Daily WHUFC News - 1st November 2013

Date set for Spurs tie
WHUFC.com
The fixture details for the Hammers' Capital One Cup quarter-final have been
announced
31.10.2013

West Ham United's Capital One Cup quarter-final tie at Tottenham Hotspur
will be played on Wednesday 18 December with a 7.45pm kick-off. The Hammers
were handed the White Hart Lane match in Wednesday's draw, after the pair
both progressed in the competition this week. Sam Allardyce's men added
Burnley to their list of cup victims this season, while Tottenham saw off
fellow Barclays Premier League opposition in the shape of Hull City, but
only after a penalty shootout. The tie will be the Hammers' second visit to
White Hart Lane this season, following the memorable 3-0 league success, in
which Winston Reid, Ricardo Vaz Te and Ravel Morrison netted.

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Big Sam on: Aston Villa
WHUFC.com
Sam Allardyce faced the media ahead of Aston Villa's visit to the Boleyn
Ground
31.10.2013

Sam Allardyce has faced the media ahead of Saturday's match against Aston
Villa at the Boleyn Ground. Big Sam answered questions on the latest team
news, Carlton Cole's fitness and the club's recent home record.

Morning Sam, what's the team news ahead of Saturday?

SA: "Matt Taylor is definitely out, James Tomkins I think will be ok and the
rest of the injured players will not figure in Saturday's squad against
Villa. It leaves us with quite a big problem in terms of numbers. We're very
short of first team squad players available for Saturday so it's about
getting on with the job and using the players we've got available and making
sure they try and bring us the three points at home that we're looking for.
We've been hugely disappointed with our points total, not our performances,
and that must be the key factor in what we want to achieve on Saturday. When
we've come off the field we must have accumulated more points to our total
because continuing to lose at home is now not acceptable, well it's never
acceptable and we must stop it on Saturday."

As a manager, how do you make the most of this situation where you're
missing a lot of first team players?

SA: "We've got to continue playing like we're playing. Certainly at Swansea,
Tottenham away and the home games we've played, we have to remind ourselves
how good we've been even though at home we haven't got much out of the game.
We have to continue to be more resilient out of possession, I mean we have
the best defensive record away from home in the Barclays Premier League but
we haven't got the best defensive record in the Premier League at home. Get
back to that and make sure we come off with a zero because I believe that we
will score at home with better chances of scoring there. We have scored a
few goals at home and we only need one goal to win us the game. We obviously
want to win by more and score more but at the moment goals have been hard
for us to come by so keep that clean sheet like we do away from home, score
one goal, win the game and let's move on. If we get the injured players fit
and get a bigger squad to choose from we'll get better as time goes on."

Is Carlton Cole in contention for a Premier League start this weekend?

SA: "He's not quite ready for a Premier League start. He played on Tuesday
night and that's the equivalent of game three of his pre-season, game three
of pre-season for us was Boreham Wood not Burnley away."

What have you made of Aston Villa's start to the season?

SA: "I think they've had a very difficult start so I think the points
they've gained was a bonus for them, particularly winning at Arsenal away. I
think Paul will probably be a bit disappointed recently with the points that
he's gained from the teams they've played and he has our problem of failing
to secure enough points at home. It looks like it's the case for a few teams
at the moment, Swansea have only won one in ten at home and Sunderland,
before beating Newcastle, have struggled to win at home. There's quite a few
teams in the Barclays Premier League who are suffering similarly to
ourselves and finding it difficult to get the points at home so it shows
that tactically teams are setting out a defensive wall and it becomes very
difficult to find open spaces that can be exploited. Away teams are picking
up results that way and it's a difficult scenario for us to contend with and
make sure it doesn't happen to us anymore."

Andre Villas-Boas touched on teams putting so many men behind the ball after
the Hull City game, how do you get past that?

SA: "They do the same, whatever they might say, when they play in the
Champions League or Europa League when they go away. Chelsea played the same
way away at Schalke 04 and played on the break, Manchester United will do it
when they go and play a Bayern Munich away. We all know that they play that
way themselves so they can't really criticise a team that comes to them and
sits behind the ball because they do it when they play their bigger games,
particularly in the Champions League. When you hear a manager moaning about
that then he should really watch what he's saying, because when he does it
he wants to get some praise for what he does, particularly if he ends up
winning. We all have to tactically set out how to break down the opposition
and how to nullify the opposition. We all have to make sure that we make our
players aware of what they have to do on that particular day to try and win
the game."

Four of your next five games are against sides in the bottom seven, is this
an opportunity to pick up points and climb the table?

SA: "No not really. Yes it's a better chance but at the moment we are one of
those teams that are struggling at the wrong end of the Premier League, not
the performances but the points on the board and that's all that matters at
the end of the day. From our point of view last season at home was an
absolutely fantastic ride and all of a sudden this season we were expecting
it to carry on but it's been bitterly disappointing. Having only lost four
at home last year, we've lost three already. Everyone said we had to improve
our away form and we've done that but it's no good unless you continue your
home results, so we'll have to start picking up home results as quickly as
possible.
"We're all in a similar position at the minute; we're all desperate for
three points to move forward into what will be the hardest period of the
season. We've all had international breaks one after the other and we're
three months into the season and have only played nine matches. When we get
into the back end of November the games come thick and fast and the points
are then chalked up on the board pretty quickly so the league starts taking
shape. If we continue with our injuries as they are, and that's with not
such a heavy schedule, that's my concern at the moment."

Do the players now feel extra pressure at home after recent results?

SA: "They're bound to feel extra pressure, more anxious, but they've got to
remind themselves of the good performances that they've given and try to
continue in that vein from a confidence point of view. We create chances,
don't take them and we get punished. You look back and Leighton Baines
hasn't scored another free-kick like that all season but scored two against
us. Jermaine Pennant's hardly played for Stoke since and probably never
scored one like that in his life but scored one against us. I can't
criticise too much the way we've defended but what I can criticise is the
way we haven't finished teams off when we've had the opportunity. We were
2-1 up against Everton and we didn't finish off with a victory, we should
have got a 0-0 with Stoke but we didn't. I'm not so sure we should have got
anything against City because they were better than us the whole way
through.
"We play Aston Villa and there's only one thing on the players' minds and
that's to win the football match. We always set out how they should win it.
They never get a piece of detail which is extra to the fact that they know
exactly what they've got to do to beat them, because we give them the lot.
They know how to expose their weaknesses, they know how to nullify their
strengths, we can talk about systems all day long but it means nothing
unless the individual plays to his best. I can pick any system I want but if
the players don't play well the system will fail. If the individuals play
well in that system then the system works. As always we continue to tell the
players they must convert their chances. We've got the worst conversion rate
in the Premier League at the moment according to our statisticians, so we've
got to make that better."

With the injuries you have at the moment, is the extended run in the Capital
One Cup testing the squad even more?

SA: "I think at this moment in time yes, there's no doubt about that. I
would hope by the time that the Capital One Cup quarter-final comes round
against Tottenham that a lot of the players that are injured will be fit.
Trauma injuries like Ricardo Vaz Te and Stephen Henderson, who was on loan
at Bournemouth, there's not a lot we can do for that type of injury. When it
comes to muscle injuries, we've got to do all we can and make sure we limit
those as much as we can. Mladen Petric felt a tight calf in the warm-up for
the Under-21s at Wolves and that's turned into a couple of weeks when he
would have been playing at Burnley, which would have been great match
practice for him.
"George McCartney keeps coming back and getting another injury in a
different area. Alou Diarra's had an ACL (anterior cruciate ligament),
little we can do about that. Andy Carroll with his planta fascia, little we
can do about that. James Collins does a hamstring playing for Wales, not our
fault. When November and December roll around and suspensions kick in where
players pick-up five bookings and get a one game suspension is another
problem. At this moment in time my focus to the medical staff is to get them
fit and make sure you keep them fit otherwise it will be a long, hard winter
for us. Villa is my only focus at the minute, trying to get three points and
make sure the lads play their best."

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Pelly pleased with debut
WHUFC.com
Pelly Ruddock was proud to make his West Ham United debut at Burnley this
week
31.10.2013

Pelly Ruddock was proud and delighted to make his West Ham United in the 2-0
Capital One Cup fourth-round win at Burnley on Tuesday evening. Two years
ago, the 19-year-old was playing in central midfield for non-league side
Boreham Wood, where he was part of the club's successul Programme for
Academic and Sporting Excellence (PASE) training and education scheme.
Having signed for West Ham in December 2011, the teenager has been converted
into a centre-back and become an important part of the Hammers'
table-topping Barclays U21 Premier League side this term. This week, Ruddock
was rewarded for his hard work and improvement by being handed a debut at
Turf Moor, where he helped to quiet Burnley's 23-goal strike-force of Danny
Ings and Sam Vokes.
"It was a good 2-0 win," said Ruddock. "I obviously made my debut and it
went well, so hopefully I can make more appearances for the first team and
carry on going. "I knew I'd be playing on the Monday, so I tried to play it
cool and wasn't that nervous by the start of the game. I thought I played
well, so it's time to move on to the next one. "It was good and we kept a
clean sheet, so the defence played well and I enjoyed it."

Ruddock was one of six Academy graduates to feature at Turf Moor - fellow
youngsters Dan Potts and Leo Chambers started at the back alongside captain
James Tomkins, with Joe Cole in midfield and substitute Jack Collison coming
on and scoring from the penalty spot. For the young defender, it is all a
far cry from his days at Boreham Wood - in terms of both surroundings and
his playing position. "All the hard work has been worthwhile," he revealed.
"I was in the first team at Boreham Wood for two seasons and thankfully West
Ham came in for me and signed me and I've made my debut this week. "My debut
has vindicated my change of position. I did want to play in midfield but the
Gaffer has decided that I'd be able to play at centre-back and I got my
chance there.
"I'd like to keep my place for the next round, but if I don't, I'll keep on
working and be ready when I'm called upon."

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Townsend looking for revenge
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 31st October 2013
By: Staff Writer

Tottenham winger Andros Townsend insists that his team will exact revenge
for their 3-0 drubbing at the hands of West Ham last month. Spurs have been
drawn at home to West Ham in the quarter final of the Capital One Cup,
having seen off the challenge of Hull in their fourth round meeting last
night (following a penalty shoot out). And the 22-year-old England winger
took to Twitter upon hearing the draw, where he said: "Great win!! And the
perfect draw in the next round #revenge" Townsend was part of the team
humiliated by the Hammers last month, when goals from Winston Reid, Ricardo
Vaz Te and Ravel Morrison gave United an unexpected win in north London.

The tie is scheduled to take place in the week commencing 16th December. The
full quarter final draw is as follows:

Leicester City v Manchester City
Stoke City v Manchester United
Sunderland or Southampton v Chelsea
Tottenham Hotspur v West Ham United

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West Ham boss Sam Allardyce hits back at Tottenham's Andre Villas-Boas
Last Updated: October 31, 2013 9:11pm
SSN

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce has hit out at Tottenham counterpart Andre
Villas-Boas following the Spurs boss' criticism of Hull City's style of
play. Allardyce has defended clubs using a defensive approach and says all
teams play like that at times - including Spurs themselves. "They do the
same - you might say - when they play away in Europe, they'll play the same
way," Allardyce told Sky Sports News. "Chelsea will go to Schalke and play
on the break, Manchester United will go to Bayern Munich and play the same
way. "They all play that way themselves, so they can't really criticise a
team that comes to them and sits behind the ball. "To hear a manager moaning
about that! He should really watch what he's saying because when he does it
he wants to get some praise for it if he ends up winning."

Allardyce, whose side have been drawn against Tottenham in the Capital One
Cup quarter-finals, is facing an injury crisis ahead of Saturday's home game
against Aston Villa. Matthew Taylor is the latest player to be ruled out
after suffering a knock against Burnley on Tuesday and joins Mladen Petric,
Ricardo Vaz Te and Andy Carroll on the sidelines. "It leaves us with a
problem in terms of numbers," he added. "We're very short of first-team
squad players available for Saturday. "But it's about getting on with the
job and using the players available and trying to bring the three points at
home that we are looking for. "I would hope by the time the Capital One Cup
quarter-final against Tottenham comes around (in December) a lot of the
players who are injured will be fit and we won't sustain any more injuries.
"At the moment it is a concern for us, especially when November and December
comes and suspensions kick in. "My focus to the medical staff is to get them
fit and keep them fit otherwise it will be a long, hard winter for us."

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Life goes on
SSN
By Peter Fraser - Follow me on Twitter @SkySportsPeteF | Last Updated:
October 31, 2013 10:31am

The story of Dean Ashton's premature retirement has been much told but what
does the future now hold? After the painful early years of the end of his
playing days, the former striker tells Sky Sports about how he is attempting
to move onWhen Dean Ashton last spoke in depth to the media at the end of
January about his career since he was prematurely forced to retire in 2009
at the age of just 26, the former Crewe Alexandra, Norwich City and West Ham
United striker enthusiastically described his plans to return to football in
a coaching capacity. He was preparing to begin work towards the necessary
qualifications. After years of despair spent shutting himself away from the
game, he was ready. Unfortunately for Ashton, the reality was far more
painful.

"I stopped doing the coaching after a few months, because it just did not
feel right," he told Sky Sports in an exclusive interview. "I did not have
the passion for the coaching and I was coming away feeling a little bit down
again having been on the training pitch and getting the feeling again that I
should be playing.
"There is not a day that goes by that I do not think about my retirement,
mainly because it was everything for me to play football. Playing football
was basically all I grew up thinking about and it was all I wanted to do.
So, to have that taken away is hard to take and I wish I could still be
playing"

"It was a little bit of a shock that those feelings were still there. After
five years, I thought it would be okay to be in that football environment
again and be around a football club, especially, having the chance to almost
join in a little bit. But it just did not feel right. I do not know whether
it is because I am still young and perhaps could still be player or what it
is. But I just thought it would be better to step away and concentrate on
other things."

It was infamously a tackle by Shaun Wright-Phillips while training with
England ahead of Steve McClaren's first game in charge against Greece in the
August of 2006 which ultimately led to Ashton's retirement. He suffered an
ankle medial ligament injury. He eventually managed to regain some fitness
in order to make his England debut against Trinidad & Tobago in the summer
of 2008 but he then played what proved to be his last professional game for
club or county that following September.

Crewe Academy product Ashton, who had joined West Ham in a £7.25million deal
in January 2006 having starred in a calendar year with Norwich, would
undergo more than a year of rehabilitation in an attempt to overcome the
injury. But he finally called time on his career in December 2009. It was a
nightmare for a man who had earlier been suggested as an England partner for
Wayne Rooney at the 2006 World Cup having tormented Liverpool in West Ham's
ultimate defeat by Rafa Benitez's side in the FA Cup final of that year.

What followed his retirement was a period of attempting to claim some
closure and it saw a miserable Ashton shut himself away from football,
removing any memorabilia from his home and attempting to concentrate on
family life with his wife and children while also playing golf.

Burnley 0 West Ham 2
That story has been much-told but, now, what does the future hold? Speaking
to Ashton, in association with Aviva's Financial Planning Week, it is
impossible to ignore the fact that he comes across as a genuinely nice guy
and it is therefore difficult not to feel sorry for the way his playing days
were cut short. However, at the same time, it is only football and far worse
things could have happened. For example, Ashton has admitted in previous
interviews: "My best friends who were at the Crewe Academy with me but who
never quite made it soon remind me, 'Hang on, we did not make it and we have
got nine-to-five jobs. You have got to be grateful for what you had'."

For Ashton, who still does not turn 30 until the end of November, coaching,
and being back at the coalface of football, was a bridge too far, too soon.
But life goes on. He is now concentrating on the future and not dwelling too
much on his retirement. Living in Norwich, he has been doing some commentary
and punditry work in the media and is also working on a golfing company with
his brothers-in-law. While his retirement understandably still hurts, he is
looking forward.

"There is not a day that goes by that I do not think about my retirement,
mainly because it was everything for me to play football," he said. "Playing
football was basically all I grew up thinking about and it was all I wanted
to do. So, to have that taken away is hard to take and I wish I could still
be playing. But there comes a point when you move on. I have got kids of my
own so I like to look at their futures."

However, as was seen by Ashton's tender attempt to return to football in
that coaching position, which had seen him back at former club Norwich,
there is still too much aggravation under the surface. It is this which has
also seen him remain distanced from his last professional club, West Ham.

"I do not keep in contact with the West Ham lads," he said, admitting there
is a little bit of regret at this self-enforced decision. "Again, that was
partly down to me. I just forgot about anything West Ham related and perhaps
did not speak to certain people at the club whether that be friends or staff
or anything. That might sound a bit harsh but that was just the way I coped
with having to finish. Football moves on so quickly, as well. Yesterday's
news is today's chip paper in football. They move on to the next player and
players are very focused in what they are doing."

Ashton, though, does have some happy memories of his playing days. His time
at Crewe's famous Academy, which also produced the likes of former
Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Fulham star and England international Danny
Murphy, are fondly remembered. A major factor in this was the presence of
legendary coach/manager Dario Gradi. Now aged 72, Gradi's ability to nurture
young talent is undisputed and that skill has recently seen him added to the
Football Association's Commission - which is tasked with improving the
future of English football.

"It is better late than never," said Ashton regarding Gradi's appointment.
"I think he probably should have been part of the FA a long, long time ago.
He has obviously proven he knows how to bring young kids through Academies
and what it takes to produce players. For me, it was a great experience
coming through Crewe's Academy. Dario was involved a hell of a lot. He was
my Under 14 manager for the whole season, which is very unique. But I think
one of the main things about Crewe, and Dario especially, is that he gives
players a chance. As a player, you felt like if you got in the first team,
he would give you games. If you had a bad performance, it would not be to
the detriment of your career. He would give you 10, 15 or 20 games, whatever
it took, to get to where you wanted to be. That was one of the main things,
Crewe and Dario encouraged players to play and cope with the first team."

Perhaps in the future there could even be a role for Ashton on the FA
Commission to give a perspective on players who have been forced to retire
through injury? It is a big issue in football and something the FA might be
advised to consider. Ashton would "possibly" be interested but believes the
FA will be concentrating on players who can represent England for a long
time.

That is obviously the main focus for the Commission. Much is made of
England's perceived lack of talent and Ashton's potential was denied in the
long term as a result of his injury. His is a slightly unusual case of the
country missing out but he agrees work does need to take place in order to
improve England's international success and homegrown products.

"It is certainly something we need to look at," he explained. "Countries
like Spain and Germany went through a few years of being unsuccessful to
look at their structure and bring groups of players through like they have
done now. That is the first starting point. What will come of it, only time
will tell."

Time will tell. The same can be said of Ashton's future. Whether he is able
to return to the day-to-day life of a football club or the inside of the
game remains to be seen. But he is at least looking forward.

Dean Ashton is talking on behalf of Aviva ahead of Financial Planning Week
in November. To find out more about savings and investments, visit
www.aviva.co.uk/savings-and-investments.

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West Ham's Sam Allardyce will put Capital One Cup glory before their league
position
31 Oct 2013 22:30
The Mirror

Sam Allardyce admits he would sacrifice a lofty Premier League position with
West Ham for a place in the Capital One Cup Final. The Hammers have set up a
mouthwatering December quarter-final at Tottenham - where they sensationally
won for the first time since 1999 before the last international break. That
3-0 victory is West Ham's only success in the league in their last four
matches, though - and Big Sam is aiming to put that right at home to Aston
Villa on Saturday.
But he admits to being seduced by the thought of creating another very
special memory for himself and the club at Wembley on March 2. Allardyce,
who steered the Hammers to Championship play-off final triumph at the
national stadium last year, said: "I'd trade a decent league position for a
final. Not for a semi or a quarter - only a final place. "Finals are at
Wembley, aren't they? That is the one place that every manager - every
player - wants to go and try to play. "Having experienced a play-off final
with West Ham against Blackpool at Wembley, it was 100 per cent better than
[playing at] the Millennium Stadium.
"So as long as we stay as the Premier League I would take a final [at the
expense of league position] all day long. "I'm a man that played
professional football; that wants to reach the highest level and wants to
have memories - everlasting memories and everlasting photos or videos. "So
having got to one final before and having been in the play-offs, we would
like to get to another one."

Allardyce, who fielded a striker-less team in the win at Tottenham, has also
taken a swipe at Spurs boss Andre Villas-Boas, who moaned about teams
parking the bus against his side following Sunday's league victory over
Hull. Big Sam has warned AVB those words could come back to haunt him as he
pushes for silverware with the big-spending White Hart Lane club. He said:
"They do the same, whatever they might say. We all know that they play that
way themselves, so they can't really criticise a team that comes to them and
sits behind the ball because they do it when they play their bigger games,
particularly in the Champions League. "When you hear a manager moaning about
that, then he should really watch what he's saying, because when he does it,
he wants to get some praise for what he does - particularly if he ends up
winning. "We all have to tactically set out how to break down the opposition
and how to nullify the opposition."

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