Daily WHUFC News - 15th March 2015

Arsenal 3-0 West Ham United
WHUFC.com

Arsenal took a big step toward ensuring UEFA Champions League football stays
in north London with a resounding 3-0 win over West Ham United. In a
dominant display, goals from Olivier Giroud, Aaron Ramsey and Mathieu
Flamini proved too much for the Hammers, despite a spirited performance. In
a highly entertaining first half, the Gunners were on top as they had
several chances to open the scoring, yet the Hammers had an inspired Adrian
to thank as he pulled off a string of excellent saves. The Gunners managed
to break the deadlock on the stroke of half-time when Olivier Giroud struck
a fierce shot in off the far post, leaving the Spanish goalkeeper little
chance of getting his gloves to it. While the north London outfit enjoyed
the lion's share of possession, Sam Allardyce's men had a handful of chances
of their own – the best fell to captain Kevin Nolan as he volleyed Matt
Jarvis' pinpoint cross goal bound forcing a smart save from David Ospina.
The warning signs for Allardyce's men had been there from the off as Theo
Walcott burst through the backline twice in the opening five minutes, only
to be halted by a last ditch tackle from James Collins. Replays suggested
the Welshmen had clipped the England international's heels, however referee
Chris Foy waved away the appeals.

Into the second half, the Hammers appeared to gather themselves as they
began to enjoy more territory and possession. Diafra Sakho was a constant
menace to the Arsenal backline, however he was too often isolated up front.
The Claret and Blues best chance of finding an equaliser fell to Matt Jarvis
whose shot flew narrowly over after Stewart Downing's corner fell to the
winger just inside the box.
While the Hammers pressed for an equalizer, they left themselves vulnerable
to the counter attack. Mesut Ozil went closest to doubling the lead for
Arsene Wenger's side, however Adrian, again, was on hand to save his side.


Sensing that Arsenal's missed opportunities may come back to haunt them,
Wenger bought on reinforcements in the shape of Danny Welbeck and Santi
Cazorla to try and seal the victory. As the game wore on, it became an
increasingly more frantic affair with tempers beginning to boil over. The
game was put beyond doubt ten minutes from time when Aaron Ramsey capped off
an impressive performance with the Gunners' second of the match. The Welsh
midfielder stabbed home from close range following a skilful 1-2 with
Olivier Giroud after a quickly taken throw in. As the Hammers began to tire,
Allardyce brought on Nene in the hope of finding some inspiration yet it was
Arsenal substitute Matheiu Flamini who sealed the victory with his first
touch, rolling the ball home from three yards out from fellow replacement
Cazorla's low cross.

Arsenal: Ospina, Chambers, Mertesacker (c), Koscielny, Monreal, Coquelin,
Ramsey, Walcott (Cazorla 72), Ozil (Flamini 83), Sanchez (Welbeck 65),
Giroud
Subs: Szczesny, Gibbs, Akpom, Bellerin

West Ham United: Adrian, O'Brien, Collins, Kouyate, Cresswell, Song, Noble
(Nene 82), Nolan (c), Jarvis (Amalfitano 75), Downing, Sakho
Subs: Jaaskelainen, Demel, Onariase, Poyet, Cullen

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'Sucker punches' floor Hammers
WHUFC.com

Anybody picking up their Sunday newspaper and flicking through the football
pages will see the scoreline 'Arsenal 3 West Ham United 0'.
However, the final score does not tell the full story of a game that the
Hammers were right in the thick of until the final ten minutes.
With Adrian ignoring the pain of a dislocated finger suffered in the
warm-up, West Ham held firm until the final seconds of added time at the end
of the first half, when Olivier Giroud sent an unstoppable shot past the
Spaniard. The visitors came out fighting at the Emirates and could have
levelled, only for Mark Noble and Matt Jarvis to fire over the top when
well-placed. As the Hammers tired, those misses cost them dear as Aaron
Ramsey and substitute Mathieu Flamini wrapped up the three points with two
goals in the closing stages.

Assistant manager Neil McDonald felt the final score was harsh on a West Ham
shorn of a host of injured and ineligible players. "We were right in it
until they scored their second goal," said McDonald. "We also had to recover
from the sucker punch of them scoring in the final five seconds of the first
half. "Even though they breached us a couple of times, Adrian has made some
fantastic saves to keep us in the game early on, so that goal knocked the
stuffing out of us right on half-time. "The team talk did not really change
– we had to pass the ball and move up the pitch a little bit better and try
to put them under pressure. The players listened to what the manager said
and we had the ball on the front foot a little bit better. "We got in behind
them and created a couple of chances, but we didn't take them and then we
got hit with another sucker punch with two goals in quick succession, as
Arsenal sometimes do at home. "We were disappointed with their second goal,
as it came from a throw-in situation and we work very hard on stopping the
opposition scoring from set plays.

"The second goal killed us and didn't really give us a chance to get back
into the game, then their third one shouldn't have happened because we
should have shut up shop and not allowed it. "Game-plan wise it wasn't too
bad in the first half and the response from the players was really good,
considering we have got a few important players injured. The goalkeeper was
also absolutely magnificent, considering he dislocated his finger before the
game."

Nobody would have deduced Adrian's injury from his outstanding display,
which saw the No13 make splendid saves to deny Alexis Sanchez twice, Aaron
Ramsey and Mesut Ozil. "He was very brave in playing on and made some
important saves," McDonald confirmed. "Then they probably had three chances
in the second half and scored two, which is how clinical you have to be at
this level." With a difficult run of results now stretching to one win in 12
league matches, the assistant boss knows West Ham have to take advantage of
a kinder fixture list going forward. After facing six of the current top
seven since 31 January, the Hammers host Sunderland, travel to Leicester
City and welcome Stoke City in their next three games. "Football is all
about results, and of course it is. We've played a lot of the top teams
recently and we've competed against them – yes, we've drawn games we should
have won and lost some but these are difficult games. "The manager has been
really please with most of the performances but this game is all about
results. Hopefully the next few games are a good set of games to put some
points on the board and get the confidence back. "We've competed against
some of the best teams in the league, so let's see how we can do in these
next few games and put some big points on the board and get us back up the
table to where we were before we played the top six."

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Mixed emotions for Matt
WHUFC.com

Matt Jarvis held mixed emotions after Saturday's 3-0 reverse at Arsenal. The
28-year-old winger was back in Sam Allardyce's starting XI for a Barclays
Premier League fixture for the first time since November, but was unable to
help his team from falling to defeat. He was frustrated to concede the
opening goal right on half-time, when it looked as though a string of fine
saves from Adrian was going to get West Ham through to the interval level,
and said the Gunners' goals came at bad times. "It's mixed for me really,"
he said. "I was delighted to get back in the team and play, but gutted with
the final result and really wish we didn't concede right on half time.
"That knocked us. Going in to half time at 0-0 would have been great and
allowed us to set our stall out for the second half, but it was a great
finish from Giroud. "One of the things we wanted to do was get in behind,
put crosses in and create chances. For spells we did that and it would have
been nice to get the first goal and see what happened from there."

Jarvis was involved in two of the Hammers' best chances of the afternoon,
crossing for Kevin Nolan to force a good save from David Ospina in the first
half, before volleying over the bar after half time. He continued: "Kevin
struck it really well, it was just a great save and it would have been his
100th goal which would have been great for him. "For my chance, it got
headed out, I managed to chest it and had to take the volley as quickly as I
could and unfortunately I just skied it. "This is a tough place to come to,
but when you look at the 3-0 scoreline it looks like a bad day at the
office. I think we did well in spells though, and that's what we need to
take into next week's game against Sunderland."

With just one of the division's top seven to face in the closing nine games
of the season, Jarvis is confident the Hammers can end strongly to push back
up the table. He explained: "We need to get the win on Saturday and
kick-start us for the back end of the season and push back up as high as we
can."

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Hammers held by Seagulls
WHUFC.com

West Ham United fought out a tough 0-0 draw against Brighton & Hove Albion
U18 at Rush Green on Saturday morning. After finishing the regular season in
6th place in the Barclays U18 Premier League South, the Hammers welcomed 8th
placed Brighton to Rush Green as both sides looked to start the play offs
with a victory. Brighton came out strong in the first half and had the best
chance on goal when Jordan Maguire Drew attempted an audacious long range
lob from the half way line, which was tipped over by Hammers keeper Sam
Howes. In the second half, both sides spurned chances to secure the points
and the game faded out into a stalemate. U18 coach Mark Phillips once again
named an extremely young team, with three of the back four all currently
still at schoolboy status with the club. Declan Rice and Tunji Akinola
paired up in the central of defence, while England U16 international left
back Vashon Neufville again stepping up for a spot in the starting lineup.

Further forward, Noha Sylvestre came into the centre of midfield and Man
City triallist Martin Samuelson came in to the Hammers attack.
In the early stages of the game, Brighton pushed forward looking for the
early advantage in the game. Connor Tighe and Ragnar Mar Larusson both
attempted shots on target in the opening ten minutes to keep Hammers keeper
Howes on his toes. After that spell though, the hosts grew with confidence
and Brighton started to get pushed back into their own half. Samuelsen and
winger Joe Powell were instrumental in the Hammers working their way back
into the game. Powell fired high over the bar from 18 yards after 15
minutes, before the young winger crossed for Hector-Ingram to head wide
while Samuelsen's shot was blocked.

As the game progressed towards half time, Maguire Drew went inches away from
putting the visitors ahead at the break. After spotting Howes off his line,
the Brighton midfielder looked up and fired a long range lob over the top of
the Hammers keeper, which looked like it was heading in until Howes managed
to get a fingertip to the ball to clear for a corner. Into the second half
and Brighton came out as strong in the second period as they did in the
first. Connor Pring failed to keep his long range shot on target, before
Maguire Drew curled a corner straight off the crossbar.

The Hammers responded positively and they managed to launch a few attacks of
their own, through dangerous crosses by substitute Oscar Borg and Neufville,
however no West Ham player could get on the end of them. After that, the
game faded out and ended in a 0-0 draw, giving both clubs a single point on
the board as thy look to finish as high up the middle group table as
possible. West Ham's second play off fixtures is when they travel away to
Derby County U18 on Saturday 21st March 2015, with kick off scheduled for
12pm. Live updates of that fixture will be available on Twitter by following
our U18 reporter @tommywathen and the hashtag '#WHU18'.

U18: Howes, Pike, Akinola, Rice, Neufville, Sylvestre, Carter, Powell,
Samuelsen, Daingana (Borg), Hector-Ingram.
Subs not used: Boness, Eggleton.

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On this day - 15 March
WHUFC.com

Anniversary

Frank Neary
Date of birth: 6 March 1921
Died: 17 November 2004

Clubs: Queens Park Rangers, West Ham United, Leyton Orient, Queens Park
Rangers, Millwall, Gravesend Few, if any, players in the history of West Ham
United have found the net as regularly as Frank Neary. The Aldershot-born
centre forward scored an amazing 15 goals in just 17 appearances for the
Hammers between February and September 1947, bagging one hat-trick and
scoring twice in a match on no fewer than five occasions.

The aforementioned hat-trick came along on 15 March 1947 - 67 years ago
today - in a 3-2 home Division Two victory over West Bromwich Albion. Neary
had joined the Hammers from Queens Park Rangers for £4,000 in January of the
same year, replacing Joe Payne, who had departed for Millwall.

Neary made an electric start to his career in claret and blue, scoring twice
in 3-0 home wins over Newport County and Swansea Town before hitting his
treble against the Baggies. The former Army PT instructor ended the 1946/47
campaign with 15 goals in 14 league starts.

After playing three times at the start of the following season, during which
he failed to score, Neary departed for Division Three South club Leyton
Orient for a fee of just £2,000. Rumours abounded of the reasons for his
sudden exit, with one story that emerged following his death suggesting the
forward had been allowed to leave after an on-field altercation with an
opponent was spotted by Chairman WJ Cearns.

Whatever the truth of the matter, Neary departed, but the goals continued to
flow - 44 in 78 league appearances for Leyton Orient, five in 19 for QPR and
50 in 123 games for Millwall. On dropping into the non-league ranks, he
bagged 17 in the same number of matches for Gravesend before hanging up his
boots in 1954.

Classic Match

West Ham United 2-1 Blackburn Rovers
Premier League
15 March 2008

A home-grown Hammer stepped off the bench to halt West Ham's alarming slump
with the winning goal to defeat Blackburn Rovers at the Boleyn Ground. A run
of three 4-0 defeats had sent the east Londoners into a worrying spell of
form, but that was quickly forgotten as they got back on track against
Rovers. Freddie Sears enjoyed a debut to remember as he headed the Hammers
to victory in the 81st minute after replacing Nolberto Solano. Earlier,
Roque Santa Cruz had put the visitors ahead after 19 minutes before Dean
Ashton levelled matters six minutes before half-time.

Complete record - 15 March

1924 West Ham United 2-1 Everton (Division One)
1930 Everton 1-2 West Ham United (Division One)
1947 West Ham United 3-2 West Bromwich Albion (Division Two)
1952 Leicester City 3-1 West Ham United (Division Two)
1958 Huddersfield Town 3-1 West Ham United (Division Two)
1975 West Ham United 2-1 Burnley (Division Two)
1980 Newcastle United 0-0 West Ham United (Division Two)
1985 West Ham United 2-2 Manchester United (Division One)
1986 Arsenal 1-0 West Ham United (Division One)
1995 Southampton 1-1 West Ham United (Premier League)
1997 Aston Villa 0-0 West Ham United (Premier League)
2003 Everton 0-0 West Ham United (Premier League)
2005 West Ham United 1-1 Crewe Alexandra (Championship)
2006 West Ham United 2-1 Bolton Wanderers (FA Cup fifth-round replay)
2008 West Ham United 2-1 Blackburn Rovers (Premier League)
2014 Stoke City 3-1 West Ham United (Premier League)

Played 16, Won 6, Drawn 6, Lost 4, Scored 22, Conceded 19

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Arsenal 3-0 West Ham Utd
KUMB.com
Filed: Saturday, 14th March 2015
By: Staff Writer

West Ham fell to a predictably lame defeat at the Emirates this afternoon -
albeit one only cemented by two late goals.

The Hammers, bereft of several first team players due to a lengthening
injury list managed to frustrate Arsenal for much of the opening 80 minutes
- so much so that Olivier Giroud's goal on the cusp on half time was the
only time the hosts managed to breach United's resolute defence.

But with Sam Allardyce's side retreating further and further as time wore on
it was inevitable that Arsenal would add to their sole strike, which they
duly did through goals from Ramsey (81 minutes) and Flamini (84).

West Ham went into the game missing three of their first-choice defenders,
including central pairing James Tomkins and Winston Reid plus on-loan Carl
Jenkinson who was ineligible to play. Enner Valencia joined Andy Carroll on
the sick list during midweek, leaving Diafra Sakho to plough a lone furrow
up front today.

The game began as expected, with the home side pinning West Ham into their
own half for all but the odd sporadic burst forward from Big Sam's boys.
Still, it took Arsenal 15 minutes to fashion a real chance of note, that
coming from Alexis Sanchez who forced a good stop from Adrian - the first of
many he'd go on to make, on a busy afternoon for the Spaniard.

The Hammers responded seven minutes later with their only shot on target all
afternoon, a dipping volley from the reinstated Kevin Nolan that required a
smart stop from David Ospina.

From thereon it was practically all Arsenal, with Adrian denying Ramsey,
Sanchez and Walcott (twice) before Olivier Giroud broke the deadlock in
first half injury time. The French striker fired across Adrian into his far
(right) corner, a single second after the minimum one minute of added-on
time was played.

The timing couldn't have been much worse for West Ham, who were a matter of
seconds from entering the half time interval on level terms. As it was, both
managers' team talks were suddenly very different.

The second half provided very little for the travelling 3,000-strong Hammers
contingent to get excited about, although the single-goal deficit ensured
the game remained competitive until nine minutes from time when Ramsey's
one-two with goalscorer Giroud led to a second, decisive strike.

As if that wasn't enough (it clearly was), the Gunners heaped further misery
upon West Ham by adding a third goal three minutes later. Flamini, who had
been on the field for less than a minute having replaced Ozil converted a
low cross from Santi Cazorla to secure all three points for Arsenal.

Next up for West Ham come Sunderland, who were smashed 4-0 at home this
afternoon by the previously goal-shy Aston Villa. With only one Premier
League win in 2015, that is a game that Allardyce and his team - whose
positive goal difference (+2) is dwindling away on a weekly basis - really
need to win.

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Arsenal 3-0 West Ham: Olivier Giroud, Aaron Ramsey and Mathieu Flamini score
By Peter Smith. Last Updated: 14/03/15 7:25pm
SSN

Olivier Giroud, Aaron Ramsey and Mathieu Flamini fired Arsenal to their
fifth Premier League win in a row as they moved to within one point of
second-placed Manchester City with a 3-0 win over West Ham at the Emirates.
France striker Giroud – who has now scored five times in his last five
matches against West Ham – struck just before half-time and then combined
with Ramsey on 81 minutes for Arsenal's second before linking up with Santi
Cazorla, who teed-up fellow sub Flamini for a third six minutes from time.
Arsenal's win was their ninth in a row over their London rivals and, coupled
with Man City's shock defeat to Burnley on Saturday Night Football, opens
the door for a second-place finish.

West Ham were out-played for much of the opening half – in which Theo
Walcott missed three clear-cut opportunities – and although Sam Allardyce's
side improved after the restart they are now without a win in their last
eight in all competitions. Arsenal had begun the week by beating Manchester
United to reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup and started brightly against
West Ham as they aimed to strengthen their position in the Champions League
qualifying spots. The hosts should have been ahead with just five minutes on
the clock when a clever flick from Giroud released Walcott in the box but he
delayed his shot too long and referee Chris Foy then waved away penalty
appeals when James Collins tumbled the forward without touching the ball.

Alexis Sanchez then drew a fine save from Adrian – but Kevin Nolan
demonstrated West Ham's threat on the break when he connected with a Matt
Jarvis cross and tested David Ospina with a powerful volley. At the other
end, Giroud found the side-netting from a tight angle and Ramsey – making
his first start in over a month – forced Adrian to tip the ball over the bar
from Calum Chambers' centre as Arsenal resumed control. Walcott then wasted
a golden opportunity to break the deadlock, shooting tamely at the West Ham
'keeper when clean through on goal before Mesut Ozil made the same mistake
from close range and Walcott slipped as he tried to convert the rebound into
an unguarded net.

However, Arsenal weren't to be denied a first-half advantage, as Giroud
rifled a powerful left-foot shot into the top corner from 15 yards after
neat build-up play between Ozil and Ramsey in the 45th minute.

West Ham had lost their previous eight matches against Arsenal but made a
positive start to the second half and Jarvis wasted a good chance to
equalise when he fired over the bar from a Stewart Downing corner when well
placed. Arsenal struggled to dominate the game as they had in the first half
but could have doubled their advantage when Ozil found space in the box,
however, the Germany international opted to cross rather than shoot and
Ramsey's subsequent volley flew wide. The Wales midfielder was on target on
81 minutes, though. After playing a smart one-two with Giroud, Ramsey
finished in style from just inside the West Ham box.

Just three minutes later Arsenal had the ball in the net again as sub
Cazorla exchanged passes with Giroud before picking out Flamini at the back
post, who tapped in with one of his first touches of the game. Sub Danny
Welbeck – fresh from warming up alongside fourth official Anthony Taylor,
who replaced injured ref Foy – then saw a late header saved, but by then
Arsenal had comfortably secured all three points. Soccer Saturday - Matt Le
Tissier's verdict: "Arsenal were very comfortable in the end, though they
were not ruthless enough in front of goal in the first half. "Second-half,
West Ham came out right after half-time and gave it a real go, without
really testing Ospina much. In the end, they committed a few more men
forward and got caught on the break. "But the quality of Arsenal's goals
today was outstanding.There was some fantastic little one-touch play around
the box."

Player ratings
Arsenal: Ospina (7), Chambers (7), Koscielny (7), Mertesacker (7), Monreal
(7), Coquelin (7), Ozil (7), Ramsey (8), Sanchez (6), Walcott (6), Giroud
(8).

Subs: Cazorla (7), Flamini (7), Welbeck (6)

West Ham: Adrian (8), Collins (6), Cresswell (6), Kouyate (6), O'Brien (7),
Downing (6), Jarvis (6), Noble (6), Nolan (6), Song (7), Sakho (7).

Subs: Amalfitano (6), Nene (6)

Man of the match: Olivier Giroud

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Bad news: Tomkins surgery on cards
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on March 14, 2015 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

West Ham insiders have this morning told ClaretandHugh fears that James
Tomkins season is probable. Early indications appear to show that he has
suffered some ligament damage from the shoulder he dislocated in training
earlier in the week. That is particularly bad news and is likely to mean he
will be out of action until the end of the season. The scans are not 100 per
cent conclusive but a source told us earlier: "It looks 90 per cent certain
that he is now out for the season. "It hasn't been finalised at this stage
but it looks likely he will need an operation. It's a big blow but we can
keep our finger crossed it's not as bad as it looks initially."

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Kouyate named African player of the month
Posted by Sean Whetstone on March 14, 2015 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

Cheikhou Kouyate has been named February's African Player of the Month in
the Premier League. A statement by the organisers, New African Soccer,
announced the award with awards Director, Tunde Adelakun saying "It was a
really tough decision. February was a short month but with lots of activity;
and every player in the shortlist played a part in making it a big one for
Africans".

"But Kouyate stood out; putting in a solid performance in the heart of the
West Ham midfield all month, and scoring some important goals as well. He
even effectively played in a centre back role against Manchester United,
which made him a good all-rounder in the month. I think he just about edged
it, and many of our followers were in agreement".

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Mr Allardyce looks all out of ideas !
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on March 14, 2015 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

It was all a bit ridiculous – not to mention embarrassing – that there had
been those among us who believed the Irons team of 2014-15 were Champions
League contenders at best and top six as a fall back position. For at the
Emirates this afternoon Arsenal showed Sam Allardyce and the Hammers fans
what sort of team we support – a group of triers who on occasions and
independent of each other can be excellent – think Sakho, Kouyate,
Cresswell, Collins, Downing and the missing Jenkinson and Reid.

Adrian and Collins were our two best players this afternoon in a game which
we had all approached more in hope than expectation. At the end of it only
five words required: Arsenal were just too good. We didn't help ourselves
with some pretty shoddy passing at times and I'm afraid Alex Song was again
guilty of what the stats will probably show was a very poor pass completion
rate. Joey O'Brien was surprisingly decent on the right side, Kouyate did
well at the back and showed lots of energy getting forward whilst Collins
was brilliant defensively at various times.

However, unsurprisingly, neither he or the others could do much against the
quick one touch stuff that undid us three times with such ease. Thirteen
goals in five games under a manager who prides himself as being something of
a defensive formation expert tells its own story. This is a team suffering
under a manager who on the face of it looks to be running out of ideas on
how to arrest the decline. Warm weather training didn't work too well did
it?

Sunderland next and a likely three points. After that I see no more than
nine available against teams with much to play for at the top and bottom. It
all looked so promising once upon a time – now it's becoming clearer with
every game that change is required. I think we will get it but who is to
become West Ham manager No 18 remains anyone's guess!

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No Sam so Macca explains defeat
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on March 14, 2015 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

Well well well Sam Allardyce appears to have done a disappearing trick
following another drubbing leaving his loyal Number Two Neil McDonald to
handle a difficult press conference. Macca is a thoroughly decent and honest
guy but his assessment that "We were right in it until they scored their
second goal," seemed a tad whimsical. He then added: "We also had to recover
from the sucker punch of them scoring in the final five seconds of the first
half. "Even though they breached us a couple of times, Adrian has made some
fantastic saves to keep us in the game early on, so that goal knocked the
stuffing out of us right on half-time. "The team talk did not really change
– we had to pass the ball and move up the pitch a little bit better and try
to put them under pressure. The players listened to what the manager said
and we had the ball on the front foot a little bit better. "We got in behind
them and created a couple of chances, but we didn't take them and then we
got hit with another sucker punch with two goals in quick succession, as
Arsenal sometimes do at home."He ploughed on: "We were disappointed with
their second goal, as it came from a throw-in situation and we work very
hard on stopping the opposition scoring from set plays. "The second goal
killed us and didn't really give us a chance to get back into the game, then
their third one shouldn't have happened because we should have shut up shop
and not allowed it. "Game-plan wise it wasn't too bad in the first half and
the response from the players was really good, considering we have got a few
important players injured. The goalkeeper was also absolutely magnificent,
considering he dislocated his finger before the game."

So there you have it – two sucker punches and a third that shouldn't have
happened. Well at least nobody mentioned the words "injured
players."Sometimes it's as well to be grateful for small mercies!

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Adrian played with dislocated finger
Posted by Sean Whetstone on March 15, 2015 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

Adrian produced an outstanding performance against Arsenal made even more
amazing after it was revealed he was playing the whole game with a
dislocated finger. Assistant manager Neil McDonald left to face the press
after the Hammers 3-0 defeat revealed that Adrian had dislocated his finger
in the warm up but had insisted on playing on "We've lost two (players) this
week and even the goalkeeper has dislocated his finger before the game but
played on, He's dislocated his finger but said he wanted to carry on. He's
been a brave lad today because he could easily have pulled out. And he's
made some great saves. He has his finger strapped up to play and I'm hoping
that if he played today he should allright for next week. He did it in the
warm-up but he wanted to carry on. I haven't ever dis-located my finger so I
don't know how much pain he was in but it's obviously a big thing for a
goalkeeper." said McDonald

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Tevez linked with Hammers yet again
Posted by Sean Whetstone on March 15, 2015 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

Hammers Hero Tevez has been linked to an unlikely return to West Ham by Rob
Shepherd in the Mail on Sunday this morning. He claims the West Ham board
want to bring the 31-year-old back to London as their marquee signing as
they prepare to move to the Olympic Stadium. The £90,000-a-week Argentine
striker has scored 33 goals in 54 matches at Juventus but his contract
expires in 2016.

In 2010 Tevez told the Daily Mail "Their supporters feel football; they are
passionate, these people invested great support in me. I wish to play again
for West Ham before I finish my career. I have some unfinished business
there."

However before anyone gets too excited about Tevez rejoining us in recent
times Tevez has spoken about rejoining his first professional club, Boca
Juniors in Argentina when his current contract comes to an end.

He recently told Tuttosport. "When I signed for three years with Juve, I
said from the start, also to the club, that this would be my last contract
before returning to Boca. But nobody said anything.Then, I said the same
things again, including the fact I would return home at the end of my
contract.But the problem is that when there is no news, they try to pull
something out of nowhere."

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Manager hunt: PL experience crucial factor
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on March 14, 2015 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

West Ham are continuing their manager hunt as the season hits the final
stretch. A well placed source inside the club told ClaretandHugh: "The final
ten games remain absolutely crucial. As things stand at the moment it's
probably 55 to 45 on a new man." However, the choices remain limited as one
essential appears to be that whoever takes over has experience of managing
in the Premier League. We were told: "We cannot appoint a rookie boss –
that's not on. We need to ensure that whoever we may appoint knows the
League and has managed at this level."

Among those who fit such a bill are current favourite David Moyes (4/1),
Rafa Benitez (8/1), Glenn Hoddle (14/1) and Claudio Ranieri (33/1) …(all
odds are approximate depending on which shop or firm you use!). Slaven Bilic
at around 5/1 could also become a non runner if the club decide that Premier
League experience is an absolute MUST. And it's interesting that the much
touted Eddie Howe – seemingly in the process of leading Bournemouth to the
Championship – doesn't appear in the bookies' lists. Moyes is a strong
favourite given that just a year's compensation would be required if he is
head hunted from Real Sociedad but D-day remains some way in the disatance.
The board are aware of the divide among the fans over the managerial
situation and our source said: "That has to be be a factor but the last ten
games are of immediate importance right now."

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Chelsea and Manchester City join United in Gareth Bale chase and is Carlos
Tevez going back to West Ham?
West Ham want a sensational reunion with Carlos Tevez
By ROB SHEPHERD FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 22:46, 14 March 2015 | UPDATED: 01:21, 15 March 2015

Sam Allardyce's days are numbered as West Ham manager. The club are set to
sever his contract on May 25, the day after the last game of the season
against Newcastle. Even if the Hammers have a good end to the season there
is no way back for Allardyce whose current contract expires in July. The 3-0
defeat at Arsenal took West Ham's Premier League run to just one win in 12.
The West Ham board still harbour hopes of luring Carlos Tevez to the club
next season from Juventus in their last season at the Boleyn Ground before
moving to the Olympic Stadium. The club's hierarchy see former cult hero
Tevez as a platinum signing that can help attract a new fan base.

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