9th - a role in which he is being assisted by Steve Coppell.
Despite the turmoil surrounding the south coast club and failing to be included in Portsmouth's squad for last weekend's 2-0 defeat at Bristol Rovers, despite being eligible to play, Potts has not ruled out a return in the future should the opportunity arise.
"At this stage of my career I want to play games, no matter where it is," he told local press. "I want to play first-team games and I've enjoyed every minute of that here.It has been a great opportunity and a great experience.
"First-team football is a must at my age now so it was definitely the right time for me to get out playing games. It has definitely benefited me being here [as] there's nothing like playing in front of a big crowd."
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LOFT say no to OS
KUMB.com
Filed: Monday, 23rd December 2013
By: Staff Writer
Supporters of Leyton Orient have once again reiterated their stance not to support a potential move to the Olympic Stadium.
Earlier this week Orient owner Barry Hearn was told by the London Legacy Development Corporation that he may yet be able to share the Olympic Stadium with West Ham United if agreement could be reached with the as-yet-unknown company who will be operating the stadium.
However the Leyton Orient Fans' Trust revealed today that they would not support any move from Brisbane Road until such time as supporters had been given full consultation over the proposed switch.
"Regardless of who O's chairman Barry Hearn is potentially able to strike a deal with to rent the Olympic Stadium for some or all of Orient's home matches, our stance remains it has been all along and as reiterated several months ago," read a statement posted on the Trust's website.
"Simply put, we cannot support any move to the Olympic Stadium for Leyton Orient until supporters have been properly consulted and the implications (both financial and match day experience) have been made clear.
"There is much to celebrate and build on of our uniqueness as football club, and to differentiate us from our probable even-nearer neighbour. Any move away from Brisbane Road has to be proven to be better for the club than staying put and fighting our corner of east London."
Hearn's prospects of winning his battle to shoehorn Orient into the Olympic Stadium improved dramatically last Wednesday following a meeting between himself and the LLDC.
Whilst he was told that West Ham's tenancy was not at stake, Hearn was informed that he would be free to negotiate a deal with the stadium's future operators. That contradicts Karren Brady's previous assertion that West Ham would have sole use of the stadium during the football season.
"West Ham won't want to hear this but the news that came down is they [the LLDC] have no problem with me renting the Olympic Stadium and playing my fixtures there," he told the Telegraph. "It's only a question of what rental I agree with the new operators. That's a major breakthrough for me.
"They [the operators] will realise that there is nothing else to go in there during the football season. If they ask me for £1 million per game I'm not going to move in but, when push comes to shove, to recoup fixed costs – even partial fixed costs – it is better than having an empty stadium as far as the taxpayer is concerned.
"If they quote me something ridiculous, I will hang them out to dry, in terms of, 'This is a community club and you're trying to take liberties."
Both LiveNation and AEG are understood to be preparing bids to win the right to manage the Stratford-based stadium when not in use by West Ham United FC.
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Shop out of stock - four weeks before Christmas
KUMB.com
Filed: Monday, 23rd December 2013
By: Staff Writer
There was major disappointment for many young Hammers fans this year after West Ham's online store ran out of stock of junior-sized replica home shorts - at the start of December.
Many supporters were disappointed to discover that they wouldn't be able to purchase the replica kit via the Club's online store due to a stock shortage - whilst those who contacted the club to ask when new stock would be arriving were told "not before Christmas".
That was a huge disappointment to Tony Close, for one, who was hoping to get a full home kit for his seven-year-old son. However there was further disappointment to follow for Tony - who hails from County Antrim, Northern Ireland - when he was advised to visit a Club shop instead, the nearest of which (at Lakeside) is approximately 500 miles away!
"My reply to them after I got that email was 'are you able to buy online from either of these stores as it might be a bit costly to travel from Northern Ireland to buy them in person there'! But nobody replied. I also tweeted David Gold twice about it, but no reply.
"Its madness if you ask me; how can they not have items in stock online at this time of year? I'm sure I'm not the only fan in this predicament. What exactly am I meant to do, get my son the away shorts? Tell him Santa's made a mistake? I don't think that works for a 7-year-old."
Having registered a complaint to the Club, Mr Close placed a new order for away shorts and socks, both of which were available. However he was to be disappointed once again when he opened the parcel to find an away shirt instead of the shorts he had ordered.
Upon contacting the Club once again Mr Close was advised to keep the shirt as a measure of goodwill and informed that the postage and packaging charges applied to his second order would be reimbursed. The shorts ordered by Mr Close were also resent.
Fortunately a number of kind-hearted fellow supporters have since offered to pop into one of the Club's store's in order to collect the home shorts for Tony's son.
However the whole episode has left him with a bitter taste in his mouth. "It's amazing how helpful everyone has been and it's very much appreciated, "he told KUMB. "But this entire matter has caused undue stress and annoyance."
West Ham, who refuse to sell Club merchandise outside of their own retail outlets blamed "exceptional response" for being out of stock during the busiest month of the year.
"Despite increasing our order with our kit supplier higher than any other previous season, due to the exceptional response from fans with our new partnership with Adidas we have for the 2013/14 season sold out of home shorts," said the Club.
"For any inconvenience this causes we would like to apologise but would like to suggest as we advise all fans and make clear in our marketing communications at the start of the season to buy early to avoid missing out.
"This product is even more popular during the summer months as we find our fans shop for their Summer holidays so by the cold months of December and with early Christmas shopping patterns it would explain why these are sold out."
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Tomkins arrested over nightclub fracas
KUMB.com
Filed: Monday, 23rd December 2013
By: Staff Writer
James Tomkins has become the latest Hammer to fall foul of the long arm of the law after he was arrested outside a Brentwood nightclub in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The 24-year-old central defender was arrested and charged with assaulting a police officer following a disturbance at the Sugar Hut nightclub a matter of hours after a West Ham squad - including Tomkins - had been beaten 3-1 at Manchester United.
Eye witness reports claim that the defender - who was at the club with two fellow team mates - became involved in a fracas with doormen just after midnight on Sunday morning. The altercation is thought to have begun after Tomkins was refused entry to the club.
Police were eventually called by club security and Tomkins - who had been spotted in Shenfield earlier in the evening where he had happily posed for photos with Hammers fans at the Lot 75 wine bar - was subsequently arrested before being later charged with assaulting a police officer.
Essex Police confirmed that an arrest had been made, stating: "Officers arrived and arrested James Tomkins before later charging him with one count of assaulting a police officer, one count of resisting arrest and one count of being drunk and disorderly in a public place."
Tomkins was released on bail this following morning and ordered to appear at Basildon Magistrates' Court - his town of birth - on January 9.
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West Ham's James Collins criticises Adnan Januzaj for diving
Last Updated: 23/12/13 8:11pm
SSN
West Ham United defender James Collins has criticised Manchester United's Adnan Januzaj for diving during their game at Old Trafford on Saturday. Januzaj was booked for simulation during West Ham's 3-1 defeat but Collins has said the 18-year-old will learn from his mistakes. "It's cheating basically," Collins told Weekend Warm-Up on Sky Sports News. "I don't like to see it in the game. He probably thinks I am going to stick my leg out and he's probably already thinking about going over. "Obviously he's taken a dive. He's a young lad, a great player, I'm sure he will learn. David Moyes seems to have this conversation quite a lot at his club with Ashley Young. It happens in football. He (Januzaj) is a great player and played very well at the weekend. He's learning the game and if he carries on playing the way he is, he is going to be a top-drawer player."
Manchester United manager David Moyes revealed he would speak to Januzaj after the teenager's latest eye-catching performance. "I saw it, but I believe he thought he was going to be chopped down." said Moyes. "He's been getting kicked upside down for weeks but we'll be making sure (diving) doesn't creep into his play."
West Ham are 17th in the Premier League and club captain Kevin Nolan cancelled the players' Christmas party because of a poor run of form. "We don't deserve one really," said Collins. "If we are doing well, it's nice to go out as a team and celebrate. But we haven't been performing. The captain decided it wasn't appropriate for us to be out partying. I think it was the right idea."
West Ham are into the semi-finals of the Capital One Cup but have only won one of their last ten Premier League games. "The confidence has obviously taken a hit after doing so well last year," said Collins. "We knew it would be a tough season. We're not scoring as many goals as we would like to. We have eight clean sheets but we are just not scoring enough. Everyone needs to be chipping in and that's a major factor as to why we are down near the bottom of the league."
Collins has said Sam Allardyce's experience will prove invaluable as West Ham prepare to face Arsenal and West Bromwich Albion at Upton Park over the festive period. "He's been in the game a long time. He has a terrific record in these situations with previous clubs. He knows what he is doing and tactically he is spot on and his preparations are spot on. "We would obviously like to be on more points going into the Christmas period with some tough games. We have played quite well in games where we have deserved to get points."
West Ham striker Andy Carroll will continue his rehabilitation after a repeated foot injury has ruled him out of the season so far. "He's been great," said Collins. "He's had a tough time. He's been out longer than we all anticipated. He's been working ever so hard. You can see it every day, he's in the gym. It looks like he has turned the corner and he will be back soon."
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Potts departs Pompey
Last Updated: 23/12/13 1:03pm
SSN
Dan Potts is back at West Ham after concluding his loan spell with League Two club Portsmouth. The 19-year-old left-back made five appearances for Pompey after moving to Fratton Park last month. But he did not appear in Saturday's 2-0 defeat by Bristol Rovers as new boss Richie Barker wanted to look at how Marcos Painter performed at the back. Barker explained: "Potts is going back and I had to make a decision on people who were going to be here this week."
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West Ham defender James Tomkins charged over police officer assault
Last Updated: 23/12/13 8:51am
SSN
West Ham defender James Tomkins has been bailed after being charged with assaulting a police officer outside a nightclub. A statement from Essex Police read: "A man is due to appear in court next month (January) after he was charged with assaulting a police officer outside a nightclub in Brentwood. "Police had been contacted by security staff from Brentwood's Sugar Hut Village shortly before 12:30am on Sunday, December 22 following reports of a disturbance.
"Officers arrived and arrested James Tomkins before later charging him with one count of assaulting a police officer, one count of resisting arrest and one count of being drunk and disorderly in a public place."
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Asamoah Gyan linked with West Ham loan move
Last Updated: 23/12/13 11:31pm
SSN
Sources close to Asamoah Gyan have told Sky Sports News that West Ham have made an approach to take the striker on loan. Gyan who made 34 appearances for Sunderland, scoring 10 goals, is currently playing in the United Arab Emirates for Al Ain. West Ham have made no comment on claims they want to sign Gyan on a six-month loan deal in January. Gyan, 28, has made 76 appearances for Ghana and had spells in Europe with Udinese, Modena and Rennes prior to joining Sunderland.
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WEST HAM MAKE AN 'APPROACH' FOR ASAMOAH GYAN!
By S J Chandos 24 Dec 2013 at 00:22
West Ham Till I Die
Sky Sports News (SSN) have reported that West Ham have made an 'approach' to sign Asamoah Gyan on a six month loan. Gyan has previously starred for Udinese, Modena and Rennes. He also made 34 Premier League appreances for Sunderland, scoring 10 goals. The 28 year old Ghanian international is currently playing for United Arab Emirates club, Al Ain. It would appear that Gyan is a step up in class from some of the strikers recently linked with us. Is this a good potential loan move? Or is it more likely to be the product of an agent taking West Ham's name in vain to generate interest in his client?
SJ. Chandos.
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West Ham 'have offered Asamoah Gyan a £100,000 a week loan deal'
Dec 24, 2013 02:09 By Chris Richards 0 Comments
The Mirror
Hammers boss Sam Allardyce reportedly wants to bring in the Ghana striker, 28, for six months until the end of the season
West Ham have reportedly offered striker Asamoah Gyan a deal worth £100,000 a week to help keep them up. According to The Sun, Hammers boss Sam Allardyce wants the Ghanaian, 28, on a six month loan from United Arab Emirates club Al Ain. He is wanted as cover for the injured £19 million hitman Andy Carroll. Ex-Sunderland forward Gyan scored 10 goals in 34 games in his two seasons on Wearside. West Ham currently lie 17th in the Premier League.
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West Ham and Newcastle after Schmeichel
It was today been reported by The Daily Telegraph that Leicester City goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel is being tracked by Premier League duo West Ham United and Newcastle United. The West Ham United and Newcastle United targets contract runs out at the end of the season, meaning if Schmeichel was keen to leave Leicester the club may be forced to sell for a cut price fee. This is not the first time Premier League clubs have been linked with Schmeichel, and last season European giants Real Madrid were also said to be looking at the former Manchester City man. If the Foxes were to continue their impressive start to the season and achieve promotion to the Premier League it would be expected that Schmeichel would stay with the club.
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WHUFC.com
Dan Potts is back at the Boleyn Ground following his loan spell with Sky Bet League Two Portsmouth
23.12.2013
Dan Potts has returned to West Ham United upon the completion of his loan spell at Sky Bet League Two outfit Portsmouth. The Hammers full-back made five appearances for Pompey during his month on the south coast, but was unable to arrest the Club's league slump. Still only 19, Potts featured in two draws and three defeats, with newly-appointed Richie Barker's men in 19th spot, two points clear of the drop zone. Potts was left out of the squad that lost 2-0 at Bristol Rovers on Saturday and will now team up with the Hammers once more for the festive period. Elsewhere, Jordan Spence continues to impress for League One Milton Keynes Dons, who romped to a 3-0 home win over Port Vale. Spence played the full 90 minutes - his ninth start for the club - as the Dons wrapped up the points inside 32 minutes, courtesy of Stephen Gleeson, Ben Reeves and Patrick Bamford goals. The result sees Karl Robinson's side climb one spot to eleventh, having now recorded three successive wins and clean sheets in all competitions. Also in League One, Blair Turgott started as Colchester United triumphed 2-0 at Oldham Athletic. Turgott played 69 minutes before being replaced by Clinton Morrison, by which time the U's had already sealed the game thanks to Ellis Plummer's own goal and a Jabo Ibehre strike. Pelly Ruddock, meanwhile, is having a similarly successful stint with Skrill Conference Premier side Luton Town, who are unbeaten in nine in league and cup. The Hatters entertained Gateshead on Saturday, easing to a 4-2 home win and, in doing so, moved to within a point of league leaders Cambridge United. Twenty-year-old Ruddock started and completed the contest, as the Hatters hit four within the hour, before twice conceding in the latter stages.
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Demel looking ahead
WHUFC.com
Defender not dwelling on Old Trafford defeat as Arsenal visit looms
23.12.2013
Guy Demel says West Ham United have to put the defeat at Manchester United out of their minds now in order to bring festive cheer to fans in the London derby against Arsenal on Boxing Day. The defender was speaking after the 3-1 loss at Old Trafford and said while it was disappointing to lose following the Capital One Cup win over Tottenham Hotspur in mid-week, it was a case of now looking to the next match. "It is always disappointing to lose any game of football, maybe people didn't expect us to get anything there [Old Trafford] but we went there to try and see what we could do, so we are very disappointed at the result and that we didn't play as well as we would have wanted to. "But we have to pick ourselves up again and learn from what we did do right and what we didn't do right and focus on putting it towards a good performance and hopefully a point or more against Arsenal on Boxing Day."
Demel spent a year at the Gunners between 2000 and 2001, although he didn't make a first-team appearance for Arsene Wenger's team during that time, before his transfer to Borussia Dortmund, with whom he won the Bundesliga. He then moved on to Hamburg before arriving at West Ham in August 2011.
He says that it will be tough but the Hammers have to make the fact they are at home a key element in trying to get a result. "We all know Arsenal is a great side and a force this season, but we are at home, it is a London derby and you know, if we can get our performance right, take our chances that we create and keep it tight at the back, and then we always give ourselves a chance. "Our last two games at home have been a win and a draw, with two clean sheets also in those matches, so we want to keep that going and hopefully send our fans home happy on a Boxing Day match, these games are special. We know that if they see us trying to do what we can to get the result, they will be behind us, so we have to go into the match to do our best."
He added: "It is not easy, we are having tough times this season but we must just stay strong to change our position in the league as we need points and have to keep working hard to do this."
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West Ham's James Tomkins charged with police assault
BBC.co.uk
A Premier League footballer has been charged with assaulting a police officer over an incident at an Essex night club popular with celebrities. West Ham player James Tomkins, 24, was refused entry at the Sugar Hut Village in Brentwood early on Sunday and security staff called police. Mr Tomkins was taken into custody and charged with assault, resisting arrest and being drunk and disorderly. He will appear at Basildon Magistrates' Court on 9 January, police said.
Earlier in the day he had played against Manchester United at Old Trafford. A police spokesman said: "Officers were called by security staff from the Sugar Hut Village shortly before 00:30 GMT on Sunday following reports of a disturbance." He added that Mr Tomkins, from Brentwood, was later charged with one count of assaulting a police officer, one count of resisting arrest and one count of being drunk and disorderly in a public place. The defender was released on police bail until his court appearance.
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Three managers in a year? I did it in a month!
KUMB.com
Filed: Monday, 23rd December 2013
By: Staff Writer
Danny Potts has returned to West Ham United following an eventful five-week stint on loan at League Two Portsmouth. The 19-year-old full back featured on five occasions for the 2008 FA Cup winners during his brief spell on the South coast without managing to finish on the winning side. And bizarrely, he worked under three different managers during that brief 35-day period.
Guy Whittingham brought Potts to Portsmouth on November 20th but was fired just seven days later. Andy Awford was subsequently placed in caretaker charge before Richie Barker became the Club's latest permanent manager on December 9th - a role in which he is being assisted by Steve Coppell.
Despite the turmoil surrounding the south coast club and failing to be included in Portsmouth's squad for last weekend's 2-0 defeat at Bristol Rovers, despite being eligible to play, Potts has not ruled out a return in the future should the opportunity arise.
"At this stage of my career I want to play games, no matter where it is," he told local press. "I want to play first-team games and I've enjoyed every minute of that here.It has been a great opportunity and a great experience.
"First-team football is a must at my age now so it was definitely the right time for me to get out playing games. It has definitely benefited me being here [as] there's nothing like playing in front of a big crowd."
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LOFT say no to OS
KUMB.com
Filed: Monday, 23rd December 2013
By: Staff Writer
Supporters of Leyton Orient have once again reiterated their stance not to support a potential move to the Olympic Stadium.
Earlier this week Orient owner Barry Hearn was told by the London Legacy Development Corporation that he may yet be able to share the Olympic Stadium with West Ham United if agreement could be reached with the as-yet-unknown company who will be operating the stadium.
However the Leyton Orient Fans' Trust revealed today that they would not support any move from Brisbane Road until such time as supporters had been given full consultation over the proposed switch.
"Regardless of who O's chairman Barry Hearn is potentially able to strike a deal with to rent the Olympic Stadium for some or all of Orient's home matches, our stance remains it has been all along and as reiterated several months ago," read a statement posted on the Trust's website.
"Simply put, we cannot support any move to the Olympic Stadium for Leyton Orient until supporters have been properly consulted and the implications (both financial and match day experience) have been made clear.
"There is much to celebrate and build on of our uniqueness as football club, and to differentiate us from our probable even-nearer neighbour. Any move away from Brisbane Road has to be proven to be better for the club than staying put and fighting our corner of east London."
Hearn's prospects of winning his battle to shoehorn Orient into the Olympic Stadium improved dramatically last Wednesday following a meeting between himself and the LLDC.
Whilst he was told that West Ham's tenancy was not at stake, Hearn was informed that he would be free to negotiate a deal with the stadium's future operators. That contradicts Karren Brady's previous assertion that West Ham would have sole use of the stadium during the football season.
"West Ham won't want to hear this but the news that came down is they [the LLDC] have no problem with me renting the Olympic Stadium and playing my fixtures there," he told the Telegraph. "It's only a question of what rental I agree with the new operators. That's a major breakthrough for me.
"They [the operators] will realise that there is nothing else to go in there during the football season. If they ask me for £1 million per game I'm not going to move in but, when push comes to shove, to recoup fixed costs – even partial fixed costs – it is better than having an empty stadium as far as the taxpayer is concerned.
"If they quote me something ridiculous, I will hang them out to dry, in terms of, 'This is a community club and you're trying to take liberties."
Both LiveNation and AEG are understood to be preparing bids to win the right to manage the Stratford-based stadium when not in use by West Ham United FC.
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Shop out of stock - four weeks before Christmas
KUMB.com
Filed: Monday, 23rd December 2013
By: Staff Writer
There was major disappointment for many young Hammers fans this year after West Ham's online store ran out of stock of junior-sized replica home shorts - at the start of December.
Many supporters were disappointed to discover that they wouldn't be able to purchase the replica kit via the Club's online store due to a stock shortage - whilst those who contacted the club to ask when new stock would be arriving were told "not before Christmas".
That was a huge disappointment to Tony Close, for one, who was hoping to get a full home kit for his seven-year-old son. However there was further disappointment to follow for Tony - who hails from County Antrim, Northern Ireland - when he was advised to visit a Club shop instead, the nearest of which (at Lakeside) is approximately 500 miles away!
"My reply to them after I got that email was 'are you able to buy online from either of these stores as it might be a bit costly to travel from Northern Ireland to buy them in person there'! But nobody replied. I also tweeted David Gold twice about it, but no reply.
"Its madness if you ask me; how can they not have items in stock online at this time of year? I'm sure I'm not the only fan in this predicament. What exactly am I meant to do, get my son the away shorts? Tell him Santa's made a mistake? I don't think that works for a 7-year-old."
Having registered a complaint to the Club, Mr Close placed a new order for away shorts and socks, both of which were available. However he was to be disappointed once again when he opened the parcel to find an away shirt instead of the shorts he had ordered.
Upon contacting the Club once again Mr Close was advised to keep the shirt as a measure of goodwill and informed that the postage and packaging charges applied to his second order would be reimbursed. The shorts ordered by Mr Close were also resent.
Fortunately a number of kind-hearted fellow supporters have since offered to pop into one of the Club's store's in order to collect the home shorts for Tony's son.
However the whole episode has left him with a bitter taste in his mouth. "It's amazing how helpful everyone has been and it's very much appreciated, "he told KUMB. "But this entire matter has caused undue stress and annoyance."
West Ham, who refuse to sell Club merchandise outside of their own retail outlets blamed "exceptional response" for being out of stock during the busiest month of the year.
"Despite increasing our order with our kit supplier higher than any other previous season, due to the exceptional response from fans with our new partnership with Adidas we have for the 2013/14 season sold out of home shorts," said the Club.
"For any inconvenience this causes we would like to apologise but would like to suggest as we advise all fans and make clear in our marketing communications at the start of the season to buy early to avoid missing out.
"This product is even more popular during the summer months as we find our fans shop for their Summer holidays so by the cold months of December and with early Christmas shopping patterns it would explain why these are sold out."
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Tomkins arrested over nightclub fracas
KUMB.com
Filed: Monday, 23rd December 2013
By: Staff Writer
James Tomkins has become the latest Hammer to fall foul of the long arm of the law after he was arrested outside a Brentwood nightclub in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The 24-year-old central defender was arrested and charged with assaulting a police officer following a disturbance at the Sugar Hut nightclub a matter of hours after a West Ham squad - including Tomkins - had been beaten 3-1 at Manchester United.
Eye witness reports claim that the defender - who was at the club with two fellow team mates - became involved in a fracas with doormen just after midnight on Sunday morning. The altercation is thought to have begun after Tomkins was refused entry to the club.
Police were eventually called by club security and Tomkins - who had been spotted in Shenfield earlier in the evening where he had happily posed for photos with Hammers fans at the Lot 75 wine bar - was subsequently arrested before being later charged with assaulting a police officer.
Essex Police confirmed that an arrest had been made, stating: "Officers arrived and arrested James Tomkins before later charging him with one count of assaulting a police officer, one count of resisting arrest and one count of being drunk and disorderly in a public place."
Tomkins was released on bail this following morning and ordered to appear at Basildon Magistrates' Court - his town of birth - on January 9.
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West Ham's James Collins criticises Adnan Januzaj for diving
Last Updated: 23/12/13 8:11pm
SSN
West Ham United defender James Collins has criticised Manchester United's Adnan Januzaj for diving during their game at Old Trafford on Saturday. Januzaj was booked for simulation during West Ham's 3-1 defeat but Collins has said the 18-year-old will learn from his mistakes. "It's cheating basically," Collins told Weekend Warm-Up on Sky Sports News. "I don't like to see it in the game. He probably thinks I am going to stick my leg out and he's probably already thinking about going over. "Obviously he's taken a dive. He's a young lad, a great player, I'm sure he will learn. David Moyes seems to have this conversation quite a lot at his club with Ashley Young. It happens in football. He (Januzaj) is a great player and played very well at the weekend. He's learning the game and if he carries on playing the way he is, he is going to be a top-drawer player."
Manchester United manager David Moyes revealed he would speak to Januzaj after the teenager's latest eye-catching performance. "I saw it, but I believe he thought he was going to be chopped down." said Moyes. "He's been getting kicked upside down for weeks but we'll be making sure (diving) doesn't creep into his play."
West Ham are 17th in the Premier League and club captain Kevin Nolan cancelled the players' Christmas party because of a poor run of form. "We don't deserve one really," said Collins. "If we are doing well, it's nice to go out as a team and celebrate. But we haven't been performing. The captain decided it wasn't appropriate for us to be out partying. I think it was the right idea."
West Ham are into the semi-finals of the Capital One Cup but have only won one of their last ten Premier League games. "The confidence has obviously taken a hit after doing so well last year," said Collins. "We knew it would be a tough season. We're not scoring as many goals as we would like to. We have eight clean sheets but we are just not scoring enough. Everyone needs to be chipping in and that's a major factor as to why we are down near the bottom of the league."
Collins has said Sam Allardyce's experience will prove invaluable as West Ham prepare to face Arsenal and West Bromwich Albion at Upton Park over the festive period. "He's been in the game a long time. He has a terrific record in these situations with previous clubs. He knows what he is doing and tactically he is spot on and his preparations are spot on. "We would obviously like to be on more points going into the Christmas period with some tough games. We have played quite well in games where we have deserved to get points."
West Ham striker Andy Carroll will continue his rehabilitation after a repeated foot injury has ruled him out of the season so far. "He's been great," said Collins. "He's had a tough time. He's been out longer than we all anticipated. He's been working ever so hard. You can see it every day, he's in the gym. It looks like he has turned the corner and he will be back soon."
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Potts departs Pompey
Last Updated: 23/12/13 1:03pm
SSN
Dan Potts is back at West Ham after concluding his loan spell with League Two club Portsmouth. The 19-year-old left-back made five appearances for Pompey after moving to Fratton Park last month. But he did not appear in Saturday's 2-0 defeat by Bristol Rovers as new boss Richie Barker wanted to look at how Marcos Painter performed at the back. Barker explained: "Potts is going back and I had to make a decision on people who were going to be here this week."
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West Ham defender James Tomkins charged over police officer assault
Last Updated: 23/12/13 8:51am
SSN
West Ham defender James Tomkins has been bailed after being charged with assaulting a police officer outside a nightclub. A statement from Essex Police read: "A man is due to appear in court next month (January) after he was charged with assaulting a police officer outside a nightclub in Brentwood. "Police had been contacted by security staff from Brentwood's Sugar Hut Village shortly before 12:30am on Sunday, December 22 following reports of a disturbance.
"Officers arrived and arrested James Tomkins before later charging him with one count of assaulting a police officer, one count of resisting arrest and one count of being drunk and disorderly in a public place."
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Asamoah Gyan linked with West Ham loan move
Last Updated: 23/12/13 11:31pm
SSN
Sources close to Asamoah Gyan have told Sky Sports News that West Ham have made an approach to take the striker on loan. Gyan who made 34 appearances for Sunderland, scoring 10 goals, is currently playing in the United Arab Emirates for Al Ain. West Ham have made no comment on claims they want to sign Gyan on a six-month loan deal in January. Gyan, 28, has made 76 appearances for Ghana and had spells in Europe with Udinese, Modena and Rennes prior to joining Sunderland.
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WEST HAM MAKE AN 'APPROACH' FOR ASAMOAH GYAN!
By S J Chandos 24 Dec 2013 at 00:22
West Ham Till I Die
Sky Sports News (SSN) have reported that West Ham have made an 'approach' to sign Asamoah Gyan on a six month loan. Gyan has previously starred for Udinese, Modena and Rennes. He also made 34 Premier League appreances for Sunderland, scoring 10 goals. The 28 year old Ghanian international is currently playing for United Arab Emirates club, Al Ain. It would appear that Gyan is a step up in class from some of the strikers recently linked with us. Is this a good potential loan move? Or is it more likely to be the product of an agent taking West Ham's name in vain to generate interest in his client?
SJ. Chandos.
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West Ham 'have offered Asamoah Gyan a £100,000 a week loan deal'
Dec 24, 2013 02:09 By Chris Richards 0 Comments
The Mirror
Hammers boss Sam Allardyce reportedly wants to bring in the Ghana striker, 28, for six months until the end of the season
West Ham have reportedly offered striker Asamoah Gyan a deal worth £100,000 a week to help keep them up. According to The Sun, Hammers boss Sam Allardyce wants the Ghanaian, 28, on a six month loan from United Arab Emirates club Al Ain. He is wanted as cover for the injured £19 million hitman Andy Carroll. Ex-Sunderland forward Gyan scored 10 goals in 34 games in his two seasons on Wearside. West Ham currently lie 17th in the Premier League.
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West Ham and Newcastle after Schmeichel
It was today been reported by The Daily Telegraph that Leicester City goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel is being tracked by Premier League duo West Ham United and Newcastle United. The West Ham United and Newcastle United targets contract runs out at the end of the season, meaning if Schmeichel was keen to leave Leicester the club may be forced to sell for a cut price fee. This is not the first time Premier League clubs have been linked with Schmeichel, and last season European giants Real Madrid were also said to be looking at the former Manchester City man. If the Foxes were to continue their impressive start to the season and achieve promotion to the Premier League it would be expected that Schmeichel would stay with the club.
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Monday, December 23
Daily WHUFC News - 23rd December 2013
Manager on Monday
WHUFC.com
West Ham United manager Sam Allardyce is demanding consistency ahead of
Arsenal's visit
22.12.2013
Sam Allardyce is not planning to dwell on Saturday's Barclays Premier League
defeat at Manchester United, instead calling on his West Ham United players
to forget about the weekend's disappointment ahead of a flurry of festive
fixtures. The Hammers host Arsenal and West Bromwich Albion in the space of
just three days this week and Big Sam expects a more consistent showing than
the one he witnessed at Old Trafford. While the weekend's trip to the
champions was always likely to prove challenging, Big Sam was nevertheless
aggrieved to see his men give the hosts a helping hand. Conceding twice
prior to the interval put the visitors firmly on the back foot and the
Hammers boss admits that a slow start made life all but impossible
thereafter. A modest tally of 14 points from 17 games is certainly not what
Big Sam had envisaged at this stage, but he knows perfectly well what is
required to remedy the situation. "It's a difficult test for us now and it's
going to be a long haul in terms of digging ourselves out of this position,"
he explained. "We just have to make sure that we don't make the types of
error that we made in the first half on Saturday. "We have to be more
consistent in our performances and certainly we've got to find more goals.
"I can't complain about Saturday's result and I can't complain about the
fact that we were 2-0 down at half-time because of our own deficiencies in
our performance. "Manchester United's players will take full advantage of
basic mistakes in your own half, which they did on the two goals. "You
always have to weather the storm when you start at Old Trafford, not giving
too much encouragement. I think unfortunately for us we weren't able to do
that and ended up fighting a losing battle in the second half. "It's always
a tough task from there on and my disappointment was that our first half was
not good enough. It's about forgetting Saturday and moving on to Arsenal as
we quickly as we can."
Skipper Kevin Nolan will be back in contention for the Gunners' Boxing Day
visit, having served his three-match ban, and Big Sam is understandably keen
to see the return of other influential absentees. He explained: "We've got
to go all out to get some of the players who are injured back in the team,
because they will make a difference to us. "There are too few players who
are fit at the moment for me. My position is always this. When Stewart
Downing, Winston Reid, Ricardo Vaz Te and Andy Carroll are playing back in
the team, it will make the team bigger, stronger and bring more quality.
"That's no disrespect to what the players are doing at the moment, but
everyone wants their best players fit. We're missing them and we need to try
to get them back as soon as we possibly can."
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'We thought we could cause an upset'
WHUFC.com
Carlton Cole was disappointed at Saturday's loss at Manchester United
despite getting on the scoresheet
22.12.2013
Carlton Cole showed that practice proves perfect with his consolation goal
at Manchester United on Saturday. The Hammers striker has put in extra work
on the Chadwell Heath training pitches to hone his ability when one-on-one
with the goalkeeper, and he was given the perfect opportunity to benefit
when Modibo Maiga played him through with nine minutes left to play. The
No24 made no mistake to push the ball through David de Gea's legs, but he
admitted the goal would have meant a whole lot more had his team not been
3-0 down at the time. Second half sub Ashley Young added to earlier goals
from Danny Welbeck and Adnan Januzaj to leave the Hammers frustrated in
their quest to inflict a third straight home league defeat on the Red
Devils. Cole explained: "We wanted to at least get a result from the game,
so the gloss is taken off scoring at Old Trafford. "For the goal Van [Maiga]
picked up the ball in midfield, they got turned and when you're playing with
two strikers one goes to the ball and one pulls away. "He saw my run, I was
kept onside by their left-back [Alexander Buttner], so I ran along his line
and behind the centre-back and right-back. It was a lovely timed ball and I
was in. "I saw the goalkeeper coming up towards me with his legs wide open,
so I made up my mind to go through his legs. "He put his knees down to try
and close the gap, and it just went through that, so I hit it in a good
place and I'm happy with that goal because I've been practicing one-on-ones.
I did about 10 or 20 in a row, just before the Tottenham game so I'm happy
that came off. "I just wish it was a bit earlier so we could have done
something with it."
The game had already slipped the Hammers by when Cole entered the fray at
3-0 down, but he felt that even before his goal the Hammers were making a
better first of the match after the break. He continued: "I thought we
didn't have a great first half, but we imposed ourselves a little bit better
in the second half. We changed formation and gave them a few more things to
think about. "Going 2-0 down at Old Trafford before half time makes things
difficult as it would need heroics to get back in the game. "At the end of
the day, we were away at Old Trafford, but we did really think that we could
come here and upset things. We didn't, that's football and hopefully we can
go on to our next game now and get the result we need."
The Hammers entertain Arsenal next up, with the Gunners coming across London
to contest a Boxing Day derby. Arsene Wenger's men may be riding high in the
Barclays Premier League table, but Cole still believes his team can achieve
a positive result. He added: "We need any sort of result we can get against
Arsenal. We need to get our home form much better than it is but we can feel
we can produce another upset in the away games we have, like we did at
Tottenham. "It didn't happen on Saturday, but I do feel that we have a
chance in every game we play, it's just about capitalising on our chances."
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Winston Reid targets January return
KUMB.com
Filed: Sunday, 22nd December 2013
By: Staff Writer
West Ham United's Winston Reid says he is looking forward to playing
football once again - which he hopes to be sometime in January.
West Ham's key Kiwi has been out of action since sustaining the injury
during a routine training exercise at the beginning of November, having
twisted an ankle after getting his foot trapped between an opponent's legs.
And whilst the Hammers have desperately missed Reid's calming influence
since - in the first four games without the 25-year-old at the heart of what
had previously been a rock-solid defence, the Hammers conceded 14 goals - he
too is desperate to get back playing again as soon as possible.
"I recently had surgery for my injury and it'll be several weeks until I'm
ready to play for West Ham again," he said in a blog for Wunderelf. "Now
comes the monotonous program of physical therapy and rehabilitation.
"Unfortunately with my injury I can't play again this year, but the
rehabilitation is going really well and I'm now without pain. My goal is to
be fit again sometime in January, but when exactly I dare not predict."
Reid, who was an Avram Grant acquisition in 2010 is now one of the Club's
most important assets and a player whose presence many supporters view as
vital in the fight to avoid relegation.
West Ham too value his importance - hence why he has been given extra leave
in order to aid his recovery. "The club has given me permission to go home
to Sonderborg for a few days at Christmas," revealed Reid.
"It's super that they understand it's probably not very encouraging,
mentally speaking, if you have to sit alone in your apartment without family
who are far away in a different country when you are already unable to play.
"It's not the most fun for a football player, but the Club have a really
good understanding of the situation. They know that a player's morale can
rapidly deteriorate with such a rehabilitation program so they give you some
liberties you would not otherwise have.
"I was also sent to Dubai for seven days to enable me to exercise in nice
weather and beautiful surroundings. It gives you a nice boost ahead of the
everyday life of rehabilitation. When I'm back in London I start at 8am and
work with different exercises and treatments until four in the afternoon."
Whilst he can't be part of West Ham's hectic Christmas programme - which
includes three Premier League matches against Arsenal, West Brom and Fulham
within a week - Reid says he'll be there in spirit, at least - and willing
his team mates on to get more vital BPL points on the board.
"Right now we face the Premier League's legendary Christmas program. It's a
lot of games in a very short period and with a very special Christmas
atmosphere in the stadium," he said. "We can't afford a poor run of results
as we need points on the table.
"Arsenal [on Boxing Day] is obviously a difficult game - that goes without
saying - but it's a big London derby, a big game for the Club and the fans
and winnable - especially as it's also a Christmas game. But we must taste
victory at Upton Park against West Bromwich Albion."
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Hammers bag young striker
KUMB.com
Filed: Sunday, 22nd December 2013
By: Staff Writer
West Ham are poised to complete the signing of Peterborough United's teenage
striker Jaanai Gordon-Hutton. Following weeks of speculation the deal is now
set to be confirmed after the two clubs reached agreement over a transfer
fee for the promising 18-year-old. The youngster spent a brief period on
trial at Chadwell Heath last month during which he impressed sufficiently to
draw a firm bid from the Hammers. That initial offer was rejected by Posh,
who it has been suggested were looking for up to £5million for the player.
However a deal was finally struck when West Ham submitted an improved bid.
Jack Sullivan, the son of co-Chairman David Sullivan confirmed the deal had
been done on his Twitter timeline, stating: "We have signed Jaanai
Gordon-Hutton! Four-year deal will start in January. He's one for the
future."
Born in Northampton in 1995, Gordon-Hutton signed his first contract with
Peterborough in 2009 at the age of just 14, before turning pro in 2012. He
made his first team debut for the Posh in September 2012 as a second half
substitute in their 2-0 home defeat against Wolves. Gordon-Hutton went on to
make three more appearances for Peterborough in 2012/13 including his first
start against Hull in January 2013 - a 1-1 draw in which he played for 82
minutes. This season he made three brief first team substitute appearances
before joining West Ham on trial in November.
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HOW DO WE TURN THIS AROUND?
By Tony Hanna 22 Dec 2013 at 12:28
West Ham Till I Die
The beginning of this season had a sense of anticipation about it. Last
season had seen a relatively comfortable 10th place finish, and whilst we
were never completely clear of the relegation zone our home form was good
enough to allay any fears of an immediate return to the Championship. This
season our preseason form was excellent with Jarvis, J Cole and Ravel
looking really sharp. Andy Carroll was still injured but was due back any
time soon and any doubts of anything but a comfortable season were wiped
away with a 2-0 win against Cardiff in our first game of the season.
Four months later and we have won only two more Premier League games – that
is three wins in 17 matches and that form is confirmed on the league table
as we sit just one point above the bottom three and five points adrift of
14th place. This is the form of a relegation candidate and the way the teams
performances have dipped alarmingly in recent times, it is a high
probability. The preseason was hugely deceptive. Jarvis and Cole have only
showed glimpses of form and Ravel, whilst shining in the match highlights,
has not stamped himself as a midfield force. Perhaps we expect too much of
him? Perhaps it is the support of the players around him? And then we have
Andy Carroll. The player the manager has built his team around has not
kicked a ball yet this season. Then to throw salt into the wounds we have
our best player, Winston Reid injured for months, and Downing who had been
the best performer in recent games, injured for a couple of months as well.
So the hounds have been let loose and the blood letting is rampant for Sam
to be axed. As the season wore on and defeats became the norm, the negative
football and lack of ambition from the players has become dire. The only
real highlights for us 'Ammers have been the twin victories in League and
Cup at Spurs. They certainly will provide great memories for us but to be
realistic, we were awful in both games for the majority of play. In both
games Spurs should have been out of sight before a twenty minute spell in
the League game, and a ten minute spell in the Cup game, brought us dramatic
victories in both.
I have long been in Sam's corner but even now I am doubting myself. The
problem with sacking Sam is what manager is going to get any better results
out of the current squad? In his time at Upton Park he has surrounded
himself with ex Bolton players, players with the same agent as himself, and
other players suited to one style – HIS style. My real concern is if another
manager did come in, would he get the full support of these Sam clones? I
have my doubts. Our current squad of players has serious limitations – but
one thing is for certain, at full strength and playing a physical game we
are a match for many. Two wingers and Andy in the middle, or set pieces with
Andy, Collins or Tomkins and Reid in the box and we will create havoc. With
the current players we have at the moment this is our strength. However, at
present we don't have Andy and now we don't have Reid or Downing and what
are we doing? We are playing the only way we know but without our most
powerful players and it looks, and is, dire!
If we did bring in a new man how much would change? We do not have any
midfield players who can hold the ball. Noble is all heart and grunt, but
can't put his foot on the ball and dictate. Nolan is just the grunt and is
too old and slow. Diame is a fantastic dynamic player with his drives
forward, but again has no composure or patience. For me, it has all come a
bit too quickly for Ravel. He has sublime talent but again his burden of
Noble sitting too deep and Diame exhausted after his forward thrusts, he
just seems to be a bit overwhelmed, especially in a side that is obviously
lacking confidence. I am sure Ravel would excel in a good side playing with
confidence. When Joe Cole plays, he too, is devoid of his old guile and is
often caught out and way out of position. The whole midfield just lacks
cohesion and is crying out for a revamp if we want to change our "Sam Style"
Unfortunately, the job is too big for a new man to fix this season IMO. It
would be unfair and unrealistic for a new manager with new ideas to inherit
such a one dimensional squad of players and expect the results to change.
Our best bet is to let Sam and Andy try to get us out of this fix and either
way Au Revoir to both before next season when we will need to rebuild a new
squad – whatever division we are playing in.
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Sam Allardyce says West Ham need to pick up their points-to-games ratio
Dec 22, 2013 22:30 By David McDonnell 0 Comments
The Mirror
"It's 14 points from 17 games and that's fewer points than games played.
That's got to be caught up as soon as possible
Sam Allardyce admitted West Ham must improve their points-to-games ratio to
haul themselves out of trouble. The Hammers are just one place above the
drop zone and without a win in the Premier League since November 30. Next up
for Allardyce's side is a home encounter against Arsenal on Boxing Day, with
Big Sam conceding they need to put points on the board. "It doesn't matter
if we're in the bottom three or not," said Allardyce. "It's 14 points from
17 games and that's fewer points than games played. That's got to be caught
up as soon as possible and that's a massive task that will take six, seven
or eight games.
"Everyone talks about winning one game after the other and us being all
right but it hasn't happened since we got back into the Premier League.
"It's got to happen now. It's a long haul through Christmas and January now
for us to get ourselves away from the relegation zone. "Manchester United
were always going to come out fighting as they'd lost two home games in a
row, but we didn't make life difficult for them. "I looked at the stats and
they're not very good in the second-half if they're drawing at half-time.
But we gave them two goals early on with some poor play and made it easy for
them."
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West Ham boss Sam Allardyce unhappy with side's lack of determination in
Manchester United defeat
Dec 21, 2013 18:57 By Alex Richards 1 Comments
The Mirror
West Ham United boss Sam Allardyce was left disappointed with his side's
lack of desire and resilience during their 3-1 defeat by Manchester United.
The Hammers arrived at Old Trafford on the back of a 2-1 win against
Tottenham in the Capital One Cup on Wednesday evening, but a similar result
never looked likely. Danny Welbeck and Adnan Januzaj eased United into a 2-0
half-time lead and Ashley Young added a third after the break. Carlton Cole
came off the bench to score the away side a late consolation - only the 14th
goal of their Premier League season. But Allardyce, having rotated his squad
to ensure fresh legs, felt his side made life too easy for David Moyes' men.
"My disappointment was we played so well at Tottenham away a short time
ago," said the ex-Blackburn boss. "We changed the team around to play some
fresh legs but you didn't see the resilience and determination today. United
were always going to come out fighting as they had lost two home games in a
row but we didn't make life difficult for them. "I looked at the stats and
Manchester United are not very good in the second half if they are drawing
at half-time. "But we gave them two goals early on with some poor play and
made it easy for them."
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WHUFC.com
West Ham United manager Sam Allardyce is demanding consistency ahead of
Arsenal's visit
22.12.2013
Sam Allardyce is not planning to dwell on Saturday's Barclays Premier League
defeat at Manchester United, instead calling on his West Ham United players
to forget about the weekend's disappointment ahead of a flurry of festive
fixtures. The Hammers host Arsenal and West Bromwich Albion in the space of
just three days this week and Big Sam expects a more consistent showing than
the one he witnessed at Old Trafford. While the weekend's trip to the
champions was always likely to prove challenging, Big Sam was nevertheless
aggrieved to see his men give the hosts a helping hand. Conceding twice
prior to the interval put the visitors firmly on the back foot and the
Hammers boss admits that a slow start made life all but impossible
thereafter. A modest tally of 14 points from 17 games is certainly not what
Big Sam had envisaged at this stage, but he knows perfectly well what is
required to remedy the situation. "It's a difficult test for us now and it's
going to be a long haul in terms of digging ourselves out of this position,"
he explained. "We just have to make sure that we don't make the types of
error that we made in the first half on Saturday. "We have to be more
consistent in our performances and certainly we've got to find more goals.
"I can't complain about Saturday's result and I can't complain about the
fact that we were 2-0 down at half-time because of our own deficiencies in
our performance. "Manchester United's players will take full advantage of
basic mistakes in your own half, which they did on the two goals. "You
always have to weather the storm when you start at Old Trafford, not giving
too much encouragement. I think unfortunately for us we weren't able to do
that and ended up fighting a losing battle in the second half. "It's always
a tough task from there on and my disappointment was that our first half was
not good enough. It's about forgetting Saturday and moving on to Arsenal as
we quickly as we can."
Skipper Kevin Nolan will be back in contention for the Gunners' Boxing Day
visit, having served his three-match ban, and Big Sam is understandably keen
to see the return of other influential absentees. He explained: "We've got
to go all out to get some of the players who are injured back in the team,
because they will make a difference to us. "There are too few players who
are fit at the moment for me. My position is always this. When Stewart
Downing, Winston Reid, Ricardo Vaz Te and Andy Carroll are playing back in
the team, it will make the team bigger, stronger and bring more quality.
"That's no disrespect to what the players are doing at the moment, but
everyone wants their best players fit. We're missing them and we need to try
to get them back as soon as we possibly can."
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'We thought we could cause an upset'
WHUFC.com
Carlton Cole was disappointed at Saturday's loss at Manchester United
despite getting on the scoresheet
22.12.2013
Carlton Cole showed that practice proves perfect with his consolation goal
at Manchester United on Saturday. The Hammers striker has put in extra work
on the Chadwell Heath training pitches to hone his ability when one-on-one
with the goalkeeper, and he was given the perfect opportunity to benefit
when Modibo Maiga played him through with nine minutes left to play. The
No24 made no mistake to push the ball through David de Gea's legs, but he
admitted the goal would have meant a whole lot more had his team not been
3-0 down at the time. Second half sub Ashley Young added to earlier goals
from Danny Welbeck and Adnan Januzaj to leave the Hammers frustrated in
their quest to inflict a third straight home league defeat on the Red
Devils. Cole explained: "We wanted to at least get a result from the game,
so the gloss is taken off scoring at Old Trafford. "For the goal Van [Maiga]
picked up the ball in midfield, they got turned and when you're playing with
two strikers one goes to the ball and one pulls away. "He saw my run, I was
kept onside by their left-back [Alexander Buttner], so I ran along his line
and behind the centre-back and right-back. It was a lovely timed ball and I
was in. "I saw the goalkeeper coming up towards me with his legs wide open,
so I made up my mind to go through his legs. "He put his knees down to try
and close the gap, and it just went through that, so I hit it in a good
place and I'm happy with that goal because I've been practicing one-on-ones.
I did about 10 or 20 in a row, just before the Tottenham game so I'm happy
that came off. "I just wish it was a bit earlier so we could have done
something with it."
The game had already slipped the Hammers by when Cole entered the fray at
3-0 down, but he felt that even before his goal the Hammers were making a
better first of the match after the break. He continued: "I thought we
didn't have a great first half, but we imposed ourselves a little bit better
in the second half. We changed formation and gave them a few more things to
think about. "Going 2-0 down at Old Trafford before half time makes things
difficult as it would need heroics to get back in the game. "At the end of
the day, we were away at Old Trafford, but we did really think that we could
come here and upset things. We didn't, that's football and hopefully we can
go on to our next game now and get the result we need."
The Hammers entertain Arsenal next up, with the Gunners coming across London
to contest a Boxing Day derby. Arsene Wenger's men may be riding high in the
Barclays Premier League table, but Cole still believes his team can achieve
a positive result. He added: "We need any sort of result we can get against
Arsenal. We need to get our home form much better than it is but we can feel
we can produce another upset in the away games we have, like we did at
Tottenham. "It didn't happen on Saturday, but I do feel that we have a
chance in every game we play, it's just about capitalising on our chances."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Winston Reid targets January return
KUMB.com
Filed: Sunday, 22nd December 2013
By: Staff Writer
West Ham United's Winston Reid says he is looking forward to playing
football once again - which he hopes to be sometime in January.
West Ham's key Kiwi has been out of action since sustaining the injury
during a routine training exercise at the beginning of November, having
twisted an ankle after getting his foot trapped between an opponent's legs.
And whilst the Hammers have desperately missed Reid's calming influence
since - in the first four games without the 25-year-old at the heart of what
had previously been a rock-solid defence, the Hammers conceded 14 goals - he
too is desperate to get back playing again as soon as possible.
"I recently had surgery for my injury and it'll be several weeks until I'm
ready to play for West Ham again," he said in a blog for Wunderelf. "Now
comes the monotonous program of physical therapy and rehabilitation.
"Unfortunately with my injury I can't play again this year, but the
rehabilitation is going really well and I'm now without pain. My goal is to
be fit again sometime in January, but when exactly I dare not predict."
Reid, who was an Avram Grant acquisition in 2010 is now one of the Club's
most important assets and a player whose presence many supporters view as
vital in the fight to avoid relegation.
West Ham too value his importance - hence why he has been given extra leave
in order to aid his recovery. "The club has given me permission to go home
to Sonderborg for a few days at Christmas," revealed Reid.
"It's super that they understand it's probably not very encouraging,
mentally speaking, if you have to sit alone in your apartment without family
who are far away in a different country when you are already unable to play.
"It's not the most fun for a football player, but the Club have a really
good understanding of the situation. They know that a player's morale can
rapidly deteriorate with such a rehabilitation program so they give you some
liberties you would not otherwise have.
"I was also sent to Dubai for seven days to enable me to exercise in nice
weather and beautiful surroundings. It gives you a nice boost ahead of the
everyday life of rehabilitation. When I'm back in London I start at 8am and
work with different exercises and treatments until four in the afternoon."
Whilst he can't be part of West Ham's hectic Christmas programme - which
includes three Premier League matches against Arsenal, West Brom and Fulham
within a week - Reid says he'll be there in spirit, at least - and willing
his team mates on to get more vital BPL points on the board.
"Right now we face the Premier League's legendary Christmas program. It's a
lot of games in a very short period and with a very special Christmas
atmosphere in the stadium," he said. "We can't afford a poor run of results
as we need points on the table.
"Arsenal [on Boxing Day] is obviously a difficult game - that goes without
saying - but it's a big London derby, a big game for the Club and the fans
and winnable - especially as it's also a Christmas game. But we must taste
victory at Upton Park against West Bromwich Albion."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Hammers bag young striker
KUMB.com
Filed: Sunday, 22nd December 2013
By: Staff Writer
West Ham are poised to complete the signing of Peterborough United's teenage
striker Jaanai Gordon-Hutton. Following weeks of speculation the deal is now
set to be confirmed after the two clubs reached agreement over a transfer
fee for the promising 18-year-old. The youngster spent a brief period on
trial at Chadwell Heath last month during which he impressed sufficiently to
draw a firm bid from the Hammers. That initial offer was rejected by Posh,
who it has been suggested were looking for up to £5million for the player.
However a deal was finally struck when West Ham submitted an improved bid.
Jack Sullivan, the son of co-Chairman David Sullivan confirmed the deal had
been done on his Twitter timeline, stating: "We have signed Jaanai
Gordon-Hutton! Four-year deal will start in January. He's one for the
future."
Born in Northampton in 1995, Gordon-Hutton signed his first contract with
Peterborough in 2009 at the age of just 14, before turning pro in 2012. He
made his first team debut for the Posh in September 2012 as a second half
substitute in their 2-0 home defeat against Wolves. Gordon-Hutton went on to
make three more appearances for Peterborough in 2012/13 including his first
start against Hull in January 2013 - a 1-1 draw in which he played for 82
minutes. This season he made three brief first team substitute appearances
before joining West Ham on trial in November.
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HOW DO WE TURN THIS AROUND?
By Tony Hanna 22 Dec 2013 at 12:28
West Ham Till I Die
The beginning of this season had a sense of anticipation about it. Last
season had seen a relatively comfortable 10th place finish, and whilst we
were never completely clear of the relegation zone our home form was good
enough to allay any fears of an immediate return to the Championship. This
season our preseason form was excellent with Jarvis, J Cole and Ravel
looking really sharp. Andy Carroll was still injured but was due back any
time soon and any doubts of anything but a comfortable season were wiped
away with a 2-0 win against Cardiff in our first game of the season.
Four months later and we have won only two more Premier League games – that
is three wins in 17 matches and that form is confirmed on the league table
as we sit just one point above the bottom three and five points adrift of
14th place. This is the form of a relegation candidate and the way the teams
performances have dipped alarmingly in recent times, it is a high
probability. The preseason was hugely deceptive. Jarvis and Cole have only
showed glimpses of form and Ravel, whilst shining in the match highlights,
has not stamped himself as a midfield force. Perhaps we expect too much of
him? Perhaps it is the support of the players around him? And then we have
Andy Carroll. The player the manager has built his team around has not
kicked a ball yet this season. Then to throw salt into the wounds we have
our best player, Winston Reid injured for months, and Downing who had been
the best performer in recent games, injured for a couple of months as well.
So the hounds have been let loose and the blood letting is rampant for Sam
to be axed. As the season wore on and defeats became the norm, the negative
football and lack of ambition from the players has become dire. The only
real highlights for us 'Ammers have been the twin victories in League and
Cup at Spurs. They certainly will provide great memories for us but to be
realistic, we were awful in both games for the majority of play. In both
games Spurs should have been out of sight before a twenty minute spell in
the League game, and a ten minute spell in the Cup game, brought us dramatic
victories in both.
I have long been in Sam's corner but even now I am doubting myself. The
problem with sacking Sam is what manager is going to get any better results
out of the current squad? In his time at Upton Park he has surrounded
himself with ex Bolton players, players with the same agent as himself, and
other players suited to one style – HIS style. My real concern is if another
manager did come in, would he get the full support of these Sam clones? I
have my doubts. Our current squad of players has serious limitations – but
one thing is for certain, at full strength and playing a physical game we
are a match for many. Two wingers and Andy in the middle, or set pieces with
Andy, Collins or Tomkins and Reid in the box and we will create havoc. With
the current players we have at the moment this is our strength. However, at
present we don't have Andy and now we don't have Reid or Downing and what
are we doing? We are playing the only way we know but without our most
powerful players and it looks, and is, dire!
If we did bring in a new man how much would change? We do not have any
midfield players who can hold the ball. Noble is all heart and grunt, but
can't put his foot on the ball and dictate. Nolan is just the grunt and is
too old and slow. Diame is a fantastic dynamic player with his drives
forward, but again has no composure or patience. For me, it has all come a
bit too quickly for Ravel. He has sublime talent but again his burden of
Noble sitting too deep and Diame exhausted after his forward thrusts, he
just seems to be a bit overwhelmed, especially in a side that is obviously
lacking confidence. I am sure Ravel would excel in a good side playing with
confidence. When Joe Cole plays, he too, is devoid of his old guile and is
often caught out and way out of position. The whole midfield just lacks
cohesion and is crying out for a revamp if we want to change our "Sam Style"
Unfortunately, the job is too big for a new man to fix this season IMO. It
would be unfair and unrealistic for a new manager with new ideas to inherit
such a one dimensional squad of players and expect the results to change.
Our best bet is to let Sam and Andy try to get us out of this fix and either
way Au Revoir to both before next season when we will need to rebuild a new
squad – whatever division we are playing in.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Sam Allardyce says West Ham need to pick up their points-to-games ratio
Dec 22, 2013 22:30 By David McDonnell 0 Comments
The Mirror
"It's 14 points from 17 games and that's fewer points than games played.
That's got to be caught up as soon as possible
Sam Allardyce admitted West Ham must improve their points-to-games ratio to
haul themselves out of trouble. The Hammers are just one place above the
drop zone and without a win in the Premier League since November 30. Next up
for Allardyce's side is a home encounter against Arsenal on Boxing Day, with
Big Sam conceding they need to put points on the board. "It doesn't matter
if we're in the bottom three or not," said Allardyce. "It's 14 points from
17 games and that's fewer points than games played. That's got to be caught
up as soon as possible and that's a massive task that will take six, seven
or eight games.
"Everyone talks about winning one game after the other and us being all
right but it hasn't happened since we got back into the Premier League.
"It's got to happen now. It's a long haul through Christmas and January now
for us to get ourselves away from the relegation zone. "Manchester United
were always going to come out fighting as they'd lost two home games in a
row, but we didn't make life difficult for them. "I looked at the stats and
they're not very good in the second-half if they're drawing at half-time.
But we gave them two goals early on with some poor play and made it easy for
them."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham boss Sam Allardyce unhappy with side's lack of determination in
Manchester United defeat
Dec 21, 2013 18:57 By Alex Richards 1 Comments
The Mirror
West Ham United boss Sam Allardyce was left disappointed with his side's
lack of desire and resilience during their 3-1 defeat by Manchester United.
The Hammers arrived at Old Trafford on the back of a 2-1 win against
Tottenham in the Capital One Cup on Wednesday evening, but a similar result
never looked likely. Danny Welbeck and Adnan Januzaj eased United into a 2-0
half-time lead and Ashley Young added a third after the break. Carlton Cole
came off the bench to score the away side a late consolation - only the 14th
goal of their Premier League season. But Allardyce, having rotated his squad
to ensure fresh legs, felt his side made life too easy for David Moyes' men.
"My disappointment was we played so well at Tottenham away a short time
ago," said the ex-Blackburn boss. "We changed the team around to play some
fresh legs but you didn't see the resilience and determination today. United
were always going to come out fighting as they had lost two home games in a
row but we didn't make life difficult for them. "I looked at the stats and
Manchester United are not very good in the second half if they are drawing
at half-time. "But we gave them two goals early on with some poor play and
made it easy for them."
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