WHUFC.com
Henri Lansbury is keen to make sure West Ham United get a positive result on
Monday evening
20.04.2012
Henri Lansbury is determined to end the season on a high with West Ham
United, starting with three points against Leicester on Monday night. The
midfielder - on-loan from Arsenal - has recently re-established himself in
the first-team picture and believes it is down to his hard work and positive
attitude. The England Under-21 international has started the last two games
for the Hammers - at home to Brighton & Hove Albion and away at Bristol
City. "To get back into the team I have had to just keep training hard and
looking after myself and keep fit and then take my chance." Lansbury said.
"It's the gaffer's choice who plays and all I can do is train and play well
and make myself available for selection. Hopefully I can continue to show
what I can do."
Lansbury also spoke about how well team-mate Ricardo Vaz Te is playing at
the moment after his stunning scoring streak since joining the club from
Barnsley in January. The Portuguese winger bagged a hat-trick against
Brighton, the first of which was a superb long-range effort that was
included in Sky Sports News' 'Goal of the Week' selection. "Ricardo's a
great player, he has hit a few of those long range shots in training and
they've gone wide, the gaffer calls them moon shots! But then he went out
against Brighton and they've gone in for him which is fantastic for all of
us."
Lansbury is hoping to have a part to play in the final two games of the
season at Leicester City and home to Hull City. The midfielder is aware how
much of a part the fans will play in making sure the Hammers finish the
season on a high. "The fans were great and out in their numbers against
Brighton and Bristol and we will need that for the final two games in order
to get positive results. If we can do that then who knows what may happen
come the end of the season."
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Get Play-Off priority!
WHUFC.com
Fans who buy a ticket for the Hull City match will be given special priority
for the Play-Off semi
21.04.2012
Fans who buy tickets for West Ham United's final home game of the season
with Hull City will be given special priority for the club's Play-Off
semi-final, should West Ham finish in the Play-Offs come the end of the
season. The Hull City match on 28 April will see the Hammers wrap up their
league campaign and any fans who buy a ticket for the 'Season Finale' will
be awarded special priority for the home leg of the Play-Off semi-final. As
with any game, usual ticket priorities will apply in the first instance, but
then any remaining tickets will be made available to fans who attended the
visit of the Tigers for an exclusive 24-hour period before they go on
general sale. Please note that as a result there may be none left for
general sale. Click here to buy your Hull City tickets today.
Midfielder Mark Noble has thanked the Hammers faithful, who helped make the
Hammers' 6-0 victory against Brighton and Hove Albion the third
highest-attended game across all competitions in England on Saturday. The
attendance of 32,335 was bettered only by the all-Merseyside FA Cup
Semi-Final and Sunderland's 0-0 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers. Then on
Tuesday, Noble and his team-mates were once again cheered on by a sell-out
away following at Bristol City as 1,866 fans travelled to the West Country
on a wet and windy night to get behind their team. "The atmosphere on
Saturday against Brighton was fantastic - our fans really played their part
and we got a great result, which was a fitting reward for them," Noble said.
"Then in Bristol on Tuesday night the supporters were once again magnificent
and travelled across the country in their thousands."
"I know we always say it, but nothing beats a full Boleyn Ground on a
matchday. Against Brighton the atmosphere was great from the moment Bubbles
was played and we need that again for Hull City."
The lowest the Hammers can now finish in the npower Championship this season
is third, meaning if they do end up in the Play-offs they would play their
first semi-final away from home on Thursday 3 May. The return leg at the
Boleyn Ground would be on Monday 7 May with a possible final date booked in
at Wembley 12 days later on 19 May.
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Tweeting Turgott
WHUFC.com
Prolific tweeter Blair Turgott has enjoyed a #DEEC season with West Ham
United
20.04.2012
Any West Ham United supporter who uses the social networking site twitter
cannot failed to have come across Blair Turgott. The young Hammers winger is
a prolific tweeter, attracting more than 4,300 followers with his views on
everything from football to fashion to music to the latest happenings in
soap opera EastEnders. The England Under-18 star's twittering has even seen
him create a new fashion line based on the hashtag #DEEC - a shortened term
for the word 'decent'. While tweeting is the 17-year-old's first love away
from the pitch, his focus is very much on his football at all other times.
"Twitter is good. The fans give me a good following and it's good to get a
reputation for the right reasons. "As for #DEEC, it started when I was away
with England. I used to say 'Deec' for 'decent' and other players started
using it and we became 'Team #DEEC'. "Suddenly loads of people have started
saying it. I got a T-shirt printed up with the slogan on and quite a lot of
people on twitter have been buying them!"
After signing his first professional contract while still a scholar, Turgott
has scored regularly, captained the Under-18s and progressed into Ian
Hendon's Development Squad this season. "I think things have gone well this
year. I've developed and gradually got myself into the Development Squad.
I've also captained the youth team, which was a good achievement, so it's
been a decent season. "My aim before the season started was to get 15 goals.
I knew it would be a tough but I am working towards that target and I'm only
one or two short with a few games left. "Every year I aim to get better and
that's my target. I've tightened up certain things in my game, but I've
still got a lot to work on. I try to strengthen my strengths and improve my
weaknesses and I've been reaping the benefits. "When you become a
second-year scholar, the manager expects more of you and you expect more of
yourself. You try to set a good example and be a leader and spur the team
on. "Personally, I thought I did alright in the FA Youth Cup but it was
gutting to go out on penalties to Chelsea like we did. It's about improving
with every game and I think we've done that."
While Turgott is part of a team, like all second-year scholars his focus has
got to be on his own progress towards first-team football. With team-mates
Dan Potts and Rob Hall taking the next step this season, the teenager is
eager to emulate them as soon as possible next term. "Obviously you've got
to have a single-mindedness about you and make sure your ship is in order.
You have got to be a leader at all times and make sure you give your all and
do your part in every game. If everyone does that, the team will do well.
"Next season, I want to start putting in the performances from the start of
pre-season and get my experience with the Development Squad and then in the
first team or by going out on loan. "I just want to show that I can play at
the next level. I've seen boys I have grown up with doing it and I want to
join them as well. It gives me more hunger and desire to push on. "Young
boys are getting the chances so I have to keep on doing the right things to
get mine."
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So, what about this Allardyce then?
KUMB.com
Filed: Saturday, 21st April 2012
By: Geoff Toates
Let's be brutally honest here. Before 3rd June 2010, no self-respecting West
Ham fan would have believed, even in their darkest moments, that Sam
Allardyce would ever have occupied the seat once graced by the likes of Ron
Greenwood and John Lyall.
3rd June 2010 - in my opinion the blackest day in West Ham's history -
changed all that though. Enter Avram the Terrible. The incompetent. The
buffoon. I make no apology, as a West Ham supporter for more years than I
care to remember, for suggesting to many of my friends that they backed us
for relegation when Grant was foisted on us. In my view, and that of many
thousands of others I suspect, that appointment guaranteed relegation.
Sadly it proved to be the case and, because up in the boardroom the dynamic
duo managed to mis-handle his replacement mid-season, a manager already
hopelessly out of his depth also became a lame duck. A toxic combination
indeed. The inevitable relegation followed and, in true football tradition,
a miserable failure walked away, presumably trousering a decent wedge for
the remaining three years of his contract.
So fast forward to 1st June 2011. Sam Allardyce, to many of us the
Antichrist, the complete antithesis of everything West Ham's history
post-Greenwood has stood for, is announced as our new manager. Instead of
provoking civil unrest and mass season ticket boycotts, which would surely
have been the case pre-Grant, there was a grudging acceptance that at least
we had gone with a manager who had a pedigree of sorts. This is the man to
knock our underperformers into shape we said. And I think most of us meant
it as well.
Initial signs were, at least in my view, encouraging. Most, if not all, of
the players he brought in were recognised as decent material suited for a
season of slog in the Championship. Underperforming - and presumably
highly-paid - players like Matthew Upson and Pablo Barrera were shown the
door and I for one felt we were heading in the right direction. Early
results generally bore this out and our hastily-assembled team was soon
being tipped to make an immediate return to the top flight.
But gradually the wheels started to fall off. It soon became apparent,
particularly at Upton Park, that teams who got men in numbers behind the
ball caused us serious problems. To most of us from our vantage points up in
the stands or sitting in the comfort of our armchairs the reason was
glaringly obvious. Our midfield had no pace, apart from Faubert. Nor did it
have any guile or imagination.
Sadly it appears that Jack Collison, who might have been expected to provide
both, isn't the same player following his injury. Faubert's pace was too
often let down by poor distribution, Nolan who looked so effective at
Newcastle, didn't have Joey Barton to do his running and looked, at times, a
shadow of last season's player. David Bentley unfortunately got injured and
contributed nothing and Henri Lansbury has appeared to be out of favour most
of the time.
I had hoped Allardyce would have recognised this himself. Perhaps he hasn't
identified the problems, which would be very worrying. Of course he may have
identified them but doesn't care because, as many believe, Sam doesn't do
midfield, or wasn't able to bring in the right solutions within his January
budget. Whatever the reason, we have spectacularly snatched defeat from the
jaws of victory and although not the whole problem, Allardyce is undoubtedly
part of it.
So do we stick or twist? My gut feeling is to stick. I say this not because
I have become a fan of Sam but because I lack any confidence in the ability
of the Porn Brothers upstairs to get their next appointment right. Their
list of appointees at Birmingham reads a bit like a who's who of managerial
wannabees who have never done it at the top level, with the possible
exception of Trevor Francis who took Sheffield Wednesday to two domestic Cup
Finals.
So unfortunately the emotional roller coaster of supporting West Ham goes
on. The Grant appointment was so obviously going to end where it did so
relegation itself, when it happened, wasn't the body blow it otherwise might
have been. My despairing mind had already factored that in when he walked
through the door. Allardyce's appointment actually got me to look at the new
season with renewed optimism but, with hindsight, that probably says more
about Avram Grant and his reign than it does about anything else.
Of course we may still go up. In my view the quality in the Championship is
pretty dire. We haven't exactly been pulling up trees and we're third which
speaks volumes for the rest. So there's no reason why we shouldn't prevail
in the play offs. If we do then Allardyce, we assume, will be the man
leading us back into the Premier League. If we don't go up it looks like
he's been assured his job is safe but will he, knowing he isn't flavour of
the month with the fans, maybe walk?
One thing's for sure. Next year promises to be yet another eventful season
for us Hammers.
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A Ruud awakening
KUMB.com
Filed: Friday, 20th April 2012
By: Staff Writer
Reserve goalkeeper Ruud Boffin has left West Ham after agreeing to terminate
his contract. The 24-year-old, whose contract was due to expire this summer
has left the club early having been effectively replaced by Portsmouth's
Stephen Henderson, who arrived at the club last month on loan for the
remainder of the season.
Boffin, who was signed by Avram Grant in August 2010 on a two-year contract
made just three appearances for the first team during his 20-month stay with
the Hammers. The Belgian, who started his career with PSV Eindhoven debuted
in a 1-1 draw at Blackburn in December 2010 in his one and only appearance
during West Ham's relegation season. He went on to make two appearances
under Sam Allardyce this season - in the League Cup fixture against
Aldershot and the FA Cup third round tie at Sheffield Wednesday, which West
Ham lost 2-1 and 1-0 respectively. However the writing was on the wall for
Boffin just as soon as the highly-rated Henderson arrived at the club in
mid-March, and with no prospects of furthering his career at West Ham has
agreed to try his luck elsewhere.
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Funding Central
KUMB.com
Filed: Saturday, 21st April 2012
By: Staff Writer
Next weekend the Central pub are hosting a charity event in aid of the Bobby
Moore Cancer research Fund - and all Hammers fans are invited. West Ham's
final league game of the Championship season, aganst Hull City, takes place
at the Boleyn Ground next Saturday, 28th April. With the game kicking off
early at 12:30pm, a great number of Hammers fans attending the game will
have plenty of spare time later in the day - so why not pop down to the
Central on Barking Road to join in the festivities?
With doors opening at 11:00am (and festivities set to continue until 2:00am
the following morning), both live music - from the band P45 - and DJ sets
from Move On Down and the Bosses Sound System are planned to keep visitors
entertained thoughout the day.
Additionally there will be auction of West Ham memorabilia - including
signed footballs and limited edition commemorative wrist bands - plus a
raffle. Meanwhile author Graham Johnson - whose current release 'Any Old
Iron', based on his exploits as a Hammers fan, will be featured here on
KUMB.com next week - will be signing copies of his new book. Jonjo Heuerman,
who has raised around £60,000 for the charity with a series of
well-publicised events will also be in attendance at the event, entry to
which is absolutely free of charge. So if you're at a loose end following
the game next weekend, why not pop down to the Central - at 150 Barking Road
- and join in the festivities?
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'Boro hand West Ham promotion lifeline
KUMB.com
Filed: Saturday, 21st April 2012
By: Staff Writer
Middlesbrough have beaten Southampton 2-1 at the Riverside this afternoon -
keeping alive West Ham United's slim hopes of clinching automatic promotion
for another 48 hours at least. The defeat for Southampton - which meant
Reading were confirmed as Champions - leaves them five points clear of West
Ham with just one game of the season left to play, at home to Coventry City
next weekend. But should the Hampshire side lose or draw on the final day,
Sam Allardyce's side can still overtake the Saints should they manage to win
their final two games of the campaign at Leicester on Monday night and at
home to Hull at the Boleyn Ground next Saturday.
Initially it looked like plain sailing at the Riverside Stadium for Nigel
Adkins' side - who would have guaranteed promotion with a win today - after
they took the lead through Billy Sharp with just 46 seconds on the clock.
However Nicky Bailey's equaliser on the stroke of half time - followed by
Merouane Zemmama's dramatic winner with just 13 minutes left on the clock -
maintained 'Boro's slim hopes of reaching the play-offs whilst keeping West
Ham's admittedly slim hopes of finishing in the top two alive.
The omens aren't particularly good for West Ham as Southampton's opponents
next weekend were relegated from the Championship today by virtue of a 2-0
defeat at home to bottom club Doncaster. But with the Saints having thrown
away the footballing equivalent of two match points already - following
defeats against Reading and now Middlesbrough - who's to say there won't be
one final twist in what has already proved to be a remarkable season?
Championship: Top of Table
1. Reading 45-89 69-39 +30
2. Soton 45 85-81-46 +35
3. West Ham 44-80 77-46 +31
Remaining Fixtures
Mon, 23 April: Leicester City v West Ham Utd (7:45pm)
Sat, 28 April: West Ham Utd v Hull City; Southampton v Coventry City
(12:30pm)
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Hope Springs Eternal
By Iain Dale About 11 hours ago
West Ham Till I Die
When I saw that Billy Sharpe had scored for Southampton after 47 seconds in
their match against Middlesbrough I am afraid I didn't bother following the
rest of the match. Mistake. Middlesbrough ended up winning 2-1. So assuming
we beat Leicester on Monday, we could go into the last game with automatic
promotion still a mathematic possibility. What a shame it is therefore, that
Southampton have a home banker against already promoted Coventry. Still,
stranger things have happened, I suppose - especially on the last day of the
season. All we can do is win both our games and hope for the best. I am not
a religious person but even I might be saying a few prayers on Saturday!
Apparently our match against Hull kicks off at 12.30. I did wonder if that
would be the same for Southampton, but I have just been onto their website
and indeed it is.
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