Daily WHUFC News - 26th January 2015

Reid relieved with FA Cup victory
WHUFC.com
Winston Reid admitted West Ham United rode their luck to make it through to the FA Cup fifth round
25.01.2015

Man of the Match Winston Reid said West Ham United were both happy and relieved to go through to the FA Cup fifth round at the first attempt. The Hammers were pushed all the way by League One title-chasers Bristol City at Ashton Gate on Sunday before prevailing through a late goal from substitute Diafra Sakho. On a weekend that saw a host of the Barclays Premier League's big guns fall to shock defeats, Reid admitted he and his teammates were delighted to have avoided their names being added to the list. "In the first half we were under pressure, which was always going to happen when you come away to these places," said the No2, who was involved in a game-long battle with Bristol City's giant striker Matt Smith and centre-back Aden Flint, among others. "They gave a good performance but fortunately for us we kept a clean sheet and Sakho came on and got the goal. "Obviously we wanted to finish off the game in one go, get a goal and get the win and we did that. Even though we didn't play our best football, we got there in the end and the most important thing is we're in the next round." "The manager was speaking beforehand about the amount of upsets and we didn't want to be one of them. We did all right and made the most of the opportunities that we created and are now in the hat for the last 16."

West Ham are one of just six top-flight sides who are guaranteed to be in the fifth round, while the likes of Chelsea, Manchester City, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur and the Hammers' third-round victims Everton are all out. The draw for the last-16 will be made live on BBC1's The One Show on Monday evening at 7pm, with West Ham taking ball No15.

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Sam happy to avoid FA Cup-set
WHUFC.com
Sam Allardyce was pleased with West Ham United's 1-0 FA Cup fourth-round win at Bristol City
25.01.2015

Sam Allardyce hailed a job well done as West Ham United steered clear of a weekend of FA Cup fourth-round upsets by securing a 1-0 win at Bristol City. With Chelsea, Manchester City, Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur all suffering home exits on Saturday, there was a buzz of expectation of another shock around Ashton Gate ahead of Sunday's tie. The Hammers rode their luck at times in the West Country, but substitute Diafra Sakho marked his return from a back injury by heading in Andy Carroll's 81st-minute cross to send the Londoners into the last-16. Earlier, the League One title-chasers had gone close on a host of occasions, with Matt Smith seeing two headers cleared off the line. The giant striker also flashed another header wide in added-time, but West Ham held out to complete a professional victory.
"It was tough," the manager told West Ham TV. "We knew this game was never going to be easy. Everybody has had the big shocks over the weekend and we didn't want another shock happening here. "There were bigger shocks at Chelsea and Man City than there would have been at Bristol City, but my take on it was that we had to be utterly professional and try to play our best football, if possible, to break them down. "That wasn't the case. We didn't play our best football, but after the first 15 minutes we started to get better and better and, with the substitutions, we got better quality in possession. We were struggling a bit with the bobbling pitch and the ball bouncing around and not controlling it and passing it around as well as we can. "That got better and ultimately a piece of quality from Andy Carroll, wriggling his way through and producing the final ball for Diafra on the far post was the difference between both teams. "I think, for us, it's a very hard-earned victory to get through to the next round, but we're very pleased to be in the hat."

So, while there was frustration in some quarters that West Ham were unable to produce their fluent best against Steve Cotterill's side, Big Sam was quick to praise the home side. "I have said this for many years that I think that the standard of football in the lower divisions has got better and better. "I think we have to pay so much for Premier League footballers now that everybody expects the gulf to be huge, but that gulf has been proven not to be that big this weekend. Even though we spend multi-million pounds on players for the Premier League, players in the lower leagues can lift themselves and match you on the day and be very close to you and, on occasions, better than you as we've seen this weekend. "We have managed to overcome a very difficult cup tie against a team that's in fantastic form and has got a huge amount of confidence because of where they are in the league and very rarely loses a game here at Ashton Gate. "They had nothing to lose. We had everything to lose and nothing to gain and sadly for them they haven't come away with anything. They'll be disappointed considering the way they performed, but from our point of view we were very professional and it's a fantastic victory against a team that played their best."

With victory in Bristol, West Ham are through to the last-16 for the first time since reaching the quarter-finals in 2010/11. With many of the Barclays Premier League's big guns having already been fired out of the competition, the manager believes West Ham have a great chance to go all the way to Wembley this season. "We've got a better chance than normal because we're not going to be drawing Manchester City or Chelsea or Tottenham and we've already seen off Everton, so that gives us a better chance. "It'll never be easy against a Middlesbrough or Bradford, but you would rather have them in the hat than a Chelsea, Tottenham or Manchester City. "Hopefully we'll get a good draw, a home draw and we can progress even farther than we have today."

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Jenko glad to come through tough test
WHUFC.com
Carl Jenkinson said the Hammers had to show their mettle to defeat Bristol City on Sunday
25.01.2015

Carl Jenkinson was not surprised by the questions asked of West Ham United by Sky Bet League One high-flyers Bristol City on Sunday. The Hammers progressed through to the fifth round of the FA Cup thanks to Diafra Sakho's 81st minute header, but not before the Robins had two Matt Smith efforts cleared off the line by Mark Noble and Andy Carroll. West Ham eventually took control of the contest to get their winner and on-loan right back Jenkinson was delighted to have thrown their name into the hat for Monday's draw. "It was always going to be that sort of FA Cup tie," he said. "It was very important to keep a clean sheet - we did that and scored a great goal. "It was difficult because they were a good side, especially in the first half. We came more into the game as it went on and to be fair they did get some balls into the box. They were a handful from set pieces as they had some big lads and we tried to nullify that as much as we could. "We did in the main - they didn't have too many clear cut chances other than a couple in the first half and we were always going to have to ride the storm a little bit. "We're very happy with the result in the end."

The Hammers have now kept successive clean sheets and Jenkinson knows how vital that is towards maintaining their good form - as well as the strikers being sharp in front of goal. He continued: "As a defender it's always nice to keep the ball out of the net - we've got a strong defensive unit now. That's not just the keeper and the back four but the midfield's doing a good job as well. "We have a good understanding. We're doing well defensively at the moment and that's a good sign. "Diafra knows where the back of the net is and it was a nice header. I think the credit has to go to Andy. He did some fantastic work out on the right and put in a tremendous ball. "It was a well-worked goal and I'm glad it was those two involved because they're our strikers and we want them getting goals."

Saturday may have been a day of dramatic FA Cup shocks, but West Ham did their bit to ensure Sunday was not a repeat, and having been involved in a cup winning effort with Arsenal last term, Jenkinson would love another tilt at glory. He continued: "We don't want to get too carried away but there were some good results yesterday for the smaller teams. We just think about ourselves and focused on our own game on Sunday. "We didn't worry about the upsets or who we would be getting in the next round. We focused on Bristol City and I think it worked. "It would be fantastic [to have another run]. Last year at Arsenal we took it one game at a time and that's what we've got to do here. "I think we're doing well at that. We're concentrating and taking it game-by-game - we're not getting too carried away whether it be in the league or the cup. "We've had a couple of good results now and it's important that we kick on because we have some tough fixtures coming up."

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Bristol City 0 West Ham 1
25 January 2015
Last updated at 16:33
By Steve Canavan
BBC Sport

Diafra Sakho headed a late winner as West Ham withstood a frantic start from Bristol City to book their place in the FA Cup fifth round.
The League One side dominated the opening exchanges at a sell-out Ashton Gate and striker Matt Smith twice had headers cleared off the line. But West Ham kept their composure and Sakho headed in Andy Carroll's tempting cross nine minutes from the end. Sakho, who came on as a 56th minute substitute, also hit the crossbar. Bristol City went into the contest in imperious form, on the back of four straight wins and with just one defeat in their last 12 outings. Much of the Robins' success in League One this season has been built on a strong defence. They have conceded just 22 goals in 25 league games and sit joint-top alongside Swindon. And Steve Cotterill's team began in confident fashion, with the pace of Luke Freeman and the height and physical presence of forward Smith causing the Hammers problems.
Twice Smith had headers cleared off the line, first by Mark Noble before Andy Carroll came to West Ham's rescue with a superb clearance after keeper Adrian was again beaten by Smith. Carroll had his arm raised but television replays showed he used his head to clear the ball.
The Hammers, who are seventh in the Premier League and unbeaten since the turn of the year, improved markedly after the break, especially after the introduction of Sakho and fellow substitute Morgan Amalfitano. Sakho gave warning of what was to come when he clipped the crossbar with a strong shot. His goal came courtesy of good work on the right by Carroll, who delivered an inviting cross which Sakho headed past Frank Fielding. Smith had one last headed attempt for the home side, connecting with Jay Emmanuel-Thomas's stoppage-time cross but he put his effort wide of the post. The Hammers had reached the fourth round courtesy of a 9-8 penalty shoot-out replay win over Everton and West Ham manager Sam Allardyce had made it clear to his players that he did not want to waste that hard work. After a weekend of shocks, with Chelsea and Manchester City losing, West Ham avoided going the same way.

West Ham boss Sam Allardyce: "I knew it was going to be tough and it was exactly that. Bristol City showed why they are where they are in their league. "We found it difficult to get our passing game going but thankfully Andy's cross and Sakho's header was all we needed to get a very important win. "This is a pretty big result for us."

Bristol City boss Steve Cotterill: "We've played like that for most of the season but we had to score in that first half hour because our tempo was so good. "I was surprised at how many times we got a look at their goal. But overall I am very proud of the lads."

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All eyes on number 15
KUMb.com
Filed: Sunday, 25th January 2015
By: Staff Writer

West Ham United have been allocated the number 15 ball for tomorrow night's FA Cup fifth round draw. The Hammers are in the pot having beaten Bristol City 1-0 at Ashton Gate this afternoon courtesy of Diafra Sakho's late strike, and join 20 other teams in the draw.
With half of the Premier League having been dumped out of the competition already, West Ham are now the third-highest ranked team left in the competition behind only Manchester United (fourth in the BPL table) and Arsenal (fifth). The draw takes place at 7.20pm (GMT) on Monday evening and may be seen live here on KUMB (link to be announced tomorrow). The full set of numbers for the fifth round draw are as follows:

1. Crystal Palace
2. Cambridge United or Manchester United
3. Blackburn Rovers
4. Bradford City
5. Derby County
6. Preston North End or Sheffield United
7. West Bromwich Albion
8. Aston Villa
9. Reading
10. Liverpool or Bolton
11. Leicester City
12. Arsenal
13. Rochdale or Stoke City
14. Sunderland or Fulham
15. West Ham
16. Middlesbrough

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West Ham boss Sam Allardyce admits relief after 1-0 win at Bristol City
Last Updated: 25/01/15 5:56pm
SSN

Sam Allardyce admitted he was relieved after West Ham beat Bristol City 1-0 to avoid joining the list of big-name FA Cup fourth-round casualties. Substitute Diafra Sakho broke City hearts with an 81st-minute winner, rising at the far post to beat goalkeeper Frank Fielding after Andy Carroll had done well to cross from the right. The outcome was harsh on the League One high-flyers and Allardyce admitted to be fearing the worse early on. "I expected us to play a lot better than we did," Allardyce said. "In the end one moment of quality has put us in the next round and that is the most important thing. "All credit to Bristol City for never being overawed and taking their league form, which has been outstanding, into the FA Cup. Twice the visitors were forced to clear the ball off the line as Matt Smith caused the Hammers rearguard all sorts of problems, but Allardyce's men stood firm, and the West Ham boss believes withstanding the physicality of the home side was key to victory. "Keeping a clean sheet made all the difference and it was a hard-earned victory for us," Allardyce added. "They had their best spell in the opening 15 or 20 minutes, but we battled all the way through to make that one bit of quality count. "With the size Bristol have in their team, we knew we had to protect ourselves as best we could from set-pieces. We put players on each post because we felt at some point they would get headers at our goal and it proved a wise tactic. "How far we can go in the competition will depend on the draw. We will have to face Premier League opposition at some point if we progress, but I would rather leave that until the final!"

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Substitute Diafra Sakho grabs late winner as West Ham earn 1-0 win at Bristol City
By Pete Hall - @PeteHall86. Last Updated: 25/01/15 8:12pm
SSN

Substitute Diafra Sakho popped up at the back post to help West Ham secure a 1-0 win at Bristol City in the FA Cup fourth round. With the game seemingly heading for a replay, Andy Carroll picked out his strike partner Diafra Sakho with just nine minutes left to head the Hammers through. The League One high flyers looked like the Premier League team in the opening period as they played neat, intricate football to try and break the Premier League side down. Twice in the first half the visitors had to clear the ball off the line from Matt Smith headers, with Carroll's efforts underneath his own crossbar especially impressive. After the break the pace of the game slowed somewhat as West Ham started to get a foothold in the match. Sakho clipped the top of the crossbar with a thunderous strike from a tight angle as it looked like the visitors would be frustrated by the determined League One side. However, the Senegalese striker arrived in the right place at the right time after superb work from Carroll to pick him out to snatch victory for the Sam Allardyce's men as they continued to impress this season. Right from the word go, the home side showed why they are flying high in League One, and actually looked like they were the Premier League side as Sam Allardyce's men struggled to cope with their pace on the counter.

The first of Smith's chances came in just the fifth minute, as he looped a header form a corner over Adrian in the West Ham goal, but Mark Noble got behind his 'keeper to head away. West Ham struggled to get out of their own half early on as the Robins continued to dominate. Luke Freeman was the instigator of all that was good about the hosts, and he was inches away on several occasions from finding that killer pass. Smith then thought he had broken the deadlock with another powerful header, but Carroll brilliantly got his head to it to divert Smith's effort over the bar. Carroll was then at his favoured end of the pitch, getting on the end of a firm Carl Jenkinson cross, but his stab at goal was well saved by an otherwise untested Frank Fielding in the home goal. After the break the visitors came into the contest much more as the League One side tired. The arrival of Sakho and Morgan Amalfitano added more impetus to the Hammers attack, and along with Carroll, they started to cause the hosts some problems. Stewart Downing fired over the bar as he arrived late in the box before Sakho came mightily close to breaking the deadlock. Picking up the ball in a wide position, Sakho flicked the ball over his own head and unleashed a ferocious effort at goal, which beat Fielding, but clipped the top of the crossbar. The Senegalese hitman wasn't to be outdone however, but the plaudits must go to Carroll for the assist for West Ham's winner. The former Liverpool striker brought a bouncing ball under control and clipped a perfect cross to the back post which picked out an unmarked Sakho, who found the roof of the net from close range. Smith again looked most likely to get on the scoresheet for the home side, but his header in the dying moments flew just wide with Adrian struggling to get across. The result sees West Ham avoid being another Premier League scalp on a weekend of shocks, but the Robins can be proud of their efforts, as they more than held their own against superior opposition.

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Bristol City 0-1 West Ham: Diafra Sakho heads Hammers past the Robins into the fifth round
Jan 25, 2015 22:00 By Mike Walters
The Senegalese clambered off the bench to meet an Andy Carroll cross and ensure Sam Allardyce's men will be in the hat for Monday's draw
The Mirror

Andy Carroll was the headline act on Pie and Mash of the Day as gritty West Ham broke the cider house rules. Saviour at one end with a ­brilliant goalline clearance, Carroll created Diafra Sakho's 81st-minute winner at Ashton Gate. The Hammers lived ­dangerously at times, but 35 years after the Cup was paraded through the East End, Sam Allardyce's men are marching on Wembley again. Twelve months ago, Allardyce was clinging on to his job after losing 5-0 at Notingham Forest in the FA Cup and 9-0 on ­aggregate to Manchester City in the Capital One Cup semi-finals... but look at him now. So many big guns have fallen by the wayside, this could be the year he finally lands a trophy. "We were never at our best, but we did enough to get through to the next round, which is the most important thing," admitted Allardyce after surviving a scare in Cider country. "I told the players, 'Don't be victims, don't be another casualty of Cup shocks, make sure you are utterly ­professional in everything you do' – and they were. I'm just glad we are not one of the bigger teams crying all the way home this weekend, and in the end that one bit of quality we produced for the goal was all it needed. "As we have seen over the past couple of days, a team can be inspired by the FA Cup and although there is a big gap between the Premier League and the lower divisions in terms of finance, the gap in quality is not as big as everyone thinks. "Bristol City took their League form into this game and they were not overawed."

City boss Steve Cotterill can be chippier than Chippy Minton, the carpenter in toddlers' TV serial Trumpton, but he was ­entitled to go home with matching chips on each shoulder. Tenacious, spirited and well-organised, the Robins deserved a replay at Upton Park. For an hour, until Sakho joined the fray, City were more purposeful, more threatening, more convincing in all ­departments. Cotterill can be proud of the way his League One front runners gave the Hammers a fright, ­especially in the first half-hour when Mark Noble and, especially, Carroll were required to make urgent interventions to clear off the line from Matt Smith. And from an unfavourable angle, young midfielder Joe Bryan drove a decent chance beyond Adrian's left-hand post. But when Sakho replaced the ineffective Enner Valencia 12 minutes into the second half, West Ham were transformed from toothless to ruthless. Sakho soon made his presence felt by clipping the bar with a nifty half-volley, but City did not heed the warning and nine minutes from time the ­Senegalese striker delivered the proverbial knockout blow. Carroll, surging to the ­dead-ball line on the right-hand edge of the box, somehow managed to squeeze his cross to the far post, where Sakho – out injured since New Year's Day – rose to head his 10th goal of the season under the angle of bar and post.

Allardyce added: "One moment of quality has put us in the next round and that is the most important thing. "Keeping a clean sheet made all the difference and it was a hard-earned victory for us. They had their best spell in the opening 15 or 20 minutes, but we battled all the way through. "With the size Bristol have in their team, we knew we had to protect ourselves as best we could from set-pieces. We put players on each post because we felt at some point they would get headers at our goal – and it proved a wise tactic. "How far we can go in the competition will depend on the draw. We will have to face Premier League opposition at some point if we progress, but I would rather leave that until the final!"

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Cup glory can boost the Song cause!
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on January 25, 2015 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

An FA Cup winning season is likely to put another brick in the Alex Song wall! Until now all the talk has been of pride and glory but a winning appearance at Wembley in the final of this competition is far more important to West Ham than any of that, Generally speaking there are three UEFA Europa League places given to English clubs who fulfil the following criteria: winning the FA Cup, winning the Capital One Cup and finishing fifth in the Barclays Premier League.

This may well be our best chance of making Europe and and it would be a huge boost to our hopes of persuading Song his future is with us.
The Song issue has been way up on their on the agenda almost since he arrived and that's another reason why today's match takes on such an importance. Sam Allardyce says: "It is whether Alex wants to stay, if he wants to stay then I would want him to stay of course.
"Whether it is financially feasible we will see. If a greater size entices him away or if Alex says he wants to further his career with West Ham after what he has done this year, then great."

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Fletcher record makes grim reading
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on January 25, 2015 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

Darren Fletcher remains at the centre of rumours tonight that he has – or is about – to sign a deal with the Irons in a deal driven entirely by manager Sam Allardyce. But none of our regular sources have confirmed that either a two and a half or three and a half year deal has been done on the 30 year old.

The player's injury track record remains a big worry for the 'financial heads' inside the club along with the fact that he has only completed two games for United this season.

And you have to ask if he's not good enough for the United first team why would consider him a prize acquisition. He lasted 90 minutes in two early season games against Swansea and Burnley, appeared for 63 mins against Sunderland, 25 against us, a minute apiece against Crystal Palace, Southampton and Arsenal, 16 mins against Hull, four against Stoke and 46 and 28 against Aston Villa and Newcastle.

He has spent 90 mins on the bench against QPR, Leicester City, Everton, West Brom, Chelsea, Manchester City, Liverpool, Spurs and Stoke City and has not been involved in the squad over the last two games

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Super 'Sak' returns a conquering hero
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on January 25, 2015 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

Priceless Diafra Sakho came off the bench to send the Irons into the velvet bag for the fifth round draw of the FA Cup. The striker rose at the far post (pictured) to head home an Andy Carroll cross from close range in the 81st minute on a comeback appearance. Sakho's goal was a massive relief given the pressure the Irons had been forced to soak up throughout the 80 minutes as the Keague One put the pressure on and never rook their foot off the gas. Giant striker Matt Smith was a constant threat seeing an early shot blocked by James Tomkins and presenting constant aerial problems. Mark Noble was forced to produce a clearing header off the line from the big man before Bryan shot wide of a far post with Adrian well beaten.

It was Smith though who dominated and his counterpart Andy Carroll was forced to clear off the Irons goal line again from another towering effort. The Hammers had been unable to find any rhythm or serious energy in a first half totally dominated by City although there were signs the Hammers were finding a toehold as the first half ended. Emmanuel-Thomas' had the first chance of the second half but although on target, Adrian was right behind his free kick, saving with ease. The arrival of Sakho though started to change the flow of the game and the Irons produced a good move which saw Cresswell cut the ball back for him but keeper Flint blocked. The Senegal hitman though was close when skimming the crossbar after bringing the ball under control brilliantly. And just six minutes later 'Sak' got his reward when Carroll's persistence on the right saw him make space for the cross and his partner arrived to crash home a header from close range. He then produced his trademark run to the fans arms crossed across his chest – he is the MAN! It was never easy. It was never pretty but after the shocks of yesterday we are through an looking towards Wembley.

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Fletcher: No deal…much doubt
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on January 25, 2015 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

No deal has yet been done to bring Darren Fletcher to Upton Park. Despite widespread rumours on forums that the player has agreed a three and a half year deal, ClaretandHugh has been told within the last few minutes: "There's no deal." And we also learned that the player will need to face a very stern medical should the club decide to push things further down the road. A top insider told us exclusively a few minutes ago: "There's no deal on Fletcher at this stage. He hasn't even had a medical yet and were we to go further with this, we would do a very strict medical." Whilst Sam Allardyce is desperately keen to push a deal through there remains much doubt about taking the player among important Boleyn 'faces.' One said: "It's very much a Sam deal. Some of us aren't so sure. He's obviously out of favour at Old Trafford. "There are doubts among several of us here and as I say he'll face a very strong medical before we even consider taking it further."

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Karren Brady reacts to West Ham United's win v Bristol City in FA Cup
HITC
Subhankar Mondal
1 hour ago

West Ham United edged past Bristol City 1-0 away from home in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Sunday. West Ham United vice-chairman Karren Brady has taken to social networking site Twitter to revel in the team's success in the FA Cup. Premier League outfit West Ham booked their place in the fifth round of the prestigious competition with a narrow 1-0 victory over Bristol City on Sunday. Diafra Sakho's goal nine minutes from full time proved to be the difference between the two sides at the Ashton Gate Stadium. It was not the best of performances from the Hammers, who could have easily lost the fourth-round tie had City been able to take their chances.
That did not affect Brady's mood, though, as she was just pleased to see Sam Allardyce's side progress to the last-16 stage of the FA Cup. After the victory in Bristol, the West Ham vice-chairman took to Twitter to express her delight.

Karren Brady ✔ @karren_brady
So pleased - into the next round of the FA CUP, season just keeps getting better and better

West Ham are having a fabulous season and are very much in with a chance of finishing in the top four of the Premier League. The Hammers are currently seventh in the league table with 36 points from 22 matches, just four points behind fourth-placed Manchester United.

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