Daily WHUFC News - 2nd March 2015

From the Boardroom
WHUFC.com

Like everyone else at the game, I was really disappointed with the result. I
do not think we can blame anyone but ourselves as we put out our best team.
I think if you had asked most West Ham fans to pick the team they would have
gone with the same starting XI and if you look at the substitutions, it is
difficult to see how we could have done anything different.

I was pleased to see Nene make his debut as I think he will offer something
different to our attack. It was just a real shame that his shot hits the
post rather than the back of the net as who knows what might have happened
had that gone in.

On the other hand, everything came off for Crystal Palace. They had three
shots on goal and scored three goals. But while it is disappointing,
bizarrely that same team can go out and beat Chelsea on Wednesday based on
the performances we have seen this season.

We had a bad performance at West Bromwich Albion and a bad performance
against Crystal Palace but equally we have had some good performances since
Christmas.

We now have to pick ourselves up for Chelsea as we always seem to be at our
best when we play the top teams.

It really would not surprise me if on Wednesday we went and beat Chelsea and
we were all wondering how on earth we lost to West Brom and Crystal Palace!

David Gold

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Downing - 'We had to be more patient'
WHUFC.com

Stewart Downing says West Ham United need to get better against teams who
set up to frustrate them if they are to push back towards the top end of the
Barclays Premier League table. Despite enjoying 66 per cent possession
against Crystal Palace on Saturday, the Hammers were defeated 3-1 by an
Eagles team content to sit back and hit their hosts on the break. Downing is
certain his team will take that experience as a lesson and use it to improve
for the rest of the campaign. He explained: "We went into Saturday's game
off a good result at Tottenham, but I think a lot of teams are coming here
and trying to frustrate us. "They're getting people behind the ball and I
don't think we were patient enough. We tried to force it too much, and it
wasn't until they went 2-0 up that we started to penetrate. "We got the goal
back, but we left it a little too late. Hopefully it's just a blip and we
don't want it to continue because we were really confident we could win the
game on Saturday." Downing's eighth assist of the season set up Enner
Valencia's 76th minute consolation and the 30-year-old midfielder was
pleased to see his teammate score a first league goal since November. He
continued: "It was a good strike from Enner. The keeper got his hand to it
but he had a couple of good shots. "We needed to get him on the ball in
those kind of areas but it was difficult in the first half. "I'm sure he's
happy to be back on the scoresheet, but overall we're disappointed we didn't
win because we had it down as a winnable game."

With Chelsea next up, Downing knows the Hammers need to bounce back swiftly.
He said: "Our best performances have come against the teams at the top, but
if we want to be in the top half we need to win games like Saturday's.
"Chelsea will be difficult but we've got nothing to lose. We've got a good
record at home against the top teams and we need to get back to basics."

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Ladies suffer semi-final heartbreak
WHUFC.com

West Ham United Ladies suffered a 1-0 FA Women's Premier League Plate defeat
at Preston North End on Sunday. Hammers goalkeeper Nikita Runnacles had kept
the visitors in the game on several occasions throughout, but she could do
nothing to keep out Chelsea Flanagan's 80th-minute winner. Julian Dicks'
side were looking to book their second cup final in as many weeks after
their 2-0 London FA Capital Women's Cup semi-final victory away to Queens
Park Rangers the previous Sunday. However, Dicks was forced into making
three changes ahead of kick-off, with the unavailable Nikki Duncan and
Kelley Blanchflower being replaced by Runnacles and Adele Sale. Jade Smith
also dropped to the bench, giving Lily Mellors a starting role. After making
the long trip to Lancashire, Dicks would have been hoping for some early
inspiration from his side, but the visitors failed to threaten the hosts'
back line in the opening minutes. The remainder of the opening half
continued in similar fashion, with Runnacles needing to be at her best to
keep the game level. Preston did let slip and allow the Hammers a chance
just after the hour-mark, but after latching onto a weak backpass from
Alison Taberner, striker Vicky Kinsman was closed down and denied by
Danielle Brown. With 80 minutes on the clock, Flanagan booked the Lilywhites
a ticket to the final against Huddersfield Town Ladies when she controlled
the ball well and finally found a way past Runnacles. The Hammers will hope
to pick up a more positive result on Sunday 8 March when they make another
long trip down to Plymouth Ladies in the FA Women's Premier League Southern
Division.

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Pardew on... West Ham United
KUMB.com
Filed: Sunday, 1st March 2015
By: Staff Writer

Alan Pardew, once of this parish was delighted to enjoy another return to
the Boleyn Ground - from where his Palace side gained three vital Premier
League points...

Alan: I don't think too many people were expecting you to win so
convincingly. Were you surprised at how easily you won?

No, because I was a little bit disappointed in the first half that we hand't
contained the ball and worked it better than we had. We had a tough period
in that first half. Second half, we kind of nailed it, especially in the
first period. We were terrific and although we got three set play goals
today we caused lots of dangerous balls going across the front and it was
good to feel that because I keep saying to this team they're better than
they think they are.

But we had to show another side. Glenn has gone for a ball in the box that
all striker's are going to go for and gets sent off. I looked at that clock
with 16 minutes to go and thought 'blimey, that's going to be a long time' -
and it was. It felt like 160 minutes, but we got there.

How would you assess Glen's performance today? He was excellent up until
[the red card]?

He was, wasn't he. He's just got that nouse as a number nine to find a bit
of space and be in the crucial place at the crucial time. He had three good
chances today, he could have had a hat-trick in the first half just purely
by. I hope he doesn't feel I'm insulting him but he ain't the quickest. But
Teddy coaches here now and when I had him as a player here he is a little
bit like Teddy in that he can create space for himself but not a great deal
of pace. Clever.

Did he want to in the window? I read somewhere that he wanted to go out on
loan.

We must have had three or four Championship teams who felt they had a chance
of him on loan; Reading probably the most prominent because he'd already
been there. But I gave him a new contract and said he can stay and help us
get out of this situation.

He's been unfortunate that Fraser came in and did brilliantly for us so he's
had to be patient, even in the spell I've been here. But he's rewarded me
today and I can't thank him enough, I thought he was terrific. I felt sorry
for him when he got sent off, it was probably my fault as well as I should
have done it earlier. I was getting Shola ready but it was too late.

You looked a handful today; hopefully you can stay up with a bit to spare?

Well for us the away win was so important. It gives us now a platform that
if we win our home games or at least three of them we can stay in the
division and you can't really ask for any more than that at this stage in
our second season in the Premier League. We've got ourselves in a great
position tonight and now we have to see it home.

Sorry to have to ask this, but TV showed that Mile Jedinak followed through
with an elbow on Sakho. What did you make of that and have you spoken to him
about that?

Yes, I've seen the incident and there's no doubt that he' gone to
aggressively kick the ball into the stand to buy us a little bit of time and
his elbow's high. I don't think there was anything malicious in it and I do
hope the authorities look kindly on it.

You would hope that there's no retrospective action then?

No, of course. His performance today was phenomenal and he won almost every
header in midfield. Anyone who knows him knows that he hasn't got any
nastiness in him and it's a shame that those two incidents are probably
going to grab some headlines, Glen getting sent off and Mile's incident
-because we warrant more than that.

The strength of your squad showed through today. It showed that Palace now
have a really strong squad of players?

Yeah. We've been a little bit unlucky with injuries. Sonogo we lost, Chamakh
we lost. I left Joe out today for Mile to return to play a crucial part.
And, of course, McArthur for Mutch. It's that depth that we managed to get
in the last window that has probably helped us to get us this win today, so
I owe a little bit of a debt to the Chairman and the board for that.

You picked a very attacking line-up today. Did you think West Ham were here
for the taking?

No, of course not, but I knew after Yanick's 20 minutes at Arsenal there was
no way I'm was going to leave him out, I'm not a complete fool. He was
absolutely unbelievable and he had his moments today. We know that those two
can create for us and it's just about whether we can get enough bodies in
the box. We managed to do that at times today. We found a new role for
Puncheon, I thought he was terrific too.

It's a great to see Jonas Gutierrez back on the bench for Newcastle today at
Aston Villa?

Big news, because wow, we had the profile of raised today about cancer
awareness so it was close to my heart today and that applause around the
ground was magnificent I thought. I'm please about Jonas, so pleased for him
to come through that and get himself on the bench.

Is Murray going to claim that first goal?

Yes, he said he got so much spin on it that Cresswell had no chance to clear
it! [laughs] That's what he said to me.

What happens there, do the FA look at it?

I think Sky said to me they'll give it to Glen and I don't if the referee
has a shout. I don't really know if I'm honest.

What's your record like here? Have you lost much coming back here with other
clubs?

No, I've lost here - this is a tough place to come, but it worked out for us
today. I'm so pleased for the group, we really worked hard this week on a
lot of aspects of our game and I was really pleased with the way the players
have conducted themselves in terms of their tactical performance.

Did you work very hard on the set pieces?

We're good at set plays, we've got people who can really attack it. My
record at Newcastle was awful. I kept saying to the board I need someone to
attack the bloody ball, we need a couple of players in this group. Luckily
I've come to this club and they're here. Scott Dann is a real threat and it
was a great goal because to win that header against Reid showed his quality.

What was the new contract with Glen Murray?

He's got an extension until the year ending next season. Thank you.

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DG's website views raise a smile
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on March 1, 2015 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

Club websites by their nature exist to provide a positive spin on even the
most desperate results and situations. West Ham has just upgraded its site
and visually it's a massive improvement on what went before and I
congratulate them on that. However, like every club site in the land, it
won't be providing serious gossip , comings and goings or serious criticisms
of anybody inside the club - it simply doesn't go with the territory. Mark
Noble telling us how pleased he is a to sign a new deal, Sam Allardyce
telling us the team had let the fans down yesterday, Stewart Downing
explaining how the team was made to be patient despite having a lion's share
of the possession, latest videos and a discussion on Player of the Year is
the staple diet of such operations This morning DG in a 'From the Boardroom'
piece said for example: ""We now have to pick ourselves up for Chelsea as we
always seem to be at our best when we play the top teams.
"It really would not surprise me if on Wednesday we went and beat Chelsea
and we were all wondering how on earth we lost to West Brom and Crystal
Palace!"

Such comments are known in the journalistic profession as "Programme Notes."
It's how is is! Some ClaretandHugh readers on the FB forum immedoately
suggested his backing of Sam Allardyce's team selection was the strongest
possible indicator that the manager would soon get a new deal. Let's not get
carried away.the site is there to present the best possible shop window for
the club and we would hardly expect the joint boss to say: "We're gonna get
hammered if we play like that - we were rubbish." My immediate response was
a wry smile rather than an outburst of exasperation. The club site has many
useful features but don't expect hard hitting features and inside scoops.
That's not part of the remit.

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'Soft' West Ham United are heading for Chelsea humbling after loss to
Crystal Palace
Julian Shea for Metro.co.ukSunday 1 Mar 2015 12:01 pm

If Chelsea win the Capital One Cup this afternoon, they should have the
decency to thank West Ham for giving them such a sound night's sleep with
their display against Crystal Palace on Saturday. In John Terry and
Branislav Ivanovic, Chelsea possess two monsters in the air, and after
watching West Ham's feeble surrender to the Eagles, the pair will probably
be striking a private bet to see who will win the most aerial challenges and
headed chances when they face the Irons this Wednesday. Palace weren't
brilliant - they were just much better than their hosts. Solid, reliable
and, unfortunately for West Ham, a cut above them in all areas, particularly
the air, with three headed goals proving decisive. Ok so the first one,
which some might say proved the turning point in the game after a moderately
encouraging start for West Ham, took a massive deflection off Aaron
Cresswell, but the fact Glenn Murray won the ball in the first place was
key. A further headed effort for Murray early in the second half, after
Scott Dann had nodded in one of his own, had home fans streaming for the
exits with almost a third of the game remaining. They missed the excitement
of Murray's dismissal for a second bookable offence and the previously
anonymous Enner Valencia's first league goal in four months - as well as
debutant Nene hitting the post.

But with the Eagles happy to sit back and soak up the punches, there was
little serious threat of West Ham getting back into the game.
Of course, it would have been different if Mark Noble's early free-kick had
not hit the bar, and Cresswell's fizzing shot had been a few inches lower,
but they weren't. West Ham surrendered control of the air to the Eagles, and
with it, the match - and they were made to pay. With Jonjo Heuerman's
800-mile fundraising trek coming to an end before the game, and the Dylan
Tombides Foundation also being launched, charity was in the air at the
Boleyn, but there was no need for West Ham to be so generous. The recent
league results are hugely disappointing - three draws (two to last-minute
equalisers) and two defeats in the last five matches - or to put it another
way, 12 points dropped out of a possible 15. With Chelsea and Arsenal up
next, there is no sign of that form changing soon. Jose Mourinho's
description of West Ham's 19th century football may have been laughed at,
but the sad truth is, on the basis of this showing, West Ham are light years
behind their next opponents. Despite having the better of early exchanges
against Palace, the Irons showed all the cutting edge of a butter knife. A
team of Chelsea's capabilities would have been even less forgiving.

European qualification, which seemed a brass ring within reach a month ago,
is now more akin to one made of smoke. Unless ideas are bucked up before
Wednesday, Chelsea's regular European travellers could hammer that point
home far more brutally than Palace did.

Be warned.

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http://vyperz.blogspot.com



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