Daily WHUFC News - 7th April 2015

Manager on Monday
WHUFC.com

Sam Allardyce is determined not to alter West Ham United's attacking
philosophy in the pursuit of points following Saturday's 2-1 loss at
Leicester City. The Hammers went down to Andy King's later winner in an
enthralling contest at the King Power Stadium and, while the manager was
upset that his side did not put the game to bed earlier, he had no
complaints about his side's application. After creating – and missing – a
number of clear chances with some impressive build-up play, much of the talk
in the post-match press conference was about whether a more defensive-minded
approach could be adopted to try to secure games.

"No I'm not going to change the way we play," a defiant Allardyce said. "The
big shout at the beginning of the season was that we were going to attack
more and for that reason we've lacked a few more clean sheets than we
wanted. That would have got us a few more three point victories than draws
and got us higher up the table. "We've scored more goals than we've ever
scored and we now must push on over the next seven games to get more than 46
points, which is our best total from year one, and if we can do that by
continuing playing like we're playing then we'll go on and do it. "We played
like that and won earlier in the season, which was why we got to third or
fourth so I'm not going to stop the players playing like that. I'm going to
tell them to be a bit more careful when we haven't got possession as if we
continue to give goals away it means we're going to have to score two, three
or four goals to win games."

With only seven games remaining and the Hammers well out of the relegation
battle at the foot of the table, some may question whether the team still
have anything worthy to play for. But certainly on the evidence of the
performance in the East Midlands on Saturday, Big Sam has got his players
fired up to finish the season strongly. "We didn't play like a team that was
drifting on Saturday. We played like a team with a lot of creativity and
drive. Where we failed is that we're less clinical than we used to be. "I
think the lads in their first season in the Premier League have found out
what physical and mental attributes are needed for a long season so their
edge is not quite as good as it was, but they'll gain it for next season.
"We've still got to push on for the next seven games to get as many points
as we can. Our performance on Saturday suggests we'll get those points and
for us it was a good performance but a disappointing end. "We've done our
job against teams below us as that was only the third defeat against teams
below us in the table; all the others we've beaten. We've only lost to
Palace and Everton."

Overall, the manager shared the sense of disappointment over the defeat but
felt the result could have gone either way after a host of missed chances.
It is something he is likely to address with his team as they prepare for
the visit of Stoke City to the Boleyn Ground on Saturday. "To lose the game
right at the end when it looks like we'd at least get a point is extremely
disappointing. Either team could have won it. They did, we didn't and we're
disappointed. "We couldn't do much more in terms of opening a team up and
playing better than we did. It made us a little shorter on the defending
side but you take that risk when you play away from home and you try to open
the opposition up. "Cheik Kouyate has scored again after a super ball from
Alex Song and in doing so did what a lot of the others should have done with
arguably better chances."

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Stat's a Fact - Cheik's hot streak
WHUFC.com

Cheikhou Kouyate's goal at Leicester City on Saturday was his fourth of the
season for the Hammers – and his fourth in his last eleven appearances.
After a goalless first 14 games in claret and blue, the Senegal
international has found his touch in front of goal with a streak that could
have yielded even more goals on Saturday. As well as his 32nd minute strike,
which beat Kasper Schmeichel to bring the Hammers level at 1-1, he brought
an outstanding save from the Dane with a shot from outside of the box and
struck the post after combining superbly with Diafra Sakho. Four league
goals is the tally the 25-year-old scored for his previous club Anderlecht
in a total of 153 games, so this run of four in eleven is certainly new for
Kouyate. So why has he suddenly started to contribute in a goalscoring
sense? Part of his total at Anderlecht can be explained by the fact he spent
much of his time with the Belgian club as a centre back, but he has shown a
great composure in front of goal since moving to the Barclays Premier
League. After breaking his goalscoring duck with a deflected header against
Arsenal just before the New Year, Kouyate showed what he can do against
Manchester United, controlling superbly, before juggling the ball and
drilling past David de Gea on the turn. A powerful header against Tottenham
Hotspur after making a burst into the box from midfielder was his third
goal, before on Saturday he watched Alex Song's clipped pass onto his chest,
controlled and prodded past Schmeichel. It took his tally to four goals from
23 shots for West Ham, and Hammers fans will be hoping for more of the same
over the final seven games of the campaign.

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Kouyate vows to learn from Leicester loss
WHUFC.com

Cheikhou Kouyate apologised for Saturday's 2-1 Barclays Premier League
defeat at Leicester City but insisted the squad would learn from the
experience. The Senegal midfielder netted his fourth goal of the season at
the King Power Stadium, but was one of a host of Hammers to pass up
opportunities to secure a valuable victory over the struggling Foxes.
Kouyate hit a post and saw an long-range effort clawed aside by Kasper
Schmeichel, while the Danish stopper also denied Stewart Downing and Carl
Jenkinson – and those misses proved costly as Andy King scrambled home a
late winner for the bottom side. "It was a bad day for us and it was not
nice to lose the game," said the No8, who was restored to his normal,
preferred midfielder role. "Normally, I would score the second goal and the
game is finished. I had two chances but I didn't take them. We were not
lucky on Saturday, so it was a bad day.

"Leicester were giving it everything and attacking and attacking. They were
playing with four or five strikers, three defenders and two midfielders, so
they took a chance. This is football and on Saturday Leicester won. "For
West Ham, we fought, but we could not win the game. After Adrian made a stop
from the penalty it boosted the whole team and we were very good for a
moment after that. I scored and were playing easily and normally we would
score a second goal. "It was a problem for the team to score the second
goal. Every time I score and we lose, it is not good for me and it means
nothing. If we score and we draw or win, that's good. "I had a chance when I
took the ball and hit the post, and then the second time their goalkeeper
saved it. I had three chances and scored only one goal, when I needed to
score two or three times. "It's good for our experience because we need to
learn how to kill the game."

Kouyate closed his whufc.com interview by expressing his sympathy for the
3,300-plus Hammers who travelled to Leicester for Saturday's game. "I am
sorry for all the supporters and I want to thank them all. Normally we would
win this game, but on Saturday we didn't. They supported the team
fabulously, but the result was bad. We thank you and say sorry for this
result."

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Penalty-king Adrian set for Fans' Forum
WHUFC.com

West Ham United's penalty king Adrian offered a fascinating insight into the
preparation required to be a top Premier League goalkeeper after Saturday's
game. Despite slipping to a 2-1 defeat to Leicester City, Adrian emerged
once again as a Hammers' hero by saving David Nugent's 15th minute penalty.
Just as the Foxes striker was steadying himself to take the spot kick the
Spaniard had a few quick words in the striker's ear, before saving his
effort superbly. Speaking after the game, he revealed what he had said to
put Nugent off: "The day before every game, I look at videos of opposition
players taking penalties so I know where they like to put their penalties. I
said to him, 'I know which direction you're going go' and it worked!"

Now you can quiz Adrian, along with Carlton Cole and Stewart Downing at our
Fans' Forum Q&A at the Boleyn Ground from 6.30pm on Tuesday.

Season Ticket Holders and Members can secure their places online here - and
submit your questions in advance to seasonticketholder@westhamunited.co.uk

"It's hard when you save a penalty but you still don't get anything from the
game. It would have been very difficult to come back from two goals down,
especially when you conceded twice in five minutes."

Adrian's rigorous research of the opposition's penalty takers seems to be
paying dividends as he saved Harry Kane's effort at White Hart Lane earlier
in the season.

On Tuesday 7 April, West Ham United are hosting a Fans' Forum with Adrian,
alongside Stewart Downing and Carlton Cole, at the Boleyn Ground.

The trio will be on hand to answer questions on all manner of West Ham
subjects as the squad prepare to face Stoke City at home the following
Saturday.

With the last remaining tickets still available, this is your opportunity to
grill your heroes!

The Q&A session will kick-off at 7pm prompt, and after there will be an
informal opportunity for supporters to meet the players, collect autographs
and take photos.

Tickets will be allocated on a strictly first come, first served basis at a
rate of one per successful applicant with a capacity of 300 attendees.
Please note, Under-16s must be accompanied by an adult Season Ticket Holder.

Season Ticket Holders and Members can secure their places online here or
call the Ticket Office on 0871 529 1966 - option 1.

Supporters who have secured tickets for the event can submit questions for
consideration by emailing seasonticketholder@westhamunited.co.uk, clearly
stating if it is for Adrian, Carlton Cole or Stewart Downing.

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Cresswell confident of strong end to season
WHUFC.com

Aaron Cresswell insisted the Hammers still have plenty to play for in their
remaining seven games of the season. Despite slipping to a disappointing 2-1
defeat to Leicester City, the in-form left-back maintained his side are
focused on finishing the season as strongly as possible. Speaking after the
game, the 25-year-old said: "I don't think the fact that we're safe is any
excuse, it shouldn't be. We're all winners, we're professional and we came
here to win. We've got seven games left to try and make sure we don't let
the season fizzle out. "We've had some tough games recently but it's not an
excuse though. With seven games to go we have to try and get any many points
as possible."

In a highly entertaining game at the King Power Stadium, which saw both
teams create a number of chances, the hosts broke the deadlock through
Argentine international Esteban Cambiasso. The veteran midfielder lashed
home the loose ball from the edge of the area on twelve minutes, giving
Adrian little chance of getting his hands to it. The afternoon could have
gone a lot worse for the Hammers as Mark Clattenburg awarded the Foxes a
penalty just minutes later when Carl Jenkinson tripped Leonardo Ulloa. Up
stepped David Nugent yet Adrian confidently palmed his effort away, keeping
his side in the game. When asked about the Leicester's bright start,
Cresswell conceded: "We had a sloppy first ten, 15 minutes and we weren't
good enough. They scored and then Adrian saved the penalty which kept us in
it. After that we regrouped and took control. "With them being in a
relegation fight we knew the atmosphere was always going to be good. The
game could've been over if they scored the penalty. After that I thought we
controlled the first half and the second half was pretty end-to-end."

In response to going a goal down, the Hammers created a number of chances
either side of Cheikhou Kouyate's thumping equaliser on the half-hour mark.
In the second half, Kouyate hit the post after good work from Diafra Sakho
and Stewart Downing went close on two occasions. It was these missed
opportunities which left Cresswell ruing what might have been: "Cheik took
his goal very well. But we need to take our chances that we do create
because at this level you'll get punished and that's exactly what happened.
"Cheik hit the post and we had a fewer other chances too. We didn't take the
chances we did make and we suffered a sucker punch at the end."

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Makasi: "We need to be strong"
WHUFC.com

Development Squad midfielder Moses Makasi says his side need to be at their
best if they are get anything from their game with Manchester United on
Tuesday 7 April. Makasi, 19, has 12 appearances for the Dev Squad this
season, forming an important midfield partnership with Amos Nasha and Josh
Cullen in recent games. Speaking ahead of the match, Makasi said:
"Manchester United away will be a very tough game, we need to be solid as a
team for this game. We've lost the last few two games, our last win was
against Fulham in February so we need to bounce back. "We just need to stay
together and work hard. That's the only thing we can do, if we keep on doing
that than we'll get stronger."

In the reverse fixture earlier in the season, Manchester United came away
victorious, winning 2-1 in a tight contest. That night saw former hammer and
England international Michael Carrick return to Rush Green, and Makasi had
the arduous task of marking the Champions League winner."Michael Carrick
played against us at Rush Green. It was a great experience coming up against
a player of his stature because he's been at the top for a long time now.
"As a midfielder, I rate Carrick highly. He's great on the ball, always
composed and he always makes the right decision."

With Carrick now back to full fitness and forming an integral part of Louis
van Gaal's midfield, he is unlikely to feature on Tuesday evening. However,
Makasi is well aware that several other famous names have featured for the
United U21s this season, such as Radamel Falcao, Victor Valdes and James
Wilson. "It is always a massive incentive to play against players like
Radamel Falcao, especially for the centre-backs. To play against people who
have played in the Premier League but also internationally, it's a good test
to see if they can handle it and if they're ready. "It'll be good to test
ourselves, we know that whoever we play against will be tough, you don't
play for Manchester United unless you're a good player."

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Stubborn Sam loses fans
KUMb.com
Filed: Monday, 6th April 2015
By: Elliot Pollard

Saturday's away defeat to struggling Leicester City means it's now nine
Premier League away games without a win.

On top of this is the inconsistent home form resulting in West Ham's season
petering out hopelessly. Realistically I think most Hammers fans knew a top
four finish was extremely unlikely, but the Champions League dream at the
Boleyn was great whilst it lasted.

Sitting ninth in the table with seven games remaining should be seen as an
exceptional season for a club newly promoted in 2012, yet the manager with
only two months remaining on his contract looks likely to be jobless in the
summer. Every pundit and non-West Ham fan seems to find it difficult to
understand why Allardyce's job is in such jeopardy, and perhaps rightly so,
but as a Hammers fan it's easy to see.

Allardyce and some of the Hammers faithful have never seen eye-to-eye since
his appointment in 2011. His perceived arrogance seems to repel fans who
just simply haven't taken to him.

The historic victories over the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City
earlier in the season are a perfect example as he gladly accepted all the
praise from the media for playing more attacking football; yet the
embarrassing defeats to West Brom and Crystal Palace were down to "not
taking our chances".

However arguably Allardyce should have been absorbing the praises for the
team's fine form; yet I believe it was perhaps the owners and the
introduction of Teddy Sherringham that finally convinced him to veer from
the painful 4-5-1, and play with two strikers, something the fans were
crying out for last season.

As well as this Allardyce very rarely praises the fans and in fact more
often criticises us. It's almost as if he wants to be a villain in order to
prove the fans wrong, and that's simply not the right way to manage a
football club. This was evident in the home victory over Hull City last
season where Allardyce mocked the fans for booing.

Coincidently a very similar match was played out in the previous home game
against Sunderland and if our league position was slightly more precarious
I'm sure a similar incident may have occurred.

The problem Allardyce has is that the West Ham chairmen are fans as well.
However it appears Karren Brady is more in favour of Allardyce than the two
Davids, which makes it all more bizarre why Allardyce would attack Mrs Brady
live on Sky Sports, as he did in his post-match interview vs Sunderland.

In this interview Allardyce undermined comments made by Karren Brady in her
column claiming "she's wrong in what she's saying". However it was later
reported that Allardyce blamed Sky Sports for asking an inappropriate
question, perhaps realising it may be in his best interests to keep Karren
on his side in order to remain in a job.

As well as his arrogance, his stubbornness is another reason why Allardyce
is distancing himself from the fans. His reluctance to play players that the
owners have brought in such as Zarate and Nene simply angers fans.

Saturday's game versus Leicester was crying out for a spark of creativity or
a cutting edge to gain the lead yet Allardyce would rather aim to settle for
a point against a team who have nothing to lose at the bottom of the table.
West Ham fans appreciate the hard-working players but we adore the flair
players and would love to see more from Nene who has shown glimpses of
brilliance in his limited cameo appearances.

Another major disappointment was the embarrassing exit from the FA Cup. With
the European dream fading away this was West Ham's last chance of glory and
a decent draw against West Brom seemed a great opportunity for success.
Edging into the game as favourites it was devastating to be thrashed by an
out-of-form West Brom team with arguably our strongest 11 on show. This was
perhaps the lowest point of the season.

The defeats to West Brom, Crystal Palace and Leicester also makes you wonder
if Allardyce is struggling to motivate the players, which suggests he may be
having the same problems connecting with the players as he does with the
fans. The contract dispute with Winston Reid also reinforces this as
Allardyce himself speculated Reid may have agreed a deal with another club,
before Winston announced he had signed his new deal.

Nobody can dispute Allardyce has done a fantastic job at promoting West Ham
and building a squad which is more than capable of staying in the Premier
League, but as a match, I'm afraid it's a square peg in a round hole. As
cruel as it sounds the bottom line is Allardyce just isn't a very likeable
man which makes it difficult to get behind him and defend him.

Apart from the cheeky laugh at Chico Flores and the winding up of Jose
Mourinho following the 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge last season, it's very
difficult to get excited about him. Arguably people will say that football
is a results-based business in which Allardyce is fairly successful, but
there comes a time when you have to stop ignoring the fact the club and the
manager just don't match.

It just seems that with the season drawing to an end Hammers fans are just
waiting for the outcome of the end-of-season review, with Allardyce's job at
the top of the agenda. Having said this one more season under Allardyce may
not be the worst thing as his record would suggest Premier League football
would be assured for the upcoming move to the Olympic stadium, yet
speculation indicates a gamble may be taken in an attempt to push this club
further towards success.

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David Sullivan, it's time to make your mind up
KUMB.com
Filed: Monday, 6th April 2015
By: Geoff Toates

Indecision and uncertainty, in any business, inevitably leads to reduced
performance and profitability.

In football, substitute profitability for results and you have, in essence,
what I believe is a significant reason for our relegation candidate form
since December. The indecision and uncertainty surrounding our manager.

Whatever your views on Sam Allardyce - and I made mine clear in a recent
posting on KUMB - the current "will he or won't he still be here next
season?" scenario is harming the club. In my opinion the blame for that
situation can be placed squarely at the door of one man. David Sullivan.

I am well aware he has his admirers among our fans but, I have to confess, I
am not one of them. I don't buy into the "he saved us from bankruptcy"
argument. If he and David Gold hadn't bought the club someone else would
have. Of course we don't know who the "someone else" may have been. It could
have been a meddling buffoon, a Vincent Tan like character - or it could
have been someone with a genuine passion for a newly acquired toy, like
Roman Abramovich.

Say what you like about Chelsea, and I agree they have acquired a huge new
base of, errr 'fans', since they became successful but their owner at least
appears to enjoy watching his team's success. Contrast his demeanour when
the camera switches to him during a game with that of the stern-faced,
pseudo-Russian in his Cossack hat in our directors box.

So let's nail the lie that Sullivan and Gold saved the club. They didn't.

None of us know who might have come along if they hadn't but in my opinion
the lure of the Olympic Stadium would have ensured more than a passing
interest from potential owners. I think the OS was always going to end up as
a football stadium simply because the alternative would have been for it to
be a complete white elephant, used maybe a handful of times a year for
obscure athletics events.

There are a number of things I mistrust about Sullivan but, coming back to
my opening sentence, my main gripe isn't to do with trust. In my view since
Sullivan and Gold bought the club their decision-making has been muddled and
confused.

Rewind to January 2010. We had Gianfranco Zola in charge at the time and
from day one Sullivan made it clear he wasn't going to be in charge the
following season. The result was we had a struggling manager whose hands
were tied because of existing financial constraints who became even more of
a lame duck than he already was.

Of course, it was Sullivan's right to appoint whoever he wanted - but surely
he should have acted decisively and removed Zola immediately if he had
decided to replace him?

At least had he done that we might have been spared the sheer embarrassment
the club had to endure the following season under the hapless and
totally-unfit-for-purpose Avram Grant. If ever a managerial appointment
guaranteed relegation and ridicule that was it.

But Sullivan and Gold, having realised the error of their ways mid-season
spectacularly mismanaged the attempt to replace him in December. Who will
ever forget Grant throwing his scarf into the crowd in what was widely seen
at the time as his farewell? But, like Lazarus, he came back from the dead
to lead the team - if his management can by any stretch of the imagination
be called leadership - for the rest of the season.

Clearly the owners hadn't learned from the way they handled the Zola
replacement and once again we had a manager who was out of his depth and
struggling big time, undermined even further by reading in the press that he
was about to be replaced. And of course the absence of any denials from the
boardroom appeared to confirm that Martin O'Neill (a bullet dodged, in my
opinion) had indeed been sounded out but copped the hump when the news
leaked out.

And so we find ourselves, once again, in a situation where confusion is
king. Press speculation about Allardyce's future seems to be the only
newsworthy topic coming out of West Ham at the moment. I would like to feel
that, if the board have decided to make a change, the successor is already
lined up and some sort of contractual agreement already signed.

Unfortunately though I have absolutely no confidence that Messrs Sullivan
and Gold have any idea what they want to do.

I work in the city and there have been very strong rumours for the past 18
months or so that a buyer is waiting in the wings to take over the club once
we have moved into the OS. However, the rumour mill says, that purchase is
dependent on us still being in the Premier League. Sullivan and Gold will
make a small fortune if and when they sell. Good luck to them. I have no
problem with that.

However I do believe that, having so much riding on us retaining Premier
League status, they will go for the safety first option and offer Allardyce
an extension to his current contract. Personally speaking I don't agree with
that. But I would much prefer they came out openly and said that is what is
going to happen and kill the current uncertainty and speculation which, I
feel, is doing us no good whatsoever.

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WHY HASN'T MARK NOBLE RECEIVED THE RECOGNITION HE DESERVES?
By Iain Dale 6 Apr 2015 at 13:12
West Ham Till I Die
Guest Post by Littlefork

Why don't we produce International players anymore? The nostalgia pieces we
have read from time to time often refer to the "West Ham Way" and days of
old when the club produced players who a) stuck around and b) represented
their country at the highest level. Younger readers, well, a lot younger
than my near 63 years must groan every time they hear about Moore, Peters
Hurst, and Brooking. But at the same time I ask them to question why Mark
Noble, so imposing as the England Under 21 captain, never got his full
international cap?

I'd have thought Mark would have been a nailed on certainty to reach such
heights but maybe to become a better, or should I say a "complete" player,
then he should have moved to a "top club" to finish off his development and
boost his career further.

Perhaps he should have followed the example of say Rio Ferdinand for one, a
player who came up through the ranks of the club who certainly showed great
potential. As a West Ham centre back he was good but not a world beater. But
when he moved clubs, when he had great players around him, he developed into
a genuine world class player.
Or, maybe Joe Cole? We all saw the potential in Joe, we loved the flicks and
tricks and his enthusiasm for the game. But his development didn't really
come to deliver anything outstanding until he moved to Chelsea. I don't know
what it is about top clubs but they seem able to take a player who has shown
real potential and boost their performance considerably. For a while, after
some infuriating spells in the first team at Chelsea, as well as some
maddening England performances where he would do too much and lose the ball
in the final third, he blossomed into a great, complete player.

The same could be said of Frank Lampard. Whilst at West ham, he was good
player, not a great one. Not even one who had shown glimpses of genius. But
after his move to Chelsea, with better players around him, with better
coaching maybe, he became one of the best attacking midfielders the PL has
seen. His International career was probably hindered by the Lampard/Gerard
issue, but still he didn't do too badly did he?

And then there is Glen Johnson of course, who left us for Chelsea, developed
his skills and awareness at full back, moved to Liverpool and became a real
force for both club and England.

And then of course there's Jermaine Defoe. Harry reckoned he was the best
promising forward to wear the West Ham shirt. In his early development he
joined the Hammers aged 16 and then rose through the ranks. But his
international career only really took off when he moved across London to
Spurs. 19 goals in 55 appearances for England wasn't a bad return.

If Mark is reading this, then there's the case of Michael Carrick. After his
move to Spurs and then Manchester United he's another player to blossom
after getting away from West Ham.

Admittedly, it's going back a bit but then there was Paul Ince. Another
player we couldn't hold on to but after his acrimonious move to Manchester
United what a force did "the guv'nor" become.

When I look back at the talent that has really blossomed after they left
West Ham I have to ask what might have been for players like Noble and
Tomkins. Have they hampered their careers by sticking with the club?

What might have been had they received higher level coaching with better,
more experienced and talented players around them? Would they have reached
greater heights and established themselves as regular Internationals?

The answer to those questions we will never know. We applaud their club
loyalty but perhaps we have never appreciated how much they have given up as
a price for that loyalty?

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Bielsa will cross language barrier
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on April 6, 2015 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

Marseilles boss Marcelo Bielsa is understood to have given assurances he
will learn English within six months should West Ham want him for their new
boss. The Argentinian is keen to ply his trade in the Premier League and has
made it clear though intermediaries that he's ready to cross the language
barrier should be become the club's favoured candidate. He believes that he
would have a workable grasp of the language in four to six months. The
Hammers board remain keen on the 59 year old but his lack of English and
Premier League experience are worries although one source said: "They are
not necessarily issues that can't be overcome. Certainly he would be ready
to learn English."

David Moyes remains in the frame and Rafa Benitez would be the dream
appointment although ClaretandHugh was told on March 30 (
http://www.claretandhugh.info/hammers-on-the-rafa-link/) : "Our
understanding is that he wants either Liverpool or Manchester City.
"He's a top manager and most clubs would be interested should be become
interested but whether we could attract him is another question. "
And sources inside West Ham admitted to ClaretandHugh confirmed an earlier
story that any talks aimed at securing him anyway would have to start at
around £6 million.

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Hero Maiga may get Hammers off hook
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on April 6, 2015 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

Now here's some really great news which may help the Hammers off a hook at
the end of the season. Modibo Maiga scored a hat-trick to help Metz to a 3-2
win over relegation rivals Toulouse in the French Ligue 1 at Stade
Saint-Symphorienover the weekend. He netted in the 25th, 42nd and 54th
minute as Metz held on for a valuable away win and the striker doubled his
goal tally for the season., The hat-trick also ended a run of 10 games in
all competitions without a goal, dating back to November of last year. The
news will bring a smile to the faces of our board who – should maiga keep
things going – could yet be retained by Metz next season. He is on £40k a
week at Upton Park and although Metz pay only a small percentage of his
wages the Irons are desperate for the player to see him spend the last year
of his contract on loan at the French club. One swallow doesn't make a
summer of course but should Maiga find his form it could save the club
having to fork out close to £1 million in a pay-off to the 27 year old.

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DG: "The fans know we have fine players"
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on April 6, 2015 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

David Gold refuses to believe the Hammers have suddenly become an average
team! And he points to the thousands of messages he receives from fans who
have made their feelings known sometimes noisily on the social network over
the last year. Speaking exclusively to ClaretandHugh he said: "Of course
things have become disappointing – a blind man can see that but let's not
start calling out the players. "I have been on Twitter for a long time –
long enough to unnerstand how the fans feel and what they want from the
board. That's fair enough. I look at them all – it's why I'm out there "They
were desperate for us to re-sign Winston and we did. They are regularly
calling for us to sign Carl Jenkinson and Alex Song. They explain Aaron
Cresswell, Diafra Sakho and Chek Kouyate have been immense this season in
their first year and they are right. "That all suggests they believe we have
some very good players in the team so let's keep things in perspective.
"Adrian, Mark Noble, Enner Valencia – there's so many of them. We have very
good players indeed. I agree with the fans. "We are listening to all that's
said but such comments don't suggest we are a poor or average team – quite
the opposite and we will all be working very hard on things again this
summer."

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New Irons managerial name to consider
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on April 6, 2015 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

A stray thought hit me as I rose on this bright Easter Monday morning but
you will need to wind forward until the end of the season, having kept an
eye on events at the Stadium of Light, before considering it over-seriously
Sunderland yesterday scored their first win under caretaker boss Dick
Advocaat, just as the Dutchman had predicted and raised themselves to 15th
place in the Premier League.
Advocaat has declared emphatically that he will keep Sunderland up and then
he's off which given our own managerial situation is interesting. Now I know
he is 67 years old and has managed around 20 international and domestic
clubs but yesterday afternoon the old Dutch warhorse had his team rocking
against their deadliest enemy on his first match in charge at home. Having
been in charge only a couple of days, he had brought them to Upton Park and
was as close as it gets to gaining a draw.

Now he has a run-in which includes Arsenal and Chelsea and Everton (away) to
overcome but should he do so – given that he is free at the end of the
season – he might be an interesting contender for the Irons. Things may
change and it's more than possible – should they survive – that the Black
Cats will offer him a permanent job – but he would none the less be open to
offers. Meanwhile Marcelo Bielsa remains very much on the minds of our board
but we were told by a source this morning: "All the balls are still in the
air but there's a seriously growing atmosphere now that a change is
definitely required."

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Sam: Carry on attacking
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on April 6, 2015 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

Sam Allardyce has pledged to continue the "attacking policy" that lifted the
team into fourth place earlier in the season! Defeat at Leicester appears to
have encouraged the manager into declaring that the requested offensive
style wanted by the board will stay in place.

Speaking to the official site the manager explained: "The big shout at the
beginning of the season was that we were going to attack more and for that
reason we've lacked a few more clean sheets than we wanted. That would have
got us a few more three point victories than draws and got us higher up the
table.

"We've scored more goals than we've ever scored and we now must push on over
the next seven games to get more than 46 points, which is our best total
from year one, and if we can do that by continuing playing like we're
playing then we'll go on and do it.

He added: "We played like that and won earlier in the season, which was why
we got to third or fourth so I'm not going to stop the players playing like
that.

"I'm going to tell them to be a bit more careful when we haven't got
possession as if we continue to give goals away it means we're going to have
to score two, three or four goals to win games."

He added on the Leicester defeat: "We didn't play like a team that was
drifting on Saturday. We played like a team with a lot of creativity and
drive. Where we failed is that we're less clinical than we used to be."

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