Daily WHUFC News - 6th December 2014

Preview - Swansea City
WHUFC.com
Everything you need to know about Sunday's match against Swansea City
05.12.2014

WEST HAM UNITED v SWANSEA CITY
BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
BOLYEN GROUND
SUNDAY 7 DECEMBER 2014
KICK-OFF: 1.30PM
REFEREE: CHRIS FOY

In brief

West Ham United host Swansea City on Sunday afternoon looking to extend
their winning run of games to three. Following wins over Newcastle United
and West Bromwich Albion, the Hammers are looking to complete a great week
by securing nine points in as many days.
Sunday's visitors Swansea are also enjoying a good run of form having taken
seven points from a possible 12.
The Swans have beaten the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal already
this term, sitting in seventh place just two points behind the Hammers on 22
points.
Related stories
Big Sam on: Swansea City
Chadwell Chatter
Who are they?
Formed in 1912 as Swansea Town, The Swans adopted the name Swansea City when
the town was granted City status in 1969.
Having almost gone out of business in 1985 following consecutive
relegations, the directors managed to salvage the club. They continued to
slip through the Football League to the fourth division yet their fortunes
changed in 2005 with a move away from Vetch Field to the Liberty Stadium.
Since the move, the Swans have enjoyed four promotions in a decade and are
now an established Premier League team. Praised for their possession-based
style of football, their recent success was capped off by winning the League
Cup in 2012/13, subsequently qualifying for the Europa League the following
year.

Team news
West Ham United
Enner Valencia played the last 25 minutes in the 2-1 win over the Baggies,
and is in contention to start on Sunday. Diafra Sakho and Alex Song have
returned to training this week and could also be involved. Manager Sam
Allardyce will make a late decision on Mark Noble's fitness after he missed
the game in midweek following a calf injury sustained against Newcastle.

Swansea City
Swansea have an almost clean bill of health with Federico Fernandez the only
likely absentee through injury. Neil Taylor is suspended but otherwise,
Garry Monk has a full squad to choose from as they came out of their 2-0 win
over Queens Park Rangers unscathed.

Referee
Sunday's referee is Chris Foy. The 52-year-old referee has 13 years of top
flight experience. Foy has taken charge of two West Ham games this season,
the opening day 1-0 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur and the 2-2 away draw with
Stoke City. The Assistant Referees are Gary Beswick and Marc Perry, while
Mike Dean is the Fourth Official.

Statistics
(2014/15 season - Barclays Premier League only)
Matches refereed: 10
Yellow cards shown: 27
Red cards shown: 3
Penalties awarded: 0

One to watch
West Ham United
With his teammates grabbing the headlines, Morgan Amalfitano's excellent
contribution has gone slightly under the radar. The Frenchman has made ten
appearances this season, scoring two crucial goals in wins against Liverpool
and Manchester City. The tenacious midfielder has been in fine form, working
hard for the team as well as linking up well with Carl Jenkinson down the
right wing.

Swansea City
Wilfried Bony is Swansea's main man scoring six goals this season. Bony is
2014's top Premier League scorer with 18 in total, and he has started this
season as he finished the last.. The Ivorian international has struck up a
productive relationship with midfield creator Gylfi Sigurdsson, who has the
second highest number of assists on eight, just two behind Cesc Fabregas on
ten.

Tickets
Tickets will be available to buy on the day, with the Alpari Stand ticket
office open from 9am. Tickets are still available online here.
Tickets for the Hammers' home game with Leicester City on Saturday 20
December are available here.

Travel
For the very latest news on the London Underground, please visit the TfL
website here.

Weather

Sunday evening is set to be a cloudy day with rain predicted for later in
the afternoon. Temperature at kick off is forecast to be 10C (50F).

Last meeting
West Ham United 2-0 Swansea City
Barclays Premier League
1 February 2014
Andy Carroll twice set up goals for Kevin Nolan before being sent off as
10-man West Ham beat Swansea to ease their relegation predicament. Carroll
caused chaos in the visiting defence, but 14 minutes into the second half
received a straight red card from referee Howard Webb for an altercation
with Chico Flores, after appearing to brush the defender with his elbow. For
the first goal, West Ham broke from deep and left-back McCartney drilled a
cross into the area which Carroll stretched to reach. His header found the
late-arriving Nolan, who chested the ball down before volleying into the
bottom corner. For the Hammers' second Stewart Downing's inswinging cross
was met at the far post by Carroll, who craned his neck enough to direct the
ball back into the six-yard box and Nolan headed it inside the post to
double his tally for the season.

West Ham United: Adrian, Demel, Collins, Tomkins, McCartney, Noble, Taylor
(Reid 79), Jarvis (C Cole), Nolan (Nocerino 87), Downing, Carroll, C. Cole,
Nocerino
Subs not used: Jaaskelainen, Johnson, Morrison, Borriello
Swansea City: Tremmel, Amat (Pozuelo 63), Chico Flores, Williams, Tiendalli,
Davies, Shelvey (Hernandez 70), Dyer (Ngog 77), Routledge, de Guzman, Bony
Subs not used: Cornell, Rangel, Britton, Lamah

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Big Sam on: Swansea City
WHUFC.com
The manager spoke to the press on Friday morning ahead of the Swansea City
match
05.12.2014

Sam Allardyce faced the media on Friday morning ahead of Sunday's Barclays
Premier League clash with Swansea City. The manager answered questions on
his returning players, containing Wilfried Bony and his team's fine start to
December.

What's the team news for this weekend?

SA: "Diafra Sakho and Alex Song have been training with us this week.
They're in contention to make the squad but we'll have to wait and see
because they've both been out for a while. We don't want to throw them in
too early and risk further injury. Mark Noble could also make it but we
don't have much time after the injury he picked up last weekend."

How hard is it going to be to contain Wilfried Bony?

SA: "It'll be very difficult to contain him because he's in such good form.
We'll have to limit the supply into him from the midfield and wide men. We
need to get tight to him but not too tight because he can roll defenders
well, he's strong and very skilful. To try and knock him off the ball is not
an easy task. It'll be a good test for our lads to play against a player
who's in such good form."

You scouted Bony when he was at Vitesse, and reportedly put in a bid for
him. What happened there, why didn't the transfer go through?

SA: "We signed Andy Carroll and it was a case of one or the other. We
couldn't do both with the budget we had, we also needed to bring in other
players in different positions."

Bony has been the top scorer this calendar year and has scored six in twelve
games this season. Diafra Sakho has scored six in seven starts, you wouldn't
want to switch them, would you?

SA: "No I wouldn't. We're looking forward to having Diaf back, I'm not sure
he's ready to start a match yet. We've also got Enner back, he played 25
minutes against West Brom and then we've also got Carlton Cole and Mauro
Zarate so this is the best striking options we've ever had."

What did you make of the win over West Brom in midweek?

SA: "We got another valuable three points. It wasn't the best performance
but we ground out a result. It's been a busy week and we've got six points
so far so we're all happy with that. However I think Sunday's game is the
biggest test of them all. Three games in eight days is a big test but we're
approaching it with confidence. If we win what a great week it would've been
for us."

James Tomkins was outstanding against West Brom, scoring the winner. After
the incident at Everton, how impressed have you been with his sense of
character to bounce back?

SA: "I think with everyone there are times in your life when you have things
you have to deal with. So it was a test of character for him but he's come
through it. I know he regrets what happened at Everton but he's got on with
his job and he needs to make sure it's not going to happen again."

Your next three games are Swansea, Sunderland and Leicester, three games
that you and your staff must be hoping to get some points from?

SA: "Yes, we've bounced back from the defeat against Everton with two wins
and now we want to maintain that level of performance and get some
consistency. We want to build some momentum ahead of our massive Christmas
fixtures with Chelsea and Arsenal. We know both those games will be very
difficult so to get as many points as we can beforehand will be very
useful."

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Chadwell Chatter
WHUFC.com
Stewart Downing reflects on the win over West Brom and looks ahead to
Swansea
04.12.2014

Hello everyone,

As you know, it's been a very busy few days with two games in four days
against Newcastle and West Bromwich Albion. Thankfully we secured back to
back wins, which I think we thoroughly deserved. It was great to see AC back
at the Boleyn and causing the Newcastle defence problems. I thought he was
excellent against West Brom too. His overhead effort that led to Kev's goal
was a demonstration of what he can do. It's great to have him back and I
know he's loving it. It was also nice to get an assist for Tonks' goal. He's
had a bit of stick after the Everton game but he responded in the best way
possible by scoring the winning goal. During the game their defenders had
been marking AC and Reidy but hadn't been concentrating on Tonks so I put
the ball in an area he could attack and thankfully he did the rest.
We've scored a lot of headers this season, but not many from set pieces. We
work on them a fair amount in training, both defensively and attacking so it
was nice to see it come off in a match.

It was a big win for us on Tuesday but we know we can still improve. We
should have come out of the blocks better than we did and that is something
we will look to do on Sunday against Swansea City this Sunday at the Boleyn
Ground. We know it will be a tough game as Swansea have some quality players
that we will need to look out for. Wilfried Bony is a player we know we'll
have to keep quiet while Gylfi Sigurdsson is another player I admire. We
know we'll have to limit their time on the ball and if we do that we have a
good chance of getting a result.

Swansea, like ourselves, have had a good season so far. As have Southampton,
I think they've surprised a lot of people. Overall, teams doing better than
expected is good for the league as it makes it less predictable and more
exciting. Having won four of our home games already, we want to continue our
form and turn the Boleyn into a real fortress, one that teams don't look
forward to visiting.
After Sunday, the games keep coming thick and fast as we have five games in
19 days over the Christmas period. It's a difficult time coming up, as
you'll remember last year we suffered from a lot injuries and suspensions.
This season however, we have a bigger squad and a good strength in depth
which will really help us out. It was good to see Enner Valencia coming on
for the last 25 minutes on Tuesday as he recovers from injury and hopefully
we'll have Diafra and Alex back with us soon.

See you on Sunday!
Stewart

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On this day - 5 December
WHUFC.com
A brilliant solo goal from Bobby Zamora set the Hammers on their way to
victory nine years ago today
05.12.2014

Classic match
Birmingham City 1-2 West Ham United
Premier League
5 December 2005
A stunning solo effort from Bobby Zamora and a goal from Marlon Harewood
were enough to give the Hammers all three points at St Andrews.
Emile Heskey had given the hosts the lead after 11 minutes before Zamora
produced a spectacular goal, beating three players and sliding the ball
through the keepers legs, to level the scores. The scoring was completed
before half-time as Harewood notched his sixth goal of the season with two
minutes until the break to secure a brilliant away result for the Hammers in
their first season back in the Premier League.

Complete record - 5 December
1925 Everton 2-0 West Ham United (Division One)
1931 West Ham United 4-2 Everton (Division One)
1936 Bradford City 2-1 West Ham United (Division Two)
1953 West Ham United 1-2 Notts County (Division Two)
1959 West Ham United 4-1 Nottingham Forest (Division One)
1964 West Ham United 0-0 Leicester City (Division One)
1970 Derby County 2-4 West Ham United (Division One)
1981 West Ham United 1-2 Arsenal (Division One)
1987 West Ham United 2-1 Southampton (Division One)
1998 Leeds United 4-0 West Ham United (Premier League)
2001 West Ham United 1-1 Aston Villa (Premier League)
2005 Birmingham City 1-2 West Ham United (Premier League)
2009 West Ham United 0-4 Manchester United (Premier League)
2010 Sunderland 1-0 West Ham United (Premier League)
Played 14, Won 5, Drawn 2, Lost 7, Scored 20, Conceded 26

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West Ham v Swansea
KO 13:30
5 December 2014
Last updated at 13:43
By Steve Bower
BBC Match of the Day commentator

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Venue: Upton Park Date: Sunday, 7 December

TEAM NEWS

West Ham manger Sam Allardyce is hopeful that Diafra Sakho and Alex Song
will be available on Sunday after respective back and knee injuries. Enner
Valencia could start after making a return from injury as a substitute in
midweek but the game could be too soon for Mark Noble, who has a calf
problem. Swansea defender Neil Taylor is suspended after picking up his
fifth booking of the season in midweek.
Federico Fernandez remains sidelined by a calf injury.

MATCH PREVIEW

It sums up the unpredictability of the Premier League season so far that,
going into this weekend in December, this was a meeting of two of the top
seven, separated by two points. Both clubs fully deserve their current
accolades as they defy the pre-season predictions.
Lawro's prediction "I keep thinking Swansea might go on a bit of an iffy
spell but, each time, they pick up a win like they did against QPR in
midweek. I also thought West Ham would have buckled a bit by now, but they
certainly haven't done that."
West Ham are one of the form teams, having lost only once in their last
eight league matches. The Hammers were the sixth lowest scorers in the
division last season but they've managed a dramatic improvement in the
current campaign and have found the back of the net in 12 of their last 13
games.
Sam Allardyce was backed in the transfer market and he has used his funds
extremely wisely. His squad has much more depth and quality to it and that
has been reflected in their results so far. Gone is the over reliance on
Kevin Nolan and Andy Carroll. It illustrates the options available that the
midweek win at West Brom was achieved without both Mark Noble and Alex Song,
while £12m striker Enner Valencia was among the substitutes. They've had 11
different goalscorers already and you can feel the positivity in their play.
While Allardyce has called on his experience of over 400 Premier League
games, he'll face a manager 25 years his junior who is in his first full
season in charge. Gary Monk's seamless transition at Swansea is there for
all to see. When you spend time in his company he is very measured and calm,
and that's exactly how his team have performed so far this season. I watched
them push Manchester City all the way at the Etihad Stadium recently and,
even when they fell behind in the second half, there wasn't any panic and
still a desire to pass the ball. The Swansea boss described the win over QPR
in the week as a 'complete performance' and he won't a fear a trip to east
London. He'll know, though, those standards can't afford to drop or the
Hammers could strike a blow.

MATCH FACTS

Head-to-head
Swansea's only win in their 23 league visits to West Ham came in the old
Division Two in August 1956 (W1, D5, L17).
West Ham are unbeaten in their last three league meetings with Swansea (W2,
D1) and haven't conceded a goal in those matches.
West Ham
West Ham's tally of 24 points from 14 matches represents their best start to
a Premier League campaign. The last time they had a better tally in the top
flight was in 1983-84 (29 pts).
They have only lost one of their last eight league matches (W5, D2).
Only Chelsea (12) have had more Premier League goalscorers this season than
West Ham (11).
Andy Carroll hasn't scored or assisted a goal in his last 10 West Ham league
games, spanning 756 minutes.
Kevin Nolan needs one goal to reach 100 in league football.
Swansea
Swansea are also enjoying their best Premier League start, with 22 points
from 14 matches.
They have lost one of their last six league games (W3, D2) - keeping three
clean sheets in the process.
Wilfried Bony and Gylfi Sigurdsson have either scored or created more than
three quarters of Swansea's league goals this season (15 of 19).
Only Cesc Fabregas (10) has created more league goals than Sigurdsson this
season (8).
Swansea and Chelsea lead the Premier League this season in ever-present
players, both with seven.

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Andy Carroll was signed over Wilfried Bony
BBC.co.uk

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce chose to sign striker Andy Carroll over
Swansea top scorer Wilfried Bony last summer. Bony, set to start at Upton
Park on Sunday, signed from Vitesse Arnhem for £12m and has scored six
league goals this season after 16 last time round. Carroll has struggled
with injury since his £15m move from Liverpool, scoring just twice in 19
league appearances. Allardcye said: "It was a case of one or the other. We
couldn't do both with the budget we had." West Ham's wins over Newcastle and
West Brom this week leave them in fifth place in the Premier League with
Allardyce, who admitted making an initial bid for Bony, delivering on his
promise to bring a new brand of attacking football to the Londoners.
Swansea though are just two places and two points below the Hammers and
Allardyce knows, in Ivory Coast's Bony, the Welshmen have a striker capable
of causing defences damage. "It'll be very difficult to contain him because
he's in such good form," he said. "We'll have to limit the supply into him
from the midfield and wide men. "We need to get tight to him but not too
tight because he can roll defenders well, he's strong and very skilful. "To
try and knock him off the ball is not an easy task. It'll be a good test for
our lads to play against a player who's in such good form."
Carroll, 25, has started just two matches for West Ham this season after
returning from four months out following ankle surgery. He missed the
majority of 2013-14 with a heel problem. He cost Liverpool £35m in January
2011 but was loaned to West Ham in August, scoring seven goals in 24 games.

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42
KUMB.com
Filed: Friday, 5th December 2014
By: Staff Writer

It may be the answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, and
Everything - but 42 is also the number of West Ham's ball in next week's FA
Cup third round draw!

It's one of the most eagerly-anticipated weekends of the football season,
when the part-timers, the minnows and those featuring at the lower end of
the football pyramid have the opportunity to test themselves against the
giants of the Premier League.

On Monday evening in Hull, TV pundit Alan Shearer and local volunteer Paul
Adamson will draw the 64 balls for this season's third round draw, for which
West Ham have been granted the number 42.

A number of non-league clubs will be involved in the draw, such as Gateshead
and Warrington Town (both number 55 as their second round tie remains
unresolved), Dover Athletic (61 should they beat Cheltenham Town) plus
Southport and Eastleigh (both 54).

Some of the other numbers to look out for with view to potential opponents
include 27 (Millwall), 12 (Chelsea) and 25 (Manchester United). You may tune
into Monday evening's live draw on BBC2 or thefa.com from 7pm.


FA Cup 3rd Round Draw Numbers

1 AFC Bournemouth
2 Arsenal
3 Aston Villa
4 Birmingham City
5 Blackburn Rovers
6 Blackpool
7 Bolton Wanderers
8 Brentford
9 Brighton & Hove Albion
10 Burnley
11 Cardiff City
12 Charlton Athletic
13 Chelsea
14 Crystal Palace
15 Derby County
16 Everton
17 Fulham
18 Huddersfield Town
19 Hull City
20 Ipswich Town
21 Leeds United
22 Leicester City
23 Liverpool
24 Manchester City
25 Manchester United
26 Middlesbrough
27 Millwall
28 Newcastle United
29 Norwich City
30 Nottingham Forest
31 Queens Park Rangers
32 Reading
33 Rotherham United
34 Sheffield Wednesday
35 Southampton
36 Stoke City
37 Sunderland
38 Swansea City
39 Tottenham Hotspur
40 Watford
41 West Bromwich Albion
42 West Ham United
43 Wigan Athletic
44 Wolverhampton Wanderers
45 Oxford United Or Tranmere Rovers
46 Bury Or Luton Town
47 Wrexham Or Maidstone United
48 Scunthorpe United Or Worcester City
49 Colchester United Or Peterborough United
50 Wycombe Wanderers Or AFC Wimbledon
51 Accrington Stanley Or Yeovil Town
52 Hartlepool United Or Blyth Spartans
53 Milton Keynes Dons Or Chesterfield
54 Southport Or Eastleigh
55 Gateshead Or Warrington Town
56 Oldham Athletic Or Doncaster Rovers
57 Preston North End Or Shrewsbury Town
58 Barnsley Or Chester
59 Bradford City Or Dartford
60 Sheffield United Or Plymouth Argyle
61 Cheltenham Town Or Dover Athletic
62 Cambridge United Or Mansfield Town
63 Bristol City Or AFC Telford United
64 Aldershot Town Or Rochdale

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Adidas kit out of stock - again
KUMB.com
Filed: Friday, 5th December 2014
By: Staff Writer

Thousands of young Hammers will be left disappointed again this Christmas
after it was confirmed club shops would not be re-stocking replica kit
before the new year. For the second successive year, West Ham have been left
short by kit supplier Adidas who have informed the club that a scheduled
order will not be delivered in time for Christmas. "Adidas informed the Club
on Thursday that its major junior order for the Christmas period will not be
delivered due to stock supply issues," read a statement on whufc.com. "This
disappointing news means that the Club will not be receiving any further
children's replica kits this season and will therefore be out of stock in
most junior sizes in the run-up to Christmas. "In a statement, adidas said:
'Unfortunately due to stock supply issues we have been unable to provide the
originally agreed quantities of the new West Ham United Matchwear in time
for Christmas. "We apologise for any inconvenience caused to fans. We are
confident that alternative adidas West Ham United clothing range can be
found currently in stores.'"
Last Christmas fans were similarly disappointed when exactly the same thing
happened, as West Ham sold their entire stock of replica junior shorts -
only to be told that Adidas would not be supplying any more. At the time,
West Ham blamed "exceptional response" for the problem. "We advise all fans
and make clear in our marketing communications at the start of the season to
buy early to avoid missing out", read a statement published at the time.

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Sakho and Song return for Swansea clash
KUMB.com
Filed: Friday, 5th December 2014
By: Staff Writer

Sam Allardyce has revealed that both Diafra Sakho and Alex Song are expected
to be involved in this weekend's Premier League clash with Swansea - whilst
the inclusion of Mark Noble is also a possibility. Sakho, who was touch and
go for the West Brom trip earlier in the week and Song, who has been out of
action since the goalless draw with Aston Villa at the beginning of November
are both expected to be in the 18-man party to face the Jacks at the Boleyn
Ground this Saturday lunchtime. However Noble's situation is slightly more
precarious and the vice captain may have to wait for the trip to Sunderland
before making his return. "Diafra Sakho and Alex Song have been training
with us this week," confirmed Allardyce. "They're in contention to make the
squad but we'll have to wait and see because they've both been out for a
while. "We don't want to throw them in too early and risk further injury.
Mark Noble could also make it but we don't have much time after the injury
he picked up last weekend. "We're looking forward to having Diaf back though
I'm not sure he's ready to start a match yet. We've also got Enner back, he
played 25 minutes against West Brom and then we've also got Carlton Cole and
Mauro Zarate; these are the best striking options we've ever had."

In recent seasons West Ham have fared well against Swansea. On the four
occasions the two clubs have met this century (all in the last two two
seasons), West Ham have lost just once - and kept clean sheets in the last
three meetings, including successive wins at the Boleyn.
However Allardyce believes his players will be tested to the hilt, having
played three times in the space of a week. "It's been a busy week and we've
got six points so far so we're all happy with that," he said. "However I
think Sunday's game is the biggest test of them all. Three games in eight
days is a big test but we're approaching it with confidence. "We want to
build some momentum ahead of our massive Christmas fixtures with Chelsea and
Arsenal. We know both those games will be very difficult so to get as many
points as we can beforehand will be very useful. "If we win, what a great
week it would've been for us."

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Allardyce: we could've signed Bony - but chose Carroll
KUMB.com
Filed: Friday, 5th December 2014
By: Staff Writer

Sam Allardyce believes that stopping Wilfried Bony is key to stopping
Swansea. The 25-year-old striker is his club's leading goalscorer having
found the back of the net six times already this season. And when asked
about his importance to the Swansea squad, Allardyce - speaking to the press
ahead of Sunday lunchtime's game - insisted that stopping Bony, a player he
almost signed, was paramount. "It'll be very difficult to contain him
because he's in such good form", admitted the Hammers boss. "We'll have to
limit the supply into him from the midfield and wide men. "We need to get
tight to him but not too tight because he can roll defenders well as he's
strong and very skilful. To try and knock him off the ball is not an easy
task. It'll be a good test for our lads to play against a player who's in
such good form. "We signed Andy Carroll [in 2013] and it was a case of one
or the other. We couldn't do both with the budget we had, we also needed to
bring in other players in different positions."

Meanwhile the Ivory Coast international, who has been a huge hit at the
Liberty Stadium since signing for the Jacks in July of last year admitted
that he's happy not to score - if it means a win for his team, who go into
Sunday's match just two points and two places behind West Ham. "What is more
important is to win," he said. "It's good for me, it's good for the team. If
I don't score, I can create chances for other players to score. We take the
games step by step. We don't care what other people say. We just care about
what we do and our performances. We just focus on our way of play."

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In-form West Ham and Swansea tussle for top-four opening
Last Updated: 05/12/14 9:04pm
SSN

Two of the Premier League's in-form sides meet in a mouth-watering encounter
at Upton Park to kick off Sky Sports' Super Sunday double header. Just two
points and two places separate West Ham and Swansea in the league and both
enter Sunday's early kick-off fresh off the back of midweek victories. The
Hammers followed up Saturday's 1-0 win over Newcastle with their third away
success of the season at West Brom. Sam Allardyce's men showed their
resilience having initially gone behind at The Hawthorns, with goals from
Kevin Nolan and James Tomkins ensuring that a third win on the bounce on
Sunday would see the Hammers rise to third in the table.

Swansea got back to winning ways on Tuesday night, after a disappointing
draw at home to Crystal Palace, but were made to sweat by a stubborn QPR
side inspired by the brilliant Rob Green. Ki Sung-Yeung's 78th-minute opener
finally broke the deadlock before Wayne Routledge sealed the points just
minutes later to rightfully hand the Swans the victory their determined
performance warranted. A victory in the capital would see Garry Monk's side
leapfrog West Ham in the table and that could well hinge on the form of
influential striker Wilfried Bony. Allardyce has openly admitted stopping
Bony from running riot at Upton Park should be his team's top priority. And
rightfully so; the Ivorian is in prolific form in the Premier League this
calendar year, having hit the back of the net on 18 occasions.

Team News

Allardyce is hoping to have a trio of players fit and ready to feature for
West Ham. The game may come too early for midfielder Mark Noble (calf) but
the Hammers boss believes both Diafra Sakho (back) and Alex Song (knee)
could play some part against the Swans. With Enner Valencia making his own
comeback from injury in the midweek victory at West Brom and Andy Carroll
fit, Allardyce will now have all of his attacking options available as he
looks to guide the Hammers to an eighth league win of the campaign.
Neil Taylor misses the trip to east London after picking up his fifth
booking of the season in midweek. With no natural cover at left-back, either
Dwight Tiendalli or Jazz Richards are likely to deputise, with Angel Rangel
restored on the right after being rested from the victory over QPR. Swansea
boss Garry Monk will assess how Leon Britton came through his first start of
the season after three months out before finalising his side at Upton Park,
but Argentina defender Federico Fernandez is still not fit enough to make
the matchday squad despite returning to training this week after a calf
problem.

Opta Facts

West Ham have won nine and lost none of their last 18 home games against
Swansea in all competitions.

Swansea have failed to score in their last three Premier League games
against the Hammers.

None of West Ham's last five league goals have been scored by their
strikers. Of the previous nine, seven were netted by their front men.

Andy Carroll has not scored or assisted a single goal in any of his last 10
Premier League appearances for West Ham (756 mins).

Of all regular first-choice goalkeepers, Lukasz Fabianski has the best
saves-to-shots ratio in the Premier League this season (76%).

Before this season Kevin Nolan had started all 68 Premier League he had
played for West Ham. This season, he has started just three of the 10 league
games he has played in.

Merson's Prediction

"I think both of these sides are good teams. I've been really impressed with
West Ham. Even though I saw them lose at Goodison the other week, they were
better than Everton and they've bounced back from that to a good result in
midweek."

PAUL PREDICTS: 2-2

Betting

West Ham are Sky Bet's 13/10 favourites for victory as they look to maintain
their impressive start, with fellow in-form outfit Swansea 2/1 to win, with
the draw 12/5. Both sides have shortened significantly in the top-four and
top-six betting thanks to their early-season form, having each started the
season at shorter prices for relegation than Champions League qualification.
On average, West Ham are scoring 1.3 goals at home in the league this
season, while Swansea average exactly one per game on the road - a 1-1 draw
is available to back at 5/1.

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Swansea boss Garry Monk says West Ham did not want Wilfried Bony enough
Last Updated: 05/12/14 7:55pm
SSN

Swansea City manager Garry Monk believes West Ham did not show enough
ambition in trying to sign Wilfried Bony. The Ivory Coast international
striker signed for the Welsh club from Vitesse Arnhem in 2013 but he was
also a target for the Hammers at the same time, according to manager Sam
Allardyce. The London club instead brought in Andy Carroll from Liverpool
for £15m with Allardyce claiming he did not have the funds to pursue both
players. Monk has suggested this shows that West Ham did not want Bony
enough, while the Swans pushed out all the stops to get their man. "It's the
first I've heard of it, but if that's what they were doing they didn't
really want him enough," Monk said responding to Allardyce's comments. We
obviously pursued Wilfried, he's committed to us, we're committed to him and
the rest is history."
Bony has been in impressive form since moving to the Liberty Stadium,
scoring 31 goals so far, and has been linked to a number of Champions League
teams, while Carroll has struggled with injury during his time at Upton
Park. Despite the difference in form, Monk refuses to be drawn on who the
better player is. "They've got different strengths and they're two very good
players, and I think you'll see in games this season what they can offer
both teams," he added. "I don't look at who is the better player. I look at
what Wilf does for us and they will concentrate on what Andy Carroll does
for them. "We managed to sign Wilfried and we've done a lot of development
with him as far as the team is concerned. "He plays to our strengths, the
team to play to his strengths and it obviously works for Wilfried and
Swansea City."

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West Ham's Allardyce: I chose to buy Andy Carroll over Wilfried Bony and
think it was right decision
Dec 05, 2014 22:30 By Alec Shilton
Boss doesn't regret opting for Geordie who has suffered 3 major injuries
since joining instead of Ivorian who is Prem's joint-top scorer in 2014
The Mirror

Sam Allardyce has admitted he opted to sign Andy Carroll ahead of Wilfried
Bony - and still reckons he got the better deal. The pair were both
available in the summer of 2013 and West Ham boss Allardyce made enquiries
about signing Ivorian striker Bony from Vitesse Arnhem.
But as Carroll had impressed with seven goals in 24 appearances while on
loan from Liverpool the previous season, Allardyce went with a tried and
trusted option over Bony. Three major injuries have restricted Carroll to
just two goals in 19 appearances for the Hammers since he moved to east
London permanently in a £15million deal - having been forced to undergo
ankle surgery after getting injured on the club's pre-season tour to New
Zealand. Meanwhile, Bony joined Swansea for £12m has struck 22 times in 48
league games in the same period. He is level with Manchester City's Sergio
Aguero for most Premier League goals this calendar year at 18. Carroll has
completed 90 minutes just once this season as he returns to fitness - in the
1-0 win over former club Newcastle a week ago - but will lead the line when
his team host Bony and Swansea on Sunday. But despite his team being 11
points and 11 goals better off than they were at this stage of last season,
Carroll is yet to get on the score-sheet. New signings Enner Valencia and
Diafra Sakho among the early-season goals - of which the last nine have come
from nine different players. Carroll's manager has repeatedly denied having
any regrets over signing him and Allardyce has now moved a step further by
claiming time will prove his decision to sign him instead of Bony as a good
one. When asked if he would get to see the better value of the two deals,
Allardyce said: "I think so. "Hopefully, in the end, it will be an Andy that
is not picking up injuries and starts getting back to what we know he can
do. His first season in the Premier League at Newcastle he scored 11 goals
in 16 or 17 matches. "That showed at that young age he was a massive
goal-scoring threat against anyone. He has done it before. Because of the
injuries he had, that career hasn't blossomed as it should have done. "It
was one [player] or the other, it couldn't be both. We got the deal done
with Andy and we couldn't do both - we didn't have enough money in the
budget that year."
Allardyce appears to have spent his £30million wisely over the summer on the
likes of Valencia, Sakho and Cheikhou Kouyate but accepts there is always a
risk bringing in players from abroad. "For every one that succeeds, there
are probably four or five who don't," he added. "They will get forgotten
about because they end up getting sold back abroad again and get lost to
this country but from Bony's point of view, he has been an outstanding
success."

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West Ham plan Ravel Morrison transfer in January once his wash-out loan
spell at Cardiff ends
Dec 04, 2014 22:30 By Darren Witcoop
The 21-year-old has been battling injury and started just once for the
Championship side but the Hammers hope a Prem team facing relegation will
take him
The Mirror

Ravel Morrison will be touted about to Premier League strugglers in January.
Morrison is set to return to West Ham after a nightmare loan spell in the
Championship with Cardiff. The former Manchester United starlet has made
little impression and could even head back to the Hammers early after making
just one start. Morrison, 21, has been plagued by a long-term knee injury in
Wales. But the Irons still plan on offering his services and sending him
straight back out. Burnley and Leicester were among the clubs to show
interest at the start of the season. And they could move again with both
goal-shy sides eyeing an injection of quality in attack.

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CandH EXCLUSIVE: Reid's six year contract offer
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on December 5, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

ClaretandHugh has today discovered that Winston Reid has been offered a SIX
YEAR DEAL with the club in advance of £60k a week. Yet despite the
phenomenal deal, the New Zealander is continuing to keep the club waiting
for an answer as he awaits to see what options arise in January. The
extraordinary stand-off between Reid and the club has of course been going
on for several months but until now the terms of the Hammers offer have been
never made entirely clear. By our reckoning were Reid to put pen to paper
the six year deal worth around £3 million a year plus bonuses which could
net the player in advance of £20 million over the contract's duration which
would take him to beyond his 32nd birthday, It has also become clear that
the club are ready to leave the deal on the table rather than present the
player with a deadline to sign as was thought to be the case. We were told:
"We have no control. It seems Winston wants to see what options he is
presented with in January and there's no guarantee the situation couldn't go
on into the summer. "The club has no real control over the situation. It's
the players decision. He has been offered a fantastic six year contract and
it's all in his hands."

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Yes Barca we ARE coming to get you!
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on December 5, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

Our New York based blogger Scott Alsweiler's first blog received a great
reception from readers. But our east-end boy, serving a self imposed US
exile since marrying his American wife, still flies the Hammers flag outside
his home. Here's the second piece from Scott where like most of us he's in
very positive mood.
By Scott Alsweiler

"We're going to win the league". Okay, we're really not (although it is
mathematically possible). And there's some irony in it. But let's not write
it off on a permanent basis. As Hammers we're used to the roller-coaster
sensation of rising to the top middle, followed by the stomach churning fall
into a lower league. The constant relegation battles. This year feels
different.

We've got strength in depth, the likes of which we haven't seen in a long
time. We're definitely being helped by some fairly average performances from
some of the bigger clubs, but we shouldn't let that impugn the results we've
seen.

Some of them have been scrappy, like our mid week against WBA (although
there was 30 min of great football in there). Some of them have been
desperately unlucky. But we're fifth. From out in the football wilderness of
Central New York state I have a genuine sense of belief.

Sam has defied his critics - myself included - by doing as the owners, and
perhaps more importantly us - the fans, have demanded. He's built a team
capable of playing attractive, attacking football. And haven't the squad
responded!

We did astonishingly well in the transfer market over the summer. We still
need to try and cement a couple of places, so the job is not yet complete,
but we're approaching it. It hasn't always been pretty, but it's been so
more often than not. We'll see it again this Sunday when we meet, and beat,
Swansea.

Let's look ahead. We can genuinely challenge for a top six place this year.
Build on our current squad next summer as we prepare for our final season
before moving to the Olympic Stadium. Start pushing the league leaders. It
won't be this year. Or next. But it can happen.

We're growing, we're learning, if we continue as we've started we're only
going to get better. "Barcelona, we're coming for you."

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Tottenham interested in Besiktas manager Slaven Bilic
Posted by: Eren Sarigul December 5, 2014

Tottenham are interested in hiring Beşiktaş's manager Slaven Bilic according
to Turkish newspaper Sabah. The report claims that Spurs have reached out to
Bilic's representatives. The former Croatia national team manager has been
with the Istanbul club since July 2013 and still has two-years left on his
contract. Beşiktaş are yet to offer the 46-year-old manager a contract
extension but have made it clear that they do want Bilic to remain as head
coach. Bilic recently underlined that he is happy at Beşiktaş but were he to
move in the future it would be to a Premier League club. "I have not
received an offer from West Ham however, of course like any manager one day
I would like to manage in the Premier League," Bilic. Bilic spent four years
in England during his playing career. The former Croatia national team coach
played for West Ham United and Everton. The Black Eagles are currently first
in the Turkish Super League with 23 points from 11 games. Tottenham sit 10th
in the Premier Leauge, far below pre-season expectations. Slaven Bilic has
also been linked with Aston Villa in recent weeks.

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http://vyperz.blogspot.com



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