Big Sam on: Peterborough
WHUFC.com
Sam Allardyce spoke about injury news, Carlton Cole and communication during
his pre-match press briefing
10.02.2012
Sam Allardyce thinks that spirits in the West Ham United camp are high after
last weekend's superb win against Millwall and the return of Guy Demel to
full training.
The Hammers manager is making plans for who will replace suspended captain
Kevin Nolan, both in terms of his place in the starting XI and the
responsibility of wearing the armband. Carlton Cole is one of those that
could be considered after his superb efforts against the Lions.
Sam, any injury news you can give us?
SA: Not too bad at the moment. We had a little blow on Thursday with George
McCartney having to pull out of training with a tight hamstring but we hope
he is going to be OK as he didn't continue any further after that. Guy Demel
at long last has joined in training but won't be considered for Saturday as
he needs to get a few games under his belt behind closed doors. John Carew
has a back problem which is causing us some concern but everyone else is
looking fine. Papa Bouba Diop is looking long-term so will be out for some
considerable time.
Sir Alex Ferguson says that the manager should be the most important part of
a football club. If a decision is made above you does that make your
position untenable?
SA: The clarity of the communication levels between the manager and the
owners will determine whether you run in to trouble or not. In my job, on a
daily basis you don't have to consult the owners' on every decision but
there are some decisions that you do need to consult the owners on. As long
as that communication process is clear then the decision is made. If you
want to make a decision to be made and the owners want to make a another
decision, you ultimately accept it and you get on with it. When most
decisions have to be made I try to keep in communication with the owners
both ways. Our relationship here in terms of communications has been crystal
clear and those that have been made have been acted on very, very quickly.
Have you spoken to anyone at the club about the England job?
SA: No I haven't at all regarding the situation and I'm not expecting to.
I'm the manager of West Ham and my priority is getting the team promoted at
the first time of asking. We find ourselves in a good position and my focus
is on my team and winning at Peterborough and against Southampton and from
then on to grasp as many points as I can. One of the highlights of my season
was last Saturday. A lot of people are wondering why as we've had more
spectacular performances and better wins this season and scored lots of
goals in lots of games, but it was just the way the players showed so much
resolve, team spirit and ability mentally as well as physically to make sure
the disappointment of Ipswich was not carried over any further. That gave me
great satisfaction.
Have you made plans to replace Kevin Nolan yet?
SA: Yes, it's disappointing for him and for us but I feel that I have got
the squad now with all the additions we made in January to cope for three
games without Kevin. One man should not make a team and I hope the other
lads go on to show that isn't the case.
Have you spoken to Kevin about the tackle?
SA: Well he could have done better looking at the situation but when you
talk about the fact the referee has a split second to make decision, well so
does a player, probably less so. They have to quickly think 'Can I get it,
should I go for it?' and that has to be done in 0.1 seconds. Those who are
most consistent make the better ones more than the right ones.
Do the players have to take more responsibility?
SA: Players have to be responsible that even if it is a good tackle and
whether you take the ball or not there is a hysteria about in the game in
this country that every two-footed challenge is a red card and everybody is
being put under pressure to give a red card. Even if it's a dangerous
challenge or not. I cannot remember a player getting stretchered off from a
two-footed challenge. I'm talking about West Ham, Blackburn, Newcastle and
Bolton so I'm talking about ten years of management. I would remember but I
can't think of one time a two-footed challenge and a player going to ground
injured a player. It looks bad but we're not on about what looks bad, there
are tackles that look bad but aren't as bad as that.
Who will captain the side on Saturday?
SA: I don't know yet and haven't thought about it.
Carlton Cole was excellent against Millwall. Have the arrivals of Ricardo
Vaz Te and Nicky Maynard given Carlton a bit of a competition?
SA: I think it was a spirited performance by every player when they saw
their captain getting sent off. It was a desire that even though things were
going against them they weren't going to lose. Every player played that bit
harder and did that bit more to cover the loss of that one person and that's
why we got that performance. Carlton isn't prolific and has never been that
but it's about what he does outside the box as well as what he does in it.
What he does in terms of setting up attacks and holding the ball up is very
good.
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Maynard exclusive on Facebook
WHUFC.com
Nicky Maynard has taken part in an exclusive interview with supporters on
the club's Facebook page
10.02.2012
Nicky Maynard took some time out of the preparations for Saturday's game at
Peterborough United to answer fans' questions via the clubs' official
Facebook page.
Over 600 fans had submitted their questions for the Hammers' new No8 and he
sat down to answer his favourite 20 on camera, Topics ranged from a host of
subjects from his hopes and aims for his West Ham career right through to a
slightly obscure animal-based question. Maynard then picked his favourite
question from the pack, with lucky fan XXXX winning a signed shirt.
The official West Han United Facebook page is the place to get the latest
news from West Ham United, with exclusive matchday photos, videos and
features that you cannot see anywhere else. With over 229,000 fans already
signed up for the page, don't get left behind and sign up today.
http://www.facebook.com/westhamunitedofficial
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Barnsley game switched
WHUFC.com
West Ham United will now travel to Oakwell on Good Friday 6 April 2012
10.02.2012
West Ham United's npower Championship visit to Barnsley will now kick-off at
5.15pm on Friday 6 April 2012. The fixture at Oakwell has been selected for
live television coverage by the BBC and will now be played on Good Friday.
The Hammers beat the Tykes 1-0 at the Boleyn Ground in the reverse league
fixture on 17 December, with Papa Bouba Diop heading in the all-important
goal. West Ham have won their previous five matches against Barnsley and
tasted victory on their most-recent trip to Oakwell on 9 August 1997, when
John Hartson and Frank Lampard scored in a 2-1 Premier League victory.
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Peterborough v West Ham
BBC.co.uk
KO 15:00
10 February 2012
Last updated at 13:28
NPOWER CHAMPIONSHIP
Venue: London Road Date: Saturday 11 February Kick-off: 1500 GMT
Coverage: Watch highlights on The Football League Show; listen on BBC Radio
5 live and BBC local radio including BBC London DAB; text commentary on the
BBC Sport website
Fulham loanee Matthew Briggs is expected to make his debut for Peterborough
at left-back, with Tommy Rowe set to return to midfield. Striker Paul Taylor
has been ill this week and is a doubt.
West Ham will be without captain Kevin Nolan after he was sent-off in last
week's derby win against Millwall. Left-back George McCartney is expected to
recover from a hamstring problem, but Papa Bouba Diop (hamstring) and Guy
Demel (thigh) are both out.
MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head
• West Ham hold a 100% record against Peterborough, having won all
three of their previous meetings.
• The Hammers did the double in the 1992/93 second tier campaign, and
won the reverse fixture in 1-0 in September.
Peterborough United
• In four months Peterborough have dropped from ninth to 18th with
just two wins in 13 games, and one point out of the last 12.
• The second highest home scorers in the division, are one of three
clubs still looking for their first Championship win of 2012.
• Posh can only draw on the smallest gates in the division.
West Ham United
• The leaders are chasing a fifth win in six league outings, and an
unrivalled 18th Championship maximum.
• The Hammers have a four-point advantage at the summit, gaining 12 of
their victories against bottom-half clubs, and an unrivalled 27 of the 56
points on the road.
• Sam Allardyce also has the advantage of the biggest gates in the
Championship.
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Fry's delight
KUMB.com
Filed: Friday, 10th February 2012
By: Staff Writer
Former West Ham youngster Matt Fry has signed a permanent deal with League
Two side Bradford City. Fry, who was one of a number of former Academy
youngster informed at the end of last year that their current contracts were
not being extended has signed a deal with the Bantams that runs until the
end of the current season.
The 21-year-old, who failed to make a single first team appearance for the
Hammers has been training with City since mid-January in a bid to earn a
permanent deal.
The news was confirmed by Bradford this morning, whose manager Phil
Parkinson worked with Fry previously when manager of Charlton. Speaking via
Twitter, the 21-year-old full-back said: "I have parted ways with West Ham
after a 10-year spell having joined as an 11-year-old. "I have some great
childhood memories there and would like to thank all staff and players thay
helped me mature into the player I am today! "A new chapter begins for me,
but I wish West Ham well and won't forget the times I used to go and watch
them as a kid."
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Peterborough United v West Ham United
KUMB.com
Filed: Friday, 10th February 2012
By: Preview Percy
Preview Percy is rather regretting spending that winter fuel payment he got
just before Christmas in the pub. He's having to make do by burning all
those documents that nice Mr Redknapp brought round for his fire last week.
There's enough there to keep him going for a few years. In the meantime
here's his look at this weekend's visit to Peterborough. Stats courtesy of
John Northcutt
Next we journey up the A1(M) to London Road where our hosts will be
Peterborough United. After the getting up in the middle of the night
experience of last weekend, you'll be pleased to know that it's a 3pm kick
off this Saturday. Those of you who like to attend these matches using Mr
Stevenson's steam-powered track-based transport system may like to note that
due to engineering works further north (yes there is such a place) the East
Coast Main Line will be running to a revised timetable. There's also no
service on the Met which will mean fewer services along the top bit of the
Circle Line which may affect journeys to King's Cross in the first place.
Finally most of you will have noted that it's been a bit nippy out over the
last few days. With the London Road ground being one of the older grounds in
the League there's no undersoil heating. They are taking all possible steps
to ensure that the match takes place but much will depend on the overnight
weather. There will be a pitch inspection at 10am so, as ever check before
you go.
Our hosts this weekend currently sit in 18th spot with 34 points from their
29 matches so far. This is a just about comfortable ten points off the drop
zone though it's not a gap they'll want to see shrinking. Current form is
not much to be writing home about with them having drawn three (all 1-1 at
home to Birmingham and away to Middlesbrough and last weekend at Burnley)
and lost three (0-1 away at 'Ull, 1-2 at home to Brighton and 0-3 at home to
Pompey) of their last six league matches. In fact you have to go back to
Boxing Day for their last win, a 1-0 victory at strugglers Nottingham
Forest.
Their boss is Darren Ferguson. Ferguson is in his second spell at the club
having departed back in 2009 to take over at Preston. After he got the sack
at Deepdale his dad, in an act that was breathtakingly petulant even by his
pretty tawdry standards, recalled all three players that were on loan from
Manchester United. Just to rub salt into the wounds Ferguson senior
persuaded his mate Tony Pulis to do the same with a couple of Stoke players
who were also on loan. Thus at a stroke just about half a team were lost
because of a fit of pettiness.
Ferguson returned to Peterborough just over a year ago after the incumbent
boss Gary Johnson left following a disagreement over "policy" with the
club's "Director Of Football" Barry Fry. Ferguson managed to keep up the
good work and get them promoted to the Championship following a surprising
3-0 play-off win over Huddersfield Town.
Along with the Preston loan scandal, another thing that the Ferguson family
won't go out of their way to publicise is the incident that saw Darren pick
up a £1,500 fine from the beak in 2010 for common assault, the victim being
his now ex-missus. Now lord knows the former Mrs Preview Percy was a
complete pain in the backside and here in the Avram Grant Rest Home the
anniversary of my Decree Absolute is celebrated with the same spirit of joy
that accompanied VE day. However, the thought of giving her a clout round
the earhole never once crossed my mind so the Posh boss will get no sympathy
from this quarter.
Back onto football, rather than domestic violence matters, and the club had
a less than successful transfer window. Despite Ferguson's protestations
that he wasn't in the market for anyone, it transpired that moneybags club
Crawley had turned down a double bid for defender Kyle McFazdean and striker
Tyrone Barrett. They also lost highly-rated England U21 defender Ryan
Bennett to Norwich City. Bit of a strange deal this one as it includes an
immediate loan back to Peterborough until the end of the month, meaning that
he will be available for selection for this one. Bennett's departure will
(eventually) leave them very short-handed at the back, though I understand
that the Bennett transfer deal has an agreement that a couple of players can
go on loan in the opposite direction once Bennett finally finds his way to
Carrow Road. In the meantime defender Matthew Briggs has come in on a loan
from Fulham, initially for one month.
The 'keeper is former World Heavyweight Boxing Champion Joe Lewis. The 24
year old has been touted in some circles as a potential replacement for
Robert Green if/when Green ever leaves the Boleyn. He's already been
included in a couple of squads for the full England set-up though for both
the matches concerned he was an unused sub. He does have a number of U21
caps, one of which was gained in Sealey-esq fashion when he came on as an
outfield player in a match against Azerbaijan.
There are a couple of ex-Hammers in the squad. Grant McCann is the club
captain and spent five years on the books from 1998-2003. Most of that time
he was out on loan and he only made four sub appearances for the first team.
There's a quiz question lurking somewhere in the fact that he's managed
play-off promotions with three different clubs (Cheltenham, Scunthorpe and
Posh) at three different stadiums (Millennium, Wembley and Old Trafford
respectively).
The other academy graduate in the squad is Daniel Kearns. Like McCann,
Kearns was born in Belfast. However, controversially, after gaining
representative honours for Northern Ireland at U19 level Kearns switched
allegiance to the Republic for whom he has subsequently been capped at U19,
U21 and U23 level. The Republic has had asomething of an aggressive
recruiting policy at age level in recent years, and the row between the IFA
and the FAI continues to fester, though the views of the Judean Popular
Front and the Popular Front of Judea have not as yet been canvassed.
There's an interesting character up front in the shape of scouser Paul
Taylor. He started off on the books of Man City after which things started
to go all silly. A spell with Vauxhall Motors saw him come to the attention
of Chester City in 2008. A six-month loan with a view to a permanent deal
was agreed. The loan lasted less than three months as Chester's failure to
pay his wages was cited as the reason for his missing a number of away
games. There was also the small matter of a positive drug test for cocaine
which saw the player given a six month ban.
So where next? The Belgian fifth division. Obviously. A few goals at some
outfit called Montegnee saw Anderlecht swoop but it wasn't long before they
loaned him out to strugglers Charleroi. That deal lasted about a month
before he got tired of the all-chip diet and signed an 18 month deal with
Posh. He's currently stalling on a new contract and Barry Fry claims that
there has been interest from the Premiership. Blackburn is one team that
have been mentioned. So back to the all-chip diet then.
And so to us. Well last week's win was pleasing on oh so many levels.
Obviously any win against that lot is to be welcomed – and if anyone ever
really thought that white heather was "lucky" might want to look at that
second goal again – it certainly did them no good did it? However, for me
the pleasing thing was the fact that for the vast majority of the match we
passed the ball about. And when we did "go long" Cole was in one of those
all too rare moods that saw him hold up play superbly. The sending-off of
Nolan whilst, in itself, justifiable did seem harsh in the context of one or
two other tackles that went unpunished – that kung-fu assault on Taylor was
one that springs to mind. Still those who have been wondering exactly how
things would be without the skipper in the middle will now have three
matches (at least) to see how things work.
The Tomkins in midfield experiment was interesting. Admittedly it wasn't a
total success – some of the lad's passing was occasionally a bit wayward -
and the anticipated role that he was due to play just in front of the back
four went out of the window after ten minutes as he pushed into a more
traditional midfield berth. However, despite the initial fish out of water
concerns he stuck to the task well and it will be interesting to see if the
Manager sticks with the experiment.
Injury wise the only two likely to be unavailable are Papa who is still
hamstrung, and Demel who has been making noises about targeting Southampton
for any potential return. Otherwise we have a full squad bursting at the
seams with new boys itching for debuts.
Prediction? Well the "West Ham factor" needs to be considered of course.
That's a combination of our seemingly endless talent over the years to shoot
ourselves in the foot in matches that we ought to win plus the undoubted
raising of the game that some clubs have when confronted by what they
perceive to be a "bigger" club. Throw into that the Manager's natural
inclination to be less than adventurous away from the Boleyn and a small
home ground packed out with a sell-out crowd and you have the makings of a
Cup Tie sort of feel to the match which could add an element of "banana
skin" to possibly already icy conditions.
Having factored all that into my equations though I'm still going for us to
win – albeit by a tighter margin than one might expect. Let's say 2-1 to us
then to keep the gap to at least four points in advance of the midweek
fixture.
Enjoy the game and wrap up warm!
When Last We Met: Won 1-0 Mark Noble's winner came from the spot (obviously)
after Lansbury had been bundled over in the box. The manager later referred
to Abdoulaye Faye as "one cool dude". Nobody knows why.
Referee: Chris Sarginsonno, me neither. Still he can't possibly be as bad as
that idiot Jones we had last weekend can he?
Danger Man: Grant McCann As an ex-Hammer he is automatically 23.96432% more
likely to get on the scoresheet than any of his colleagues according to my
Rosie 47 computer. He's also their top scorer with 8 this season.
Daft fact of the week: Peterborough has been famous over the years for being
the centre of the British brick industry. The most famous brick to come from
Peterborough is the "Fletton Special" that starred in the Father Ted episode
"Speed 3". The brick, you will recall, was placed on the accelerator pedal
of a milk float to prevent it from slowing down below 4mph thus detonating a
bomb.
The brick retired from show business a few years ago following the emergence
of its acting prodigy, Keanu Reeves (though film critics maintain that
Reeves has never managed to convey the warmth and feeling to his roles for
which his mentor was famous). In retirement, the brick is a regular at
London Road where it watches home matches from an executive box constantly
moaning about how much better the defensive walls were "back in my day".
Stat man John: Northcutt's corner
Friendlies (all away)
Aug 1967 4-2 Hurst, Peters, Sissons 2
Aug 1973 2-1 Brooking Robson
Aug 1995 1-1 Cottee
Jul 2004 1-1 Dailly
Jul 2008 2-0 Bellamy 2
Jul 2010 2-1 Cole, Edgar
They Played For Both
Bobby Barnes, Matthew Etherington, Bill Green
Dave Llewellyn, Grant McCann, Adam Newton
Terry Woodgate
Our former captain Noel Cantwell had two spells as the Peterborough manager.
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Peterborough v West Ham preview
Last updated: 10th February 2012
SSN
Team news for Saturday afternoon's Championship clash between Peterborough
and West Ham at London Road. Matthew Briggs will make his debut for
Peterborough.
Briggs joined Posh on a month-long loan deal from Fulham this week and the
England Under-21 international is expected to go straight into the starting
line up. A left-back by trade, Briggs can also play at centre-half or wide
on the left but he should line up in his preferred role. That means Craig
Alcock and Mark Little will contest the right-back slot and Tommy Rowe will
revert to his midfield role. A sell-out crowd is expected at London Road but
Briggs is not fazed. "I've played for Fulham in the Premier League at
Arsenal and at Chelsea so I hope that experience will stand me in good stead
against West Ham," he told the club's official website. "It's a great game
to play in and hopefully I will be involved. I've never played against West
Ham, but they're a big club at this level and I'm looking forward to it."
Paul Taylor missed training this week due to illness and the striker will
continue to be assessed ahead of Saturday.
West Ham are without captain Kevin Nolan. Midfielder Nolan starts a
three-match ban after he was sent off just nine minutes into last weekend's
2-1 win over derby rivals Millwall. Left-back George McCartney was pulled
out of training on Thursday morning with a tight hamstring but boss Sam
Allardyce expects him to be fit.
Defender Guy Demel has shaken off a thigh problem but will not be risked yet
while midfielder Papa Bouba Diop will be out for a few weeks with a
hamstring injury.
Striker Nicky Maynard will be hoping to make his debut after he was an
unused substitute against Millwall but fellow deadline-day signing Ravel
Morrison will not be involved yet.
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My thoughts are not with England
Published: 10 Feb 2012
The Sun
SAM ALLARDYCE has distanced himself from the England manager's job by
saying: My focus is West Ham United. Big Sam is among the candidates to
succeed Fabio Capello, who sensationally quit as England boss this week
after the FA stripped John Terry of the captaincy. Allardyce has made no
secret of his interest in the England job throughout his career and came
close to landing the role in 2006 after Sven Goran Eriksson's exit — only to
lose out to Steve McClaren. But this time round Allardyce seems less keen
and reiterated his commitment to the Hammers. He said: "My focus is West Ham
United. We're top of the league and we want to move forward and clinch
promotion. "My thoughts are not on the England job at the moment, they are
on West Ham. "What we hope for is that it gets resolved as soon as
possible."
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Special invitation was pure Gold
HavervilleEcho.co.uk
Published on Saturday 11 February 2012 07:00
TWO directors of CXG Property Services in Haverhill were invited to the
recent West Ham versus Nottingham Forest match in recognition of the success
of the company in 2011. Last year CXG, which is based in High Street,
retained its Property Sourcing title and director Elaine Grubb won Women's
Property Manager of the year.
Elaine, who attended the match with CXG owner and fellow director Robin
Pilley, said: "I am not a big football fan but the West Ham vice-chairman
Karen Brady has been a big inspiration to me and shows how women can succeed
in a male dominated industry, yet Karen has always managed to retain her
femininity which I think is important."
West Ham chairman David Gold said "The West Ham board are great supporters
of community based small businesses who like ourselves are well aware that
during these difficult times it is even more important to provide excellent
standards of both service and value for money.
"It was lovely to be able to participate in and recognise CXG's
achievements". Mr Pilley added: "It was a lovely day and very exciting that
our company's achievements are continuing to be recognised. "Having been a
lifelong West Ham fan myself it made the day even more enjoyable."
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Maynard set for debut as Nolan begins Hammers ban
Published on Saturday 11 February 2012 06:00
YorkshirePost.co.uk
Leaders West Ham take on Peterborough at London Road and will be without
captain Kevin Nolan, who starts a three-match ban after his sending-off at
home to Millwall last weekend. George McCartney is set to feature with
manager Sam Allardyce insisting the left-back's hamstring problem is only a
minor one. New signing Nicky Maynard will be hoping to make his Hammers
debut after failing to get off the bench last weekend.
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KEIRA KNIGHTLEY'S A WEST HAMLET
Daily Star
11th February 2012 By Daily Star reporter
KEIRA Knightley is a secret West Ham fan and loves going to games with
fellow actor Ray Winstone. The star, 26, says she has managed to cheer on
the Hammers from the terraces with Ray, 54, and not be recognised. Keira
tells ITV1's Jonathan Ross Show at 9pm tonight: "I love I've got my West Ham
shirt."
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