WHUFC.com
Rob Hall scored twice in a 3-2 Development Squad defeat by Fulham on Tuesday
afternoon
10.04.2012
West Ham United's Development Squad lost a tight match 3-2 to Fulham on
Tuesday at Little Heath. The team, which included Papa Bouba Diop, Sam
Baldock and Dan Potts, were beaten by a strong Fulham reserve side despite
two excellent goals from Rob Hall. Despite Hall's brace, manager Ian Hendon
was left frustrated with the Hammers first half display. Fulham started much
the brighter and took the lead after just two minutes when a through ball
split the West Ham defence and striker Ronnie Minkwitz stroked the ball
home. Two minutes before the half, the scores were levelled when Sam Baldock
chested the ball down on the edge of the area before Hall struck a wonderful
half-volley into the top right-hand corner of the net. "We made it tough for
ourselves in the first 45 to be honest," said Hendon. "We didn't play as
well as we know we can, we didn't get amongst them and we showed them too
much respect. Because of that we got punished and we were lucky to end the
half on level terms."
Hendon made changes at the break and the second half was a different story
as the Hammers came out fighting - pushing Fulham back into their own half.
The hosts got their reward when, 20 minutes into the second half, winger
Blair Turgott won a penalty after latching onto Seb Lletget's through ball.
Unfortunately for the Hammers, Hall's spot-kick was saved by Grant Smith in
the Fulham goal, Hendon said, "We made a few changes with Blair and Dom Vose
coming on, which freshened things up a bit, and I did give the lads a little
rocket at half-time. They played with more urgency in the second half, got
amongst the Fulham boys a bit more, shut the ball down and pushed them into
their own half for the first 15 minutes of the second half and we got our
reward with the penalty."
The penalty miss seemed to take the wind out of the Hammers sails and three
minutes later Fulham took the lead. A free-kick on the edge of the area was
expertly dispatched into the top corner by Whites midfielder Alex Smith.
Fulham then extended their lead just two minutes later with Buomesca Tue Na
Bangna poking the ball home following a corner. There was still time left
for Hall to double his tally for the day with a free-kick from the
right-hand side of the area that he curled brilliantly over the wall and
into the top corner. Boss Hendon was impressed with Hall's overall
performance. "Rob's got that in his locker, he's a great ball striker which
you can see from his goal and free kick today. He's got that ability to
score goals which he showed and overall he did well today which is down to
his hard work on the training pitch."
West Ham United XI: Cowler, Driver, Potts (Fanimo), Diop (Turgott), Wearen,
K.Lee, Morrison (Ruddock), Lletget (Powell), Montenegro (McCallum), Hall,
Baldock (Vose)
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'There is no doubt in anybody's mind'
WHUFC.com
In-form Ricardo Vaz Te is convinced West Ham United are still on course for
promotion
09.04.2012
Ricardo Vaz Te remains in 'no doubt' that West Ham United will be promoted
after salvaging a point from Easter Monday's thrilling 3-3 npower
Championship draw with Birmingham City. Vaz Te took his Hammers tally to
seven goals in 12 appearances with a powerful header and nerveless
88th-minute penalty as Sam Allardyce's side battled back from a two-goal
half-time deficit. The forward is possibly the most modest footballer on the
planet and refused to take the plaudits for slamming the late spot-kick high
into the net after Chris Burke had handled substitute Henri Lansbury's shot.
"There is no doubt in anybody's mind - the players and the staff - that
we're going up," he said. "That's the aim and nobody is running from the
responsibility. Some people might have a doubt, but we dominated the game
and should have won. We just have to keep improving and keep focuring on
getting better. "I didn't really show guts to take the penalty! We all
showed guts to get ourselves in that position again, to fight back so hard
after making silly mistakes to be behind. I just stepped up like anybody
else would have done. There was no doubt from anybody on the pitch that we
were getting back in the game."
Vaz Te may have been with West Ham for only ten weeks, but he has already
felt the full range of emotions in claret and blue. Monday's game was a
microsm of his time with the Hammers, with highs and lows experienced amid
an amazing atmosphere at a rain-soaked Boleyn Ground. "It was a great effort
at the end but we've just got ourselves to blame really," said the No12. "We
put ourselves in that position which we didn't need to because we were
dominating. "I think now we realise that every time we dominate a game we
need to be more focused and pay attention so we don't leave ourselves open
to the counter-attack. I think we need to focus more. "I think we dominate
every team. We have shown that we're better than every team, pretty much,
but like I said we need to pay attention so we don't leave ourselves too
open to the counter-attack."
Looking forward to Saturday's visit of Play-Off contenders Brighton and Hove
Albion, Vaz Te believes the Hammers must take the momentum generated in the
second half against the Blues into the whole 90 minutes against the
Seagulls. "There is no doubt that is what we have to do. We just need to
focus to not leave ourselves too open on the counter where we've been
vulnerable. With the rest of the game, we just keep on going, keep the
positives and improve the negatives. That's what we have to work on."
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Striker set for extended stay
KUMB.com
Filed: Tuesday, 10th April 2012
By: Staff Writer
Frank Nouble will remain with Championship side Barnsley for at least
another month after agreeing to extend his stay at Oakwell. The 20-year-old
striker joined the Tykes at the beginning of March on a month's loan. And
West Ham confirmed earlier today that the two clubs have agreed a deal
allowing the former Chelsea youth product to remain in South Yorkshire for
the remainder of the season. Nouble, who has made just four appearances for
Sam Allardyce's West Ham during the current campaign spent three of the
first four months of the season on loan at League Two outfit Gillingham,
before returning to Upton Park. After briefly being involved with West Ham's
first team he was allowed to join Barnsley, for whom he has since made made
five appearances - four starts and one as a substitute. However a happy
spell it has not been, as since moving to Oakwell the Championship
strugglers have lost all five matches that Nouble has appeared in without
scoring a single goal.
Despite this, Tykes boss Keith Hill - who saw his side (minus Nouble, who
was unavailable for selection) thrashed 4-0 at home by West Ham last Friday
- has still opted to retain the services of the youngster.
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Trio selected
KUMb.com
Filed: Tuesday, 10th April 2012
By: Staff Writer
Three West Ham players have been included in the nPower Championship team of
the week. Portuguese forward Ricardo Vaz Te - who scored three goals over
the course of the Easter weekend, club captain Kevin Nolan plus centre half
James Tomkins have all been named in the Football League's nominated XI, as
selected by the Press Association. Included alongside the trio of Hammers
are Birmingham's Chris Burke, who scored the third of City's goals against
West Ham in last night's 3-3 draw at the Boleyn Ground plus former United
players Jobi McAnuff and Paul Konchesky. Meanwhile former Hammer Paolo Di
Canio's Swindon Town had two players - defenders Alan McCormack and Jay
McEveley - named in the League Two team of the Week.
Week 35: Championship Team of the Week
Goalkeeper
Frank Fielding (Derby County).
Defence
Kieran Trippier (Burnley); Paul Konchesky (Leicester City); Ben Turner
(Cardiff City); James Tomkins (West Ham Utd).
Midfield
Craig Bryson (Derby County); Kevin Nolan (West Ham Utd); Chris Burke
(Birmingham City); Jobi McAnuff (reading).
Attack
Ricky Lambert (Southampton); Ricardo Vaz Te (West Ham Utd).
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Nolan advocates long-ball game
Captain tells Hammers to be more ruthless, if they want to win promotion
Last Updated: April 10, 2012 4:06pm
SSN
Kevin Nolan believes West Ham United can still clinch automatic promotion,
if they concentrate on hurting teams. Speaking after the Hammers recovered
from 3-1 down to draw with Birmingham City, the skipper admitted the Upton
Park side must gain maximum points from their last four games to have a
chance of avoiding the play-offs. He told the London Evening Standard: "It's
not all done and dusted yet. We have to win every game now to give us a
chance of going up automatically.
"We really have to give it a big push now. If that doesn't work, then it's
the play-offs, but we have to make sure that, from now until the end of the
season, we get the basics right."
Win ugly
And Nolan says that the fans' desire to play attractive football may have to
be tempered to get results as Monday's draw with Birmingham was West Ham's
seventh home game without a win. He continued: "We got sucked in to just
keeping the ball and not hurting them. We're conceding sloppy goals when we
have control of the game. "We should have played some more long balls, to
open up the game and try to get between their midfield and the back four.
"There were a few things said to a few people at half-time but to be fair we
have a great bunch of lads here, and we have to be able to tell each other
when we're not doing the right things."
Penalty
Nolan was booked after protesting to the referee, who failed to award the
Hammers a penalty when Carlton Cole was pulled back by Steven Caldwell. The
captain said he had spoken to the striker about his reaction to the foul.
"People are going on about 'divers' in the game all the time, but Carlton,
the honest lad that he is, decided to stay up after being pulled back. "I
said, 'If you want the penalty, you have to go down'. If you're honest, it
seems, you don't get it."
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Fans won't like it but West Ham must 'lump it' if they're to go up
West Ham 3 - 3 Birmingham
Evening Standard
Ken Dyer
10 April 2012
West Ham fans should swiftly adapt one of their songs after their second-
half great escape at home to Birmingham. Instead of singing about playing on
the floor, their new chant should be: 'We're West Ham United, we lump it in
the air.' In reality, the Upton Park club's automatic promotion hopes are
fading fast following yet another failure to win at home but yesterday's
draw at least still makes it possible if, as manager Sam Allardyce admits,
they need to win their last four remaining Championship matches. Against
Chris Hughton's well-drilled side, West Ham were determined to follow their
supporters' advice and play it on the floor but were 3-1 down at the end of
a dreadful first half. All thoughts of the so-called 'West Ham way'
evaporated after that. Allardyce's team went direct and no one was moaning
as they battled gamely back to take a point and could have even won it had
substitute Henri Lansbury not contrived an 'air shot' in front of goal in
the dying seconds.
Captain Kevin Nolan, who was booked for protesting too strongly after
referee Jonathan Moss had turned down one of several strong penalty appeals,
said: "We've been wanting a home performance like that second half for a
while but it's just disappointing we're not learning and conceding sloppy
goals when we have control of the game. "We really have to give it a big
push now for automatic promotion. If that doesn't work then it's the
play-offs but we have to make sure that, from now until the end of the
season, we get the basics right. "There were a few things said to a few
people at half-time but to be fair we have a great bunch of lads here and we
have to be able to tell each other when we're not doing the right things.
"It's not all done and dusted yet, though. What we have to do is win every
game now to give us a chance of going up automatically."
The naive way West Ham played in the first half suited Birmingham perfectly.
While Mark Noble and company tipped and tapped their ineffective way,
Hughton's side sat deep, lit up a cigar and waited for the chance to
counter-attack. They scored two goals on the break, through Jordan Mutch and
Marlon King before an anaemic West Ham side managed to pull one back through
Ricardo Vaz Te only for Chris Burke to immediately stretch the visitors'
lead once again. That was a signal for Allardyce to desperately launch the
heavy artillery and in the second half, after laying siege to Birmingham's
goal, West Ham first made it 3-2 through Carlton Cole before Vaz Te netted a
dramatic 89th-minute penalty. "We got sucked in to just keeping the ball and
not hurting them in the first half," admitted Nolan. "We should have played
some more long balls then, to open up the game and try to get between their
midfield and the back four. "That was the most disappointing aspect, that we
didn't realise we were playing balls we shouldn't have been, particularly
because that was where their first two goals came from."
Nolan also revealed he spoke to his team-mate Cole after the West Ham
striker decided to stay on his feet, having been pulled back by Birmingham
defender Steven Caldwell. "People are going on about 'divers' in the game
all the time but Carlton, the honest lad that he is, decided to stay up
after being pulled back," he said.
"I said, 'If you want the penalty, you have to go down'. If you're honest it
seems, you don't get it."
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Nolan: 'Cole should have gone down for penalty'
Dave Evans, West Ham Correspondent
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
3:53 PM
London 24
West Ham skipper Kevin Nolan says the Hammers are too honest for their own
good after their 3-3 draw with Birmingham City on Monday. The Hammers
skipper could not believe that the challenge on Carlton Cole in the second
half did not result in a spot-kick for the Hammers and he suggested that the
striker should have taken a tumble. "The foul on 'Coley' was a penalty,"
insisted Nolan. "People are going on about these divers all the time and
that's the disappointing thing. "He is an honest lad and has tried to stay
up and in the end Caldwell has made a fantastic tackle, but he has pulled
him back and that is a definite penalty. "It is not what we want in the
game, but when he doesn't go down he doesn't get the penalty, that's what I
said to him at the end of the game. "He has tried to be honest, but for that
he doesn't get the penalty. "That is what I said to the referee, though not
in those nice words and I have got a booking for it!" Nolan has hit top form
at just the right time and he insists that there is still plenty of room for
improvement. The 29-year-old grabbed his 11th goal of the campaign at
Barnsley on Friday and then laid on Cole's goal on Monday. And he puts his
form down to things happening off the field. "I have been delighted with my
form," said the skipper following the 3-3 draw with Birmingham. "It is a
massive thing coming to a new club with the expectations about doing the job
from the start. "It is about trying to find the right balance with your
personal and professional life. I feel that now more than ever. "I've got my
family moving down in August and we are looking to get everything sorted.
"It takes a huge weight off your shoulders having the kids around. It has
been fantastic and on the pitch I feel that I am better for it. "But I still
think there is a lot more to come from me and I am very positive that it
will come."
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Home form has cost West Ham, says boss Sam Allardyce
BBC.co.uk
West Ham manager Sam Allardyce says their current run of home form could
cost them automatic promotion to the Premier League. The 3-3 draw against
Birmingham on Monday was their seventh game without a win at Upton Park. He
told BBC Sport: "If we don't get automatic promotion we'd have lost it here.
We've got to go and get four wins on the trot and hope that's enough. "Until
we break the hoodoo of the home win, every game will be tough." He added:
"We've been absolutely outstanding away this year. "It really does sicken me
that we can't show the way we play away from home to the West Ham fans at
home. That's where we really want to do it." The Hammers fought back from
being 3-1 down at half-time to draw against Birmingham, but Allardyce still
thought the result was a missed opportunity. "We committed suicide in the
first half by gifting Birmingham three soft goals," he continued. "I can't
be too critical of the players publicly because of what a magnificent
comeback it was. At least we showed some quality, some desire and fighting
spirit. "If we'd have won the game from where we were, we would have gone
straight up. "It would have been a massive turning point and given us the
spur to go on."
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