Daily WHUFC News - 1st March 2015

'We've let the fans down'
WHUFC.com
Big Sam admitted his players simply did not defend well enough

Three set pieces sent West Ham United spiralling to an unwelcome 3-1 home
defeat by Crystal Palace on Saturday. The Hammers' unwanted recent Barclays
Premier League record stretched to one win in ten games as Jason Puncheon
set up all three goals for Alan Pardew's Eagles. After a bitty start that
saw Mark Noble rattle the crossbar with a free-kick, Puncheon found Glenn
Murray from a corner, and his header went in via Aaron Cresswell's left foot
four minutes before the break. Eight minutes after half-time, the lethargic
Hammers were caught cold again when Puncheon's corner was powered home at
the far post by Scott Dann, then Murray dived in to convert the midfielder's
free-kick and make the game safe. Murray was then sent-off for two bookable
offences and Enner Valencia's rasping effort on 76 gave West Ham hope, but
despite an eye-catching cameo from debutant Nene and laying siege to the
Palace goal in the closing stages, the hosts could not mount a late
comeback. "It was far too late when we were 3-0 down," Big Sam lamented. "I
suppose you could say we hit the woodwork twice and had those gone in, they
could have made all the difference. "The other reason was that we pointed
out the most dangerous side of Crystal Palace in terms of scoring threat was
set plays, with 50 per cent of their goals coming from set plays, and we've
lost the game on three of them. "Irrespective of our performance not being
good enough, if we'd done that part of the job right, Enner Valencia's goal
may have brought us something, but it wasn't to be. "I'm really struggling
with the performance because what we've built for the West Ham fans is an
expectation, particularly against Manchester United, but then Crystal Palace
came here and we've let ourselves down and we've let them down. "We came so
close to getting fabulous victories against Tottenham and Man United, so to
lose 3-1 at home was because we couldn't defend three set plays well enough.
Our main disappointment is that we didn't do well enough to get anything out
of the game."

Of the few positives that the manager could take, two were the performance
of debutant Nene and the return to the Barclays Premier League goals column
for Enner Valencia for the first time in four months. Big Sam and his
players now have to re-group ahead of the visit of leaders Chelsea on
Wednesday evening. On the face of Saturday's performance, West Ham will have
to tighten things up considerably if they are to stop Jose Mourinho's side
from extending their unwanted recent winless run to six matches. "We have
built the expectation and we have to live with it and I don't think we have
lived with the expectation and that's a shame. The lads know they didn't
perform to their best. "When you sit in the league where we sit, the defined
lines are between whether you maintain and improve that level or not, and we
haven't seen it out against Man United or Tottenham, which leaves us with
less points than we should have. "Now, we face Chelsea and Arsenal and it's
been a while since we've won. These are massive asks for us to gain
victories from, but we will certainly try. "That is why the Palace game was
more winnable than the two we faced before and the two games we're going to
face now."

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Tomkins frustrated by Palace reverse
WHUFC.com

James Tomkins spoke of the Hammers' frustration after they slipped to a 3-1
defeat at the hands of Crystal Palace on Saturday. Prior to this meeting
with the Eagles, West Ham had only been defeated by a team lower than them
in the table once this campaign – at Everton in November – so the Boleyn
Ground reverse came as something of a shock to the system. The defender was
disappointed to concede from three set-plays and said it was a performance
out of keeping with the team's season. "It was a frustrating afternoon for
sure," he said. "We were not expected to lose, especially in the fashion we
did. "It was out of character for us. This season we've beaten all the teams
below us in the league, but it wasn't to be on Saturday. "Crystal Palace
frustrated us, sat deep and scored three set plays, which is bad from our
point of view."

Palace's three goals – two for Glenn Murray and the other for Scott Dann –
all came from Jason Puncheon dead ball deliveries and Tomkins believes the
Hammers should not have been caught cold by Palace's prowess from set pieces
as they knew all about it. "The Gaffer said before the game that they are
good from set plays," he explained. "They attack them well and have good
delivery and they got it right on the day. "From our point of view the first
one is unlucky, the second one is a good header and the other one is a good
delivery. You could say it's good from them, but it is sloppy on our part."

West Ham enjoyed 66 per cent of the ball and had 22 shots to Palace's 12,
but were thwarted in their efforts to impose themselves on the game until
the final 20 minutes, leaving Tomkins disappointed. "They sat back and
frustrated us, but once they had the player sent off we were always going to
have more possession and push them deeper," he added. "It was a matter of
trying to break them down. We did that, but it was a bit late really. The
third goal killed us and 3-1 is majorly disappointing. "If Nobes' free-kick
had gone in rather than hit the bar it would have been a different game, and
Nene hit the post as well. "You could say we're a little bit unlucky and
things aren't really going our way luck wise, but hopefully we can change
that around quickly because we have a big game on Wednesday night."

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U18s put Royals to the sword
WHUFC.com

West Ham United U18s ended their Barclays U18 Premier League regular season
with a convincing 4-0 victory over Reading at Rush Green on Saturday The
Hammers raced into a three-goal lead with half an hour, as Djair
Parfitt-Williams and Joe Powell slotted home from close range, before the
latter turned provider for Josh Pask. Mark Phillips' men added a fourth
after the break when Parfitt-Williams was afforded too much space in the box
to head home his second of the contest. U18s coach Phillips had earlier
made two changes to the side that started last weekend's 2-1 home defeat by
Norwich City. Neither Alex Pike nor Jordan Brown were available for
selection, allowing England youth defenders Reece Burke and Vashon Neufville
to return to the side. Powell and Parfitt-Williams both threatened from the
wings in the opening quarter of an hour, while Reece Oxford, in a new
holding midfield position, add strength to the Hammers back line.

On 17 minutes, West Ham hit the front when Powell picked up the ball on the
right-hand touchline and aimed a direct through ball towards
Parfitt-Williams. It looked as if either Tom McIntyre or Axel Andresson
would deal with it, although they only succeeded in heading it into the path
of Parfitt-Williams who finished calmly from close range. Just a minute
later, the hosts spurned a chance to double their lead when Jahmal
Hector-Ingram fired over from close range. The Hammers did, however, get
their second goal within five minutes of their first, with Powell being
given far too much space inside the penalty box to slide a shot into the
corner of Lewis Ward's net. And the goals continued to come as the hosts
added a third on 26 minutes when Powell again supplied the assist for Pask
to head home from point-blank range.

Powell continued to threaten after the interval and might have added to his
own tally, firstly volleying wide before Ward acrobatically tipped his low
shot around the post. The Hammers rounded off their thumping win by adding a
fourth in second-half stoppage time. Once Ward had conceded a corner after
parrying a shot from Parfitt-Williams, the Bermudan-born winger was
perfectly placed to head home his second.
Phillips' side end the regular season with 32 points from 22 games and will
now have for their fellow Southern-based sides to conclude their seasons
before finding out which play-off group they will enter.

U18: Howes, Knoyle (c), Pask, Burke, Neufville (Borg), Carter, Oxford,
Powell (Sylvestre), Diangana, Parfitt-Williams, Hector-Ingram.
Subs not used: Rice, Boness.

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West Ham 1 Crystal Palace 3
28 February 2015
Last updated at 15:29
By Simon Stone
BBC Sport

Glenn Murray scored twice and was sent off as Crystal Palace recorded an
excellent win over West Ham, who were booed off by their own fans. Murray
put Palace ahead four minutes before the break when Aaron Cresswell sliced
his header into the Hammers net. Scott Dann doubled Palace's lead before
Murray added another when he turned home Jason Puncheon's free-kick. Murray
was sent off after charging into Winston Reid for a second booking before
Enner Valencia's consolation. Saturday's result was the 300th Premier League
defeat for the Hammers - and continued a concerning run of form for Sam
Allardyce's team. They have won only one of their last 10 league games - and
taken just eight points from a possible 30. This is in sharp contrast to
Palace, who have won four of their last seven league fixtures and are now
nestled firmly in mid-table. Alan Pardew, who spent three years in charge of
the Hammers before he was dismissed in late 2006, described it as a "huge"
win for his team. But it was West Ham who started better as Cresswell almost
caught Julian Speroni off-guard with a shot from the corner of the area
before Diafra Sakho had a shot deflected over. Palace responded, with Adrian
twice denying Murray before he opened the scoring with a header, although
Cresswell should have cleared close to the goal-line but sliced his attempt
to do so.
The introduction of James McArthur for Jordon Mutch, who appeared to be
suffering from a thigh injury, just after the half-hour mark provided Palace
with another avenue of attack. McArthur had a shot from the edge of the area
blocked by a West Ham side who failed to manage a single shot on target in
the opening period. It took Palace only six minutes of the second-half to
increase their lead. Yet again, West Ham were unable to deal with Puncheon's
corner. This time, Dann got above Reid at the far post to power home his
fourth goal of the season. Worse was to follow when Murray, who has spent
most of the season on loan at Reading, turned home Puncheon's free-kick,
taking him to three goals in two games after his effort against Arsenal
seven days ago.

The 31-year-old's day came to an abrupt end following his foul on Reid and,
with the man advantage, West Ham clawed themselves back into the game.
Substitute Nene struck a post after being introduced for his debut before
Valencia's shot proved too strong for Speroni to keep out. Carl Jenkinson,
Stewart Downing and Valencia threatened to set up a thrilling finale but,
ultimately, Palace were able to claim a win that took them to a Premier
League club record of five away games without defeat.

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce: "I'm shocked. Our level of performance
wasn't where I expected it to be. It's disappointing when we've built
expectation levels so high at home. "It's about the basics, really. If we
don't play to our best, we'll struggle. We warned the lads about Crystal
Palace's set plays because 50% of their goals have come from set-plays. And
we've conceded from two corners and a free-kick.
"I think Glenn Murray could have been sent off in the first half for the
number of fouls he committed. He was lucky to stay on for that long. We
should have had a penalty for the foul on Diafra Sakho, and it should have
been a red card for Mile Jedinak too. That would have made it 3-2, and then
you never know."

Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew: "Up until the sending off, we were in
total control, but we don't make it easy for ourselves. We had some scary
moments. "It was a mixed afternoon for Glenn Murray. He could have had a
hat-trick in the first half. He gets into the right positions. The sending
off was a little bit unlucky. He has to go for the ball, and I don't think
he deserved that. "I spoke to him at half-time. We all knew he was on a
knife edge. But I'm absolutely delighted with him. He was terrific. It
shouldn't take away from a terrific performance."

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Allardyce on... Crystal Palace
KUMB.com
Filed: Saturday, 28th February 2015
By: Staff Writer

Sam Allardyce reflects on a hugely frustrating afternoon as he reflects on
hs side's 3-1 defeat at home to Crystal Palace in tonight's post-match press
conference, which we bring to you exclusively in full...

Sam: you must be really disappointed to give away three goals from set
pieces as that's so unlike a Sam Allardyce team. But the main talking point
must be that their main man should have been given a second yellow card in
the first half?

If we look at the set plays first, you're absolutely right. We spent a long
time looking at Crystal Palace's set pieces based on the fact that when we
did the analysis, 50 per cent of Palace's goals this season have come from
set plays. So you know how dangerous they are they put a good ball in to
five or six big players who can attack the ball.

So we've been setting out our plans to make sure we compete and stop that -
and of course, we haven't done that. Even though Palace were better than us
today, we've lost the game on that tactic alone which was really
disappointing. If you concede one then you give Crystal Palace credit. If
you concede three, then that's our fault. It's something that we should have
done better.

The amount of fouls Murray committed in the first half? Certainly the one he
got booked for and the one on Winston Reid were enough for a yellow, but for
me so the sending off came too late for me as in between those he scored a
goal. But it's mainly our problem we've lost and not so much down to the
referee today.

It's really frustrating for us based on the expectation we'd built and the
performances we've been giving. I really didn't see this coming today but
we've got to accept it. We didn't play our best and let ourselves down a bit
today.

We've got to get back to our top form, especially with the next two games
coming up. That's when you look at how we've faced this period; Manchester
United, Southampton, Tottenham, Crystal Palace, Chelsea and Arsenal. Even if
we'd lost today we really should be sat with seven points out of those games
now, but we've only got three. That makes a whole lot of difference.

Jedinak looked like he caught one of your players. Do you have a view on
that?

Yeah, he did. For me, when you're in a winning position there's no need to
even attempt something like that. He's pretty lucky he's got away with it
because at that stage, if Mike Dean sees it - and I don't think he was in a
position to because I'm sure if he was he had given a red card and a penalty
to us.

That said, I don't want to make any excuses for our poor performance today.
It would have been nice to have been given a little lifeline at that stage
to rally the troops and maybe get to a position where we might get something
out of the game.

One win in ten league games now Sam?

Yeah. Lots of draws though, eh?

There are a lot of draws, but people won't buy that!

Well you won't, none of you do! So we're a margin away from winning at West
Brom, we're 1-0 up and draw 1-1; Swansea, 1-0 up and draw 1-1; Man United,
1-0 up and draw 1-1; Tottenham, 2-0 up and drew 2-2. So we could be sat here
with those four victories that were in our grasp. That's where we've slipped
up, there's no doubt about that.

Performances overall, not a problem apart from today's. Turning good
performances into victories is the hardest thing at this level and we have
really slipped up in that area; we've been in great positions to win
football matches and we haven't done it.

If you take those four games and not be greedy and take two wins, we'd sit
on 43 points and be in a very good position to qualify for Europe. Now we're
letting that scenario slip and with the next two games, life gets more
difficult for us.

You can't let that gap get too big, can you?

We shouldn't have done, but we have. Some of the players may be feeling the
pace of the Premier League for the first time and not quite performing as
well as they were before. That can happen whilst they're getting used to the
league.

We've got to make sure that we get back together and come Wednesday night,
we need to see our very best performance. As I've said many times, you can
play your very best against Chelsea and still not win. They can still beat
you.

Thank you.

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Mile Jedinak's 'elbow' on Diafro Sakho was intentional, says Jamie Redknapp
By Jamie Redknapp | Last Updated: 28/02/15 8:51pm
SSN

Mile Jedinak was fortunate to escape punishment for an intentional elbow on
Diafro Sakho in Crystal Palace's 3-1 win at West Ham, according to Jamie
Redknapp. The Eagles captain appeared to unnaturally strike Sakho with his
arm when clearing the ball out of his side's penalty area. The incident in
the 88th-minute went unchallenged by referee Mike Dean, but Redknapp feels
the nature of the event could draw retrospective action from the Football
Association. "My version is different to Jedinak's. It's completely wrong
what he's done here," he told Sky Sports. "You can see it there. There is no
way that's unintentional, that is not a natural movement of your elbow. When
you do that into someone's face it's not nice because you can break
someone's jaw. "I'm a big fan of Jedinak's, the way he plays with tremendous
desire. He's Palace's manager on the pitch. But you can't go around
brandishing your elbows like that towards someone's head. "It's a dangerous
move, and we'll wait and see what happens."

Australian Jedinak, who made his first appearance under new Palace manager
Alan Pardew, argued his case, reiterating that the collision with Sakho was
completely unintentional. "I've just seen the ball come across and I think
it was just a reaction," Jedinak said. "I didn't even know he was there, it
was one of those ones where I just ran through with the clearance. "How I
caught him, I'm not aware of it but it is what it is. I haven't
intentionally gone out to try to catch him."

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West Ham 1-3 Crystal Palace: Glenn Murray scores two, then sent off
By Richard Morgan. Last Updated: 28/02/15 6:40pm
SSN

Glenn Murray scored twice and was sent off as Crystal Palace beat West Ham
United 3-1 at Upton Park in the Saturday lunch-time kick-off.
The striker netted either side of half-time, before then being given his
marching orders after picking up his second yellow card 21 minutes from
time. By that stage of the match, Palace were already 3-0 ahead, with
centre-back Scott Dann powering home yet another header from a set piece in
between Murray's brace. And despite West Ham forward Enner Valencia pulling
a goal back after 76 minutes, it was too little, too late as far as the home
team were concerned. However, anything other than a Palace victory would
have been harsh on Alan Pardew's side, who registered a club-record third
Premier League away win in a row in the process. The visitors dominated the
contest against a lacklustre West Ham until Murray's late red card, with the
frontman guilty of spurning numerous presentable openings before eventually
giving his team a deserved lead four minutes before the break. West Ham boss
Sam Allardyce will be furious though with the manner of Palace's opener,
especially after highlighting their threat from set plays before the game.
His players failed to deal with man-of-the-match Jason Puncheon's left-wing
corner, before Murray's header somehow got past both Adrian and Aaron
Cresswell on the line in the 41st minute.
But if that goal was bad enough, then Palace's second six minutes after the
break was even worse as Dann beat opposite number Winston Reid to another
Puncheon corner, before bulleting a header past a helpless Adrian. And the
game was then over as a contest when 12 minutes later, Murray - who was only
starting up front due to injuries to Fraizer Campbell, Marouane Chamakh and
Yaya Sanogo - got a glancing header to Puncheon's free kick from the
left-hand corner of the box. West Ham, who were unlucky not to have taken
the lead when Mark Noble's 20-yard free kick hit the bar after just 15
minutes, then threw the kitchen sink at their London rivals in the final 15
minutes as they sought to exploit their one-man numerical advantage. And
they came close on several occasions to making it a truly nervous finale
after Valencia's long-range strike had given them initial hope. However,
substitute Nene hit the outside of the post with virtually his first touch
in English football, before Carl Jenkinson was denied by Julian Speroni at
his near post and Valencia then fired just over with a curler from distance
at the death.

Player ratings

West Ham: Adrian (6), Jenkinson (6), Tomkins, (6), Reid (6), Cresswell (7),
Song (5), Kouyate (6), Noble (7), Downing(7), Valencia (7), Sakho (5)

Subs: Nene (7)

Crystal Palace: Speroni (7), Ward (7), Dann (8), Delaney (7), Kelly (7),
Jedinak (8), Zaha (8), Puncheon (9), Mutch (6), Bolasie (7), Murray (8)

Subs: McArthur (6), Ameobi (6), Ledley (6)

Man of the match: Jason Puncheon

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West Ham boss Sam Allardyce fumes at set-piece Crystal Palace goals
Last Updated: 28/02/15 4:46pm
SSN

West Ham boss Sam Allardyce was left fuming with his team after going down
3-1 at home to Crystal Palace. Allardyce said he had prepared his team for
Palace's set-piece barrage all week, but all three goals came straight off
the training ground. A combination of Glenn Murray and the unfortunate Aaron
Creswell were responsible for the first, from Jason Puncheon's corner. Scott
Dann then powered home a header from another Puncheon corner, and the game
was then over as a contest when 12 minutes later, Murray - who was only
starting up front due to injuries to Fraizer Campbell, Marouane Chamakh and
Yaya Sanogo - got a glancing header to Puncheon's free kick from the
left-hand corner of the box. Murray was later sent off for a second yellow,
and Allardyce felt the Palace striker had been lucky to remain on the pitch
for as long as he did. He also lambasted Mile Jedinak for a late elbow to
Diafra Sakho, but was more critical of his own side's display. "We spent a
long time looking at Palace's set-plays and 50 per cent of their goals this
season came from them," he said. "So you know how dangerous they are, they
put a good ball in and have five or six big players that attack the ball.
But we were setting out our plan to compete with that. "Even though Palace
were better than us on the day we lost on that tactic alone and that is
really disappointing. "You concede one then you give Palace credit. When you
concede one that is our fault. That is something we should have done better
on."

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THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE BOARD NOT SUPPORTING SAM
By Iain Dale 1 Mar 2015 at 08:36 69 comments
West Ham Till I Die
Guest Post by Brian Jones

So, after such a great first half of the season, what's gone wrong? Is it
Sam or the players? Well, I'm not a Sam fan, and a couple of years ago, I
put up a post on here calling for him to go. But I'm going to cut him some
slack and shift the focus to the Board, the third part of the equation. If
you were Sam, what would you be thinking right now? "I've met all the
targets I was set, I've even tried to promote some free flowing , attacking
football, but the buggers don't love me!"

The online and print media are rife with stories about rifts between Sam and
David Sullivan. Sullivan is supposed to have brought in players that Sam
didn't want. Sam was supposed to have stuck two fingers up to Sullivan over
whether Nene was fit or not. There is speculation everywhere as to whether
the Board are going to replace Sam now or at the end of the season. Some
media outlets are convinced Sam is already a dead duck. So what effect does
this have on the team? Well, James Tomkins was quoted in the media as saying
it doesn't affect the team and they just get on with the job. I wonder if
this is really the case?

Surely all this speculation does have an effect on the team? Don't they
wonder what the future is and don't they struggle to get really motivated if
there is a pall of uncertainty over Sam's position? Surely one of the roles
of the Board is to ensure there is a positive atmosphere at the club, an
environment in which everyone feels positive about the future and wants to
do their best to bring on higher achievements. Why is Winston Reid stalling
on a new contract? Supposedly there have been no bids for him. Is he just
waiting to see the way the wind blows?

Right now the role of the Board should be to tell the media, the players and
everyone else, that there is no problem, Sam is our man and we are going
onwards and upwards and any other clichés they can think of – even if they
don't mean it. Because that would be positive for the club and address all
the uncertainty that is there at the moment. If they are not happy with Sam,
they should be keeping that to themselves. But all this "we will assess the
situation at the end of the year" and the deafening silence about whether
Sam is our man or not is helping to create a negative atmosphere at the
club. It helps to lead to uncertainty among the players and with Sam
himself. His laid back (literally) body language at matches surely speaks
for itself. When did he last wear a West Ham tie at a match? Why should he
when he doesn't know if the Board support him or not? Or maybe he does know
and realises he is just filling in time?

Whether Sam stays or not, I want the Board to play their role in creating a
positive atmosphere in which the players can flourish. I don't see them
doing that right now.

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WEST HAM 1, CRYSTAL PALACE 3. LOSING UGLY.
By David Hautzig 28 Feb 2015 at 16:06
West Ham till I Die


There are matches that simply haunt me for weeks, sometimes months. The 4-3
loss to Spurs at home during the Great Escape year tortured me, and if we
had gone down that year I might have needed medication to survive. Last
Sunday was almost as bad. All week I've replayed those last few moments in
my mind, envisioning a different outcome. Alex Song ignoring Harry Kane.
Adrian holding onto the penalty kick. In my mind I could see those things
happening. And then reality takes over again. I was hoping West Ham would be
able to shed the demons of White Hart Lane against the men from Selhurst
Park. Instead they added insult to injury with one of the, if not the worst
performance of the season.

Since I'm not a real journalist I don't have to even pretend to be
objective. So here's the deal. I cannot stand Alan Pardew. I took immense
pleasure when Charlton went down under him. Equally so when Southampton
floundered with him in charge. I heard a story from a mate at a pub in
Manhattan a few months after he was sacked by Eggy, and then heard the same
one from supporters while in Toronto to watch us play the MLS All Stars.
When Pards was summoned by the board, instead of trying to plead his case he
sat down and simply asked how much compensation he was getting. I have no
idea if the story is true, but it seemed consistent with other things we had
heard about him. I bought it then, and I've bought it since then. But with
the way he has galvanized Palace into the team we saw today, I'm going to
shed that idea and admit he is a talented manager on many levels.

The first real chance of the game came in the 12th minute when Cresswell
intercepted a poor pass by Puncheon. The Palace defense rightfully expected
him to look for a pass or a cross into the box. Instead he unleashed a good
shot that curled over the bar. Two minutes later, after some interplay
between Sakho and Valencia and a foul on Noble, the skipper on the day
launched a free kick that beat Speroni only to ricochet off the cross bar.

West Ham's fine form at the start of the season was due largely to the kind
of passing on the floor that supporters had wanted to see more of. Today,
however, it looked like the very notion of technical ability was completely
lost on them. Sloppy passing and awful first touches by the very players we
expect to be able to do those things is what has replaced it. In the 25th
minute a Valencia giveaway led to a Palace counter. Puncheon burst into the
West Ham half and sent a through ball in for Glen Murray, but Reid was able
to nudge the Palace striker just enough for him to send his shot wide.

The most memorable and important moment of the game was the 38th minute when
both sets of supporters rose to their feet to offer a minutes applause in
the memory of Dylan Tombides. It was a touching moment made all the more
memorable by the involvement of the opposition. While it's cliché to say, it
made the game seem trivial.

Aaron Cresswell has been one of the brightest spots for West Ham this
season, so much so that rumors of interest from Manchester City have sprung
up in recent weeks. But as we've seen a few times this season when me messes
up, he messes up big time. In the 41st minute, after Palace earned
themselves a corner, the free kick into the box came to Glen Murray. His
header seemed to be floating right at Adrian, but Cresswell completely
missed his attempt to clear it and sent the ball spinning past our keeper
and into the net.

West Ham 0, Crystal Palace 1.

During the halftime break, there was talk on Twitter of how Sam would give
them a swift kick in the arse and that would give us hope of a better second
half. That optimism disappeared five minutes after the break when Zaha
sprinted down the right and won what would be the first of two quick
corners. The first was headed towards goal by Scott Dann but cleared out by
Reid. The second corner was a replay of the first, only this time Dann's
header went into the back of the net.

West Ham 0, Crystal Palace 2.

The decline in form for Alex Song has been shocking, not only due to it
actually occurring but for how quickly it has happened. It's as if one
moment we had this on field general pulling all the right strings, and the
next we have someone that has forgotten what to do. In the 56th minute, Song
did what any child playing on a Sunday knows not to do. He stopped playing.
He just stopped playing. That allowed Ward to run past him and pick up the
loose ball before Noble was forced to foul him. Jedinak then came inches
away from a third Palace goal when his resulting free kick went just wide of
a diving Adrian. Minutes later, Song was replaced by Nene. The man most of
us said we should sign this summer regardless of the cost, replaced by a
free agent striker that Sam reportedly didn't want.

That just about personified our day.

Before the game today, the inclusion of Glen Murray in the Palace starting
eleven at the expense of Dwight Gayle raised many an eyebrow. The television
commentators talked about it, and West Ham supporters on Twitter thought we
had been handed a gift. In the 63rd minute, Murray slammed the book shut on
that argument when he earned a free kick after creating contact with Kouyate
outside the West Ham penalty area. It might have been soft, but anyone
complaining about the referee today should reconsider. Puncheon curled the
free kick into the box, where Murray was able to meet it with a diving
header that beat Adrian.

West Ham 0, Crystal Palace 3.

At that point I threw down my pen and stopped taking notes. Yes, Nene hit
the outside of the post. And Murray saw a second yellow and Palace had to
play the final 21 minutes with ten men. When Valencia scored in the 76th
minute, I admit I thought maybe. Just maybe. And perhaps if Jenkinson had
chipped the ball over Speroni in the 82nd minute we could have had an
exciting final 8 minutes plus stoppage time. Instead, we left the game
wondering what on earth happened to the team that should have beaten both
Manchester United and Tottenham.

Final Score: West Ham 1, Crystal Palace 3.

Before I sat down to write this, my best mate Jon called me. He threw these
thoughts at me. The last two games have seen us blow a 2-0 lead and today
give up three goals from set pieces. Two things that are decidedly not Sam
things to happen. Could he know he's gone? Has the board actually told him
that, and if so could he be shutting down a bit? And if that's a
possibility, could the players know that as well and thus their
concentration has dipped? And if all of that is a possibility, could some
fault lie with the board for leaking stuff to the media about it? In truth,
more of the blame today lies with the players. They were, almost to a man,
awful.

Wednesday could be ugly.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Crystal Palace's Mile Jedinak in elbow storm after clashing with Diafra
Sakho - but insists he "didn't mean it"
17:43, 28 February 2015 By Dean Jones
The Australian caught the West Ham striker in the face as he cleared the
ball late on with Sam Allardyce claiming he was fortunate to avoid
punishment
The Mirror

Mile Jedinak has defended himself over a nasty elbow on Diafra Sakho that
could land him in trouble. The Crystal Palace midfielder insists he meant no
harm when he clattered into Sakho late in the game and caught the West Ham
man in the side of the face. The challenge went unpunished - but he could
yet face retrospective action. And Jedinak said: "I am not sure how I caught
him, but I did not mean to."
The incident came on a day when the Hammers crashed to a 3-1 defeat that
raises major doubts over their attempt to qualify for European football.
Boss Sam Allardyce added: "When you are in a winning position there is no
need to even attempt something like that. I think he is pretty lucky to have
got away with it. It could have been a red card and it would have been nice
to have given us a lifeline in the game - but I don't want to make any
excuses for our performance." Palace also had two-goal Glenn Murray sent off
but on Jedinak's challenge boss Pardew said: "I don't think there was
anything malicious in it." The defeat at Upton Park saw West Ham slip to
ninth in the Premier League table and Allardyce was far from impressed with
his side. "I'm shocked. Our level of performance wasn't where I expected it
to be. It's disappointing when we've built expectation levels so high at
home. It's about the basics, really. "If we don't play to our best, we'll
struggle. We warned the lads about Crystal Palace's set plays because 50% of
their goals have come from set-plays. And we've conceded from two corners
and a free-kick."

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Massive Chelsea/Arsenal lifeline 'asks'
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on March 1, 2015 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

The game may not be quite up but Sam Allardyce knows that he needs a couple
of massive results and fine end of season run to take into the summer review
board meeting. That may yet give him a Hammers lifeline as speculation
continues to swirl around his future. A stunning victory over Chelsea on
Wednesday evening followed by a result of some kind against Arsenal will set
the team up for a series of games which look less daunting than in previous
run-ins. Yesterday's shocker gives little mental recovery time for a team
shattered by conceding three times from set pieces and Allardyce knows he
and the team are facing a "massive ask." Having built expectation he
commented after the game he doesn't believe "we have lived with the
expectation." Accepting the Palace game was "more winnable" than those
immediately before and after the Palace debacle he said: "Now, we face
Chelsea and Arsenal and it's been a while since we've won. These are massive
asks for us to gain victories from, but we will certainly try." The upside
of course us that all our best performances have come against the top teams
and we thus live in more than hope – or we should.

Hopefully, Stewart Downing will be back to his best should he be played at
the tip of the diamond assuming of course the manager plays that formation
for that appeared a real problem against Palace. And defensively – given we
were utterly shambolic – it's to be hoped the squad is in for extra training
on this Sunday morning!

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Noble/Tomkins: The finances
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on February 28, 2015 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

Local boys Mark Noble and James Tomkins signed deals worth less than the
personal terms reported in the general media. It was widely believed that
Nobes had signed a deal worth £50k a week and his pal Tomkins' new contract
was valued at around the £40k a week mark.
ClaretandHugh understands according to sources that the midfield loyalist
settled at around £45k and the big defender £35k a week – up from £25k.
These are basic wages but the two have clauses written in which would give
them appearance, win and league position bonuses like the remainder of the
squad. Tomkins2It means that TOGETHER the duo's joint salary is the same as
Andy Carroll's and just £10k in advance of loanee Alex Song. One source
said: "These two lads obviously want the best deals they can get but playing
for the club they love is the No 1 issue.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Sam's a busted flush – call the cab Daves!
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on February 28, 2015 in Whispers
Calret & Hugh

I've been attacked many times on forums as a Sam hater! In fact I hate
nobody – far too strong a word. So before writing this piece I went back
through the various pieces I have written on the manager this season to
decide whether that's justified as a perception. To be honest I couldn't
have been a lot fairer; there have been times when I've praised him to the
skies, others – notably at the start of the season – when I said we all
needed to reserve judgement and others when I've gone for the throat after
particularly poor performances. The truth is I am not a fan of Sam Allardyce
as a manager or a man. He has down the years made a practice of filling his
teams with journeymen pros as he has adopted a "survive at all costs"
approach. It's why very few kids have emerged from his set-ups as he has
fulfilled the objective of becoming, by and large, an eight, nine or tenth
placed manager – with of course the odd exception.

As a man I find him arrogant, stubborn and an excuse finder for defeat but
ready to glory in his self-given Allerdici title when it all goes right. Not
good. Whichever way you want to call it – Sam Allardyce is not a winner
-never has been over the 20 years or so he's managed. I gave my knee jerk
reaction to the events at the Boleyn earlier this afternoon but the facts
are that today we were appalling – again showing the unacceptable face of a
side which has lost the knowledge of how to win.

Here's the League record since Christmas:

Played 10 Won 1 Drawn 5 Lost 4 Pts 8

That simply is not good enough, nor is it acceptable to remind us that we
played very well against the likes of Arsenal, Manchester United and Spurs
because the playing well yielded one point from nine.

This afternoon we have slipped into ninth place with Chelsea and Arsenal on
the horizon. The bright new dawn has turned into a dank, dreary evening and
the only person you can point a finger at is the boss simply because he's
the bloke in charge. He has to make things happen.

If he doesn't, he has to go and I believe he is now a busted flush with
nothing left to offer West Ham United.

The owners got it right when appointing a man who is a survivalist, handed
him the biggest transfer kitty of any Championship club but even then were
forced to sweat it out as he got us up via the play offs when it should have
been automatic.

But I believe they will get it completely wrong if they decide to let him
stay because winning things is simply not in his pedigree or it seems his
nature – 4-0 defeat at West Brom. Blimey!

We need far far more than Sam has produced in his career when we move into
our new home with all the high ambition the club has placed on that.

Don't ask me who the next boss should be. I don't know who is available or
indeed wants the job so any name I put forward would be pointless anyway.

What I do know is there are many who can keep teams in the Premier League
and some – like Pards ( remember) who can take us much closer to a trophy
than Sam Allardyce has managed.

So Daves, it's time to be brave. Thank him for his services, shake his hand
and watch him head for Hull, Queens Park Rangers or even one of those
foreign clubs which he thinks his could manage with ease.

Bye Sam – it really is time to call the cab!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Shocked Allardyce tries to make a case
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on February 28, 2015 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

Stunned Sam Allardyce had one or two excuses for the shocking defeat at the
hands of Palace. And with Palace reduced to ten men for the last 30 minutes,
the defeat became even less bearable despite the team waking up and managing
an Enner Valencia goal and plenty of pressure and chances. However, if you
only start playing when you are three behind there's something very wrong
and the manager clearly accepted that. He said: "I'm shocked. Our level of
performance wasn't where I expected it to be. It's disappointing when we've
built expectation levels so high at home. It's about the basics, really. "If
we don't play to our best, we'll struggle. We warned the lads about Crystal
Palace's set plays because 50 per cent of their goals have come from
set-plays. And we've conceded from two corners and a free-kick."

Then he waded into the dismissed striker and started adding up the other
awards that should have been made against Palace and on our behalf! He
said:"I think Glenn Murray could have been sent off in the first half for
the number of fouls he committed. He was lucky to stay on for that long. We
should have had a penalty for the foul on Diafra Sakho, and it should have
been a red card for Mile Jedinak too. That would have made it 3-2, and then
you never know."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Irons 1 Palace 3 The knee jerk reaction
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on February 28, 2015 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

We have come to a place where we simply don't know which West Ham are going
to turn up from week to week! And for a Sam Allardyce team o concede three
goals from three set pieces is unthinkable and simply not acceptable. To
watch the team deciding to play only when they are three goals behind is
totally out of order – this will no longer do. One league win in two months
is a shocking return from a team which has been hailed by many as a top six
team. There will be a deeper and less emotional response later when the full
extent of this has sunk in but right now it's easy to see why a list of
replacements is being drawn up for the manager. It's gone to pot and he has
no answers it seems. The end of this season is a natural time to say thanks
for everything Sam and goodbye

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http://vyperz.blogspot.com



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