Daily WHUFC News - 1st October 2013

Manager on Monday
WHUFC.com
West Ham United manager Sam Allardyce has demanded an improvement in front
of goal at Tottenham Hotspur
29.09.2013

Sam Allardyce has set his squad a simple goal for West Ham United's upcoming
run of tricky fixtures - score more of them. The Hammers impressed despite
losing 1-0 at Hull City on Saturday, with their manager pointing to a swathe
of missed chances, along with some hotly-debated refereeing decisions, as
the key reasons for his team's defeat. Although the result was West Ham's
first loss on their travels this season following creditable draws at
Newcastle United and Southampton, Big Sam feels his side should have more
points on board for their efforts thus far. "For me we should have won one
and drawn two away from home," said Allardyce. "We should have won at
Southampton as well, even though they created more than us on the day, the
last golden chance was James Collins's chance to put the ball in the back of
the net. "They're the ones you've got to pinch when you don't deserve it.
More important is winning when you do play well and we certainly didn't
deserve to lose on Saturday."

With a London derby at Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday followed by the visit of
high-flying Manchester City to the Boleyn Ground the following Saturday, the
welcome return to fitness of Joe Cole and Stewart Downing has come at the
perfect time. Mladen Petric is also edging closer to full fitness, while
Andy Carroll continues to make good progress as he recovers from his heel
injury. "For whatever reason at the minute they're not going in the back of
the net and that's cost us. We played well but we didn't finish properly,
we've got to take it on the chin and now try to get some points against
Tottenham and Manchester City.
"You've got to try to ride your way through while Andy's injured and in
performance terms we have but in points terms we haven't. It's a worrying
trend but it's not as if we've gone away from home and not created chances.
We've gone away from home and created numerous chances. "There's no time on
Andy's injury. We're just taking it week by week and seeing how he
progresses. Joe Cole is back in training and Stewart is back, which is good
so we've got to pick ourselves up for the big two games. "Mladen Petric
hasn't done anything all pre-season so he's still catching up on his fitness
but he can score a goal when we can get him fully fit. We've just got to get
him fit as quickly as we can."

Ravel Morrison's continued improvement has also given his manager
encouragement and the Sunday papers were full of suggestions that the
attacking midfielder will soon be called upon for England. His manager is
delighted the 20-year-old has begun reaping the rewards of his new-found
focus off the pitch.
"I've been really impressed with Ravel Morrison's creativity on the ball and
his proven goalscoring ability. He didn't have the chances on Saturday but
he scored against Everton and against Cardiff, where he took his goals
exceptionally well. I think if he'd got a chance on Saturday, he'd have
scored for us as he's in great goalscoring form. "Momo Diame is playing wide
as Ravel Morrison is playing wonderfully in the central position and we've
had Joe Cole and Stewart Downing injured."

With full-backs George McCartney and Guy Demel also back in full training
following knee and groin injuries respectively, Carroll remains the only
absentee. Big Sam believes his squad are coping well without the club record
signing, but in the short-term must make up for the goals he will provide on
his return.
"Teams suffer when your best players aren't available and what you can't
have is your best players not available for long periods of time. "In our
case you end up where we are now towards the bottom of the league, which is
not where we should be on our performances and our chances away from home.
When we did get our shots in on goal on Saturday, they were cleared off the
line and Mo Diame's clean strike was straight at the goalkeeper."

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Ruthless Elliot sees a bright future
WHUFC.com
Elliot Lee says the Development Squad can reach for the stars after another
resounding win
30.09.2013

After putting four goals past Ipswich Town on Friday, Elliot Lee was in
buoyant mood, and believes the Development Squad can achieve great things
this season. Whilst it was labelled as a friendly, there was nothing too
friendly about the way the young Hammers set about dismantling their
opponents at Rush Green. Lee racked up four goals and could have had more by
the time Pelly Ruddock put the finishing touches to another superb win. The
victory maintained the team's fine form which has seen them win four of
their first six Barclays Under-21 Premier League games. The 18-year-old
striker missed the squad's last match, a 1-0 win over Stoke, but is
confident they can go on to achieve big things this season. He told West Ham
TV: "The boys went up to Stoke and came back with a great result. I was
pleased to be back around the squad this week. "The whole team is full of
confidence at the moment especially on the back of this 5-0, so bring on
Norwich here on Friday night. "With the talent we've got in this squad the
possibilities are endless. In defence, midfield and attack there's talent
all over the park so I think we can go all the way this year."

Whilst Lee's four goals paved the way for a very comfortable afternoon for
Nick Haycock's team, the striker believes he could have found the net a few
more times than he did. His free-kick opened the scoring after seven minutes
and he doubled the lead shortly before half-time, notching his other two
goals in the second half but believed he could have finished the game with
double what he did. "I think I've scored eight goals against Ipswich in the
past when I was in the Under-10s so I've got quite a good record against
them with the four I got on Friday. "I could have had more with the chances
I had but I think most of the team had chances to score and I'll take four
goals all day long."

His haul against the Tractor Boys was his second hat-trick of the season
already and his goal scoring exploits have caught the eye of everyone at the
club.
Lee has been increasingly involved with the first team this season and
whilst his main aim is earning a regular spot within Sam Allardyce's squad
he is happy to keep producing the goods for the Development Squad. He said:
"I thought we all played really well on Friday. Nick's said to us before the
game that even though it's not a league game go out there and play your
hardest and get the result that we want. "The boys played brilliantly with
everyone working their socks off and we got the result we deserved in the
end. "I think my main aim at the moment is to get first team football and
all I can do is keep scoring goals and hopefully it will get noticed."

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O'Brien named in Ireland squad
WHUFC.com
Joey O'Brien has been named in the provisional Republic of Ireland squad for
two World Cup qualifiers
30.09.2013

Joey O'Brien has been named in the provisional Republic of Ireland squad for
two 2014 FIFA World Cup Group C qualifiers in October. The West Ham United
defender is one of 26 players picked by Ireland's interim manager Noel King,
who will be taking charge of his country for the first time when the Boys in
Green take on Germany and Kazakhstan. Sitting six points adrift of
second-placed Sweden, Ireland are all but out of contention to qualify for
the finals in Brazil, but O'Brien and his compatriots still have plenty of
pride to play for in their final two qualifiers. After travelling to Cologne
to take on group leaders Germany on Friday 11 October, Ireland return to
Dublin to host Kazakhstan at the Aviva Stadium on Tuesday 15 October. King
will trim his squad in the coming days to facilitate injuries, but O'Brien's
impressive form could well see him add to the five senior caps he has
already won. The No17's most-recent appearance for Ireland came in a 4-1
friendly win over Oman at Fulham's Craven Cottage in September 2012. A
number of O'Brien's West Ham team-mates could also be on international duty
during the upcoming break.

Razvan Rat's Romania face two vital 2014 FIFA World Cup Group D qualifiers
away to Andorra on 11 October and home to Estonia on 15 October.
Fourth-place Romania need to win both games and hope already-qualified
Netherlands can do them a favour by beating Hungary and Turkey.

Jack Collison and James Collins could be involved in Wales' final two 2014
FIFA World Cup Group A qualifiers at home to FYR Macedonia on 11 October and
away to Belgium on 15 October, where they could do a massive favour for
club-mate Mladen Petric. Petric's Croatia sit second ahead of their own
final fixtures at home to Belgium and away in Scotland, with two victories
possibly taking them above the Belgians into top spot and an automatic
qualifying berth.

Further afield, Mohamed Diame's Senegal travel to Ivory Coast for a
mouth-watering 2014 FIFA World Cup African Round 3 first-leg clash, with the
return game taking place in Senegal on 15 November. The winners on aggregate
will go to Brazil.

Meanwhile, Ravel Morrison will hope his good form could lead to an England
U21 call-up for UEFA European U21 Championship qualifiers in San Marino and
at home to Lithuania on 10 October and 15 October respectively.

Leo Chambers has been named in the England U19 squad for their UEFA European
U19 Championship qualifiers in Slovenia. Chambers will travel with the Young
Lions to face hosts Slovenia, Andorra and Switzerland in early October with
the top two teams in the group progressing to the Elite Round of qualifying
next May.

In the same competition, Jamie Harney has been called up to the Northern
Ireland U19 squad for their qualifiers against Belgium and France.
Academy defenders Kyle Knoyle and Reece Burke have been named in the England
U18 squad for the first time for two friendly internationals with Hungary at
St. George's Park on 11 October and 14 October.

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Tomkins disappointed by Hull reverse
WHUFC.com
James Tomkins felt the Hammers should have got something from Saturday's
game at Hull
30.09.2013

James Tomkins made his first Barclays Premier League appearance since April
in Saturday's 1-0 defeat at Hull City and the defender was disappointed that
he could not mark his return to the team with a positive result. The Hammers
were beaten by Robbie Brady's contentious 12th minute penalty, despite
creating a number of chances to get back on level terms. Tomkins thought the
penalty call from referee Kevin Friend was a harsh one, although he admitted
the visitors should have helped themselves by making more of their
possession. He said: "The lad's gone down from Joey's challenge and he's
bought the foul really. The referee has fallen for it and it's one of those
things. "We can't blame the referee though, we've got to look ourselves and
work hard this week. "From the penalty onwards on we looked the better team.
We could have scored - we created a lot of chances - and we might have had a
penalty ourselves, but the decisions have gone against us. "But we're going
to stay positive for the games coming up. The good thing was that we did
create chances, we just need to make sure we get a couple of goals from it.
We'll look at it in training, keep working hard and see where that takes us.
"There's not a lot wrong. The goals we have conceded have been mostly from
set plays, two free kicks against Everton and the penalty at Hull. It's just
one of those things at the moment."

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Potts pleased with thumping win
WHUFC.com
After a difficult start to the season Steve Potts was happy with his U18s'
5-0 win over Liverpool
30.09.2013

Steve Potts was left delighted after watching West Ham United's impressive
5-0 Barclays Under-18 Premier League victory over Liverpool at Little Heath.
The Hammers were on fire throughout the first half heading into the break
3-0 up thanks to a brilliant free-kick from Kieran Bywater and further goals
from Jordan Brown and Reece Burke. West Ham found their ruthless touch to go
further ahead through Brown and Bywater's second goals to end the game as
clear and deserved winners. Potts was happy with both the way the team
played and the outcome of the match. "Well it wasn't far off being the
perfect performance and result", said Potts. "To go and get a result like
that against Liverpool, I don't think you can really ask for much more.
"During the week, we said to the boys that recently they haven't ended up
getting the results they deserved based on their performances, but on
Saturday they did exactly what we were looking for. "They have all been
training really well and showed it by how ruthless they were."

Despite the Hammers showing a cutting edge that they have missed previously
this season, Potts still believes that his team need to work hard on that
area of their game. "They haven't cracked it properly yet, but by beating
Liverpool 5-0, they showed how ruthless they can be. That is what these boys
have to have about their game at this level. "The general performances are
really good, but you win and lose games by how ruthless you are at both
ends. Liverpool had some opportunities, but we scored five goals and
deservedly won the match."

Saturday's game saw the Hammers score five well-taken goals, including one
audacious strike from midfielder Bywater that appeared to be a cross from
the right which caught out Liverpool goalkeeper Andrew Firth at the far
post. Potts believes that the build-up play from his team was just as
impressive as the way the moves were finished off. "You can't argue with the
ball being in the back of the opposing net five times can you? Then again,
it isn't all about how you put the ball in the net, it is also about what
happens in the build-up play and they boys played some lovely football, I
can't fault anyone. "Kieran said in the dressing room after the game that he
meant it. He looked up, realised no-one was in the box but still went for
it. If Kieran says that he meant it, then for me, it was a fantastic
finish."

On several occasions, the Hammers almost allowed Liverpool back into the
game but Potts is adamant that the team will learn from the slightly sloppy
areas of their performance. "We did really well to go out in the first half,
dominate and take our three goals well. When we came back out for the second
half, we did really well to keep up the level of performance and continue
scoring goals. After that, our focus switched to whether we could keep the
clean sheet just to top it all off. "Looking at the chances Liverpool
created, some of them were of our own making because we were a little sloppy
in areas, but we will look back on the DVD in training and try to cut them
out."

Keeping the spirit after only winning one out of their opening six fixtures
this season has been one of the toughest jobs for the Hammers' U18s manager.
After a team meeting last week and beating Liverpool 5-0, Potts believes
that the focus now has to be on getting the right result in their next
fixture at West Bromwich Albion on Saturday 5 October. "We had a meeting
during the week where we told the lads that they had to keep believing and
keep positive about the way they have been performing both at training and
in matches. "Now, they will have a slightly different mind-set thinking they
have cracked it because they have had a good result. "I think the spotlight
is now on how they prepare for and perform next week because the best
players at this age have the ability to keep performances and results up
every week. "All I am really looking for is for them to come in with a
positive mind-set, work hard in training and then hopefully we will go to
West Brom next week and get the result that our preparation deserves."

U18s: Howes, Knoyle (Amoo), Harney, Burke (Onariase), Page, Cullen, Makasi
(Mavila), Nasha, Bywater, Parfitt-Williams, Brown
Subs not used: Nemrava, Martins

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The power of rationalisation
KUMB.com
Filed: Monday, 30th September 2013
By: David Hautzig

I'm going to tell you right now that I am writing under duress.

The Stoke, Everton, and Hull losses, coupled with Ginge missing the sitter
at Southampton, has me in a doom and gloom state of mind. I get that way and
when I do I try to blank out West Ham. Don't want to read any blogs,
Twitter, websites, or listen to podcasts.

I remember during The Great Escape, the 4-3 loss at home to Spurs haunted me
for months. My newborn son was up most nights for hours, screaming in pain
from acid reflux, and as I held him all I could think about was Greenie
giving up the rebound for their winner.

That's how I feel now.

But my best mate, Jon, has challenged me to write something optimistic. He
reminded me how much I wanted Carroll at any cost. He also reminded me that
I thought Downing was a good signing. When I started questioning my own
opinions, he threw it all back at me. I will give it me best shot, but I'm
not a happy Hammer right now.

My West Ham writing thing started in the middle of last season when Iain
Dale posted my Open Letter to Andy Carroll, urging him to sign for us. With
Sam in charge, the Olympic Stadium on the horizon, it looked like the
perfect fit for both him and us. Now it isn't hard to look back and wonder
about that decision.

But with the silly money being paid for strikers without any Premier League
experience, would it have been smarter to spend twelve million pounds on
Wilfred Bony? Who's to say he won't become a more expensive version of
Modibo Maiga?

When the negotiations for Carroll were going on, everyone on Twitter was on
a razor's edge. When David Gold tweeted something that intimated that it
wasn't looking so good we all spiraled into depression, only to be reborn a
few days later when the tide turned.

Yes, the injury is worrying. But the athletes noted in this Sports
Illustrated article play in sports with very little time between games.
Baseball barely ever stops during its season, and basketball players average
two to three games per week.

If Carroll's heal is managed inbetween games, and he is held out of early
rounds in the Cups, maybe it won't bother him in the same way? This is not a
common injury in Football, so we can't say it will effect him the same way
it does athletes in other sports.

Rationalisation number one......Done.

A lot of supporters and, according to some sources, some members of the
board were apprehensive about signing Stewart Downing instead of using the
money for a striker. At the time I was 100 per cent behind bringing Downing
in. I believed we would still use one of our two available loan signings to
get the needed striker.

That didn't happen, and the twenty-twenty hindsight crowd are still up in
arms over Downing. But there is absolutely no guarantee that the striker we
wanted would have come if we had those funds available.

Can you really say with certainty that Ba, Lukaku, or Defoe would be in
claret and blue had Downing stayed in Liverpool? It's more likely we would
signed another Maiga, or an un-tested player from The Championship. Given
those choices, I think Downing will turn out to be a valuable member of the
squad.

Rationalisation number two....Done.

One of my customers loaned me a book called The Numbers Game, a book
analysing Football in a completely numbers-based way. I had never heard of
it, but apparently it's somewhat well known.

He had read the whole thing, and gave me some snippets of information. I
tried to find the passages in the book he was referring to, but that would
have required me to actually READ the whole thing. I'd rather subject myself
to water boarding. One of the stats he relayed to me was that clean sheets
are worth more to a team on average than scoring a single goal.

In essence, the book says that teams keeping clean sheets average roughly
2.6 points per game in the games in which they keep a clean sheet. In games
studied where a team scores one goal and the defensive end is not taken into
consideration, teams average something like 1.4 points per game in those
games.

Corners, according to the book, have no statistical value at all. So while
we lament our goal scoring drought, the foundation of a solid back four
should be more important to our success in the long run.

Final rationalisation......Done.

So there you have it, Jon. I've taken our current reality and tried to frame
it in a way that doesn't have me walking the streets looking for a methadone
clinic. I'm not too sure it will work, but at least I tried.

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The price of loyalty
KUMB.com
Filed: Monday, 30th September 2013
By: John Rolls

What is loyalty? Defined, it is "a feeling of attitude of devoted attachment
and affection or a feeling of allegiance. A human quality where we can be
loyal to a person or a cause".

As a West Ham fan I am loyal, my heart belongs to West Ham, I have put off
many things in life so that I can be there. Call that loyalty, stupidity,
devotion or whatever; when it comes to football I am loyal to the Hammers.

In the previous statement I also said it can be stupidity and, on the whole,
loyally following the Hammers is stupid. We will never be Premier League
front runners, a European force in football but still I remain loyal, buying
the kit, going to matches, taking the ridicule from the Cardiff branch of
the Manchester United supporters.

But West Ham are my team. I didn't choose them, they chose me, As a kid in
the sixties I was drawn to the greats playing for the team, and every year
since 1963 the next season was going to be our season. It's loyalty that has
stood the test of time.

However some forms of loyalty can and are totally misplaced, when the
seemingly obvious tells you that your loyalty to certain causes is wrong and
you have to accept that the loyalty you have shown has to stop for the great
of the good.

I think those reading this will know where I am heading. I accept there will
be many who shout "no, no, shoot him, hang the author he is wrong" - whereas
there are I hope some who will agree with me.

Sam Allardyce has shown unwavering loyalty to Kevin Nolan, and I believe
this is now having a detrimental affect on the team and on the club as a
whole. During the Championship season and the subsequent Premier League
season Nolan was undoubtedly extremely valuable to the team , his goals
alone got us up and kept us up.

This season however, the same cannot be said. What little pace he had seems
to have entirely deserted him. Is he worth his place when in reality, apart
from getting on the end of knockdowns to poach a goal, he offers very little
to a midfield?

He place is as secure as David Cameron's constituency seat, but so secure is
he that if he's fit he plays. Will this put off prospective targets, like
the 'striker gate' issue with Sam earlier in the season?

Again Sam has a level of loyalty to Andy Carroll, to the extent of being
willing to gamble all on him being fit for a whole season and not recruiting
another striker, until he was forced into looking for one.

Sam is indeed a very loyal man, he has those players he is loyal to. He is
also loyal to a one-dimensional system of play. We did well last season,
let's not take that away from Sam but this season every team seems to know
exactly what is coming and, due to Sam's misplaced loyalty to his system, he
is unable - no, that's the wrong word... He is unconvinced that any other
system will work.

Sam is a loyal man, he protects his squad from the press which is very
admirable. But for how long is Sam's loyalty going to be enough? We need to
change the way we play, we are as predictable as an Eunuch in a nudist camp.
Nothing's going to happen. I think it's time Sam bit the bullet and dropped
Nolan. A midfield with Joe Cole or Ravel Morrison in that role would be more
mobile.

And for how long are the two Daves going to be loyal to Sam? I can't accept
that this is what they expected for the the money they have doled out. Maybe
they honestly cannot afford to be shot of Sam, or if they did it would
drastically deplete the so-called transfer fund available in January.

I have no doubt Kevin Nolan is a nice guy, but I'm afraid Sam's misplaced
loyalty in him is damaging our season, a season that looks like it's going
to be one of attrition.

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The idiocy continues
KUMB.com
Filed: Monday, 30th September 2013
By: Gary Portugal

The one-two punch: idiocy, followed by stubbornness. And it's lethal. Enough
to kill most mortals. And football teams.

The first part, idiocy, is too well documented - the failure to get cover
for Andy Carroll. Failure to sign Mladen Petric and/or Carlton Cole well
BEFORE the window shut. What was our transfer window strategy? Hit and hope
that, on deadline day some miracle - like the tooth fairy - would show up?
That's no way to run a club, or any business.

The second part of the one-two punch, stubbornness, compounds the damage of
the first. Insisting on playing the most useless striker in the Premier
League, Maiga - or certainly the most useless deployed as a lone striker. No
goals since last December and nary a shot on target.

Why would you persist in playing this guy when Ricardo Vaz Te is available?
Vaz Te, who scored in both Cup appearances and who has looked lively any
time he's come on. A total no-brainer. Even if it meant moving Kevin Nolan
up top, with Vaz Te in behind anything would have been better than
persisting with Maiga.

If there ever was a must-win game it was away to Hull, given the difficulty
of our next three fixtures. We are at risk at being adrift by late October,
yet, what does Allardyce do? He persists with a failed option. Absurd.

Perhaps the prize for ultimate idiocy goes to our owners for haggling over a
contract extension for Carlton Cole and thereby leaving all our eggs in one
basket. You don't drive a car or own a home without an insurance policy. Why
would you run a football club without one?

If we were prepared to pay the wages of Romelu Lukaku or Demba Ba on loan,
why were we unwilling to give Cole a significant wage rise for a one-year
extension? Cole DID help get us promoted and stay in the Premier League last
season, with a respectable finish.

He didn't moan about being second choice to Carroll. So was it really too
much to ask to give him a meaningful improvement on his £35,000 a week
wages? We needed insurance for Carroll, period, and we should have paid it.

Our owners and Allardyce did well to get us promoted and to keep us in the
league last year. But the way that they have conducted our business from the
summer has been sub-standard.

I've lost respect for the three of them since, because the mess we are in
was completely avoidable and of our own making. Supporters deserve better
than this, having endured a lot since 2003. Anyone who can't see that is
completely in denial.

The reality is that it is likely to get worse before it gets better. Barring
a shock result, I cannot see us getting more than two points from the next
three matches and even that will require a bit of luck.

By the time we have played Swansea away, one would hope that Petric and/or
Cole would be fit enough to play 75-90 minutes . That should make a
difference. The problem of course is that by then we may well be playing
with the added pressure of trying to dig ourselves out of the bottom three.

Yes, it's still early days but getting out of the relegation places is never
easy, even if it's only eight to ten games into the season. I suspect that
we will pull ourselves out of this, but not until November. And it is almost
certain to get worse before it gets better.

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West Ham's James Tomkins issues goals challenge
Last Updated: September 30, 2013 11:22am
SSN

James Tomkins has challenged his West Ham team-mates to step up and score
the goals to fire the Hammers up the Premier League table. Sam Allardyce's
side are missing injured star striker Andy Carroll and have failed to find
the net in four out of six top-flight games this term. The latest blank came
in the 1-0 defeat at Hull on Saturday, which left the Hammers in 17th place
in the table, just a point above the drop zone. Defender Tomkins has urged
his team-mates to keep working hard to change their luck in front of goal.
He told the Daily Star: "Andy Carroll is a good player and his record speaks
for itself, but we have a lot of ability in the side. "We have good strikers
and on their day they will play well against anyone, but we just have to
sort out that aspect of our play as we are not scoring enough. "We are maybe
down on our luck a little because things aren't going for us but you have to
earn your luck. We just have to keep working hard."

Goal drought

Among the misfiring strikers is Modibo Maiga, who has not found the net
since December 2012, and West Ham boss Allardyce is looking for his goal
drought to end. He said: "He's struggling because he's not scored. "He's
paid to score a goal and when you buy a front man, he is up there to put
balls in the net. Unfortunately, at this level, he's found that difficult to
do. "His contribution is all right in build-up terms but in the end it has
to result in some form of goals."

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West Ham's David Sullivan warn fans over anti-semitic chanting ahead of
Sunday clash with Spurs
30 Sep 2013 22:30
The Mirror

West Ham have warned their fans they will take a "zero tolerance" approach
to anti-semitic chanting in Sunday's game against Spurs. Last season's
fixture saw the FA launch a subsequent investigation after Spurs supporters
were taunted by West Ham fans "hissing" to imitate the gassing of Jews in
the Holocaust.
The East Londoners will issue a statement later this week warning that
anyone caught hurling offensive abuse will be punished "to the full extent
of the law and banned from attending matches." Joint-chairman David Sullivan
said last night: "Supporters know where myself and the club stand on this
issue. "We sincerely hope that a tiny minority of our supporters do not let
us down. We are the only club that remembers the Holocaust each year and we
have many Jewish supporters of our own. "Sadly a few supporters, think its
funny to sing anti-semitic songs and make anti semitic gestures. "They need
to realise in 2013 that its not acceptable."

In last November's fixture Tottenham fans also had to put up with jibes over
a knife attack days earlier by Lazio fans ahead of the Europa League tie
between the two clubs. One fan suffered serious stab wounds. West Ham held a
remembrance event last season to mark the anniversary of the liberation of
Auschwitz in 1945. Sunday's Premier League game comes with Spurs fighting a
running battle of their own with their fans in a bid to stop the 'Y' word
being chanted at White Hart Lane.

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Conservatives tell Karren Brady: 'You're hired!'
Published: Tue, October 1, 2013
The Express

The 44-year-old West Ham United vice-chairman was unveiled as a Government
small business ambassador. She introduced the Chancellor's keynote speech,
accusing the last Labour government of having "all but bankrupted the
country". She said: "David Cameron and George Osborne held their nerve and
stuck to the plan and I hope you can see how right they were – we are now
starting to recover. "This Government understands that without small
businesses Britain would not be what it is today." Ms Brady, who stars with
Sir Alan Sugar in the BBC series, is tipped as a future Tory MP.

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