Daily WHUFC News - 25th December 2015

Jarvis to join Norwich City
WHUFC.com

West Ham United can confirm an agreement has been reached to sell midfielder
Matt Jarvis to Norwich City for an undisclosed fee. Jarvis, 29, made 90
appearances and scored six goals for the Club following his move from Wolves
back in August 2012, and will make his loan move permanent on 2 January. He
has scored twice in seven games for the Canaries this term and the Hammers
wish him well in his future career.

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Ginge signs contract until 2018
WHUFC.com

West Ham United are delighted to confirm that James Collins has signed a
two-year contract extension. The centre-half has been rewarded for a series
of strong performances and an all-round professional approach with a deal
that now expires in the summer of 2018. The Wales international, who has
made 160 appearances for the Hammers over two spells, could hardly contain
his pride and delight at putting pen to paper. "I'm obviously delighted to
sign, as it was worrying me a bit that I'd have to leave again!" he smiled.
"To be signing for another two years, I can't explain how happy I am to be
part of a Club that is moving forward and getting bigger and bigger, so to
be part of that is unbelievable. "I try to be professional, as I've been in
teams where players make a negative effect when they're not playing, so I am
just proud to be part of such an amazing Club. I'm happy coming in every
morning, whether I'm playing or not playing, and I train hard and try to
keep myself fit. "Like I said, to be part of such a big club for such a long
time, I'm a very lucky boy. To sign for another two years is something that,
to be honest, looked doubtful at the start of the season, so I got my head
down and trained hard and tried to show what I could do."

While he may now be lacking the flame-coloured hair that gave him his
nickname, Ginge says he is feeling fitter and sharper than at any stage in
his illustrious career. The 32-year-old has been excellent this season,
helping West Ham to a top-half position and Wales to qualify for next
summer's UEFA European Championship finals. He revealed that advice from
former teammate, coach and friend Teddy Sheringham has helped him to remain
in top shape. "I said to the gaffer this week that I feel better now than I
did when I was 23 or 24, as I struggled a lot with injuries in my early
days," he explained. "I am still really close with Teddy Sheringham and he
told me that the older you get, people try to stop you training as much, but
Ted always said 'the older you get, the more you've got to train to keep up
with these younger lads'."The game has changed a lot as I've got older, with
a lot of younger lads coming through fighting for your place, so you've got
to stay as fit as you can for as long as you can, and I took Teddy's advice
on board and trained every day and feel as fit as I ever have."

For Collins, West Ham and Wales, the future is looking extremely bright and
he cannot wait to be part of West Ham's move into the new Stadium on Queen
Elizabeth Olympic Park next summer. "It's massive and that was the biggest
thing in my head, really – to be part of something that is moving forward
and is so big," he revealed. "The thought of not being involved in it was
getting me down a little bit.
"The thought of not being involved in this Club, and with the fans who I
have got a special relationship with and have always been great to me, was
playing on my mind. "As soon as I knew I could get a chance, I had to
perform to be involved in that, and fortunately that's what has happened."

On a personal level, remaining with West Ham is also hugely important to
Collins and his family and friends, with his wife and three young children
happily settled in the Essex area. "Again, that was big, the thought of
having to move the kids was something me and the wife talked about," he
explained. "Obviously we didn't want it to happen, but the longer it went
on, we had to talk about it and it was playing on everyone's minds. "It was
another major reason why I had to knuckle down and prove to the gaffer and
all of the staff that I was worthy of a contract. "I've got my head down and
thanks to the gaffer, the Club and everyone involved that I have signed a
new contract. Merry Christmas!"

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From the Treatment Room
WHUFC.com

Head of Medical and Sports Science Stijn Vandenbroucke issues his latest
update – in association with Spire Roding Hospital...

Hello,

I would like to wish everybody a Merry Christmas and we are all looking
forward to the New Year with a few players coming back from injury early in
2016.

Dimi Payet is in a good physical place as he continues his recovery from a
high ankle sprain. He is training with our rehab fitness coach, which is
always the last phase before players join back in with the full squad
training, so he is nearly there.

After a long time out, players need to get to a minimum level of fitness to
reduce the risk of injury on their return.

As the manager has said, Manuel Lanzini is also in the final phase of his
rehab and, should he continue to progress at the current rate, he will be
join the full squad very soon.

Andy Carroll has unfortunately injured his adductor muscle in training. He
has worked very hard this year to come back from a serious injury and is
also close to joining the full squad in training. However, we always keep in
mind that his previous injury and fatigue are important risk factors for a
re-injury.

Winston Reid and Victor Moses are running outside and are both on schedule
to join training in early January. We will have more details on their
recovery from their respective hamstring injuries next week.

Finally, Alex Song suffered a small eye injury during the game against
Swansea City and is currently training with protective glasses on.

I finally would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas on behalf of
myself and the Medical and Sports Science department!

Stijn Vandenbroucke
Head of Medical and Sports Science

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Aston Villa v West Ham
KO 15:00
24 December 2015
Last updated at 11:29

Barclays Premier League
Venue: Villa Park Date: Saturday, 26 December

TEAM NEWS

Aston Villa captain Micah Richards is expected to miss a fourth consecutive
game because of a knee injury. Full-backs Joe Bennett and Aly Cissokho have
both been recalled from loan spells but will not be eligible to play until
January.

West Ham's Andy Carroll could return from a thigh problem but the game comes
too soon for Manuel Lanzini, who is recovering from a similar injury. Diafra
Sakho, Victor Moses, Winston Reid and Dimitri Payet are still out.

MOTD COMMENTATOR'S NOTES

Simon Brotherton: "There hasn't been much for Villa fans to cheer about this
season, but at least their team looked capable of putting up a bit of a
fight in the second half at Newcastle last weekend. "That's a start and on
recent evidence was far from a guarantee. A point wasn't bad but with the
ever widening gap to safety, clearly not enough. "They need a couple of wins
at least just to instil some belief and a measure of hope. "West Ham have no
such worries, but haven't won in the league for two months now themselves
and, for the first time in their history, have drawn each of the last three
games 0-0."
Twitter: @SimonBrotherton

WHAT THE MANAGERS SAY

Aston Villa manager Remi Garde: "I think we need at least 10 victories. Step
by step we need to concentrate on the first win, then the second. "We need
to start [winning] very quickly that is for sure."

West Ham manager Slaven Bilic: "I saw their [Villa's] last few games... I
have seen the energy, seen their quality and they are fighting for their
lives. "They have confidence now because they have one point from an away
game. They are at home against us and they look forward to that game. "So,
make no mistake, I am not expecting anything easier than against Swansea,
Stoke or Manchester United. They have some quality players who can harm
you."

LAWRO'S PREDICTION

I would never normally say before Christmas that a team will be relegated -
but I think Aston Villa will be relegated. West Ham have not got many goals
in them but look sound defensively - illustrated by three consecutive 0-0
draws.

MATCH FACTS

Head-to-head
West Ham have won just one of their last eight games at Villa Park (D2, L5).
Villa have kept clean sheets in five of those eight matches.
Aston Villa
Only three of the previous 23 sides who were bottom of the Premier League on
Christmas Day have avoided relegation. However, the last two - Leicester in
2014 and Sunderland in 2013 - did both survive.
Villa are bottom of the top division at Christmas for only the third time in
their history, after 1935-36 and 1958-59. They ended up being relegated on
both of those previous occasions.
The Villans are enduring two unwanted club league records: 16 matches
without a win, and nine home matches without a victory since beating West
Ham in May.
They have kept just two Premier League clean sheets this season - only
Norwich, with one, have a worse record.
Aston Villa have won just one of their last 14 Premier League games played
on Boxing Day (D4, L9) and have failed to score in the last four.
West Ham United
West Ham have drawn three successive league games 0-0 for the first time in
their history.
The Hammers have shared the points in their last four matches.
They have averaged 0.4 goals per game since Dimitri Payet was injured -
compared to 1.9 goals per game in their opening 12 Premier League matches
(all of which Payet started).

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Matt Jarvis: West Ham winger signs for Norwich City
BBC.co.uk

Norwich City have agreed a deal to sign West Ham winger Matt Jarvis for a
reported fee of £2.5m. The 29-year-old will join the Canaries on a
three-and-a-half-year deal when the transfer window opens on 2 January.
Jarvis has already played seven times for Norwich this season, scoring
twice, having joined on loan in September. "I've really enjoyed my time here
so far so I'm delighted to sign," said Jarvis, who scored on his Norwich
debut - a 3-1 win over Bournemouth. Jarvis, currently sidelined by a knee
injury, added: "It's nice to get it done before the window opens as the club
have shown they really wanted me. "I had a great start here and hopefully
I'll be back up and running soon for the rest of the season." Norwich boss
Alex Neil added: "He'll give us pace on the other flank which I don't think
we've had. Only a few years ago he commanded a transfer fee of over £10m and
as a player he has a lot to offer."

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The Christmas Q&A - with Dave Sullivan
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 24th December 2015
By: Staff Writer

Christmas is of course a family affair - so we asked Dave Sullivan, son of
West Ham United co-owner David Sullivan to tell us how he and the family
will be celebrating the big day!

Dave, the eldest of the chairman's two sons also happens to be a fanatical
Hammer - so we couldn't help asking him about his 2015 highlights too, in
our exclusive Christmas Eve Q&A...

Dave: where will you be spending Christmas Day and with whom?
I will be spending it with my brother Jack, Mum and Dad. We'll be in London
so we can make the Aston Villa game on Boxing Day.

Who'll be cooking Christmas dinner for you?
We go for lunch at the Ritz because we've had a few nightmares in the past
when we've tried to cook it at home!

What do you want for Christmas?
To be honest, I have no idea what I want! My Mum has been on at me to think
of something but I don't really want anything. That's quite a boring answer,
but it's the truth!

What's your favourite Christmas present ever?
Probably some Nerf guns which I got when I was much younger. Jack and I had
a lot of fun for a couple of hours shooting each other, though I'm not so
sure my Mum and Dad were as pleased as we were!

Do you watch the Queen's speech on Christmas Day?
No!

On to West Ham; who was your best signing of 2015?
Dimitri Payet - the statistics speak for themselves. I think if he had been
fit up until now, we'd be in the top four - 100 per cent.

And your favourite player?
Payet, again. He has so much such skill and he doesn't run with the ball, he
glides with it. The little tricks he does are like he's playing beach or
street football. I think he possesses certain characteristics which may be
drilled out of players who have been at Academies from the age of seven; as
with Jamie Vardy, there are some things you just can't be taught.

We've had some cracking results, but what was your favourite match of 2015?
We always get smashed up at Anfield, so away to Liverpool - especially after
going 1-0 ahead and having a feeling we would throw it away. Instead the
game went totally the opposite way and we beat Liverpool comfortably!

Back of the net - what was your favourite goal of the year?
Mauro Zarate's in the 2-0 win at the Emirates on the opening day of the
season. It was a very good goal - with an element of goalkeeper error,
admittedly - but also because it helped seal a win against Arsenal.

The transfer window is almost upon us once again; what are your hopes for
January?
I think it will be fairly quiet, but you never know. In the summer we need
to sign a proven striker; more goals equals more points. Also Carl
Jenkinson's loan is up so we need to sign a right back, but if James Tomkins
maintains his current form in that position we won't be needing one!

What are your hopes for the remainder of the 2015/16 season - and where do
you predict we'll finish?
I think if we keep the squad fit anything is possible, but the way this
season has been going I couldn't tell you! We could finish fourth, equally
it could be 10th. If pushed, I'd go for ninth.

There's a good crop of youngsters coming through the Academy once again. If
asked to pick one, who'd be your tip for the future?
Reece Oxford. If he keeps progressing at the rate he is, he will be playing
for England in no time at all.

Your father and DG purchased a majority share of West Ham United six years
ago next month; what's your favourite memory of the Boleyn Ground so far?
I couldn't give you just one as there have been so many good times! However
beating Manchester United 4-0 at a wintry Boleyn Ground in the Carling Cup
was great.

What's the funniest thing you've seen at a West Ham game this year?
That'd be when we beat Chelsea 2-1 back in October. Right after we scored
the second goal, the guy behind me almost pushed me over the edge of the
Betway Stand Upper Tier whilst we were celebrating !

Mind your backs: the Directors' Box celebrate Andy Carroll's winning goal
against Chelsea

* Our thanks go to Dave Sullivan for taking part in our Q&A.

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West Ham cut their losses as Jarvis completes Norwich move
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 24th December 2015
By: Staff Writer

Winger Matt Jarvis has completed a cut-price £2.5million switch to Norwich
City.

The 29-year-old winger, who cost West Ham United a colossal £10.75million
when signing from Wolverhampton Wanderers in August 2012 made his
season-long loan deal permanent this morning when putting pen to paper on a
three-and-a-half year contract.

Speaking to canaries.co.uk, Jarvis said: "I've really enjoyed my time here
so far so I'm delighted to sign on the dotted line. It's nice to get it done
before the window opens as the Club have shown they really wanted me. I had
a great start here and hopefully I'll be back up-and-running soon for the
rest of the season.

"My first game especially was great. To get out in front of the home fans
and score in a win was a perfect start which carried on for a while.
Unfortunately I then picked up an injury but I'm desperate to get back
fully-fit, and back playing.

"To get the deal sorted is really nice and I'm looking forward to helping
the team as soon as I can."

Norwich manager Alex Neil added: "Matt is a good competitor and a good team
player. He'll give us pace on the flank which I don't think we've had. Only
a few years ago he commanded a transfer fee of over £10m and as a player he
has a lot to offer."

Jarvis - who has scored twice for the Canries since moving to Carrow Road
back in August - will officially become a Norwich player on 2 January.

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Aston Villa v West Ham United
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 24th December 2015
By: Preview Percy

Preview Percy took time out from laying out his seasonal array of
anti-personnel mines for carol singers to write this. Aren't we the lucky
ones.....

Villa away then. Boxing Day. 3pm kick-off. Nice and traditional. Trains?
Yeah right. Unless you have one of those hand powered see-saw type trolleys
I think it's the M1 for you matey what with just about every part of the
network shut. Good luck then.

Aston Villa. Bottom. 7 points from 17 games with a -17 goal difference. In
many cultures 7 is considered to be a lucky number. Not in Birmingham I
suspect. They started out with Tottenham Tim Sherwood in charge. He had what
you might call an "interesting" transfer window.

It started promisingly enough, Scott Sinclair came in on a free having
previously been on loan from Man City. Sinclair's story is a salutary lesson
for young players who get blinded by the bright lights of the glitzier
clubs. Having been signed by Chelsea from Bristol City for what the work
experience kid in the Harry Potter spectacles described as "some fluff
Abrahamovic found down the back of his sofa" he spent a while on the Chelsea
trading stock loan merry-go-round before alighting on the other side of the
Severn Bridge at Swansea, which was where his reputation really started to
grow. A hat-trick against Reading in the 2011 play-off final (titter) saw
Swansea promoted. A reasonable first season in the Premier League ensued
whereupon he announced that he wouldn't be signing a new deal.

Moneybags Man City came a-knockin' but, as is often the case when young
talent gets snapped up by one of the big boys a bit too early, he found
opportunities severely limited at the Etihad. Injuries didn't help of course
but even so in retrospect he might now be musing at what might have happened
had he spent just one more season in Wales. After a loan spell spent mostly
in West Brom's reserves he arrived at Villa Park in January on loan, the
deal being made permanent this summer.

Another thing Sherwood had to deal with was the departure of Fabian Delph.
Delph signed a new 4 year contract in January of this year. Come the close
season it seemed clear that he was on his way. It was said that a medical
had been arranged at Man City. However, with half of Sky's OB team
presumably camped outside City's training ground in a hope of getting a
glimpse of the new Citizen, there was no sign of the player to be seen. A
statement was released on the Villa website saying that the player was happy
and was staying put. Presumably it was at this point that someone had a word
in his shell-like that consisted of the phrase "Are you bonkers in the nut
or something?" and, a week after his love note to Villa Park he upped sticks
and joined City for the £8m release clause contained in his contract.

They also got a further £32m in for Christian Benteke, who probably finds
his diving skills more appreciated on Mersyside. So with £40m in for just
those two players surely the scene was set to bring in some quality? Er,
well, not exactly. The likes of Gueye, Amavi, Ayew (J), Gestede, et al all
read less like a "Who's Who" of football and more like a "Who the hell are
you?

So, with better players leaving and their replacements looking as if they
were bought from football's equivalent of those "Happy Shopper" places that
I understand some of you working class oiks frequent – specifically the "own
brand" sections, it didn't come as a major surprise that team that struggled
for much of last term continued to do so at the start of this one. All those
sevens leave them a whopping 10 points clear of the safety zone, behind
Newcastle with whom they played out a 1-1 draw on Tyneside this weekend. In
the end Sherwood lasted until 24 October before being given the boot by the
improbably-and hilariously-named Randy Lerner.

The new boss is Remi Garde. Garde's previous managerial experience consists
of a few years in charge at Lyon, which is a French football club as well as
being a chain of Corner Houses famed for afternoon teas. There Garde
concentrated on first team matters, delegating the signing of nippies and
the ordering of buns to other members of staff (one for the teens there).

Garde left Lyon in 2014 citing "personal and family reasons", an explanation
that always raises eyebrows, especially when it comes from an MP, though for
the benefit of the kumb lawyers whose faces are draining of blood by the
second, I would point out that in the case of Garde I'm sure nothing
improper was going on. Probably.

With Lyon he won the 2012 French Cup and followed that up with the French
Version of whatever the FA have currently "rebranded" (ugh) the Charity
Shield. Since leaving Lyon he's been sat at home watching whatever the
French version of Jeremy Kyle is (that must be a sight – horrible loathsome
people who are also French? Doesn't bear thinking about, does it?!).They
still await their first win under the new regime, three draws (0-0 at home
to Man City and 1-1 away at both Man City and Newcastle) and three defeats
(4-0 at Everton, 3-2 at home to Watford and 2-0 at home to Arsenal) being
the order of the day.

One of Garde's first jobs was dealing with the probably not quite as
talented as he thinks Jack Grealish. Grealish's previous misdemeanours have
included the use of nitrous oxide for non-dental purposes and, after the 4-0
thrashing at Everton, he was pictured out on the lash. If Garde was looking
for some sort of incident to use to stamp his authority on the squad,
Grealish's behaviour was a gold-plated present wrapped up in Harrods' finest
gift-wrapping paper. Grealish found himself banished from the first team
squad to train with the U21s. He's since been restored to play with the big
boys, though the fact that he's been on the bench since his "return"
suggests that forgiveness is a slow process with Garde. The work-experience
kid with the Harry Potter spectacles reckons that Grealish got ten minutes
or so v Arsenal and was unused up at Newcastle last weekend so no doubt
he'll be chomping at the bit if he gets any action against us.

Part of the problem with Grealish may lie indirectly with our very own Joe
Cole. After the "laughing gas" furore Cole, at the behest of Sherwood, is
said to have taken Grealish under his wing. Maybe it's just coincidence that
Grealish's recent problems have coincided with Joe's departure on loan to
Coventry. Maybe not. The other issue he has had recently has been the fuss
about whether he wants to play for the Republic Of Ireland or England at
full international level. He has been capped at U21 for the Irish but he has
now apparently plumped for England. He will need clearance from FIFA which,
as far as I can ascertain, has yet to be granted. Presumably with Blatter
and Platini now out of the picture for the next 8 years nobody is quite sure
who to bribe to get the paperwork done.

Their goalscorer up at SJP was Jordan Ayew, brother of Andre who we faced
last weekend. He came in from French outfit Lorient for a reported £8m. He'd
scored 12 in 31 league matches for Les Merlus (a type of cod apparently)
which was a much better return than the 14 in 111 that Marseilles, his
previous employers, had gotten out of him. No goals in his first 7 at Villa
Park originally suggested a player more Leyton Orient than Lorient but four
in his last eight suggests that he is slowly beginning to find his feet a
bit more.

And so to the week in football. Chelsea, having found that Allardyce was not
available to come in and save them, have appointed Hiddink as manager to the
end of the seasom. I wonder if he's on a bonus if he keeps them up.
Mourinho's availability and the announcement that Pep Guardiola will be free
this summer prompted speculation about the future of Van Gaal up at Old
Trafford. And having celebrated a 1-1 draw at home to West Brom as if it
were a 5-0 away win in the Nou Camp, Liverpool have declared a city-wide day
of mourning following their hilarious defeat to Watford. However, the open
top bus tour planned for this weekend will still go ahead as long as they
get a corner to celebrate against Leicester this weekend.

Us? Well the 0-0 draw against Swansea wasn't as entertaining as either the
Stoke or the Man Utd games but when you have six frontline and mainly
attacking players out I guess that's the time to start talking about
"respecting the point" (and not when you have a full squad to choose from).
Much has been written about the possession stats from Sunday. Now I'm all
for playing it about but 25 passes that start and end with the 'keeper
without actually getting into your opponents half is, I'd suggest, possibly
not the way forward. We created the same number of on target chances from
about a third of the possession which would worry me if I were Swansea.

Our attacking options may improve by the weekend with the return of both
Carroll and Lanzini, though Villa Park may be a day or two too soon for
them. I did notice Jelavic getting some stick from a few people on Sunday. I
felt a little sorry for him – he did a lot of running around to try and
close down the opposition but for that to work if you're playing one up
front you do need your midfielders to press forward and help out. This
didn't happen so having shuttled his way back and forth across the back four
it must have been a little frustrating for the player to find the ball
played in behind him with his nearest team mate 50 yards away.

The rest of the injury crew are still out for a while. Reid and Moses are
looking at mid-January, Payet, Dimitri Payet may be fit for Liverpool whilst
Sakho will probably be February or possibly even March. For our opponents
the big absentee is likely to be Micah Richards who is "very doubtful" with
a knee problem.

Which leads me nicely on to a prediction. Whilst it's fair to say that, with
all the injuries, we haven't been winning too many, it's also fair to say
that we haven't lost too many either. There is a lot of psychology attached
to this match. Whilst the old twaddle about being bottom at Christmas has
not proven to be true over the past two seasons, neither Leicester or
Sunderland were more than a win or two away from safety come yuletide. Villa
on the other hand are a whopping ten points shy of Newcastle going into
Boxing Day. This may, in my humble opinion (humble????? – ed) prove to be
the decisive factor in this match.

For all the personnel problems we have had, much better teams than Villa
currently are have found us hard to beat, so adding a bit of attacking
quality to that mix will hopefully prove to be the difference between the
two teams.

At this time of year we at the Avram Grant Olympic Rest Home For The
Bewildered usually have to remind cook that whilst leftover turkey is,
generally, acceptable to be serving on Boxing Day, it should at least be
turkey left over from THIS Christmas. However, despite this, I am going to
take a risk and take the £2.50 we had earmarked to top up on Diocalm for the
holiday period down to Winstone's The Turf Accountant and place it on us to
win 2-1 .

Enjoy the game!

When Last We Met At Villa Park: :Lost 1-0 (May 2015) As the season ground to
its inevitable end we all just wanted it to be over. Cleverley's goal on the
half hour combined with the usual string of bent decisions from Lee Mason
were enough to give them three points and just about guarantee them safety
for the season.

Danger Man: Jordan Ayew Although Scott Sinclair is nominally their top
scorer, all but two of his six this season have come in the League Cup. Ayew
has four in his last eight, all of which have come in the league and his
goal up at SJP last week wasn't bad at all.

Referee: Mike Dean Gees they really hate us at PGMOL don't they? With
Blatter out of football for 8 years this is the person they should go for
next.

Irritatiing Celebrity Supporter of The Week: I had a few complaints last
week. "Come now" they said, "Catherine Zeta Jones? Hardly 'irritating' is
she?". Ok but I think you'll find that this week's choice more than makes up
for that> Ladies and gentlemen I give you the man whose fake accent makes
Dick Van Dyke sound like he was born in the Belfry at St Mary Le Bow, Mr
Nigel Kennedy. There is hilarious footage of him being interviewed by the
BBC as a schoolboy in the 1960s with an oh-so plummy middle class accent
which, by the time he had reached adulthood, had mysteriously changed into
marketing tool cockney.

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ndy Carroll 'not for sale', says West Ham manager Slaven Bilic
Last Updated: 23/12/15 9:24pm
SSN

Slaven Bilic insists West Ham will not be selling Andy Carroll during
January's transfer window. It has been reported in the British media that
Newcastle are keen to re-sign the striker they sold to Liverpool for £35m
four years ago. The 25-year-old has endured another injury-hit campaign and
has netted just one goal in 10 Premier League appearances this season.
However, Bilic says he wants Carroll to remain at Upton Park: "We need
players. We need him fit and we need him back. "I don't judge my
centre-forwards on whether they score goals or not. In the game against
Stoke he ran and he did everything, "He was creating space, he was holding
the ball up. He looked to me that he was back fitness-wise and then he got
injured. But hopefully the injury is not too bad. "When he is fit, he's a
big asset for us, he's a big weapon, and it is hard to play against him. "He
has his presence, his hunger, his ability and, of course, he's really
important for us.
"He fits into my attacking plans. I said this from the start and that has
not changed."
And Bilic revealed James Collins could be offered a new deal. The
32-year-old defender is out of contract at the end of the season but Bilic
intends to speak to him about his future. He added: "He wasn't just good
against Swansea but as I have said a number of times before, he's a
brilliant professional. "He has been from day one, whether he was on the
bench, or just training or playing for five minutes or coming on for half an
hour, or now 90 minutes, he's magnificent for us."

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Aston Villa v West Ham preview: Micah Richards a doubt for Villa
By Sam Drury
Last Updated: 24/12/15 9:18am
SSN

Aston Villa will discover later in the week whether captain Micah Richards
is fit to return to the side to face West Ham on Boxing Day.
The centre-back has missed the last three games with a knee injury, making
his last appearance in the home defeat to Watford at the end of
November.His return would be a boost to a Villa side looking for their first
league win since the opening day of the season and a first under new boss
Remi Garde. They are bottom of the table at Christmas, 10 points from
safety, and Garde thinks they will need to win nearly half of their
remaining 21 games to survive. West Ham are in a far better position in the
top half of the table but have not won in seven games since beating Chelsea
in October. They have also failed to score in their last three games,
although they have kept clean sheets in each of them with goalless draws.

Team news

Garde must wait to discover whether he will have Richards available at Villa
Park, but long-term absentees Jordan Amavi and Gary Gardner are out.

West Ham have no new injury concerns but Slaven Bilic thinks Dimitri Payet
is set to return ahead of schedule and could feature against Liverpool in
early January. Manuel Lanzini and Andy Carroll remain sidelined but Bilic is
hopeful that they will be fit to play in the clash with Southampton on
Monday.

Opta stats

Both Aston Villa and West Ham have failed to score in three of the last four
meetings between the two sides.

West Ham have won just one of their last eight trips to Villa Park in the
Premier League (W1 D2 L5), failing to score in five of the games in that
run.

Aston Villa have won just one of their last 14 Premier League games played
on Boxing Day (W1 D4 L9).

The team that were bottom of the Premier League at Christmas in the last two
seasons has stayed up (Leicester City in 2014-15 and Sunderland in 2013-14).
The only other team to do this in the Premier League era were West Brom in
2004-05.

West Ham have drawn their last three Premier League games 0-0 - the first
time they've been involved in three successive goalless draws in the league.

Only on three previous occasions have a team drawn four successive Premier
League games 0-0; Arsenal (Feb 2009), Spurs (Feb 2001) and Arsenal (Oct
1993).

Merson's prediction

Remi Garde says they need 10 wins from 21 games? I reckon Man United would
do well to do that! I don't mean that in a horrible way, but I just don't
see Villa doing it. That's a lot of wins, they've only won once all season,
and at the moment I can't see Villa winning a football match. West Ham have
had some real injury problems, I know they haven't won for a while either,
but they've got a bit of an excuse there. Even with players out, though, I'm
still struggling to see a Villa victory so I'm going for the draw.

PAUL PREDICTS: 1-1 (9/2 with Sky Bet)

Betting

Aston Villa are Sky Bet's marginal favourites at 8/5 despite being odds-on
favourites for relegation, with West Ham 7/4 to inflict another defeat on
their struggling hosts.

However, the draw looks the most logical outcome at 11/5 with the Hammers
sharing the spoils in each of their last four games, while Remi Garde's men
have drawn two of their last three. Rudy Gestede heads the first goalscorer
betting at 5/1 while Andy Carroll is rated the visitors' main threat at
11/2.

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'GINGER PELE' SIGNS CONTRACT EXTENSION
By Iain Dale 24 Dec 2015 at 13:51
WTID

It's just been announced that James Collins has signed a contract extension,
taking him up to the end of the 2017-18 season, when he will be 35 years
old. It had been thought that Sam Allardyce might come in for him during he
January transfer window, but this puts paid to any speculation that the
'Ginger Pele' will leave the club. He will now see out his career at West
Ham and will be hoping to use the rest of this season to secure a first team
place in the Wales European Championship lineup.

I'm delighted in all sorts of ways. When he's played this season he's hardly
put a foot wrong. Indeed, I'd say he's been our best defender so far this
season, and it's good to see the club recognising this.

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As predicted…Collins gets new deal
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on December 24, 2015 in News, Whispers
C and H

James Collins has landed the predicted new deal which will keep him at West
Ham for another two years. It came on top of his awesome performance against
Swansea at the weekend and confrmed ClaretandHugh's story yesterday that the
manager was ready to "talk turkey" with the central defender. We had
reported: " it was the big topic of conversation inside the club and that
the manager was edging towards offer Ginge a one or two year contract."And
this morning the club announced the the centre-half has been rewarded for a
series of strong performances and an all-round professional approach with a
deal that now expires in the summer of 2018. Speaking to the official site
Collins said: "I'm obviously delighted to sign, as it was worrying me a bit
that I'd have to leave again! To be signing for another two years, I can't
explain how happy I am to be part of a Club that is moving forward and
getting bigger and bigger, so to be part of that is unbelievable. "I try to
be professional, as I've been in teams where players make a negative effect
when they're not playing, so I am just proud to be part of such an amazing
Club. I'm happy coming in every morning, whether I'm playing or not playing,
and I train hard and try to keep myself fit. "Like I said, to be part of
such a big club for such a long time, I'm a very lucky boy. To sign for
another two years is something that, to be honest, looked doubtful at the
start of the season, so I got my head down and trained hard and tried to
show what I could do."

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Moncs: 'We really do need to win at Villa'
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on December 23, 2015 in News, Whispers
C and H

We really have to be thinking three points at Villa on Boxing Day. We appear
to be in the last days of the injury crisis and may start with the same team
that drew at Bournemouth but we have to go up there with a winning
mentality. Unlike some, I'm not complaining about the recent three results –
we have hung in and ground out results against decent opposition. Even
Swansea, despite their lowly position, are a good team and know how to pass
the ball around. We gave them a lot of ground but never looked like losing
but on Saturday we have to be ready to give it a bit of a go whilst
retaining our defensive shape and hopefully come away with three points. I'm
hoping that should Carroll and Lanzini still be unavailable, Slav will go
with Enner Valencia up front because we looked a different proposition when
he came on against the Swans. Alex Song too is starting to look good so
hopefully we will see some real craft despite being without our main men who
thankfully all seem on the way back now. I see no reason why we can't beat
Southampton next Monday and I understand the manager has to be careful how
he manages the squad over such a crowded period. But the Saints manager
Koeman is starting to criticise his players and this may be a very good time
to be meeting them. I think six points is very very feasible but I don't
think we can be happy with any less than four. However, three in the bag
from Boxing Day would brighten the mood considerably and set us up
beautifully for Monday.

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Report: Jarvis in Norwich rock bottom deal
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on December 23, 2015 in News
C and H

Norwich City have tonight being reported as having agreed a rock bottom
£2.5million deal for winger Matt Jarvis. The story is reported in the Mail
On Line and means the Hammers have suffered loss of £8.25 million on a
player brought in from Wolves by former manager Sam Allardyce in 2012. But
it means the Hammers now have around £40k in wages they could use in the
January transfer window plus cash in the bank for a loan or transfer fee.
The Hammers sources used by ClaretandHugh have always insist that players
will have to be sold for manager Slaven Bilic to buy and the Jarvis deal –
when confirmed – would be the first brick in that wall. It's being reported
that the winger – despite being out for the past month with a knee injury –
has been offered a four year deal at Carrow Road.

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Ferguson: "Agent Twins will not join West Ham"
Posted by Sean Whetstone on December 24, 2015 in News, Whispers
C and H

Doncaster Rovers manager, Darren Ferguson says the reports in the media last
weekend linking twins Paul and Jack McKay with a move to West Ham are
completely untrue. The Sun newspaper reported last Sunday that the
19-year-old twins had been training with the Hammers but Ferguson has denied
they will be joining us. "There's no truth in it in terms of them joining
them at all," Ferguson said "They`ve both trained with us today."
The twins are the sons of football agent Willie McKay who has been
frequently involved with deals for West Ham players. The youngsters have
both come from the Doncaster youth system and have been on the fringes of
the first team in the past twelve months. Jack made four first team
appearances last season whilst the pair have been unused substitutes for the
first team this term. The pair have recently been out on loan. Jack had a
spell with Ilkeston Town. Paul also had a spell with Ilkeston and he has
recently returned to the Keepmoat having had a loan spell with Gainsborough
Trinity.

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arvis deal changed way Irons do business
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on December 24, 2015 in News, Whispers
C and H

West Ham have this morning have confirmed to ClaretandHugh that Matt Jarvis
has indeed left for Norwich in what being seen as an early Christmas
present. And it was also made clear that the former Wolves winger – who cost
£10.5 million – forever changed the way the Irons do their business. The
switch was first revealed last night and involved a £2.5 million fee to the
Hammers who have also lost his wages of around £40k a week. Jarvis became a
fringe player at Upton Park and was given a chance to impress early in the
Uefa League games this season which eventually helped lead to his Carrow
Road switch. The player was of course brought into the club by Sam Allardyce
after prolonged negotiations but last season made just 11 Premier League and
two Cup appearances. A top source told ClaretandHugh exclusively: "There was
18 months left on his contract and there wasn't a club that would even pay
his wages till 5.00pm on transfer deadline day. "So its' good business. It
was one of the former manager's poorer buys and after him Modibo Maiga and
maybe even AC was why the board decided to take over transfers.

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TWO PLAYERS SET TO LEAVE UPTON PARK?
By Iain Dale 24 Dec 2015 at 09:36
WTID

Matt Jarvis looks as if he going to sign a permanent deal with Norwich City,
where he has been on loan since August. It's clear he has little future at
West Ham and it has to be admitted that he has impressed in the seven games
he has played during his time at Carrow Road, scoring two goals for good
measure. Jarvis signed for West Ham for a massive £10 million in 2012, but
has only played 78 games in four seasons, scoring a paltry 4 goals. If the
deal to Norwich goes through we'll take a massive haircut, with only £2.5
million coming into the West Ham coffers. If that fee is true, Norwich have
got an absolute steal. Quite why we never seem to get enough money for our
players, I have never quite worked out, but here we go again.

The jungle drums are beating on Andy Carroll too, with several stories
appearing saying that the club don't want to sell Andy Carroll, but might be
persuaded by a bid of £18 million. That sounds to me as if someone if flying
a kite… I have to say that if we could get anywhere near that sort of money
it would be good business but only if it was reinvested immediately in a
goalscoring striker. I'm not sure that would be possible in the January
window, so I wouldn't expect it to happen until the summer. By then we will
have seen if Andy Carroll can capture anything like the form we know he is
capable of. Assuming he stays fit… And that's a big 'if'.

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Andy Carroll to stay at West Ham in January as Slaven Bilic plays down link
to Newcastle
By RIATH AL-SAMARRAI FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 23:02, 23 December 2015 | UPDATED: 23:18, 23 December 2015

Slaven Bilic has told Newcastle not to bother with an approach for Andy
Carroll in January as he is not for sale. The striker's former club are
known to be keen on a move to re-sign the 26-year-old, who left for
Liverpool in 2011 before switching to West Ham. But asked yesterday if he
would consider selling his targetman, Bilic said: 'I don't think so, I don't
think so. We need players, we need him fit, we need him back. 'When he is
fit, he's a big asset for us, he's a big weapon, it's hard to play against
him. When he has his presence, his hungerness, his ability, of course he's
really important for us. 'He fits my attacking plans. I have said that from
the start.'
Bilic has had precious little mileage out of the targetman, with injuries
limiting Carroll to only five Premier League starts and one goal this
season. Carroll's latest issue, a groin strain, kept him out of Sunday's 0-0
draw at Swansea, but he has returned to light training and is rated as
having a 'slight chance' of playing the Boxing Day fixture at Aston Villa.
His injury has contributed to a major attacking crisis at the club, which
has gone seven games without a win and struggled badly for goals in the
absence of Diafra Sako, Dimitri Payet, Manuel Lanzini and Victor Moses.
Bilic revealed Payet is 'well ahead of schedule' in his recovery from an
ankle problem, having initially expected his playmaker to out until February
after his excellent start to the season was derailed against Everton on
November 7. Bilic said: 'It is good news. He is ahead of schedule. He should
train with us after the Aston Villa game on Boxing Day. He is training with
the fitness coaches and he might be available for the Liverpool game which
is a good boost. 'In the beginning we thought he might be back in February
but he is way ahead of schedule – his ankle is good, stable. I hope it will
be like that.' James Collins, meanwhile, is set to open talks over a new
contract. The 32-year-old is out of contract in the summer and in desperate
need of regular football if he is to force his way into Wales's Euro 2016
squad. Bilic said: 'We will definitely talk. I will do that with him. I have
said a number of times, he's a brilliant pro. He has been from day one,
whether he was on the bench, or just training or playing for five minutes
coming or half an hour, or now 90mins, he's magnificent for us.'

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