Daily WHUFC News - 25th April 2013

On this day - 24 April
WHUFC.com
West Ham United leave White Hart Lane with all three Premier League points on this day in 1999
24.04.2013

Anniversary
Stuart Pearce
Born: 24 April 1962
Clubs: Wealdstone, Coventry City, Nottingham Forest, Newcastle United, West Ham United, Manchester City
England Under-21 manager and former West Ham United left-back Stuart Pearce is today celebrating his 51st birthday. Pearce, who takes England's young charges to this summer's UEFA European U21 Championship in Israel, made 50 starts in his two seasons at the Boleyn Ground. Famously nicknamed Psycho, the tough-tackling full-back signed for the Hammers in August 1999, having fallen down the pecking order under Ruud Gullit at St James' Park. Sadly, his first season at the club was wrecked by injury, with Pearce twice fracturing his left leg in the space of just six months. Despite that misfortune, he would go on to start all but four of the Hammers' 38 league fixtures the following campaign, as Harry Redknapp's last season at the helm saw the Hammers finish 15th in the top flight. Pearce too, moved on in the summer, making the switch to Maine Road before calling time on his illustrious career at the end of the 2001/02 campaign, with 83 England caps to his name.

Classic match
Tottenham Hotspur 1-2 West Ham United
Premier League
24 April 1999
West Ham United's last victory at White Hart Lane unfolded on this day 14 years ago. The Hammers drew first blood after just five minutes, with Ian Wright lobbing Ian Walker to score his ninth and final goal in claret and blue. It remained 1-0 for a further hour, before Marc Keller rounded off a neat move, slotting home to double the visitors' advantage. The Frenchman's strike proved the precursor for a frenetic final 20 minutes. Firstly, David Ginola halved Spurs' arrears with a trademark long-range effort, before John Moncur (pictured) received his marching orders in stoppage time for two bookable offences. The feisty midfielder defiantly saluted the travelling fans on his way down the tunnel and West Ham held on to notch a famous victory. Ironically, a 5-1 home defeat home to Leeds United followed, compounded by a 6-0 reverse at Goodison Park the following weekend. Nevertheless, West Ham finished the season in a lofty fifth place, with some 57 points and an Intertoto Cup berth to show for their efforts.

Complete record - 24 April
2010 West Ham United 3-2 Wigan Athletic (Premier League)
2004 Stoke City 0-2 West Ham United (League Division One)
2002 Arsenal 2-0 West Ham United (Premier League)
1999 Tottenham Hotspur 1-2 West Ham United (Premier League)
1993 West Ham United 2-1 Bristol Rovers (League Division One)
1991 West Ham United 1-1 Newcastle United (Division Two)
1982 West Ham United 4-3 Leeds United (Division One)
1979 West Ham United 3-1 Burnley (Division Two)
1976 Everton 2-0 West Ham United (Division One)
1971 Newcastle United 1-1 West Ham United (Division One)
1968 West Ham United 1-1 Sunderland (Division One)
1954 Notts County 3-1 West Ham United (Division Two)
1948 West Ham United 2-1 Leeds United (Division Two)
1939 Coventry City 0-0 West Ham United
1937 West Ham United 1-1 Chesterfield (Division Two)
1926 Birmingham 1-0 West Ham United (Division One)
1920 West Ham United 2-1 Hull City (Division Two)

Played 17, Won 8, Drawn 5, Lost 4, Scored 25, Conceded 22

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Joey targets strong finish
WHUFC.com
West Ham United defender Joey O'Brien says the Hammers are close to achieving their top-ten aim
24.04.2013

Joey O'Brien admits the Hammers are close to surpassing the targets they set out at the beginning of the 2012/13 Barclays Premier League campaign and believes the wealth of experience in the dressing room has been keen to their success. Saturday's 2-0 victory over Wigan Athletic took the Hammers over the 40-point mark and back into the top half of the table and with a trip to Manchester City next on the agenda, O'Brien is looking for another strong display. "We've had a fair few clean sheets this season," O'Brien told West Ham TV.. "The manager had set us a target for the season and I think we're nearly there. If we can pick up one or two more over the next few weeks then it will have been a decent season for the back four. "At the start of the season a top ten finish was always the target. There wasn't any talk of relegation when we set out in pre-season and look at us now, we're right on track to finish in the top half of the table. "As a newly promoted team that's a fantastic achievement. Although Reading won the Championship last season, they've struggled this year. It's a hard league but we had players who had played in the top flight and that helped us from the start. "Playing left back is something different but I've been playing there for a while and it's grand. It makes no difference to me whether I play right back or left back, I just enjoy going out and playing and hopefully I can stay in the team now until the end of the season. "We've been really good at home this season, I think we've only lost four and they've been against the big teams. We've played really well here. Last season really got us in good stead. We had a few dodgy moments in the Championship last year. I think that experience from last season has helped us turn the Boleyn Ground into a real fortress."

Looking back at Saturday's visit of Wigan Athletic, O'Brien believes the Latics do deserve some credit for their display. "They're a good side and they keep the ball a lot and create chances, but we defended well at the end of the day all that matters is winning," O'Brien recalled. "They're in their position because they're not winning as many games and we're in a good position because we've won games. "We had watched a lot of videos and most of the time they have a lot of chances and have a lot of the ball. The formation they play is slightly different to what we're normally used to and it creates a few problems. The scoreline is all that matters and we kept a clean sheet and scored two goals."

The Republic of Ireland international added to the praise for skipper Kevin Nolan, ‪who netted his 100th career goal against Wigan on Saturday, to help the Hammers record the important 2-0 victory.‬ "Fantastic," he added. "He's been doing it all of his career, 100 goals is a really good record as an English midfielder to get that many goals. "Kevin gets the important ones, when it matters. Look at our game against Wigan, we needed that cushion and he popped up again.
"It did get nervy at times but we've done this a few times this season when we've just dug in and in the end we come out the other side of it. That's what the lads were saying on the pitch and then Nobby popped up with that goal to ease everyone's nerves and give us a comfortable win."

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Sam lends support to Jewish Care
WHUFC.com
Manager Sam Allardyce was the guest speaker at Jewish Care's latest business breakfast
24.04.2013

Sam Allardyce played his part in Jewish Care's latest fundraising efforts, taking to the floor at a business breakfast held in Chigwell's Prince Regent Hotel.
Together with Sky Sports broadcaster Matt Lorenzo, Big Sam enjoyed an early start as the pair entertained a full house in aid of the London-based charity.
Discussing all manner of things from his Dudley routes to the Olympic Stadium, the Hammers boss then fielded questions from an audience full of Hammers fans. A thoroughly successful morning saw Jewish Care raise in the region on £30,000 to augment their vital health and social care services and Big Sam was humbled by such a worthy cause. He told West Ham TV: "I really enjoyed it. It's an exceptionally good cause in Jewish Care and what they do for people in the local area. I'm just happy to help them raise some funds. And there were an awful lot of West Ham fans there! "This has been in the diary for a long, long time and I'm glad that I'm here after winning last Saturday and with 42 points on the board. "It is [inspirational]. This is the fourth event of this type, raising over £100,000 now and if I can attract the ticket sales and the sell-out that we saw on Tuesday then I'm only too pleased to do so. "Football clubs are very conscious of their community work and do an outstanding amount of work in the local areas, both at schools for youngsters and for charities."

Meanwhile, West Ham fan Lorenzo, who chaired the event for a fourth year in succession, was similarly impressed by a huge turnout at the Manor Road venue and the generosity on show. "It's remarkable how well supported it is, to get everyone up here at 7.30 in the morning, which means getting up considerably earlier in some cases," he said. "They spend heavily and it's a lovely cause. You realise how lucky you are and that makes it a lot easier to give. I was amazed to hear how much they've raised, it's very impressive. "It was nice to see Sam up this early and have a chat. He had a lot of interesting points to make, I thought, as well as having a laugh along the way."

Jewish Care's Director of fundraising and marketing Daniel Carmel-Brown was delighted with a job well done, not least Big Sam's contribution to proceedings. The charity, one of the top 40 in the country, relies on an events portfolio to generate about £1.5 million of voluntary income. "Sam's a real legend. People know him as a legend in the game and it was great for a lot of our supporters, who are also West Ham supporters. "We will have raised about £25,000 this morning, which is a significant sum of money for us. We hope it will contribute towards another successful year for our organisation and we're really grateful for Sam giving up the time. "We expect to have two or three more of these events over the next 12 months and I'm sure we'll invite Sam back again, because he was so successful."

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How the Premier League works – and why Man Utd's flappy keeper could be bad news for West Ham
KUMB.com
Filed: Wednesday, 24th April 2013
By: Terry Land

Manchester United are one of the top clubs in the world. They've won 19 league titles, 11 FA Cups, lifted the European Cup three times and are currently running away with this season's Premier League title.

Last season's turnover was an eye-watering £320million and they consistently sell out their 76,000 ground at Old Trafford. In contrast, newly promoted West Ham United have won three FA Cups, the now defunct Cup Winners Cup once and er, that's it. Historically agreed to play "attractive football" they are hoping to move into a bigger financial league with an agreement in place to rent the Olympic Stadium in nearby Stratford.

For all their resources the Reds have a long-standing problem attracting good goalkeepers. The gaps between the eight-year reign of the Great Dane Peter Schmeichel and six-season spell of Dutch Master Edwin van der Sar have been filled by a series of very ordinary replacements. Current No1 David De Gea has put in some excellent performances since signing from Atletico Madrid but it's patently obvious he struggles to impose himself physically at corners.

Last Wednesday night West Ham played Man Utd at the Boleyn Ground with canny manager Sam Allardyce keen to use every advantage at his disposal. Crucially every time the home side won a corner they would set up a screen of Kevin Nolan, Winston Reid and Ricard Vaz Te in front of De Gea, crowding the goal area and restricting his already flimsy attempts at clearing the first ball. Striker Andy Carroll and centre-back James Collins then attacked firmly hit corners as a pair.

The tactic worked well with the visitors looking increasingly panicked on each set piece. So much so that on the stroke of half-time and as Carroll launched himself at a left-wing corner Reds defender and captain Nemanja Vidic felt he had to step across the mid-air attacker, bumping with his hip and sending 6ft 3in of Geordie wrecking ball hurtling into his own 'keeper who had just flapped a weak fist at the ball. Cue an animated Sir Alex Ferguson haranguing the fourth official as he demanded the striker be sent off. Despite almost no protests from his players the stream of vitriol from the manager continued as the officials walked to the tunnel.

As night follows day, so the next "challenge" from Carroll on De Gea led to a caution for the striker as the 'keeper managed to wrap his arms with the ball around the torso of West Ham's No8. Fast-tracked referee Lee Probert has a history with Ferguson and has been heavily criticised by the manager in the past leading to the strong impression he had been "got at" by the red-faced fury over the interval.

Worse followed for West Ham as with less than a quarter of an hour on the clock and the Hammers leading 2-1 Japanese playmaker Shinji Kagawa's shot deflected off both uprights into the path of an unmarked and offside Robin van Persie, who equalised.

Post-match both managers were in high dudgeon. Ferguson claimed, "They're very, very aggressive" and with no apparent sense of irony, "You hope there's a strong referee — I'm not so sure we got that" before commenting on Carroll's challenge, "It's an obvious red card, but the referee's seen it differently." For his part Allardyce was as angry with the linesman as Fergie was the ref even if the threat of a Premier League fine ensured he chose his words extremely carefully, "Their job is to give the offside decisions when they appear in front of them. This was a blatant one. There is no excuse. It is not a positioning issue. He is straight across the line on the last defender and can see Van Persie is two yards offside. When it hits the post and comes to him, he should put his flag up but doesn't. He has taken a famous victory from us. To draw this game by default is a bitter pill to swallow."

I see two outcomes from the game. First, an assistant referee has denied West Ham two points and gifted the Champions-elect one.

Secondly, it is quite likely over the rest of the season the inability of Manchester United's 'keeper to deal with corners and the attendant publicity will lead to free-kicks, yellow cards and possibly worse going against West Ham by referees routinely cowed by the bigger clubs.

As for the "offside" goal? No, I don't expect any consequence…

*Terry Land hosts a blog at moxycoxy.wordpress.com. He may also be found on Twitter at twitter.com/#!/AMoCS.

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When the chips are down...
KUMB.com
Filed: Wednesday, 24th April 2013
By: Paul Walker

Well, we are almost there. And no, I refuse to accept that we are totally safe from the drop until the mathematics really do add up.

I know I am probably the only person now not prepared for a booze-up to celebrate our survival in the top flight, but some of us are still emotionally-scarred following our relegation in 2003 with 42 points, still a record and just where we are now.

But this is the time for assessment of our season. We are tenth, our highest placing since December, with us picking up 15 points from our last ten games, a season after winning promotion. It is really hard to argue against those stats and Sam's management. I still recall with disgust the two points we took from our final nine games before inevitable relegation just two years ago.

What we now have is not a team of superstars, we cannot afford that, but we have a squad who behave like professionals, fight for themselves, the shirt and us. The team that should have beaten the new champions last week, cost just £24m, and that includes the £15m for Matt Jarvis and Kevin Nolan.

We have twice now almost beaten Manchester United this season at the Boleyn, and the six points we have taken from Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool will be the difference between staying up and a catastrophic relegation.

We had four free transfers, one loan striker, plus Gary O'Neil and Ricky Vaz Te - who cost under £3m the pair - on show against Man United and then Wigan. Frankly I am not sure Big Sam has to argue his corner any more, in the current financial climate, our current position is little short of miraculous.

Sam seems to have so many detractors, I saw the Mail on Sunday's Pat Collins was at it again recently, he really does hate our man. While Roberto Martinez was deluded enough to think Wigan are better than us. Possession is one thing, finishing quite another. Also bravery, team spirit, fight and desire.

So many people inside and outside the game, have a sneer on their face where we are concerned, they all seem to know better. Old Fergie was rattling on about the ball being in the air, but the stats showed Manchester United had more long passes than we did.

Everywhere we go, managers and players have that smug look about them, but we have beaten Swansea, West Brom and Fulham at our place, while drawing at Liverpool. Every one of those managers has suggested they were the better team. The same goes for Norwich, Stoke and Southampton. It gets boring, really.

Now Martinez is at it. The same man who said earlier in the season that he does not consider goals from set-pieces to be 'real' goals. What utter nonsense.

Barcelona had more than 60 per cent possession against Bayern Munich this week, and lost 4-0. The Germans are now being hailed as the best in Europe, but looked to be playing to a similar style to ourselves, if not with slightly more quality.

They had width, a big striker and players attacking from midfield, and the ball was shifted forward quickly. I love Barca, they are the best team I have ever seen, just better in my book that the Brazil of 1970. But they were over-powered by an intense pressing game. I know this is not the best comparison, because we are talking about football from different planets, ours and the Germans.

But sometimes a little praise is due rather than the easily scripted slagging that Sam always gets. He thinks that players' reputations suffer from being associated with him, and that's sad.

And we have seen all the right attributes from West Ham of late. To come from where we were under Avram Grant to our current position should silence all Sam's detractors. The direct route to Andy Carroll is there, but also a lot of very decent football on the floor.

Sam keeps alluding to the safety of the 42 point mark, without being prepared for too much chat about his part in our downfall ten years ago when we had that exact total. And Sam masterminded a particularly nasty match at the Reebok that virtually sealed our fate.

Our current heroes Kevin Nolan and Jussi Jaaskelainen were in Sam's Bolton side that day, April 19, when our world really fell in. We were beaten 1-0, Ian Pearce was sent-off and Joe Cole should have been for an end of match rage at anyone in sight.

There were plenty of rumours after that game about the dark arts employed by Bolton that day, claims at personal abuse about family and friends etc. Surely our Sam is not like that!

Two days later our then manager Glenn Roeder was in hospital with a brain tumour. Playing Bolton in those days did that to people.

By the end of the campaign we were third from bottom on 42 points, Bolton one place above on 44, so that miserable day in Bolton did for us. I'm tempted to say, all is forgiven Sam, but it's really hard.

But then as now, when the chips are down, you can rely on Sam. He saved Bolton that season, we went down with a squad that included the current manager of Sunderland, that is when Paolo Di Canio decided to turn up, of course. You recall he spent a long time back in Rome after falling out with Roeder and playing just six of the last 22 matches, the final few for the best manager we never had, Sir Trevor.

Maybe if Paolo had played a bit more that season, we wouldn't have gone down. But then he is still a hero in many peoples' eyes. Probably not Roeder's, though. Strange that.

Also in that squad was Michael Carrick, now with five Premier League winners' medals and potentially a strong candidate for the Footballer of the Year award. Watching him on Monday night guiding Manchester United to their 20th title did make me wonder what might have been had we not gone down in 2003 and he was still with us.

The same applies to Jermain Defoe and Glen Johnson, also regulars like Carrick in the current England squad. Freddie Kanoute, David James, Trevor Sinclair as well as Cole were there, too. The best players, if not the best team, to ever go down.

Well, we have been down that 'what might have been' road a few times since. Now we have a different team - to my mind probably not as good individually as the 2003 vintage - to acclaim. And acclaim we should.

Yes, apart from a total disaster, we are safe. Saturday's 2-0 win over Wigan and Man Utd's defeat of Aston Villa has seen to that. Villa and Wigan can get to 46 point maximums, but that's not possible for both with the pair playing each other on the final day. And even I will admit that neither side is going to win every other game left now. So, yes, we are safe.

And that, just like Bolton felt a decade ago, is down to Big Sam. Love him or hate him, he does what is written on the tin.

A couple of anniversaries are coming up. Grant's sacking will be two years ago on May 15. I recall being part of the Irons army trooping back through Manchester Piccadilly that day after the debacle of relegation at Wigan, and hearing the cheers from all around that station when news filtered through about the old fraud's sacking.

Then, of course, we have Sam's second anniversary on June 1. It's hard to believe he has been with us for less than two years. And just look at us now.

He arrived when the place was a shambles. Nolan has talked recently of the club being on its knees with people not wanting to be here, and the damaging factions that dominated a humiliated dressing room.

Our owners decided to continue paying Premier League wages if not transfer fees, and Sam galvanised us away from a disaster of Wolves, Blackburn or Blackpool proportions. Just look where our former Premier League rivals are now. That could have been us without a firm hand, good organisation and experience.

I embarked on this season with trepidation. We had a team of free transfers, Championship quality players with many having injury histories to frighten anyone. I doubted Sam's reliance on controversial agent Mark Curtis, still do. But it's three Curtis clients - Nolan, Andy Carroll and Matt Jarvis - who have all played a huge part in our survival.

And you only have too look at the contributions of Sam's Bolton old boys, Jaaskelainen, Joey O'Brien, Ricky Vaz Te and Matt Taylor, to know he was right to bring them here.

Guy Demel has seemingly got over his injury problems and produced outstanding performances, Winston Reid - who I felt was a disaster in his first season in the top flight - has improved out of all recognition.

And what a buy James Collins was. He also has had injury nightmares to overcome but has been wonderful at the back. I saw somewhere a stat that says he has made more blocks in the box than any other player in the top flight this season, that says it all.

Collins has played 26 times this season, which is a miracle considering his injury record here in his first spell and at Aston Villa. What would they give for Ginge to be in their defence at the moment?

Frankly, Sam put together a squad by Premier League standards that was as cheap as chips. We now go to fallen champions Manchester City on Saturday with little real pressure. It will be nice to see Carlos again.

We probably will only get another three points this term, surely Reading will be finished by then. And just remember they went up taking the mickey out of us as champions. How the mighty have fallen.

Now we are about to see Sam sign a new contract, and a summer of wheeler-dealing being triggered. He wants Carroll and will have to use all his influence to get him. He has explained the new fair play regulations well, they are designed to protect the rich and make it impossible for the rest of us to try to aspire to that level.

I'd like to be a fly on the wall in chats between our owners, the Davids, and Sam. Gold and Sullivan want the new regulations because it will hold down wages (I've never worked for a boss anywhere who felt differently.) But Sam doesn't agree because he is being restricted. It should be an interesting summer.

As for cheap chips… my match-going pals have given me massive stick for refusing to pay nearly £9 for two bowls of chips in a Plaistow pub last weekend. I stomped away in a huff, forgetting that one bowl was for a young lad in a our party. Starving, he was.

I'm sure his dad, from the richer, posher end of Surrey, will understand when I suggest, from 200 miles away, to ' let him eat cake.'

Big Sam, I suspect, will want his cake and eat it, in the summer transfer market. And I would not be shocked to see Carroll still here next season. But for now, Sam and our team deserve praise for what has been achieved in lest than two years. Pretty or not.

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Cole's final offer
Published: 24th April 2013
The Sun

WEST HAM have given Carlton Cole a final-day-of-the-season deadline on a new contract offer. The long-serving striker has been offered £30,000 a week plus £5,000 appearance money to stay at the club. But Cole, 29, is a free agent in the summer and is believed to want to study his options. A Hammers source said: "Carlton has been made an off-the-record deal but we want an answer by the end of the season. "The deal is there until the last day of the season, after which both sides are free to do whatever they will. We believe it is a good offer."

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