Daily WHUFC News - 2nd December 2014

Preview - West Bromwich Albion
WHUFC.com
All you need to know about the Hammers' trip to the Hawthorns this Tuesday
01.12.2014


WEST BROMWICH ALBION v WEST HAM UNITED
BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
THE HAWTHORNS
TUESDAY 2 DECEMBER 2014
KICK-OFF: 8PM
REFEREE: MIKE JONES

In brief
West Ham United travel to the Black Country to face West Bromwich Albion as
the Hammers look to build on their 1-0 win over Newcastle United from
Saturday.
The Baggies, who sit in 15th in the Premier League table on 13 points, are
looking to end a run of three straight defeats following Saturday's 1-0 loss
to Arsenal.
Sam Allardyce's men are ten places higher, sitting in fifth with 21 points.
The victory over Newcastle was the Hammers' sixth of the season, while they
also picked up their third clean sheet.

West Bromwich Albion were formed in 1878 out of workers from Salter's Spring
Works in West Bromwich.
They recorded their biggest ever win over Coseley in 1882, winning an
impressive 26-0 and going on to win the Staffordshire Senior Cup, their
first trophy, the next season.
West Brom were one of twelve founding members of the Football League in
1888. That same year they won the FA Cup for the first time.
The Baggies won their one and only Division One title in 1919/20. Other
honours include winning the FA Cup a total of five times, most recently in
1967/68, as well as a League Cup title in 1965/66.
More recently, they have established themselves as a Premier League club
after being promoted back to the top flight in 2010.
Team news

West Ham United

Enner Valencia is back in the squad after returning to training on Monday.
The striker has been in good form so far this season. His return gives
Allardyce options up front with Andy Carroll completing his second
consecutive 90 minutes of the season with Mauro Zarate and Carlton Cole also
available.
Diafra Sakho and Alex Song are still out, but Winston Reid returns following
a suspension.
West Bromwich Albion
James Morrison could return on Tuesday evening after missing the Arsenal
game through illness. Sebastien Pocognoli is also unlikely to feature after
picking up a knock at the weekend.
The Baggies will be without Jonas Olsson through a shin injury.
Referee
Tuesday's referee is Mike Jones. This is Jones' first West Ham assignment of
the season, but last year he was in charge as the Hammers lost 3-1 away to
Manchester United.
The Assistant Referees are Jake Collin and Richard West, while Roger East is
the Fourth Official.
Statistics
(2014/15 season - Barclays Premier League only)
Matches refereed: 8
Yellow cards shown: 22
Red cards shown: 2
Penalties awarded: 1
One to watch

West Ham United
Following a resolute performance on Saturday which saw the Hammers claim
their third clean sheet of the season, James Tomkins will be hoping to put
another solid performance in on Tuesday.
The dominating centre-back has been in good form recently as he and his
defensive colleagues limited Newcastle's strike-force to just one shot on
target.
West Bromwich Albion

Explosive striker Saido Berahino has been in great form for West Brom this
season having already netted eight goals.
The 21-year-old's exploits have been widely praised as he was given his
first senior England call up by Roy Hodgson.
However, Berahino has not scored in five games and will be looking to get
back on the scoresheet sooner rather than later.
Tickets
Tickets are now sold out. Tickets for the Hammers' next home game with
Swansea City on Sunday are available here.
Travel
For all the information of how to get to the Hawthorns, click here.
Weather
Tuesday evening is set to be a cold one as temperature at kick off is
forecast to be a chilly 3C (37F) with temperatures dropping throughout the
match.
Last meeting

West Bromwich Albion 1-0 West Ham United
Barclays Premier League
26 April 2014
Saido Berahino scored the only goal of the game, as he converted current
West Ham midfielder Morgan Amalfitano's cross to give Pepe Mel his first
home win as West Brom manager.
Andy Carroll, among others, had several chances to equalise yet the Hammers
could not find a way past Ben Foster.

West Bromwich Albion: Foster, Reid (Morrison 47), Olsson, Dawson, Jones,
Brunt, Dorrans, Amalfitano, Mulumbu, Sessegnon (Anichebe 81), Berahino
(Yacob 89)
Subs not used: Myhill, Lugano, Vydra, Thievy
West Ham United: Adrian, Reid, McCartney, Tomkins (Collins 33), Demel,
Nolan, Jarvis (C Cole 79), Noble, Diame, Downing (J Cole 67), Carroll
Subs not used: Jaaskelainen, Armero, Nocerino, Vaz Te

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Big Sam on: West Bromwich Albion
WHUFC.com
The manager speaks to the press ahead of Tuesday's trip to West Bromwich
Albion
01.12.2014

Sam Allardyce is hoping to welcome Enner Valencia back from injury when West
Ham United travel to West Bromwich Albion on Tuesday evening.
The Ecuador striker has been absent since the international break, but
returned to training on Monday to boost the manager's options.
He answered questions on team news, his targets and more in his pre-match
press conference.

What's the team news for tomorrow?

SA: "We've got a little bit of fatigue still from Saturday's game. We got
one or two knocks and bruises but we they should be fine. The biggest doubt
is Mark Noble who had another kick on his calf which he played through
against Newcastle. "Enner Valencia is back in the squad and he'll be
training with is today. Winston Reid comes back from suspension. Both
Newcastle and ourselves produced one of the highest energy stats of the
season. It was a huge game for both clubs, the energy we expended
demonstrated that. We have a very positive, confident mood in the camp at
the moment which is always good. I think it helps because players don't feel
quite as tired when they win."

Andy Carroll is very early into his recovery, do you think he is ready to
play two 90 minutes in such a short space?

SA: "It would only be his third 90 minutes in six months so we'll have to
consider that as well. We don't want to overstretch him too early and risk
another injury."

Do you have any timescale for when Diafra Sakho might be back

SA: "He won't be far away. It's a disappointment as he's been out for a
while as he was in such good form. If all goes well he could be back to face
Swansea on Sunday."

You're back up to fifth in the table, have you revised your targets for the
season?

SA: "No not yet, it's still too early. I think we'll evaluate the season as
a whole after January and see where we are. We have a massive few weeks and
months ahead of us and it'll be a big test. This week we have nine points on
offer, we've got three of them already, so it's a huge week for us. The win
on Saturday was massive considering who we were playing and the run they
were on."

Has the impact Aaron Cresswell had surprised you? And do you think Roy
Hodgson should be looking at him?

SA: "I think he should forget about England for now. He's made great
progress so far, but he's only just arrived. He's done fantastically well
and he's been available for every league game so far. Hopefully he'll
continue this run. His contribution has been excellent and he's capped it
off with a goal on Saturday. People might call it lucky that the pass fell
to him but if you look at his run, that's not an accident. He's taken the
chance to drive forward, from a deep position, a run you expect a forward to
make. The goal came at a very important time and obviously won us the game."

Has Cresswell surpassed your expectations when you bought him?

SA: "When a player takes a step up a level you can never quite know how
he'll cope. Sometimes it takes a while but the great start we've had has
helped. We're a third of the way through the season and that has helped as
well. Overall he has done fantastically."

With Carl Jenkinson on the other side, you've got two good, young players.
After the game he said you've encouraged both of them to get as further
forward as possible?

SA: "It's a very important area of the game nowadays. A lot of opportunities
to score come from these areas now. If you have two athletic full backs like
we do, with brilliant physical output than that is a great asset to have. At
the same time I've been very satisfied with their defensive qualities.
There's far too many full backs who aren't as good as defending as those two
are. They've been fantastic for us and if we keep a clean sheet tomorrow I
believe we will win."

With Valencia coming back you've got several attacking options to choose
from?

SA: "To have Enner back, with is pace is a great option for us. He's an
exciting player and I think we have yet to see the best of him."

Mark Noble became the club's leading Premier League appearance holder, did
the club do anything to mark it and how important has he been to the club?

SA: "We haven't had an awful lot of time to celebrate it but all the players
have congratulated him, I certainly have too. For Mark, at only 27, he can
go on to play a lot more games. There aren't many one club players around
now."

You've identified the main threat as Saido Berahino, how good do you think
he is?

SA: "I think him, Harry Kane and Charlie Austin have been the breakthrough
England players this season. He's a good player and he'll be a threat, but
it's only the start of his career, if he dedicates himself then I don't see
why he couldn't develop into a fantastic player."

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Mark's a record breaker
WHUFC.com
Mark Noble was delighted to reach a significant landmark with a victory on
Saturday
01.12.2014

Mark Noble spoke of his pride at becoming West Ham United's all-time leading
Premier League appearance maker after captaining his team to a 1-0 victory
over Newcastle United on Saturday, The Boleyn Ground clash was the 205th top
flight game of Noble's Hammers career, taking him past Steve Potts' Premier
League mark. The personal milestone made the Magpies match special enough,
but victory was more important for the No16. He said: "I'm 205 not out.
That's a lot of Premier League appearances and it is a great feat. I want to
improve on it and play as many as I can. To follow in the footsteps of Steve
Potts, who is a legend here, is a very nice feeling. "We have been
performing well in the last few weeks and we played Villa and hit everything
other than the back of the net. Saturday was a scrappy game but in the end
we showed our quality. We could have finished them off more thoroughly
towards the end but we got the vital goal and that's the main thing. To get
three points is all that matters."

Aaron Cresswell's second half goal on Saturday ended a run of six
consecutive wins for the Magpies so Noble was thrilled to down a team in
such good form. He continued: "Newcastle have been on an unbelievable run
and Pards has done a fantastic job there after being under so much pressure.
"I was thinking the night before the game, would I rather Newcastle came
into this match having lost four in a row, or having won six? Probably I'd
go for the latter. They were a point above us in fifth and maybe a little
bit of complacency can step in. We capitalised on that but credit to
Newcastle, who played well, but they couldn't break us down. "They are a
good team. We were out in New Zealand with them on pre-season and you could
see they have got good players. They looked a top team then and even though
they had a couple of their players missing they will do well this season.
"I'm buzzing for their manager because he started my career off here by
putting me in the first team and it was nice to break the record with him
here as the opposing manager."

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Hammers pair hold Brazil
WHUFC.com
Reece Oxford and Jahmal Hector-Ingram featured in England U17s' 2-2 draw
with Brazil
01.12.2014

West Ham United youngsters Reece Oxford and Jahmal Hector-Ingram helped
England U17s snatch a dramatic 2-2 draw with Brazil at the Nike
International Tournament on Sunday. Centre-back Oxford captained the Young
Lions, while forward Hector-Ingram appeared as a late substitute as England
snatched a last-minute equaliser in Sarasota, Florida. A rollercoaster game
saw Oxford blaze a chance over the crossbar before John Peacock's side took
the lead two minutes before half-time thanks to Leicester City's Layton
Ndukwu. However, it all looked to be going wrong for England when Liverpool
full-back Trent Arnold was sent-off with eight minutes to go. Brazil took
full advantage by scoring twice in the space of four minutes through Leo Dos
Santos and Evander Ferreira. Peacock threw on Hector-Ingram in search of an
unlikely equaliser and was rewarded in the final minute when a corner was
laid back to Liverpool midfielder Adam Phillips, who curled an unstoppable
shot into the top corner. England, who lost 3-1 to hosts the United States
in their opening match on Friday, play their third and final match against
Australia on Tuesday. Oxford and Hector-Ingram will hope to feature when
England continue their UEFA European U17 Championship qualifying campaign
with the Elite Round, which will take place in the spring.

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Loan round-up
WHUFC.com
Four West Ham United loanees were in action last weekend
01.12.2014

Jamie Harney made his senior league debut for Colchester United as they lost
6-0 to MK Dons. The 18-year-old came on in the 72nd minute, replacing Rhys
Healey with the U's 5-0 down.

Sean Maguire played the full game in Accrington Stanley's 3-2 home defeat by
Exeter City. Goals from Liam Sercombe, Tom Nichols and Matt Grimes secured
the win despite Stanley rallying in the second half through John
O'Sullivan's 25-yard drive and Shay McCartan's goal.

Diego Poyet played 76 minutes for Huddersfield Town in their 1-0 defeat by
Bolton Wanderers on Saturday. The midfielder was replaced by
Joe Lolley shortly after Craig Davies' fifth goal of the season secured Neil
Lennon's side the three points.

Modibo Maiga played the first 62 minutes as FC Metz lost 2-0 to Lens. Maiga
was replaced by Juan Falcon shortly before Alharbi El Jadeyaoui and Benjamin
Bourigeaud scored.

Ravel Morrison did not feature in Cardiff City's first away win of the
season in a 1-0 away win at Watford. Striker Adam Le Fondre netted in the
twelfth minute to take the Bluebirds to eighth in the table on 29 points.

Raphael Spiegel did not feature in Barnet's 3-1 win over Macclesfield Town.
Goals from Andy Yiadom, John Akinde and Curtis Weston kept Barnet on top of
the Vanarama Conference with 49 points from 24 games.

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Little leads ladies to victory
WHUFC.com
Stacey Little scored in the West Ham United Ladies 3-1 win over Leafield
Athletic
01.12.2014

West Ham United Ladies recorded an impressive 3-1 win over Leafield Athletic
to progress into the next round of the FA Women's Premier League Plate. The
visitors started strongly as Charlotte Hughes proved difficult to handle as
she had several chances early on. However the Hammers grew into the match as
Kelley Blanchflower's effort was denied by a fantastic save from Athletic
goalkeeper Hannah Tromans.
Leafield continued to press for the opener as Donna Hawkins and Leigh
Dugmore both went close. With time running out in the first half, Stacey
Little scored for the Hammers as she timed her run to perfection to head
home from close range. The goal gave the hosts confidence as they started to
control the second half. Lily Mellors had a great opportunity to double
their lead, however her shot went just wide when she was one-on-one with
goalkeeper Tromans. With five minutes left to play, Sarah McCrea scored her
ninth goal of the season to make it 2-0 when she cut in from the left and
shot fiercely into the corner. Debutant midfielder Jade Smith sealed the
victory just two minutes later as she headed McCrea's cross into the net.
With the result beyond doubt, there was just time for Leigh Dugmore to score
a late consolation goal as her composed finish rounded off a superb flowing
move. The win sees the Ladies progress to the next stage of the League
Plate.

West Ham United Ladies: Runnacles, King, Bottom, Bowers, Baxter, Revell,
McCrea, Little (c), Kinsman, Mellors, Blanchflower
Subs: Smith, Masters, Locke.

The Ladies' last fixture before Christmas is away to Charlton Athletic on
Sunday 14 December, kick off 2pm.

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Mediawatch - Monday 1 December
WHUFC.com
Cresswell and Carroll take centre-stage in today's media digest
01.12.2014

Mediawatch - Monday 1 December

Match-winner Aaron Cresswell is the main main when it comes to press
coverage of West Ham United on 1 December. The left-back, who bagged his
first goal for the Club in Saturday's 1-0 success against Barclays Premier
League, earns praise from manager Sam Allardyce in the Daily Telegraph,
where he is labelled Mr Dependable. The same article also makes mention of
Big Sam's claim that this is the 'second best' club side he has ever
managed, behind the star-sprinkled team he managed in his final three
seasons at Bolton Wanderers between 2004-07. The same comment is covered by
Daily Star.

Continuing the positive theme, Andy Carroll is quoted in the Daily Express
and The Times saying he is 'feeling fresh' and hoping to get back to his
best as soon as possible.

Off the pitch, there is coverage in the Daily Mail of the manager's comments
about the injury suffered by Diafra Sakho while on international duty with
Senegal.

Continuing the international theme, West Ham's outstanding 15-year-old
centre-back Reece Oxford captained England U17s to a 2-2 draw with Brazil in
Sarasota, Florida on Sunday - a match covered by the FA's official website.

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West Brom v West Ham
KO 20:00
1 December 2014
Last updated at 11:09
By Alistair Bruce-Ball
Match of the Day commentator

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Venue: The Hawthorns Date: Tuesday, 2 December
LINEUP, BOOKINGS (0) & SUBSTITUTIONS (0)
TEAM NEWS

West Brom will check on the fitness of Sebastien Pocognoli after he suffered
a dead leg in the defeat against Arsenal.
Midfielder James Morrison has been struggling with both illness and a knee
injury and will also be assessed.

West Ham midfielder Mark Noble will have a fitness test on a calf problem
ahead of the trip to the Hawthorns.
Defender Winston Reid is available again after sitting out the match against
Newcastle with a one-match suspension.

MATCH PREVIEW

Some West Brom fans have clearly lost faith in their manager Alan Irvine.
Lawro's prediction "West Brom have lost their last three games and not
scored in any of them. Their home form is poor, with one win in seven games
at The Hawthorns this season, but their lack of goals concerns me more." As
the Baggies slipped to a third successive Premier League defeat on Saturday
some sang "you don't know what you're doing" as Irvine replaced Stephane
Sessegnon with Georgios Samaras and his team rather belatedly started to
take the game to Arsenal. Too late. Saido Berahino did hit the bar with a
header, but the defeat means West Brom have still only won one league game
at the Hawthorns this season. But more worryingly, that run stretches to
just three wins in 21 league games at home since last November. One of those
wins came against Sam Allardyce's West Ham in April, and it was crucial in
keeping West Brom in the top-flight. That day it was West Ham fans getting
stuck into their manager and calling for Allardyce to be sacked. O ye of
little faith - he has now lead the club to its best-ever start to a Premier
League season, and they sit fifth in the table after the 1-0 win over
Newcastle. There's no resting on laurels for Allardyce though. "At the
moment we are achieving above expectations but it's vital, going into
December, that we sustain things. Historically December and January have
been difficult months for us in recent years," he said. December is also
going to be a crucial month for Irvine and West Brom. They've drawn a blank
in defeats against Newcastle, Chelsea and Arsenal. Their only goal in their
last four games in the Premier League was an own goal in the 1-0 win at
Leicester. After the game against West Ham they face the three teams
immediately below them in the table - Aston Villa, Hull and QPR - and they
desperately need Berahino to rediscover his scoring touch.

MATCH FACTS

Head-to-head
Five out of the last seven meetings between these sides have ended in draws.
West Brom won this fixture last season with Saido Berahino scoring the only
goal. It was the Baggies' only home win under Pepe Mel.
The Baggies are unbeaten in four meetings with West Ham at the Hawthorns
(W2, D2).
West Brom
West Brom have gone four games without a victory at home and they have won
just three of their last 21 Premier League home games.
Their only victory in seven league games was against Leicester on 1
November.
It is now four games since a West Brom player scored in the Premier League -
their only goal in that time was Esteban Cambiasso's own goal.
Saido Berahino scored in both league matches against West Ham last season.
West Ham
West Ham's win over Newcastle was their first in four games; however they
have only suffered one defeat in their last seven league games (W4, D2).
Their tally of 21 points from 13 matches is their best-ever start to Premier
League season.
The Hammers' last seven Premier League goals have been scored by seven
different players.
They have scored in all six of their away league matches this season.
Sam Allardyce's side haven't kept a clean sheet away from Upton Park in 12
matches.

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Allardyce tells Cresswell 'forget about England'
KUMB.com
Filed: Monday, 1st December 2014
By: Staff Writer

Sam Allardyce has told young full back Aaron Cresswell to ignore rumours
linking him with a full international debut. 24-year-old Cresswell, who
joined West Ham from Ipswich during the summer is knocking on Roy Hodgson's
door having enjoyed a solid start to his first ever season in the Premier
League. However Allardyce, speaking this morning ahead of tomorrow's trip to
West Bromwich Albion has advised the full back to concentrate instead on his
club career - for now. "He's made great progress so far, but he's only just
arrived," Allardyce, addressing the media at Chadwell Heath, said. "He's
done fantastically well and he's been available for every league game so
far. Hopefully he'll continue this run. "When a player steps up a level you
never quite know how he'll cope. Sometimes it takes a while, but the great
start we've had has helped. We're a third of the way through the season and
that has helped as well. Overall he has done fantastically. "His
contribution has been excellent and he's capped it off with a goal on
Saturday. People might call it lucky that the pass fell to him but if you
look at his run, that's not an accident. The goal came at a very important
time and obviously won us the game."

Allardyce was also effusive in his praise of Cresswell's fellow full back,
Carl Jenkinson. Like Cresswell, the on-loan Arsenal defender has settled
into life at West Ham with consummate ease as Allardyce admitted he values
both players highly. "It's a very important area of the game nowadays," he
affirmed. "If you have two athletic full backs like we do, with brilliant
physical output than that is a great asset to have. "At the same time I've
been very satisfied with their defensive qualities. There's far too many
full backs who aren't as good as defending as those two are. They've been
fantastic for us and if we keep a clean sheet tomorrow, I believe we will
win."

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Former Hammer snubs Blades
KUMB.com
Filed: Monday, 1st December 2014
By: Staff Writer

Former Academy youngster Eoin Wearen has rejected overtures from Sheffield
United to sign for League of Ireland Premier Division side Sligo Rovers. Now
22, the midfielder - who spent four years with Tony Carr at Chadwell Heath -
moves from Bohemians, whom he joined earlier this year having left West Ham
last summer. Rovers boss Owen Heary told sligorovers.com: "He is a very
talented player. He signed when he was young for West Ham and was there for
four or five years so there is obviously a reason why he was there.
"Unfortunately he got injured so he came back last year with Bohs through
the latter end of the season so I think people seen how good he was.
Sheffield United wanted him to come over, so I was delighted to persuade him
to come here."

Wearen added: "It was an easy decision to sign for Sligo Rovers. It's been a
couple of months since the season finished, I've weighed up all my options
and looked at the things that are available to me. "I came down and met with
Owen last week. I saw what Sligo Rovers have to offer with the facilities
and heard a lot of great things about the club and the people down here, so
it was a very easy decision in the end.

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Sakho and Valencia return for Baggies trip
KUMB.com
Filed: Monday, 1st December 2014
By: Staff Writer

Sam Allardyce could have his first choice strike force back for tomorrow
night's trip to The Hawthorns. Diafra Sakho and Enner Valencia have proved a
huge success since arriving in England during the summer transfer window,
although both have missed the last two games against Everton and Newcastle.
However the pair are set to return when Allardyce and his squad travel to
the Midlands for the clash with struggling West Bromwich Albion. Despite
rumours to the contrary, Sakho - who has missed three of West Ham's last
four games - was close to being fit enough to take part in Saturday's defeat
of Newcastle. However following a late fitness test at the Boleyn Ground on
Saturday morning ahead of the Newcastle meeting, it was decided to give him
extra recovery period. Meanwhile Valencia, who sustained a knock during
training a fortnight ago is also poised to make his comeback having trained
at Chadwell Heath with the rest of the squad this morning. Alex Song - who,
like Valencia, picked up a knock in training recently - is also close to
regaining full fitness, although the Cameroon midfielder may have to wait
for the visit of Swansea this weekend before considering a return to action.
However Allardyce's squad is further boosted by the return of Winston Reid,
who missed Saturday's win over Newcastle through suspension having collected
five bookings this season.

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West Ham to investigate circumstances of injury to Diafra Sakho
Last Updated: 01/12/14 4:43pm
SSN

West Ham are investigating the circumstances of the back injury suffered by
Diafra Sakho while playing for Senegal. Manager Sam Allardyce refused to go
into any detail surrounding the incident but says the injury did not occur
'while playing or training'. Sakho, who has scored seven goals in nine games
for West Ham this season, has missed his side's last two games through
injury. "I'm not legally qualified to make a comment any further than he
didn't get injured when playing or training," said Allardyce. "But obviously
from an internal point of view the club will deal with how it happened, why
it happened and what we are going to do about it." "I can't medically go
into any detail in a legal point of view other than the injury occurred not
by playing or training." When asked whether the injury was a result of
'mistreatment' from the Senegal staff, Allardyce, speaking ahead of
Tuesday's trip to West Brom, said: "I've not said that.
"You've said that not me. I can't medically go into any detail in a legal
point of view other than the injury occurred not by playing or training."
Sakho is likely to feature heavily for Senegal during the Africa Cup of
Nations which starts on January 17, and Allardyce has suggested medical
staff from the club could follow the player out there. On the possibility of
sending his own medical personal to the tournament he said: "I think we
would like to, but of course it's manpower in terms of what you can put
together to send out to look after the players. "It's obviously a difficult
thing to do. If I had my choice we would like to do it."

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AGENT SPEND SHOWS AMBITION
By Sean Whetstone 1 Dec 2014 at 20:01
West Ham Till I Die

On Friday each Premier League club were required to publish their spend on
agent fees for the last 12 months. West Ham figures reveal that the Hammers
spend to agents soared to £6,380,339.31. This included three loan signings
in January and nine arrivals during the summer. This is an increase of over
50% on the £4,169,134.09 paid to agents in the 2012/2013 period.

The Hammers rank sixth in the table of agent fess in the Premier League this
year up from 9th place last year. We are only surpassed by Chelsea,
Liverpool, Manchester City, Spurs, and Manchester United who spent more than
us on agents. It brings the Hammers spend on agents over the last five years
to nearly £24 million.

1st: Chelsea – £16,771,328
2nd: Liverpool – £14,308,444
3rd: Manchester City – £12,811,946
4th: Tottenham Hotspur – £10,983,011
5th: Manchester United – £7,975,556
6th: West Ham United – £6,380,339
7th: Everton – £5,753,269
8th: Sunderland – £5,276,674
9th: Arsenal – £4,293,407
10th: Stoke City – £3,986,850
11th: Newcastle United – £3,876,250
12th: Swansea City – £3,784,090
13th: West Bromwich Albion – £3,493,745
14th: Queens Park Rangers – £3,242,668
15th: Southampton – £2,766,444
16th: Aston Villa – £2,577,866
17th: Hull City – £2,459,010
18th: Crystal Palace – £2,200,797
19th: Leicester City – £1,608,418
20th: Burnley – £711,024

While this might seem a lot of money I am guessing both David Sullivan and
Karren Brady would not spent a penny more than is necessary and this is
regarded as a necessary evil in the modern game. You could conclude that
spending over £6m in agent fees to rank in the top six of spenders shows
ambition to join the top six in the league. Time will tell whether this
strategy pays off!

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West Ham's Aaron Cresswell admits his first Premier League goal was a 'dream
come true'
Nov 30, 2014 22:30 By Darren Lewis
Full-back who hit the winner against Newcastle was let go by Liverpool as a
kid and reached the top flight via six seasons in League 1 and the
Championship
The Mirror

Aaron Cresswell admitted to living a boyhood dream after his winner helped
steer West Ham back towards a European slot. The 24-year-old defender,
described as 'Mr Dependable' by boss Sam Allardyce, was ecstatic after
sweeping into the bottom corner. A seasoned striker would have been proud of
the finish, which came as Cheikhou ­Kouyate's mis-kicked drive trickled into
his path 11 minutes after the break.
Cresswell said: "It's what I've dreamt of since I was a little boy. Cheikhou
has gone to shoot and it's held up for me and I've just tapped it in from
six yards out. I'll take them all day. "As a defender, it was nice to keep
the clean sheet. To then to pop up and score is what dreams are made of."

West Ham have done some cracking business over the summer to put together
the squad that is clearly taking them to the next level.
Alex Song, Enner Valencia and Diafra Sakho have all shown themselves to be
stellar signings with key roles to play in the Irons' resurgence. You have
to wonder, however, just how on earth West Ham managed to land Cresswell –
virtually unchallenged – from Ipswich for only £2million. Ever since
arriving at the club the left-back has looked as though he has been a Hammer
all his life. His goal lifted West Ham up into fifth – six places above
Liverpool, the club that released him as a youngster. Allardyce said: "Kevin
Nolan had the same. He got discarded by Liverpool and went to Bolton. We all
know what he achieved in the Premier League over the last 10 years. "Aaron
has had a slow process building the base of his career. I think it was Paul
Jewell who saw him at Tranmere and took him to Ipswich. That gave him the
platform to gain more ­experience. "Now, when I talk about ­injuries his
game record is better than anyone at the club. He played three seasons for
Ipswich at 40-plus games. He did the same for Tranmere. "We only have 38
games in the Premier League. But he is Mr Dependable, not only in terms of
his performances but his reliability. He's definitely one of them with the
performances to go with it. "It's a great start for him – scoring the winner
– and I'm sure he's loving every minute of it. He's loving the euphoria that
comes around this level of ­football. "We're not thinking any more that we
don't have enough players in the lower leagues able to make the step up, so
we end up scooting off abroad. "None more so than me – I've done all that
before. But certainly the basis for me in this team is British players.
Picking up the likes of Aaron is great from the point of view that we have a
nice mixture of talent."

Cresswell's goal ended Newcastle's attempt to rack up seven wins in a row
for the first time since Kevin Keegan's serial thrillers 19 years ago. It
also showed just how much strength in depth Allardyce has at his disposal.
Song, Valencia and Sakho were all missing but West Ham were still vastly
­superior to Alan Pardew's men. Allardyce added: "This is my second best
squad. The first one was during the last three years at Bolton. That was
littered with outstanding world class talent. "Djorkaeff, Hierro, Okocha,
Anelka, Campo. And then Gary Speed, Nolan scoring goals. Stelios won Euro
2004 with Greece while with us. But this one has the potential. "We've
signed lots of young players with ambition. The rest of the squad who have
accepted these players have got better as well. James Tomkins was
outstanding. They really have raised their level."

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Don't lose all those plaudits Mr Allardyce
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on December 1, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

Nigel Kahn carries the undisputed title of 'Mr Controversy' and we always
welcome his pieces at ClaretandHugh knowing he's likely to kick up a storm.
Here Nige examines the Newcastle victory and not unnaturally puts his
microscope ov er some worrying signs as he sees them. Welcome back Nige!

The win against Newcastle was welcome! The players worked hard, and 'Lady
Luck' smiled on them via the goal. Whilst not being worried when seeing the
team sheet I did feel Allardyce's tactics in playing one up front was a step
back towards last season Big Sam has received many plaudits for the way we
have played since this season, and key to that is he has played with two up
.

I was surprised that against Everton, where he had the perfect opportunity
to revert to his bad old ways, with the injury list as it was, and an away
game where a point would have been a good result … but he didn't. Fair play
to him I thought, perhaps he's was becoming a changing man.

Yet with a home game and remembering the great impact Zarate made when
arriving as a Goodison sub, surely the Newcastle game was one for him and
Zarate to combine.

Time after time attacking moves broke down or slowed down due to Carroll
dropping deep to win headers yet with no one to flick it on to, I just don't
get why Sam sent that team out in that way!

Let's not kid ourselves about the victory. The goal was as fortunate as they
come and we didn't create much else until the last minutes when the Geordies
were pressing for an equaliser in a match where both sides looked fairly
even.

Sam has the fans backing at the moment and with another run of games against
teams that are there for the taking let's hope he doesn't repeat the
Newcastle selection errors or an excellent scenario may erode – starting at
the Hawthorns.

Carroll's return hasn't seen us start launching it so far but you can see it
creeping back in to our play and we know how fruitless that is as there is
no one to capitalise on the flick ons.

Neither Downing, Jarvis, nor Amalfitano are clinical finishers so how they
all got to start beats me, particularly as Zarate knows exactly where the
goal is. Our play changed at a stroke when he arrived.

I hope it was just an experiment and It won't reappear, but if he continues
with just Carroll then Allardyce may just lose some of the fans he regained.

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Zarate move fears as Italians move in
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on December 1, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

ClaretandHugh has established that £5-£6 million rated Mauro Zarate could be
ready to seek a move – perhaps as early as January – if he doesn't get more
game time. The Argentine striker is becoming increasingly frustrated at his
limited cameo appearances and wants the chance to impress the manager. Club
insiders are aware of the player's feelings and hope that he can be
accommodated into the team regularly as – "at the very least an impact sub."
And one very well placed source told us: "Unless he gets game time, like
any player he could be looking for a move – perhaps even in January .
"He's under a watertight contract with no escape clauses and we hope
against hope he can be kept happy one way or another. "But he's a top
professional and wants to play. Goes without saying. It's hard to hold on to
a player should he become really unhappy. "We all know he's a highly
talented operator but he appears to be having a difficult time establishing
himself in the regular first team thinking. "There's a possibility of course
that should we collect more and more points by Christmas and get safer he
may get his chances in an even more adventurous formation. If not we could
see difficulties."

The club has a £5-£6 million valuation on the player and we have had it on
solid authority that several top clubs in Italy are keen.

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Sakho to see medical expert but Irons may gamble
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on December 1, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

Sam Allardyce's suggestion that Diafra Sakho could be included in the squad
for Sunday's game against Swansea rests in the lap of the medical expert who
gave the original diagnosis on the striker. The manager claimed at his
morning press conference: "He won't be far away. It's a disappointment as
he's been out for a while as he was in such good form. If all goes well he
could be back to face Swansea on Sunday." ClaretandHugh has discovered in
the meantime that the "if all goes well" is a reference to the fact that he
has to go back to the "expert" who just a week ago ruled him out for between
four to six weeks. We were told: "He might be on the bench and play 30
minutes, he's DESPERATE to play and is running again. "But he will see the
expert who reckoned a week ago it would be out for four to six weeks, so his
judgement might impact on our decision. However, we may have to gamble a
bit. "Alex Song could/should be back for Swansea, but you never know and
with Valencia , he may play some minutes tomorrow night."

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http://vyperz.blogspot.com



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