Daily WHUFC News - 20th March 2014

'West Ham fans are great'
WHUFC.com
Adrian has heaped praise on West Ham fans ahead of a sell-out fixture
against Manchester United
19.03.2014

Adrian has paid tribute to the West Ham United fans ahead of Saturday's
sell-out against Manchester United at the Boleyn Ground. 'Adrian, Adrian,
Adrian' has become a familiar chant amongst the Boleyn Ground faithful since
the Spaniard made the goalkeeper's position his own, with his superb
displays between the sticks earning him the past two Player of the Month
awards. The No13 kept three clean sheets over the course of February to
scoop the latest prize and the stopper admits he has enjoyed the growing
relationship between himself and Hammers' fans. Speaking in his first
recorded interview in English, the Seville-born keeper told West Ham TV: "I
feel really happy to play for the West Ham fans. "I enjoy the communication
between them and me because I think the fans are the most important part of
the Club. "Every away game they go to the other city and at home I think
that the West Ham fans are great."

Adrian beat off competition from captain Kevin Nolan to win his second
consecutive award, with some crucial saves in wins against Swansea City,
Aston Villa, Norwich City and Southampton enough for him to pip the skipper.
While he was delighted to receive the accolade, the 27-year-old says the
award is recognition for the hard work of the whole team. "I feel really
good, really happy, because this award is difficult for a player to win and
I've got my second in a row which is very difficult. "I think it's my award
but also for all of my teammates because without them I wouldn't have this
award. "Clean sheets are really important for us, for me more because I am
the goalkeeper. If you have clean sheets in a few games then you have more
confidence and more opportunity to win three points."

Adrian may have to be at his best on Saturday afternoon as he attempts to
deny a United frontline which is likely to contain the talents of Wayne
Rooney, Robin van Persie and Juan Mata. The Spaniard was beaten three times
by the Red Devils when he made his Premier League debut in a 3-1 defeat at
Old Trafford back in December 2013, but he is confident of a better result
this time round. "It's an important game and a difficult game. I made my
league debut against Manchester United at Old Trafford and since then we
have gained more confidence, that's important. "I think that with us playing
at home it will make it a good game and we will try to win the three points.
"It was difficult to make my debut there, but here every match is difficult
and you need the right mentality and concentration in every game because
nobody gives you the three points for nothing."

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Sadlier on comeback trail
WHUFC.com
Kieran Sadlier celebrated two goals against Leyton Orient on Tuesday as he
continues his return to fitness
19.03.2014

Kieran Sadlier was delighted to make a scoring return to the starting XI at
Rush Green on Tuesday afternoon as the Development Squad recorded a
comfortable 3-0 friendly victory against Leyton Orient. The winger scored
twice against the O's, netting the opener from close-range and doubling his
tally with a glancing header shortly after half-time. The wide man has been
out since before Christmas with medial tibia stress syndrome and is now keen
to rack up the minutes as he continues his return to full fitness. He told
West Ham TV: "I'm feeling good," he said. "It was nice to get 75 minutes
under my belt today. "I played 80 minutes last week and 20 or 30 in other
games, so it was nice to get a start in a proper game as the other one was a
training game. I feel alright at the moment."

Sadlier also admitted that it has been a frustrating time for himself during
his spell on the side-lines. "It's been frustrating seeing the other boys
out training every day and playing on Friday nights here and away from home.
"It's been frustrating but I knew I'd eventually come back. I thought it
wasn't as serious as it was and in the end it just needed a lot of rest
which it has now had."

Before his injury, the Republic of Ireland youth international had been a
regular feature for Nick Haycock's side in the Barclays Under-21 Premier
League, making ten appearances. Sadlier had also found the net twice in
those matches and he was pleased to be back among the goals against Orient
on Tuesday.
"It was good. I haven't scored as many as I would have wanted this season
anyway so it gives me confidence going into the Arsenal game and we'll see
what team Nick picks. If I'm on the bench, that's fine, but I'm just looking
to get some more minutes. "The league this year has been frustrating because
of the breaks between games, but it's good to have these friendlies in
between. "It's better to have matches because they're more competitive and
everyone's more up for it. Training is good, but games are always going to
be better for you."

The Development Squad will now turn their attention to a return to league
action against Arsenal on Monday evening. A 2-0 loss to Liverpool in their
last league outing has dropped the Hammers to eighth place in the table and
Sadlier is keen to bounce back against the Gunners. "Everyone was
disappointed to lose to Liverpool, a lot of the boys thought we deserved
more out of the game but we're all determined to bounce back with a win
against Arsenal. "We have qiuite a good record at this level against Arsenal
as well, so everyone's confident that we can beat them. "Everyone wants to
beat Arsenal because they're a big club and everyone will be up for it."

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Repka - I gave away a penalty on purpose
KUMB.com
Filed: Wednesday, 19th March 2014
By: Staff Writer

Ex-West Ham defender Tomas Repka has admitted to deliberately conceding a
penalty in order to get back at his former employers. The retired former
Czech international admitted his act of sabotage in a radio interview in
which he was plugging his new autobiography. Now 40, Repka - who played for
West Ham between 2001 and 2006 - revealed that he gave away the spot kick
against his former club Sparta Prague's main challengers for the
Championship title, Liberec, whilst playing for minnows Ceske Budejovice in
2012 as an act of revenge against Sparta president Daniel Kretinsky. "At
that precise moment I was not thinking straight," he said. "I hurt the team
as a whole. But I was fuelled by human vanity, and I wanted to settle a
score with Mr. Kretinsky. "He didn't behave fairly to me when I was leaving
Sparta, so I promised him I'd get him back. Hopefully I succeeded. Nobody
knew about it so I'm voluntarily admitting to it now."

The game, which took place in April 2012 ended up in a 4-0 home defeat for
Budejovice. Liberec went on to take the title at the expense of Prague by
just two points - the first time they'd won the Czech Liga since 2005/06.
Repka - a £5million Glenn Roeder signing from Italian side Fiorentina - was
famously dismissed on his debut for West Ham, before being sent off again in
his first match back from suspension - a 7-1 defeat at Blackburn Rovers. He
was equally volatile off the field during his spell in England and was
arrested in 2004 for harassment following a complaint by a neighbour.
Despite his many foibles, Repka went on to become a hugely-popular figure at
the Boleyn Ground and his farewell match - a 2-1 win against Fulham in
January 2006 - saw him leave the field in tears.

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Jack's a Latic
KUMB.com
Filed: Wednesday, 19th March 2014
By: Staff Writer

Jack Collison could have played his final game for West Ham after completing
a loan move to Championship club Wigan Athletic. West Ham United's
25-year-old Welsh international will remain at the DW Stadium for the
remainder of the current campaign having completed a move to the Latics late
last night. Wiagn manager Uwe Rosler told the club's website: "We have now
brought in two great signings in Ryan Tunnicliffe and Jack Collison. "Jack
is exactly what we needed, he can play in a few different positions, has
terrific experience of both the Premier League and the Championship and will
heighten competition for places as we move into the crucial last few weeks
of the season." Collison is one of a string of first team players out of
contract this summer, along with the likes of fellow first team squad
members Guy Demel, Jussi Jaaskelainen, Joe Cole and George McCartney. Having
made his debut at Arsenal on New Years Day 2008, Jack went on to make 121
first team appearances for West Ham - the most recent of which came in the
Capital One Cup semi final second leg defeat at home to Manchester City back
in January.

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SO FAREWELL THEN JACK COLLISON
By Iain Dale 19 Mar 2014 at 11:51

Following Jack Collison's loan move to Wigan Athletic I suspect we won't be
seeing him wearing the Claret & Blue again. He's out of contract in the
summer and it looks likely he won't be offered a new one, as Sean Whetstone
revealed yesterday. I feel really sad about this. When he broke into the
first team back in 2008-9 I think we all thought he would prove to be the
real deal. He had flair and could score goals, some of them quite
spectacular. But it's not being unkind to say that he's never been quite the
same player since his long term knee injury. He'd have the odd impressive
game but there was little consistency of performance. In recent times Mo
Diame and Matt Taylor have kept him out of the side and this season he has
never been more than a bit-part player. I'd love to think he can still play
in the top flight but it maybe best for him to have a prolonged run of games
in the Championship. I am sure we all wish him good luck.

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