Daily WHUFC News - 31st December 2013

WISHING YOU ALL A HAPPY NEW YEAR AND ALL THE VERY BEST FOR 2014
and let's hope West Ham can sort themselves out too
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Fulham match preview
All the pre-match information ahead of the Hammers game against Fulham on
New Year's day
30.12.2013

FULHAM v WEST HAM UNITED
BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
WEDNESDAY 1 JANUARY 2014
KICK-OFF: 3PM
REFEREE: MARK CLATTENBURG
FULL AUDIO COMMENTARY - WEST HAM TV

TWITTER I FACEBOOK I iPHONE APP I YOUTUBE I PROGRAMME I BIG SAM

Introduction
• West Ham United make the short trip across to west London on Wednesday as
they look to start 2014 with a win over Fulham at Craven Cottage.
• The Hammers head into the match without a win in six Barclays Premier
League starts following a 3-3 draw with West Bromwich Albion at the Boleyn
Ground last time out.
• Following the match against the Baggies, the Hammers sit 19th in the
league table, one place below Wednesday's opponents.
• On the team's last away outing, a trip to Old Trafford resulted in a 3-1
defeat at the hands of Manchester United, which made it five games without
an away league win.
• Sam Allardyce's team played Fulham in the Premier League at the Boleyn
Ground on 30 November and recorded a resounding 3-0 win.
• Since then the Cottagers have changed manager with Rene Meulensteen
replacing Martin Jol.
• The new man has presided over six league games so far, winning two and
losing the other four, conceding 17 goals in the process.
• Last time out the west Londoners received a shock as they were thumped 6-0
by Hull City at the KC Stadium as they remained third from bottom of the
table.
• Fulham have managed just one win in their last five home league outings,
suffering a 4-2 defeat to Manchester City in their last home encounter.

Team News

West Ham United
• James Tomkins picked up a groin injury against West Bromwich Albion and
joins fellow centre backs James Collins (calf) and Winston Reid (ankle) on
the sidelines.
• Andy Carroll has resumed training but is not yet fit enough to feature
whilst Ricardo Vaz Te (shoulder), Stewart Downing (ankle) and Mladen Petric
(calf) all miss out.
Fulham
• Maarten Stekelenburg could return for the Cottagers after David Stockdale
deputised in place of the Dutch stopper against Hull City.
• Dimitar Berbatov could also be in line for a return after missing the last
three games.

Last time out
West Ham United 3-3 West Bromwich Albion
Barclays Premier League
28 December 2013
West Ham United: Jaaskelainen, O'Brien, McCartney, Tomkins (Demel 10), Rat,
Diame, Noble, Nolan, Jarvis, J.Cole (Collison 83), C.Cole (Maiga 46)
Subs not used: Adrian, Chambers, Taylor, Diarra
Goals: J.Cole 4, Maiga 65, Nolan 67

Hull City 6-0 Fulham
Barclays Premier League
28 December 2013
Fulham: Stockdale, Zverotic, Amorebieta, Hughes, Riise, Sidwell, Ruiz
(Kacaniklic 60), Karagounis (Richardson 74), Kasami, Dejagah (Bent 64),
Rodallega
Subs not used: Boateng, Riether, Bettinelli, David

Previous meeting
West Ham produced a strong second half performance to see off Fulham at the
Boleyn Ground. Mohamed Diame broke the deadlock less than two minutes after
half-time as he drove at the Fulham defence before his deflected shot fooled
Maarten Stekelenburg in the Fulham goal. The Hammers doubled the lead when
Carlton Cole got on the end of Stewart Downing's cross after 82 minutes
before Joe Cole put the finishing touches on the win with a third goal two
minutes from time.

West Ham United: Jaaskelainen, Demel, Tomkins, Collins, McCartney, Diame,
Noble, Downing, Jarvis (J Cole 68), Nolan (Morrison 77), Maiga (C Cole 81)
Subs not used: Adrian, Collison, Taylor, O'Brien
Goals: Diame 47, C Cole 82, J Cole 88
Fulham: Stekelenburg, Zverotic, Hughes, Amorebieta, Richardson (Dembele 83),
Duff (Ruiz 65), Sidwell (Karagounis 78), Parker, Taarabt, Kasami, Bent
Subs not used: Senderos, Boateng, Kacaniklic, Stockdale

Background
• West Ham United's first game against Fulham took place in 1898, in the
Southern League Second Division. The Hammers came away with a 2-1 win and
won the reverse fixture 1-0.
• The Hammers' record win over the Cottagers was a 7-2 home Division One
victory 3 February 1968. West Ham United have also beaten their London
rivals 6-1 and 5-1, with Fulham's record win being a 5-0 home victory on 7
November 1936.
• Carlton Cole has scored seven goals in his last nine matches against
Fulham, all of which have come in the Premier League.
• West Ham and Fulham have met 19 times in the Premier League era with the
Hammers winning eleven, drawing five and losing three.

Last six meetings (all Premier League)
30 November 2013 West Ham United 3-0 Fulham
30 January 2013 Fulham 3-1 West Ham United
1 September 2012 West Ham United 3-0 Fulham
26 December 2010 Fulham 1-3 West Ham United
2 October 2010 West Ham United 1-1 Fulham
2 May 2010 Fulham 3-2 West Ham United
Overall record v Fulham (all competitions) W 39 D 20 L 29

Ten-year records
West Ham United
2012/13 Premier League 10th (46 points)
2011/12 Championship 3rd (86 points - promoted via Play-Offs)
2010/11 Premier League 20th (33 points)
2009/10 Premier League 17th (35 points)
2008/09 Premier League 9th (51 points)
2007/08 Premier League 10th (49 points)
2006/07 Premier League 15th (41 points)
2005/06 Premier League 9th (55 points)
2004/05 Championship 6th (73 points - promoted via Play-Offs)
2003/04 Championship 4th (74 points)
Fulham
2012/13 Premier League 12th (43 points)
2011/12 Premier League 9th (52 points)
2010/11 Premier League 8th (49 points)
2009/10 Premier League 12th (46 points)
2008/09 Premier League 7th (53 points)
2007/08 Premier League 17th (36 points)
2006/07 Premier League 16th (39 points)
2005/06 Premier League 12th (48 points)
2004/05 Premier League 13th (44 points)
2003/04 Premier League 9th (52 points)

Referee
• Wednesday's referee is Mark Clattenburg, whose last West Ham United game
came last season against Wigan Athletic in a 2-0 home win on 20 April 2013.
• Clattenburg was the man with the whistle for the stunning 4-0 win against
Manchester United in the League Cup fifth round back in November 2010
• The 38-year-old was the man in the middle for the Championship Play-Off
semi-final first leg in May 2004 when Ipswich Town won 1-0 against the
visiting West Ham.
• Clattenburg has been on the Select List since 2004, the same year he took
charge of the Division Three Play-Off final between Mansfield Town and
Huddersfield Town at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
• After becoming a FIFA official in 2006 at the age of 31, Clattenburg has
taken control of a number of international and UEFA Champions League
matches.
• Clattenburg will be assisted by Simon Beck and Ron Ganfield whilst the
fourth official is Scott Mathieson.

Old Boys
• Bobby Moore MBE played for both West Ham United and Fulham during his
glittering career. Moore made 544 appearances for the Hammers before moving
to Craven Cottage for £25,000 in 1974. England's World Cup-winning captain
remained at Fulham for three years, making a further 124 appearances and
facing his former side in the 1975 FA Cup final, which West Ham won 2-0.
• Fulham midfielder Scott Parker spent four years at West Ham, making 132
appearances between September 2007 and August 2011. Parker also netted 12
times in claret and blue before leaving to join Tottenham Hotspur.
• Among the other players who have represented both sides are Jan Lastuvka,
Jimmy Bullard, Ian Pearce, Rufus Brevett, George Carter, Brian Dear, Tony
Gale, Ron Greenwood, Jon Harley, Fred Harrison, Jack Hebden. George Horler,
Luis Boa Morte, Bobby Zamora, John Pantsil and Paul Konchesky.

General information
• The Club's full allocation of tickets for this match are SOLD OUT.
• The weather forecast for Wednesday's match is heavy rain with temperatures
around 10C.
• For live travel updates from across the London underground network click
here.
• All c2c trains will be operating on the basis of a Sunday service, details
of which can be found here.

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Nolan hails Hammers spirit
WHUFC.com
Kevin Nolan is sure that West Ham United's battling qualities will turn
their season around
30.12.2013

West Ham United skipper Kevin Nolan says his team's performance against West
Bromwich Albion displayed the battling characteristics required to turn
their season around. With a squad already shorn of James Collins and Winston
Reid because of injuries, the Hammers' defensive woes mounted early on when
James Tomkins had to hobble off with a groin problem. With a makeshift
centre-half pairing and facing a 2-1 interval deficit, West Ham could easily
have folded, but instead they gathered themselves again and turned the game
around in a two-minute spell, only to be pegged back once more by Saido
Berahino.
Having come from behind once, but seen leads slip by twice, Nolan held mixed
emotions at the game's conclusion. He said: "One thing that came through was
the spirit and the unity, with everything that's going on at the minute with
injuries. "That was more like us on Saturday, on the front foot and getting
in people's faces. I just feel disappointed that my goal wasn't a winner. We
have to take the positives out of it again, I thought we didn't get what we
deserved on Boxing Day [in losing 3-1 to Arsenal], and we didn't get it
again on Saturday. "Hopefully, the New Year will bring us new luck and for
us it's going to be a good second half of the season. "I felt that we should
have won it. We were the better team throughout, but you can't go to sleep
when you've got somebody like Nicolas Anelka against you, because that
[score twice] is what he does. "Going 2-1 down at half-time was very harsh
on us, but we responded well. We calmed everything down and got ourselves
ahead with two well-worked goals. "We were really on the front foot, but a
moment of quality from Berahino - you've got to give the lad that - has got
them level with a great strike off the post."

The Hammers travel to Fulham next for a New Year's Day London derby and
Nolan insists that more of the same from the east Londoners will result in
an upturn in form. He added: "We believe in what we're doing. We've got the
January transfer window coming, where the Chairmen says they are going to
back the manager. That's fantastic news for him and it'll give us all a lift
to see a few new faces come in. "We'll have a lot of boys coming back from
injury, but we lost James Tomkins on Saturday, we lost James Collins on
Boxing Day, so we had two lads who are right-back and left-back by trade go
into the centre of defence and play against one world class striker and
another who's up and coming. They did a fantastic job, and it shows what
we've got as a squad and as a team. "I'm proud to be leading them and we
will continue to stick together and do what we're doing, because I believe
that the tables will turn, our fortunes will turn and the New Year will
bring new luck. "We've put in two good performances in a couple of days, now
we've got to rest up and get everything right, which we will because the
staff here are fantastic. We have to do that and make sure that when it
comes to Wednesday afternoon we're raring to go again.
"If we put in another performance like that it'll give us a good chance to
get the three points. We're looking forward to it and the boys want to put
it right. We have a lot of fighters here and I'm sure we'll be happy at the
end of the season."

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Loanee round-up
WHUFC.com
Three West Ham United youngsters were in action over the weekend
30.12.2013

Three West Ham United players were in action for their respective loan clubs
over the weekend. On Saturday, Pelly Ruddock maintained his 100 per cent
record with Skrill Premier side Luton Town, helping the Hatters to score a
fantastic 6-0 home victory over Kidderminster Harriers on Saturday. Luton
won all four league matches that Ruddock appeared in, scoring 17 goals in
the process. The Skrill Premier leaders won 5-0 at Alfreton and 2-1 at
Barnet and scored a 4-2 home victory over Gateshead. The 20-year-old
(pictured) also helped John Still's men to reach the FA Trophy third round
courtesy of victories over Staines Town and Wrexham. Ruddock has been
recalled from his loan spell at Kenilworth Road with immediate effect. The
centre-back will provide cover after Winston Reid, James Collins and James
Tomkins were ruled out through injury.

Blair Turgott and Jordan Spence were both in action in Sky Bet League One on
Sunday. Fresh from scoring in the 4-0 win over Stevenage on Boxing Day,
Turgott made his third start for Colchester United, but was unable to
prevent the U's from falling to a 2-1 home defeat by Crewe Alexandra. Spence
made his eleventh appearance for MK Dons, but Karl Robinson's side saw their
three-match winning run ended with a 3-1 defeat at Brentford. Turgott and
Spence will both hope to feature when their two sides face each other at
Stadium mk on New Year's Day.

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Manager on Monday
WHUFC.com
Sam Allardyce will be going for goals when West Ham United visit Fulham on
New Year's Day
29.12.2013

They say attack is the best form of defence and Sam Allardyce will be
seeking to prove that theory correct when he takes his West Ham United side
to Fulham on New Year's Day. A chronic shortage of defenders has forced Big
Sam into a rethink on how he will approach the game and his solution is to
go on the offence. An injury to James Tomkins in Saturday's enthralling 3-3
draw with West Bromwich Albion means all three of the Hammers' first-choice
central defenders are injury doubts, leading their manager to revert to a
plan to simply outscore the hosts. "My problem is that this is a team that's
going to play Fulham on New Year's day that's depleted at the minute," Big
Sam said. "My problem is making sure we recover these players as quickly as
we can and get them back out on the field against Fulham and try to produce
the resilience and desire they produced against West Brom to get a result at
Fulham. "Ultimately, it's stopping goals which is my problem now. We used to
be great at it because we had all our defenders fit, now we have to say
'look it's unlikely we'll keep a clean sheet we've got to go out and score
two to win the game'. "With New Year's Day coming up it's unlikely that
we're going to have a central defender playing in the team because none of
them are going to be fit. If that means we try and score more goals than the
opposition then that might have to be the case."

Tomkins loss came at a particularly busy time for the medical team and while
James Collins has a chance of making the first game of 2014 at Craven
Cottage, it is the other high-profile names occupying the treatment table at
Chadwell Heath that the manager is keen to get back out on the pitch. Andy
Carroll, Stewart Downing, Winston Reid and Ricardo Vaz Te are all unlikely
to travel to West London, leading their manager to think what might have
been after West Brom struck three at the Boleyn Ground. "With six or seven
players injured for weeks and weeks and weeks and our most expensive player
injured that's why we are where we are. If I had them all back and I had
them all playing then we'd probably be around tenth like we were last year,
but we haven't. "Everything we try to do to is to relieve the situation, it
doesn't relieve itself it just gets bigger and bigger. We're finding that
difficult to cope with, we're trying our best with fantastic efforts against
Arsenal and again against West Brom but I believe with just our central
defensive players fit on Saturday I believe we would have won the game."

The injury situation has led the manager to place an even higher emphasis on
bringing in new talent when then transfer window opens on 2 January. Working
alongside Joint-Chairman David Sullivan, he has spent the past six weeks
scouring the world for the brightest talent and although no gems have yet
been captured, he remains determined to bring in at least two new faces. "I
want as many players as I can get with the budget I've got which would
probably be two. That would have to be two quality players that we'd have to
find. "We've been at it for six weeks or more now and we're finding it very
difficult to find a player who wants to come to the Club based on what we
can afford to pay at this time. We want to do it as early as we possibly can
but after six weeks of hard slog we haven't got anything definite to say
someone's going to come on 2 January."

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Ruddock returns
KUMB.com
Filed: Monday, 30th December 2013
By: Staff Writer

West Ham United have recalled Pelly Ruddock from his loan spell at
non-league Luton Town. It's less than 25 years since the old
Bedfordshire-based club beat the Hammers in the semi-final of the League Cup
in a two-legged affair, but four divisions separate the two teams now with
the Hatters playing their football in the Conference Premier. That's where
Irons youngster Pelly Ruddock, who had been on loan at Kenilworth Road since
the end of November had intended to remain until January 4th - until he
received notification that West Ham were recalling him due to their chronic
injury crisis that has seen Winston Reid, James Tomkins and James Collins
all injured in recent weeks. Ruddock made seven appearances - in midfield -
during his spell with Luton, who currently sit atop the Conference Premier
one point ahead of fellow former Football League fodder, Cambridge United.
Described by local press as "a huge hit since arriving from Upton Park",
Ruddock is himself currently nursing a sore knee after being substituted
during Luton's 6-0 defeat of Kidderminster last weekend. However he will be
sadly missed by Town fans, with First team coach Hakan Hayrettin telling
Bedford Today: "Pelly's driven this team on when we've got the ball. When he
hasn't got the ball he's done his duty as well and for that we thank West
Ham for giving him the opportunity to play for us. "He's a great addition to
our football team and he's been a credit to West Ham."

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West Ham striker Andy Carroll won't be rushed back from injury
Last Updated: 30/12/13 3:34pm
SSN

West Ham's assistant manager Neil McDonald is satisfied with the progress
being made by injured striker Andy Carroll but insists he will not be rushed
back into first team action. Carroll has not played this season due to a
foot problem after making his loan move from Liverpool permanent over the
summer. The England international recently returned to light training and is
now stepping up his recovery with Sam Allardyce's side. McDonald said: "Andy
did a training session yesterday (Sunday) which is very encouraging. "It's
early stages but is a work in progress with him. Work one day on the
training pitch, massage and rehab the next day and let's see how it goes
from there. "It's a positive he is in training but it is a slow process.
"When you are out for seven months I don't think you can rush anybody back.
"Obviously, we are all desperate for him to come back and get into the team
as quickly as possible but we have to be sensible and he is getting closer."


Ahead of Wednesday's trip to Craven Cottage to face fellow strugglers
Fulham, McDonald confirmed that James Collins, Winston Reid and James
Tomkins are all likely absentees. He said: "It looks as though all three
(Collins, Reid and Tomkins) are not going to be fit for the Fulham game. "We
will assess them ahead of the Forest game (FA Cup) but it is more likely
they will be involved in the Cardiff game (January 11)."

And regarding January's transfer window, he added: "We have a few defensive
problems and with the window coming up Sam (Allardyce) is working non-stop.
"We need some reinforcements to boost the players we have here so he is
working behind the scenes with everyone else. His phone is going non-stop.
"We have three main centre-halves injured at the moment. We are aiming to
improve and the two main places are in defence and in attack."

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West Ham moving for out of favour Roma striker Marco Borriello to boost
firepower
Dec 30, 2013 11:10 By Alex Richards 0 Comments
The Mirror

The Hammers have been found wanting up front this term thanks to Andy
Carroll's injury problems and could turn to Italy for another option

West Ham United have opened talks with Italian club Roma over a January move
for striker Marco Borriello. According to various reports, the Giallorossi's
sporting director Walter Sabatini has been in London over the weekend,
discussing potential ins and outs at the Stadio Olimpico. And top of his
list was 31-year-old Borriello, who has struggled to hold down a regular
spot under manager Rudi Garcia this term. The seven-cap Italian
international has made 11 appearances so far, but only five starts.
Additionally, he has scored just one goal this season as unbeaten Roma have
moved to second in the race for the Scudetto. Borriello has already been
linked with a move to the Premier League this month, with his agent stating
that Tottenham Hotspur had opened talks over a January move.
However, it's reckoned that he could be set for the tenth loan move of his
career, with Sam Allardyce's side in pole position.

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West Ham boss Sam Allardyce so busy trying to bolster squad he misses
pre-match press conference
Dec 30, 2013 14:41 By Neil McLeman 0 Comments
The Mirror

The Hammers are short at either end of the field and have a mammoth
relegation battle against Fulham to contend with on New Year's Day

Sam Allardyce missed today's West Ham press conference to speak to club
co-chairman David Sullivan about transfer targets. The Hammers will go into
Wednesday's relegation battle with Fulham without a recognised centre-back.
And with Andy Carroll still unfit, the East London club are also looking to
sign at least one striker. Assistant manager Neil McDonald said: "He
[Allardyce] is very busy on the phone at the moment. We have got a few
defensive problems and with the window coming up, he is working non-stop
today. "Hopefully there will be some arrivals - we need some reinforcements
to fill the gaps and boost the players we already have here. He is working
very hard behind the scenes with everyone else to try and do that. "He
apologises for not doing the press conference today. His phone is non-stop
at the moment and he is working very hard behind the scenes to bolster the
squad. "Our three main centre-halves are injured at the moment. We are
obviously trying very hard to get them fit. We are trying to bolster that
and up front as well - we are trying to improve the squad as much as we
possibly can and they are the two main places. "He is on the phone to the
chairman as we speak so I would imagine he has got the backing of the club."

Carroll, who has not played this season, has re-started training with the
first-team squad. "He did a training session yesterday which is very
encouraging," McDonald added. "It is still early stages. It is a work in
progress with him. Work one day on the training pitch, massage, and rehab
the next day and see how he goes. "It is positive that he is on the training
pitch now but it is slow progress. When you have been out for seven months,
you can't rush anybody back.
"Obviously we are all desperate for him to come back and get back into the
team as quick as we possibly can but we have to be sensible. He is getting
closer."

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