December 27th, 2011 - 4:17 pm by Iain Dale
West Ham Till I Die
With Kevin Nolan, Julien Faubert, Jack Collison and George McCartney all
suspended for the trip to Derby on Friday and countless other players
(Taylor, Faye, Baldock, Reid, Demel still out through injury, I doubt
whether anyone will be able to guess Sam Allardyce's team selection. But
it's Christmas, and seeing as we have all got bugger all else to do apart
from eat cold turkey and polish off that second tin of Quality Street, we
might as well have a go.
So of the current first eleven, let's pencil in Rob Green, Joey O'Brien,
James Tomkins, Mark Noble and Carlton Cole. Papa Bouba Diop and Daniel Potts
are also fairly certain to start. So, four to go. Well, Henri Lansbury is
back and fit, so he'll be in. Let's assume Piquionne will also start
(although he certainly doesn't deserve to), so that leaves two positions to
fill - centre back and a wide player. Now in theory Papa Bouba Diop could go
back into central defence, but I think we will ned his tough tackling in
midfield, so Joey O'Brien is the one likely to move over and partner
Tomkins. This leaves the right back slot and one midfield place up for
grabs. My preference would be for Cristiano Montano to be recalled from
Dagenham, where he has been scoring a lot of goals, including two yesterday.
If he isn't ready now, then when will he be? Others will no doubt make a
case for Bryan Montengro. But most managers play safe in these circumstances
and believe that experience is the best way forward. Which means that Gary
O'Neill is likely to make his first appearance following his dreadful
injury. So who plays right back? It's got to be a youngster, I would submit
- Callum Driver, your time may well have arrived.
So, here's my eleven for Derby.
Green
O'Brien
Tomkins
Driver
Bouba Diop
Potts
Noble
O'Neill
Lansbury
Cole
Piquionne
But then again, what do I know?
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West Ham face competition for Portuguese defender
By talkSPORT
Tuesday, December 27
West Ham's interest in Valencia defender Ricardo Costa has forced Real Betis
to up their pursuit of the 30-year-old. Hammers' manager Sam Allardyce has
admitted to having a list of 25 players that he has handed to the club's
owners with a view to rejuvenating his injury-hit squad, with the
experienced Portuguese thought to be one of the targets. The former Porto
man has started just two La Liga games this season but his ability to play
anywhere along the back-line is enough to attract a number of clubs across
Europe, including Turkish club Trabzonspor who could offer him Europa Cup
football. West Ham have been hit with a number of injuries this season and
will miss three first-team regulars against Derby on New Year's Eve after
Kevin Nolan, George McCartney and Julien Foubert picked up their fifth
bookings of the season on Monday against Birmingham. According to Spanish
newspaper Marca, Betis are ready top step up their efforts to stop West Ham
from getting one of their targets signed and sealed early in the window.
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