Big Sam brings Soccer Aid glory
WHUFC.com
West Ham United manager Sam Allardyce helped raise over 4 million for UNICEF
28.05.2012
Sam Allardyce took charge of an England team packed full of celebrities and
former stars as they beat a Rest of the World XI 3-1 at Old Trafford on
Sunday evening.
Ex-West Ham United Striker Teddy Sheringham scored the first of England's
goals as the Three Lions came from behind to take the victory. Stars such as
Will Ferrell, Mike Myers, Olly Murs and Comedian John Bishop were all on
hand to help raise much needed funds for UNICEF. Over 70,000 packed into Old
Trafford to watch the game that was also screened live on ITV.
The Rest of the World XI, managed by Kenny Dalglish, took the lead through
Kasabian rocker Serge Pizzorno to go in 1-0 up at half time but England
staged an impressive second half comeback. Sheringham levelled the scores
before Johnathan Wilkes and Blackpool striker Kevin Phillips both netted to
secure England the trophy.
With the £4million raised on the night added to the £6.5 million raised
through ticket sales, a staggering £10.5 million has been raised so far. You
can still donate £5 to UNICEF by texting "DONATE" to 70442. Texts cost £5
plus standard network rate with the full £5 going directly to UNICEF.
Elsewhere, West Ham United winger Pablo Barrera, who spent last season on
loan in Spain at Real Zaragoza, played nearly 80 minutes for Mexico in New
York at The Metlife Stadium as the South Americans beat Wales 2-0 in an
international friendly.
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Manager on Monday
WHUFC.com
Sam Allardyce is looking ahead to a bright future for West Ham United after
promotion to the Premier League
28.05.2012
Sam Allardyce is looking forward to continuing the excellent work he has
started in his first 12 months at West Ham United. The West Ham United
manager oversaw a record-breaking first season in charge that ultimately led
to promotion back to the Premier League at the first time of asking. Now,
with top-flight football secured, Big Sam has already drawn up a target list
for summer acquisitions and is eagerly anticipating getting his teeth into
his continued rebuilding of the club. "My job will be to aim as high as we
can in the Premier League and not to say fourth from bottom is enough," he
said. "Let's see how far we can get this team at the first time of asking.
"The real challenge for me is to prepare the team for the best possible
start for the first ten games. That will take the pressure off as you're not
in a relegation position every week, which is a constant gnaw at the
player's confidence. That's the way forward if we can achieve it."
The continued support of the Board will be crucial to Allardyce's plans and
he admits he could not be happier on that front based on what he has seen in
his first 12 months. "The owners' passion for West Ham United is the most
impressive aspect. They put their money where their mouth is. The club has
to be propped up by their personal wealth and their understanding, having
been in the game a long time, is great. "When you get support like that
you're under more pressure to deliver but you're happy to get that support
as that's what you need as a manager."
With transfer planning starting the day after the Play-Off final victory
against Blackpool, Hammers fans are likely to see several new faces by the
time the squad reconvene in July. Key to those dealings will be the Big
Sam's strong relationship with Joint-Chairman David Sullivan and David Gold
and Vice-Chairman Karren Brady. "You need good communication to build a
successful structure at a football club. I'm pleased for them [the Board] as
they're so passionate about West Ham and I'm pleased for all the fans as
it's been a long hard season and one that we look back on with great
fondness. "For me it's about being responsible for the football side and the
communication with David [Sullivan] which has been very good. David Gold is
a man who likes to come in and see us and he likes us to keep him informed
and show him which way we're going. "If you're going to be a successful
club, your relationship with the owners is critical. If you don't
communicate then it's never going to work."
Although Saturday May 19 is a day that will live long in the memory of
Hammers fans, Big Sam is realistic enough to know it will not all be plain
sailing next season as West Ham United come up against some of the biggest
clubs and best players in the world. To overcome such obstacles, Allardyce
knows that every player in claret and blue will need to give their all in
every game. "As always when in the Premier League it's tough to get results
but as long as you're trying your best and the West Ham fans know the
players are trying their best you'll be OK. We know we won't win as many
games as we've won this season but if we get the right team together and the
right team spirit we'll give it a right good go."
Allardyce was delighted that so many of his senior players stood up to the
Wembley test on a day of high drama, but saved special mention for Carlton
Cole, who led the forward line fearlessly for 90 minutes. "He's really
excited me and his hard work and his goals throughout the season have helped
us get to where we want to go. He's had a fantastic season and I know he's
looking forward to playing in the Premier League and getting his status back
as a Premier League player."
Although Big Sam was able to celebrate the Hammers' win with some of his
family in London, his wife, daughter and granddaughter were already
committed to flying to Las Vegas on the trip Allardyce had to skip because
of the final. Although they were watching over 5,000 miles away, the
Allardyce family were able to toast victory in true Vegas style. "My wife
was drinking champagne with breakfast in Las Vegas! My wife, daughter and
grandson still had to go on the trip. My wife still doesn't do nerves very
well so they watched it over in Vegas. "My son was at the stadium so we had
a good drink to celebrate afterwards. It's great we achieved this dream to
return this club to the Premier League at the first time of asking."
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Spence proud of Hong Kong gong
WHUFC.com
Jordan Spence captained the Development Squad to Plate competition victory
in the Far East
28.05.2012
Jordan Spence has hailed the Development Squad after captaining Ian Hendon's
side to the Plate competition at the Hong Kong FC Citibank International
Soccer Sevens. The young professional returned from a loan spell at Bristol
City to skipper the young West Ham United team in the Far East. There, the
Hammers recovered from an opening-game defeat by Leicester City and a
third-place group finish to record three consecutive victories on Sunday to
lift the Plate. "We had a really good group of players out in Hong Kong,"
confirmed the full-back. "The different age-groups in the squad made us a
diverse group, but we complemented each other well on the pitch and got on
really well off it. "The atmosphere was brilliant and that showed by the way
we recovered from losing 1-0 in our opening game to Leicester to win the
Plate. We drew 1-1 with Celtic in our second game and if we'd held on to win
1-0 then I think we'd had had a great shout of winning the overall
competition.
"As it was we went into the Plate and, despite having a late night watching
the Play-Off final, we were ready for that on Sunday and won it in great
style by beating Hong Kong FC 3-0 in the final. "The conditions were
difficult, but changeable. One day was really hot and humid and the next was
rainy and overcast, but we adapted well and played some really good football
throughout the two days."
Spence was making his third trip to the end-of-season seven-a-side
competition. There, he lined up alongside fellow professionals Olly Lee,
George Moncur, Brian Montenegro, Eoin Wearen and Callum Driver and Academy
scholars Rob Hall, Blair Turgott, Pelly Ruddock and Jake Larkins. "Everyone
acquitted themselves very well. After the disappointment of the first day,
the boys showed some real maturity to come back on Sunday and win three
straight matches. "We enjoyed watching the Play-Off final, of course. We
watched it in our hotel bar alongside some of the players from the other
clubs and ex-professionals who were playing in the Masters Tournament,
including Ally McCoist, Alex Rae and Andy Goram from Rangers and Bryan Roy,
Martijn Reuser and Kenneth Perez from Ajax. "The atmosphere was brilliant
and we managed to do a bit of celebrating afterwards. It was a great way to
end the season."
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Big Sam - Hammers aiming high
West Ham boss not content to scrape to Premier League safety
Last Updated: May 28, 2012 3:11pm
SSN
Sam Allardyce is setting the bar high as he plans for West Ham's return to
the Premier League next season. The Hammers clinched promotion back to the
top-flight at the first attempt after beating Blackpool in the Championship
play-off final at Wembley. But boss Allardyce is not content with the East
Londoners simply aiming to avoid an instant return to the second tier. He
has stressed the importance of his side making a rapid start to prevent
relegation pressure mounting from August.
Confidence
"My job is to aim as high as we can in the Premier League and not to say
fourth from bottom is enough," said Allardyce. "Let's see how far we can get
this team at the first time of asking. The real challenge for me is to
prepare the team for the best possible start for the first 10 games. "That
will take the pressure off as you're not in a relegation position every
week, which is a constant gnaw at the player's confidence. "That's the way
forward if we can achieve it."
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The Positive and Negative Thread - A season Review
Mr Polite 1:16 Fri May 25
West Ham Online
At the beginning of the season the target was clear, owners, manager,
players and fans all were all together in targeting promotion. Now the
season is over we have attained that goal and have had many ups and downs on
the way. Here are the Positives and Negatives from the season as I saw them,
please feel free to agree, disagree or add your own.
Positives:
We went up. That was the be all and end all for many fans and although not
one of them I can't deny that getting back into the top tier is the biggest
positive of all. Target achieved.
The Playoff final was a most brilliant day out. Many would want to go up as
champions but winning the playoff final really is the most exciting way to
get promoted.
Tied in with the previous paragraph another huge positive was the fans. Away
days we went in our thousands giving most other teams their highest
attendance of the season. The Final summed it up really when you looked
around and saw the mass of Claret and Blue, Loud, Proud and followed the
team loyally. Home attendances too were brilliant considering we were in the
second tier and the football at times wasn't to everyones taste.
Beating Millwall
Some very good new signings. Vaz Te being the pick of the bunch but Faye,
Diop, McCartney, Baldock and Maynard can all hold their heads up and say
they did pretty well. Even Kevin Nolan who came in for criticism, started to
look like he was worth the money towards the end of the season. Of course
some signings don't work out and others don't do as well as you'd want or
expect but all in all I think Sam's signings have been pretty good.
A core of players that were in the relegated team of last season stood up to
be counted which was a huge positive. Most notably Mark Noble, James Tomkins
and Rob Green. Add to that Carlton Cole finding form late on and a great
season for Winston Winston Reid and it gives optimism for the new season.
One of Sams big strengths is organisation and that became clear straight
away. Our defence and the work rate of players as a unit was a big
difference and something unusual to see in a West Ham team.
Some of the football we played was excellent and really exciting. Brighton
at home, a number of away games plus the playoff semi finals showed that we
have the talent and the ability within the squad to play some good football.
That again gives optimism for next season.
Sullivan and to a lesser extent gold keeping their traps shut more often.
This was something Something Sam stipulated before taking the job and I
think it was a good thing for him to insist on. As much as I like hearing
about the club, they did need to reign it in a bit and well played sam for
making them do that.
The debuts of 3 Academy players as well as one other on the bench. Dan Potts
and Rob Hall did well with their chances and I have no doubt if there wasn't
the pathetic 5 sub rule we'd have seen more of them or others. Something
that comes across from talking to the academy players and staff is how much
more interest Sam takes in the Academy players than a lot of previous
managers.
Sam refusing an open top bus parade offered to him because he believes that
is an honour that should be reserved for Champions. It was good to see
perspective offered by the boss.
Our Away form was brilliant. Record amount of wins and the football was
often better on our trips away from Upton Park.
Negatives:
I guess even when you take into account the great day last weekend the fact
we couldn't win what is a pretty poor league has to go down as a negative,
although not as big a negative as it could have been. It would have been
nice to been Champions.
Some real silly points dropped especially at home and we seemed to struggle
when teams came and parked the bus. Teams were happy with a draw when they
played us at Upton Park and we struggled to deal with being the big scalp.
Lots of times we seemed bereft of ideas and very easy to play against.
A number of times Sam seemed to talk before he thought. Blaming fans for
poor performances, belittling our history a number of times he didn't do
much to warm himself to the fans. Now I like a man who is his own man and
doesn't take crap from people, I like a manager to be confident but I think
it is fair to say Sam took it to extremes a couple of times and could have
done more to get the fans on his side and behind the team more. That isn't
suggesting the fans weren't blameless, but he should know what crowds are
like and I feel he and the club could have acted better.
There has been a lot made about the long ball that we have or haven't
played. Whether you agree with it or not the fact is the style we adopted
for much of the season has bored a lot of fans. Some can understand it, some
enjoy it and others think we could have played better football and still got
good results and feel that the fact when we did play good football at times
and more often than not got good results proves that to be the case.
Whatever your view the cold hard fact is a lot of fans were bored with a
large amount of our games and whether that includes you or not it still has
to be a negative.
Summary:
After last weekend many negatives can be easily brushed aside and forgotten
as the big positive is that we were promoted. If we weren't then it's likely
people (Me) would have been more critical on a number of things but like
most football fans I'm fickle. What has gone is now in the History books and
we can look forward to a season of Premier League football when the debates
of positive and negative things will start all over again.
With very few if any Premier League teams coming to Upton Park to park the
bus and be happy with a draw Sam doesn't have to have the tactical brains to
overcome that which Is why I don't think optimism for better football and an
exciting season isn't misplaced. A bit of strengthening of the squad and we
can all look forward to a Positive season to come… with some Negatives I'm
sure….
Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread over the season, even
when I haven't agreed with you, it's been nice to have a football related
debate on here. Also thanks to Pee Wee who covered the thread on the couple
of occasions I couldn't do it.
Thanks for reading
Mr Polite
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Yakubu Rising?
By S J Chandos
West Ham Till I Die
Well, I said it was only a matter of time before Yakubu was linked with a
move to West Ham. And so it has come to pass, because Yakubu apparently
wants a move from relegated Blackburn Rovers, with Reading, Southampton and
the Hammers allegedly chasing his signature. He is certainly cheap enough,
in terms of the transfer fee, with reports suggesting that a £1m fee would
be sufficient to capture his services. But his wages could be another
matter?
Elsewhere, a Everton fans web site has announced that West Ham are
interested in signing Toffees midfielder, Leon Osman. Apparently, West Ham
have already bid £6m, which has been rejected by Everton!
Good potential signings or best avoided?
SJ. Chandos.
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Should We Buy Henri Lansbury?
By Iain Dale
West Ham Till I Die
The trouble with loan signings is that if they work out you then have to pay
a buying fee, but the player doesn't seem like a new signing. Henri Lansbury
may fall into that category. After a highly successful season with Norwich
he joined us last August, and at the start, he looked the answer to our
prayers - a tough tackling midfielder who wasn't afraid to get forward and
who could score goals. But then he got injured and never quite got back into
the groove after that. Perhaps we never played to his strengths.
Overall, how do you feel Henri has done for West Ham this season?
He started off playing superbly. We all thought he was the answer to our
prayers. He tackled well and seemed to have a real shot on him. Then he got
injured and never seemed to be the same again. It's not that he didn't do
OK, he just never seemed to rate more than a six out of ten. In the second
half of the season he was never a player who was first choice. But he never
let us down.
Earlier this week I did a Q&A for the Arsenal Blog, Marble Halls, who wanted
to know what I thought about Lansbury. Here's what I said. Perhaps you will
disagree with some of my views.
What are his strengths as a player?
He's a good all rounder but possibly a little too similar to Jack Collison.
He is very skilful and has a great shot on him, but too often he goes for
the glory shot.
How about his weaknesses?
His weakness is his consistency and his lack of goals. A player like him
should be scoring 6-10 goals a season at the very least.
How's his temperament?
His temperament seems fine. I don't recall any hotheaded incidents.
He's been played in various positions across the midfield in his brief
appearances for Arsenal. Where was he deployed for West Ham and what do you
consider his natural position?
He generally played in a midfield of 5, in the centre alongside Noble and
Nolan. He also played wide right on a few occasions. His trouble was that he
never seemed to play more than two or three games in a row, either because
he was injured or other players returned from injury.
Would you welcome him back to the club again?
Yes, I'd happily have him back. I think he is Premiership quality, but I
wouldn't pay more than £1.5 million to keep him.
If you look at his career record, it is quite interesing...
Arsenal 3 (0)
Scunthorpe 16 (4)
Watford 37 (5)
Norwich 23 (4)
West Ham 22 (1)
Now compare this with his England record...
Under 17 14 (4)
Under 19 11 (4)
Under 21 14 (5)
It makes you wonder whether Sam Allardyce really got the most out of Henri
Lasbury, although I do think his injury record was probably the main reason
he was mostly on the bench in the second half of the season. He could indeed
have got quite a few more goals as I can recall at least half a dozen
occasions when he hit the woodwork.
If we could get Henri Lansbury for £1.5 million I'd certainly be in favour
of bringing him back to Upton Park, but perhaps there are better prospects
out there?
Can you see him making it at Arsenal?
I'm not sure. I don't think he is a player Wenger necessarily would 'get'.
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Hammers fans cut up
The Sun
By DAN KING, Sport Uncovered
Published: Today at 00:05
WEST HAM have annoyed some of their most loyal fans by going back on a
season ticket price reduction pledge. The previous Icelandic regime, who
almost sent the club bust, promised a 20 per cent cut for the 2012-3 season
to anyone who renewed five years in a row. But after winning the
Championship play-off final — at £90million, the richest game in club
football — Hammers co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold have told fans in
a letter: "There is no question that such substantial discounting of season
ticket prices at this point in time will have a grave effect on the club's
financial health and our ability to retain our Premier League status." The
club's offer of a five per cent discount for each of the next four years has
not gone down well and some supporters are taking legal advice. Danny Davis,
partner at legal firm Mishcon de Reya, said: "A lot of people are unhappy
with the club's stance on this issue and want to do something about it.
"They feel the club is taking unfair advantage of their loyalty, knowing
that they will not go elsewhere."
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Saha on his way
The Sun
Published: Today at 00:05
LOUIS SAHA has been released by Tottenham after just five months. The
striker, 33, arrived at Spurs from Everton in January. His availability has
already alerted West Ham boss Sam Allardyce, who wants to add more Premier
League experience to his squad after promotion via the Championship play-off
final.
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Reading, Southampton and West Ham on alert as Yakubu vows to leave Blackburn
By SPORTSMAIL REPORTER
PUBLISHED: 22:30, 28 May 2012 | UPDATED: 22:30, 28 May 2012
Daily Mail
Yakubu has signalled his intention to leave relegated Blackburn and is
available for £1million. The Nigerian striker is wanted by newly-promoted
Reading, Southampton and West Ham and he has no wish to drop down to the
Championship.
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Tomkins happy he stayed loyal to West Ham
By talkSPORT | Monday, May 28, 2012
West Ham defender James Tomkins believes he has justified his decision to
stay at Upton Park and says he never intended to quit the east London club.
Tomkins was strongly linked with a move to Newcastle back in January with
the north east club having a £2.5m bid turned down. Sam Allardyce was
desperate to keep his key defender at Upton Park and said the club would be
'committing suicide' if they sold one of their star assets. Tomkins quickly
repaid the faith which Allardyce has shown in him by signing a new five-year
contract and played a major role in helping the club gain promotion back
into the Premier League. The 23-year-old is now relishing the chance to play
in the top flight again next season and feels he can achieve big things with
West Ham. Tomkins said: "Of course this has justified my decision to stay.
My aim at the start of the season was to help the club get promoted and I'm
not going to turn my back on that. "I certainly wasn't going to do that so I
signed and committed to the club, and thankfully we have got back up."
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West Ham United interested in signing former Newcastle United and Manchester
City midfielder Joey Barton
12:52pm Monday 28th May 2012 in News
West Ham United are reportedly interested in signing QPR misfit Joey Barton.
The troubled midfielder was given a 12-game ban and fined £75,000 after his
red card and subsequent antics at Manchester City on the final day of the
season. Despite this controversy, the Hammers are believed to be keen on
bringing him to Upton Park. West Ham boss Sam Allardyce signed Barton when
he was in charge at Newcastle United and may be convinced he can get the
best out of the 29-year-old.
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West Ham United linked with move for Wolves winger
10:10am Monday 28th May 2012 in News
West Ham United have been linked with a move for Wolves winger Matt Jarvis.
Jarvis is expected to leave Wolves following their relegation from the
Premier League and has also been linked with Everton and Udinese. West Ham
are likely to be busy during the summer as they look to strengthen their
squad ahead of their return to the top flight.
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