Daily WHUFC News - 15th January 2014

Rat focused on improvement
WHUFC.com
Hammers left back Razvan Rat is aiming for back-to-back Barclays Premier
League wins
14.01.2014

West Ham United defender Razvan Rat is determined to build on Saturday's 2-0
win at Cardiff City by leading a sustained push away from the Barclays
Premier League bottom three. Goals from Carlton Cole and Mark Noble took the
Hammers out of the drop zone at Cardiff, and should Sam Allardyce's men back
that up with successive victories for the first time this season when they
take on Newcastle United, they could leap as high as 13th. That middle
portion of the table is what Romania international Rat has his eyes on,
particularly as key members of the squad are returning from injury. Watch
highlights and reaction from Saturday's win on West Ham TV "It was hard for
us at Cardiff because we had to play with ten men for the last 20 minutes,
so I'm happy that we got a very good result and that we're getting better,"
the No8 explained. "I don't think about the bottom three, I just think to
have back-to-back wins, just to play well and get a good result against
Newcastle. That's the main thing. "It's a good thing for us that Andy
Carroll is back. He will give us a boost as he is the main man up front. "He
will get fitter and better with every game he plays."

Guy Demel became the latest player to be struck by the Hammers' defensive
injury jinx when he was stretched off after suffering a concussion on
Saturday, but after then seeing a Kim Bo-Kyung effort bounce down off the
visitors' bar and to safety, Rat believes their luck may be beginning to
turn. He added: "It's like a curse! Every game we seem to get another
injury, I don't know what we can do. The players that are fit have to be
strong and try to get good results.
"We have not had much luck, so let's hope that it is starting to come back
to us after Saturday."

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Alan Blackburn - 1935-2014
WHUFC.com
Former West Ham United player Alan Blackburn has passed away at the age of
78
14.01.2014

Former West Ham United player Alan Blackburn has sadly passed away at the
age of 78. Born in the Derbyshire town of Mansfield in August 1935,
Blackburn spent part of his childhood in a Barnardo's orphanage before being
discovered by Hammers scouts while playing for his junior school in
Hertfordshire. A centre or inside forward, the teenager proved to be a
prolific scorer for the Club's youth team, netting an incredible 13 goals
during West Ham's run to the FA Youth Cup semi-finals in 1953/54. Blackburn
scored in six of the Hammers' seven ties, including five in the 6-1 win over
Briggs Sports, a hat-trick against Fulham and two more against Swindon-based
Pinehurst Youth Centre. Blackburn also netted in the semi-final second-leg
2-1 home defeat by Wolverhampton Wanderers, who went on to reach the final.
However, the forward had suffered a shoulder injury in the first leg at
Molineux - there were no substitutes in those days - which West Ham lost
6-1. The same season, Blackburn hit the net regularly for the reserves,
helping to fire the Hammers to the Combination League title.
Blackburn's fantastic goalscoring form was rewarded with a first-team debut
three months past his 20th birthday - ironically in a goalless Division Two
draw at Derby County on 27 December 1954. In March 1955, after four
first-team appearances, he was called-up to do National Service, meaning he
did not play for West Ham at senior level again until a 2-0 home win over
Stoke City on 30 March 1956.

A maiden first-team goal arrived 17 months after his debut on 14 April 1956,
when the forward was on target in a 2-1 league defeat at Leicester City.
Blackburn also hit the target in a home win over Bristol City that season
before netting his third and final West Ham goal in a 2-0 victory at
Blackburn Rovers on 27 August 1956. The forward's 17th and last West Ham
appearance came in a 3-0 home Division Two defeat by Sheffield United on 9
September 1957.
Two months later, Blackburn joined Division Three (North) club Halifax Town
for a £2,900 fee. He went on to score 35 goals in 124 league games for the
Shaymen before dropping into the non-league game with Southern League
Margate in 1961.

After moving to Wellington Town in Shropshire 1965, he hung up his boots
three years later. In retirement, Blackburn ran a window cleaning business.
Everybody at West Ham United would like to pass on their sincere condolences
to Alan's family and friends at this sad time.

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Rolls with it
KUMB.com
Filed: Tuesday, 14th January 2014
By: Staff Writer

West Ham United's Head of Sports Science, Andy Rolls, has parted company
with the Club. Rolls spent four-and-a-half years at the Boleyn Ground,
having moved from Watford in June 2009 after four years with the Hornets.
He spent three years learning his trade at Chelsea before moving to Vicarage
Road in the summer of 2005 where he was recognised by the Championship club
as having played a "vital role in Watford's promotion [to the Premier
League] in his first season". Referred to as "a leader in the industry with
many other clubs copying [his] techniques and systems," Rolls was a constant
figure in the dugout during his tenure at West Ham, where he would often be
seen sporting an earpiece. News of his departure was revealed by the Club's
strength and conditioning coach Matthew Monte-Colombo via his Twitter
account this afternoon [Tuesday], although the message has since been
removed. The Hammers are yet to confirm who, if anyone, will replace Rolls.

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Fulham have bid for West Ham's Ravel Morrison rejected
Last Updated: 14/01/14 10:38pm
SSN

Fulham manager Rene Meulensteen has confirmed the club have had a bid for
Ravel Morrison rejected by Premier League rivals West Ham. But the Cottagers
boss claims he believes the former Manchester United youngster is keen on a
move across the capital. Meulensteen coached Morrison through United's youth
systems, and is confident he has a chance of linking up with the 20-year-old
again. The Dutch coach is likely to discuss the situation with Fulham
director Alistair Macintosh in the coming days. "Yes, we did make a bid,"
Meulensteen said after Fulham's 3-0 FA Cup third round replay victory over
Norwich at Craven Cottage. "Yes, I think he does want to come. "He would add
pace, power, unpredictability and a real attacking threat. "I don't know
what the situation is now, because that's left with Alistair Macintosh."

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Luke Moore set for free move from Turkey
By Graeme Bailey - Tweet me: @graemebailey | Last Updated: 14/01/14 11:14am
SSN

A host of clubs are showing an interest in former Swansea and Aston Villa
striker Luke Moore after it emerged he is available for nothing. Moore
signed a three-year deal with Turkish club Elazigspor last summer, but they
are now set to let him leave as they are struggling to meet their financial
obligations.
His agent, Peter Morrison of James Grant Group, confirmed to Sky Sports that
Moore could be set for a move. "The club have informed us that they are
going to struggle to meet their financial obligations which is disappointing
but also enables him to leave without any compensation," Morrison revealed.
Sky Sports understands the likes of West Ham, Fulham, Crystal Palace,
Nottingham Forest and Leeds United have all registered their interest.
Scottish champions Celtic are also monitoring the situation along with MLS
sides Los Angeles Galaxy and Chicago Fire, and clubs from the Middle East.
Morrison admits that the interest in Moore is understandable, and added:
"Given he has played over 200 league games in the top flight and is still
only 27, I'm not surprised."

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GUEST POST: 'WHAT IS A WEST HAM?'
By Iain Dale 14 Jan 2014 at 21:56
West Ham Till I Die

Guest Post by Matthew Caputa, a relatively recent US Hammers convert

What is a Hammer? What the heck is a West Ham? You see, in the United States
I have become conditioned to these types of questions. I simply reply with:
"a soccer team", where the usual response follows something like: "you mean
Manchester United?" You see over here the culture breeds young athletes to
play soccer, in fact it is our most participated youth sport. Yet for a
plethora of reasons following the Premiership has become a sort of mystique
practice. Honestly it's usually the kids who play FIFA (the video game) who
have any idea about the teams in the Premier League. But if you take your
pick of those gamers chances are they have no idea about the daily drama the
Barclays League provides. This is where my story begins.


Football was life in my household. Yes, the kind of football with pads and
helmets. The Green Bay Packers became my cult obsession from a toddlers age
and I have had my heart torn and put back together over the last 21 years of
my life. Football is everything. Each Sunday friends gather across living
rooms and yell belligerently for hours as men crush each other's skulls.
Sportscenter then re-airs the highlights of each game for the next six days
and the talking heads speculate on each team's position and quality of play.
It is not abnormal to see a six year old child already accustomed to this
lifestyle, like I was. The Super Bowl is watched by everyone, and if you
don't know who Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers is you're obviously not with the
program. I myself have traveled to different venues across the country to
watch my beloved Packers play, and getting the chance to see the Green Bay
Packers home stadium was a moment that will forever be tattooed on my heart.
The term "diehard fan" doesn't begin to describe my allegiance.

I am 21 years old. I bleed football, but until about a few years ago I had
never even considered following English soccer. Admittedly, I knew very
little about how it works. In my naïve eyes there were only a few teams
(Arsenal, Man U, Chelsea) and only those teams were worth following. But not
long ago something happened that has assuredly changed the course of my
life.

About two years ago for some unknown reason I wanted to just follow a team
in England. I thought it would make me a more knowledgeable sports fan so I
just started poking around the internet. I was directed to the movie "Green
Street Hooligans", and fell in love with the passion of the supporters at
West Ham. But, I knew Hollywood surely exaggerated the passion and
sensationalized this unfamiliar team. So I googled a website that could
begin to familiarize my interests with West Ham. That's when I found you
guys: a seemingly arbitrary group of strangers bickering back and forth
about the transactions of the club. I had no idea what a loan was, or what
relegation meant. I was ignorant to the Football Championship or what
transfer fees were. "Who the heck is Andy Carroll?!" I remember thinking.
But with due diligence I began the exhaustive process of figuring all this
out. I watched my first game on ESPN when Swansea trounced us and questioned
if following West Ham was worth the trouble. But this website saved me. Each
day I would eagerly scour the opinions of WHTID and fell in love with how
serious soccer is to you guys. The banter of opinions spoken so brutishly
reminds me of how important American football is over here across the pond.
Watching the fans arm in arm chanting brings me back to when I was 9
visiting Green Bay for the first time. It was a magical growth for me.

Before I could even realize what was happening though, each Saturday I found
myself dragging my tired body out of bed to watch a live stream on my
computer. Being that ESPN doesn't report on soccer anymore I rely on WHTID
for the talking head opinions of West Ham. I have to rely on the Daily Mail
and player interviews to get a feel for where the team is headed. You see,
that is the struggle of supporting soccer in America. There is absolutely no
consistent Premier League news sources, and the people really aren't all
that interested. I attend Rutgers University, a school of almost 40,000
students, and I have yet to even meet one person who follows the Barclays
Premier League. But that doesn't dishearten me. I rely on my sources and
watch every game. Even though it's only been two seasons I am completely
hooked. This mysterious wave of soccer obsession has engulfed my spirits. I
often dream of a day when I can get the chance to travel to Upton Park and
scream "Over Land and Sea". Because I am that lad that's overseas blowing
bubbles! Admittedly I am saddened however by the move to the Olympic Stadium
because I feel I will never be able to share the original West Ham
experience that surely all the readers on this site have experienced.

I so desperately want to join all of you some day, and I cannot wait for the
opportunity which permits me to drink a pint and watch the Hammers in
person. But until that miracle falls in my lap, I will continue waking up
early on Saturdays and rooting for Big Sam and company. I will share the
beauty of Premier League soccer to my friends and any one that I meet. It is
not wishful thinking to know that I surely am West Ham Till I die!

Matthew Caputa

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NOSTALGIA SERIES: REMEMBERING RON GREENWOOD
By Tony Hanna 14 Jan 2014 at 17:55
West Ham Till I Die

Born on the 11th November 1921 and passing away at aged 84 on the 9th
February 2006, Ron Greenwood was one of the best managers in our clubs
history. His playing career saw him play for Bradford Park Avenue, Brentford
(the team he supported as a boy), Chelsea and Fulham. Ron went on to manage
West Ham from 1961 to 1974 and then the England National side from 1977
until 1982.

In the mid sixties, Ron's team won the FA Cup in 1964 and the ECWC Final the
following year. He would famously oversee the development of Bobby Moore,
Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters from the academy, right through to the
International stage. When Ron turned Geoff Hurst from a midfielder to a
striker, he told Geoff "not to worry – he would take the blame, not Geoff,
if the tactical move did not work". It was also Ron Greenwood that
transformed Trevor Brooking from an ordinary inside forward to a World class
midfield player.

If Ron was one thing, he was a football purist. Taking the reins over, half
a century after the club was formed, he was just the fourth manager in the
clubs history. Only a few seasons into his managerial career at Upton Park,
Ron was offered a huge sum for the times, 10,000 pounds to move away, but he
was happy to stay at a club that believed in the same footballing traditions
as himself. Ron was proud to say "we produce two players a year for the
first team" (from the academy). He was also proud to oversee a side that
played attacking football and one that entertained the crowds. Whilst West
Ham were never title contenders under Ron's management, West Ham's away
games, more often than not, produced the biggest attendances of the season
for the home teams. Old Trafford was always packed to capacity, 63,000, for
the visit of West Ham and it was a similar scenario of capacity crowds
elsewhere. West Ham were the "entertainers" of the game. Unfortunately,
Ron's style was also seen as a soft touch for the ever growing
"professionalism" of other teams in the league.

Ron stood by his West Ham style and he always thought there was a magical
missing link that would take the team to the heights of English football. He
never found that "link"and his purist ideals also led to players being sent
out to play with strict instructions that they were not to "hurt" opposition
players. These ideals were forefront when he said the most disappointing
thing that happened in the 1968/9 season was Harry Redknapp getting sent off
at Leeds! There seemed to be a theme, especially from Northern teams back in
those days, that they would openly applaud West Ham's style by saying –
"they let you play". It was really a backhanded compliment. Many of those
teams walked away with two points after a sucker punch goal, but a few also
left with quite a few goals put past them. The "link" Greenwood was really
missing was consistency – and that would have only be provided by a more
hardened approach?

In 1974, under growing fan frustrations due to lack of success, Ron "moved
upstairs" and John Lyall took over as manager. In this era the England
national side had endured a torrid time and had failed to qualify for major
tournaments for some while. Ron took over the England job in 1977 and
qualified for the Euro's and the World Cup in successive periods. England's
qualification for the 1982 World Cup Finals was the first in twelve years.

Ron Greenwood will always be remembered as a great West Ham manager, playing
the game the traditional "West Ham Way".

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Ravel bid rejected! Meulensteen admits Fulham have had a bid turned down by
Hammers for starlet Morrison
By LAURIE WHITWELL
PUBLISHED: 22:14, 14 January 2014 | UPDATED: 22:45, 14 January 2014
Daily Mail

Rene Meulensteen has admitted West Ham have rejected a bid from Fulham to
buy Ravel Morrison. It is believed Fulham offered around £4million for the
20-year-old but West Ham want nearer £10million. Meulensteen worked with
Morrison at Manchester United and suggested the an improved bid would be
submitted. 'We got knocked back,' he said. 'We need to review it and move
on. I left it with (chief executive) Alistair Mackintosh. I've explained
what I think about the situation so we'll have to see what happens. 'I make
my desires clear then leave it to those people to deal with it. We will
review it because I don't know exactly the ins and outs of how it's been
rejected. '(Morrison offers) youthfulness, energy, unpredictability,
strength. Loads of things.' Meulensteen said he hoped a deal could be
concluded this window but added: 'We all know it's very difficult in January
transfer window. Why would clubs do business early? They know the longer
they wait the higher the price goes.' Morrison has 18 months left on his
current £15,000-per-week deal at Upton Park and negotiations to extend his
contract have broken down. It has been revealed a clause in his contract
stipulates his wages at Upton Park must quadruple to £60,000 per week if a
club offers £10million, Rene Meulensteen is understood to want to use his
personal connection with Morrison, from their time together at Manchester
United, to help engineer a switch to Craven Cottage. While the Cottagers are
obviously keen on bringing Ravel in from the fellow relegation strugglers,
Sam Allardyce insisted they would do everything to keep him at the club, as
well as dismissing reports of a transfer request from the youngster.
'There's no truth in that [transfer request]. But I'm not surprised there's
another rumour about Ravel Morrison.' He added: 'We haven't had any
discussions about Ravel Morrison being sold by this club.' Morrison, who has
18 months left on a contract he signed in January 2012, is West Ham's top
scorer this season with five goals.

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Lazio make move for West Ham strike target
By talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) | Tuesday, January 14, 2014

West Ham will have to act fast if they want to sign Juventus striker Fabio
Quagliarella after reports in Italy claimed Lazio have made a £5m move to
sign him.
Sam Allardyce is looking to strengthen his depleted forward line in January
and could bring in at least two new signings before the end of the month.
The West Ham boss is close to completing a move for Monaco striker Lacina
Traore, subject to a work permit application and would also like to bring in
another quality signing. The east London club have been strongly linked with
a move for Quagliaralla who has fallen down the pecking order at Juventus
following the arrivals of Carlos Tevez and Fernando Llorente. The Italian
forward is keen to get his career back on track and is hoping to finalise
his long-term future in the near future. Italian newspaper Il Messaggero
claim Lazio have tabled an offer to bring him to the Italian capital and are
confident they will win the race to sign the 30-year-old.

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THE RAVEL MORRISON MYSTERY
By Sean Whetstone 14 Jan 2014 at 23:05
West Ham Till I Die

Fulham boss Rene Meulensteen has confirmed that Fulham have made an official
bid for West Ham midfielder Ravel Morrison which was rejected. Morrison who
worked with the Fulham boss during his time as an assistant at Manchester
United, is keen on the reunion claims Meulensteen. . Meulensteen said: "Yes,
we did make a bid. Yes I think he does want to come."

In recent days Morrison has been linked to interest from Manchester City and
Cardiff City. The Morrison mystery continues with claims he suffering from a
groin strain while other rumours persists that the relationship is not good
between Sam Allardyce and the young star. Unsubstantiated claims suggest the
real reason could be connected with the signing a new contract. Young Jack
Sullivan on twitter over the weekend said "Ravel didn't play today cos he
was getting treatment at training ground if he isn't better he will have an
exploratory op next week"

According to the Telegraph, if £10m is bid for Morrison, West Ham would
either have to accept the offer or increase the player's weekly wage from
£15k per week to £60k. This extraordinary second clause in his contract is
in addition to the reported £18 million release clause.

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