Daily WHUFC News - 13th February 2013

Big Sam sure of Dubai benefits
WHUFC.com
Hammers boss believes warm weather training will help his team over the rest
of the season
11.02.2013

Sam Allardyce does not need to turn the clock back far to remember the
benefits of a mid-season trip to Dubai. The Hammers boss is using a break
between fixtures to take his squad away to the Middle East emirate for five
days of warm weather training, just as he did last year before their
successful promotion push. West Ham lost just one game after their return
from Dubai in the 2011/12 season and Big Sam believes this week's trip will
prove similarly beneficial ahead of the Barclays Premier League run-in. He
told West Ham TV: "The climate will be perfect and the training facilities
will be superb. We'll be carrying on with the training, but let them relax
too and after they've done their training allow them to enjoy the warm
weather, the sunshine and the beauty of Dubai.
"Everything that goes with Dubai is fantastic, it's one of the best resorts
in the world today and when you can go to release the pressures they're
under on a day-to-day basis then hopefully that will stand us in good stead
for the last part of the season. "It worked last year, we had a fantastic
finish to the season and I still think the trip that we had at this time
last year was a big benefit in the end for getting us promoted into the
Premier League. "Most clubs have already been away, I've talked to a lot of
managers and they've already taken the opportunity to get away when they
can. A few more are going around the same time as us and some more
afterwards. Nearly everybody does it today which obviously is a benefit to
you and the team, and the results when you come back."

Following a hectic period of fixtures since Christmas, Big Sam is looking to
make use of a 15-day gap between fixtures and is sure he players will
return refreshed and ready for the season's finishing straight. He added:
"We didn't have the luxury of a two-week gap last year, we had to play a
game on the Sunday when we came back, but this year it's about the early
part of the week enjoying the warm-weather training and then coming back to
have a bit of time with the families before getting back into the football
world, to try and win the next game. "When the lads can train in short
sleeves and shorts, and the weathers in the 60s, 70s, 80s degrees, they
don't want to finish training, they just want to carry on. You get an awful
lot more out of them. "When they're in gloves and hats, it's hard to keep
them warm, you have to keep them going. It's not an ideal environment
whereas Dubai is a fantastic environment for training. "The benefits
mentally will be massive. The pressure on players today is enormous in the
Barclays Premier League, it's all around you, all the time. It's 24/7, so to
go away and recuperate physically and mentally is a big, big thing for us."

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The Big Interview - Carlton Cole
WHUFC.com
West Ham United striker is already looking forward to the 25 February
meeting with Spurs
12.02.2013

Carlton Cole will look to have an impact for West Ham United whether he is
in the starting line-up or coming on as a substitute. The No9 came on in the
second half against Aston Villa on Sunday for team-mate Mark Noble and was
unlucky not to convert a late header which would have seen the Hammers take
a share of the points, only for Villa keeper Brad Guzan to make the save.
But the striker is not down as he feels that an away win is not far away and
the focus is to add to the solid home performances, pushing on and
re-charging the batteries before the next match, the visit of Tottenham
Hotspur at the Boleyn Ground.

Carlton, while it is always disappointing to lose, the team were still
pushing at the end [against Aston Villa], do you think we could have come
away with something?

CC - "Yes, right now we have not been winning our away games and that is
what we want to turn around. We have won at places like Newcastle United, so
we know what we are capable of. We just need to put a run together. Again at
[Aston] Villa, we applied the pressure but could not get the finishing goal.
We are working hard on that to turn it all around away from home."

Home form has been solid and there are things you can take from those games
into away matches?

CC - "Our home form is something to look forward to every other week, so if
we can just get a few points and performances away from home then that will
be good. "It is vital we score goals and keep as many clean sheets as we can
- the win against Swansea the week before was an example. We just want to
get this more in the away matches and we are concentrating on doing that and
we are confident that will come as we keep plugging away."

What are the team focusing on to get the results needed to finish as
strongly as possible?

CC - "From now until the end of the season, for all the games we have left,
we are trying to get the right balance away as well as at home. There have
been games when we have deserved something from it but we know we have to
keep putting pressure on the other teams to get those goals. You could see
that at Villa even, it is something that everyone says, but if we had scored
even one of the chances we had, it could have been a different game."

We are just outside where the team are aiming for and in a good place to
push on to overall safety?

CC - "We are in a little bracket at the moment, we are in a good position,
but we want a few more points to make sure we are away from those teams that
are being dragged into the bottom half. Then we are also not far away from
the top ten, where we are aiming for, to finish. I think if we can get a win
away, burst that bubble, I feel we can then kick on for the last part of the
season in a good place. We want to combine better away results with
continuing our home form and are looking forward to the next match, against
Tottenham at home. "I don't think we are too far away from where we want to
be and the performances, away from home, to achieve that. We have had a few
performances away where we have been unlucky, it just hasn't dropped for us
in front of goal and other times we've not played as well as we would have
liked, but even in those games, we still pushed to get something and not
been far from doing that."

Tell us what the benefits are with warm-weather training for you as a
player?

CC - "There a huge benefits. The boys will be re-charged and reinvigorated.
We keep focused on training and doing the right things but the difference is
that you benefit from the warmer weather and it is in a different
environment, just a change and it mixes it up for all the lads. "I have
always found it positive and we have come back to good results after trips
like this and it is a chance for the team to also look at what we have done
so far and what there is still to be done, talking and looking at this all
together."

There is a tremendous team spirit and does a trip like this also help
enhance that as you all need to work together towards the end of the season?

CC - "Definitely. We have a very close-knit team anyway and we like to do
things on and off the pitch that helps the team bond. We all want the same
thing to kick on and get the points home and away to make sure we finish in
the highest place in the league we can. "We are all together on that, all
pushing forward and training away from the normal place we train is also a
good way of strengthening the bond we have and that can only be a good thing
as we look towards finishing as strongly as we can."

The next match is the London derby against Tottenham, once again it is set
to be a sell-out crowd under the lights at the Boleyn Ground, how much do
you look forward to playing in front of this atmosphere?

CC -"We all know what great support we get. I would like to thank our fans
who travelled away again to see us at Aston Villa and for them to know that
we don't like to let them down and we always want to do our best for them,
because they give us such great support.
"We will be re-charging the batteries and are looking to come into the game
with Tottenham with strong belief. It is a big London derby, we know how
much that means to our supporters, the result of that match, so we are
concentrating on getting ourselves re-set, working hard to not only look at
things we can do better but work on making sure the positives are stronger
as well and then go again."

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Twenty years gone, never forgotten
WHUFC.com
Supporters are invited to pay their respects to Bobby Moore on the 20th
anniversary of his passing
10.02.2013

West Ham United will mark the 20th anniversary of the passing of Hammers and
England legend Bobby Moore OBE around the weekend of the Barclays Premier
League fixture with Tottenham Hotspur. The Hammers' 1964 FA Cup and 1965
European Cup Winners' Cup-winning captain passed away at the age of 51 on 24
February 1993 following a dignified battle with bowel cancer. To honour his
memory, a wreath-laying ceremony will take place at the Heroes statue on the
corner of Green Street and Barking Road at 11am on Sunday 24 February.
There, club officials will pay their respects on the 20th anniversary of
Moore's death, and supporters are invited to attend too. The following
evening, at West Ham's home match with Spurs on Monday 25 February, a series
of special events are planned to commemorate the life of the man who
skippered England to FIFA World Cup glory in July 1966. A host of Moore's
contemporaries have been invited to attend as special guests of the club,
including fellow World Cup winners and West Ham team-mates Martin Peters and
Geoff Hurst, and five-times Hammer of the Year Sir Trevor Brooking. Prior to
kick-off, a minute's applause will be held in memory of the man who made 544
appearances for the Hammers between 1958 and 1974.

Supporters sitting in the Bobby Moore Stand will also be invited to take
part in displaying a special mosaic depicting Moore's famous claret and blue
No6 shirt, which was retired by the club in August 2008 to mark the 50th
anniversary of the defender's West Ham debut. The Match is also one of this
seasons designated Bobby Moore Fund matches and the Fund will be the
beneficiary of all charitable activity carried out at this fixture. A
special 100-page Official Programme is also being produced for the occasion,
including exclusive memories of Moore from those who knew him best, on and
off the pitch. Priced at £4, a donation of 50 pence from the sale of each
programme will be made to the Bobby Moore Fund for Cancer Research UK.

A bucket collection will also be held at the Boleyn Ground to allow
supporters to make their own personal donations to the charity founded in
Moore's memory devoted to fighting the disease that took his life. The West
Ham squad will also warm-up in Bobby Moore Fund T-shirts before kick-off to
create awareness for the charity and the first team players will sign the
shirts they play in on the night in order that they can be auctioned to
further boost the club's fundraising total for the charity.

West Ham TV and whufc.com will publish a series of exclusive videos and
interviews in the lead-up to the anniversary, including memories of the
great man from those who knew him best.

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Academy Director backs new scheme
WHUFC.com
Hammers Academy Director Tony Carr OBE endorses new scheme
12.02.2013

West Ham United Academy Director Tony Carr OBE has put his endorsement
behind a new scheme that will be featured at this month's half-term holiday
football courses. The courses, run by the West Ham United Community Sports
Trust (CST), have a brand new syllabus focusing on what it calls, the three
A's - agility, acceleration and awareness. Led by Bryan Glover, CST's
football development officer who has designed the courses in partnership
with Carr, the sessions will include exercises with the above skills, aiming
for youngsters to learn and improve on passing, attacking and defending. As
well as the different exercises in goalscoring drills and defending, there
will be focus on individual skills as well as group combination play, with
each session designated to develop each young footballer's natural ability,
awareness and decision making. Carr, who has been at the heart of West Ham's
youth Academy for nearly 40 years, said: "I was very pleased to have been
asked by Bryan Glover from the CST to be involved in designing the new
technical syllabus which is due to start in this month's half-term holiday
courses. "I know the new syllabus will be a great success and will help
increase the link between our excellent community scheme we have here at the
club and our well established Academy."

Youngsters at the courses will be able to show what they can do in the
courses, which have been tailored to coincide with the West Ham academy
coaching philosophy, which the CST and Carr came together to produce
especially for these sessions. Glover said: "It was great to have this input
from Tony Carr, due to his vast experience and knowledge. I am sure the new
syllabus will be very successful. I know myself and all the CST coaches are
looking forward to delivering the new programme to everyone who joins us."

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Stratford decision within a week
KUMB.com
Filed: Tuesday, 12th February 2013
By: Staff Writer

West Ham United will learn whether or not they will be moving to Stratford
with the next seven days. The London Legacy Development Corporation next
meet on Tuesday, 19th February and company executives are said to be
determined to confirm what the future holds for the Olympic Stadium by that
date. Meanwhile London Mayor Boris Johnson continues to insist that the
stadium can flourish without West Ham's inclusion, despite all evidence
pointing to the contrary. Speaking earlier today, Johnson refused to
confirm whether or not United's bid was close to being accepted but
confirmed that a decision is expected soon. "I can't go into details as
negotiations are still ongoing," he said, "but I'm very confident that there
will be a good outcome whatever happens and that the Olympic Stadium will
have a fantastic future - as I constantly say - with or without association
football."

Meanwhile Orient supremo Barry Hearn continues to voice his disapproval over
West Ham's proposed move two miles from Upton Park to Stratford. Talking at
the unveiling of a grass roots programme this morning, he said: "I see no
reason why we couldn't share the stadium. Football grounds are only used
once a fortnight and that's part of the problem – you need some vibrancy
about the Olympic Park. "I'm looking at whether to mount any further
challenges. If West Ham do [move to the OS], it will probably put us out of
business."

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Sam Allardyce hopes Dubai break boosts West Ham
Last Updated: February 12, 2013 6:20pm
SSN

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce hopes a warm-weather break in Dubai will
prompt a repeat of the positive results his side gained over the closing
months of last season. A year ago, Allardyce's squad travelled to the Middle
East and subsequently lost only one of their remaining 14 games as they
secured promotion from the Championship through the play-offs. The Hammers
are without a Premier League match until they host Tottenham on 25 February
and Allardyce is hoping to rejuvenate his players as they look to steer
themselves away from the threat of relegation. "It worked last year, we had
a fantastic finish to the season and I still think the trip that we had at
this time last year was a big benefit in the end for getting us promoted
into the Premier League," Allardyce said on West Ham TV. "When the lads can
train in short sleeves and shorts, they don't want to finish training, they
just want to carry on. You get an awful lot more out of them."

"I have talked to a lot of managers and they have already taken the
opportunity to get away when they can, a few more (teams) are going around
the same time as us and some more afterwards. "Nearly everybody does it
today which obviously is a benefit to you and the team, and the results when
you come back."

Allardyce believes the squad will benefit from the trip as they look to get
Sunday's 2-1 defeat at relegation-battlers Aston Villa out of their system,
which was a fourth loss in six league games. "When they are in gloves and
hats, it is hard to keep them warm, you have to keep them going. It is not
an ideal environment," he said. "When the lads can train in short sleeves
and shorts, they don't want to finish training, they just want to carry on.
You get an awful lot more out of them. "The benefits mentally will be
massive. The pressure on players today is enormous in the Barclays Premier
League, it is all around you, all the time, 24/7. So to go away and
recuperate physically and mentally is a big, big thing for us."

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