Lee treble defeats Woking
WHUFC.com
Elliot Lee's hat-trick gave the Development Squad a 3-2 victory over Woking
on Tuesday night
06.08.2014
Elliot Lee's rich vein of pre-season form continued on Tuesday as his hat
trick fired the Development Squad to a 3-2 victory over Vanarama Conference
Premier side Woking. Lee sealed his treble in the final minute to edge a
topsy-turvy match and help the U21s bounce back from defeat to Newport
County last time out. The Hammers started superbly and were 2-0 up by the
18th minute. Lee's first came with 14 on the clock as he pounced on
goalkeeper Aaron Howe's fumble to crash home. Four minutes later it was two
as Matthias Fanimo fed Blair Turgott, who crossed for Lee to finish again.
West Ham held their advantage until the closing stages, when Woking
threatened to turn the game on its head with two goals in as many minutes.
Home trialist Dean Morgan was the man to do the damage, first curling into
the top corner with his left foot, then neatly slotting past Sam Howes after
Woking regained possession from kick-off. West Ham were not done yet,
however, and with just 60 seconds remaining, Lee notched a fine solo effort,
picking up possession in midfield and eventually round Howe to score his
third of the game and ninth of pre-season.
West Ham United: Howes, Westley, Onariase (Makasi 71), Harney, Mavila,
Cullen, Bywater, Turgott, Fanimo (Powell 68), Sadlier (Gordon 78), Lee
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Cole feeling pre-season benefit
WHUFC.com
Carlton Cole is feeling stronger with every passing day in pre-season
06.08.2014
Carlton Cole is feeling sharper by the day as the start of the 2014/15
season closes in. The striker had a useful 80-minute run out in Saturday's
penalties victory over Schalke 04 and feels ready to make his mark in the
Barclays Premier League again. Having missed out on pre-season last year, he
is reaping the benefits of being able to hit the ground running this time
around. "It was great conditioning for me on Saturday," he explained. "I
needed those minutes under my belt, and we also needed to up the tempo
because Schalke are a Champions League team and we gave a good account of
ourselves. "I played 80 minutes and hopefully I'll get a 90 before it all
starts in twe weeks. We were chuffed with the penalties, we haven't been
practising them but we beat Germans on penalties! For Cole himself, he is
looking to step into Andy Carroll's shoes with a pre-season ankle injury
sidelining the big No9 for four months. He is looking forward to fighting
with new arrivals Enner Valencia and Mauro Zarate for a starting berth He
added: "When Andy was out last year, I felt I did a good job in that period
of time, so I know I can do that. It's not a problem for me, it's just about
getting fit. "I have a great opportunity to get fit and get the games under
my belt so I can start the season well. "We've got competition for places
and that's what going's to spur me on to even do better."
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Boleyn Ground immortalised
KUMB.com
Filed: Wednesday, 6th August 2014
By: Andy Robinson
The Boleyn Ground is to be immortalised for the first time in the FIFA video
game series - just two years before the real-life stadium is set to be
redeveloped into housing. As part of a renewed licensing agreement with the
Premier League, FIFA 15 creator EA Sports will include all 20 team stadia,
with attention to detail extending to "authentic" fan chants and animated
advertising boards. The company was given access to the Boleyn in order to
build a realistic recreation, it said, which includes capture of the
'ambience' of the ground during match days. The club's famous anthem,
'Bubbles', was added to the game last year. Beyond the 15/16 season, when
the ground is set to be redeveloped into a number of new homes and retail
facilities, the virtual Boleyn will represent fans' only option to revisit
the stadium as they remember it. In addition to new stadia, the FIFA 15
development team claims to have scanned the players of every Barclays
Premier League club to capture their likeness, with over 200 new player
heads promised for FIFA 15. Game-playing West Ham United fans in particular
stand to benefit from the deal, as the club was previously lumped in the
generic 'Forest Park' arena, with a squad of players which often looked
nothing like their real-life counterparts.
FIFA 15 will release on September 26 in the UK on PC, Xbox One and the
PlayStation 4. FIFA 15 will also release on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3,
Wii, Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita, although it's not yet clear if these
versions will include the stadia and Premier League updates.
* Did you know? KUMB.com can be heard in the 2010 edition of the world's
best-selling football game. Game announcer Jeremy Nicholas gave us a mention
as one of his 'extra' lines of commentary in that year's edition.
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Mark Noble hoping to enjoy his football at West Ham in 2014/15
Last Updated: 06/08/14 8:46am
SSN
Mark Noble is hoping to see the fun factor return to West Ham United in
2014/15 and a few more fresh faces drafted in. The midfielder admits last
season was testing for all concerned at Upton Park, with long periods spent
looking over their shoulder. A relegation scrap was eventually avoided, with
the club finishing in 13th place. There is, however, plenty of room for
improvement as Sam Allardyce looks to win over his doubters and West Ham aim
to push on into the top 10.
Money has been spent over the summer in an effort to bring about a reversal
in fortune, and Noble hopes that investment will help to lift the mood
around the camp. He said: "I only enjoyed about two months of last season.
We were in the bottom three and then put a few results together. "From 10th
downwards everyone was in a scrap and that's definitely not where we want to
be."
The likes of Enner Valencia and Aaron Cresswell have been added to the ranks
ahead of a Premier League opener against London rivals Tottenham Hotspur on
August 16, but Noble feels more additions could be made before the summer
window closes on September 1. He added: "The boss will be doing his best to
get another couple of players in so we can enjoy it this time. "We can try
to produce a more entertaining side – but winning games is entertainment
enough. "If you don't win games then you get relegated. It really is just as
simple as that for us."
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LET'S ALL SING FOR CARLTON COLE - ALWAYS BELIEVING...
By Iain Dale 6 Aug 2014 at 17:00
West Ham Till I Die
Guest Post by Neil Clack
He sneaked in under the radar back in the summer of 06. West Ham had just
thrilled the nation in the most exciting Cup final for years, and now
popular manager Alan Pardew, dressed in Gucchi, explained during a close
season fan forum that he had signed a 5th striker to cover for the
inevitable accumulation of games that the forthcoming UEFA Cup run would
bring. Pardew left that evening to a roaring round of applause before
driving away in a red Ferrari.
A couple of weeks later, and that 5th striker became an even more low-key
figure at the club as West Ham pulled off the most sensational deal in their
history, Tevez and Mascherano. The 5th striker was now 6th choice, hardly
likely to get a game, unlikely to have even been signed had it been known at
the beginning of the summer that Tevez was coming.
But one by one, the 6th striker saw them all off: Record-signing Dean
Ashton, in one of those 'only at West Ham' moments had his ankle smashed at
an England training session that pretty much finished his career. Zamora
struggled with a niggly knee and Sheringham's Zimmer-frame began to limit
him to 15 minute cameos. Harewood, indicative of Pardew's West Ham as a
whole, simply lost all form and confidence on the pitch, while charading as
a painter and decorator in an off the pitch affair. As for Tevez, well, a
whole book could be written about his time at West Ham (lawyers permitting),
but, in a nutshell, what seemed too good to be true at the time, turned out
to be exactly that.
So, one year on from signing on as a fringe player, and now with Alan
Curbishly in charge, Carlton Cole emerged as the club's main striker – and
that's the way it's been for the last 8 years! Others strikers have come and
gone, threatening Carlton's position, but he's seen them all off: Dean
Ashton, Teddy Sheringham, Carlos Tevez, Craig Bellamy, Bobby Zamora, Benni
McCarthy, Robbie Keane, Marlon Harewood, Kepa Blanco, Mido, David Di
Michele, Diego Tristan, Guillermo Franco, Ilan, Piquionne, Obinna, Demba Ba,
Jon Carew, Sam Baldock, Nicky Maynard, and Maiga.
Having dealt with that little lot, the arrival of the 15 million pound
manager's favourite Andy Carroll last summer must have seen like child's
play for Carlton. Even with the indignity of not having his contract
renewed, having no offers from other clubs, and getting out of shape due to
no proper training, come March-time and Carlton was back roaming his natural
habitat, the final third of the Upton Park pitch, surrounded by three
defenders, with no team-mate within 25 metres.
Zarate? Valencia? A possible Eto'o or Connor Wickham? – it's all pointless
kidding yourselves… Carlton Cole will be the striker who once again plays
the most games for West Ham this season. It's written in the stars and
there's nothing anyone can do about it; a little-known Premier League rule
that states West Ham must play Carlton Cole – I think it stems from part of
the Judges ruling on the Tevez punishment?
Tactically, it was Claudio Ranieri at Chelea, followed by Jose Mourinho, who
first introduced the Premier League to the concept of playing with a lone
striker – the tall all-rounder, who disrupts defences with height, power,
and speed, setting up chances for on-rushing midfielders, as well as being a
clinical finisher himself, and they saw in the teenage Carlton Cole, a
natural heir to Torre Andre Flo and Didier Drogba. At Liverpool, Rafa
Benítez also introduced his versión of 4-5-1 when he signed Diego Torres,
and the style then became fashionable throughout the Premier League – Peter
Crouch, Kenwyne Jones, Adebayour, and not least Kevin Davies under Sam
Allardyce at Bolton. Michael Owen said a couple of years ago that he was
glad he was at his peak in the previous era as there were scant
opportunities for his type now. No doubt Tony Cottee and Gary Lineker were
thinking the same.
And that's probably one of the reasons, Carlton infuriates a lot of West Ham
fans; he is at the fulcrum of a style of play that is far removed from the
Greenwood/Lyall template. Those two highly-influential managers were at the
club so long that we can refer to the Greenwood or Lyall eras and fans would
know exactly what we are talking about in terms of style of play, but since
then, no manager has lasted long enough to truly define their period in the
dugout as an 'era'. Redknapp was there for seven seasons (nine if you
include his time as assistant to Billy Bonds), so perhaps that time could be
called 'The Redknapp Years', but it could be argued that Bonds and Redknapp,
having both received their formative coaching under Greenwood and Lyall,
were a continuation, or at least a modern versión, of the same
Greenwood/Lyall eras, tactically speaking, if not in personality.
Managers have come and gone so quickly since Redknapp, and, outside of that
one-cracking season under Pardew, the only real consistency and continuity
at the club has been the sight of Carlton Cole toiling away on his own
up-front, often isolated from the rest of his team. He, more than anyone,
represents the style of play of the last decade, an era as far removed from
the old Greenwood/ Lyall model as you can get.
However, during a very brief period under Zola/Clarke – I'd say it lasted
about 6 weeks at best – from the end of Jan 2009 to the beginning of March
2009, we saw a different Carlton; a player with a good first touch and
awareness, showing perhaps why Ranieri and Mourinho had had such high hopes
of him. And while many fans may dig out Carlton for his lack of control and
nous, the irony is that during that brief golden period, he scored one of
the best West Ham goals ever, skilfully and clinically finishing off a
beautiful team move at Wigan. David Di Micheli played no small part in that
move, and I would say it was the best West Ham goal of the last decade. Best
team goal, anyway.
I wonder how significant it is that goal was scored under Zola? Sometimes
you can't help thinking that maybe Carlton is a better player than he
sometimes looks, but that under the tactics of Curbishly, Grant, and
Allardyce, ie. for the majority of his time at West Ham, he's been played so
isolated from the rest of the team and asked to get his head on the end of
hopeful high balls, which perhaps he is not naturally suited to?
Whatever, let's embrace the madness. Don't forget, we are a silly club, the
club that signed Bury's centre-back Paul Hilton, immediately after we beat
them 10-0, the club where Manny Onoyimni came on for 2 minutes without
touching the ball and got our first Cup final appearance for 17 years wiped
out, the club where fatties like Titi Camara and Benni McCarthy get through
the medicals – where Andy Carroll got through the medical despite not being
able to walk properly! – where Haydn Mullins was preferred to Mascherano.
C'mon, if you didn't laugh, you'd cry.
Embrace the madness. The Carlton Cole era has also coincided with the rise
of social media and ranting radio pone-in, and, of course, you can always
rely on West Ham to put their foot in it on that front, whether it's the
owner undermining the manager live on air while the team's away in New
Zealand, a 14 year old tweeting news of new signings before the official
site, or the other accident-prone chairman agreeing with a tweet that calls
for the sacking of BFS, an acronym for 'Big Fat Sam'.
C'mon, let's have a laugh and embrace the madness. All my West Ham
supporting friends – a bunch of 40 somethings (and their kids) from
Upminster, who've all been going since we were kids, tell me how down they
are with West Ham at the moment (and it's not just West Ham, but part of
something bigger I think, a disillusionment with modern football, in
general), and how they won't renew their season tickets this time (but they
all did – I knew they would, ha,ha!), but C'mon, let's just have a laugh
now…
By a process of elimination, Carlton's my favourite player now, and he
should be our cult figure. More than anything this season (well, apart from
avoiding relegation), I want to hear the crowd cheering Carlton. I want to
hear the song, 'Cole – always believe in your soul'. Ok, it was meant for
Joe originally, but he's gone now, and there's a poetic pathos in singing it
now for Carlton.
Another facet of modern football that's arisen during the Carlton Cole era
is the live screening and scrutinising of pre-season friendlies, with all
the in-depth analysis and opinión afforded a proper match. In my opinión,
these pre-season friendlies mean nothing; they're just glorified training
sessions/physical workouts aimed at gradually getting fitness up to peak
level for the first league match. Have a break from West Ham if they get you
down, enjoy the sunny weather and do something different until the season
starts proper. Tottenham at home in two weeks time is the only thing that
matters. And I think we're going to get a result (probably 0-0, but I'd
settle for that),with Carlton leading the line. Most of all, I want the
banter back.
And here's the really silly thing. Carlton Cole will be due a testimonial at
the end of next season, an era defining 10 years. Don't tell me he's out of
contract at the end of this season. He'll be here, don't worry about that.
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ISLAM SLIMANI - A MISSED OPPORTUNITY!
By S J Chandos 6 Aug 2014 at 08:00
West Ham Till I DIe
It is self-evident that a good World Cup campaign can greatly augment a
player's reputation and valuation. We have seen that with the club's signing
of Enner Valencia, a striker who joined his former Mexican club only a year
ago for a modest fee of c.£2.5m. Yet, his stand out performances for Equador
saw that valuation increase to over £12m, a price that West Ham gladly paid
to secure a striker who made a real impact in Brazil. Similiarly, Algeria's
Islam Slimani was available for c.£4m prior to the World Cup, but in the
aftermath of his impressive centre forward displays in Brazil, we are
reliably informed that the asking price has rocketed to £10m!
West Ham's board must be absolutely kicking themselves over letting Slimani
slip through their fingers last January. A bid of £4m would likely have
secured Slimani on a permanent contract. However, it appears that we chose
to pushed for an initial loan deal, with a subsequent option to buy in May.
Sporting Lisbon were not keen on loaning the player and rejected West Ham's
approach, which in turn resulted in our focus shifting to alternative
targets. That is very unfortunate, because Slimani is exactly the type of
player that we would do well to add to the squad. He leads the line very
well, has good technique and is a skillful finisher. Moreover, Slimani is
both mobile and surprisingly pacy. In short, he is ideal competition/cover
for Andy Carroll. Indeed, if Slimani was on board would we be nearly so
concerned over Carroll's current injury absence? A forward line of Slimani,
flanked by Valencia and Downing, with either Zarate or Morrison playing
behind them would certainly pose some problems for the opposition next
season.
Unfortunately, at the moment, it is looking more likely that Slimani will
end up elsewhere in the PL, with both Everton and Newcastle Utd reportedly
interested in acquiring the player. The West Ham board must surely be
reproaching themselves that they did not buy him outright for £4m when they
had the chance. While Sporting Lisbon will make a financial killing as a
consequence of West Ham's former reticence; a clear case of the Portugese
club 'laughing all the way to the bank'!. Basically, we had a march on rival
clubs and did not follow through. And that has to be a cause for regret.
Hopefully, the club's appointment of a new Head of Recruitment, at first
team level, will help ensure that similar mistakes are less likely in
future.
SJ. Chandos
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Venezuelan young striker on trial
Posted by Sean Whetstone on August 6, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
A 15 year old Venezuelan young striker is on trial with the Hammers for 15
days. Aitor López from clu Deportivo La Guaira was an un-used sub in the
West Ham XI v Woking FC match on Tuesday night. Speaking to the Venezuelan
media Lopez said "It's a very big chance they are giving me. I must know how
to take advantage of it and not waste it. I've arrived in London well
thanks to the work of West Ham. I feel well physically & I'm very excited to
give it everything" Lopez's 15 day trial started on Saturday 2nd August.
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Elliot looks like a young Cottee
Posted by Sean Whetstone on August 6, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
Last night I was at Kingfield Stadium in Surrey to watch a West Ham United
XI take on Woking FC in a pre season friendly. I was there to see Elliot
Lee, knowing he had already managed six goals – three doubles in his pre
season campaign – and I must say he didn't disappoint for my £8 entrance
fee. The Irons Development team worked hard all night and deserved the 3-2
win but the star of the show was undoubtedly Elliot. We were two nil up
after 18 minutes. Lee's first on 14 minutes came from a mistake from their
goal keeper Howe and the second came on 18 minutes from an assist from Blair
Turgott who also had a great game The game went a bit stale after that until
Woking equalised in the 82nd minute after Woking Trialist Dean Morgan two
in two minutes. Step forward the man of the hour Elliot Lee in 89th minute
with a solo effort to get his hat trick and ninth goal of the pre season. I
must say Ellior Lee reminds me of a young Tony Cottee. He knows where the
goal is and his confidence is sky high. Sure it is a massive jump to the
Premier League but what have we got to lose? He could ne just the surprise
striker we are looking for instead of spending tens of thousands per week on
a has been. Give the kid a chance in the first team and lets see what he can
do!
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Irons make their Crouch decision
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 6, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
West Ham have dropped their interest in Peter Crouch after being quoted
"crazy figures" to sign the 33 year old. Given Sam Allardyce's brand of
football, Crouch was clearly an option but the Hammers have turned their
back on a possible deal given the figures in the frame. Stoke City boss Mark
Hughes had made it clear he didn't want to lose the player as reported on
ClaretandHugh earlier today. But we can now reveal that the Potteries club
wanted between £4-5 million for a 33 years old player who would have no sell
on value at the end of a two year deal. A source told us: The wages were
also crazy with the whole deal working out around £7 million. It made no
sense "The club could somebody tomorrow but whoever they get is going to be
a risk."
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