Daily WHUFC News - 27th February 2013

'It's onwards and upwards'
WHUFC.com
Joe Cole is determined not to let Monday's defeat by Tottenham Hotspur
linger in West Ham United's minds
26.02.2013

Joe Cole has enjoyed and endured every emotion as a footballer. From
inspiring West Ham United to win the FA Youth Cup as a teenager through
suffering relegation with the Hammers to winning Premier League titles with
Chelsea and scoring for England at the FIFA World Cup finals, the
31-year-old has seen it all. On Monday, he again went through the full range
of emotions, putting West Ham 2-1 up against Tottenham Hotspur, only for
Andre Villas-Boas' men to pull off a dramatic victory through late goals
from Gylfi Sigurdsson and man-of-the-moment Gareth Bale. "It's horrible -
the worst thing about being a footballer," said the No26. "We worked so hard
so to get nothing out of the game was horrible. "It was heartening and nice
to see Jussi Jaaskelainen have a great game, but we worked so hard. They are
a top side and have gone third in the league now, so it's disappointing."

Cole struck his second goal since returning to the club in January with a
smart turn and shot on 58 minutes, completing a turn-around after Andy
Carroll's penalty had cancelled out Bale's early opener. However, substitute
Sigurdsson scrambled the ball home with 14 minutes to go before Bale stole
the show with a rasping, unstoppable 30-yarder that not even an inspired
Jaaskelainen could keep out. "It was a big derby and a big game, so just a
sickener not to get the result in the end. It's onwards and upwards. We have
got to stick together and take the positives out of the performance. "Like I
said, our 'keeper was fantastic for us and we looked strong at times. You
can't help the goal from Bale - it's world-class and he is in that kind of
form at the moment. "He could be up there with the best players in the
Premier League's history. He has still got some work to do, but he has
certainly got the potential to be up there with the [Cristiano] Ronaldos and
the [Thierry] Henrys that this country has seen. He is great to watch, but
he's a nightmare to play against, unfortunately."

As one of the senior players in the Hammers dressing room, Cole is now
conscious of the need for the squad to retain their focus and belief after
such a late body-blow on Monday evening - especially ahead of a trip to a
Stoke City side just three points above them in the table. "I think we need
to go to Stoke and go for the win, but it's important to go there and not to
get beaten. We certainly can do that and it won't be for a lack of
togetherness if we don't. We need a little bit more quality and patience in
the build-up and we should be alright, but it's going to be a tough game up
there, that's for sure. It'll certainly be a lot different from Monday
night. "It's just a case of us needing to put our chances away. On Monday,
when Matty went through he could have made it 3-1 and we'd have expected to
win the game then. Unfortunately it wasn't meant to be. We've got to stick
together. We've got a lot of experienced players and we should be alright."

Finally, despite the ultimate disappointment of defeat, Cole lauded the
atmosphere created on a night when the club honoured the memory of the late
Bobby Moore OBE, who passed away 20 years ago last Sunday. "Upton Park under
the lights is special. It's great. It's blinding. I've played in all the
best stadia in the world but when this place is rocking like that, it's
something else. I enjoyed the game, but I didn't enjoy the result."

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Sunday move for Chelsea away
WHUFC.com
West Ham United's Stamford Bridge trip rearranged for Sunday 17 March
26.02.2013

West Ham United's Barclays Premier League game away at Chelsea will now take
place on Sunday 17 March with a 4pm kick-off. The Hammers' trip to west
London was originally scheduled for the Saturday, but Chelsea are now in
UEFA Europa League action against Steaua Burcharest just two days before
that original date. Sam Allardyce's men will be looking for a Premier League
double against Chelsea, having recorded a memorable 3-1 victory over the
Blues at the Boleyn Ground in December. Carlton Cole, Mohamed Diame and
Modibo Maiga were on target as West Ham overturned a first half deficit
handed to them by Juan Mata.

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Jarvis bemoans 'sickening' defeat
WHUFC.com
Matt Jarvis said West Ham United's last-gasp loss to Tottenham Hotspur was
tough to take
25.02.2013

Matt Jarvis has played 322 first-team matches as a professional footballer,
but all that experience does not make defeat in the last minute any easier
to take.
Jarvis and his West Ham United colleagues were left deflated after Gareth
Bale's late wonder-goal scored Tottenham Hotspur a dramatic 3-2 Barclays
Premier League victory at the Boleyn Ground on Monday. West Ham recovered
from a goal down to take the lead just before the hour-mark, only to concede
a lead and lose at home for the fifth time this season - four times in the
league and once in the Capital One Cup. "It's sickening to lose when you've
played so well and you have a valuable point taken away at the last minute,"
said the No7. "Bale has turned and stuck one right in the top corner. It's
hard to stop that, but we played well and that's why it's hard to take. But
we've got to look at the positives that we did play really well, created
some great chances and should have got a result."

Despite the disappointment of defeat, Jarvis said the Hammers could be proud
of their overall performance against a Spurs side challenging for a UEFA
Champions League place. "We really got in their faces and closed them down
to not allow them to play the way we wanted to play. We passed it well, got
in behind them, got crosses in and created chances. We really should have
got something from the game."

At the other end of the pitch, the winger had words of praise for goalkeeper
Jussi Jaaskelainen, who made a succession of outstandnig saves to keep Andre
Villas-Boas' team at bay. "Jussi pulled off some great saves and kept us in
it. Obviously they're going to create chances, so when we needed him he
pulled off some fantastic saves." Ultimately, though, neither Jaaskelainen
nor Jarvis could do anything about Bale's 90th-minute strike, which arrowed
into the top right-hand corner from more than 25 yards out. As a fellow
professional, Jarvis could not hide his admiration for the Wales
international, who has now scored nine goals in his previous seven
appearances for club and country. "He can do anything he wants with the
ball. When he struck the last one it wobbled everywhere and ended up in the
top corner. It's a fantastic strike and sometimes you have to hold your
hands up."

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Moore remembered
WHUFC.com
There were moving tributes throughout Monday night to mark 20 years since
Bobby Moore passed away
26.02.2013

A host of special guests and more than 35,000 fans made for a moving night
of tributes to West Ham United and England legend Bobby Moore, who passed
away 20 years ago last weekend, during Monday's game with Tottenham Hotspur.
The Boleyn Ground was repeatedly rocking to the sound of 'Bobby Moore's
claret and blue army' following touching messages from friends, fans,
team-mates and relatives of the world-famous No6. The Hammers faithful
continued their tradition of tying scarves and shirts to the Boleyn Ground
gate as thy made their way down Green Street on their way to the stadium for
the game.

Then, as the atmosphere started to build towards kick-off, the big screens
inside the ground carried video messages from his team-mates and family
members.
His daughter Roberta Moore provided her own personal tribute to her late
father, before she watched on as his grandchildren Freddie, Poppy and Ava
led the two teams out with the match ball, as the stadium synonymous with
Bobby Moore erupted into a poweful chorus of 'Bubbles'.

After the traditional pre-match handshakes had been concluded, referee
Howard Webb brought the teams together for a rousing minute's applause from
all four sides of the ground. Then as the teams broke away to kick-off, the
final touch of a memorable pre-match build up was rounded off with a
stunning 'MOORE 6' mosaic across the Bobby Moore Stand.

Then, in the sixth minute the home support once again burst into a rendition
of 'Bobby Moore's claret and blue army' as picture of the only England
captain to lift a FIFA World Cup was displayed on the big screen. The
memories continued to flow at half time as Moore's fellow World Cup winner
Martin Peters joined a host of his famous former team-mates on the Boleyn
Ground turf for a rare team photo before SBOBET Executive Director Bill
Mummery handed over a cheque for £5,000 to the Bobby Moore Fund for Cancer
Research UK. The Fund also benefitted from the generosity of Hammers fans
who donated to bucket collectors and via text message, in addition to the
50p donation from every 100-page commemorative programme sold.

Although West Ham United lost to the odd goal in five against a Gareth
Bale-inspired Spurs, Hammers manager Sam Allardyce felt it was a fitting
tribute to a man held in such high esteem by so many in east London. "It was
a fantastic atmosphere before kick-off and the fans helped to pay a great
tribute to one of their own," Allardyce said. "We couldn't have had any more
backing from the supporters than we did - we tried to give them what they
wanted but unfortunately one man got in the way and that man was Gareth
Bale."

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Garth Crooks's team of the week
By Garth Crooks
BBC.co.uk

GOALKEEPER - JUSSI JAASKELAINEN (West Ham)

Joe Hart and Mark Schwarzer came close to making my team this week. However,
had it not been for Jaaskelainen's performance for West Ham against
Tottenham, Spurs could have scored five or six goals. Forget the three that
flew past him and focus on the eight or nine world-class saves he made. He
gave the Hammers the best possible chance of not just staying in the game
but winning it. It takes a special performance to let three goals in and
still get in my Team of the Week.

Did you know? His 11 saves in tonight's game is the first time a goalkeeper
has reached double figures in a single Premier League game this season

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Villas-Boas on... West Ham United
KUMb.com
Filed: Tuesday, 26th February 2013
By: Staff Writer

It was a packed press room at the Boleyn last night - the busiest this
season so far - and all the (borderline sycophantic) press wanted to ask
Andre Villas-Boas about was one player in particular (no prizes for guessing
who)...

Andre: He's some player that lad, isn't he?

Yes, a great talent and to see him keep on trying until the last minute
exemplifies the talent that he is. For the goal he came short in midfield to
receive it, took it forward, gets fouled inbetween and gets up. He's been
getting some stick for staying down so he gets on with business, receives
the ball and manages to score a great goal. He's a tremendous talent, for
sure.

You deserved to win the game, you had so many chances - yet it didn't look
as if it was going to be. Where does that work ethic come from in the team
to keep going?

We were very persistent. We didn't drop back and try to play for the point,
which is the way the Premier League is, always positive. We kept pushing for
that winning goal and we got rewarded in the end for doing exactly that.

It was a very competitive game, we could have probably got a better margin
earlier on in the game but it was difficult against West Ham, they were very
objective, aggressive and direct. We had lots of long balls and crosses to
deal with and the players were very brave in the second half to hold on. I
think the reward was excellent for everybody.

Does Gareth surprise you with the things that he does? For the rest of us he
just seems to get better and better.

He's on a tremendous level this season and he's really enjoying his
football, now playing as a striker. When you are able to make the player
feel so comfortable I think things can only get better and it's down to him,
to his motivation. The whole team wants to achieve; the team is also
creating a lot for him and he is able to make the difference.

It's at this time of year that we start thinking about Player of the Year; I
presume if you were voting it's be him every time?

Yes, I think so; he truly deserves it but it's not up to me to make that
consideration. You have to recognise that he's having a tremendous season
and he's a contender, for sure. Hopefully he can nick that.

Sam Allardyce said that as soon as it left his boot he could see it going
in; do you see him score goals like that in training?

Yes, he's very special. I think that also comes with confidence; the more
belief you put into your actions the more certain a goal is to be scored. He
has scored [several goals] recently and is always getting in good positions.
But the team is also scoring late goals which always makes them believe they
can score another. That also has an impact and were profiting from it.

You've dealt with some big players in your career; have you ever seen anyone
quite like Gareth?

His precision is tremendous. When the ball leaves his boot it's incredible.
This evening we saw him go close a couple of times and he just kept on
trying. It's down to the player that he is and the ambition that he has.

He made a point of running over to you to celebrate. How do you think you've
changed Gareth's game?

The team is very committed to their objectives. We were handed the
opportunity tonight of going third - and not only that, but also building a
nine-point gap between us and Everton which is extremely important for the
team. We have a further opportunity against Arsenal to hopefully put them
seven points behind us but it's going to be a hard game. So the conditions
were there for us to play this game very seriously and I think that's why
you saw the players going into that celebration altogether.

Earlier in the season you were conceding a lot of late goals, now you seem
to be scoring a lot. What do you put that down to?

There's a knock-on effect; normally when you suffer a late goal you end up
suffering more because you believe that you are going to concede them once
again. When you score late goals you believe you are going to score them and
you keep on persisting.

How do you turn that around? What have you done?

I've done nothing. It's just the players believe the more often we score the
more often we are likely to score again.

One of the negatives for you today was that Clint Dempsey wasn't available.
What's the latest on him?

He has a calf strain, so I think he's going to be out for one, maybe two
weeks.

You went to hug Bale after the final whistle; what did you say to him?

Nothing; I just congratulated him. Thank you.

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Allardyce on... Tottenham Hotspur
KUMb.com
Filed: Tuesday, 26th February 2013
By: Staff Writer

A naturally disappointed Sam Allardyce reflects on the derby defeat, but is
full of praise for his players and the supporters nonetheless...

Sam: it's hard when you lose a game that you think you might get something
out of, but at the same time you can't but admire the quality of the goal
that beat you?

Oh, you've got to admire the quality of the goal. It's disappointing when
it's scored against you but you can't knock it whoever you are. Whether
you're a Tottenham fan or a West Ham fan, you've got to admire a goal like
that by a player who's the big difference for Tottenham at the moment.

We've heard a lot about what Michu's done for Swansea this year and we've
heard a lot about what Van Persie's done for Manchester United - but at the
moment, there's nobody doing more for a football club than Gareth Bale for
Tottenham. The quality and consistency of goals he's scoring at the moment.

I'm not so sure anybody else had scored apart from him recently. Maybe one
out of the last nine? Every goal he seems to be hitting from outside the box
as well; it's not that he's tapping them in from inside the box. If you get
too tight to him he skips past you and if you stand off him he hits them
like that.

I'm gutted for the lads and gutted for everybody tonight. We'd hoped to have
come off with a result as it was the Bobby Moore tribute night and a great
atmosphere created by the fans, which created a great game. Unfortunately
we're on the end of a very disappointing defeat after we gave our best but
we couldn't play any better than we played.

The key moment for me was when you're moving into the final quarter of the
game and you get a one-on-one - the best chance of the game for both sides -
and we missed it. That was a telling moment, because I don't think Tottenham
would have come back from 3-1 [down].

The 'keeper did well though?

Superb, but I've got to say we've got to score it. If you're going to beat
Tottenham - like we beat Chelsea - you've got to put them in the back of the
net. We did against Chelsea to win 3-1 and they couldn't come back from that
- this one, Tottenham came back from that and got the second goal then the
'worldy' at the end that killed us off.

We also had a disappointing situation that I feel is to be pointed out by
me, because I feel that Howard Webb has to send Dembele off. The laws tell
us what we have to do and even though some of the referees say they don't
like having to do it they're told that they've got to do it.

Dembele's foul on Kevin Nolan was a booking. Dembele then fouls Mo Diame, he
pulls him back. If you look at some of the fouls that our players were
booked for they were very similar. Two minutes into the second half he pulls
Joe Cole down, that's his third one. What does he do after that? Kicks the
ball 20 yards away so we can't take the free kick.

Mike Riley tells us all day long that that's a booking. That's ten men for
Tottenham, so that's a disappointment for me. Like I said, at the end of all
that we've given it our best shot and we're disappointed that we haven't got
any points out of it - but we've played very well again at home.

What is Nolan's injury?

He got stamped on, on the top of his foot by Dembele. He tried to continue
for as long as he could but couldn't any more as it was getting worse and
worse. Generally, the adrenalin that's pumping through your body sometimes
means you can get away with it but the pain increased so he couldn't carry
on.

Is that likely to be long term?

Only if it's what we hope it's not - and that's a cracked or broken bone. I
think it'll be bone bruising. Obviously we've got a game on Saturday against
Stoke City, whether it'll recover in time for that I don't know.

The thing is for us, we don't have any games after that. We move into March
on Thursday; after Thursday we play Stoke on the 2nd, Chelsea on the 17th
and West Brom at home on the 30th - and that's not enough games for us this
month.

So we have to make sure that we stay focussed, remember the performance that
we've given tonight and give that again starting at Stoke and beyond and
pick up as many points as we can. Then we'll see if we can come out of that
in a similar or better position than we are now.

If we can remember to give that type of performance, against a side who are
in the top four of this league, it's going to yield the results that we
want.

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Fixtures shambles is driving me mad
KUMB.com
Filed: Tuesday, 26th February 2013
By: Paul Walker

I don't know about you, but I am getting pig sick with the continued
chopping and changing to our fixture list.

Had I forgotten just how bad the continued manipulation of matches by the
evil paymaster that is Sky after just one season in the backwaters of the
Championship? Or has it just got worse this season as far as we are
concerned, than ever before?

Losing the Manchester United game as a Saturday fixture on March 9 because
it clashes with the FA Cup sixth round now, was just about the last straw.
Not least because it has lumbered me and my lad with £70 of worthless train
tickets.

I know that is probably our fault for not noticing the small print when the
club website announced an initial change to a midday kick-off time for the
match. But booking train tickets early keeps the cost down when you travel a
long distance to matches, and we jumped too soon to our cost.

You have to book trains early - driving is just too expensive - or the whole
thing collapses because of the excessive costs.

But I cannot recall us being used as cannon fodder for the big boys as we
are over the forthcoming away trip to Manchester City, which could be on
Saturday or Sunday of the weekend of April 27. And we may not know for sure
until 17 days before the game takes place, that's surely taking the
proverbial. But more of that later.

What is really worrying at the moment is the fragmented mess that is our
fixture programme, and there are plenty of people to blame over this, not
least ourselves for not being able to beat Manchester United in the FA Cup.
I mean, how hard can that be?

It has meant that we will have had to sit twiddling our thumbs on three
blank weekends for the fourth, fifth and now sixth rounds, plus an
international break next month. It all means that since the Aston Villa game
on February 23, we will play just seven matches in 72 days until Easter…and
only three of those are at home. You could even calculate it as five games
in 57 days since the Swansea home match, if you like.

Either way, I don't agree with there not being a programme of matches on Cup
weekends. Back in the old days after the third round, everybody played every
weekend. Then the fourth round was left matchless, now it's every Cup
weekend.

It all puts tremendous pressures on our team at a vital time of the season.
You need continuity and momentum now, and players need to be match fit, at
their peak. And that, to my mind, is not possible in the current situation.

Take Andy Carroll. He arrived in August not match fit because he'd been
bench warming at Liverpool. Then he picked up two injuries, one for sure
because of his lack of match fitness.

Now he's back and desperate to put on a show and be at his peak, and the
first three months of this year are going to be constantly disrupted by
inactivity. Training or trips to Dubai are not the same, and the way it is
going, he will not be considered properly match fit until the last weeks of
the season.

Kick-off changes and movement of matches inconveniences the majority of our
fans, but if you live close to London it is not so bad, you can cope. But
for long-distance fans - yes, I know, a small minority - it means missing
games.

Seeing last night's Spurs moved to a Monday night - I bet Sky did that just
to see if we can behave ourselves this time around having not covered the
controversial game at White Hart Lane - as well as Manchester United now
certain to be midweek, means that our two biggest home league games are out
of reach for me.

I know this all sounds irrational, and moans from someone who knew the score
when he bought his season ticket. But I believe there are more than a few
like me who are unable to get trains home after night matches. I am retired
now so the days of me staying over are long gone, certainly at £100 for a
Travel Lodge. It's just not affordable.

And I know several folk who travel long distances to games. Euston is full
of them on match days. One pal flies from Glasgow, another comes from
Portsmouth, for example. Me and my lad travel from Manchester.

Only six home games this season with 3.00pm kick-offs underlines how
increasingly difficult and expensive this is all becoming.

But the Manchester City away game takes the cake. I'm sure you all saw the
vague announcement on the club website that said it would be a Saturday
lunch-time kick-off OR a Sunday 4.00pm game, depending on whether Arsenal or
Manchester United reach the Champions League semi-finals that start the
following midweek.

I did blink at that, and was bemused by the link with the Champions League.
Then the penny dropped. The scheduled games for the weekend of April 27
shows Arsenal v Man Utd. Sky clearly want that as their flagship game on the
Sunday, but you can bet that Wenger and Ferguson were not going to agree to
playing on Sunday afternoon and then potentially Tuesday evening in Europe.

So potentially shifting our trip to the Etihad Stadium to Sunday is the
back-up in case Sky lose their preferred option. Now, even tough Arsenal
look like they will not be bothering the scorers in Europe by then, there's
every chance Man Utd will still be in the competition.

And the second-leg of the Champions League quarter-finals is not until April
10, that's 17 days before our potential trip to Man City. Booking train
tickets then will be at a premium, all the cheap offers will have gone.

We have mates who always come up to Manchester for that game, it's an excuse
for a few sherbets with our family's City fans. But nobody from down south
is going to want to come up for a Sunday game that sees them not back home
until midnight, with work in the morning.

Again, this is just a personal grouse, it's just the way it is. But it is
still very annoying to be messed around.

Now we all know that Sky don't care about travelling fans, if they care
about anyone, and our club will want to grab the TV fee. Times are hard, as
we keep being told.

And, I repeat, I understand travelling fans are a minority, and
long-distance fans like me are similarly rare. And I chose where to live in
this country.

But the away fans and long-distance commuting fans seem to get the rough end
of things. Take the ridiculous ticket price for the Man Utd away Cup replay.
Our club would have known about that before the first game, where Man United
fans paid just £20. But they chose too say nothing, and had to have the
1,400 allocation for the replay they'd asked for, dragged out of them days
after the tickets went on sale.

There is so little concern these days for the people who actually watch
matches. Sky don't give a monkeys, as I was once told by someone on the end
of the phone at our ticket office, but sooner or later someone will argue
with them.

I've seen comments this week on similar subjects on message boards to the
tune of 'what would we do without Sky's money?'. Well we used to survive
quite nicely, England won the World Cup and the game was a decent spectacle.
Anyway, Sky money has gone to agents and players.

West Ham, if they do finally get the Olympic Stadium - now stop laughing,
you lot - will want every fan coming through the gates that they can get.

But just watching my favourite club these days has become an increasingly
annoying obstacle course, I just hope I can still afford the travelling and
the tickets to see Stratford happen.

Don't hold your breath, though.

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Nolan fears eight weeks out
By ANDREW DILLON
Published: 6 hrs ago
The Sun

KEVIN NOLAN faces an anxious wait to find out the extent of his foot injury.
West Ham fear their skipper could be out for up to EIGHT WEEKS after
hobbling out of Monday's 3-2 defeat by Tottenham following a crunching
first-half tackle by Mousa Dembele. The 30-year-old midfielder's foot is so
swollen that it cannot even be scanned yet. But, at the very least, Nolan is
unlikely to be available for Saturday's trip to Stoke. A Hammers insider
said: "Kevin's tough and if he can play with a pain-killing injection, then
he will. "But it's impossible to determine the extent of his injury yet. It
could be one week, it could be eight."
Hammers boss Sam Allardyce was furious over the clash with Dembele — and
felt the Spurs midfielder should have been given a second yellow card later
in the game after pulling back Joe Cole and then kicking the ball away.

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