Daily WHUFC News - 11th March 2015

Potts disappointed with Black Cats performance
WHUFC.com

Development Squad coach Steve Potts said he was very disappointed with his
team's performance in their 3-0 defeat away at Sunderland.
The Black Cats started the game the stronger and they were rewarded when
they won a penalty which Martin Smith slotted home. The second half was more
even with the Hammers having several half-chances to equalise. However it
was the hosts who wrapped up the victory late on when Rees Greenwood ran
onto Mikael Madron's incisive through-ball before Duncan Watmore scored in
the 90th minute. Speaking after the game, Potts said: "I was disappointed
all round really. We huffed and puffed but we didn't do enough with the ball
or without the ball.
"I think they had the better chances, whether the score line reflected the
game I'm not so sure. At 1-0 with ten or so minutes to go you think you're
still in the game, bu we gave three goals away from our own making."

With the Dev Squad's game with Manchester City rescheduled for later in the
season, the Hammers' next game is another tough away trip to Liverpool on
Friday 20th March. When asked what he thought his team needed to improve on,
if they are to compete with the Reds, Potts replied: "We need to use the
ball better and maintain possession better. When we don't have the ball we
need to be more resilient then what we showed tonight. "It is a very young
team and hopefully they'll learn from this quickly. They've been put in the
spotlight and it was a harsh lesson. "I thought Sunderland mixed their game
up. They tried to vary their play and stretch us, which they did. We didn't
deal with a fourty yard ball and that's how they won the penalty. They
weren't just one dimensional.'

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The Big Interview - Alex Song
WHUFC.com

Alex and Nene trained with the Development Squad for four days to improve
their fitness

Alex Song says his peak fitness and form are returning ahead of his return
to former club Arsenal on Saturday. The midfielder was given permission by
manager Sam Allardyce to remain at Chadwell Heath to train with West Ham
United's Development Squad while the first team were away in Dubai. Having
worked hard alongside young professionals and scholars for four days, the
No30 is feeling back to his best and is ready to tackle the club he
represented for six seasons between 2006 and 2012. West Ham TV caught up
with the 27-year-old ahead of his return to the Emirates.

Alex, you stayed behind to work on your fitness, so can you please talk us
through your last few days?

AS: "Yes, I think it was really good for me to work on my fitness and stay
here to work. I feel I needed to work because I didn't have a proper
pre-season. "When I was playing, I was feeling a little tightness in my
muscles and that's why I asked the Gaffer if I could stay here and work a
little bit harder before they come back. "I need to come back at the top of
my form. I have trained hard, so I'm very happy because the way we have
trained here with the Under-21s, they are doing very well. I have worked
very hard to come back to my level.
"It's good news that my fitness statistics are improving. That's why I said
to the Gaffer to stay here to work hard. Now I'm in the good way and I've
improved a lot over the last few days. "I want to come back to my fitness,
because the gap was a little bit longer between matches. I was very happy
when the staff said I am coming back in a good way, because that's the way I
want to be. That's very good news for me and for the Club as well."

Presumably, with your best fitness comes your best form?

AS: "Of course, of course. I know what I can do when I am 100 per cent, but
sometimes in football it is like this. I know I didn't do the pre-season, so
that's why it's a little bit hard today, because I didn't do it properly
last summer. "That's why I need to work extra hard and do some extra work to
come back at the top level. With the way I'm going now, I'm very happy. I
want to show the team what I can do."

You and Nene both trained with the Development Squad and your presence
seemed to lift the intensity of the session.

AS: "Yes, he is a great player. We know Nene and he has played at a high
level. For him to come here and train with the Under-21s is good for them to
learn from as well. "It is very important, because when I was this age I was
listening every time to the players with experience, because at Arsenal I
had people like Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Robert Pires and I
learned a lot. "Today, they have the opportunity to have senior players with
them and they can learn from us and it's good. It was a very good training
session, very hard and with very good intensity. "We tried to show them that
to play at the top level is not easy and they have to work very hard. I'm
very happy with the way they are working."

Talking of Arsenal, you must be relishing Saturday's return to the Emirates?

AS: "Yes, it is very important because I know Arsenal. They are one part of
my life and, because I went there when I was 17, I always say it is my
family. "Today, though, I am focused on West Ham and I want to make the fans
happy. I want to play this game and give my best to help the team to win and
come back to winning. "I know this is a special game for me, but that's
football and I have to take all the emotion out and just try to play my game
and play the best football I can to help the team to win."

Arsenal are in superb form, aside from their UEFA Champions League Round of
16 first-leg defeat at home to Monaco.

AS: "I think Monaco how you want to play when you play in the Emirates. I
know this stadium very well and I know when you play with Arsenal it's very
hard. "The best thing to do is to try to be together, defend together very
well and when you have the opportunity to go on the counter attack, you have
to do it very well like Monaco did it. "If you want to go to Emirates and
try to play you will not have any chance to win the game there because this
stadium is very hard to play in. You have to stay together very compact and
not give them any room, then take the opportunity on the counter attack. "If
we do this very well like Monaco did, then we can get a good result there."

We have performed well against the best teams this season, so there is no
reason why we cannot do so again at Arsenal?

AS: "We have shown a lot of things this season as a team, especially when we
play against teams at the highest level like Manchester City and Liverpool
or Tottenham. We've done very well and we need to continue to improve in
this way. "We can play better and hopefully this game on Saturday will be a
very good test for us. It's been a long time since we won a game in the
league, so we must try to come back and try to win or get one point there.
"It will not be easy, but if we're all together as one and have the fans
behind us, we can get a good result there. Everything is possible in
football and we just need to keep believing and trying hard on the pitch."

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Pike says Dev Squad must bounce back
WHUFC.com

Development Squad right-back Alex Pike said his side deserved to lose
against Sunderland following a disappointing away performance on Monday
evening. The hosts started the game the stronger as they had several early
chances, however goalkeeper Sam Howes was on hand to deny the Black Cats.
However, they were eventually rewarded when they won a penalty which Martin
Smith slotted home. The second half was more even with the Hammers having
several half-chances to equalise, the best of which fell to Jaanai Gordon,
whose shot fell agonizingly wide. The hosts wrapped up the victory late on
when Rees Greenwood ran onto Mikael Madron's incisive through-ball before
Duncan Watmore slotted home in the 90th minute.

Speaking after the match, the 18-year-old defender said: "I'm very
disappointed, everyone is really. It was a poor performance all-in-all and
we know we can do a lot better. The score line may have been a bit harsh but
they did deserve to win. We did throw it away in the last five, ten minutes.
You get punished at this level if you do that." This season, Pike has been
in impressive form for both the U18s and the Development Squad, totalling 22
appearances in all competitions. The defeat sees the Dev Squad stay at the
foot of the Barclays U21 Premier League table, while Sunderland remain in
tenth with 19 points from 15 games. "I thought Sunderland played pretty
well to be fair. Their No7 Duncan Watmore is a good player, I thought he did
well."

Next up for the Development Squad is another tough away fixture against
Liverpool on Friday 20 March and despite Monday night's defeat, Pike is
confident that the Dev Squad can bounce back quickly. "We just need to
bounce back from this, come back stronger and have a look at the things that
went wrong and where we need to improve. "It's just the start, we're a new
team mainly and hopefully we'll learn from tonight and improve quickly."

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Former Player Blog - Julian Dicks
WHUFC.com

Aaron Cresswell has impressed me with his willingness to join the attack

Hello everyone,

I was asked recently for my thoughts on how the men's first team has
performed this season and the word that sprung to mind was 'progression'.
Everything is about progression and for me and they've played well this
season, but then they've got some good players.
It's not about half a season or three-quarters of a season, though, it's
about the whole season. So, at the end of it, if we are eighth then we've
had a good season. Then, it's about the season after it and making more
progression. I think the fans are happy with the majority of the season.
Obviously the FA Cup defeat at West Brom was a bit of a sour point, but if
you had said to them we'd be in the top half at this time of the season, I
think they'd be happy. When things are going well, things become easy, but
it's about how you respond when things aren't going so well.

West Ham fans demand players who give everything they have got and they
deserve that, because they travel a long way and spend a lot of money to
support their team. Every team cannot win every game, which we all accept,
but the minimum we expect is that the players give everything they have got.

I say to the Ladies team that you win more games by hard work than you do
through ability, but if you've got both that's a bonus. There is plenty of
ability in the side, so now hopefully the hard work is coming through. One
player who I have been impressed with is the lad who is filling my old
position at left-back, Aaron Cresswell. He is a good player. When he first
came along, I watched him at Ipswich Town and he likes to get forward on the
overlap and join the attack and that's what we had been missing. No
disrespect to the left-backs we've had before, but you need your left-backs
to go on the overlap and help your strikers and your wide players and
midfield players.
Hopefully he will keep improving and be here for a while, despite what some
newspapers might be suggesting.

Let's got to Arsenal on Saturday and give our all and see where it gets us.
I remember going there in the League Cup and the Premier League and winning
as a player, so while they are in good form there is nothing that says we
can't win there again. The Ladies have a home game against Queens Park
Rangers in the FA Women's Premier League Southern Division this Sunday
afternoon. The girls have already reached one cup final this season and the
commitment they are showing is being rewarded with improved results. We were
We won at QPR in the London FA Capital Cup semi-finals recently, so please
come down to AFC Hornchurch's Bridge Avenue stadium for a 2pm kick-off and
give the girls some support as they try to repeat the trick. We have
recently appointed two new Joint-Chairmen of the Ladies section in John and
Stephen Hunt and I had my first meeting with them recently to discuss our
plans for the future.

It is definitely an exciting time to be part of the Club.

Come on you Irons!

Julian Dicks
Manager, West Ham United Ladies

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Diarra trains with Song and Nene
KUMB.com
Filed: Tuesday, 10th March 2015
By: Staff Writer

Out-of-contract midfielder Lassana Diarra continues to train with West Ham
despite there being no developments in his protracted contract wrangle with
former club Lokomotiv Moscow. The former Real Madrid and Arsenal midfielder
has been training with West Ham since January with view to sealing a
contract, after a planned move to Inter fell through. However all attempts
to resolve the outstanding legal issues between Diarra and his former club,
Lokomotiv Moscow, have proved fruitless. The 29-year-old was fired by Moscow
in 2014 after refusing to attend training last summer, having fallen out
with head coach Leonid Kuchuk. The two parties have been involved in a
long-running legal battle since, one that has prevented the 29-year-old from
joining another club.

Speaking last month, Sam Allardyce conceded that it was unlikely he'd be
able to sign Diarra before the end of the season. "It's not going to happen
due to administration reasons, which is a real shame," he said. "To get a
player of his quality, with a lot to prove, would have been a huge bonus for
us."

Despite there being no light at the end of this particular tunnel, Diarra
remains with West Ham at Chadwell Heath. He has been in good company this
week, having been accompanied by new arrival Nene - who is working on his
fitness - and Alex Song, who isn't. KUMB reported recently how West Ham had
baulked at Song's demands during preliminary contract negotiations - since
when the on-loan Barca midfielder has been dropped and left at home, whilst
the rest of the squad flew to Dubai.

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ROME WASN'T BUILT IN A DAY
By Brian Williams 10 Mar 2015 at 08:00
West Ham Till I Die

The soothsayer who warned Julius Caesar to beware the Ides of March in
William Shakespeare's account of the story was clearly no slouch - because
that is precisely when the man who wanted to replace the Roman republic with
a dictatorship got his comeuppance.

The Ides of March, it turns out, is actually the 15th. That is this coming
Sunday, by which time our own emperor may be on very shaky ground indeed. If
we lose to Arsenal at the Emirates we will have acquired just nine points in
the 11 league games since we played the Gooners at Upton Park at the end of
2014 and the last lingering hope of achieving anything more than mid-table
obscurity this season will be gone.

Not for one moment do I expect Messrs Gold and Sullivan to don their togas
and become Brutus and Cassius this Sunday. Caesar Sam will not get a knife
between his shoulder blades if we get beaten - but his hopes of being
offered a new contract will be about as slim as Cleopatra's waistline if we
do.

We all know that BFS has both his admirers and his detractors, and I'm
really not looking to start that slanging match again. You boys can take
that one out of the Colosseum and into the chariot park if you like. What
interests me is how history will judge Allardyce's tenure when it finally
comes to an end.

The first year of his reign was tough going: we all hoped to secure
automatic promotion from the Championship and to be denied one of those
crucial places by Southampton and Reading took some swallowing. The pill was
sugar-coated by the play-off final victory at Wembley, of course, but in
truth it wasn't a great season.

On returning to the Prem, any supporter's initial ambitions have to be
modest these days. No team is ever going to repeat Nottingham Forest's
remarkable achievement of winning the league the year after securing
promotion (let alone go on to win and then retain the most prestigious club
competition in Europe over the next two seasons). Security and stability are
the watchwords, and no one can deny Allardyce provided those.

Last year was when the frustration really began to boil over, culminating
for many of us in the anger that was directed at the manager after the home
game against Hull. I hardly need remind you, that was in March.

Allardyce, you will no doubt recall, had been named manager of the month for
February in 2014. Then the wheels fell off. First we lost at Everton. Then,
two weeks later, we got beaten at Stoke. Next up was Man U at home - and a
2-0 defeat. Which brings us to the Hull game, four days later.

When you find yourself 1-0 up and playing against 10 men at home, supporters
can be forgiven for expecting something better than what we got that night.
It was shocking, and the reception that Allardyce got at the end really
shouldn't have surprised him quite the way it did. And he most certainly
should not have cupped his ear in our direction when we expressed our
dissatisfaction.

'I did it because I was hearing booing and I couldn't quite believe it,' he
said afterwards. "I've never been to a place where I won and got booed. I
started at 16, got into the first team at 18 and I'm 59 now and I have never
been in a place where we have won and got booed." Well, you have now.

Fast forward 12 months to another night game at Upton Park. This time we
lost, but rather than boo the team off we saluted them for a performance
which merited a point at the very least. I was as surprised as I was
delighted by the crowd's reaction after the Chelsea game last week, mainly
because we had been so lame against Palace at the weekend.

In both games the officiating was lamentable, and it wouldn't have taken
much for Wednesday evening's crowd to have shown their displeasure at
referee Andre Marriner and his two short-sighted linos rather than salute
the heroics of the boys in claret and blue. The fact that the pitch emptied
to the sound of cheers rather than jeers made me wonder if many of the
anti-Allardyce brigade (of which I was one before this season) are finally
changing their minds.

The football we play when Andy Carroll isn't in the side can be a joy to
behold at times. ("Injuries force us to play our best team," was the way one
wag put it on Twitter.) How we didn't take a total of six points off Man U
and Spurs still baffles me - and they would have been a totally deserved six
points as well.

As it is, we still haven't quite notched up the magic 40 that supposedly
signifies a club is safe - but no one is talking about West Ham and
relegation in the same breath this season. The fact they aren't is something
of a triumph in itself given our recent history. And while being fourth was
nice for a week or so, we all knew that wasn't going to last. Barcelona -
we're coming for you . but maybe not for a season or two yet.

Under Allardyce we have undoubtedly come a long way in a relatively short
space of time. Even against Palace, those few of us who were still in the
ground allowed ourselves to believe we might salvage a miraculous point when
Enner Valencia pulled a goal back with quarter of an hour to go. None of us
would have done that 12 months ago. We are now a decent side with every
chance of getting better, and if the present manager doesn't get the
opportunity to be the one to take us forward he will always have the
satisfaction of knowing he handed the club on to his successor in better
shape than he found it.

This time last year I'd have taken just about anyone other than Sam
Allardyce as manager. But friends, Irons, countrymen, lend me your ears.
Unlike Mark Antony, it turns out I have come here to praise Caesar, not to
bury him.

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West Ham eye David Moyes as manager if Sam Allardyce departs Upton Park this
summer
22:30, 10 March 2015 By Adrian Kajumba
Former Man United boss has edged ahead of Hammers hero Slaven Bilic in the
thoughts of the club's hierarchy - but can they convince him to quit Spain?
The Mirror

West Ham United will face a battle to land their number one target David
Moyes - if they part with Sam Allardyce in the summer. Real Sociedad coach
Moyes has edged ahead of former Hammers defender Slaven Bilic, currently in
charge of Turkish side Besiktas, in the thoughts of the Upton Park
hierarchy. They will hold end of season talks with current boss Allardyce to
determine his future. If he leaves, the club would prefer to appoint a boss
with previous Premier League managerial experience. However, the Hammers
will have an uphill task to tempt former Everton and Manchester United boss
Moyes back to the Premier League. The Scot, who worked with Hammers'
influential chief scout Tony Henry at Goodison Park, is keen to stay in
Spain and continue developing his Real Sociedad side. Moyes took over in
November with Sociedad deep in trouble but has steered them up to mid-table,
notching a famous win over Barcelona along the way.
The 51-year-old is hoping to build on the work he has done in recent months
next season, having signed a contract until June 2016. And that would leave
the Hammers having to go back to the drawing board if they find themselves
searching for a successor to Allardyce.

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Results to count more than Brady's Sam words
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on March 10, 2015 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

The only thing certain about events around Upton Park at their moment is
their uncertainty.both on and off the pitch. Topsy turvy games which should
be won are drawn, the manager claims they will have to "torture" Winston
Reid to get him to sign - he immediately agreed a new deal.

The big issue - Sam Allardyce's future - seemed settled, then enter stage
right comes Ms Brady - whoops sorry Lady something of somewhere.

But that's West Ham for you - always a drama.always a soap opera. The fact
that we've had one league win in ten games and the team is on the slide
appears to matter not one jot - Lady Brady reckons Sam's the bizzo and the
dramas start again.

This would all be jolly good fun were it not for the fact that this is all
being written and acted out in a newspaper column and I'm pretty certain
that this is not a commission which is authorised or vetted by the club.

It's not the first time such a situation has arisen and some will recall she
suggested that Steve Gerrard could be a good signing - very publicly and
rather crazily - although talk of an illegal approach was a bit over the
top.

Quite how her outburst on the Sam thing will affect the old boy's position
at the end of the season remains to be seen but the knee jerk reaction was
that this was all a bit off the wall and not required.

Personally despite it throwing a few spokes in the wheel temporarily I
reckon the last ten results will be a lot more important to Sam's future
than anything Ms Brady may have had to say.

But it was very West Ham wasn't it?

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Brady's bombshell muddies the water!
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on March 10, 2015 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

Vice chairman Karren Brady's intervention in the thorny Sam Allardyce debate
is concentrating minds in the Hammers boardroom. The outspoken Lady Brady of
Knightsbridge made in clear in her Sun column last week that she was a big
Sam supporter and would be fighting his corner at the end of the season
review meeting. And with the board still compiling a list of possible
replacements nobody is in the mood to have a massive punch up!

The final ten games, however, remain utterly crucial and although there has
been no slowing in the drawing up of a managerial shortlist, the vice
chairman's remarks have resonated in the Boleyn corridors of power. Brady
had written: ""Dinner with a bookmaker, he would hate that term, probably
prefer statistic entrepreneur! "Anyway, he tells me he is currently working
out odds on the end-of-season managerial roundabout. His lowest odds are
Steve Bruce moving to Fulham (or slightly longer to Wigan), Steve McClaren
to Newcastle and another high-profile manager to Sunderland. I have no idea
at all about all this. Except I suspect the boss moving to Sunderland won't
happen, especially if I have something to do with it!"

We were told exclusively this morning: "Her column raised some eyebrows
among important players particularly as it was so public.
"The club do fancy Marcelo Bielsa but there are risks attached and the
owners aren't normally seen as risk takers. "A huge amount rests on the last
ten games and as has always been the case, finding a suitable replacement.
The big variable in the situation is whether Sam Allardyce decides he's had
enough. That os more than possible"

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Creswell deal on ice as Man City circle
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on March 10, 2015 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

West Ham - despite reports that Manchester City are on the prowl - will
discuss a new contract with Aaron Cresswell at CHRISTMAS!
Morning newspaper reports suggest the club are ready to offer him an
improved five-year deal at the end of this season despite him still having
four years to run on his present deal. With reports that Manchester City see
him as the natural replacement for Gael Clichy who looks to be on his way
from the Etihad, there is a suggested urgency that the new Cresswell deal
will be done as quickly as possible.
But the club responded to ClaretandHugh's check call on the position by
declaring: "We'll look at Aarons deal around Christmas time.
"He's on a very long deal and we see no urgency. We know about the
Manchester City speculation but they are looking at people all over the
world and we are relaxed about things. "He won't be leaving in the summer.
He has been an absolute revelation and we are delighted with him. Were we
ever to sell, which we are now remotely considering, it would have to be an
enormous fee as there is a large sell on fee to Ipswich involved."

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