Daily WHUFC News - 28th AUgust 2013

Macca on Cheltenham victory
WHUFC.com
Assistant manager Neil McDonald on Tuesday's Capital One Cup second round
win over Cheltenham Town
27.08.2013

Assistant manager Neil McDonald said West Ham United had got the job done in
defeating Cheltenham Town 2-1 in the Capital One Cup second round. The
Hammers overcame a spirited Cheltenham side at the Boleyn Ground through
goals from Ricardo Vaz Te and Man of the Match Ravel Morrison either side of
half-time, but created enough chances to have won by a hatful. As it was,
the League Two Robins set up a nervy finale when Matt Richards converted a
penalty just before the hour-mark. Speaking to West Ham TV, McDonald said
Vaz Te's 42nd-minute opener - an unstoppable 30-yard free-kick- had settled
the Hammers down. Morrison added a classy second just 38 seconds after the
break, firing low into the corner after losing two defenders with a neat
piece of skill.
"Whenever you play against a lower league team they are going to come out
and run about for the first half an hour and try to give their best and play
above their ability which, to be fair, they did," McDonald said. "But I
think Ricardo's goal settled us down. "It was a fantastic free-kick into the
top corner and I think we dominated after that up until half-time. In the
second half, we totally dominated the game and really should have scored
more goals than we did. "We put ourselves under that little bit of pressure
because we didn't get the third and fourth goal, which would have been a
fair result, and when we conceded we were just on the back foot a touch.
Saying that, we created lots of chances after their goal to kill the game
off, we're through to the next round and we're pleased."
McDonald agreed that the talented Vaz Te and Morrison both illustrated their
ability with outstanding goals.

"With Vaz, it's good that people practice and he has been practising well on
his free-kicks. He has been taking a little bit of stick off the rest of the
lads but he has shown fantastic technique and a fantastic will to take a
free-kick from outside the box and he has got his rewards. The more you
practise, the better you get. "Ravel is very good on the ball and we have to
get him on the ball as much as we possibly can. He shows lots of composure
and he sees the final pass, which is great. "I think he has shone tonight
and has tried to knock on the manager's door with a good performance and
another goal. He's continued what he did in pre-season, scoring goals from
midfield, which is great. He's shown what he can do and now has to wait for
his chance when the manager picks him in the Barclays Premier League."

At the other end of the pitch, Leo Chambers made his senior debut for the
Hammers just three weeks past his 18th birthday. The south London-born
England Under-19 defender showed his class with a composed display. "He
played really well in the first two Development Squad games against Aston
Villa and Everton and we were pleased with his performance and we had a
great chance to throw him in. "I thought he showed composure, defended well
enough against a tricky winger [Jermaine McGlashan] and he has got through
the 90 minutes and finished on the winning side on his debut."

Debutants Adrian and Razvan Rat, captain James Tomkins, Jack Collison, Matt
Taylor and the returning George McCartney - back from a knee injury suffered
in March - also did their bit in front of a vociferous Boleyn Ground crowd.
"We have some seniors fighting for their places and after the first
half-an-hour which is always a rush and 100 per cent commitment from the
opposition, it started to settle down a little bit and they picked their
passes. Unfortunately, we didn't finish Cheltenham off because we totally
dominated them in the second and created eight really good chances. "You
certainly need to score more goals when you create 12 really good chances -
four in the first half and eight in the second. We're disappointed that we
didn't kill it off and score more goals because the lads are more relaxed
and not worried about making the one mistake that would let Cheltenham back
into it."

One negative on an otherwise positive evening saw Alou Diarra taken off on a
stretcher ten minutes before half-time, having had the physio on three times
during the opening period. "He is a committed player and I think he has
twisted his knee but we're not 100 per cent sure. We'll assess that over the
next couple of days and see how he is. He is a committed player and
unfortunately he has got injured early on. We hope he will be back as quick
as he can."
Looking forward to Saturday and the Hammers host Stoke City in the Barclays
Premier League knowing victory will ensure they go into the international
break in the top six. "We're going into the game full of confidence. We have
got four points on the board, which is a point more than we had last season
at this stage and our home form is really good, so there is nothing to be
scared of. "We'll prepare as we have done, professionally, and make sure the
finer details are all there and will do our best to get the three points to
go into the international break feeling happy about ourselves."

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Hammers through to Round Three
WHUFC.com
West Ham United held off a Cheltenham Town fightback to secure progress in
the Capital One Cup
27.08.2013

West Ham United 2-1 Cheltenham Town
Capital One Cup Second Round

West Ham United booked their place in the Capital One Cup Third Round with a
2-1 victory over League Two side Cheltenham Town on Tuesday evening.
The Hammers were made to work for their win by the Robins, who were looking
to progress beyond Round Two for the first time in their history. Ricardo
Vaz Te and Ravel Morrison notched for West Ham either side of the break
before Matt Richards halved the deficit from the spot. It gave Cheltenham a
lifeline just as the Hammers looked to be moving away from them, and despite
the setback Sam Allardyce's men still had enough to ease through. Big Sam
rang the changes as the likes of James Tomkins, Jack Collison, Adrian,
Razvan Rat and Matt Taylor got their first run outs of the season. The teams
exchanged early chances from free-kicks, Taylor firing his through the wall
but into goalkeeper Scott Brown's arms for the Hammers, and Cheltenham's
Richards curling his left-footed effort over the top.

However, the opening exchanges failed to produce many chances of note as the
tempo slowed and Cheltenham did a good job of containing their hosts.
Alou Diarra had aleady been down for treatment twice by the time he was
stretchered off to curtail his first start in Hammers colours since Janaury,
and the mood almost darkened on 39 when a good spell of Cheltenham
possession ended with Russell Penn sending a scorching drive inches over the
top. But three minutes later the Hammers broke the Robins' resistance - and
in some style too - as Vaz Te arced a perfect free kick into the top left
hand corner of the net after a foul on Morrison 25 yards out.

It was just the fillip the hosts wanted, and they began the second period in
devastating fashion too, as Morrison found the bottom corner with precision,
drilling home right footed from the edge of the box after Stewart Downing
slid in to maintain possession and knock to the full debutant. Downing, a
half time sub, had only been on the pitch 37 seconds by the time he set up
Morrison's goal, and Cheltenham's heads could easily have dropped as West
Ham quickly looked for more.

Mohamed Diame made a strong surge from midfield and shot just over, while
Vaz Te and Downing went close with headers in quick succession. Just just as
the Hammers began to think about a simple passage through to the third
round, Cheltenham got themselves back into the contest just before the hour
when Adrian took out Sam Deering inside the area as the Robins man bore down
on goal. Razvan Rat cleared the loose ball off the line, but referee Graham
Scott pointed to the spot on seeing Cheltenham had gained no advantage, and
Richards converted from 12 yards.

West Ham looked to make the game safe again and Jack Collison was only
denied by a fingertip save when he shot fiercely towards goal from a tight
angle with 15 minutes to play. Then, as the Hammers knocked the resulting
corner to the back post, George McCartney headed against the crossbar after
latching on to James Tomkins' knockback. Tomkins flashed one wide from a
long way out as time ticked by, and Cheltenham almost punished the hosts at
the death when sub Ashley Vincent knocked wide from a long throw/ Taylor had
one cleared off the line even later on by Ryan Inniss, but the Hammers had
already done enough to secure their place in the next round.

West Ham United: Adrian; Chambers, Tomkins, McCartney, Rat; Morrison, Diarra
(Diame 35), Collison; Cole (Downing 46), Vaz Te, Taylor
Subs: Henderson (GK), Nolan, Lee, Ruddock, Lletget
Goals: Vaz Te 42, Morrison 46
Booked: Morrison

Cheltenham Town: S.Brown; Lowe, Inniss, Elliott, Braham-Barrett; Taylor,
Richards; McGlashan, Penn (Vincent 83), Deering (Harrison 63); Gornell
(Kotwica 77)
Subs: Roberts (GK), Jones, Jombati, Gillespie
Goal: Richards pen 57
Booked: Elliott

Referee: Graham Scott

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Moncur: 'It wasn't meant to be'
WHUFC.com
George Moncur refused to be too downhearted after the Dev Squad's 3-2 defeat
at home to Tottenham
27.08.2013

West Ham United youngster George Moncur insists the Development Squad should
have been home and dry at half time against Tottenham Hotpsur, having passed
up opportunities to put the game beyond the visitors' reach at the Boleyn
Ground on Friday night. As it was, the Hammers went into the interval two
goals to the good, courtesy of Dan Potts and Sebastian Lletget, before Spurs
mounted an improbable second-half revival, netting three times in 30 minutes
to snaffle all three Barclays Under-21 Premier League points.

Reflecting on a first defeat of the new campaign, the 20-year-old reckoned
it would have been very different had he and Paul McCallum taken their
chances in front of goal. He told West Ham TV: "I obviously thought that
first half we played really well and did all the right things in the right
areas. We got our reward by going 2-0 up, but we had more chances to maybe
get a few more and then the game's dead and buried. Paul McCallum had a few
chances, I had a couple down the line that I could have maybe done a bit
better with. So had we put them away I think the game would have been over
early doors."

That said, Moncur had not foreseen the second half that was to unfold,
expecting the Hammers to continue where they had left off prior to the
interval. He continued: "I thought as we came out [for the second half] we
could have even pressed on and got a couple more, because of the way we
played in the first half. It just wasn't meant to be.

"They came out a bit brighter than us. I think our first pass was poor from
a lot of us and that obviously sets a bad tone right away. They took
advantage of that and scored the early goal, which was lucky off the
deflection. But it gave them a boost and then, of course, they went on to
get a second and third.
"To be fair, whenever we play Spurs, they always pass the ball well and move
it well, they're a great footballing team. They show it every time they play
us, so credit to Spurs for that."

In truth, the visitors owed much to the impressive Lewis Holtby, as the
German international made his first start of the new campaign. The
22-year-old, who suffered a knee injury in this summer's European Under-21
Championship, was excellent on the night and Moncur certainly appreciated
seeing him in such close quarters.

"It's great to play against players like that, especially when you see what
he did here, bending that one in the top corner," he confirmed. "He's very
comfortable on the ball, finds little gaps between the back four and the
midfield. "Everything was going through him. He scored one and he created
chances. All credit to him."

Friday's defeat aside, six points out of nine still represents an excellent
start for Moncur and his colleagues, with the young midfielder already
looking ahead to next Monday's trip to take on Newcastle United. Before
then, however, Cheltenham Town await in the Capital One Cup and Moncur is
hopeful that he, or some of his teammates might play some part in
proceedings. We got off to a great start by winning two games out of two.
This is a bit of a disappointment, losing 3-2, but hopefully we can get our
chins up and win the next game. "It's nice to look forward to a game like
that, maybe some of us will be involved [against Cheltenham] - hopefully we
will, but if not, then we've just got to be keep going and keep playing."

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West Ham 2 Cheltenham 1
27 August 2013
Last updated at 21:59

Ravel Morrison scored his first goal for West Ham on his full debut to help
the club defeat Cheltenham to reach the Capital One Cup third round. The
League Two side made life difficult for the Hammers in the first half before
Ricardo Vaz Te scored with a free-kick just before the interval. Former
Manchester United midfielder Morrison then scored from the edge of the area
41 seconds after the break. Matt Richards made it 2-1 from the spot after
Adrian had fouled Sam Deering.

Ravel Morrison spent last season on loan at Birmingham and scored three
goals in 23 Championship starts. Morrison, 20, spent last season on loan at
Championship side Birmingham after joining the Hammers from United in
January last year. But after coming off the bench for just his second
Premier League appearance in the goalless draw at Newcastle at the weekend,
the midfielder will hope his goal can cement his place in manager Sam
Allardyce's plans.

West Ham's Matthew Taylor and Cheltenham's Richards both went close with
early free-kicks before Morrison, making his full debut along with
goalkeeper Adrian and defenders Razvan Rat and Leo Chambers, was cautioned
for diving in the area. However, moments later Morrison was judged to have
been fouled outside the box and Vaz Te put the Premier League side ahead
with a bending free-kick. Morrison doubled the advantage in the first minute
after half-time when he made the space to score with a shot from just
outside the area. Richards pulled one back with a penalty on the hour mark
after Adrian fouled Deering. Byron Harrison and Robins captain Russell Penn
came close to scoring for the League Two outfit, but the Hammers, who had
Alou Diarra stretchered off in the first half, held on to progress to round
three.

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Hammers snubbed
KUMB.com
Filed: Tuesday, 27th August 2013
By: Staff Writer

Not a single West Ham United player has been included in either the Under 21
or full England squads, which were announced earlier today. The likes of
Stewart Downing, Joe Cole, Matt Jarvis and Kevin Nolan were once again
overlooked as Roy Hodgson and Gareth Southgate named their squads for the
forthcoming fixtures against Moldova (Under 21s and Seniors) and Ukraine
(Seniors only). Instead, the likes of Everton's Ross Barkley - with just six
Premier League starts to his name - and Raheem Sterling of Liverpool - with
just 18 minutes of league football under his belt this season - have been
selected as part of a vast 27-man Senior squad. Although Andy Carroll is a
shoo-in for a striker's spot upon his impending return from injury, the lack
of West Ham players in either squad is slightly surprising given the number
of home-grown players in Sam Allardyce's first team squad. And with Roy
Hodgson preferring alternative destinations on the opening two weekends of
the 2013/14 campaign, it could well be the case that those Hammers may have
to wait a little bit longer before getting the opportunity to show what they
can do at the Boleyn Ground.

Full England Squad

Goalkeepers: Fraser Forster (Celtic), Joe Hart (Manchester City), John Ruddy
(Norwich City).

Defenders: Leighton Baines (Everton), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Ashley Cole
(Chelsea), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Phil Jones
(Manchester United), Chris Smalling (Manchester United), Kyle Walker
(Tottenham Hotspur).

Midfielders: Ross Barkley (Everton), Michael Carrick (Manchester United),
Tom Cleverley (Manchester United), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Frank Lampard
(Chelsea), James Milner (Manchester City), Raheem Sterling (Liverpool),
Andros Townsend (Tottenham Hotspur), Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Jack Wilshere
(Arsenal).

Forwards: Jermain Defoe (Tottenham Hotspur), Rickie Lambert (Southampton),
Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool), Danny
Welbeck (Manchester United), Ashley Young (Manchester United).


Full England Under 21 Squad

Goalkeepers: Jonathan Bond (Watford), Jack Butland (Stoke City), George Long
(Sheffield United).

Defenders: Eric Dier (Sporting Lisbon), Ezekiel Fryers (Tottenham Hotspur),
Todd Kane (Blackburn Rovers, loan from Chelsea), Michael Keane (Manchester
United), Jack Robinson (Blackpool, loan from Liverpool), Luke Shaw
(Southampton), John Stones (Everton), Tom Thorpe (Manchester United), Andre
Wisdom (Liverpool).

Midfielders: Tom Carroll (Tottenham Hotspur), Nathaniel Chalobah (Chelsea),
Will Hughes (Derby County), Nick Powell (Manchester United), Jonjo Shelvey
(Swansea City), James Ward-Prowse (Southampton).

Wide: Sammy Ameobi (Newcastle United), Jesse Lingaard (Manchester United),
Nathan Redmond (Norwich City), Wilfried Zaha (Manchester United).

Forwards: Saido Berahino (West Bromwich Albion), Harry Kane (Tottenham
Hotspur), Connor Wickham (Sunderland).

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Sullivan: we should have owned West Ham years ago
KUMB.com
Filed: Tuesday, 27th August 2013
By: Staff Writer

David Sullivan believes that he and partner David Gold should have owned
West Ham United long before they purchased a controlling stake three years
ago.
Sullivan, speaking to KUMB.com in the second and final part of our exclusive
interview (which we'll be bringing you tomorrow) revealed that between them
the two Daves owned more than a quarter of the Club in the mid-1990s, but
sold their stake having believed - incorrectly, as it transpired - that the
former majority shareholders would never part company with theirs. "Before
we ever bought Birmingham we owned 27 per cent of West Ham," Sullivan told
KUMB. "Terry Brown [who subsequently became Chairman] eventually bought the
shares we bought from Jack Petchey. "The reason we sold them was because
the Hills and the Cearns owned about 70 per cent between them are they were
very close, they weren't going to let anybody new in. They weren't going to
give us a seat on the Board, they weren't going to give us anything for our
27 per cent. "Jack Petchey was a very shrewd man and he couldn't get any
more shares, so we took the view - wrongly - that we didn't think we were
going to get any more shares. The reality is, if you hang on for a couple of
years, people die and people need money. We saw the Hills and the Cearns as
one unit - and they weren't."

The Club was eventually sold in its entirety to Eggert Magnusson and
Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson in 2006. When Gudmundsson, who bankrolled the Club at
the time saw his entire fortune wiped out by the banking crash two years
later, ownership of West Ham United passed on to CB Holdings. It was from CB
Holdings that Sullivan and Gold purchased their initiall controlling stake
of the Club in 2010 - and to whom the pair returned again on subsequent
occasions, resulting in just ten per cent of the Club remaining in Icelandic
hands at present. Yet despite finally taking control of the Club he has
supported since childhood, Sullivan maintains that he and Gold should have
moved earlier. "In the Hills there were five members of the family and
gradually we would have picked them off," he insists. "It was a mistake not
to stay 25 years ago. We would have had control within ten years - or at
least been given some sort of say in how things were run. But we took a view
and moved on."

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West Ham beat Cheltenham 2-1 at Upton Park
Last Updated: August 27, 2013 10:04pm
SSN

West Ham United held on to avoid an upset in the Capital One Cup after a 2-1
win at home over League Two side Cheltenham Town. Goals either side of
half-time from Ricardo Vaz Te and Ravel Morrison appeared to have West Ham
cruising into the third round of the competition. Matt Richards' penalty
just before the hour mark gave Cheltenham a sniff of a shock, but the
visitors were unable to find an equaliser. Both manager Sam Allardyce and
co-chairman David Gold made it clear before the game that, with the Hammers
now looking a solid top-flight outfit following last year's promotion, they
fancy a decent stab at the cups this season. Such is the strength of
Allardyce's squad compared to last term he was able to make 11 changes from
the side which drew at Newcastle on Saturday while still bringing in the
likes of Joe Cole, James Tomkins, Jack Collison, Matt Taylor and Vaz Te.

Their first competitive meeting with Cheltenham was certainly a full-blooded
encounter with Cole and Town's Ryan Iniss requiring treatment early on,
while Alou Diarra's rare appearance ended after half an hour when he
departed on a stretcher. New signing Razvan Rat, predictably dubbed 'Roland'
by his team-mates, may have thought he was in for a gentle introduction to
English football but the Romanian full-back was given the runaround by
speedy Town winger Jermaine McGlashan in the opening stages. But Cheltenham
were largely restricted to long-range efforts in the first half with
Richards curling a free-kick over and captain Russell Penn unlucky to see
his 20-yard effort bounce on the roof of the net.

West Ham were hardly posing much more of an attacking threat, although they
felt they could have had a penalty when Morrison tumbled in the area, only
for referee Graham Scott to book him for diving But moments later, in the
42nd minute, Morrison was fouled and this time the official awarded a
free-kick which Vaz Te expertly curled home from 25 yards. Allardyce sent on
Stewart Downing for Cole at the interval and the £6million signing from
Liverpool's tenacity immediately set up Morrison's sparkling strike. Moments
later Downing went agonisingly close to his first Hammers goal but his
header flew inches wide while Vaz Te was denied by a fine save from Brown.
Town pulled one back in bizarre circumstances in the 59th minute when
Spanish goalkeeper Adrian, making his debut, got in a horrible mix-up with
Tomkins and was penalised for a foul on McGlashan, with Richards tucking in
the spot-kick.

But the visitors rarely threatened an equaliser - an Iniss header which flew
wide was as close as they came - while West Ham should have enjoyed a far
more comfortable night but Collison's drive was tipped over, George
McCartney's header hit the crossbar and Taylor's late shot was cleared off
the line.

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West Ham line up Honduras international Rojas for transfer that could see
Vaz Te sold
27 Aug 2013 22:30
The Mirror

West Ham are signing Honduras international striker Roger Rojas on loan. The
forward, 23, was at the Hammers' HQ on Tuesday for a medical ahead of his
switch from Honduras outfit Club Deportivo Olimpia. Rojas scored 19 league
goals last season, and already has three this term. His arrival is likely to
see West Ham boss Sam Allardyce sell Ricardo Vaz Te. Premier League new boys
Cardiff are in the frame for the former Bolton forward.

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McDonald on.....Cheltenham Town
KUMB.com
Filed: Wednesday, 28th August 2013
By: Staff Writer No.2

Assistant boss Neil McDonald was on duty in the press conference following
the 2-1 win over Cheltenham Town....

Happy with that?

Yeah very much so. I think we'd have been more happy if we'd scored more
goals. From the final 15 minutes of the first half I thought we dominated
the match. Cheltenham ran about and did their best in the first half but
once the game had settled down we dominated the game and really should've
won by a bigger margin.The chances that we had is the only disappointing
thing about tonight, I'm pleased that everyone had a tough test because
Cheltenham weren't easy to break down or to score against but we've got
through and we're pleased to be in the next round.

Ravel Morrison is quite a player…

(laughs) he's not bad is he?! He scored soe good goals in pre-season and
he's continued that today. He's had to be patiemt – he didn't start the
first two games but he's come on today and showed everybody what he's all
about. He's got lot sof composure and he can see and make the final pass as
well as score goals.

That's a knock on the door which is something that the manager wants. He
wants people knocking on the door saying "listen I'm ready for the Premier
League" and he's adding to the competition that we've got for places all
over the pitch.
.
In terms of maturity – as a person not just as a player- how far has he come
since he first arrived?

Well I think as a young kid he came down from Manchester thinking he could
walk straight into the team. It was a big shock to hm that he didn't. With
all due respect to those players we've got some good players at this club
and he had to earn their respect. He didn't do that early on and we sent him
out to Birmingham. I think the penny's dropped at Birmingham – he's played
some games and scored some goals. He's come back a much hungrier and
healthier and wiser young man. So we look forward to him keeping on knocking
on the manager's door with performances like that.

What does he have to do to make himself a Premier League regular?

There's lot sof things. He has to keep the ball, he has to keep on scoring
like he did in pre-season His all-round performance has to be good and it
has to be better than the players we have in the team at the moment. Once he
does that he has to be consistent – he's a young kid. He has to be
consistent in attack and defence. That's what he needs – to get better I
suppose, to get into the team on a regular basis.

Alou Diarra had an "interesting" half-hour or so?

He's a competitive player who likes to stick his foot in and tries to spoil.
Unfortunately he's had a couple of knocks tonight and he's had to come off.
We'll see how it is – he'll havs a scan over the next couple of days. It was
more of a twist than a contact injury though I haven't seen the incident
myself.

When Diame came on it made a bit of a difference

I think offensively we were on top. Diame offensively is very good. He goes
forward and creates chances. He's exciting isn't he? We could do with him
scoring another couple of goals I suppose.

We're pleased with all the performances tonight. It was a good test. The
majority of the team got 90 minutes, which they needed – because they
haven't been involved in the first two games.

It's just nice to get through to the next round. It should have been easier
game with more goals that we should have scored with the chances we created
so there's a bit of work that we have to work on in that aspect of the game.


There's been talk of a player coming in this week, perhaps on loan with
someone going out. Is that the case?

The manager has stated that he's as happy with the squad as he has been.
There's competition for places so if somebody comes in or goes out we'll let
you know. There's competition for places in every position now which we
haven't had in the past and I think that's real healthy for West Ham.

Thanks guys

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Yates on.....West Ham United
KUMB.com
Filed: Wednesday, 28th August 2013
By: Staff Writer No.2

Cheltenham boss Mark Yates shares his thoughts on his side's exit from the
Capital One Cup at the Boleyn….

You nearly nicked one at the end there…

(Laughs) Yeah we had a couple of chances when the young lad's volleyed just
wide and the long throw where Byron's just pulled it wide of the post. But
listen, West Ham are a good side. We know that they've got some quality
players and we rode our luck at times in the second half to even be in it.
We showed we've got a bit about us and if we can put in that effort in our
league games we have a chance.

It didn't look that big a gulf at times – you didn't seem overawed…

More than anything else I wanted them to have a go and to not be overawed.
We had a set up, a shape we wanted to be when we hadn't got the ball at
times when we didn't want them opening us with the quality they've got. But
I wanted us to try and play. We did better than we did against Tottenham,
better than we did against Everton so we've learnt something from it so
we've been better. But we still could've been even better for me. The second
goal was a bit of a killer right from the kick-off. We had various chances
to deal with different balls in and around our box. But the lads have shown
a bit of character on the back of that. We could easily have capitulated and
it could have been three or four or five. We had a bit of luck at times –
there were a couple of chances that Scottie [Brown] our 'keeper's made some
great saves.

Sometimes you need that in cup games and we gave ourselves a chance in the
last 10-15 minutes to really have a go. Byron came on and caused them a few
problems and we had a few chances.
.
What did you make of Morrison?

I know he's a good player full stop. I saw him at Birmingham last season.
His agent was on the phone to me telling me what a good player he was – I've
got couple of his players as well. He told me he likes to shoot. I knew that
– I saw it for myself tonight unfortunately! West Ham have a lot of good
players – we didn't have a clue what they would do. I noticed when they beat
Crewe last year they made seven changes – I was hoping for a few more! They
still have plenty in reserve. Diame came on and made a difference – we
probably didn't need that to happen. But I was pleased with my players'
performance tonight.

Cheers, Thank you.

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