Daily WHUFC News - 7th May 2015

Aaron completes Player Awards hat-trick!
WHUFC.com

Hammer of the Year Aaron Cresswell has expressed his pride at completing a
fabulous hat-trick at the 2014/15 West Ham United Player Awards in support
of the Academy. The left-back also went home with the Signing of the Season
and Players' Player of the Year trophies on a memorable evening at the
London Hilton on Park lane. A delighted Cresswell told West Ham TV of his
happiness at being recognised by fans and teammates alike. "It's a privilege
to win these awards," he began. "If someone had told me when I joined from
Ipswich that I would have played every game and every minute up to now, I'd
have snapped your hand off. "To come here and collect these awards was a
fantastic honour."

Cresswell was voted into the Championship Team of the Year by his fellow
players last season and, following exhaustive scouting by Sam Allardyce and
the Club's recruitment staff, was snapped up for what has turned out to be a
bargain fee. The former Tranmere Rovers youngster revealed that he did not
take much persuading to move down from Portman Road to the Boleyn Ground. "I
got a phone call from my agent and obviously West Ham was the main place I
wanted to go, moving down the A12 from Ipswich to West Ham," he revealed.
"When I told them I was going to West Ham, obviously my family were very
proud. "This year has gone very well for me personally and for the team.
"Sam is a very similar sort of manager to Mick McCarthy, who I worked with
at Ipswich and he has been fantastic with me this season, so I can't thank
him enough."

Cresswell has earned rave reviews from fans, colleagues, staff and pundits
alike, leading to calls for the 25-year-old to be named in the senior
England squad in the near future. "The main thing is to give 110 per cent
every week for West Ham United," he said, with typical honesty. "I've
settled in and we've got a great set of lads here, and from the first moment
I walked in they have welcomed me with open arms. "We've got a good team
spirit and that's shown this season because we're sat in ninth position with
three games to go now. It's been a good season. "We want to finish strongly,
definitely. We want to finish as high up that league as we can and try to
get three wins out of three."

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Oxford collects Dylan Tombides Award
WHUFC.com

Reece Oxford was delighted to collect the Dylan Tombides Award as the Club
recognised his outstanding breakthrough season with the Academy. 16-year-old
Oxford could not be at Wednesday's Player Awards in person due to his
commitments with the England U17 team at the European Championship finals -
another sign of his wonderful progress in 2014/15. Having been named on the
first team bench on five occasions, captained the U21s throughout the season
and shone on the international stage, Oxford saw off competition from Jahmal
Hector-Ingram and Djair Parfitt-Williams to land the trophy. Named in memory
of the sadly departed Dylan Tombides, this award recognises the Academy
Player of the Year, and speaking before he departed for England duty, Oxford
spoke of his pride at collecting the trophy. He said: "I've been striving to
get this since I signed my long-term contract at West Ham. I'm just happy
that I've got it and I really appreciate it. "My highlights over the last
twelve months have been being on the bench for the first team, captaining
England U17s at the age of 15 and getting to the Euro finals. "Longer-term I
want to make my debut for the first team at the Olympic Stadium, or maybe
even the Boleyn Ground."

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Academy pair ready for U17 finals
WHUFC.com

Young West Ham United duo Reece Oxford and Anthony Scully kick-off their
UEFA European U17 Championship campaigns on Thursday. England captain Oxford
and Republic of Ireland midfielder Scully will square-off when their
countries clash in Bulgaria on Wednesday 13 May.
That Group D fixture could be winners takes all, as the Young Lions and Boys
in Green will each have faced Italy and Netherlands in their opening two
group-stage matches. Scully's Ireland will be in action first, taking on the
Dutch in Sozopol at 1pm on Thursday 7 May, before Oxford's England tackle
the Italians in Burgas at 7pm on the same day. The second round of group
games will see Ireland face Italy in Stara Zagora at 4pm on Sunday 10 May at
4pm, with England taking on Netherlands at the same venue at 8pm – the
latter being a rematch of the 2014 final, which England won 4-1 on
penalties. England have won the tournament twice – the other success coming
in 2010, with Hammers forward Rob Hall among the squad members. Ireland
lifted the trophy in 1998, when West Ham youngster Shaun Byrne was part of
the side. Speaking after learning of England's fate, the sixteen year old,
who is expected to continue wearing the captain's armband, said: "It's a
very tough draw, almost as hard as it gets but I'm still looking forward to
the tournament. It's a very proud moment when I captain my country. "We know
they will be hard games but we've got a good squad. If we play to our best I
think we can do well."

Scully added that he is looking forward to taking on his clubmate: "I'm
excited to be playing in the tournament. "We'll be playing against Reece
Oxford and England so that'll be good. We've had a bit of banter in training
about who's going to win, so we'll see next Wednesday!"
The tournament starts on Monday 6 May with the final scheduled for Friday 22
May. We will have updates on both countries' progress through the tournament
across our digital and social media platforms.

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View on the Opposition - Aston Villa
WHUFC.com

What have you made of the impact Tim Sherwood has had?

"I think he's been very good, pretty incredible really. He's got the same
players (that Paul Lambert had) but he's made them look about 1000 times
better. They look so much more confident. "I'm not sure what he's done
particularly differently, they just look a lot more confident going forward.
Looks like we still have a few defensive frailties but overall a huge
improvement."

Which players have stood out in recent games?

"It's hard to name one to be honest. I would have to say Fabien Delph, he's
been consistently excellent for a while. Christian Benteke is back among the
goals and Tom Cleverley, I think he's been the biggest transformation since
Tim Sherwood's arrival. He's very quick at starting attacks, before us used
to play it side to side. "I would also have to mention Charles Nzogbia, it
looked like he was one his way out of the club but he got a standing ovation
on Saturday for his performance against Everton."

In the reverse fixture earlier in the season it finished 0-0 at Upton Park,
what did you make of that game?

"I did unfortunately, it was pretty dire. Brad Guzan had a great game that
day, probably the best I've seen. Now he's not even playing because Shay
Given has replaced him after the mistake against Manchester City. "Over the
last few years our home form has been significantly worse than our away form
but that seems to be changing because the fans are getting behind the team.
I'm confident Villa will get the three points on Saturday."

What is you prediction for the score on Saturday?

"I'm confident, I'll say Villa to win 3-1. I have to say Benteke will score
twice and Delph to get the third. Cheikhou Kouyate only scores against the
good teams so he's got a good chance!"

Who of the West Ham players have impressed you this season and who are you
not looking forward to playing against?

"I haven't seen West Ham play for a while, Diafra Sakho has impressed me a
lot but he's injured. Alex Song on his day is pretty good. Kevin Nolan
always seems to score against us, he always turns up in the areas you don't
want him to."

Sherwood has improved Villa dramatically, but safety from relegation isn't
completely secure, are you confident you can beat the drop?

"I am. Our run-in is pretty good. After West Ham we've got Southampton away
and then Burnley at home. I'm confident we can get at least four points from
those games, which should be more than enough. "Compared to the teams around
us, Sunderland and Hull City have got much tougher runs in and Newcastle are
also struggling. There are at least three worse teams than us."

And an FA Cup Final to look forward to as well?

"Don't even get me started! I've been trying to get a ticket but they're
pretty hard to come by. Arsenal are a tough team, but you never know. We'll
have to wait and see, with Sherwood we're more than capable of winning."

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The Big Interview - Carlton Cole
WHUFC.com

Carlton Cole wants to use Saturday's 1-0 victory over Burnley as a
springboard for the final three games of the campaign. West Ham have the
target of 50 points in their sights and Cole wants to reach that at Aston
Villa on Saturday.

Carlton, it was an important win against Burnley on Saturday, what are the
aspirations now for the rest of the season?

CC: "Put simply, we want to get as high as we can and try to get as many
points as possible and get our personal goals ticked off. "We want to get
the most amount of points that this team has ever got since promotion. We've
now beaten our previous best of 46 points but now we need to get to the
50s."

That would be a great achievement wouldn't it?

CC: "It would be a great achievement and I think we can do it."

Burnley were well organised and resolute and with ten men they still kept on
fighting?

CC: "Yes, credit to Burnley and their manager. They came to the Boleyn
Ground with a plan and got a knock back with the sending off but still kept
fighting. Credit to our boys as well as it's the sort of game that could be
a banana skin even when they're a man down, but we were resolute and got the
job done."

What did you think were the best parts of the performance?

CC: "I thought we controlled the game and snuffed their opportunities out
and lot of our players were happy with their own individual performances,
especially considering the difficult run we've been over the past ten or 12
games. I thought we really picked it up on Saturday."

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Benni McCarthy robbed at gunpoint in South Africa
Last Updated: 06/05/15 2:16pm
SSN

Former Blackburn and West Ham striker Benni McCarthy has been robbed at
gunpoint at a barber shop in South Africa. The 37-year-old ex-South Africa
international was targeted in the shop in Johannesburg, where armed men
stole jewellery from him, according to his agent.
Percy Adams said one man pointed a gun at McCarthy's face and demanded his
watch, earrings and wedding ring. Adams told Eyewitness News that McCarthy
was not hurt and other customers were not targeted in the incident.
McCarthy, who won the 2004 Champions League with Porto, is South Africa's
record goal-scorer and played in Spain and Portugal as well as England.
South Africa goalkeeper and captain Senzo Meyiwa was shot and killed in an
apparent house robbery near Johannesburg last year. Police are still
investigating.

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Real Madrid the most valuable team in football ahead of Barcelona
Last Updated: 06/05/15 5:27pm
SSN

Real Madrid have retained their place as the most valuable football team,
despite a drop in figures, according to Forbes magazine.
The reigning European champions have seen their value drop by five per cent,
but they are still worth £2.13bn and their £489m in revenue is the highest
of any sports team in the world. Spanish rivals Barcelona are second in the
2015 list with a value of £2.07bn followed by the Premier League's most
valuable team, Manchester United at £2.03bn. Louis van Gaal's men are one of
eight Premier League sides in the top 20, with Manchester City, Chelsea,
Arsenal and Liverpool all placing in the top eight. Tottenham (13th),
Newcastle (18th) and West Ham (19th) also make the top 20, which is rounded
out by Turkish side Galatasaray.

Forbes' top 10 most valuable teams of 2015:

1 Real Madrid £2.13bn

2 Barcelona £2.07bn

3 Manchester United £2.03bn

4 Bayern Munich £1.54bn

5 Manchester City £905m

6 Chelsea £898m

7 Arsenal £859m

8 Liverpool £644m

9 Juventus £549m

10 AC Milan £508m

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DAVID MOYES: THE MANAGER'S TACTICAL STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES
By Sean Whetstone 6 May 2015 at 16:17
West Ham Till I Die

It is becoming increasing likely that David Moyes is being lined up as a
replacement for Sam Allardyce at the end of the season. Yes, the board will
still need to have their fabled end of season meeting but I can only see one
outcome from that meeting. Carrying out some internet research on the Scot's
tactical strengths and weaknesses I came across this 2013 analysis.

A solid shape
David Moyes is a particular fan of "segmenting" his training pitch to
encourage players to cover space efficiently. One format involves the
playing area divided into 24 equal squares, so the defence play high up the
pitch, the wide players stretch the play, and the attackers rotate position.
Another setting has the pitch divided lengthways into six narrow bands of 12
yards each – the back four must occupy the nearest four "bands" when the
ball is on one flank, then the middle four when the ball is in central
positions. There's also a strong importance placed upon positional
responsibilities at transitions from attack to defence, with players ordered
to organise themselves immediately, usually into two banks of four.

Reactive tactics
Moyes often travels to games to watch his next opponents strategy ahead of a
trip there. It's hard to think of another Premier League manager so
frequently found by television cameras in the stands, scouting upcoming
opponents. It sums up Moyes's approach – whereas other managers believe
paying too much attention to the opposition affects self-belief, the Scot is
a naturally reactive manager who varies his side's approach to nullify the
strengths, and expose the weaknesses, of a particular opponent. Sometimes
this reactivity can become negativity, and while Moyes has often frustrated
big sides in the Premier League he has rarely beaten them.

The value of width
One of the key parts of Moyes's strategy is creating overloads –
two-versus-one and three-versus-two situations – in wide areas. The movement
of a player from a central position towards the channel often confuses
opposition defences, who are reluctant to be dragged out of shape, and end
up defending a stream of crosses. "We like our attackers to retain width
whilst ensuring team-mates still occupy space in the middle of the field,"
he once told the Elite Soccer magazine.

Ball retention in advanced positions
Compared to many other managers Moyes is not overwhelmingly focused upon
ball retention. Moyes's sides may not focus upon possession play, but nor
are his sides ever guilty of sterile domination – he encourages positive
outcomes, ie crosses and shots, at the end of attacking moves.

Switches of play
Moyes has always appreciated calm, patient midfielders who are happy
knocking the ball calmly from flank to flank. One of Moyes's favourite
training sessions involves two small-sided teams attacking into three
mini-goals, which are spread across the width of the playing area. The idea
is to encourage players to attack down one side, realise the opposition are
blocking the path to goal, and then play a quick lateral pass to attack from
the opposite wing.

Based on a 2013 article by Michael Cox on the Guardian Football Blog

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West Ham eye transfer of Bayer Leverkusen's Stefan Reinartz to replace
loanee Alex Song
19:47, 6 May 2015 By Darren Lewis
Defensive midfielder who has made 16 Champions League appearances for the
Bundesliga side is going to be out of contract at the end of the season
The Mirror

West Ham have expressed an interest in Bayer Leverkusen star Stefan Reinartz
with uncertainty over Alex Song's future. Reinartz, a 26-year-old defensive
midfielder, is set to be available on a free transfer this summer. He has
also attracted interest from Everton, along with a number of clubs in
Germany. The Hammers are keen, as they are unlikely to sign £80,000-a-week
Alex Song on a permanent basis.
Former Arsenal star Song impressed over the first half of his season-long
loan from Spanish giants Barcelona but has seen his performances dip since.
Meanwhile, winger Nene has had showdown talks with Sam Allardyce over his
lack of playing time. The 33-year-old Brazilian was brought in on a free
transfer in February after another injury ruled England striker Andy Carroll
out for the rest of the season. But Nene is fuming at having made just six
substitute appearances.

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McCarthy has no Hammers regrets
Posted by Sean Whetstone on May 6, 2015 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

Hammers flop Benni McCarthy has no regrets that he joined West Ham.

Speaking to Four Four Two magazine McCarthy, who is now doing some coaching
at Scottish club Hamilton, said: "No, I have no regrets. West Ham is a
great club with fantastic fans. I was going to join them from Porto in 2005.
Everything had been agreed and I was even in London sitting at Upton Park,
ready to sign for Alan Pardew. Porto just needed to fax confirmation.
Instead they faxed they didn't want to sell me."

Purchased for £2.5m by Zola from Blackburn the Hammers eventually agreed to
pay McCarthy off £1.5 million to terminate his contract. During his 16
months he made only 14 appearances, failed to score a single goal and was
fined £200,000 for failing to lose weight.

On his departure Karren Brady used her newspaper column to dismiss him as a
"big fat mistake" and said he had cost the club more than £5 million. She
wrote that McCarthy had apologised and hugged her when he left and that she
had "no hard feelings" – but also labelled him "a player devoted to filling
his belly more than filling the net". Asked about Brady's comments, McCarthy
said: "It makes me want to throw up. There's the devil with a set of tits."

Brady later rebuked "at least i'm supposed to have tits"

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West Ham Players Awards – The Winners
Posted by Sean Whetstone on May 6, 2015 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

It's the West Ham players awards this evening where Hammers fans have forked
out up to £360 each to attend the plush event at London's Hilton Hotel in
Park Lane.

Hammers Lifetime Achievement Award: The winner is Martin Peters MBE

Goal of the Season Award: The winner is Enner Valencia for his goal against
Hull

The Dylan Tombides award: The winner is Reece Oxford

The Young Hammer of the year award: The winner is Reece Burke

Signing of the season award: The Winner is Aaron Cresswell

West Ham top scorer award: The Winner with 12 goals is Diafra Sakho

Best Individual Performance of the season award: The Winner is Chiek Kouyate
v Manchester United

Best Team Performance of the Season Award: The Winner is West Ham United 2-1
Manchester City

Players' player of the season award: The Winner is Aaron Cresswell

Save of the Season award: The winner is Adrian with his save from Oscar's
free-kick at Chelsea away

Hammer of the year award 2015: The winner is Aaron Cresswell to achieve his
well deserved hat trick of awards tonight

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Irons linked with Rovers star
Posted by Sean Whetstone on May 6, 2015 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

West Ham have made inquiries about Blackburn's striker Rudy Gestede said to
valued around £7 million according to the Daily Mail Hull City, who also
made an enquiry in January, are said to have scouted the Benin international
grab his 20th goal of the season against Ipswich on Saturday. Crystal Palace
had a previous £5m bid rejected by Rovers. Swansea City, Sunderland and
Aston Villa are also said to be interested but the 26-year-old is understood
to favour a move to London.

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Hammers scout Brum keeper
Posted by Sean Whetstone on May 6, 2015 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

The Hammers are claimed to be scouting Birmingham City goalkeeper Darren
Randolph with a view to a permanent signing in the summer. The 27-year-old
keeper has had spells with Charlton Athletic, Motherwell and now Birmingham
City, and has two caps for the Republic of Ireland national team. With Jussi
Jaaskelainen turning 40 and out of contract in May West Ham will need a
backup keeper to challenge Adrian next season. Randolph is also out of
contract at the end of the season at Birmingham so would be available on a
free transfer.

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Martin Peters gets Lifetime Achievement Award
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on May 6, 2015 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

Martin Peters MBE will become the third recipient of the Club's Lifetime
Achievement Award at the annual Player Awards this evening at Park Lane,
London.

Martin Peters was one of the trio of Hammers that won the World Cup for
England in 1966.

Between 1962 and 1970, he played 364 games for the club and scored 100
goals. Not a bad for a midfielder! For much of his career at West Ham he
enjoyed a free role behind the strikers, so he was very much the attacking
midfielder.

Like so many of our players from that era he was born close to the Boleyn,
just down the road in Plaistow.

Martin was a product of the West Ham academy and made his debut on Good
Friday 1962 against Cardiff City. He did not figure in the 1964 FA Cup
winning side but in 1965 he truly cemented a place in the first team and he
went on to play a leading role in the ECWC final against 1860 Munich that
season.

The following year he was a regular in the England World Cup side and of
course he scored the second goal in the final against West Germany. The near
post cross that he and Hurst practiced so much at West Ham had paid off in
the quarter final when a cross from Peters found Hurst at the near post who
headed home the winner.

Martin played 67 times for his country and scored 20 goals – another healthy
return. Despite being a regular name on the West Ham score sheet, Martin
only scored the one hat trick in his Hammers career and that was against
West Brom in 1968.

In 1970, West Ham did a deal with Spurs that amounted to 200,000 pounds –
150,000 cash and a swap deal that brought Jimmy Greaves the other way.

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Hammers linked with German midfielder
Posted by Sean Whetstone on May 6, 2015 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

According to reports in German daily newspaper Rheinische Post, West Ham are
are in early talks with Bayer Leverkusen for 26 year-old defensive
midfielder Stefan Reinatz. Rheinische Post says West Ham see Reinartz as a
replacement for on-loan midfielder Alex Song. The Germany international is
said to be open to a move to the Premier League

Along with the Hammers,Eintracht Frankfurt, Hamburg SV, Borussia
Mönchengladbach and FC Köln are also said to be tracking the German
midfielder. He has scored 11 goals in 141 appearances for Bayer Leverkusen
He came through the ranks at Bayer Leverkusen but made his professional
debut while on loan with FC Nuremberg in 2009. Reinartz has been a German
international since U16 level and became a regular for the U21's in their
bid to make the 2011 European championships. He has made 3 appearances for
German senior team since 2010.

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"Play Carlton up top Sam"
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on May 6, 2015 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

Carlton Cole fan Tony Cottee wants the big man to play up front in the
current circumstances because he doesn't believe Enner Valencia can cope up
top on his own. Writing in his London24.com column TC commenting on the
Burnley game says: "It is significant that we had so many chances, but could
only score from the penalty spot. All three games we have left have
something on them, with both Aston Villa and Newcastle needing points to
stay up and Everton looking to leapfrog over us. I have been really
impressed by Tim Sherwood at Villa. He seems to be a great man manager. He
tells it as it is when someone has done something wrong and if they have
done well he puts his arm around their shoulder. He has turned Christian
Benteke into a goalscorer again, just as he did with Emmanuel Adebayor at
Spurs and this will be a tough game. I will have to go for a 1-1 draw.

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UEFA Fair Play League result on Friday
Posted by Sean Whetstone on May 6, 2015 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

UEFA will announce the results of their Fair Play League this on Friday thus
confirming which countries will receive an Europa extra place. At the half
way point on 31st December England sat in third place just qualifying for an
extra place. The UEFA Fair Play league includes games up to 30th April so
is based on 34 Premier League games. Although Liverpool pipped West Ham to
Premier League Fair Play top spot by one point on the latest table released
yesterday we have since been told the Premier League Fair Play table runs to
all 38 games so will not be concluded until the end of the season 24th May.
We still have a chance to win the title of the Premier League Fair Play
league. However, if Liverpool remain in top and the Fair Play Europa place
will be offered to the second placed club of the winning country.

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Gold has no Europe doubts!
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on May 6, 2015 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

David Gold is certain that West Ham are ready for Europe. Despite Liverpool
sneaking ahead of us at the death in the Fair Play League, it still looks
odds-on the Hammers getting the chance to compete via their second position.
And David Gold questioned on Twitter on whether he believed we are ready for
such a test declared emphatically "I am!" This followed his announcement on
ClaretandHugh that he believed the club would take up the offer to play in
the early stages of the Europa League should the opportunity present itself.
As we reported earlier all depends now on Liverpool staying in the PL top
six which would see them qualify automatically qualify for a UEFA Europa
league spot which would see us offered the FPL spot.

Should Arsenal win the FA Cup, a seventh place will also open up for Europa
League after the rules changed this season to not award it to runners up of
the FA Cup.

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