Daily WHUFC News - 23rd March 2015

Sakho's sweetest feeling
Whufc.COM

Diafra Sakho said there is no sweeter feeling in football than netting a
late winner, after his dramatic 88th minute strike earned West Ham United
all three Barclays Premier League points against Sunderland on Saturday.
The Senegal man had earlier twice seen headers skip past the post and it
looked as if both he and the Hammers were to endure a frustrating evening at
the Boleyn Ground. But when Mark Noble flicked the ball into his path, the
25-year-old was calmness personified in dispatching a right-footed drive
into the opposite corner. A classy finish it most certainly was and the No15
revealed that he has attacking coach Teddy Sheringham to thank for that.
"In training, I've been working with Teddy all the time on things like
that," he told West Ham TV. "We try to apply what we've done in training
with him, particularly the attackers. "When I find myself in front of goal,
I tell myself that it's the last chance I'm going to get. You have to have
the composure to score. That's what I did and I succeeded."

With just one win in the previous 12 league outings, this was a massive goal
for all concerned. Naturally, then, there was a mix of relief and joy for
Sakho, who said the Hammers can now go into the international break with
smiles on faces. Asked if there were a sweeter feeling in football, he
beamed: "I don't think so! The emotion that we feel, I think that everyone
felt it together - whether that be me who scored, the manager or the
supporters. We all wanted to get that first goal. We did it, we won and
we're happy. "It's the feeling of having won, of having done the job. The
manager said before the game we had to win it. Also, we knew we had a break
before the next game, so at least everyone's going to be smiling, knowing
that we won the game before the international break. We'll look to return
strongly. It's good. "It was important for the whole team, the club and the
supporters to win on Saturday, because it was more or less ten games since
we last won. You have to make sure that the doubts don't creep in."

When I find myself in front of goal, I tell myself that it's the last chance
I'm going to get. You have to have the composure to score.
Diafra Sakho Amid that difficult run, the Hammers were twice victims of
late, late shows, with Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur snatching a
share of the spoils in injury time. This time, however, it was West Ham who
finished the stronger and Sakho believes it is a sign that the group are
maturing. "It proves that we're growing and that we're learning from our
mistakes," he continued. "We conceded two or three goals in the dying
minutes. On Saturday it was us who have ended up scoring in those last few
minutes. "Now it's important that we continue to build and we know it.
We have to continue to grow like that and win games at homes."

For Sakho, Saturday's early-evening rendition of 'he scores when he wants'
was music to his ears, having not bagged at the Boleyn Ground since New
Year's Day. The Senegal international is now into double figures in the
league and hopes his name will be ringing around the Boleyn Ground in the
Hammers' final three home games of the campaign. "Whenever I score
here or away from home, I dedicate it to the supporters. I think that
they're important to help us push ourselves until the end. We need them and
they need us. It's us and them together that makes a team. "It had been a
while since I heard it [the song] at home, I enjoy it. I hope that's going
to continue and that I'll be hearing it regularly, particularly at home."

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Sporting Stories hits Chadwell Heath
WHUFC.com

Walking football came to the Training Ground this week and with it a
distinguished group of senior Hammers, many of whom have been watching their
beloved West Ham United for half a century or more. West Ham United
Foundation has teamed up with Friends of the Elderly and Barclays Digital
Eagles to deliver a pilot programme designed to prevent loneliness and
isolation among the community's senior citizens. Sporting Stories uses the
rich memories and history of football as a means of establishing common
ground and sparking interaction between participants. The Digital Eagles,
meanwhile, are giving the group a whistle-stop tour of social media and
teaching them how best to keep in touch with one another online. The
five-week programme may be in its infancy, but it could hardly have wished
for a better start. Joint-Chairman David Gold was the star turn at the
programme's Boleyn Ground launch, prior to Tuesday's visit to the Club's
Chadwell Heath Training Ground.

There, Winston Reid and Stewart Downing helped the veteran Hammers get to
grips with the brand new whufc.com, before manager Sam Allardyce led an
all-star walking football session. Carl Jenkinson, Cheikhou Kouyate, Alex
Song and Diego Poyet all got stuck in, as the old boys and girls showed that
they can certainly still kick it! Friends of the Elderly Director of
Fundraising Jo O'Boyle explained that they had approached a number of clubs
with the proposal and it was the West Ham United Foundation who had jumped
at the opportunity. Within a matter of the weeks the programme was up and
running and such has been its popularity that there is now a waiting list
for the next one.
"It's been fantastic to do this with West Ham, because it is such a
community Club," she confirmed. "We've had an overwhelming response from the
people that wanted to join the programme. "Every week, they say this has
been the best day of my life. We did a behind-the-scenes tour, they sat in
the dugout, they've been to the Training Ground and met the players, which
is something that is above and beyond what they imagined what the programme
would be about. "These are people who have been fans of the Club for half a
century and have never had this kind of experience. It's giving them
something to talk about after they go away from the weekly session. It's
giving them a reason to connect with other people around them and having a
reason to share."

The programme's future is not altogether clear at this stage but with the
Foundation's backing Jo is hopeful that this is merely the start. She
continued: "We do have a waiting list for people who want to come back.
We're hoping that we can get funding, so that we can actually deliver
something on a regular basis. The Foundation is really supportive and they
really want to help us do that for the older community."

The West Ham United Foundation has made such a difference to the programme
and the way that they've embraced its ambition and brought it to life has
been sensational. For the participants, Tuesday's trip to the Training
Ground had been many years in the making, but well worth the wait, it seems.
"It's been wonderful," Peter Wiggins said. "A month ago if anyone told me
this was going to happen to me I would never have believed them. The people
that I've met, these two gentlemen and the players as well, I can't take it
in at the moment, but it is true. It's very good."

And he wasn't the only one pinching himself. Sporting an old West Ham shirt,
not retro mind, Michael had earlier waltzed into reception and bumped into
skipper Kevin Nolan no less.

"It's a dream come true, after 55 years of following West Ham, it's never
got any better. It can't get any better. It's the best day of my life as far
as I'm concerned with football and West Ham. I was 16 when I went to my
first match and I'm overwhelmed with the last few weeks that we've had."

There was a chorus of approval from the Digital Eagles too, who said the
combination of football and social media was working a treat. They even got
Big Sam in on the act, using a selfie stick, no less.

Digital Eagle Tammy Hyndman said: "It's been absolutely amazing, we've been
working with West Ham United Foundation for a few weeks now and it's just
been the best experience. They've made such a difference to the programme
and the way that they've embraced its ambition and brought it to life has
been sensational.

"We're really appreciative of the Foundation staff for all that they've done
to support us and Sporting Stories. We've been working on it for a few
months behind the scenes, getting it all set up. But it was when West Ham
became involved with us that it took it to the next level.

"The idea was to use football as a trigger to get people interested in
technology and it's just worked fantastically well. It's been brilliant. The
group we've been working with have formed such a tight-knit group and
they're all in touch on Facebook."

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Five more wins to equal Premier League record
KUMB.com
Filed: Sunday, 22nd March 2015
By: Staff Writer

West Ham will equal their record Premier League points tally of 57 should
they manage to win five of their eight remaining 2014/15 fixtures.
Yesterday's win over Sunderland gave the Hammers their first win in the
league since mid-January, when Hull were beaten 3-0 at the Boleyn Ground.
However it also meant that should Sam Allardyce's current squad manage to
win a further 15 points, they can equal the club record for a 38-game
campaign set by Harry Redknapp's 1998/99 squad who finished fifth and
subsequently qualified for Europe.

Although the task appears a tall order on the face of it, West Ham's chances
of emulating Redknapp's Class of '98 are boosted by the fact that just one
of their remaining games comes against a team above them in the league -
that being Manchester City, who host the Irons at the Etihad on April 19th.
In addition, West Ham face Leicester (20th), Stoke (10th), QPR (19th),
Burnley (18th), Aston Villa (16th) and Everton (14th) before the season ends
with a trip to 12th-placed Newcastle on May 24th.

Allardyce will overhaul his own personal best at West Ham with just five
more points; his 2012/13 tally of 46 points eclipsing the meagre 40 earned
last season.

West Ham's Corresponding 2014/15 Record vs Forthcoming Opponents

Leicester (h) 2-0; Stoke (a) 2-2; Man City (h) 2-1; QPR (h) 2-0; Burnley (a)
3-1; Aston Villa (h) 0-0; Everton (a) 1-2; Newcastle (h) 1-0. Total points:
17.


West Ham Utd's Premier League Record: by Points

1. 1998/99 5th, 38 games, 57 pts (Redknapp)
2. 1997/98 8th, 38 games, 56 pts (Redknapp)
3. 1999/00 9th, 38 games, 55 pts (Redknapp)
3. 2005/06 9th, 38 games, 55 pts (Pardew)
5. 2001/02 7th, 38 games, 53 pts (Roeder)
6. 1993/94 13th, 42 games, 52 pts (Bonds)
7. 2008/09 9th, 38 games, 51 pts (Curbishley/Zola)
8. 1995/96 10th, 38 games, 51 pts (Redknapp)
9. 1994/95 14th, 42 games, 50 pts (Redknapp)
10. 2007/08 10th, 38 games, 49 pts (Curbishley)
11. 2012/13 10th, 38 games, 46 pts (Allardyce)
12. 2014/15 9th, 30 games, 42 pts (Allardyce)
13. 1996/97 14th, 38 games, 42 pts (Redknapp)
14. 2000/01 15th, 38 games, 42 pts (Redknapp)
15. 2002/03 18th, 38 games, 42 pts (Roeder)
16. 2006/07 15th, 38 games, 41 pts (Pardew/Curbishley)
17. 2013/14 13th, 38 games, 40 pts (Allardyce)
18. 2009/10 17th, 38 games, 35 pts (Zola)
19. 2010/11 20th, 38 games, 33 pts (Grant)

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Sam Allardyce's West Ham work praised after win over Sunderland
Last Updated: 21/03/15 9:03pm
SSN

Sam Allardyce deserves more credit for the work he is doing at West Ham,
says Jamie Redknapp. The Hammers boss steered his team to a hard-fought 1-0
win over Sunderland on Saturday Night Football - the east Londoners' first
win in nine. Allardyce had been criticised by vice-chairwoman Karen Brady on
Saturday morning, who said the club was underachieving. However, Sky Sports
pundit Redknapp says ninth-placed West Ham - who, with Saturday's win, move
on to 42 points and beyond last season's total, with still eight games to
play - are doing well, given the quality of their squad. "We all talk about
Swansea doing really well - and they have, Garry Monk has done a great job
there," said Redknapp. "They're on 43 points. West Ham are on 42. "But
everyone at West Ham says 'we're not quite happy, should be doing better'. I
think they're doing really well. "There are ideas of grandeur sometimes. You
look at that squad and there's no Andy Carroll at the moment, no James
Tomkins, no Winston Reid, no Enner Valencia. They are short of a couple of
big players. "The job Allardyce has done there is what you'd expect from
that group of players. You have to be realistic. The teams that are above
them deserve to be, they've spent more money and they're better teams with
better players."

Niall Quinn agreed with Redknapp and suggested that West Ham now have a
solid platform to build on in the final eight games of the season.
The Sky Sports pundit was also keen to point out Allardyce took over at West
Ham in 2011, when they were in the Championship, and says he deserves praise
for the club's development in that time. "It's been a great performance
[from Allardyce]," said Quinn. "He's come under a lot of pressure and a lot
of stick at times this season. I find that really hard to understand because
the job he's done to lift the club to where it is has been superb. "They've
done better than last year and they can look at the 50-point mark now.
That's real progress and I'm mystified why he's head of the Sunderland
betting market to be their next manager."

Redknapp, meanwhile, believes the victory over Sunderland can spark a strong
finish to the season for West Ham. The Sky Sports pundit conceded Nene
fouled Sebastian Larsson in the build up to Diafra Sakho's late winner, but
says the three points takes the pressure off the Hammers for the rest of the
campaign. "It was difficult viewing at times because it wasn't pretty. But
it was the sort of performance and result that can kick-start West Ham
again," said Redknapp. "They've been in need of that. The football hasn't
been great, the natives have been restless and that was a really big three
points. "But that goal can take the pressure off everybody and they can look
forward to the rest of the season."

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"Garbage"cries as Allardyce reverts to type
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on March 22, 2015 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

Goal-com's Harry Sherlock returned to Upton Park yesterday and gives his own
entirely independent view on a game which manager Sam Allardyce believes
could get us ticking again. Our intrepid young reporter entertains some
serious doubts about that after a game he believes is a contender for worst
of the season! There nothing much better in life than watching your
favourite team play football. The game pre-dates the First World War and
developed into a million-pound industry after the mega investment from Sky
Sports. Yesterday, the channel opted to show West Ham - Sunderland. Watching
it was not pleasurable! Sat in the Upton Park press box right among the
paying punters at the Boleyn - it was easy to hear the displeasure of the
majority of Hammers fans during a game that is easily a contender for the
worst of the season. "Wake up West Ham, this is garbage," cried one in the
second half. This was after Sam Allardyce's "match changing" substitution -
Matt Jarvis off, Carlton Cole on!

All it did was lead to long ball after long ball as Sam Allardyce's Hammers
reverted to type. Allardyce celebrated victory as if West Ham had won the
World Cup when Diafra Sakho lashed in an 88th minute shot to earn all three
points but the fact remains; he must go, for the sake of a football club
that once prioritised entertainment over results. The memories are
everywhere; Bobby Moore's legacy remains a point of particular pride for the
men, women and children who filter into this famous old ground every
weekend. What would Bobby have thought yesterday, looking down from above?
Moore never played in such a turgid team. The Irons started the season so
well but Allardyce is now overseeing a cruise to the finish. It is
unacceptable and it must stop. There are young managers in the Premier
League - Mauricio Pochettino at Tottenham, Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool, to
name just two - who have adapted to their surroundings and are now reaping
the rewards. Both remain in the hunt for a Champions League qualification
spot. Allardyce seems stuck in the mode of one-up, with long balls
supplementing a spearhead. Sakho is a good striker, but he needs more
support. Admittedly, Enner Valencia is injured and so is Andy Carroll, but
one feels the latter would have started alone had he been fit on Saturday
and that is a major part of Allardyce's tactical problem.

West Ham always raise their game against the top teams in the league, and
were unlucky not to take anything from games against Chelsea and Manchester
United this season, while they defeated Manchester City and drew with
Tottenham at White Hart Lane. It is against the weaker teams that the
Hammers have struggled. A 3-1 loss to Crystal Palace in the Premier League
was a particular nadir and the performance suggested Allardyce had simply
focused on his team, rather than the opposition, such was his steadfast
belief that West Ham would win the game playing their way.

As it ended up, they were utterly shellacked. The Hammers have a good squad,
and a capable pool of replacements for the ageing members, but Kevin Nolan
continues to command a first-team place and he's not good enough! Would he
be playing if Rodgers was in the dugout? No. It is time to start blooding
the youngsters, the players who have so far only sat on the bench under
Allardyce. Yet perhaps the most damning indictment of his reign is that the
man they like to call "Big Sam" appears to have his favourites and there's
no room for that at this level.

Under a progressive manager, West Ham's team would be selected based on the
opposition's weaknesses and the squad's strengths, rather than those players
who have been in the trenches with Allardyce before. West Ham would be
better for it, too. They are currently ninth in the table, but that position
has been earned on the back of a number of disappointing performances.
Allardyce's time is surely up, and with no danger of relegation hanging over
east London, he is happy for the team to simply click into cruise control.
It is wrong, They need a new manager to get them achieving again

The views expressed here are those of the blogger and are not necessarily
shared by ClaretandHugh

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Big 'target' talk from Allardyce
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on March 22, 2015 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

Sam Allardyce hopes the international break will see players recovering in
time to help the Irons achieve the targets they were set before Christmas.
That would be fine except he never named those targets saying only month by
month that we would know better at the end of each successive month where we
were! Anyway, let's not argue to strongly and accept instead that he's
probably talking about a top eight finish! Continuing to talk up the late
defeat of Sunderland, Allardyce told the official website: "This result
means we can now try to achieve the target we set after Christmas. "It's
still there to try to achieve it and if Winston Reid comes back and stays
fit, as does everybody else, during the run-in that will be very important
for us. "Winston, James Tomkins, Enner Valencia and Andy Carroll have played
a major part in our success this season and we were without them and that is
a lot of absences to try and cope with. "Against Sunderland, the players
went out there and coped with it very well indeed. It's been a tough old
period, but hopefully we'll see more victories as the season draws to a
close. "Hopefully we'll have Reidy and Enner back after the international
break, so it's probably come at a good time for us with regard to getting
some of the injured players back, which would be great."

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Sam: "It's our biggest win".nudge nudge!
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on March 22, 2015 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

Perhaps a tad over the top but Sam Allardyce has described the win over
Sunderland as the biggest of the season!" The relief he's been expressing
since the scrappy 1-0 victory over a less than average Black Cats team may
be rooted in the current uncertainty surrounding his position at the club.
And that was reflected very strongly in what was a very untypical and
seemingly nervous TV interview before the game where in an unusually
quiet-spoken mode he spoke of this being a "must win " game. That it was
Diafra Sakho who again came to his rescue continues to amuse as the 12 goal
man was all but lost in negotiations back in the summer! Nudge nudge, wink
wink. Sam's relief was palpable as he declared ro West Ham TV : "It was a
big game and probably our biggest win of the season. "It settled everybody's
nerves, because you could see the fans have come here so often recently,
seen some really good performances and gone away having applauded the lads
off the field but disappointed about the result. "The performance wasn't as
good as it was against Manchester United or Chelsea but I'm sure, like us,
all they wanted to see was a victory. When it came as late as it did, it is
always sweeter that way." Next up Leicester and then Stoke - it will be no
surprise to hear them described as our biggest matches of the season!

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Moyes may keep it Real!
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on March 22, 2015 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

David Moyes is by no means nailed on to become West Ham United's next boss.
The former Everton and Manchester United boss may be preparing for a longer
stay in Spain than the year left on his current deal. The Irons were thought
to have the Scot as their Number One target given he has release clause in a
deal which only has just over 12 months to run. This would be triggered
should an English club make an approach and given his former chief scout
Tony Henry's arrival at Upton Park as recruitment director to the board that
was considered highly likely. However, when ClaretandHugh put that
suggestion to a senior Upton Park source source we were told: "That's not
necessarily the case. "As has been made clear on several occasions there
will be no announcements until the end of the season as is the board's
practice." Meanwhile new reports emerging this morning suggest Moyes may be
ready to stay in Spain and organise "a proper backroom set-up with several
of the staff he has worked before.

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Allardyce: 'Sakho's is a hell of an achievement'
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on March 21, 2015 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

A deeply relieved Sam Allardyce admitted everybody was "really chuffed"
following Diafra Sakho's late goal gave the irons an urgently required win.
He said: "It's nice to get a win and secure it just at the end there with
our leading goalscorer making life a bit more comfortable. We're really
chuffed. "Most of our failings have come from not being able to keep a clean
sheet and we did that today. I think we deserved to win, despite the scrappy
game. 1-0 puts us in a better frame of mind going into international week,
which comes at the right time for us as we want to get our injured fit. "Our
run-in suggests we can win more games than we lose or draw and we can push
on and try and finish as high as we can. Sakho is the leading goalscorer for
headed goals but he was delighted he did what he did. For him being leading
goalscorer at West Ham in his first season is a hell of an achievement. That
was a very important one for us. "It was probably was a foul (in build-up to
goal) but it's about time things went our way. It's a devastating decision
at the end for Sunderland but on the back of the decisions we've had its
about time one went our way.

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Enough is enough, West Ham fans need some perspective - The ExWHUemployee
Column
Ironviews.com
By ExWHUemployee on March 22, 2015 in ExWHUemployee column

At long last we have a win! Yes it wasn't the best football and yes we
should have played better but when your confidence is low, finding results
is harder than normal. Plus, we were up against Sunderland with new manager
syndrome!

I logged onto twitter expecting to see our fans generally happy but instead
all that I read was negative reactions and without knowing otherwise, by
some people's reaction you would have thought we had been relegated.

I understand some people's frustrations and I have them too. I felt Sam had
started with the wrong team and those that read my articles regularly would
know that I said Carlton Cole should start alongside Sakho this week and to
revert back to the diamond. I would have also started with Nene over
Jarvis, who for me offers very little now. I also have found at times this
season Sam to be too quick to pick Nolan (who is playing well at the moment
however) and Carroll over players who are more in form. He is not the
perfect manager for us but is there a perfect manager for us out there?
Does any club have a perfect manager for them?

We sit 9th in the league, we have very winnable fixtures left now with
Manchester City away being the exception. Let us judge this season at the
end of it. I believe if we finish 8-10th it has been a good season given
the injuries that we have had to key players throughout the season. If we
finish 8th in the league, did people really expect a higher finish? If so,
which team should we have been better than? With the exception of
Southampton who have had an amazing season, I do not know who we could have
finished above. You only have to look at the Championship to see how many
clubs have gone down and then struggled to get back and remain in the
Premier League, let alone to finish in the top half in such a short time
(again Southampton aside).

During the week I saw many people slate the youth team and say how we
haven't produced anyone for such a long time. I will point out that many of
those youth players are now playing above their age group and at that age it
makes a significant difference. Regardless of this, people slate Sam for
not playing youth players yet slate the youth team when they lose.

I know I will get criticism for this but I do worry that there are not many
manager alternatives who would realistically join us that will improve the
team. Many want glamorous foreign names, many of which are not proven in
the Premier League. Some do not want David Moyes because he is too similar
to Sam. Howe of Bournemouth has been mentioned but again he isn't
experienced at managing a big/Premier League club. There is no realistic
option that jumps out to me as the right appointment.

I am not sitting here confessing to being Big Sam's biggest fan, far from.
But I just feel people do not give him a fair crack of the whip. He
stabilised a whole club which had no moral and were far from being united
when he came in and has us established as a strong Premier League team,
which was essential going into the Olympic Stadium. The large majority of
backroom staff will say they are 100 percent behind him and so are the
players.

If you look at things that have been labelled at Sam recently you could say
he has proven most wrong: "He cannot play entertaining football" (many
matches this season have proven otherwise); "He doesn't play youth in
particular Elliot Lee (who has scored 1 in 5 for League 2 Luton) when they
are clearly good enough"- yet none of these players he "should" have played
have gone on to prove him wrong; "He should have picked Zarate" (who
couldn't get in the QPR team and hasn't scored for them); "He always picks
Nolan no matter what" (in some games he has been on the bench when fully
fit).

I know I will get a lot of criticism for this view, I know Sam has his
faults, I know our recent run before Sunderland was very disappointing but I
think we should just get behind the team and enjoy the next few months with
no worry of relegation.

Speaking of another person who I think is extremely undervalued, James
Collins was again excellent this weekend. As I said this morning in my
tweets, yes James doesn't possess an abundance of pace and killer passing
skills but as defenders go he is extremely solid and has all the qualities
needed, this has always been the case. Unfortunately some tend to see a
player who doesn't have all the "skills" as not being a good player.
Through some of the coaching I have done of younger generations, I know they
are obsessed with "skilling people up" and scoring amazing goals rather than
concentrating on the fundamental basics of certain positions. If you look at
what makes a good defender, James Collins fits almost all of these.

For me the Hammer of the Year award is going to be much harder to choose
this year but if Collins continues to perform as he has been this season, I
think he could be an outside contender.

The club are working extensively on scouting players with many foreign
players being looked at. The summer will see a mixture of young players
with potential bought and some more established stars. We appear to be
looking at Adebayor again who has said he will take a pay cut to join us.

I really think we should enjoy the next few months relatively stress free as
I cannot remember many seasons in my 25 years of going that we have been
safe in March.

COYI

ExWHUemployee

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Aaron Cresswell praises West Ham team-mate Cheikhou Kouyate for centre-back
performances
HITC
Mathew Nash

The Senegalese international has dropped into defence because of injury
problems in recent games. West Ham United have been in a poor run of form
since Christmas. In recent weeks they have not been helped with injury
problems, particularly up front and at centre back. Winston Reid is
currently out with a hamstring problem while James Tomkins has dislocated a
shoulder. With these two out of action Sam Allardyce has resorted to playing
summer signing Cheikhou Kouyate at the back. After West Ham defeated
Sunderland 1-0 yesterday his performances were praised by defensive
team-mate Aaron Cresswell. Speaking to the official Hammers site the English
left-back stated: "Cheik's had to fill in a few times over the last couple
of weeks now and he's done it again on Saturday and been fantastic. "We got
the clean sheet so what more could we ask for? We have two weeks until the
next game, so it's a chance for a few of the injured lads to get back for
Leicester."

Kouyate has been a great buy for West Ham, ever since making his move from
Anderlecht in the summer. But he was signed as a midfielder, so his
performances at centre-back have certainly been admirable. He played much of
his career in Belgium as a central defender so the transition has not been
too harsh, but he had not played there for a long time and with all due
respect to the Belgian Pro League the standard is certainly not that of the
Premier League. So he has done admirably in his team's hour of need. He will
be thankful of Winston Reid's expected return after the international break,
so he can get back to swashbuckling midfield adventures.

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West Ham United's Aaron Cresswell gives details of half-time discussion
against Sunderland
HITC
Subhankar Mondal

West Ham United edged past Sunderland 1-0 at home in the Premier League on
Saturday. West Ham United defender Aaron Cresswell has revealed to the
club's official website the details of the half-time discussion in the
dressing room on Saturday. The Hammers got the better of Aston Villa 1-0 at
Boleyn Ground in the Premier League, thanks to a late goal from Diafra
Sakho. "We said at half time to keep it tight at the back, make sure they
don't score and then you've still got another 45 minutes," Cresswell told
West Ham's official website.
"It took until the 88th minute for us to score, but you'll take a 1-0 and a
clean sheet all day." Playing at home against a Sunderland side struggling
for survival in the Premier League made West Ham the favourites, but heading
into half time unable to break the deadlock would have been frustrating.

West Ham have conceded late goals against Manchester United and Tottenham
Hotspur this season, and one suspects that the players would have been
worried of doing the same against Sunderland. But it seems that the
half-time discussion made sure that the West Ham players knew what they had
to do in the second 45 minutes. It was the Hammers' first win in eight
Premier League games and has lifted them up to ninth in the table for the
time being with 42 points from 30 matches.

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David Gold reacts on Twitter to West Ham United's win against Sunderland
HITC
Subhankar Mondal

West Ham United edged past Sunderland 1-0 at home in the Premier League
today. West Ham United co-chairman David Gold has taken to social networking
site Twitter to revel in the team's victory over Sunderland today. The
Hammers finally returned to winning ways in the Premier League, as they got
the better of the Black Cats 1-0 at home. Senegal international striker
Diafra Sakho's goal in the 88th minute proved to be the difference between
the two sides at Boleyn Ground.

It was only the second win in 12 Premier League games for West Ham, who are
now fighting for a top-10 finish. Club co-chairman Gold was delighted with
the team's victory over Sunderland and singled out 25-year-old Sakho for
special praise. Sakho ended the match with four shots, 45% pass accuracy,
three chances created, four crosses, one clearance and one block. Over the
90 minutes, Sam Allardyce's side had 54% of the possession, 15 shots of
which just four were on target, and six corners. West Ham are currently
ninth in the Premier League table with 42 points from 30 matches.

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Jamie Redknapp raves about Allardyce, rues absence of four West Ham players
HITC
Olly Dawes

Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp was full of praise for West Ham boss Sam
Allardyce. Jamie Redknapp has told Sky Sports that West Ham fans should be
more grateful for the job done by manager Sam Allardyce this season. West
Ham defeated Sunderland 1-0 on Saturday night, with striker Diafra Sakho
hitting a dramatic late winner for the Hammers at Upton Park. Before that
victory, West Ham had won just one of their last 12 games, piling pressure
on manager Sam Allardyce after a dreadful 2015 to date. The narrow win over
a struggling Sunderland side probably does little to strengthen Allardyce's
position at the club, with many expecting 'Big Sam' to leave East London
when his contract expires this summer. However, ex-Tottenham midfielder
Redknapp told Sky Sports after that win over Sunderland that West Ham fans
need to be more realistic, whilst also placing much of the blame for their
poor form on the absence of injured quartet James Tomkins, Winston Reid,
Andy Carroll and Enner Valencia. "We all talk about Swansea doing really
well - and they have, Garry Monk has done a great job there," said Redknapp.
"They're on 43 points. West Ham are on 42. But everyone at West Ham says
'we're not quite happy, should be doing better'. I think they're doing
really well. "There are ideas of grandeur sometimes. You look at that squad
and there's no Andy Carroll at the moment, no James Tomkins, no Winston
Reid, no Enner Valencia. They are short of a couple of big players."

"The job Allardyce has done there is what you'd expect from that group of
players. You have to be realistic. The teams that are above them deserve to
be, they've spent more money and they're better teams with better players,"
he added. With just a matter of months to run on Allardyce's contract at
Upton Park, his long-term future prospects don't look promising for the
former Blackburn boss. Recent reports from the London Evening Standard
suggested that the Hammers had their eyes on David Moyes, Slaven Bilic or
even Rafael Benitez as possible replacements for Allardyce - and regardless
of what Redknapp says, it looks like Allardyce will be leaving in the coming
months.

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Big Sam's West Ham glass is half full as Hammers prepare for final eight
games of the season
14:00, 22 March 2015 By Jack Pinnock
Irons snatch one at the death to dismay of Black Cats
The Wharf

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce was full of optimism going into the final
eight games of the season after his side's 1-0 win over struggling
Sunderland. A last gasp goal from the Hammers' top scorer Diafra Sakho was
enough for the Boleyn Ground outfit to clinch all three points and take
their tally to 42 points. This is the same number of points the Irons won
over the whole of last season. The Sunderland win also ended their run of
just one victory in 12 games. Big Sam said his side deserved to win the game
and it put the team in good shape ahead of the international break which he
will use to get the likes of Enner Valencia and Winston Reid back to full
fitness.

Allardyce said: "it's nice to get a win right at the death with our leading
scorer. It makes everybody's life a little more comfortable this weekend.
"I'm really chuffed at keeping a clean sheet as well, which has been our
main downfall from a winning position for the past 10 games. "Even though
the game was a bit scrappy, I think we deserved to win." "It puts us in a
better frame of mind going into the international break. It comes at the
right time for us because we want to overcome the injuries and get back
Valencia and Reid - two very important players that will make the squad
stronger. "The strength in depth of the squad is slowly returning and,
hopefully, with our run of games, we'll win more matches and try to finish
as high as we can." The return of Jermain Defoe rattled a few of the home
faithful's cages and the former Tottenham Hotspur striker should have given
the Black Cats the lead, missing a one-on-one chance from 12 yards out.

However, for the opposing side, Sakho notched his first Premier League goal
since New Year's Day, with Allardyce delighted that the Senegalese has found
his touch again. Big Sam said: "He's the leading scorer for headed goals
this season. He was delighted that he did what he did and for him, being
where he is, at West Ham United in the Barclays Premier League, for his
first season is one hell of an achievement. "He hasn't scored so many
recently but that was a very important one for us." In the build up to the
goal, substitute Nene appeared to have fouled midfielder Seb Larsson, much
to the anger of the new Sunderland chief Dick Advocaat. However, Allardyce
said the Irons deserved a bit of luck. "It was probably a foul, but it's
about time something went in our favour", said Allardyce. "When things are
going for you, those decisions go for you and when they go against you then
it can be devastating. It was for Sunderland because we scored on the end of
it."

After next week's international break, the Upton Park side travel to the
King Power stadium to take on bottom club Leicester City, before returning
to east London to face Mark Hughes' Stoke City side.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Reid in doubt for Korea game
10:43 AM Monday Mar 23, 2015
NZ Herald

New Zealand Football confirmed on Monday All Whites captain Winston Reid is
still under an injury cloud ahead of next week's clash with Korea Republic
in Seoul. Reid did not feature for West Ham United in Sunday's (NZ time)
clash with Sunderland and is still recovering from a hamstring injury which
has kept the 18-cap All White out of action in recent weeks. All Whites
coach Anthony Hudson says he is in constant contact with the 26-year-old
centre back and his club and Reid would be given every possible chance to be
involved in next week's match. "Winston is our captain and leader and we
will continue to monitor his situation closely," Hudson said. "He is
obviously an important member of our squad and we will give him every chance
to be involved and we will make a final decision later in the week."

Men's U-20 and Wanderers SC central defender Adam Mitchell has been called
into the All Whites squad as cover. Meanwhile, midfielder Ryan Thomas has
been ruled out of the tour through injury. Thomas started for Dutch
Eredivisie club PEC Zwolle in Monday morning's (NZ time) match against
Excelsior but was forced off after 30 minutes with a leg injury. Men's U-20
and Wanderers SC midfielder Moses Dyer will replace Thomas in the squad for
next Wednesday's match against the 56th-ranked Asian nation.

Hudson said while it was disappointing to lose Thomas, it provides another
opportunity for a player with a bright future. "It's a shame for Ryan that
he has picked up an injury this morning but unfortunately that is the nature
of football," Hudson said. "In Moses, we are bringing in a player who has
performed well in the ASB Premiership and, similar to Cameron coming in for
Kosta, at this stage of our campaign we are giving an opportunity to someone
in the U-23 bracket with an eye on the future as well as the coming Olympic
qualifiers."
The New Zealand-based players and management staff departed for Seoul on
Monday morning.

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