Daily WHUFC News - 4th December 2012

Manager on Monday
WHUFC.com
Sam Allardyce wants West Ham United to build on their stunning win against
Chelsea
02.12.2012

Sam Allardyce has credited Saturday's sensational 3-1 win at home to Chelsea
to his players' heart, desire and tactical awareness. The Hammers were
trailing by a goal at half time but regrouped at the break to hit back with
a three unanswered strikes in the final 30 minutes. Although the half-time
introductions of Momo Diame and Matt Taylor were crucial, Big Sam put the
comeback down to his team following the clear tactical plan he had devised.
"It's very rewarding as a manager to see your players turn a game around for
you," Big Sam said. "It shows that you've got to be able to change your
tactics at any stage of a Premier League game. One of my thoughts whenever I
approach a game is that you might have to be adaptable whenever you play. "I
think we changed the tactics at half time and they applied those tactics to
the letter and started to expose Chelsea's weaknesses, which was their
defence and in behind the full-backs. Matt Jarvis and Matt Taylor started
getting in and then we started playing off Carlton Cole and he started to
affect the game with his abilities. It paid off and we scored three great
goals. "We changed the players as we overcomplicated it a bit in the first
half instead of keeping it simple. I said to them at half time that Carlton
Cole, when you play it to him, is having a very good game. He's causing
their central defenders problems and then we can break off the midfield and
get people like Momo Diame in the game. "The way the lads applied themselves
is all about the desire and belief and the quality to do so. All of those
three things upped to a massive level in the second half. I think we almost
started from the first whistle and continued it all the way through. They've
cracked in the end and we've deservedly won 3-1."

The win capped off a tough six days for West Ham United, which saw them play
fixtures against three of last season's Barclays Premier League top four.
After not picking up a point in either of the first two games with Tottenham
Hotspur and Manchester United, Allardyce was certain his players' confidence
had not been affected and he was proved right as their character saw them
dominate the European champions after the interval. "To play one of our big
rivals and to see the end of a tough six days and finish in that style is
one of those outstanding moments of the season. Being able to turn it around
at half time was great as it looked like we might find it hard to get back
into the game. "It was a fantastic game as our defending had to be desperate
and our goalkeeper had to pull off some outstanding saves, which is always
needed when you play a team of Chelsea's size, but in the end it's been an
outstanding victory for us at the end of a very difficult six days."

Cole carried on where he left off following his impressive cameo against
Manchester United last week and terrorised the Chelsea defence throughout.
He grabbed a deserved equaliser with a header before Modibo Maiga continued
his knack of scoring in front of the Bobby Moore stand by capping off a fine
move at the death. Both players are likely to see more game time in the near
future with Andy Carroll now ruled out with a knee injury. "Carlton Cole's
performance certainly softens the blow of losing Andy Carroll but of course
it's a huge boost for Modibo Maiga too. We need him more than ever now. Him
and Carlton are going to be major players for us. We've now stayed in the
top half of the table for the first half of the season and we've never been
out of the top half and that shows what desire the players have. "The
substitutions were a big decision and we've got to remember Matt Taylor's
contribution as well as Mo Diame and Modibo Maiga scoring. It ended up being
a great day to be a West Ham fan and a great day for everyone associated
with the club."

Big Sam will be hoping both strikers can continue their form after it was
confirmed Carroll could miss six or seven weeks with a knee injury. "Andy
Carroll has a ligament injury and his knee is in a brace. Liverpool have
sent a medical representative when he went to see the specialist. He has
given the advice about what to do and the hopefully he'll recover as quickly
as the specialist suggests."

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Youngsters impress Hendo
WHUFC.com
West Ham United Development manager Ian Hendon was pleased with young side's
effort on Friday night
03.12.2012

Development Squad manager Ian Hendon was pleased despite his side's 1-0 loss
to Blackburn Rovers on Friday night. Hendon was forced into a number of
changes with three key players on loan and a further quartet on first-team
duty. He was however pleased the way in which his players conducted
themselves after his makeshift young side was formed just hours before
kick-off. "The team was only put together on Friday morning but they put on
a good performance, I would not say we deserved to win the game but we did
not deserve to lose. "We lost three players in the morning to the first-team
squad, which was basically our midfield, but that is great because I want
the players to make the step up."

Ben Marlow was one of the stand-out performers and Hendon revealed his
delight after the midfielder made his first appearance following a spell on
the sidelines. "It was an opportunity against Blackburn for some very young
players to come in and Ben Marlow in particular put in a very good
performance and showed a great attitude. It was his first game in the
Development Squad, he has been out injured and has not played much football,
but he won his battles and for a slight lad he got stuck in."

Elliot Lee and Frazer Shaw also impressed Hendon and the two struck up a
good partnership that he hopes will continue to develop in the future. "I
think it was probably Elliot's best performance for us, he did not get on
the end of too much and he did not have many chances but his overall hold-up
play was excellent.
"Frazer is very adaptable; he can play anywhere on the left and in the
centre of midfield so he has a few strings to his bow. He is a decent lad
and he gives everything for you and I cannot ask for more than that."

Hendon also insisted he was not surprised how easily the Academy players
made the step up to Development Squad level. The maturity of goalkeeper Sam
Baxter was a prime example of the confidence and belief the youngsters
showed against more experienced opposition. "I know what the younger lads
are about because I go and watch them play for the youth team. We set up to
stop them and we did that, they scored from a set piece. "Sam (Baxter) has
held his hands up and said he should have done better so fair play to him
but other than that he has not had a save to make."

The former Barnet manager also believed his side should have been awarded a
late penalty when Declan Hunt's shot appeared to be handled in the box. "I
believe we should have had a penalty at the end, the lad has spread himself
to block Declan Hunt's shot and it has struck his hands but it was not to
be."
Next up for Hendon's side is a rearranged tie against Norwich City on 17
December and despite the FA Youth Cup tie with Aldershot taking place on 10
December, he hopes to field another young side. "The plan is to play another
young side with hopefully a few different younger lads but let's hope they
do well in the Youth Cup first and foremost because we want them to have a
good run in that. "Hopefully a few will be available and if they are I will
use them and use the game to blood them on a more physical stage than they
are used too."

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Stamford Bridge to Upton Park.stick your blue flag!
KUMB.com
Filed: Monday, 3rd December 2012
By: Paul Walker

The dust may have settled, all the talk is about Chelsea's madhouse, but I
implore you all to remember the day we stuffed the most arrogant of European
champions out of sight. Remember, remember the first of December.

Great days, meaningful days, don't come around too often for Irons fans, but
Saturday's amazing performance should be carved in stone at whatever stadium
we finally end up calling home in the decades to come.

Champions of Europe, you really are 'aving a laugh. Chelsea are the most
discredited European champions since Steaua Bucharest unashamedly played for
penalties and a 0-0 draw in Seville in 1986 before beating Terry Venables'
Barcelona 2-0 in the shoot-out.

However bravely Chelsea defended last season against Barcelona and Bayern
Munich to lift the trophy Roman Abramovich wanted above all others, nobody
can surely accept the ludicrous chant from Chelsea fans of "We know what we
are, the best team in Europe." Yea, right.

Now those fans have the cheek to abuse Rafa Benitez, seemingly because his
Liverpool used to beat Chelsea regularly in Europe and he took on and beat
Jose Mourinho in the mind games.

Chelsea fans seem to believe they are a genuine big club, so they have the
right to hound Benitez, someone I respected and got to know well in the
final years of my journalistic career, before retirement and a long-craved
season ticket to watch my beloved West Ham took over my life.

Chelsea should be grateful that Benitez is prepared - clearly handsomely
rewarded - to set foot inside Stamford Bridge to sort out another mess of
the Russian's making . And as for Pepe Guardiola, are you serious!

Would he seriously consider working for a club governed by such lunacy?
Guardiola is one of my favourite people in football, cool, clever and once
pulling the strings of such a wonderful side as Barca.

But so far he has only ever managed inside the Barcelona bubble. He came
through the ranks of their famed La Masia academy, understood the soul of
the club and how it works. He must see from his current base in New York
that Chelsea have no soul and just cannot be trusted.

When he does return to management it must be to a truly big club where he
will have time and respect to develop his Barcelona style and instincts.
Otherwise what is the point of employing him? Chelsea don't even come close.

Their owner has so much money, he can make decisions without care of
consequences. If I don't pay the mortgage or make a bad decision in buying a
car, there are consequences, so you make decisions with care. Roman does not
have to care about anyone, hence Chelsea's current demise.

They are all I hate about football. Back in 2003 when we last beat them -
before Saturday - we did the double over them are still went down. Chelsea
were facing administration that season, so bad were their finances before
Abravomich walked in and saved them.

They are no bigger a club than us, we just didn't have the help of half the
Russian GDP. We declined and they bought success but not class, history or
respect. Now their arrogant, loads a money waving fans, think they can abuse
Benitez.

Two La Liga titles, a European Cup and UEFA Cup, plus another Champions
League final at least deserves respect and the chance to sort out a mess not
of his making.

Chelsea fans fail to see that they are not a big club like Manchester
United, Arsenal or Liverpool, clubs that have built on tradition and
achievement. Without Roman's money they would be just like us. What they've
got he bought for them, simple as that.


Anyway, enough of Chelsea, who really cares. I felt we finally arrived in
the Premier League on Saturday, a wonderful fight back and making use of our
own attributes with a manager who clearly knows what he is doing and can
think on his feet. Maybe, also, his decreasing number of detractors amongst
our fans finally saw Big Sam for what he is, and what he can achieve on a
fraction of Chelsea's money.

And that brings me to a request from more than a few of my mates, who are
aware that I know a few journalists, including the Mirror's John Cross, a
smashing reporter and a decent bloke.

Now my mates are fed up with him continuing to say on TalkSport that West
Ham fans don't rate Big Sam. I've been asked to point out that many, many of
our fans are more than happy with Sam, rate him and are grateful for being
hauled out of the Championship and into the top half of the Premier League.
You wonder who else could have achieved that.

So if Crossy can manage to make that point next time around, it would be
appreciated and get a few of my pals of my back!

I doubt many of those who witnessed Saturday's triumph will have doubted Sam
too much. The win was our best for many a year, against a top club.

Mind you, it has been coming. I know we all approached this current run of
games with some trepidation, so used have we become to being turned over by
bigger clubs in the past decade.

I recall writing that I would be surprised if we got six points from the
11-match run that followed the victory over Southampton on October 20. Well
we have already got eight and there's still four to go before we travel to
Reading for the last game of the year.

Funnily enough, those points have not come from the games I expected. Away
at Wigan produced nothing, and we should have got more than a draw against
Stoke.

But the draw with Manchester City, followed by the victory at Newcastle -
guess who is now experiencing Alan Pardew's second season syndrome? - has
now been followed by a win over Chelsea and a more than decent performance
at Manchester United. We have been competitive where I was not expecting it,
and we now need six more wins from 23 matches to reach 40 points. Now even I
believe that is possible.

And don't forget that we achieved Saturday's win without Andy Carroll,
Ricardo Vaz Te, Alou Diarra, Jack Collison and the on-loan Yossi Benayoun,
who could not be considered because Chelsea is his parent club.

Carlton Cole has clearly watched and learned from having Carroll around, and
he looked hungry to make a point. It was an outstanding game.

His goal is being used as a Chelsea reason for their defeat. But Ivanovic
was not looking at the ball or trying to play it, he was backing into Cole
and trying to stop him reaching the ball by foul-means, that is why referee
Martin Atkinson was lenient. And Kevin Nolan's strike from James Collins'
head down should not have been disallowed in the first half anyway.

No, I won't allow any Chelsea moaning to deflect from our great performance.
Players out there cared and showed professional integrity and character.
After the way Chelsea bossed that first period, a West Ham side of old would
have capitulated. Like they did so often under Avram Grant (and Chelsea want
him back, now you really are 'aving a laugh).

Collins was immense, Jussi Jaaskelainen continues to show he's better than
Rob Green while Mo Diame's stunning second period performance was
magnificent. I just pray that the sell-on clause in his contract is not put
under an pressure in January, because he has been the bargain of the season.

He was out there clutching the badge on his shirt on Saturday after his
goal, so I just hope our manager and owners can quickly nip in the bud all
talk of him moving on.

The way we hounded down three Chelsea players and then mugged Ashley Cole to
force the mistake for the third goal will long live with me.

So mark the day with pride, remember where you were and how you felt during
the last half hour and then the hours and days afterwards. The day we made
the champions of Europe look what they are. an average club with more money
than sense. and no class.

I can't let this piece pass without a reference to the disgraceful scenes at
Spurs last month. I was away in Lanzarote at the time, so not really in a
position to pass much judgement.

I spent the day searching for a bar to see the match and had to settle for
Chelsea v Man City, and the occasional update. I must admit to losing
interest at 3-0 down.

It wasn't until I saw Spanish TV the following day that the full horror sunk
in. My Spanish is not good, but it did not take much working out that they
were showing the footage and making the point that the English are very
quick to slaughter Spanish fans for their racist behaviour.

So that did little for our reputation abroad. Now our club sold 3,000
tickets all to season ticket holders, because none went on general sale. So
they will know every name and every seat. The police can pick out face after
face from CCTV these days, so it should be straightforward to discover the
culprits.

I do find this anti-semitic stuff hard to fathom, and wonder just how many
of the younger fans really understand what happened during the war.

All I know is that my old man worked for Jews in the rag trade and print
firms all his life and never uttered a bad word about them, apart from the
odd suggestion that they are 'tight.' But then so are the Jocks.

No, dad was always rather proud of the fact that East Enders provided a safe
haven for so many Jewish refugees prior to and during the war, and also
fought on the streets to stop Mosley's thugs in their tracks. And now people
are chanting about Hitler. Disgusting, sickening. They have no place as fans
of our club.

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West Ham striker Andy Carroll probed over Christmas party 'assault'
The Mirror
4 Dec 2012 00:29

England star Andy Carroll was at the centre of a police investigation last
night over an alleged assault in a burger bar. The 23-year-old, 6ft 3in
striker was quizzed following Police in Dublin interviewed the star, on loan
from Liverpool to West Ham, after allegations of assault were made after the
23-year-old striker's picture was taken as he left a fast food restaurant in
the Irish capital. The snapper, recovering in hospital last night, claimed
he was attacked as Carroll was in the city for the West Ham Christmas party.
Police confirmed Carroll had been quizzed after the alleged assault, but no
arrests had been made and the allegations were still being investigated. A
West Ham spokesman said last night: "Andy Carroll was in Dublin as part of a
social trip with full permission of the management team. "Andy agreed to
have a number of pictures taken at the request of a photographer who was
waiting on the street. "Despite this, the photographer then carried on
taking photos in the close proximity of Andy and was politely asked to stop
by the private security team working on the trip.
"When he then continued taking more photos he was restrained by the security
team for Andy's safety. "Eyewitnesses state at no point was there any
physical contact between Andy and the photographer. "The Garda took
statements from the group back at the hotel and no further action was
taken."

A Garda spokeswoman said: "Gardai in Pearse Street are investigating an
alleged assault that occured on Grafton Street at approx 2.30am 3rd
December, 2012." She confirmed Carroll had not been arrested but the victim
had made a complaint and detectives would be following up on it. She said:
"There has been no arrests made but the incident is under investigation." It
is believed the alleged assault happened as Carroll was in Burger King on
Grafton Street after a night on the town with his West Ham teammates.
Carroll, who faces up to eight weeks off with a ligament injury, was one of
several players spotted at the Quays pub in Temple Bar in the early hours of
yesterday morning. West Ham United's first team squad were celebrating their
3-1 win over Chelsea on Saturday lunchtime with a weekend in Dublin. Sam
Allardyce's team, who hammered their west London rivals in the early kick
off, flew out after the game for their Christmas party. The players - who
were staying at the five-star Fitzwilliam Hotel - started their weekend in
the city's popular Grafton Lounge before moving on to Coppers night club.

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