Daily WHUFC News - 7th September 2014

U18s overcome Real Madrid
WHUFC.com
West Ham United U18s scored a memorable win to finish third at the Champions
Cup
06.09.2014

West Ham United U18s recorded a memorable victory over Real Madrid as they
secured third place at the Champions Cup invitational tournament. Without a
league game due to the international break, the Hammers were invited to the
two-day tournament by hosts Tottenham Hotspur. Featuring matches of two
30-minute halves, the first day of competition saw West Ham defeat Liverpool
2-0 and lose 1-0 to Portuguese side Benfica in Group B on Friday. In-form
striker Jordan Brown scored both goals against the Reds. However, the
narrow defeat by Benfica left the Hammers second in Group B and paired them
with Group A runners-up Real Madrid. But Steve Potts' squad rose to the
occasion against their illustrious opponents and took the lead through
Marcus Browne's direct free-kick after just two minutes. West Ham dominated
the opening half and could have extended their lead, with Kieran Bailey
twice going close. Into the second half and Madrid came into the game
slightly more, but it was the Hammers who continued to create the better
chances. After Bailey had again been denied, West Ham were rewarded midway
through the second half when Djair Parfitt-Williams' corner was headed into
the net by Emmanuel Onariase. Now in full control, the Londoners relaxed and
could easily have extended their lead, only for Grady Diangana to shoot wide
when well-placed. The final whistle sparked celebrations among those in
Claret and Blue, with the victory completing an encouraging and very
worthwhile two days' work.

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Haycock happy with early-season form
WHUFC.com
Nick Haycock is hoping a midweek win will inspire his U21s players in their
next league game
06.09.2014

West Ham United's Development Squad have had a tough start to their Barclays
U21 Premier League campaign results-wise. Despite good performances in each
of their three games, Nick Haycock's men have only got one point to show for
their efforts. A cruel equaliser late on away to Manchester City prevented
a deserved first win of the season following defeats by Tottenham Hotspur
and Southampton. The U21s' next game is at 7pm kick-off against Liverpool on
Friday 12 September at the Boleyn Ground. Speaking after the West Ham
United XI 5-1 win over an Ipswich Town XI on Thursday, Haycock said: "The
scoreline wasn't the most important thing, it was the performance and what
each player individually could get out of the game." For everybody it was
about getting minutes on the pitch under their belts, and to put in a good
performance at the same time." Haycock has given his squad the weekend off
to ensure the players come back refreshed and focused, ready to return to
training on Monday in preparation for Friday's match. "The boys are going
to get a few days off, the group will be off Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We
will be back on the training field, Monday and Tuesday preparing for the
Liverpool game. "We had a meeting about the Manchester City game and the
first three games as a whole. We know we are a little unlucky in terms of
the amount of points we have, but the performances are improving with a
young side playing together."

When asked if there was anything specific the team needs to work on, Haycock
replied: "It's pretty much more of the same of what we have been doing. We
just need to be a little more clinical at the top end of the pitch, as well
as keeping that defensive security. If we do that, we'll give a good account
of ourselves against Liverpool." Liverpool have started the season well,
securing four points from their opening two games after a 1-0 away win at
Sunderland, followed by a 1-1 draw at home to Manchester United.

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Little demands Lewes performance
WHUFC.com
Stacey Little has demanded an improvement when West Ham United Ladies head
to Lewes
06.09.2014

Captain Stacey Little has demanded an improvement when West Ham United
Ladies head to Lewes on Sunday. The Hammers began the 2014/15 campaign with
a 2-1 FA Women's Premier League Southern Division victory at Queens Park
Rangers, only to follow that up with a League Cup first-round exit at
Keynsham Town and home league defeat by Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday.
Little, who was the driving force behind Julian Dicks' appointment as Ladies
manager in the summer, has issued a rallying cry her boss would no doubt be
proud of ahead of this weekend's trip to Sussex. "We do a lot of travelling
and we don't want to be going to places like Lewes and not come back with
the three points," said Little, whose side travelled to Somerset last
weekend and face trips to Coventry, Portsmouth and Plymouth in the coming
weeks. "We want and need to start getting points on the board now. "From our
performance against QPR to what we have shown in the past two games, we need
to pick it up massively and we need to get back to the level of performance
we produced at QPR.
On Thursday, Little was disappointed that the Ladies could not produce a
performance or result to mark the occasion of Dicks' first home match in
charge.
Hundreds of fans turned out for the visit of Spurs following a determined
social and digital media campaign to attract more support, only for West Ham
to end up on the losing side. The skipper hopes those supporters will not be
dissuaded from making their way to Aveley FC's Mill Field for future
matches, with home fixtures against Copsewood, Plymouth Argyle and
Portsmouth scheduled for 14, 21 and 28 September respectively. Kick-off for
all three league matches is 2pm.
"West Ham fans are fantastic, whether they are men, women or kids," Little
confirmed. "They have shown their support for us this season already and are
fully behind us. I'm just gutted we couldn't give them the result they came
along and hoped to see on Thursday night."

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Academy Ace - Djair Parfitt-Williams
WHUFC.com
Attacker Djair Parfitt-Williams knows hard work, dedication and ability are
a winning combination
06.09.2014

Djair Parfitt-Williams is determined to fulfil his English football dream
after journeying from across the Atlantic Ocean. Academy forward Djair
Parfitt-Williams' path to West Ham United was not the typical one taken by
the majority of his contemporaries. Parfitt-Williams did not come to the
Club having impressed in the local London or Essex leagues. Instead, his
route into English football came via Hammers legend and former Bermuda
international Clyde Best MBE. Best, who played 219 games for the Hammers
between 1968 and 1976, now lives in the United States and spotted his
countryman Parfitt-Williams when he was playing for San Jose Earthquakes. A
recommendation to his former Club in London later, the youngster found
himself at West Ham for a trial, and three years down the line he is now
starting out on the second year of his scholarship. He explained: "I came
here in summer 2011, and I has been playing at San Jose Earthquakes in
California previously. "Clyde Best had heard about me before and he wanted
to come in and have a look at me. He said as soon as he saw me on the ball,
that he knew I had abilities. "I'm glad that he gave me the opportunity and
hopefully if I make it to where I want to make it, I can give back. That was
a great day, I was just so happy, I was excited to get over here. I just
wanted to come to England so badly. When I got my opportunity I knew I had
to take it."

Growing up in Bermuda, then moving to the United States, and now pitching up
in England, Parfitt-Williams has certainly covered the miles in chasing his
football dream, but every sacrifice has been worth it to get him to this
stage. He explained: "At times, you miss your people, you miss your family,
your boys. You miss everybody, but in the back of your head you know that
you've got to make sacrifices to get to where you want to get. You've got to
be mentally strong, if this is what you really want to do then you've got to
get on with it."

Parfitt-Williams is grateful to the Academy staff for helping him settle
with the Hammers and he is keen to repay them with a strong campaign. He
continued: "When I first came here Paul Heffer helped me a lot, he spoke to
me after my games, spoke to me after training. He would tell me what I need
to do and then there's Steve Potts, who I've been with since I came here. Me
and Steve have a good relationship. It has helped because I can talk to them
sometimes. It's good. "

The forward managed nine goals in 28 games last season and is already off
the mark for the current campaign. He has the appetite for more, too. "I
would say last season's performance was good overall, but I think it could
have been betterI wanted to get more goals, I wanted to get more assists. It
just means that I need to work harder. Overall it was good but there's room
for more."

As for his own abilities, Parfitt-Williams says he has become a better
all-round player since coming to the Hammers. He explained: "When I first
came here I would say I was more of a skilful player and didn't really like
defending. Those are more English sides of the game and I'm getting better
at them, I can still improve. I need to bring these things together with
tricks and all the skills. There's Joga Bonito, play beautiful, have fun
with it, but at the same time you need to do some hard work. If you can
bring those things together then there's no stopping you."

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WOULD PAOLO HAVE BECOME A LEGEND UNDER ALLARDYCE?
By Iain Dale 7 Sep 2014 at 08:08
West Ham Till I Die

Guest Post by Josh

Perhaps my favourite West Ham player of all time, Paolo Di Canio, is quite
rightly a modern West Ham legend, an icon who was adored by our own fans and
at the same time gained tremendous respect from opposition supporters for
his passionate and hugely entertaining playing style. At times, he was as
frustrating as he was resplendent, but perhaps it was this unpredictability
that made him so endearing. The man oozed passion, charisma, and had an
unquenchable thirst for victory. He knew he was loved, but most importantly,
the love was reciprocated - Paolo had, and still does have, a genuine love
for West Ham.


But my question is this - if Paolo had been born 15 years later and signed
for us this summer (for a bargain 1.5m), would he have gone on to achieve
the same legendary status under our current manager?

Whilst not wanting to cover old ground, Sam Allardyce is well known for
being a statistics loving, conservative manager. He likes players that he
knows what to expect from every week, often giving preference to a 'grafter'
rather than someone who is more skilful but less consistent. You can argue
whether these are positive or negative traits as long as you like, but
whichever way you look at it, this selection policy would not cater to 'Mr
Unpredictable' Paolo Di Canio.

Whilst we all loved him for it, would Paolo's character have been deemed
acceptable by Allardyce? It could be argued that he wasn't much of a team
player, and he certainly wasn't the best at following instructions. Who can
forget the demands to be substituted after failing in three penalty appeals
against Bradford? Or him pushing over the referee, albeit when in Sheffield
Wednesday colours? Whilst his ability on the pitch was unquestionable, these
eccentricities that we loved as fans would not have been well received by
Big Sam. Indeed, would he have seen him as too much of a risk to play in
important games? Would Paolo's tendency to crack a speculative shot away
from outside the box, or his attempts to dribble past four people rather
than play the simple pass be frowned upon? Or worse still, would these be
elements of his game that Allardyce would try to 'iron out'?

Another thing that makes me doubt whether Paolo would have made it under Sam
Allardyce is his preference for 4 - 3 - 3 / 4 - 5 - 1. Whilst capable of
playing on the left of a front three, it certainly wasn't his best position,
and Paolo certainly wasn't a target man. He thrived in a 4-4-2 formation,
his best form for us coming in a partnership with Kanoute or Defoe, with the
likes of Joe Cole, Trevor Sinclair and Michael Carrick supplying the
ammunition. If Paolo were to sign today, where would he fit in the side? And
if he did, would he be supplied with the through balls he craved, or would
he have to rely on floated crosses from Jarvis and Downing?

Whilst this is very much a rhetorical question, there may be one way to tell
whether or not Paolo would have gone down in history if he had played in
this current era - Mauro Zarate. From my short glimpses of him so far, and
from the stories we read about his 'character', I think Mauro could be
considered a player of a similar mould to Paolo. Only time will tell what
sort of impact he will make at the club, but if he leaves me with even a
quarter of the memories Paolo did, he will arguably achieve 'legend' status
himself.

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GOLD & SULLIVAN: INNOCENT OF 'MUGGING US OFF'!
By Iain Dale 6 Sep 2014 at 21:35
West Ham till I Die

Guest Post by 'DC'

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury, I put it to you that the defendants, Gold,
Sullivan, Brady and Allardyce are innocent of the alleged crime
'mugging-us-off'. Let us look at the evidence.

This summer, the defendants claimed they would employ a new attacking coach
(20/5/14). They recruited a one Mr. Edward 'Teddy' Sheringham, a reputable
striker of his day.

They claimed they would employ a new Director of Player Recruitment. They
recruited a one Mr. Tony Henry (currently in transit somewhere near
Spaghetti Junction).

They claimed they would continue to value The Academy and Youth Player
Development. They are currently developing and offering opportunities to
young players such as Reece Oxford, Reece Burke, Leo Chambers, Daniel Potts,
Diego Poyet, Ravel Morrison and Elliott Lee, among others.

They claimed they would adopt a Summer Transfer Policy in which players aged
27 or under would be recruited - Cresswell (24), Jenkinson (22), Kouyate
(24), Poyet (19), Sakho (24), Song (26), Valencia (24), Zarate (27). Only
the acquisition of Morgan Amalfitano (29) on Transfer Deadline Day breached
that policy.

They claimed they would begin a recruitment drive to sign quality attacking
players. Mauro Zarate, Enner Valencia and Diafra Sakho were recruited. Ravel
Morrison was also reintegrated back into the club.

They claimed they were pursuing a talented 6ft 4" midfielder (being tracked
by various clubs across Europe). Cheikhou Kouyate, a talented 6ft 4"
midfielder was recruited.

They claimed they would place a greater emphasis on playing attacking
football. For this, the Jury is still out, if you pardon the pun.

During what has been a lengthy trial, the defendant Allardyce claimed that
he was looking to bring in one more defender. As we now know, Allardyce
turned Queen's Evidence as a contingency against the defendant Sullivan
getting 'a bit carried away' on Transfer Deadline Day (31/08/14). May I
remind you of Allardyce's final statement: "For the record, we've done all
our business [.] with the exception of one more player of quality"
(29/08/14). The one player of quality? Alex Song, a central midfielder come
central defender from a club called Barcelona.

Now yes, the Prosecution will rightly argue 'but what about Mo Diame being
sold?' and 'what about Amalfitano being bought?' They'll tell you how on
Football Focus (30/08/14), Allardyce nearly rubbed his own chin off when
answering the tricky question 'so who did actually hire Teddy Sheringham?'
Nevertheless, I ask that you the jury, focus on a much more significant
question. On Monday the 15th September at 8.00pm, which team's football
shirt will Winston Reid be wearing?

Members of the Jury, I put it to you that the defendants have done exactly
(more or less) what they claimed they would do and are therefore innocent of
the alleged crime 'mugging-us-off'.

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ONE WINDOW CLOSES AS ANOTHER OPENS
By Sean Whetstone 6 Sep 2014 at 17:32
West Ham Till I Die

The summer transfer window is now closed but another window opens next
Tuesday, that is the Football league loan window which opens on 9th
September and closes on the 27th November. Although Premier League can't
loan players in during this window, they are permitted to loan players out.

Following our Carling cup defeat Sam Allardyce said in his post match
interview:

.bq "There's nowhere else to get members of my 25-man squad football at a
very competitive level. Only the Capital One Cup that can do that. The rest
of the time we can only train them and play amongst each other because the
Under 21 league is not where you play them, because that's not competitive
enough. It's a disappointment that when you have a 25-man squad - which
we're going to name two days after the window shuts - a lot of them are
going to have to keep themselves fit by training and training alone rather
than getting a game in the Capital One Cup and making a statement to me. The
reason Adrian got the goalkeeping number one slot in the end was because of
his performances in the Capital One Cup last year and a few others. So it's
a disappointing night to go out of the competition."

It is clear from that interview that in Sam's eyes he doesn't consider the
Premier U21 (development) league competitive enough and many of these young
players will now need to go out to Championship or lower league clubs on
loan to prove themselves to catch the manager's eye.


In early speculation it is Diego Poyet who captained the West Ham XI beat an
Ipswich XI 5-1 midweek is being rumoured for a return back to Charlton on
loan, although both Brentford and Huddersfield are said to also want to sign
him.

Elliot Lee also looks set to be sent out on loan to a Championship club
although I am told West Ham are struggling to find a team that will
guarantee him regular starts as they want him played week in week out.

George Moncur is already on loan to Colchester United and scored 2 goals
from his first two starts.

It remains to be seen whether Sebastian Lletget, Raphael Spiegel, Dan Potts,
Reece Burke, Josh Cullen, Paul McCallum,Lewis Page and Blair Turgott will
also be sent out on temporary loans.

With his four goal tally midweek Matthias Fanimo might be another name sent
out on a one or three month loan to experience competitive football.

Earlier this week the Premier League published West Ham's list of under 21s
under contract and scholars listed below. Some new names in there. Reece
Oxford is not included as he is still 15 so remains on school boy forms.
Remains to seen which ones will make the grade from the Academy.

Adebayo, Fatai Ololade Akanni
Amoo, Jeremiah
Bailey, Kieran
Bogard, Clarke Ellis
Brown, Jordan Antonio
Brown, Tim
Browne, Marcus Alexander
Burke, Reece
Bywater, Kieran
Carter, Matthew James
Chambers, Leo Alexander
Cullen, Joshua Jon
Diangana, Grady
Elsom, Ross
Fanimo, Matthias Olubori
Gordon, Jaanai Derece
Harney, Jamie
Howes, Samuel Scott
Knoyle, Kyle
Lee, Elliot Robert
Linley, Joseph
Maguire, Sean
Makasi, Kusu Moses
Marlow, Ben John
Mavila, Nathan
McCallum, Paul Leon Miller
Moncur, George
Morrison, Ravel Ryan
Nasha, Amos Lawrence
Page, Lewis Robert
Parfitt-Williams, Djair Terraii Carl
Pask, Joshua David
Pike, Alexander George
Potts, Daniel
Poyet Gonzalez, Diego
Sadlier, Kieran Paul
Sheriff, Decarrey
Sylvestre, Noha
Tombides, Taylor James
Turgott, Blair Sebastian
Westley, Samuel Edward
Whitehead, Daniel

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Ecuador beats Bolivia 4-0 in exhibition
By Associated Press September 6 at 11:19 PM
Washington Post

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Christian Noboa, Juan Cazares, Enner Valencia and
Junior Sornoza scored goals in Ecuador's 4-0 victory over Bolivia in an
exhibition game Saturday night. Cazares also had an assist. Ecuador opened
the scoring in the ninth minute on Noboa's goal. Renato Ibarra made a cross
to Noboa in the center of the box and his shot went off the hands of
goalkeeper Daniel Vaca and rolled slowly into the goal. Ecuador made it 2-0
when Cazares took a shot from 25 yards out curled to the far post and into
the net in the 33rd minute. Valencia scored in the 65th minute. Valencia
found an opening in the left corner of the net after taking a pass from Joao
Rojas. Sornoza's shot from the center of the box beat Vaca in the 83rd
minute. Ecuador outshot Bolivia 13-5 and leads the series 6-0-1.

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Runaway winner in Player of Month poll
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on September 6, 2014 in Whispers
Calret & Hugh

Cheikhou Kouyate has been a runaway winner of the ClaretandHugh Player of
the Month poll for August. The Senegal midfielder collected 287 votes (68.33
per cent) in our poll which closed this afternoon. Mark Noble was in second
place a long way behind with 38 votes and 9.05 per cent of the vote. Another
new boy Aaron Cresswell was in third place - 31 votes and 7.38 per cent of
vote with Mauro Zarate fourth - 26 votes and 6.19 per cent of the vote.

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GROW UP MO AND SHOW SOME CLASS
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on September 5, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

There's really no other way of putting this! I truly am becoming a little
irritated about how regularly Mo Diame reminds us that he's a top four or
six club player! But more importantly, were I his new manager Steve Bruce
this morning I'd be pretty upset about his latest self indulgent outburst.
No sooner does the bloke join his new club than he's whinging on about how -
had circumstances been different at West Ham - he would be at a better club.
That really does show a lack of class - a bit like any of us leaving one
job, going to another and telling everybody around: "Yeah but of course I'm
better than this."

Two words for Mo Diame this morning: Grow up! There may of course be
something in his claim that had Sam Allardyce not shifted him around to a
variety of positions he would have been shown off to better advantage. There
were times when it did seem odd that the manager decided to play him wide
but Mo Diame's game is well known and were a top manager to have come for
him he would have done his homework and would know what he's getting. Here's
the nub of what Diame is saying in his quotes: ".At least with Hull I will
be certain of playing in my favoured role. "I should have left West Ham a
long time ago, as with them I wasn't permitted to play in central midfield."

AT LEAST? These are two words which suggest Mr Diame is about to make the
best of a bad job. As I say that really does lack class. And perhaps he
needs to remember that even when he was playing to the peak of his form in
his favoured role, nobody came in for him. Mo Diame needs to realise his
position in life - a middle of the road midfielder playing at about the
right level. Hopefuly that's the last we'll here from him on this rather
tired old issue.

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