Daily WHUFC News - 16th November 2013

Chadwell Chatter
WHUFC.com
Alou Diarra on returning to the pitch, his first-team hopes and watching
France's FIFA World Cup Play-Off
15.11.2013

Bonjour everyone,

I am happy to now be doing my job, playing football, and my recovery has
been amazingly quick. I am surprised, like everybody, but we've taken our
time and worked hard together and my knee is steady and I can play. I played
90 minutes in the game on Tuesday against Gillingham and I think this was my
last test. Now, I think I am available for the first team and hopefully I
will train hard to have a chance to play with West Ham United. I am not
feeling 100 per cent just yet, but my knee is feeling stable and stronger.
With every training session I will get better and I am happy to be playing
because it was eight hard weeks.
I was very unlucky because I did a good pre-season, but football is like
that. I must accept my injury and I have worked hard to come back. Now I'm
on the pitch and I try to do my best and am available for the team now. I
will train hard every day to try to play in the Premier League. Maybe I will
be involved against Chelsea. I hope so. I hope I will be ready, but it is up
to the manager.

Before then, I will be watching the World Cup Play-Off matches between
France and Ukraine. France is my country and I hope we will go to the World
Cup in Brazil next year. We were in a very difficult qualifying group with
Spain, who went through automatically. Now, I think the Play-Off is 50-50.
It will be difficult to play in Kiev. I have played before against this
team, Ukraine, and it is really hard to play against them away from home.
France must score one away goal and they will have a chance to go to the
World Cup.

I was a lucky guy because I played in the World Cup final in 2006. It was my
best experience in my job and I can talk about it with the young players,
which is amazing. The feeling was one you cannot feel before or after. I
have too many pictures in my head of that final - Zinedine Zidane's penalty
kick, his red card, the great atmosphere in Berlin and the penalty shootout
we ultimately lost. We were very unlucky to lose this final because I think
we were better than Italy and played better football.

The World Cup is a big event and a country like France must be there in
2014. England, Brazil and the other big countries will be there, so the
France squad must not miss this World Cup. It will be hard to go through,
but we can. We have good players like Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema
playing for Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, so they must go to the World Cup.

It will be great for us as a country and a people if we could go to the
World Cup.
A bientôt,
Alou

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Carlton Cole nets in Millwall draw
WHUFC.com
A West Ham United XI played out a 2-2 friendly draw with Millwall at the
Boleyn Ground
15.11.2013

A West Ham United XI played out an entertaining 2-2 draw with Millwall this
afternoon in a friendly at the Boleyn Ground. Carlton Cole followed up his
goal against Gillingham on Tuesday with another here as he pounced on a
loose ball in the box to cancel out Andy Keogh's opener. Richard Chaplow
put the Lions back in front with a smart finish after a nice team move but
they weren't ahead for long as a trialist turned home Modibo Maiga's centre
for the equaliser.
Neil McDonald took charge of a home side which featured a blend of youth and
experience against a strong Sky Bet Championship outfit. A Hammers team
which included 16-year-old goalkeeper Sam Howes behind a young back four,
had the better of the opening exchanges with Cole going close after his
header from a George McCartney cross flew just over the bar with seven
minutes gone. The visitors did however occasionally threaten on the
counter-attack and took the lead courtesy of such a move after 14 minutes
when Lee Martin got to the byline and swept in a cross for the onrushing
Keogh to head past Howes. Just two minutes later and the trialist came close
to levelling the scores but saw his close-range volley saved by former West
Ham keeper Stephen Bywater. The Hammers were on top and with half an hour
gone they found the equaliser as Cole turned the ball home after it fell at
his feet from a Matt Jarvis corner. With five minutes remaining to half-time
Maiga came close to handing the Hammers the lead when he struck a powerful
left-foot shot which flicked the outside of the post.

After the interval, the trialist had a golden chance to put the hosts in
front when Maiga's low cross found him at the back post but he could only
pick out Bywater with his sliding finish. Jarvis had a shot beaten away as
the home team pressed before Chaplow found himself unmarked at the back post
but could only unleash a wayward volley from Martin's through ball. In the
68th minute though the midfielder did find the back of the net as Howes saw
his kick charged down allowing Keogh to slide a pass through to Chaplow who
applied the finish from close range. Both sides then made several changes
with the home side introducing Taylor Miles and Danny Whitehead for Jarvis
and Joe Cole. West Ham had only been behind for eight minutes when the
trialist was in the right place to meet Maiga's centre with a cool header.
As the game headed towards a stalemate the Hammers created a couple of late
opportunities as they pushed for a winner. First, substitute Matthias Fanimo
provided a deep cross which found its way to Maiga but the front man's
header was off target. With just a matter of minutes left another
substitute, Blair Turgott, came agonisingly close to winning the match as he
raced into the box, latching onto to Maiga's through ball but his low shot
just rolled wide of the far post.

West Ham United: Howes, Ruddock, Potts, Chambers, McCartney, J.Cole (Miles),
Trialist (Fanimo), C.Cole, Maiga, Jarvis (Whitehead), Diarra (Turgott).
Subs not used: Burke, Knoyle

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International round-up
WHUFC.com
Razvan Rat's Romania were defeated in Greece in their FIFA World Cup
Play-Off first leg
15.11.2013

Razvan Rat and his Romania team-mates face an uphill task to reach Brazil
2014 after being defeated 3-1 in Greece in their FIFA World Cup Play-Off
first leg in Athens on Friday evening. Rat was booked late on to cap a
disappointing night for the Romanians, who fell a goal behind to Kostas
Mitroglou before Bogdan Stancu equalised. Dimitris Salpingidis put Greece
ahead almost immediately before Mitroglou put the Greeks in the driving seat
ahead of next Tuesday's second leg in Bucharest.

Elsewhere, Joey O'Brien was an unused substitute as Republic of Ireland
began the Martin O'Neill/Roy Keane era with a 3-0 friendly win over Latvia
in Dublin. Robbie Keane was among the Irish scorers. He will hope to earn
his sixth cap against Poland in Poznan on Tuesday 19 November.

Jack Collison has been added to Chris Coleman's Wales squad for their
international friendly with Finland at the Cardiff City Stadium on Saturday.
Hammers midfielder Collison joins James Collins in the Wales party with the
pair looking to add to their 16 and 43 caps respectively.

Ravel Morrison helped England continue their fine start to their UEFA U21
Championship qualifying campaign by recording a 3-0 win against Finland in
Milton Keynes on Thursday evening. Morrison played 83 minutes and will
expect to feature again when England host San Marino in Shrewsbury next
week. Gareth Southgate's team will be looking to continue their unbeaten
start to their qualification campaign, which has seen them take 13 points
from their opening five games. Morrison earned his first call-up to the
Under-21s for their last round of qualifiers, and scored in the 5-0 mauling
of Lithuania. The Young Lions are set to take on Finland at Milton Keynes
Dons' stadiummk on Thursday 14 November, before moving on to Shrewsbury
Town's Greenhaus Stadium for the San Marino clash on Tuesday 19 November.

Also set to represent his country in this next set of internationals is
Mohamed Diame, who has been named in the Senegal squad for the second leg of
their FIFA World Cup Play-Off against Ivory Coast on Saturday 16 November.
Senegal are 3-1 down following the away leg and will have to play the home
match in Morocco as they are currently serving a suspension from playing
matches in Senegal due to crowd disturbances.

Winston Reid missed New Zealand's 5-1 2014 FIFA World Cup Intercontinental
Play-Off first-leg defeat in Mexico due to an ankle injury. He will also
miss the second leg in Wellington next Wednesday.

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On this day - 16 November
WHUFC.com
The Hammers blew Wolves away on this day 39 years ago
16.11.2013

Classic match
West Ham United 5-2 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Division One
16 November 1974
West Ham struck five as they swept aside their visitors from the Midlands to
move up to seventh in Division One. Having sat 22nd and last just ten games
previously, this high-scoring victory meant they had only lost one game in
their last ten and were up to seventh. Bobby Gould netted one of his 13
goals that seasibm as Trevor Brooking, Frank Lampard and Billy Jennings also
got in on the act. A penalty from Billy Bonds completed the rout and
maintained a good run of results for the Hammers as they went unbeaten in
their next six league matches.

Complete record - 16 November

1929 Leeds United 1-3 West Ham United (Division One)
1935 Manchester United 2-3 West Ham United (Division Two)
1946 West Ham United 0-4 Birmingham City (Division Two)
1956 West Ham United 5-0 Stoke City (Division Two)
1963 West Ham United 2-2 Leicester City (Division One)
1968 West Ham United 4-0 Leicester City (Division One)
1974 West Ham United 5-2 Wolverhampton Wanderers (Division One)
1985 West Ham United 2-1 Watford (Division One)
1996 Newcastle United 1-1 West Ham United (Premier League)

Played 9, Won 6, Drawn 2, Lost 1, Scored 25, Conceded 13

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Howes happy with form
WHUFC.com
Schoolboy goalkeeper Sam Howes has established himself in West Ham United's
U18 side
15.11.2013

West Ham United's superb Barclays U18 Premier League form has been based on
impressive performances all over the pitch. The Hammers' seven-match
unbeaten run has seen them score 16 goals but, perhaps more importantly,
concede just five. Sam Howes has kept goal in six of those seven matches,
conceding just three goals in the process. The England U16 stopper is a
schoolboy who turned 16 just last week, but the youngster has established
himself as West Ham's No1 at U18 level this season - his sixth at the Club.
"I joined West Ham for the beginning of the U11 season," Howes revealed. "I
started off at Crystal Palace where I was noticed playing against West Ham.
I left Crystal Palace and approached West Ham, who offered me a trial, so I
took the great opportunity and have never looked back on it since."

Howes' development saw him play four times for the U18s last season, while
he was also invited to train alongside the first-team goalkeepers. "At first
it was a big shock to me when my goalkeeper coach Jerome John took me over
to Chadwell Heath to train with the likes of Jussi Jaaskelainen. It was a
great achievement and later that year they asked me to warm up with the
first team before the home game against Wigan. That has to go down as one of
my favourite footballing moments to date."

Still an U16 in age-group terms, Howes splits his time between training and
education at Rush Green, where the Academy has established a partnership
with Robert Clack School. On the pitch, the teenager has passed almost every
test so far. "The season has been going really well so far with being
involved in the U18s a lot this year already. That's great for me to get the
experience with the older lot, not just on but off the pitch as well. "We
are on a run as a team with some very good wins over some big teams. As an
individual I'm training with the first-team 'keepers nearly every week,
which is unreal to learn off the likes of Jussi, Adrian and Rapha [Spiegel].
"Martyn Margetson has made me feel very welcome in the group as well and I'm
very honoured to work with such great goalkeepers who I learn a great deal
from. "We find ourselves the first ones out in the morning on the training
pitch and the last ones in. JJ and Marge are two great coaches and I enjoy
working with them both because I learn so much. "I've known and worked with
JJ for nearly six years and loved being coached by him and learnt so much
that I can take up to the first team with Marge. I've only started properly
training with Marge this year and am still learning a lot, but what I know
about both of them is they will give up their time to help you through
training and give you tips to improve your game. "I get plenty of advice
from Jussi as well. He's a great guy, a true professional and a great role
model to youngsters. To learn from a guy who has over 400 Premier League
games under his belt is massive for a young 'keeper learning like me. He
helps me with technical things so like hand shape and this has made a big
improvement in my game."

Howes' form, which he will hope to take into Saturday's Barclays U18 Premier
League fixture at Reading, has seen him capped by England at U16 level.
Should he continue to improve, more international honours will surely
follow. "Representing my country was the best moment of my career to date. I
always dreamt as a young kid of putting the Three Lions shirt on and singing
the national anthem. "Playing in the games was just unreal and I couldn't
believe it had happened, I was speechless for days. It felt just right as
well, and like all the hard work had paid-off. Now I have to keep improving
and raising the bar."

Finally, anyone who attended the U18s' 3-1 win over Aston Villa last weekend
will have noticed Howes wearing special 'poppy' gloves to mark Remembrance
Day. "I wore them to show my support to the members of our Armed Forces who
aren't with us anymore. These inspirational people put their lives on the
line for us to have the safest lives possible. Another reason I wore them
was to show my respect to their poor families. They are great and fantastic
people and I'm happy to support them with the gloves."

West Ham take on Reading in the Barclays U18 Premier League at Hogwood Park
on Saturday, with kick-off at 11am.

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'It was a good test'
WHUFC.com
First team coach Ian Hendon was pleased with Friday's workout against
Millwall
16.11.2013

West Ham United contested their second behind closed doors friendly of the
international break when they took on Millwall at the Boleyn Ground on
Friday.
The Hammers drew 2-2 against an experienced Millwall outfit, with the home
side's goals coming from Carlton Cole and a trialist. George McCartney and
Alou Diarra got vital match minutes under their belts as they step up their
comebacks from injury, while there were also run outs for the likes of Matt
Jarvis and Joe Cole. "It was a very useful workout," first team coach Ian
Hendon said.. "It was the second game in a week for some of the players who
have been on the fringes of the side, and a couple who are coming back from
injury. "Millwall brought a very strong side over and that was what it was
about - a workout for the players, and it ended in a creditable 2-2 draw.
"The manager here is very keen to get these games on, to keep the players
playing and it also gets the ones coming back from injury into the swing of
things. "You can train five or six days on the bounce, but you don't get the
same stimulus in training as you do in a match situation, so it is important
that we keep that going and it was a good game on Friday."

The Hammers side also included a youtful element and Hendon was pleased with
how they coped with Millwall's threat. He added: "It was a good test for our
young players. We had a back four with Pottsy, Leo Chambers and Pelly
Ruddock amongst it, and they were playing against Steve Morison, who is a
Welsh international and Andy Keogh, who has a lot of experience. "The boys
did alright - they are always being watched by the manager, myself and Macca
to see who is progressing, and who is ready or nearly ready to be in and
around the first team."

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What was the point in West Ham signing them?
Date: 16th November 2013 at 2:59 am
Written by: Jordan Marsden |
Forever West Ham

Mladen PetricWest Ham's striker crisis has been well documented so far this
season, the lack of a cutting edge up front has led Sam Allardyce into
playing without a recognised forward. Allarydce and the board felt that two
strikers would be enough for the season even though Andy Carroll was already
on the injury list. Claims they tried their best is just not good enough and
we are really feeling the effects of that gamble now. When the news broke
that Carroll's lay off was going to be extended there was panic at the
Boleyn ground, which led to the free signings of Mladen Petric and Carlton
Cole. To chase players with the ability of Romelu Lukaku and Fabio
Quagliarella throughout the summer window and end up with Petric and the
re-signing of Cole was a huge let down.

At the moment it seems that both signing are indeed just a waste of time,
the former Fulham striker is currently out injured and what we have seen of
our beloved Cole has not been great. To have signed these forwards and then
to play six in midfield with no focal point just shows that Allardyce has no
faith in the new signings, or Maiga. Will they play any part in our season?
I am not sure at all, I can see all three getting released or sold in the
January transfer window to open up wages for a loan signing or two!

With not one goal from a striker this season its worrying times for West
Ham, Cole and Petric seem to be pointless signing. I hope they can get a run
of games and score a few goals but I am not optimistic of that happening.

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West Ham fan Winstone calls time on home matches
Last updated Fri 15 Nov 2013

West Ham fan Ray Winstone has revealed he no longer goes to watch matches
because fans do not allow him to watch the game in peace. The actor, who is
the face of Bet 365 adverts shown at half-time during live football games,
grew up in Plaistow and is a devoted West Ham fan. But The Sweeney star told
Reader's Digest: "The thing that changes - and I don't mean this horribly
because I've been to West Ham all my life - is that I used to love being in
the crowd and just sitting there with the boys having a laugh. "Then I found
I couldn't because people will talk to me all through the game - I'm not
moaning about it, they were just talking - but I want to watch the game with
my mates. So you think, I've got a few quid so I'll get a box. But then how
can you say you're the same as everyone else?"

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Morrison the best youngster Ferguson ever saw
ESPN staffNovember 15, 2013
ESPN.com

Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has revealed Sir Alex Ferguson said
Ravel Morrison was the best 14-year-old he had ever seen. Manchester-born
Morrison came through the ranks at Old Trafford before Ferguson sold him to
West Ham United in January 2012 after the 20-year-old had a series of
disciplinary problems. Morrison, who spent last season on loan at
Birmingham, has broken into the West Ham side this year and is their
five-goal top scorer, as well as becoming a regular for the England
Under-21s. Ferdinand, working as a pundit on BT Sport, said: "I would pay to
watch him train let alone play in a match. Ever since the first day I saw
him, my old boss [Ferguson] said: 'Have a look at this boy.' "He was taking
the mick out of everyone on the pitch when he was about 14. The manager
thought he was the best player he had seen at that age. "He trained with the
first team at about 16 and Darren Fletcher said to me: 'He runs with the
ball, he just runs with it and he's almost looking at me while he's running
with the ball, and waiting for me to make a move and then he reacts.' "The
top players can do that - they react to a defender's movements." Mike
Phelan, Ferguson's former assistant, last month defended the decision to
allow Morrison to leave Old Trafford, but Hammers boss Sam Allardyce said he
feared United would try to re-sign the player.

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