Daily WHUFC News - 11th December 2012

Manager on Monday
WHUFC.com
Sam Allardyce hopes West Ham United can continue their confident approach at
West Bromwich Albion
10.12.2012

Sam Allardyce believes West Ham United can take great heart after coming
through an incredibly testing run of fixtures with points in the bag.
Sunday's narrow 3-2 defeat to Liverpool at the Boleyn Ground capped off a
run of seven games that included six of last season's Barclays Premier
League top ten. With two wins and two draws yielding eight points, Big Sam
feels his side can be confident ahead of another tough fixture at West
Bromwich Albion on Sunday. "We need to keep the levels of confidence and
energy that we have shown and hopefully we will continue to perform and get
some positive results," Allardyce said. "We knew Liverpool would continue to
keep possession but what we perhaps did not do in the first half was close
them down high up enough. "We wanted to start the second half as we finished
the first, we sat back a little too much in the beginning of the first half
and it made counter attacking a lot more difficult to do."
It was a case of the old boys doing the damage as former Hammers Glen
Johnson and Joe Cole scored a goal apiece. An own goal from James Collins
completed the scoring for the Reds with a Mark Noble penalty and a Steven
Gerrard own goal replying for the hosts. "We did everything we could to win
the game. We came back from an outstanding goal from Glen Johnson. We could
look at it all day long but there is nothing we could do about it. "It is
where you want players to hit it from because it is not very often they go
in but he hits it with such power and pace it goes over Jussi Jaaskelainen
before he can react.
"We came storming back into the game and we exposed their defence, I thought
that finding Matt Jarvis would be key for us and ultimately it was. "It got
us 2-1 up, we won a penalty and then it was a great ball in that meant
Steven Gerrard had to head it and he did it into his own net. "We could have
perhaps avoided Joe Cole's run but the ball from Raheem Sterling was superb,
he has played it first time and cut right between our two defenders. "I
think from there on, Winston Reid almost got a block in but it just went
over him. Jussi could not have done much about it either, it was two pieces
of very good skill from Liverpool.
"Their second goal really got them back into the game, they had a lot of
possession but they did not really create many opportunities. "I was waiting
for us to break out and try and get the third goal but the own goal came as
a real killer. If Shelvey had touched the ball it would have been a wonder
goal but it hits Collins and goes in - 99 times out of 100 it does not end
up in the net."

Momo Diame suffered a hamstring injury after 73 minutes and his manager is
concerned that the initial signs suggest the knock could be serious. While
it will be assessed in earnest on Monday, Big Sam knows that his absence
will further test his already depleted squad with Guy Demel also forced from
the field with muscle tightness. "We had a massive blow when Momo Diame
pulled up and had to come off because everything good about us going forward
was generally coming from Mo. "He was breaking behind Liverpool's midfield
and it allowed the full backs, the wide men, Kevin Nolan and Carlton Cole to
get in the box. We could not cope after he went off, we sat back too much
and Liverpool punished us. "Guy is not so much of a problem, it is just a
little tightness and we also have George back so we can put O'Brien on the
right which will help us going forward. "I think the big problem is Mo Diame
because it looks like he will be out for a while. You can tell by the way he
went down that it is big tear and it is now up to the medical staff to
recover him as quickly as they can. "It is not just Mo Diame that is out and
it is not just two weeks that our players are out for, it has been a
crushing blow for us but we will continue to do our best with the players we
have available. "Yossi Benayoun has been out for a while, George McCartney
has just returned, Andy Carroll is now out, we have not seen Jack Collison
all season, Alou Diarra has been out for three months as has Vaz Te. "The
trouble we have now is the injury tally is mounting up, we have little or no
options in most positions and going into December you want to be able to
rotate. "It gets harder and harder to perform especially in your first
season back in the Barclays Premier League, when it gets down to the nitty
gritty, you want all your players fit but we do not have that."

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Hammers start FA Youth Cup campaign
WHUFC.com
West Ham United will start their FA Youth Cup challenge at Aldershot Town on
Monday evening
20.11.2012

West Ham United will start their FA Youth Cup challenge with a third-round
tie at Aldershot Town on Monday evening. The Hammers, who have won the
competition three times in their history, will take on The Shots for the
second time in three seasons, having overcome the same opposition 5-0 at the
third-round stage in December 2010.

Last season, West Ham beat Brighton and Hove Albion and Wolverhampton
Wanderers before being edged out by Chelsea on penalties in the fifth round.
Academy Director Tony Carr MBE is looking forward to a similarly successful
run this time around. "The FA Youth Cup is something that every club looks
forward to," confirmed Carr. "It's a knockout competition and to get to the
latter stages would be a great achievement. "Most of the ties are played in
the club's main stadiums and it's a good test for where you can come as a
team. "It's amazing that we'll be playing Aldershot for the third time in
successive seasons - we've played them in the Youth Cup and then last season
in the League Cup at first-team level at home, but this time it will be away
at their stadium."

Carr and his coaching staff have already watched Aldershot in action and
they know that the Football League Youth Alliance South East division side
will be eager to upset their Barclays U18 Premier League opponents. "We
watched them beat Leyton Orient in the second round and it was a very even
game, it must be said. They came from a goal down to win the game 2-1. One
thing that must be said is that they have got a really good team spirit and
looked very well-organised as a team and everybody worked for each other, as
you would expect. "We cannot take them lightly, because if we do we'll come
unstuck. It's one of those games where we have to be on our mettle to get
through to the next round, which is obviously our aim. "We look forward to
it and hopefully we can do the job and get through to the fourth round."

The FA Youth Cup will see Carr and Under-18s coach Nick Haycock name their
strongest-possible side, but they will have to do without injured England
Under-18 defender Leo Chambers. "We will try to field our strongest team but
losing Leo Chambers to a thigh injury that needed surgery and will rule him
out for the remainder of the season is a big miss for the team," confirmed
Carr. Chambers was one of a host of Academy products who have made their
mark for the Development Squad this season, some of whom have also forced
their way into Sam Allardyce's first-team thoughts. Carr is naturally proud
of the success enjoyed by the likes of Chambers, Jordan Spence, Rob Hall,
Dan Potts, Matthias Fanimo, George Moncur and Sebastian Lletget in being
recognised by Big Sam.
"The Under-21s have done brilliantly with their team being made up of
Academy graduates and players almost to a man. It's great to see them top of
their group and having already qualified for the Elite Group Stage of the
competition. "All credit to them because their pre-season was not as good in
terms of results. However, because they played a lot senior men's teams, it
toughened them up and now they are playing Under-21 teams their talents are
coming through. "The good thing was that many of them have got in and around
the first-team squad. It all bodes well for the development of young players
and the conveyor belt of them coming through. It all bodes well for the
second half of the season and long may it continue."

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Diame 'back in three weeks'
KUMB.com
Filed: Monday, 10th December 2012
By: Staff Writer

Momo Diame is reported to have claimed he will be back in action by the end
of the year. The in-form Hammers midfielder was stretchered off towards the
end of yesterday's Premier League clash with Liverpool at the Boleyn after
going down with what looked to be a serious hamstring injury. However
SkySports claimed this evening that the 25-year-old Senegalese international
has told them that he expects to be back in action "within three weeks". Sam
Allardyce, speaking in his post-match press conference last night intimated
that the player could be out of action for as long as three months when he
suggested that the damage to Diame's hamstring was of the worst possible
kind. "It doesn't take a medical expert to know it's a serious hamstring
tear," said the manager. "I'd expect it to be a grade three in medical terms
and that could be anything up to eight, ten or 12 weeks again." But his
fears - and those of everyone associated with West Ham United - would appear
to have been assuaged tonight.

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Doh! It's West Ham
KUMB.com
Filed: Monday, 10th December 2012
By: Staff Writer

A banner featuring West Ham United's name and crest has been featured in the
latest episode of hit comedy series 'The Simpsons'. The award-winning
cartoon, which has been running for more than 20 years and has produced in
excess of 500 episodes featured the club's crest on a banner in the seventh
episode - entitled "The Day The Earth Stood Cool" - of the current series,
which was aired last night. However the banner - which was featured in the
bedroom of a one-off character named 'T-Rex' whose bohemian family become
the Simpson's new neighbours - was oddly depicted in yellow and green rather
than West Ham's traditional claret and blue colour scheme.

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West Ham midfielder Mohamed Diame plays down fears over hamstring injury
By Pete O'Rourke - Follow me: @skysportspeteo.
Last Updated: December 10, 2012 5:29pm
SSN

West Ham midfielder Mohamed Diame has played down fears over his hamstring
injury and hopes to be back in action in three weeks. Diame was stretchered
off in the second half of West Ham's 3-2 defeat to Liverpool after pulling
up with the problem. It was initially feared that the all-action midfielder
could be sidelined for up to three months with the setback. However, Diame,
who has a release clause of £3.5million in his contract, has told Sky Sports
News that the injury is not as serious as first feared and hopes to be back
in action in January. The news will come as a massive boost to West Ham with
Diame establishing himself as the club's stand-out performer so far this
season.

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Nordsjaelland goalkeeper Jesper Hansen is keen on leaving the club in
January
By Ejder Akbal. Last Updated: December 10, 2012 3:21pm
SSN

FC Nordsjaelland goalkeeper Jesper Hansen has welcomed reported interest
from West Ham and admits that he wants to leave Denmark in January. The
goalkeeper put in a decent showing during the club's barren run in the UEFA
Champions League, drawing interest from Italian clubs Udinese and Bologna.
And now 27-year-old Hansen is ready to leave Denmark and has his heart set
on a transfer in the winter window. After reports that West Ham were
considering a bid emerged, he said: "I saw the news after training and I
have to say that I'm flattered. "I can't say that I've spoken with them,
there isn't an offer on the table. But, my ambition is to play abroad and I
hope to secure a transfer this January or after the season. "If clubs are
interested now then I just might be able to fulfil my dream," Hansen told
bold.dk. The goalkeeper's contract runs out next year and Hansen is
convinced that FC Nordsjaelland will let him leave if the right offer comes
along after 12 years with the club.

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