Daily WHUFC News - 1st September 2014

Haycock frustrated to see points slip
WHUFC.com
Development Squad coach Nick Haycock felt his side could have beaten
Manchester City on Sunday
31.08.2014

The Development Squad opened their Barclays U21 Premier League points
account for the season with a 1-1 draw at Manchester City on Sunday
afternoon, but coach Nick Haycock felt his side could, and should, have gone
back down the M6 with all three. Kieran Sadlier's 26th minute goal gave the
Hammers a lead which lasted until the very last minute of the contest, when
City's Olivier Ntcham rifled a shot in from the edge of the box to ensure
the spoils were shared.
West Ham created several chances to add to their advantage before City came
on strongly in the game's final quarter to level, and Haycock knows his team
need to keep improving in the final third. "You don't want to harp on about
games in the past but I think we've been unlucky not to have taken seven
points from the first three games," he explained. "They work hard every day
in training, there are certain things you ask of them and the more they play
together the better they look. I thought the first half was a solid
performance, we got the goal and it wouldn't have flattered us if we had
come in two or three to the good.
"We knew we had to take our chances because otherwise something will fall
for them in the game. We were hoping that we could see it out at 1-0, but
they got the goal and all credit to them because in the last 15 minutes they
looked the likely winners in a game that we were the better team for 75
minutes.
"I said to them afterwards that you can be comfortable in a game thinking
they're going to find it hard to muster a chance, but they have good
players, as all the sides in this top league do, and you have to expect them
to have a rally, especially being coached by someone like Patrick Vieira.
"He actually said to me at the end of the game, very honestly, that he
didn't know how his team got something out of the game, but we didn't get it
over the line and the lads are very disappointed with that."

The Hammers have found the net once in all three of their league games to
date - enough to draw with City, but not against Tottenham Hotspur or
Southampton - but Haycock believes more fruitful times lay just around the
corner. He continued: "We're doing all the work in training, we've now
settled into the working week after pre-season, where we do small-area game
days, then the shape work towards the end of the week. "The boys are getting
plenty of finishing, plenty of combination plays and it will turn if we keep
playing with this attitude and the way we're pressing the ball with
intensity. The players will get fitter and the more they play together the
more they'll mould into a team."

The Hammers faced a moment of concern early in the second period when right
back Sam Westley was stretchered from the field with a knee injury, but
Haycock said the early prognosis was encouraging. He said: "I think Sam is
okay, and I think he had a good first half as well. He was really hungry to
go out in the second half, and I think he got a knock on his knee. "At the
moment I don't think it's too serious but we'll leave him in the good,
capable hands of the physios at the football club and we'll see where he is
tomorrow and the day after."

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Manager on Monday
WHUFC.com
Sam Allardyce will be sharing some stern words with his squad on Monday
morning
31.08.2014

Sam Allardyce will be expecting his players to 'clear their heads' at
Chadwell Heath on Monday as the squad prepare for a two-week break from
Barclays Premier League action. The West Ham United manager pulled no
punches in his post-match analysis of Saturday's 3-1 defeat to Southampton
after he held a full and frank discussion with his players in the dressing
room after the match. The Hammers visit Hull City on Monday 15 September and
it is clear he is expecting the lessons from the Southampton match will have
been learned. "The players were down and out in the dressing room after the
game," the manager said. "I always think it's best to get things said
quickly, in the dressing room. Let's get it out the way. Let's tell the
truth. "Let's get back in on Monday, clear our heads and get going for the
match against Hull City away. It was a poor performance, it wasn't what we
expected. They have to remember as much as they have been praised for
Crystal Palace and Tottenham, two huge, huge performances, in both of those
games. "They have to take the good with the bad. We're all in it together -
I'll accept my part of it and take responsibility. It's a wake-up call.
"There are no excuses. I can pussyfoot around it like lots of us managers
do, unlucky this and unlucky that, we passed the ball well and all that. But
we haven't played well, I can only protect them to a certain degree. You
lads [the press] are not daft, the supporters are certainly not daft. So I'm
not going to try and cover up what has been a poor performance."

The international break should allow several key first-team players to
return from injury, namely Matt Jarvis, Carl Jenkinson and James Collins.
The trio could be joined by Alex Song, the loan signing from Barcelona that
received such a rapturous welcome from the Boleyn Ground crowd before
kick-off on Saturday.
"We will get a few players back from injury - Jarvis, Jenkinson and Collins
- and Alex Song will be with us. "Hopefully nobody gets injured over the
international break and the squad that we can select for Hull City will be
much bigger than the one we had. But in saying that the same team played
against Southampton played against Crystal Palace brilliantly, but
underperformed sadly in front of their own fans."

The Hull match is followed by a home game with Liverpool and then a trip to
Manchester United, but the manager is more concerned about how his side
perform rather than who they are lining up against. "All of the games are
tough, you got to be 100% at every game to get a result in the Barclays
Premier League, whoever we play. Burnley did an unbelievable job against
Manchester United on Saturday. "Everybody thinks that when we go there or
they come here, that they're going to be fodder, they won't. They're going
to be tough. They're going to be hard to beat, like we were when we were in
the first year in the Premier League. "What worries me more than anything
else is two home games, two defeats. It's really the one that kills me the
most. We didn't deserve to get beat against Tottenham but we did.
Realistically on Saturday we didn't deserve to get anything."

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Reid excited by Song arrival
WHUFC.com
Hammers defender Winston Reid believes new signing will be a Boleyn Ground
hit
31.08.2014

West Ham United defender Winston Reid is looking forward to working
alongside new loan signing Alex Song. Barcelona midfielder Song became the
Hammers eighth summer signing when he finalised a season-long loan move from
the Nou Camp on Saturday before receiving a warm welcome from the Boleyn
Ground crowd. Song possesses six years of Barclays Premier League experience
from his time with Arsenal and Reid is sure the 26-year-old will prove to be
an exciting addition to the squad. He said: "Alex Song is a good player and
will help improve the squad so I'm looking forward to working with him. "The
club has done a massive job to get him here. He's going to be a big player
for us, he's proven himself at Arsenal and Barcelona and it's good that he's
here. "

Reid had no complains over Saturday's result, saying that his team deserved
nothing from the game following a lacklustre display against Southampton.
"We were not at our best and we need to improve," he admitted. "It was
disappointing to concede the second goal from a short corner, but that's
only one goal. We conceded three and that shouldn't happen. It wasn't our
day. "We lost the game - we didn't play very well. We've played a lot better
than that, and now we've lost three home games, so we have to put that
right. "It was a general off day, our passing wasn't there and Southampton
were the better team. That was it."

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Noble 'disappointed' by England snub
KUMB.com
Filed: Sunday, 31st August 2014
By: Staff Writer

Mark Noble admitted today that he was disappointed at being overlooked by
Roy Hodgson for the latest England squad - and confirmed earlier reports
that he would give serious consideration to switching loyalties. Back in
2010 it was revealed that Canning Town-born Noble would be able to represent
Ireland through a family link. But at just 23, the midfielder decided to
reject the opportunity in order to wait for an England call-up. Some four
years down the line, Noble was touted as a potential squad replacement for
the likes of Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, both of whom have declared
that they no longer wish to be considered for the national team.

However Hodgson chose instead to call up rookies Fabian Delph (Aston Villa)
and Newcastle youngster Jack Colbeck, leaving Noble to face the very real
prospect that he has no future with the English national team. "I was a
little bit disappointed not to be involved with the England squad,"
admitted. "But that's only natural if you're an English player and you've
got a chance. It's the pinnacle of every English boys career to play for
England."

And when asked whether he'd consider representing the Irish, he added: "I've
captained the [England] Under 21s in the European Championships where we
lost to an amazing German team who've just gone on to win the World Cup.
"But you never know; football is a strange game. I'll just keep on enjoying
playing for West Ham and playing the way I am - and I'll make a decision
within the next couple of weeks."

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Deadline day: Italian giants join Richards race
KUMB.com
Filed: Monday, 1st September 2014
By: Staff Writer

West Ham United face stiff opposition in the race to sign Manchester City
defender Micah Richards, after it emerged that Italian club Fiorentina had
expressed an interest. The Hammers are just one of a number of clubs linked
with a move for the England international as the transfer window enters its
final 24 hours.
In addition to la Viola - who are also keen on Genoa midfielder Abdoulay
Konko (DiMarzio) - both Sunderland and Everton are rumoured to be keen on
snapping up Richards, who is being allowed to leave the Citizens having
failed to secure a first team slot. As tonight's 11pm deadline rapidly
approaches, West Ham are expected to be busy with possibilities of further
arrivals - and departures. The introduction of an additional central
defender appears to be a distinct possibility, even though Barcelona's Alex
Song - who became Sam Allardyce's eighth signing of a busy summer on
Saturday - has experience of featuring in that role. Song's arrival - viewed
as a major coup by many - has raised the possibility of Mo Diame's
pre-deadline departure, according to several sources.

Despite having previously ruled out a move to anyone but a 'top six club'
the Senegal international is being strongly linked with both Queens Park
Rangers and Hull City (Mail etc), whose efforts to land Manchester United's
Tom Cleverly appear to have failed with the midfielder set for Aston Villa.

With regards to potential outgoings, Matt Jarvis - who was linked with West
Bromwich Albion last month - is another who could yet feature during the
day. Carlton Cole may be the subject of one or two enquiries whilst Ricardo
Vaz Te, who asked to leave the club a year ago and has failed to impress
this season could also be on the move.

Deadline Day: WIll fans' favourite Carlton Cole be shown the door?

2014/15 New Faces - So Far

May
Mauro Zarate (Velez Sarsfield): nominal fee

June
Cheikhou Kouyate (Anderlecht): £7million

July
Enner Valencia (CF Pachua): £12.5million
Diego Poyet (Charlton Athletic): nominal, tribunal
Aaron Cresswell (Ipswich Town): £4million

August
Alex Song (Barcelona): season-long loan
Diafra Sakho (FC Metz): £4million
Carl Jenkinson (Arsenal): season-long loan

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Goals on Sunday: Mark Noble says West Ham fans should back Sam Allardyce
'Boss has improved side'
SSN

The West Ham fans should get behind under-fire Sam Allardyce, Mark Noble
told Goals on Sunday. The Hammers manager has regularly received criticism
from the Upton Park faithful during his three-year tenure and the team were
booed from the pitch after losing 3-1 at home to Southampton on Saturday.
However, Noble says the players enjoy a great relationship with Allardyce
and the good work he's doing at the club is going unnoticed. "He's up there
with the best of the managers I've played under. His man management skills
are second to none," said the midfielder. "You can sit with him in his
office and sometimes you get managers you're not like that with. He'll come
and sit down with the players while they're having their breakfast and 10
minutes later he's opening you up on the pitch but there's no hard feelings.
"Obviously the fans don't know him personally but he came to West Ham with a
philosophy with the way he plays and he's been successful over the years –
he's never been relegated as a manager. "When he came to West Ham it was at
a low point, the club needed a massive change, it needed a figure to lead
and we got that. We got promoted, came 10th in the Premier League and then
last year was a tough year but we still ended up coming 13th."

Style

Allardyce's style of play has often been an issue with West Ham supporters,
who would prefer to see a less direct approach from their team, and the
board even demanded a more 'entertaining' brand of football be played this
term. Noble believes there has been a significant improvement from the team
at the start of this campaign but conceded the criticism of Allardyce after
Saturday's loss was inevitable, given his history at the club. "The
first two games of this season were better than any games we played last
year," he said. "Against Crystal Palace we played really well and against
Spurs we played really, really well but didn't get anything out of it. "But
with the way it's been over the summer for the manager and for the stick he
got last year, he knew and the players knew that as soon as we got a bad
result it was going to come again and it did yesterday, when there were boos
after the game. "But Sam's thick-skinned enough to deal with that and
hopefully we can go to Hull next week and get some more points on the
board."

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WELCOME TO ALEX SONG
By Iain Dale 31 Aug 2014 at 10:29
West Ham Till I Die


Amidst all the gloom and doom about yesterday the one bright spot was of
course the unveiling of Alex Song. I can't think anyone will argue that this
isn't an exciting signing, albeit only on loan. According to Claret & Hugh
we are paying a £3 million loan fee but Barcelona will continue paying his
£130,000 a week wages.


He has the advantage of being able to play in a number of positions in
midfield and central defence, and also knocks in the odd goal. He played 138
times for Arsenal, scoring 7 goals. In two seasons he played 39 times for
Barcelona, scoring one goal. He has also played 47 times for Cameroon.

One interesting fact about Song is that he has 17 sisters and 10 brothers.

Quite what he thought about yesterday's game is anybody's guess. I just hope
he had already put pen to paper! I feel rather sorry for David Sullivan, who
I believe was the driving force behind the move and personally persuaded
Song to pick us over other clubs who were interested. I doubt whether he
knew what to say to him at the end of the game.

It will be interesting to see where he fits in. He has been described by
former Cameroon coach Javier Clemente as a "much better player in attack
than he is defensively."

So where would you play him?

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313 games, 26 assists, one dismissal: West Ham's loan signing
Vincent Ralph
HITC

West Ham United have brought in Alex Song on loan, so what are the numbers
behind his career to date? West Ham United completed their latest piece of
summer transfer business on Saturday, announcing that Alex Song would spend
the season on loan from Barcelona. The Cameroon international had been
linked with a whole host of Premier League clubs but ultimately he headed to
Upton Park. It is quite a coup for Sam Allardyce and in the latest in our
series on the numbers behind a player's career to date we take a closer look
at West Ham's new arrival.

313 – The number of appearances Song has made in his club career to date. He
featured 204 times for Arsenal, 65 times for Barcelona, 32 times for Bastia
and 12 times for Charlton Athletic.

11 – The number of club goals he has scored so far. Obviously not signed for
his impact in front of goal, the defensive midfielder has still found the
net a few times over the years. The new West Ham man scored 10 of those
goals for Arsenal, where he became far more of a creative threat.

26 – The number of assists Song has in his club career to date. The
now-26-year-old set up an impressive 23 goals during his time in North
London. He also set up two goals for Barcelona and one for Charlton.

1 – The number of times Song has been sent off in his club career. This
really is an impressive statistic considering the number of games he has
played over the years. His temperament may have been one of the reasons West
Ham were so keen to bring him to the club.

64 – The number of yellow cards he has clocked up for his various clubs.
While that is a tidy sum it is spread over 313 appearances and only once has
he collected two bookings in a single match. Allardyce will hope that
continues for the season ahead.

Verdict – This really is a win-win deal for West Ham and for Song. The
player returns to a country and a league where he previously excelled, while
the Hammers are signing a player with plenty to prove and yet with Premier
League experience in abundance.

The Cameroon star will want to prove his critics wrong and given that there
is no transfer fee involved, and with other clubs reportedly interested, it
is a fine piece of business from the London club.

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Harry wants Diame
Posted by Sean Whetstone on August 31, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

There are renewed rumours coming out of West London today that former
Hammers manager Harry Redknapp will be up to his old tricks by making a late
bid for Hammers midfielder Mo Diame on transfer deadline day. Hull City have
already made a bid under the buy out clause despite Steve Bruce denying it.
Hull have yet to come in with a second bid and Bruce did confirm they are
interested. One barrier for Hull could be Diame's wage demands, It is
believed in addition to the £3.5m buy out clause another clause is said to
insist he earns £50,000 per week or more in any transfer deal with Diame's
agents wanting as much as £70,000 per week. We all know Harry loves a
bargain but I am doubtful the West Ham board will sell Diame to QPR under
his buy out clause but that won't Harry from trying. Harry Redknapp's
through the car window interview with Sky Sports News on deadline day has
become an institution but we await the end of the transfer window to see if
we have held on to all our players with baited breath.

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Carlton's "God bless" to Twitter abusers
Posted by Sean Whetstone on August 31, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

Carlton Cole received a torrent of abuse on social media last night after
the 3-1 defeat at home by Southampton. This culminated in Carlton tweeting
"I know I'm easily accessible. It's a team game and I know I had a poor
game. But to take the stick for the whole thing is ludicrous." Carlton
originally seemed to be taking the abuse in his stride by replying 'God
bless!' to his haters before making that statement. It has been a topsy
turvy week for Carlton Cole after scoring the third goal at Crystal Palace
the previous Saturday. He was allegedly told by Allardyce he was surplus to
requirements and wanted by Bournemouth. The manager then had a chance of
heart starting Cole again yesterday after Diafra Sakho suffered an injury
and Enner Valencia remained short of match fitness.
Many Carlton fans took to Twitter to defend the Hammers striker pointing out
his loyalty and the important goals he has has scored in a West Ham shirt
including the Play Off final which won us promotion.

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Warnock enters Diame race
Posted by Sean Whetstone on August 31, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

According to the Sunday People today new Crystal Palace manager Neil Warnock
is set to leap frog QPR & Hull City to sign Mo Diame on transfer deadline
day tomorrow. The Eagles would have to meet the £3.5m buy out clause price
tag plus be prepared to pay him £50,000 per week or more. Earlier this week
Sam Allardyce was asked about the possibility of Carlton Cole and Mo Diame
leaving the club he said ""I expect both of them to be here next week and
beyond"
However, with Hull, QPR, Palace and possibly Everton after his signature the
chances of keeping after 11pm tomorrow seem slim. Speaking about the
transfer deadline day Sam added: "I think all the managers have the TV on
for the countdown to the end of the window, but what I am hoping is that I
am just sat there watching because all my business is done, I don't want to
be the one of the phone at the last minute trying to make a signing, or the
one losing a player I don't want to lose, because at that stage there is no
time to find a replacement."

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Richards in, Diame out is Irons Deadline Day hope
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 31, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

West Ham are still on the Micah Richards case. As reported on ClaretandHugh
last week the club are doing all they can to land the Manchester City
defender on loan tomorrow (Mon). With Mohamed Diame being chased by Hull,
QPR, and Palace - Richards' could become the second quality loan signing
in three days following Alex Son's arrival. Irons negotiators were locked
in talks with Manchester City all last week over a loan deal but the
champions were hoping to sell the player rather than let him out on loan.
However, unless there's a late bid a loan move to the Boleyn could happen
during deadline day. A well placed source told ClaretandHugh exclsuively:
"We are still working on the Richards situation. It's fifty fifty. "As far
as Diame is concerned it looks at the moment like Hull still but Palace and
QPR are interested."

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