Daily WHUFC News - 18th December 2012

Manager on Monday
WHUFC.com
Sam Allardyce praised West Ham United defensive unit after a gritty 0-0 draw
at West Bromwich Albion
16.12.2012

Sam Allardyce was delighted after his side's superb defensive display earned
a hard-fought goalless draw at West Bromwich Albion on Sunday. The result
was all the more pleasing considering the skeletal squad Big Sam had to
choose from ahead of the game, which forced him to name just six out of a
possible seven substitutes on the bench. That said, those that were fit and
available more than made up for their missing team-mates with a performance
boasting teamwork, endeavour and commitment. "We really earned our point.
You know when you've got that many injuries you're always worried as a
manager because you wonder whether you're team's going to be able or capable
of holding out. "Certainly based on that performance and the way they
defended I was happy. We didn't create as much as we wanted and we tried as
hard as we could to do that but our defensive qualities were exceptionally
good. "That frustrated West Bromwich and limited them to little or no
clear-cut chances. So the players take great credit for how well they've
snuffed out their attack."

In addition to delivering a point against the high-flying Baggies, Big Sam
provided a further festive boost by confirming Jack Collison is set to make
his long-awaited comeback from injury for the Development Squad on Monday
afternoon. Along with the near-fit Alou Diarra, he is one long-term injury
that the West Ham medical staff can hopefully tick off their books soon,
although George McCartney's knee injury could keep him out for some time.
"You could probably say we had seven injuries because we haven't seen Alou
Diarra since he joined us because he tore a thigh muscle. So it's difficult
to know how good he's going to be for us because he's been out for a long
time - probably ten to twelve weeks now. "That, on top of the other six,
made it very difficult for us to go to West Brom. That's why we only had six
subs on the bench. We only had two really recognised players who have played
any part in Modibo Maiga and James Tomkins, who we put on at the end. The
rest of the lads are Development Squad players."

As expected, the absence of so many first teamers led the assembled press to
question whether Allardyce was working with the Joint-Chairmen to identify
targets for the upcoming January window. Although he admitted there were a
few names under consideration, he insisted that task was not as important as
getting the players he currently has at his disposal fighting fit again. "If
there's anybody there who can enhance or better the team then we would like
to go for them. Whether that's short-term, long-term, it depends when the
window opens who is actually available and who we can to get to come in.
"But the main priority for us is to get the players back. Look at how many
flair players were missing - Yossi Benayoun, Andy Carroll, Ricardo Vaz Te,
Jack Collison and Mo Diame. They are our players who, in possession, can
create lots and lots of problems. We had a good day but not good as it could
be because of the injuries."

Injuries aside, Big Sam concluded that his side can be proud of what they
achieved on Sunday as he looks ahead with optimism to the busy Christmas
fixture list. There are less than 150 tickets left for Saturday's first
fixture with Everton, where Under-16s can get in for just £1. To secure your
seat today, click here.
"I'm really relieved we got a point. I have to say the lads did a great job
coping. Getting through the holiday period in December is always difficult
for us all.
"But if the lads keep up the way they play, we know we're capable of winning
when we play to our best. We're 17 games in and we've produced some great,
great results this season so we know we're capable now."

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Collison returns for Development Squad
WHUFC.com
Jack Collison returned as the Hammers were beaten 3-1 at Norwich City in the
Barclays U21 Premier League
17.12.2012

West Ham United Development Squad ended their title-winning Barclays U21
Premier League Group 1 fixture list with a 3-1 defeat at Norwich City on
Monday.
With Nick Haycock in charge for the first time since his promotion from
Under-18s coach last week, the Hammers were edged out at the Canaries'
Colney Training Ground. While the defeat marked a low-key end to the opening
half of the campaign, it was tempered by the welcome sight of Jack Collison
making his first appearance of 2012/13. As planned, the midfielder played
the opening 45 minutes before being substituted. The Wales international,
who has been dealing with a knee problem, was to the fore in much of West
Ham's best moves in the first half, setting up one shooting chance for
Sebastian Lletget before heading Nathan Mavila's cross narrowly wide
himself.

Norwich rode out the early Hammers storm, however, and took the lead through
Tottenham Hotspur loanee Harry Kane on 25 minutes. The 19-year-old, who made
his first-team debut for the Canaries against West Ham in September,
finished a move that also involved Josh Murphy and Jamar Loza. Collison was
replaced by second-year scholar Taylor Miles at half-time, but it would not
be long before Norwich doubled their advantage. Pelly Ruddock upended Kane
inside the penalty area and Olumide Durojaiye converted the resulting
spot-kick. West Ham battled on gamely and won a penalty of their own ten
minutes into the second period when Adel Gafaiti brought down Mavila.
However, captain Jordan Spence was denied by Norwich goalkeeper Remi
Matthews and, just 60 seconds later, Murphy fed Kane to make it 3-0.

To the Hammers' credit, they did not give up and Haycock's youngsters were
rewarded with a consolation goal on 85 minutes. First-year scholar Mavila,
who impressed in last week's FA Youth Cup third-round win at Aldershot Town,
capped another promising display by netting a direct free-kick. There was
still time for Loza to hit the underside of the crossbar for the hosts as
Norwich secured a victory that saw them finish in sixth place.

West Ham, meanwhile, ended the pre-Christmas campaign four points clear at
the top of the Group 1 table and will now prepare for the Elite Group Stage.

Development Squad: Spiegel, Spence, Ruddock, K Lee, Driver, Lletget, Moncur,
Collison (Miles 46), Mavila, Shaw, Sadlier(Harney 82)
Subs not used: Baxter, Nasha, Cullen

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'It's a decent point for us'
WHUFC.com
Gary O'Neil said West Ham United got the point they deserved from Sunday's
trip to West Bromwich Albion
17.12.2012

Gary O'Neil had plenty of reasons to be happy following Sunday's goalless
Barclays Premier League draw at West Bromwich Albion. Not only did the No32
help West Ham United to collect another valuable point at The Hawthorns, but
he also completed a welcome 90 minutes and did so in his preferred position
of central midfield. O'Neil was one of a number of impressive performers in
claret and blue, producing a determined and energetic display to help the
Hammers to become just the third team to avoid defeat at the Baggies this
season. "I think it's a decent point for us because West Brom have been in
good home form," the 29-year-old confirmed. "We had a few chances but so did
they, so a point is probably a fair result and come the end of the season I
don't think a draw at West Brom will be considered to be a bad result. "It
was hard work. We were obviously down to about 13 senior fit players on
Sunday so it was tough because we couldn't make too many changes. A few of
the boys who came in hadn't played 90 minutes recently and they had to play
the full 90 minutes so it was a good team performance. "It wasn't pretty and
there wasn't much football played but we dug in, created some chances and
got the basics right and it's a decent result."

A year after returning from a career-threatening ankle injury, O'Neil looked
fitter and stronger than ever at The Hawthorns, making a number of decisive
interventions to keep Steve Clarke's fast-flowing side at bay. At the other
end, he came within a whisker of curling West Ham to victory when his
50th-minute shot flashed past the angle of post and crossbar. "Leg fitness
has never been too much of an issue for me. I've always been fairly lucky on
that note in that I've maintained my fitness. It was nice to be able to play
in the middle as well with Nobes and Nobby, which I did a lot last season
and is where I prefer to play.
"It's a big blow losing Mo, obviously, because he's been fantastic so to
come away and get a point without the likes of him, Andy Carroll and the
other lads who are missing was a good result."

Tactically, West Ham set-up to sit deep and attack West Brom on the counter.
As a result, Sam Allardyce's team dealt with the Baggies far better than
they did with similar passing sides like Swansea City and Wigan Athletic
earlier this term. "We decided that we weren't going to press quite as high
up. We thought the midfield would drop off a little bit more than usual and
sit closer to the back-four, rather than go hunting the ball farther up the
pitch and leave big gaps. I thought it worked quite well as we kept them in
front of us most of the time."

When the home side did get past the West Ham midfield, they found
centre-backs James Collins and Winston Reid in imperious form - an
observation acknowledged by O'Neil. "Yes, that's the thing about the lads at
the back there - if we do drop deep and let teams stick it in the box, they
are magnificent at dealing with stuff like that, so it plays to our
strengths when they are slinging balls in there."

West Ham will now prepare for their final home fixture of a memorable year.
Saturday's visit of Everton marks the last match of 2012 at the Boleyn
Ground - a stadium at which West Ham have lost just three of their 22 league
matches this year. O'Neil would love nothing more than to finish on a high
on home turf.
"The group of fixtures we have come through was tough and playing against
the top-four teams has knocked us down the league a little bit, but we have
done fantastic and picked up a decent amount of points out of those
fixtures. "They are still tough now - West Brom were in the top-six and
Everton were fourth before the weekend, so it's not going to be easy again
on Saturday. We need to dig in again and hopefully we can pick up as many
points as we can and we'll just keep going because it's a long season."

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Arsenal match in jeopardy
KUMB.com
Filed: Monday, 17th December 2012
By: Staff Writer

West Ham United's trip to the Emirates on Boxing Day is under serious threat
after the underground drivers' union confirmed that strike action would go
ahead.
ASLEF, the drivers' union confirmed this morning that strike action would be
taking place on Boxing Day and two dates in January - Friday 18th and Friday
25th.
And should a resolution to the issues - which centre around holiday pay -
not be found within the next few days, West Ham's trip to North London would
be unlikely to proceed as strike action would affect travellers accessing
the capital's entire public transport network. A spokesman for ASLEF, whose
members are understood to have voted 9-1 in favour of strike action - and
who will be walking out for the third successive Boxing Day - told the BBC:
"The ballot result shows the strength of feeling that remains on this
issue."

Neither West Ham United or Arsenal are yet to comment.

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The difference a summer makes
KUMB.com
Filed: Monday, 17th December 2012
By: Bud Hedges

The Olympics were great for London, but not so great for a born-and-bred
Essex boy who suffered more than most.

Probably the best signing West Ham United made during the last January
transfer window was when awarding a new contract to fans' favorite James
Tomkins. Despite this, since he played for Team GB in a warm up game against
Brazil at the Riverside Stadium in Middlesborough, 2012 has been, quite
frankly, miserable for James.

Leading up to the summer of 2012 was probably the best year Tomkins has
enjoyed as a professional. A week in, week out first team centre back
alingside Winston Reid he was scoring goals for fun (by a central defender's
standards) and he was part of the Hammers side that won promotion at
Wembley. The world was at his feet and it would have been an injustice to
him if Stuart Pearce didn't call him up for the Olympics in his own nation.

Tomkins started the warm-up match versus Brazil however the attacking
talents of the eventual runners-up made James look silly and he was
subsequently dropped and hardly featured in the tournament. This caused him
to miss out on valuable pre-season training with West Ham and this in turn
caused him to start the season as second favorite behind James Collins and
Reid.

Due to the impressive form of Reid and the solidity that Collins, signed
from Aston Villa brought with him, Tomkins failed to get in the side. Many
fans will say that Collins is slow and a liability - and many Villa fans
held this opinion - but is it just a coincidence that since he left Villa
they have been struggling to hold teams out? Meanwhile we have been
relatively solid at the back with Collins in the side.

This was clearly affecting James; he went from being a regular in the West
Ham side to a player struggling for form who couldn't get a start. You could
see how much it was affecting him in the pre-match warm ups. Tomkins seems
like a model pro and wants to play all the time, but when you watch him warm
up with the subs he looks bored, uninterested and fed-up. I sympathise with
him as a player of his calibre doesn't deserve to be a serial bencher.

In my opinion, he is part of the catch 22 that goes with being a
professional footballer. He should be in the team but the the partnership
that Collins and Reid have built together looks strong and, at times, quite
formidable. Tomkins deserves to be in the team, but he fell out of favour
through no fault of his own and last weekend against Liverpool, his
introduction - as a holding midfielder -was the turning point in the match.

As much as I feel that he deserves to be in the team it's hard to make a
case for dropping Reid, who has been the most improved player at the club
for many a year. It's quite unbelievable how well he has performed and
turned himself into one of the best centre backs in the country.

If Reid carries on progressing as he has, the 24-year-old has a chance to go
on and be a top-quality centre back, and one whom I wouldn't begrudge a move
to one of England or Europe's biggest clubs.

Reid's situation could have been similar to Tomkins', but you cannot doubt
Winston's loyalty to the club when he chose to train with West Ham United
during pre-season than represent New Zealand at the Olympics. This is why I
believe that James couldn't, on current form, usurp Reid, though with the
very recent departure of Wally Downes the next defensive coach might see fit
to partner James with Reid instead of Collins.

Tomkins is one of West Ham's brightest Academy products for a while, and if
he can prove himself he could one day earn a call-up to the England squad,
Whilst that is a long way off, you cannot rule out the possibility. Despite
this, it's worrying how much his form has dropped in just a short time -
clearly illustrating just how much difference a full pre-season - or lack of
one - can make for professional footballers.

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Jack Collison plays 45 minutes for West Ham reserves
Last Updated: December 17, 2012 6:51pm
SSN

Injury-plagued midfielder Jack Collison stepped up his quest for a
first-team return when he played 45 minutes of West Ham's reserve team match
at Norwich.
Collison has not played for the Hammers this season after suffering a
recurrence of a knee problem. The Wales international played the first-half
of the 3-1 defeat in Norfolk. Collison set up a chance for Sebastian Lletget
before heading Nathan Mavila's cross narrowly wide before departing while
Mavila bagged a late consolation.

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Andy who? 'Unplayable' Carlton Cole means Carroll hasn't been missed, says
Collins
The Mirror
17 Dec 2012 22:29

West Ham are coping without Andy Carroll thanks to "unplayable" Carlton
Cole, according to James Collins. On-loan striker Carroll is out for at
least another month with a knee injury and Sam Allardyce has turned to Cole.
Cole ploughed a lone furrow for the Hammers in Sunday's stalemate at West
Brom, yet he has scored just once all season - against old club Chelsea. But
Collins insists he has been a nightmare for opposition defences of late and
deserves credit for his tireless work rate. "It is obviously a blow to be
without Andy, it would be a blow to anyone," said the Wales international.
"But to be fair, since Carlton's been in he's been unplayable. He spent a
lot of time on his own on Sunday, he holds it up well and brings the other
boys into play. "Any team is going to miss a player like Andy but all credit
to Carlton, he's been superb since he's come back in for the last three
games. "At home against Chelsea I don't think anybody could have lived with
him. He was superb. He puts himself about, he works his socks off, so all
credit to him. "The thing with Carlton, regardless of whether if he's
scoring or he's not playing well he'll always work hard. "He certainly
worked his socks off on Sunday. He was unlucky not to get a goal, but he put
his shift in for the boys."

Hammers boss Sam Allardyce made a desperate January cash plea to the club's
board after naming just SIX substitutes against the Baggies. Yossi Benayoun,
Andy Carroll, Ricardo Vaz Te, Jack Collison, Mo Diame, Alou Diarra and
George McCartney are all sidelined. Apart from James Tomkins and Modibo
Maiga, Big Sam's bench was made up of untested youngsters - but Collins
insists the 11th-placed Hammers won't be using injuries as an excuse. "I'm
sure every team has a look in January and I'm sure the manager will be the
same," he said. We have got a few injuries, but we can't use that as an
excuse. "We've got off to a terrific start and we want to keep that going
regardless of injuries. You have to deal with it. If you haven't got the
players there is nothing we can do. "A lot of young lads on the bench but we
see them every day in training and they're certainly good enough to be
there."

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Collison hands West Ham some Christmas cheer with long-awaited injury return
against Norwich reserves
By JOHN DRAYTON
PUBLISHED: 19:34, 17 December 2012 | UPDATED: 19:34, 17 December 2012
Daily Mail

Injury-plagued midfielder Jack Collison took a significant step towards a
return to first-team action today when he played 45 minutes of West Ham's
reserve team defeat at Norwich. Collison has not played for the Hammers this
season after he suffered a recurrence of the knee injury that has troubled
him over the past two-and-a-half years. The Wales international moved closer
to a recall today, however, stepping out in a Hammers shirt for the first
time this season during a 3-1 defeat at Norwich. Collins, 24, set up a
chance for Sebastian Lletget before heading Nathan Mavila's cross narrowly
wide. He was then replaced at half-time in a pre-planned substitution.
Norwich striker Harry Kane, who has not played a first-team match since
September due to a foot injury, pressed his claim for a recall to the
Canaries' starting XI by scoring twice in the match.

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West Ham and QPR at front of queue to take Anelka in January
QPR may be best suited as they will utilise Anelka as the main centre
forward
News.ladbrokes.com

A move to London looks all but guaranteed should Nicolas Anelka be
successful in his efforts to terminate his contract with Shanghai Shenhua
early, but West Ham and QPR are both incredibly keen to seal his signature.
Anelka has managed just three goals since moving to China, but still has a
year of his £200,000-a-week contract to see out. However, he is in talks to
reach an agreement a year early, which will make him a valuable free agent
in the January transfer window as he chases a return to the Premier League.
The most logical destination would seem a switch to QPR and relegation
candidates can be backed at 5/4 to be Anelka's next club. A new striker is
certainly QPR's biggest need in the window, with no club scoring fewer than
their 15 league goals this season and Harry Redknapp having Bobby Zamora and
Andy Johnson injured. The problem with Anelka is that his attributes largely
match those of Djibril Cisse, QPR's only current fit striker, and so it is
unlikely that the pair will form a revered partnership. Teaming up again
with Sam Allardyce is the other obvious option open to Anelka, with West Ham
considered the most likely to be the Frenchman's next club at 11/10.
Allardyce was responsible for bringing Anelka to Bolton previously and the
striker helped himself to a useful 21 goals in 53 Premier League starts.
Although Anelka is not best suited to performing the lone striker role at
West Ham, he could have plenty to offer in a wider position, similar to
where he played off Didier Drogba previously at Chelsea.

Given that he will start in his preferred position and the likeliness that
QPR will be able to pay closer to Anelka's China wages, the Loftus Road
outfit must hold the slight edge over West Ham. Alternatively, it is 10/1
that Anelka's next move is a return to Chelsea, which is the same price as a
move to another of his former clubs in Liverpool, who like QPR could do with
bolstering their attacking options at present.

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