WHUFC.com
The manager has spoken to the media ahead of Saturday's trip to Turf Moor
22.03.2012
Sam Allardyce has held his pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday's
npower Championship trip to Burnley. Victory at Turf Moor could see the
Hammers climb back into the automatic promotion places, with Big Sam's men
starting the weekend two points behind second-place Reading. A success would
also avenge the Clarets' shock 2-1 win at the Boleyn Ground on 3 December -
West Ham's most-recent home defeat. The Hammers head north unbeaten in their
previous nine league matches, while Burnley were beaten 1-0 at Ipswich Town
on Wednesday evening.
Now you have had time to reflect, what did you make of Tuesday's 1-1 home
draw with Middlesbrough?
SA - It's like everything else and the last few frustrating games - because
they have accumulated all together and all at home, there is the usual
frustration for everybody, of course. Again, it's about keeping your feet on
the ground and looking at the reality of it, and the reality is that we're
all disappointed and we all know we should have done better. None of the
opposition have outplayed us or done anything more than we've done. We've
done everything we possibly can on the night to win a game of football - not
just the home games we've drawn but also the away game at Leeds United. The
only thing that wasn't right for most of those games were the goals for and
the goals against. Unfortunately, that is our stumbling block at the moment
- nothing else in terms of how we're playing and what we're doing.
It's not only what you see in a game of football on the night in its raw
state when we're all a bit tense and emotional, but it's what you see when
you review the game after. Reviewing the game in the cold light of day
through technology and the tactical and technical stats from the electronic
eye that's on the game, it gives you a perspective on how the game has gone.
I speak from strength when I say we outplayed the opposition on every single
occasion and, apart from Leeds away, had more chances at goal than every
team we've played. We've had more crosses and more final-third entries but
unfortunately can't find the end result of scoring more goals.
Is the lack of goals from your forward players a concern?
SA - In the last 15 games, our forwards have scored five goals out of 19.
We're all aware of that, but they're all trying their very best and I don't
want to put any more pressure on them than they've already got. The fact of
us stumbling at the moment is that when an unfortunate goal is scored
against us, it's costing us too much because we haven't already buried the
team we're playing against. The other factors are rub of the green and
refereeing decisions at critical times. I saw Manchester City win a game
[against Chelsea] because of a refereeing decision, and not because they
were going to come back into the game at that time. They didn't deserve to
be behind on reflection of the game, but they had missed their chances and
may have paid a heavy price for that. Because a refereeing decision went
their way, they got back in the game, it lifted everybody and then the
talent of Nasri and Tevez saw them through. Defining moments in the game are
not swinging our way at the minute, just as we'd like to see our frontmen
score one or two more goals.
Is there a nervousness around the place, particularly at home?
SA - I do sense it, because nervousness is passed over by the time of the
season and by the anxiety getting greater because the slip-ups have occurred
over a short space of time. The overall fact is that we're third in the
league and we have a game in-hand. If we win that game in-hand, we go one
point above Reading and within four points of Southampton. We've got to go
on a winning streak now. Win/draw has been sufficient for us all season -
we've only lost three games at home in the entire season - but we're in a
position where we need to win/win now. The reality of the situation is that
we're a small margin away from converting our draws into victories again and
hopefully we can start this at Burnley and Peterborough in our next two
games. One, we want to and two, we need to! At the moment, because of our
draws coming all together when none of us expected it, the frustration
builds up and that anxiety becomes more fearful than you would want. We
totally outplayed Middlesbrough - I watched it, looked at it, have seen it
and done it. The facts speak for themselves, not the perception.
Unfortunately, football is run on and looked at mainly by perception and not
facts. The disappointing thing for everybody is that we've built the
expectation so high that, when the blip has come, the frustration is bigger
than it really should be. I understand that because we all want to get
promoted directly out of this league if we can.
How is your squad looking for Saturday's game?
SA - It's not looking bad. I don't think we've picked up any injuries from
Tuesday's game, which is very important for us. I don't think we'll have
Ricardo Vaz Te, Julien Faubert, Winston Reid, Papa Bouba Diop or Guy Demel
back into the squad, though. In terms of adding players to the squad, I
don't think that will happen this weekend. Vaz Te and Faubert are the two
closest to returning because they were small muscle injuries. Obviously Papa
ruptured a thigh and Winston's concussion has been longer than we originally
thought. We all have to face some injuries here and there but we want a big
squad available to aid the selection process based on the number of games
we've got in such a short space of time between now and 28 April. I can't
believe we have only five weeks and nine games to go. There is a massive
prize at the end of it that we've got to try to achieve.
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Tonks wants Burnley win
WHUFC.com
James Tomkins has told West Ham TV the players are desperate for three
points on Saturday
22.03.2012
West Ham United defender James Tomkins is determined to make sure West Ham
win their fight for promotion. The 22-year old West Ham Academy graduate
spoke exclusively to WHUTV about the Hammers' 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough
and the need for three points from Saturday afternoon's game with Burnley.
Tomkins was unlucky not to score on Tuesday night, when he had a great
header wonderfully saved by Jason Steele in the Boro goal. "It was a great
delivery from Nobes [Mark Noble] and I've got my head to it and felt I could
do no more but the keeper has pulled off a world-class save," Tomkins told
West Ham TV. It was frustrating as it could've put the game to bed; if it
had gone in we would've gone on to win the game I think."
Looking ahead to the weekend's encounter with Burnley at Turf Moor, the
former Under-21 England international is keen to make sure the Hammers
continue their impressive away form and extend their nine-match unbeaten run
with a win. "We are looking to get three points in the bag for sure. They
have a good young team but we go there full of confidence as our away form
has been very good. I'm sure that come the end of the season we will be
right up there and we will achieve our goal of promotion."
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Frankly speaking
WHUFC.com
Frank McAvennie believes it will 'come together' soon for the Hammers'
strikers
22.03.2012
Frank McAvennie knows a thing or two about scoring. The Glasgow-born striker
netted 136 league goals during a successful 15-year career with West Ham
United, Celtic and St Mirren, forging an outstanding partnership with Tony
Cottee during his first spell at the Boleyn Ground between 1985 and 1987. In
1985/86, McAvennie netted 26 goals as West Ham finished a club-record high
of third in the old Division One - the equivalent of today's Premier League.
The former Scotland international, now 52, believes the Hammers' current
crop of forwards need to emulate their prolific achievements if the club are
to gain automatic promotion this season. "It's all about confidence really,
isn't it," said McAvennie, who was back in east London for Tuesday's npower
Championship draw with Middlesbrough. "It's one of them when it can go badly
and you can have a few games where you don't score, then you will end up
scoring the unlikeliest goal and it will send you off on a run where you
can't stop scoring. "I remember when I was playing with Tony and he once
went ten games without scoring and then he'd get one off a ricochet and that
would get him going again. "I'm sure it will all come together and it has to
because we've reached the business end of the season and we need our
strikers to be scoring goals. Here's hoping!"
McAvennie believes that, with the likes of Carlton Cole, Nicky Maynard, John
Carew and Sam Baldock in the squad, West Ham should have the firepower to
shoot themselves back into the top-two, providing the forwards are given the
required standard of service. If they are to do so, the Hammers legend
believes they will need the support of the Boleyn Ground faithful - a group
of supporters he has always enjoyed a fantastic rapport with. "The fans were
great when we were playing. Me and Tony used to have bets about who would
score the best goal because we knew we were going to score. The confidence
was running through us. That's the difference between then and what's
happening now. "Saying that, it's not often you have players like Alan
Devonshire, Alan Dickens and Mark Ward behind you giving you a great supply.
It made it easy for me and Tony to score the goals. "People didn't want to
come here when we were playing because they knew us and the crowd wouldn't
give them a moment's peace from the start until the end. We've got to get
that back because this is a great stadium. "We know what they want and they
can help us to achieve it. We've dropped into third now and we need to get
back into the top two."
Aside from Middlesbrough's late equaliser, McAvennie thoroughly enjoyed his
midweek trip to east London, where he was joined at the Boleyn by fellow
Boys of 86 Cottee, Devonshire, Phil Parkes and Geoff Pike. "It was
brilliant. I've not been down for a while and I've been looking forward to
it. It's great to see all the boys again, especially as they all look a bit
older, except me!"
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Just who are you insulting?
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 22nd March 2012
By: Paul Walker
So Tony Mowbray thinks we believe we are "insulted" by having to play in the
Championship. I've got news for him, we only feel insulted by the people who
have got us here in the first place.
What the Middlesbrough manager knows about this club, our fans and the
working class community that spawned us you could probably write on the back
of a postage stamp.
This son of a steelworker should know better than to suggest that sons and
grandsons from a docklands community would be that disrespectful of fellow
working men.
On the contrary. Many fans I speak to have been more than impressed by some
of the teams in the Championship. Their commitment, effort and desire to
improved themselves in a career that sees few home-grown players now
performing in the Premier League.
What you do get is teams who give 200 per cent against, as Abdoulaye Faye
said after his first goal for the club on Tuesday.
He reckons that the players in this division raise their game against us,
and then lose the next one. Are you listening Leeds!
We are being confronted week in week out by clubs that have little money, or
have fought their way back from administration, but still manage to produce
a highly competitive division. No, we don't want to be in it, but we know we
have to prove we are worthy of leaving it and we do not expect to breeze
through the campaign to the title.
But Mowbray believes we are above ourselves, and are insulted by the
indignity of playing the likes of his own club. Those were his words after
Middlesbrough defended their way to a 1-1 draw at the Boleyn on Tuesday.
He does not know how we feel and why. Perhaps after a ten year career in
management, with only one success - taking West Brom to promotion (swiftly
followed by relegation) and then being sacked as a failure after 45 games at
Celtic, Mowbray should really concentrate on his own club, not ours.
Managers as a rule do not criticise their players or their rivals, certainly
not their fans. To pass a snap judgement while not knowing really why fans
at West Ham can be angry, did not help my mood after yet another drawn
match.
Our own boss Sam Allardyce, always one for statistics, claimed nobody gets
automatic promotion losing more than eight games. We have been stuck on
seven for a while, but squandering ten points from five successive drawn
matches seems like losing three more games to me.
So the fans booed again. But only at the end and not for long. Sadly the
whole thing is now slipping badly into a pattern. We do not have the talent
to break teams down who come to defend in depth, oh for a Scott Parker out
there.
I never believed we would miss Vaz Te so much. Since he limped off against
Palace we have barely had a shot at the Boleyn.
We do not have the class and quality to find that few feet of space and time
to make something constructive happen. We do not have anyone who can play
accurate passes from midfield, rather than the humping of cross-field passes
or balls down the channels.
It was horrible to watch, even though Allardyce suggests we played some good
football. Is he brave enough now to risk the flare of Ravel Morrison, or to
give Henri Lansbury a central role? Because that's all we have who can begin
to produce passes, openings and goals.
We can still catch Reading, if not Southampton. We must win the game in hand
at Peterborough next week, beat Reading the following Saturday and - are you
listening lads - we must win at Burnley.
So just why are we so angry. I can only speak for myself in this, and I have
a long list, so bear with me.
I'm angered by managers who take cuts of transfer fees, those that insist on
working with the same agent, those that have their family members, brothers
or sons working as agents, those that have had shares in the companies of
discredited agents, and those that almost routinely take back- handers in
transfer dealings. You can fill in the names for yourselves!
And just how is it right that a manager can avoid tax by opening an offshore
account in the name of his dog and allowing his boss to give him cash
presents? I wonder if that's what George Osbourne meant when he talked about
closing tax loopholes in his Budget speech?
And just why is it right for managers to be given a cut of any money the
club makes by selling players? I thought bringing on young talent was part
of the job, and frankly I can't see exactly what influence Harry Redknapp
had in the improvement of Peter Crouch, but we'll let that go.
OK, that's managers who make me angry. Now the people who have helped bring
this club to our current position. Maybe it starts with selling Rio
Ferdinand (and not finding out until now how much 'arry got from that deal).
For all his dodgy image, we have not been the same since he was sacked. It
cost us Frank Lampard (Senior and Junior) too. Then there have been the poor
decisions in appointing Lou Macari, Glenn Roeder, Avram Grant and even
Gianfranco Zola, but only for his inexperience, not the football he tried to
play.
Then we come to the various owners. From Terry Brown, and the vast wealth he
made from selling the club, to incompetent, plain daft Icelandic owners
whose wealth had no solid foundation and just melted away, along with our
dreams of becoming what Manchester City are today.
Next, well what about Scott Duxbury and the previous club officials who
allowed the Carlos Tevez saga to even start. Fined for hiding contract
details and then finally hammered by a ridiculous kangaroo court trumped up
by the FA in their battle for supremacy with the Premier League. It has cost
us millions, the respect of many in the game, and we are still shelling out
£5million a year to help Sheffield United cover up their own financial mess.
Don't even get me started on that Yorkshire club, whose owner, I was told,
was privately trying to sell the club long before Tevez came along, and
maybe could see a way of using our money to wipe out their debt to make his
club a better option to buy.
And worst of all, the management of West Ham for losing a golden generation.
Ferdinand(x2), Cole, Carrick, Defoe, Johnson , Lampard, even John Terry.
That's why we are angry Mr. Mowbray, that's why we I feel insulted. Now mind
your own business.
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Five points from a League Championship!
KUMB.com
Filed: Tuesday, 20th March 2012
By: Jon Peach
When judging the success of a football manager, I think it's very difficult
to attempt midway through any sort of season or even tenure.
At any given time during last year, you could have given Avram Grant
anything from a -12 out of 10, to a 3.5 out of 10. And again, if you'd
attempted to judge Gianfranco Zola's managerial exploits with West Ham when
he was fortunate enough to have Craig Bellamy leading the line, you would
probably have judged him significantly higher than when he was trying to
work out just how he was going to manufacture a goal or two out of Ilan,
Mido and Benni McCarthy. This is why we find ourselves in a troubling period
of judgement for West Ham's 14th (full time) and current manager.
Presently I'm hearing many differing opinions on his success, but I can't
help but think that many observers are being overly harsh on a man who is
yet to reach his 10th month in charge at West Ham. Either some of us have a
hugely inflated sense of self-worth or the same players that most are saying
'simply aren't quite as good as their wages/Premier League experience might
suggest' must be great players.
Because this is the crux of the argument. Just how much should Allardyce be
getting out of our players?
We're now on our 10th manager this century and we're only 12 years in.
Considering that we only had seven managers in the 99 years prior to this
2000, and also given the fact that the side that Allardyce had inherited was
coming off the back of two of the more soul-sapping seasons in recent memory
I find it a little odd that there isn't more excitement around the Boleyn
for what could well be the first time we have won an actual League trophy
since the 1980-81 season.
I mean, I understand that we West Ham fans have had to endure a Hell of a
lot in recent seasons, but this our chance at glory. We're currently five
points of the top of the league with a game in hand. Yet to look at this
esteemed website sometimes, you would think we were battling relegation!
Not only that, but the circumstances of our season seems to have been lost
somewhat. We have had a Championship squad for a number of years now, it has
lacked balance, leadership and any sort of combative spirit. We currently
have a slightly better balanced squad than we've had for a while, but we're
still lacking any sort of star quality. I think to lay that at a manager's
door who has been with us such a short time is harsh.
We all know that pies and pints aren't the only things that are overpriced
in football. Players that will give you goals, creativity and flair are also
on the expensive side. Very few Championship sides have ever been able to go
out and find these sorts of players, the Premier League is full of managers
and chairmen looking to add star quality to their side and players are
becoming more and more reluctant to spend time outside the top division. Top
level recruitment is a difficult task, particularly for a club who saw
somewhere in the region of 20 players leave last summer.
Many fans I speak to mention Nolan when it comes to this area of the pitch,
and the fact that he did cost us a large amount of money is of course
relevant, but whilst many supporters felt that he would fire us into the top
flight after what he did at Newcastle in this division, I think many of us
forgot that for Newcastle that season, they had the likes of Routledge and
Gutierrez who were hugely influential in the goals of Nolan, Ameobi and
Carroll.
These conversations are the general sorts of discussion of any fan at any
ground around the country, but I must admit that I find it bizarre in the
extreme that I've begun to hear murmurings around the ground recently of the
possibility of sacking Allardyce. This to me just highlights how ludicrous
the world of football currently is.
Anyone who is currently calling for the head of Allardyce needs to stop and
relax. They need to have a look at the situation that Wolves currently find
themselves in with Terry Connor and they need to stop shouting the names of
Chris Hughton, Brendan Rogers and Paul Lambert around as if every change in
manager has resulted in an instant change in fortune. Many will cite the
poor nature of the football being played along with some disappointing
recent home results, but surely now is the time for patience.
When I was at University in Leicester what seems like a million years ago
now, the majority of Leicester fans I knew seemed to spend most of their
time shouting "O'Neill out" whilst Leicester City were struggling to clamber
out of the Championship via the play-offs. Many of these fans even went
further to tell me in great detail how O'Neill was a terrible appointment
and they'd have been far better off with Mike Walker (remember him?).
Three years later, Leicester had won two League Cup finals, played in Europe
and finished in the top 10 of the Premiership for the first time in their
history. To the best of my knowledge, Mike Walker hasn't quite found his way
back to the Premier League as yet.
Another similar tale could be spoken of a little closer to home about a
manager currently having a great season with Newcastle. Not everyone wanted
Pardew out after the Palace play-off final of 2004, but I certainly remember
seeing some very similar posts about Pards that I've been reading recently.
The difference this time would appear to be a level of arrogance that some
of our fans seem to have now; as if we have some sort of divine right to be
top of the league, and that with the glorious and unfettered players that
Allardyce has at his disposal it's absolutely ludicrous that we haven't
battered out of sight a division that many in commentators and pundits in
this country consider to be one of the strongest and most competitive for
years.
I don't know about that. What I do know is that what I've witnessed at West
Ham over the last three or four years has been a capitulation of spirit and
determination to the extent that for the last two seasons I've actually
expected us to lose most games. I've gone to games expecting teams to score
against us, and for us then to capitulate. I mean, I know that that's not
new to West Ham, but for there to be a total lack of fight is just
disgusting.
Mentions of poor managerial appointments at West Ham are also misleading.
It's more than that, it's a combination of terrible player/coach recruitment
and general club administration that has been to blame for much of our
demise. For many years our top-earners have been at best ineffectual and at
worst completely absent. We've seen players arrive with no sense of
motivation to wear the shirt, no desire to work hard and no other reason for
being here other than to earn a salary.
That is beginning to change. We've had a 50-70 per cent staff turnover this
season. The players brought in may not quite be up to the standard that we
would like, but then we're a Championship club. Give me Taylor, Nolan, Faye
and Vaz Te over Dyer, Kovac, Upson and Obinna every day of the week. Of
course it's not fantastic, but it's a work in progress.
The frustration I have found with KUMB recently is that there are some
people who appear to have a genuine agenda against the club and against the
managers. Within this website's forum I've seen posts from the likes of
Romford and Cuenca Hammer (and I'm sure a few others) which are genuinely
perceptive, and are asking interesting questions that are worth debating
about the style, the formation and the future of the club.
But alongside these, there are statements and posts that are just negative
for the sake of it. Grown men moaning like five-year-olds who haven't got
what they wanted for Christmas; behaving like children whose next-door
neighbour has just got a new Action Man jeep with all the stickers, whilst
they had to make do with a knocked-off scuba-diving action man who's
flippers don't even stay on properly. It's childish beyond belief and it
shows a total lack of awareness for football in general.
Getting out of this division isn't easy. The Championship is littered with
the likes of Forest, Ipswich, Leicester City, Derby and Leeds Utd who have
tried and failed to get back to the top flight. Alongside those there are
some excellent and organised teams around. Teams whose fans are aware that
West Ham are the biggest club in this league and because of our recent
success in the Premier League team's do want to do well against us.
Some have gone so far as to suggest that some sides have 'parked the bus' at
the Boleyn this year, and whilst I personally think that that is a myth, I
have seen certainly seen teams raise their game for us. I also think that
some of our fans have been hugely disrespectful to Championship sides with
their expectations that we should be winning this league comfortably.
Reading, for example, are a good side. They have a good manager, they know
this division and have been building their team for a long time. Southampton
have a good young side, they've got a striker who's got 24 goals already
this season and who's scored four hat-tricks this year. Any team who has a
striker like that is going to be there or thereabouts in any league.
I think it's hugely important, as we go into the final stages of the season,
that everyone in and around the club needs to take a deep breath, have a
look at what's happened to Wolves this season and realise that the grass
isn't always greener. We have to stay positive. We have to stop giving
Allardyce's West Ham our begrudging support and give him and the current
crop of players - players who have given more in 10 months than some of the
players who have recently worn the Claret and Blue managed to give in years
- our full support.
We are five points away from a League Championship. Our first since 1981.
The first piece of silverware (other than an Intertoto Cup and a play-off
final trophy) that I would have witnessed in my lifetime. With the direction
football is moving in, who knows when we may have this opportunity of
success again?
West Ham fans have put up with an awful lot in recent years. But there are
currently around 68 league clubs below us right now whose fans would give
anything to be in the position we're currently in. Regardless of our
feelings on the current owners, manager, captain, players and even the
possibility of our new ground, surely West Ham fans are knowledgeable enough
to recognise that we have a huge opportunity to begin erasing what has been
a very difficult period for our club in the last four or five seasons?
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My faith restored
KUMB.com
Filed: Tuesday, 20th March 2012
By: Paul Walker
Sometimes watching at the Boleyn this season, I have been left wondering
whether we are all in this together, and fully understand the financial
implications of failure to win promotion.
But after the strong reaction to my piece about the final weeks of the
season, my faith has been restored in my fellow Hammers.
And I feel I must reply to the fans who have bothered to comment on KUMB. I
don't think I have ever had such a reaction to anything I have written about
football in over 40 years of journalism and now my less than sedate
retirement.
It is good to feel that people do agree with my views. The greater good now
is the club's return to the top flight, whether we like big Sam's tactics or
not, and whether we feel that players should be able to cope with
complaining fans.
But my experience of professional footballers is that they will find any
excuse possible not to take blame on their own shoulders. The shameful way a
few players left us last summer in the wake of relegation, some failing to
see the connection between their own poor displays and us going down, sadly
did not surprise me.
But my view that now is not the time to keep hounding the manager and
players seems to have struck a cord. We are not going to change the way we
play at this stage, I don't believe we have the quality of player needed to
produce a controlled passing game. That can be addressed when, not if, we go
up and have cash from the Premier League to play with.
Our desire for a good quality striker is a point in issue. The fanciful
stuff about Anelka, Tevez and Torres only raised fans' hopes when really the
chances of them signing are minimal.
We do not really have the money to compete for top players these days,
despite the spin that comes out of the club. In the end we took John Carew
(clearly carrying injures at Villa) and youngsters Sam Baldock and Nicky
Maynard, at a combined fee of something like £5m. That shows what part of
the market we are operating in.
So in some ways the style Allardyce uses reflects the level of players we
have. At Bolton, when he did have some money, he signed Anelka, Gary Speed
and several play making attacking players. He was able to mix and match, but
still had the label of a long-ball manager.
Here and now, he won't change, so what is the point with so much at stake,
of complaining? Someone suggested that I hadn't really understood what went
on at Leeds. But I did describe it as an undistinguished game, and not
pretty, so I don't really understand that reaction.
It was also suggested that Henri Lansbury and Ravel Morrison should be used
from the start. Lansbury, though, has disappointed me because he drifts out
of games too often. Morrison got his first taste at Leeds and struggled to
get into the game.
That was not surprising given he has barely played a serious match in months
(he was hardly popular at Old Trafford amoungst the coaching staff) and does
not, I feel, have the confidence and stature yet to control midfield at this
level and intensity. I hope I will be proved wrong here, because I know many
Man Utd fans who are furious the lad has been sold.
A mate of mine went to every Man Utd reserve game just to see the lad play,
such was his ability. He really is something special. Maybe in a home match
he could be risked, I really hope he makes it here because there are people
around Old Trafford who reckon that had the lad not gone wildly off the
rails (which is why Fergie gave up on him) he would be knocking on the door
of the full England team by now.
So we have what we have. Morrison may well be risked soon, I really hope so
and hope even more that it works because it will be the making of the lad
now he is away from the south Manchester gangs.
So, back to the fans. I just hope we can find it in ourselves to give it
everything from now on, to encourage when things go wrong and not give
anyone the chance to say at the end that things were our fault. COYI.
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Allardyce: Fans won't burst my bubble
Published 22:29 22/03/12 By MirrorFootball
The Mirror
Sam Allardyce has urged West Ham fans to take pride in the team's
Championship campaign. After Big Sam's Hammers were booed after Tuesday's
home draw with Middlesbrough, Boro boss Tony Mowbray claimed it happened
because their supporters see playing in the Championship as an insult to the
club's history. But Alladryce has responded: "They shouldn't be [insulted],
because they have been here a few times recently. "Fans' expectations is a
big thing now and they want things straight away. "There is a spell at every
football club that you go through, no matter how big the club is, and
frustration spills over from the fans. "The only way to deal with it is to
start winning games again."
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Burnley loan out Hines to Bournemouth
2:44pm Thursday 22nd March 2012 in News
Lancashire Telegraph
BURNLEY have allowed Zavon Hines to join Bournemouth on loan until the end
of the season. Hines has not started a league game for the Clarets since
joining the club from West Ham in August, and will now drop down to League
One in a bid to get match time.
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Is time running out for the West Ham manager?
London 24
Comment by Dave Evans, West Ham Correspondent
Thursday, March 22, 2012
8:45 AM
Another home draw and the chances of West Ham gaining automatic promotion
seem to be receding, but how much of that is down to the manager?
Bad refereeing decisions, so-called wonder goals, no luck, brilliant
goalkeeping. They were just some of the excuses on offer from West Ham boss
Sam Allardyce on Tuesday night after the 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough. But
the stark truth is, West Ham are simply not tactically astute enough to
break down well-organised teams on their own ground and that looks like
costing them automatic promotion. "We changed the way we played three
times," said the boss afterwards, as if that was a good thing. "We changed
the shape and the way we played at half time and that is why we got in the
game more. "Then we changed the way we played with the substitutes, so that
was three times."
How many times has that happened this season? Plenty, but it merely confirms
that Allardyce fails to line-up his team properly from the start of home
games. One up front, Nicky Maynard looking like a little lost boy, no pace
in the middle of the park and then bringing on Jack Collison to shut the
shop when it was 1-0 am I missing something with these tactics?
But still, we had the excuses.
"A bounce of the ball in the right area, a mistake from the opposition, a
goal that bounces in off somebody's knee can make the difference, but at the
moment, the rub of the green is just not with us. "The referee could have
changed it for us if he gives the right decision on our two penalty shouts."
Allardyce could have changed it himself if he picked the right team and
played the right tactics from the start. Nobody can fault his team's away
displays this season, they have been magnificent, but you have to possess a
little bit extra to unlock stubborn defences at home and playing keep ball
in midfield and defence, or pumping high balls up the field are just not
going to do it. Things need to change and quickly because time is running
out for Allardyce and fast
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