WHUFC.com
Carlton Cole believes the Hammers are in good shape ahead of the final two
months of the season
28.02.2012
Carlton Cole believes West Ham United have all the attacking options they
need to fire the club to promotion from the npower Championship. The No9 and
leading scorer has started the previous two league matches on the bench,
with January signing Nicky Maynard preferred in the starting role by manager
Sam Allardyce.
However, Cole has been around long enough to know he will get plenty more
chances to add to his club-leading tally of nine goals in the Hammers' final
14 fixtures - as will Maynard, Sam Baldock, John Carew and Frederic
Piquionne. "The thing is, we've got the players now to change it around if
the manager chooses to go with a different style," Cole told West Ham TV.
"I've got my own style, Nicky Maynard has got his own style and Sam Baldock
has got his own style. We've got a few other players like John Carew and
Freddie Piquionne and a young boys coming through. "Everybody has got a
different style and brings different stuff to the table. If the the manager
chooses to play anybody he sees fit for that game, he will do it. "Right
now, you can have a look. We're winning games, we've not lost since Ipswich
and have done well. We've had a few red cards that could have been avoided
but we've done well with what we've had. If I'm on the bench, I'll swallow
it. When I do get my chance, I'll give 110 per cent because that's all I can
do."
Cole was modest when it was put to him that his half-time introduction
against Crystal Palace on Saturday helped to turn the game in West Ham's
favour, despite his pass setting up fellow substiutute Baldock for the best
chance of the game late on. "I don't think it was me personally - it was the
change in formation. As soon as we went two up-front we started asking
different questions and I don't think Crystal Palace could handle us in that
way when we went 4-4-2. "Sam Baldock came on and had a couple good chances
that on another day I know he would put away. It wasn't our day to score a
goal, but I know it will come good."
While fellow England international Robert Green and Wales midfielder Jack
Collison have gone away to represent their countries, Cole has joined his
team-mates at a warm-weather training camp in Dubai. The striker believes
the trip will serve as a catalyst for the club's final push for promotion,
helping the squad to bond and rest tired limbs after a testing few weeks
that saw them reduced to ten men in three consecutive league games. "I think
the boys will be all right. We haven't got many going away on international
duty and the boys who aren't going away and will re-charge their batteries
for the next game."
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Green hails Big Sam Impact
WHUFC.com
Robert Green has praised manager Sam Allardyce following his England call-up
28.02.2012
Robert Green has spoken of the positive impact West Ham United manager Sam
Allardyce has had on his form this season. Green has won a well-deserved
recall to the England set-up for Wednesday night's game with the Netherlands
after a season of fantastic performances between the posts for the Hammers.
The 32-year-old was recalled to the England squad for the first time since
last September by manager Stuart Pearce and at an England Footballers
Foundation Lion and Roses Charity dinner on Monday night, he spoke during
about the improved mood in the camp since the arrival of Big Sam last
summer. "It's been good working under the manager this season. He's turned
around a pretty depressed place and got it going in the right direction"
Green said. "One thing he does is man-manage people, it's been good so far
under him."
What Allardyce appears to have installed in the West Ham squad is a
determination that promotion to the Premier League should be their main
priority this season. The manager's words have certainly rung true with
Green. "The motivation is there, we have got to get promoted. It's been
different and in a way it's been nice to not be in a team getting a pounding
every week. But it's not Premier League football and that's where the aim is
to be."
The West Ham No1 has been called into the squad alongside regular England
stopper Joe Hart and Scott Carson for the game at Wembley after keeping ten
clean sheets in the npower Championship this season. For Green, who was at
his best again on Saturday to deny Crystal Palace on several occasions,
football at the moment is very simple. "It's about keeping it down to the
basics, the pure element of trying to keep the ball out of the goal is
something I focus on" Green said. "What affects my life is what happens on a
Saturday and how well we do at West Ham. That's really pretty much all I
care about."
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Freddie impresses
KUMB.com
Filed: Tuesday, 28th February 2012
By: Staff Writer
Freddie Sears has been praised by Colchester boss John Ward following his
first full week with the Us. 22-year-old Sears joined the League One outfit
on a month's emergency loan last week and made his home debut for the Essex
club in their goalless draw with Rochdale at the Weston Homes Community
Stadium on Saturday.
Despite failing to find the net in his first start for Colchester, Sears
gave an encouraging performance during which he managed to test the
opposition goalkeeper on a couple of occasions. And Ward feels that now he
has settled into his temporary home, Sears' first goal for United won't be
too far away. "He has done fine this week," Ward told cu-fc.com. ""This is
his first time down to League One, so it's a credit to him that he's willing
to get out and play football - and it's a real credit to us that we've been
able to get him here. "It says a lot about him as a player that he wanted to
be here. He had to drive across London to sign the paperwork and fetch all
of his kit on Friday, so he was keen to meet us and be a part of the group.
"We've got a good player and a good person too. That attitude is crucial,
because if you're sloppy and lazy in football - or any job - you won't last
for long."
Sears' next chance to open his account comes when Colchester visit Boundary
Park to take on fellow mid-table side Oldham Athletic tonight.
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The Premier League is where it's at
KUMB.com
Filed: Tuesday, 28th February 2012
By: Staff Writer
West Ham number one Robert Green has given the clearest indication yet that
he will not consider signing a new contract if West Ham fail to return to
the Premier League this season. Green, speaking at a charity dinner last
night admitted that he was enjoying winning more games than during any
season since moving to east London but insisted that he needed to be playing
in the top flight. "This season has been different," he said. "In an ironic
way its been nice to not be on a team getting a pounding every week. But
obviously it's not Premier League football and that's where the aim is to
be. "We will see where the season takes us. If by the end we are not
promoted then you'd say its been rubbish and I wouldn't want to do it again.
It's the end outcome really."
The 32-year-old goalkeeper - who is also back in the England fold having
been given an international lifeline by temporary England boss Stuart Pearce
- added that whilst he enjoyed working under the current regime, he felt
that time was running out for his to make one final impact in the Premier
League. "It's been good working under the manager, he's turned around a
pretty depressed place and got it going in the right direction," added
Green. "One thing he can do is man-manage people.
"But it's not where we want to be. For me at West Ham, we have got to get
promoted. The motivation is there. "Whatever else happens happens is out of
my control; I'll get on with affecting what I can affect."
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Jonjo tops £50k mark
KUMB.com
Filed: Tuesday, 28th February 2012
By: Staff Writer
Jonjo Heuerman's fund-raising schemes have now netted the Bobby Moore Fund
for Cancer Research in excess of £55,000. The ten-year-old Hammers fan
completed his second marathon walk in aid of the charity on Saturday
morning, having been joined along the 23-mile route by a host of
well-wishers and fellow Hammers fans.
The youngster, who lost his grandmother to the same disease that cost
Hammers legend Moore his life 19 years ago this month ended his second
annual three-day walk in front of the World Cup winners' statue at the top
of Green Street ahead of the match with Crystal Palace. There he was
greeted by West Ham's co-chairmen David Gold and David Sullivan, young
Hammer Dylan Tombides plus a marching band who escorted Heuerman and his
merry band of marchers to the Boleyn Ground. The walk raised in excess of
£15,000 to add to the £40,000 young Jonjo - with the considerable help of
his elder sister Megan - had already previously raised for the fund.
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Green not listening to critics
Shot-stopper believes life is more important than football
Last Updated: February 28, 2012 9:56am
SSN
Goalkeeper Robert Green insists he has never allowed his England critics to
make an impact on his life. The shot-stopper is back in the international
set-up for Wednesday's friendly against the Netherlands having been called
up by interim manager Stuart Pearce. Green had fallen out of the reckoning
under former boss Fabio Capello after his howler against the USA in the 2010
World Cup. There had even been suggestions the West Ham player would retire
from international football after remaining an unused substitute in last
March's friendly against Ghana. But the 32-year-old did not listen to the
debates over his career, as he said in the Daily Mail: "I just carry on
playing. It's about keeping football down to the basics. The pure element of
trying to keep the ball out of the goal is something I focus on. "What that
man writing for whatever newspaper, what people write or speak about, I
really don't give a monkey's about. "That's not going to affect my life.
What affects my life is what happens on a Saturday and how well we do at
West Ham. That's really pretty much all I care about. "Football's not
particularly crazy. Once you are in it, you're in the eye of the storm and
it's quite nice. "I go along, play football, work as hard as I can, play as
hard as I can and then go home and spend time with my wife and kids. "If the
phone call comes, it comes. If it doesn't, I'll still be with my wife and my
child at the end of the day. If you get picked, you get picked. If you
don't, you don't."
Green's main focus is on helping West Ham back to the Premier League, with
Sam Allardyce's side currently sitting second in the Championship. "The
motivation is there," said Green. "For me, at West Ham, we have got to get
promoted. "It's been different and in a way it's been nice to not be in a
team getting a pounding every week. But obviously it's not Premier League
football and that's where the aim is to be."
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McCartney eyes Hammers stay
Full-back open to permanent deal
Last Updated: February 28, 2012 11:12pm
SSN
George McCartney is hoping to help West Ham back into the Premier League and
earn himself a permanent switch to Upton Park. The 30-year-old is currently
taking in a season-long loan with the Hammers, with Sunderland having deemed
him to be surplus to requirements. The experienced full-back is taking in
his second spell with the capital outfit, having previously joined the club
from Sunderland in 2006 before returning to Wearside two years later.
Saturday's goalless draw with Crystal Palace saw him make his 100th
appearance for the club and he admits to thoroughly enjoying his time with
the Championship promotion hopefuls. McCartney is now looking to help West
Ham over the line and convince Sam Allardyce that he is worthy of a
full-time deal.
Opportunity
"When I left the last time, I didn't expect to get the opportunity to come
back to a club like West Ham," he told London24. "Thankfully the manager and
the chairman gave me that chance and I am grateful to them. "If there is
promotion then I am sure that the chairman and the manager will be looking
to bring in quite a few new players. I have got a year left at Sunderland
and hopefully I can sort it out. "If West Ham are back in the Premier League
and willing to talk about giving me a contract, I will be more than happy to
stay down here."
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The Return of Kevin Nolan
February 28th, 2012 - 11:29 pm by Iain Dale
West Ham Till I Die
Kevin Nolan has been out for three games. This weekend he will no doubt
return to the first eleven despite the fact that, well, frankly we have done
rather well without him. Only against Palace could you say that the team
didn't perform well. It would be a surprise if Sam Allardyce didn't restore
his captain to the first eleven. Actually, strike that. It would be
inconceivable. So I imagine it will be Jack Collison who loses out. Jack
certainly had a shocker against Palace and maybe needs a rest. Let's hope
the rest will have done Kevin Nolan some good and that he returns all guns
blazing. He may have scored 7 goals, but we certainly haven't seen anything
like the best out of our captain this season. I can't think of a game where
he's rated more than a 6, which is just not good enough for the captain of a
side in the top two.
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