Daily WHUFC News - 13th May 2013

Big Sam signs new contract
WHUFC.com
West Ham United are delighted to announce that manager Sam Allardyce has
signed a new contract
12.05.2013

West Ham United are delighted to announce that manager Sam Allardyce has
pledged his future to the Club by signing a new contract. Big Sam put pen to
paper on the new deal on Saturday after overseeing a hugely impressive
season for the Hammers following their return to the Barclays Premier League
last summer. The Club go in to Sunday's game at Everton in tenth position,
having secured some superb results this term including a home win against
European champions Chelsea and a thrilling 2-2 home draw with champions
Manchester United. Joint-Chairmen David Sullivan and David Gold appointed
Allardyce in June 2011 and tasked him with leading the Hammers back to the
Premier League from the npower Championship. It was a task he completed at
the first attempt by successfully guiding the Club through the Play-Offs
and, in doing so, providing the Claret and Blue Army with one of their most
memorable afternoons in recent times by beating Blackpool 2-1 at Wembley
last May. The progress did not stop there, however, as Allardyce and the
Board quickly set about building a team to compete in the Premier League.
Experienced top-flight players Jussi Jaaskelainen, James Collins, Momo Diame
and Matt Jarvis were among those recruited alongside the season-long loan of
England international Andy Carroll. The hard work paid off as Big Sam's side
picked up 22 points from their first 15 games; a start that ensured they
were never drawn into the relegation picture during the 2012/13 season.
January saw further strengthening of the squad, including the return of
local hero Joe Cole, and the Club have ended the season strongly with just
two defeats in their last nine games. If they can maintain their top-half
position until the end of the season, they would be one of only 14
newly-promoted sides to do so since the formation of the Premier League.
West Ham were named anchor concessionaire at the iconic Olympic Stadium in
March and Allardyce will now be working with the Board to create a squad
that can rise to the challenge of playing in the magnificently-converted
54,000-seater stadium.

As the Board and their manager repeatedly stated during the season, no
agreement would be signed until West Ham United were mathematically safe and
now that feat has been achieved, both sides were keen to move quickly to
conclude negotiations. Joint-Chairman David Sullivan said: "I am delighted
that we have reached an agreement to extend Sam Allardyce's stay at West Ham
United. "Going into our final two Premier League games, we have a very real
possibility of achieving a top-ten finish this season, which would exceed
our expectations and be a fantastic achievement for any newly-promoted side.
"With Sam's future now secured and our Premier League position guaranteed
for next season, the hard work of bringing in new talent to take this Club
to the next level can progress. Sam will now have the exciting challenge of
building a squad that will befit a team playing in the Olympic Stadium.
"With a highly-rated manager, a stunning new home and two high-profile
sponsorship agreements announced in the past few months, these are extremely
exciting times for West Ham United."

Joint-Chairman David Gold said: "This is fantastic news for West Ham United.
Sam has made a hugely positive impact since joining the club nearly two
years ago. When you consider the difficult situation he faced when he
arrived at the club following our relegation, he quickly set about making
his mark and built a new team that ultimately got us promoted back to the
Premier League at the first attempt. "We chose to recruit Sam as we knew he
would bring discipline, determination, passion and respect to Chadwell Heath
and he has delivered on all fronts. "The relationships that exist throughout
the Club are some of the best I've seen during my 20 years in football. When
I visit the training ground, it is obvious to see Sam is respected by the
players and David Sullivan, Karren Brady and I all enjoy working with him.
"We can now all look forward to the next few years with optimism and I am
already excited about our plans for the 2013/14 season."

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Manager on Monday
WHUFC.com
Sam Allardyce has signed his new contract and is already planning for next
season with West Ham United
13.05.2013

Sam Allardyce is already planning for an even brighter future at West Ham
United after signing a new contract with the Club. The manager was left
disappointed following Sunday's 2-0 Barclays Premier League defeat at
Everton, but he is not about to let one negative result ruin two hugely
positive years of work. Big Sam was rewarded for taking the Hammers back to
the top flight at the first attempt and securing their safety with a new
deal, which he happily signed at the weekend. With his and the Club's
top-flight future confirmed, the boss said he is now looking forward to
finishing the current campaign on a high and reaching even greater heights
next term. "I am very pleased about signing my new contract but I wasn't
expecting that it was ever going to be a problem," said Big Sam. "There was
a lot of speculation but it's over and done with now and we can concentrate
on building for a new season. "Really, trying to get better is our main
priority, of course. I hope there will be less business to be done as there
has been over my first two years. I hope there will be single figures in
terms of playing coming in, unlike the double figures or beyond it [who have
come in during the last two summers]. "It will bring us more stability but
I've got to choose the right player to make us better for next season and
not think about standing still, even though we have had a fantastic season
this season."

Big Sam agreed when it was put to him that, a few minor bumps along the way,
his first two years in charge in east London have pretty much gone to plan.
However, he is conscious that his side will have to rediscover the
outstanding away form they showed during his first season at the helm if
they are to improve in 2013/14. "It has gone to plan," he confirmed. "One
disappointing thing this season, for me, has been away from home. We've gone
back to the old West Ham syndrome where it's very difficult to go away and
play away from home and win. "We've not found that to be very easy at all
this season. We have managed to win three away from home and we have got
some very good draws at Liverpool and Southampton when we needed them. "At
the end of the day, our players played like they had the sun and the beach
in their minds. They played like they were on their holidays before they
really are. "The buoyant Everton were always going to come out all guns
blazing [with David Moyes managing his last home game at Goodison Park
before leaving for Manchester United] and we had to match that, but of
course we didn't find the tempo and time to contend with Everton's very good
play and they deserved to win.
"Improving the away results and away form will be the main priority next
season. Our home form has been outstanding with performances and results.
"We have lost this game and we're very disappointed but we have one game to
go and we want to win that and finish on a real high against Reading next
Sunday. If we do, we'll secure 46 points which will be a really outstanding
total. "If we don't we will still have had a great season, but we will still
have had a great season."

While the current season still has one match to run - a home win over
relegated Reading will secure a top-ten finish - Big Sam said he and his
staff are already putting plans in place for the next campaign. Pre-season
trips to the Republic of Ireland and Germany have already been confirmed,
while the player recruitment staff are finalising targets and the backroom
team are putting the finishing touches to summer fitness programmes for the
players. "The planning has started, but it's about affordability for us. On
the money side of it, there is some there but it's not fortunes. We've got
to improve the team that we've got, which has played to its maximum. "A lot
of the team that we've got were free transfers and we've got to go from that
to getting better players. We've got to go into the market for them and
increase the overall salary and wage budget and transfer fees because we've
got to try and get better. "As we all know, that is a very difficult job to
do today, to pick players to come in and be good enough to play in the
Premier League. "We've got to go all out and that's why I'm hoping that
pre-season, aside from just players in and players out, is all sorted by the
weekend of 26 and 27 May. That is where we're travelling to, what we're
doing, the kit, when we arrive back, when and who we're playing and what
type of training programmes we're setting up are all organised. "The players
are only going to get two weeks rest and then they're going have to start
doing some of the programmes themselves that they have been given. "All that
can be done and we can sit back and concentrate on new players and see when
and where we can get some."

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Big Sam bemoans Everton defeat
WHUFC.com
Big Sam was disappointed with his side's lacklustre showing in defeat at
Everton
12.05.2013

Sam Allardyce admitted West Ham United had been well beaten at Goodison
Park, as Everton ran out convincing 2-0 winners in the Hammers' final away
day of the 2012/13 Barclays Premier League season. With manager David Moyes
Old Trafford bound, his players certainly rose to the occasion on this, his
Goodison swansong. Belgian winger Kevin Mirallas was the star-turn on the
day, netting either side of the interval in the sixth and the 60th minute to
put the contest beyond the visitors. In truth, it was the least the Toffees
deserved and by Big Sam's own admission the margin of victory might have
been even greater but for the interventions of goalkeeper Jussi
Jaaskelainen. "By the way we played today I have to say we were lucky to get
away with the 2-0," he said. "There's only one player who has been
outstanding for us today and that was Jussi Jaaskelainen. He made some
absolutely outstanding saves."

Big Sam subsequently acknowledged that his opposite number's imminent
departure had hardly helped his charges, with Everton's bright, inventive
and high-tempo football proving tough to stifle. He added: "I warned the
players before the game what it was going to be like and it was exactly that
and we simply couldn't cope with it today. It's always difficult coming here
but this occasion made it even more difficult. And we saw that, not just by
the performances of Everton players in possession, but by their performance
without the ball. "They gave us no time on the ball whatsoever. As soon as
they lost it, they ran us down, they shut us down, they squeezed us and
pressed us and we couldn't get anything because of the energy they showed."

Sunday's disappointment aside, Allardyce is still thrilled with his side's
progress this term, in the knowledge that victory on the final day against
Reading will guarantee the Hammers a top-ten finish. "I've really enjoyed
this season. Because we had such a fantastic start, we've never been in a
relegation-threatened position. That's a massive relief for me as a manager
and your players and your football club. "That in itself has taken us to the
position that we're in at the moment, tenth, with one game to go. We've
never been lower than 14th, so it has been an outstanding season for us, in
our first back in the Barclays Premier League."

Though the season is not yet done and dusted, preparations are already
underway for the forthcoming campaign, with new recruits already on the
agenda.
"[The next challenge] is adding players. We've got to get better and find
more talent. We've got to make the squad bigger and better in terms of the
personnel and the talent of the players."

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'We got what we deserved'
WHUFC.com
Joey O'Brien was candid in his assessment of the Hammers' 2-0 defeat at
Goodison Park
12.05.2013

Joey O'Brien offered no excuses for West Ham United's performance in defeat
at Everton on Sunday afternoon, saying the Hammers got what they deserved
for an under-par showing. Two Kevin Mirallas goals were the difference,
although in truth Everton may have had more for their efforts from a bright
and inventive performance which yielded several chances. West Ham were
always up against it after falling behind with just six minutes played and
O'Brien admitted their display was not up to scratch. "It's really
disappointing," he said. "I'm not going to stand here and make excuses, we
were poor on Sunday and we didn't perform in the first half. "Second half we
changed the formation, but it didn't change how we played - we were still
poor. It's disappointing, especially for the fans who travelled up this far,
and we're gutted about how we played. "The atmosphere and how it was going
to be, with the whole situation [of the manager leaving for Manchester
United], we wanted to keep the fans quiet, but the early goal kept them
going, and the start made it very difficult for us. "It's a hard place to
come, they have a smashing team and are high up the league for a reason, but
the fact it was David Moyes' last home game added a bit more spice to it.
"But for them to score after five minutes, we were always going to be on the
back foot. Their spirits got up and it was hard for us to get in to the
game. We came in at half time 1-0 down, sat down and had a talk but we
didn't really perform in the second half either so we got what we deserved."

West Ham conclude their Barclays Premier League campaign on Saturday with a
home game against Reading, and with the possibility of a top ten finish on
the agenda, O'Brien is determined to finish on a high. He continued: "The
only good thing to come out of the game is that we're still in the top ten.
If we win next week we're guaranteed to stay there. "That's what we set out
to do at the start of the season, and against Reading - they've beaten us
the last three games we've played against them, so the lads will be up for
that one. "It's probably a good game to have on the back of this one.
Hopefully we get can the three points to make sure of the top ten."

Hammers boss Sam Allardyce penned a new contract with the club at the
weekend and O'Brien, who played under Big Sam at Bolton too, is delighted to
see the manager commit his future to the Club. He added: "He's done an
unbelievable job at this football club, that's why he's got the new
contract. That's why he deserves his contract too. He took over in the
Championship and had all the pressure there. You've seen the clubs this year
in that league, who had the expectations we had and how they've got on, so
he's done an unbelievable job. "You have to say we've had a successful two
years. "Two years ago I got released by Bolton, and no other club would go
near me with my injuries. My relationship with him was with the manager was
that I played with him as a kid [at Bolton] and he knew me. "He told me that
I could come down and train at West Ham. Without that phone call telling me
that I woudn't be standing here now. I owe him a lot."

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Mirallas double downs Hammers
WHUFC.com
Everton beat West Ham United 2-0 in the final away game of the 2012/13
season
12.05.2013

West Ham United fell to a 2-0 defeat at Everton in their final away Barclays
Premier League fixture of the season on Sunday. Kevin Mirallas did the
damage, notching either side of the break to cap an impressive display from
the home side in manager David Moyes' last game in charge at Goodison Park.
The Scot is moving on to Manchester United, but there was no lack of focus
from his team as Mirallas fired them into a sixth minute lead. The Toffees
remained in charge for the majority of the contest and Mirallas doubled his,
and his team's, tally on the hour. That was enough to defeat the Hammers,
who will hope for better when they close the campaign at home to Reading
next week Everton had already gone close through Sylvain Distin by the time
they took a seventh minute lead. It was a goal of real quality too, as they
worked possession across the face of the Hammers box through Leighton
Baines, Marouane Fellaini and Steven Pienaar before Mirallas spotted the
opening to guide the ball back across Jussi Jaaskelainen and into the bottom
left corner. Mirallas was bright and inventive, and another sideways run
through the West Ham danger area almost led to a second as his scuffed shot
dropped perfectly for Victor Anichebe, whose powerful close range shot was
blocked by a part of the body Jaaskelainen probably wished had not. Everton
were well on top, but West Ham still went close to levelling just after the
half hour when Joey O'Brien made a probing run forward and fed the ball
inside to Kevin Nolan with the outside of his foot. The visiting skipper
controlled and shot for goal, but Tim Howard sprung down to his left to get
a strong and decisive hand to his effort.

On 35 minutes Nolan hooked a volley hot far past the post, but that five
minute spell was about as good as it got for West Ham as Everton burst out
of the traps at the start of the second period to re-establish control. With
53 minutes played, Leighton Baines knocked over a deep cross from the left
towards Leon Osman, who sent the ball back across goal, but faced with an
almost impossibly tight angle, he could not place it betwen the posts. Then,
six minutes later, Mirallas ran strongly at James Collins and had a sight of
the top corner, but was not able to wrap his foot around the ball and it
flew wide. But the Hammers did not heed the warning, and Mirallas made them
pay just a minute later as Everton broke quickly from the back, Howard
throwing the ball into Darron Gibson, who in turn found Mirallas surging
forward. The Belgian then shifted onto his right foot before firing for
goal, and although Collins got a half-block in, all it did was knock the
ball into the ground and looping over Jaaskelainen's dive. As the game
entered its final quarter, the Finn had to make a superb stop to prevent
Leon Osman from inflicting further misery on the Hammers, flying to his left
to block after Pienaar ran into the box and squared across the area. Pienaar
continued to buzz around effectively and Collins had to make a similarly
last ditch block from the South African as Everton pressed for more. The
Hammers nearly grabbed a consolation three minutes from the end when Andy
Carroll planted a firm header against the post, but they would not be able
to find the goal which could have set up an interesting finale.

Everton: Howard; Coleman, Jagielka, Distin, Baines; Gibson, Fellaini, Osman
(Hibbert 89), Mirallas (Oviedo 90), Pienaar; Anichebe (Jelavic 73)
Subs: Mucha (GK), Heitinga, Naismith, Barkley
Goals: Mirallas 6, Mirallas 60
Booked: Mirallas
West Ham United: Jaaskelainen; Demel, Collins, Reid, O'Brien; Nolan, O'Neil
(Noble 64), Diame (C;Cole 46); Collison (J.Cole 55), Carroll, Jarvis
Subs: Henderson (GK), Vaz Te, Taylor, Pogatetz
Booked: Demel, Collins
Referee: Phil Dowd

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Everton 2 West Ham 0
12 May 2013
Last updated at 17:23
By Ben Smith
BBC Sport

Everton gave their departing manager David Moyes the perfect send-off with a
convincing victory over West Ham in his final match at Goodison Park. The
result was secured by Kevin Mirallas's eighth and ninth league goals of the
season and guarantees Everton sixth place in the Premier League table. The
Belgian forward finished off a flowing team move to give Everton the perfect
start after six minutes, before a deflected second-half effort gave Moyes
the victory he was so desperate to secure in his penultimate game in charge.
At the final whistle, the 50-year-old Scot, who will become Manchester
United manager on 1 July, was serenaded by all corners of the stadium after
a final flourish that went very much to the script. Anything but a home win
would have felt inadequate on a day the blue half of Merseyside came to say
goodbye to their manager of 11 years. The rousing and emotional pre-match
send-off was acknowledged by Moyes with a simple wave to all four stands at
Goodison Park. But the only tribute the Everton manager really cared about
was the performance, and his team knew it. Everton, driven on by the
midfield leadership of Leon Osman, the tireless running of Steven Pienaar
and the ruthless finishing of Mirallas thoroughly deserved their victory.

There was exemplary work-rate and ambition throughout the team with their
manager barking instructions and celebrating goals with as much passion as
ever. Visitors West Ham offered little, save for two efforts by Kevin Nolan
and one from former Liverpool midfielder Joe Cole. Everton could have been
ahead as early as the fourth minute, only for Sylvain Distin to head
Marouane Fellaini's cushioned header narrowly wide. Focused and fluent, the
hosts immediately clicked into top gear, carving out clever openings and
bombarding the West Ham goal. Goodison could sense a goal and it arrived
just two minutes later. Leighton Baines raced into space down the left and
flicked the ball to a charging Fellaini. The Belgian midfielder found
Pienaar with a clever flick, who in turn found Mirallas and his piercing low
shot fizzed beyond Jussi Jaaskelainen and into the net. With Moyes standing
guard on the edge of his technical area, living through every moment just as
he had done for the past decade and more, Everton snapped into every
challenge and zipped every pass around the slick Goodison turf.

They might have doubled their lead midway through the first half when
Mirallas wiggled his way through the West Ham penalty box and steered a shot
goalwards. His effort ran to Victor Anichebe, but the Nigerian's point-blank
effort was saved by Jaaskelainen. Having been outplayed for much of the
opening 30 minutes, West Ham gradually began to warm to their task. "Everton
fans stayed behind after the final whistle to give David Moyes a rousing
send off. It was a fitting tribute. Former Everton player Tim Cahill
travelled 6,000 miles to be here while Moyes's dad was also in the crowd"

Nolan twice went close in the space of five minutes, Tim Howard making one
tremendous save low to his left, but that was to be as good as it got for
the visitors. The hosts, meanwhile, continued to threaten. Fellaini was
denied by James Collins's timely intervention and Mirallas sliced narrowly
wide as the game approached the hour mark. Goodison responded with a wall of
noise that lifted the players and delivered the second goal. Mirallas was a
constant danger to the West Ham defence and it was he again who drove for
goal before unleashing a shot from 25 yards that deflected off the excellent
Collins and bounced up and over the despairing dive of Jaaskelainen to
double the lead. Briefly Everton threatened to overrun the Hammers. Osman
twice went close, Jaaskelainen denying the England international with a
wonderful save low to his right before Pienaar fired another effort narrowly
wide. Anichebe should have done better with a near-post header but it
mattered not. This was Everton's - and Moyes' - day.

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce: "I'm bitterly disappointed. It's always
difficult to play at Goodison Park and David Moyes's record speaks for
itself. "I warned the players but they chose to take no notice. It left us
with a bad performance. "There was only one man who did his job and that was
goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen."

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Sam Allardyce critical of his players following their 2-0 defeat at an
emotional Goodison
Last Updated: May 12, 2013 7:41pm
SSN

Sam Allardyce felt that his West Ham side failed to deal with the occasion
at Goodison in their 2-0 defeat to Everton. The Hammers manager insisted
that he had told his players to expect an emotional home crowd to get behind
Everton, and believed that his players had not performed to their ability.
Allardyce admitted that West Ham were lucky to lose by just two goals after
goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen made a string of fine saves to deny Everton
during a ninety minutes in which the away side failed to get a foothold.
"The way we played today we were lucky to get away with 2-0" "There was
only one player who has been outstanding for us and that was (goalkeeper)
Jussi Jaaskelainen who made some outstanding saves. "I warned the players
before the game what it was going to be like - it was exactly that and the
players couldn't cope." West Ham are yet to cement a top-half finish going
into the final game, and face relegated Reading on the final day.

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Leaving on a high note: David Moyes signs off at Goodison Park with 2-0 win
over West Ham
12 May 2013 17:48
The Mirror

He has those granite-hard Scottish genes, so there were no tears as David
Moyes said farewell to Goodison Park in typical winning style yesterday. Yet
even this tough footballing man had to visibly choke back the emotion during
an afternoon that spoke volumes about the work he has done at Everton, and
the immense quality he possesses as both a manager and a man. He is from the
same school of hard knocks as Sir Alex Ferguson of course, so his
over-riding feeling yesterday seemed to be one of slight embarrassment at
the wave of affection and respect that washed around Goodison Park. As he
entered the old stadium for his final game, he admitted he didn't quite know
how to react. "It has been so hard, so emotional. When I arrived at the
ground all the stewards clapped and I didn't know what to do," he confessed.
That feeling lasted right until the end as the players formed a guard of
honour to recognise both their manager and their skipper Phil Neville, who
will also be leaving Everton at the end of the season. "You know what I
liked most about today and what I will miss most? That moment in the second
half when the fans were so passionately cheering their football club and not
David Moyes," he said with a smile. "To me, that is the toughest thing to
leave behind, because it showed how big Everton are and it showed how great
their fans are. "I feel very humble at what people have shown me today.
Whoever is the next manager they will enjoy the incredible level of
professionalism these players here have. They played like a top, top team
even on a difficult day and that's great credit to them."

Moyes was right. Everton are on course for their best ever Premier League
points haul and they took West Ham apart. As visiting boss Sam Allardyce
said after, it was only the performance of his goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen
who stopped them running up a rugby score. He made fine saves from Victor
Anichebe, Marouane Fellaini, Darron Gibson, Steven Pienaar and Leon Osman
amongst others. It was fitting that Kevin Mirallas got the goals to win the
game, because his qualities typify the ability of the manager and chairman
to find footballing gems and secure them a rock bottom prices. His first was
a cool side-footed finish in the first half, the second (above) a sharp shot
that was deflected over the West Ham keeper off James Collins.

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