Daily WHUFC News II - 28th December 2015

Slaven Speaks - Southampton
WHUFC.com

Slaven Bilic speaks to the media ahead of Monday's game against Southampton.


Slaven, with the game coming so quickly after the Aston Villa match, can we
expect many changes?

SB: "We can't make any changes really. We might be forced to make changes
but if you've been following West Ham you probably know the situation.
Before the Villa game we had the same situation for about five weeks now and
that is why I want to praise the players as we have such limited options.

"We are not losing games and we are picking up points game by game. We
probably aren't going to have many options to rotate or to rest. Hopefully
our two players that got injured at Aston Villa [James Tomkins and Aaron
Cresswell] will be able to play, but we won't know that until the last
minute. Then hopefully maybe one player or maximum two of the others will
come back for Southampton, without rotations of course."

Who do you think will be back?

SB: "Well I think Tomkins and Cresswell have a chance, but the only problem
is the game is so soon after Villa. Other than that, more hopefully than
probably, it will be Andy Carroll and Manuel Lanzini."

Is there a chance Dimitri Payet will make the game?

SB: "No, Dimitri will not be available before the Liverpool game."

Given how well Lanzini has played this season, how much of a boost would it
be if he returns?

SB: "It would be a huge boost but it's not only about him coming back. We
have Reid to strengthen our defensive options and then up front we have
Payet, Lanzini, Sakho, Moses, Carroll and Jelavic to come back. Thank God we
have Valencia back.

"It will be a big boost when Lanzini comes back and, although we do really
need him, the question is do we want to risk him for one game when he can be
out for another few weeks or months. So that's why we, no matter how
desperate we are to have them back, we're going to think about it with a
cold head.

"So, it's about time. Is it going to be against Southampton or is it going
to be a few days after against Liverpool?"

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West Ham set to make Manuel Lanzini a permanent Hammer
By Kaveh Solhekol, Chief news reporter
Last Updated: 28/12/15 8:41am
SSN

Manuel Lanzini will become a permanent West Ham player two months earlier
than planned. Lanzini is on a season-long loan from Al Jazira Club in the
United Arab Emirates and West Ham's option to sign the 22-year-old Argentine
attacking midfielder permanently runs out in April. West Ham co-chairman
David Sullivan said: "The contract we have is 100% watertight. We have until
April to make it permanent but we'll probably do it before the due date. "He
is a fantastic player and a fantastic man. By February or March, he will be
a permanent West Ham player. He could be a top, top, top player. He's
already sensational and he could be as good as any player in the world."

Lanzini is close to returning after a thigh injury and West Ham have scored
only once since his last game, against West Bromwich Albion on November 29.
Only Dimitri Payet, signed from Marseille in the summer, has scored more
goals than Lanzini for West Ham this season. Sullivan said: "Payet is the
signing of the season. He's the best player I've signed in 25 years. He's a
£30m player. He's a supreme footballer. He makes every player in our side
play better. On his day, he's world class, he's unstoppable." Payet has not
played since the 1-1 draw with Everton at Upton Park seven weeks ago. He is
expected to return from an ankle injury next month.

West Ham's problems in scoring without Payet and Lanzini have led to reports
that they may be interested in signing free agent Emmanuel Adebayor. West
Ham co-chairman David Sullivan says the club won't be spending any money
unless they sell players first - something they have no intention of doing.
The Togo striker was released by Tottenham in September and he was in talks
about moving to West Ham last summer. But Sullivan said: "It's very
unlikely we'd sign him. He hasn't played for ages, so he's not match fit. He
could have an impact wherever he goes but we've got too many players here
and we can't pay any more wages."

West Ham are budgeting on spending £30m in the transfer market every summer
and their plans will not be affected by the amount of money Sullivan is
spending on producing films. Sullivan's new movie 'The Fall of the Krays' is
released next week. He said: "It's like my hobby and it's also a way to make
money because I don't make money out of football. The Krays were nasty,
horrible people, serious gangsters. It's a fantastic film. I love making
films. "We're going to make lot more films. I've got to make a living! I
work 90 hours a week, half of that on West Ham, so I'm not short-changing
West Ham. We'll spend another £30m on players next summer."

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Michail will take the knocks in his stride
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on December 28, 2015 in News, Whispers
C and H

Honest Michail Antonio may have taken stick on the social networks but this
is a bloke with serious faith in his own ability. Even finding that co
chairman David Gold had mistaken his identity on his arrival hasn't phased
him describing the error as ' a bit of banter.'
Some fans though had more serious problems with the £7 million signing's
performance against Villa but Michail is taking everything in his stride.
That seems unfair after such a limited Irons career but the player knows
such criticism goes with the territory and won't be letting that get him
down. He said: "One thing I have faith in is my ability. Right now I do feel
a bit rusty, I need to get sharper, but I feel I will get to that point and
once I do I believe I can terrorise the Premier League as well as the
Championship. "I am a player where I try and excite the fans and run at
players. I always give 100 per cent. Right now I feel I am doing all right,
but I need to do more back in the team as an attacker to get more assists
and more goals. "I had quite a bit of a break but as the games are coming on
I feel myself getting better and getting sharper. "Hopefully Monday things
will start building on until I start playing my game." He added: "Right now
we are going through a bit of a draw rut but it could be worse, we could be
getting no points. "We can't complain with our form but it is about getting
more goals now."

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Hammers would love this midfield star to stay
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on December 28, 2015 in News, Whispers
C and H

West Ham are keenly watching Alex Song's progress from injury and remain
keen to offer the on loan Barcelona midfielder a new two tear deal. Song –
sidelined with an eye infection against Villa – has yet to return to full
match fitness but is looking stronger and more creative match by match. The
Hammers showed their enthusiasm to make him a permanent part of the club
scene when offering him a loan deal despite him having struggled towards the
end of last season and before he was properly recovered from injury. Now
they are keen to see the player return to his very best form in order to
offer him a to year deal as the club heads for the Olympic Stadium. Co
chairman David Gold told ClaretandHugh: "We know that Alex is absolutely top
quality and we believe that class will always out. "Obviously we want him at
the club and the signs are that he is getting there. He knows the situation
– he loves the club and we would love to see him here permanently."

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Jelavic to have a scan on his injured knee
December 27, 2015
Westhamway.co.uk
ExWHUEmployee

The West Ham Way have exclusively discovered that Nikica Jelavic has injured
his knee with scans expected to reveal the full extent of the injury
tomorrow. This of course rules him out of the Southampton game at the very
minimum and we will update you on how this goes on the site.

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Players to return to the Southampton Squad and give a massive boost!!
December 27, 2015
Westha mway.co.uk
ExWHUEmployee

We have found out exclusively that Tomkins will be available for tomorrow's
game with Andy Carroll expected to be on the bench too. There is also a
real hope in the camp that Lanzini will pass a late fitness test and also be
on the bench to provide a much needed injury boost to the side with Payet
not far behind and likely to make the subs list for the Liverpool game.
Lanzini may even be able to figure for half and hour or so as an impact sub
against the in form Saints. Unfortunately it is now likely that Cresswell
will not figure against Southtampton, although he has not yet been ruled out
for the Liverpool match.

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What does Jarvis' sale mean for the January Transfer Window?
December 26, 2015
Westhamway.co.uk
ExWHUEmployee

Yet another draw and I cannot help but feel disappointed with that result.
Let's be honest Villa are dreadful and are clearly the worse team in the
league and if we are looking to finish in top 8 or so we have to beat teams
like that. It wasn't a very good performance.

We do have to put it into perspective that it is an away point which you can
never be too angry with and that is even more notable when you consider the
injuries. We have arguably all of our best players out injured now and if
you throw Tomkins (who must be a doubt for Southampton) and Cresswell who
must be even more of a doubt we really are depleted. There is talk that
Lanzini and Carroll will be back for Southampton but considering that is in
two days there must be some uncertainty with this too!! We really need these
injured players back.

I thought Valencia worked hard and played well today but again wasn't much
of a goal threat. This could be said for pretty much all of our forwards
since Payet has been injured. This highlights two things that perhaps
Carroll and Jelavic are not as bad as people like to make out and also how
crucial Payet is to the team. Since his injury we really have struggled for
goals and creativity and we need him back so crucially. Take Lanzini and
Moses out of the attacking equation too it is no wonder these forwards have
struggled. I thought Adrian and Collins were the best players again. I
saw many people saying whenever Jenkinson plays we concede. It is getting a
bit ridiculous how much certain accounts have to ridicule players. Yes he
has been poor this season and probably the worst player but that goal was
nothing to do with him. It wasn't his side, it was Ogbonna who was arguably
fouled before and then shouldn't have brought the defender down either. Yet
somehow this was linked back to Jenkinson, which is just boring and wrong.

As I have been reporting all window we had been looking to sell on Jarvis
but the £2.5m that we raised really doesn't give us much transfer options.
The chairman believe that you cannot get real value in the January window
and so are unlikely to spend any transfer funds, despite that fact we will
be linked with every man and his dog over the January window. The £2.5m
will be better spent in the summer is the general consensus at board room
level. The club will try to loan a player in the window but will not pay
over the odds to make this happen. They believe that with Payet, Lanzini
and Carroll are very close to returning and Moses and Reid not too far away,
that because of this they do not need to go into the market. Of course we
also have Sakho to return but that isn't too close at the moment. It also
doesn't make much of a difference to the Financial Fair Play status because
Jarvis' salary was already off the bill for this season and so it hasn't
made the situation any better. If he had returned it would have been at the
expense of Moses/Jenkinson's salary being off the wage bill in the summer.
If the transfer situation changes we will let you know.

We appear to be playing Southampton at just the wrong time as they have just
hammered Arsenal but we have to hope this performance and with it being the
late kick off, that they may be fatigued but it is really hard to predict
these things.

I was delighted that Mark Noble was awarded with a testimonial game in
March. It will be a great occasion and many ex heroes will take part. Dean
Ashton and Trevor Sinclair have put their names forward and Carlos Tevez and
Di Canio will be approached. It will be a team full of ex hammers to play
with Mark such Sheringham, Zamora, Parker and many others.

Make sure you tune in to the website this week because we will be finishing
our Upton Park Memories competition and reporting on all the news. Don't
forget to look at our forum as it has some good discussion and I am hoping
my admin account will be sorted out soon so that I can take part. The site
is continuing to grow and hopefully improve and we hope to take you with us
on our journey.

All the best! COYI

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Hammers chief claims Newcastle United are the only club who could sign Andy
Carroll in January
London 24
09:06 28 December 2015 Brad Pinard

West Ham co-chairman David Sullivan admits Newcastle are the only club who
could sign Andy Carroll. The striker has struggled yet again this season and
is hoping to return from yet another injury against Southampton on Monday
evening. Having missed more games than he has played since joining the
Hammers from Liverpool, Carroll has become an expensive frustration, however
Sullivan is giving him every chance of staying. "Andy is doing a great job.
He's part of the club, part of the team," Sullivan told SkySports. "I would
think it's very unlikely he'd want to go anywhere. "He's got a fiancée and a
baby in this area. Whether he'd go back to Newcastle to go to his home, I
wouldn't think there'd be any club he'd want to go to other than Newcastle.
"If Sunderland or a club offered him more money I don't think he'd go
there."

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