Daily WHUFC News - 24th August 2015

Manager on Monday
WHUFC.com

West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic said his side must iron out their
defensive mistakes they have made in home defeats to Leicester City and AFC
Bournemouth, if they are to come away from Anfield with anything this coming
Saturday. Twice the Hammers have found themselves 2-0 down inside the first
half, leaving a mountain to climb. Speaking ahead of the Irons' last game
before the international break, Bilic said: "If you give the ball away in
dangerous positions, you will lose; it is as simple as that. We had a lack
of team play in the first half, as we did against Leicester City. "Last
Saturday, Bournemouth were doing the basics from the first minute better
than us. They were closing us down and on their toes better than us. "When
you make those mistakes, your confidence goes right down. After the penalty
our confidence went up and we had some momentum. At that moment we were in
the ascendancy, but they scored a good goal."

After only three League games, the Hammers have already experienced mixed
fortunes, from the home defeats to the emphatic 2-0 win over Arsenal on the
opening day. Bilic, like all other West Ham fans, is hoping to extend the
Hammers impressive away form when they play an in-form Liverpool side on
Saturday 29 August."For me, the win against Arsenal was just that. I said
after the game we need to refocus immediately. I said then that we need to
try and calm things down. "I don't like the position we're in. We're not
going to panic, it's not time to panic, it's still early days. We have to
change it; I have to change it now because it is up to us to turn things
around. "We have the quality; we have aspects of our game that are good. We
showed that against Arsenal, we need to rediscover that. The first halves
against Leicester and Bournemouth were just not good enough. "We need to
find that brotherhood if you like and have to react quickly. We have a tough
game next week away at Liverpool, it's an opportunity, the pressure will be
off us."

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Noble - 'We've got to buck our ideas up'
WHUFC.com

Mark Noble gave an honest and frank assessment of Saturday's closely-fought
home defeat to Bournemouth and backed the squad to put things right at
Liverpool on Saturday. Defensive lapses cost the Hammers dear as even three
home goals did not prove enough as the Cherries scored four to secure their
first-ever win in the top flight. Noble is backing the individuals who
slipped up to bounce back and emphasised the whole team must share the
burden when the going gets tough. "It was a great start against Arsenal and
maybe there was a bit of complacency," Noble said. "We have to buck our
ideas up as it's a long season. "But we've got a good enough team and good
enough players and the players that made mistakes on Saturday know that they
did but they are top quality players and I'm sure they will learn from that
and we all have to get better. "Normally with individual errors you can bail
each other out, but we didn't do that and Bournemouth took the three
points."

Noble revealed that manager Slaven Bilic had some stern words for his side
at half time before the Hammers pegged a two goal deficit back to 2-2,
through a Noble penalty and a Cheik Kouyate strike. However, more generous
defending helped contribute to the visitors restoring a two-goal lead before
Modibo Maiga ensured a tense finale by pulling a third back for the hosts.
"We gave them three goals, handed them to them, and got punished for it. You
simply cannot do that at this level, as I said after last week's game
against Leicester. "At half time the manager wasn't happy and I know he'll
speak to us all again on Monday about what happened. "We got ourselves back
in it at 2-2 and the crowd was with us and you think you're going to go on
but we make another mistake and they score again. Overall it was really
sloppy but in all fairness to Bournemouth they played well and deserved to
win. "We didn't underestimate them as we knew they were a good side. I
watched them a lot last year but you can't give goals away like that in this
league and we got punished for that. There is no excuse for football like
that."

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Dev Squad host Villa on Monday
WHUFC.com

West Ham United's Development Squad will go for their first Barclays U21
Premier League Division Two victory of the season when they host Aston Villa
on Monday night. The young Hammers were unfortunate to be beaten 2-1 by West
Bromwich Albion in their season opener last week, so will be confident of
bouncing back against their second Midlands opposition of the season.
Against the Baggies Elliot Lee looked to have rescued a point for Terry
Westley's men with his second half header, only for a late goal to dash West
Ham's hopes. Now Aston Villa head to Rush Green Stadium for the 7pm kick-off
having taken four points from their opening two fixtures. A 1-0 win at Derby
County was followed by a 0-0 home draw with Stoke City and they currently
sit fourth in the early league table.

Admission is free for Season Ticket Holders, with tickets otherwise priced
at £3 Adults and £1 Concessions.

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'I am under pressure', says West Ham manager Slaven Bilic
Last Updated: 24/08/15 6:48am
SSN

West Ham manager Slaven Bilic admits he is already under pressure after just
three Premier League games. Bilic has endured an indifferent start to life
in charge at Upton Park, winning 2-0 at Arsenal on the opening weekend
before suffering disappointing defeats to Leicester and Bournemouth. "I am
under pressure," he said. "That comes with the territory and that is why I
have to turn it around. "We were again second-best (against Bournemouth)
and I don't like this situation. Playing like this we can't expect to win
many games."

West Ham, who also crashed out of the Europa League to Romanian side FC
Astra earlier this month, were 2-0 down at home to Eddie Howe's Premier
League new boys on Saturday, before eventually losing 4-3. And Bilic says he
appreciates the fans' frustrations: "I can't blame the fans (for booing).
They are behind us to be fair, in the first half and the second half. But
what do you expect if we are two down against a team? "Okay, they are a
good team who got promoted and to be fair it could have been worse at 2-0
down. The reactions from the fans were normal. The expectations are high
anywhere you go."

West Ham's stunning win at Arsenal remains one of few highlights for Bilic
since replacing Sam Allardyce at the helm of the club he played for between
1996 and 1997. And Bilic believes this result may have contributed to their
problems since: "Maybe the game against Arsenal has come into our heads," he
admitted. "Maybe we think we are going to do that (again) nice and easy. Or
in style. But in the Premier League, against most of the clubs, you have to
dig in to have a chance to get points from every game."

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KEEP CALM AND STAY AWAY FROM THE PANIC BUTTON!
By HamburgHammer 24 Aug 2015 at 08:00
WTID

Well, that was a bit of a crap weekend in football terms. Hugely
entertaining, but ultimately crap nonetheless. Our game against Bournemouth
had everything you could ask for as a football fan: Goals galore in glorious
sunshine, twists and turns, penalties, a sending off, end to end stuff. But
unfortunately also individual errors that would make a schoolboy blush with
embarrassment, defensive prowess as you might expect to see on Hackney
Marshes pitches and a home team that seemed to crumble under a mixture of
too much expectation, a presumably easy opponent and a nervous disposition
that is hard to explain considering how many games these players have been
through in preseason.


Our team by now should be focussed, sharp and up to it, on Saturday they
were all over the place. Once again we lost a game in the fist half, going
into halftime with a two goal deficit. If you give yourself a mountain to
climb in your home games you cannot complain afterwards if you end up empty
handed. Our fullbacks' confidence looked shot which is surprising as both
Crewwell and Jenkinson were our most consistent performers last season.

Yet one must not forget that this will be a season of transition. New
manager, new gameplan, new tactics and some new players. Talking of which
our owners now need to take some responsibility and give the manager some
more tools to work with (this is not me insulting potential new signings by
the way!). We are terribly short on players.

As of now we have one fit striker in Maiga and apparently this is the man
that everybody including our club hierarchy would love to sell (or give
away) to any club which is willing to take the Malian and his reasonably
high wages on board. I wasn't happy with our result on Saturday and I
obviously wasn't thrilled with the defensive display.

Still I refuse to panic just yet, this season is a marathon, not a sprint.
And I have to repeat what I said before: Bilic needs time to work with this
team, build some chemistry, find his best eleven once injured players are
available again and also rebuild the confidence of his players after a shaky
start to the season.

We cannot afford to throw away our home games in the fashion we've done so
far.


But all is not lost. I still believe there is quality in the side we already
have and the owners will add to that quality because, well, they simply have
to if you look at our net spend and what other clubs have been spending in
this window already. I'm not sure if our lack of spending is due to having
to balance our books prior to the OS move, but I don't get it that we seem
to have a list of striker targets and so far none of those has come off.
Same with wingers. At the Premier League level you cannot afford the luxury
to hesitate and dither. I understand our board will not want to pay over the
odds.

Truth is: Sometimes you have to spend some serious money to fill a team need
with the kind of player you want.

I expect a new signing or two over the course of this week. And as this is
West Ham we are talking about I fully fancy us to have a good game now away
at Anfield. Probably not quite the elusive win we're all craving for, but a
reaction from the team nonetheless. Randolph in goal fills me with
confidence after his Bournemouth performance (weird to even write that
considering he conceded four on the day), he will be fine filling in for
Adrian.

What I don't want to see anymore is Noble and Nolan in the same team as both
are too slow for the Premier League level.

You can get by with one slow player in midfield, but not two.

Bilic will sort this out. He is a smart guy and had a great rapport at
Besiktas with the players and the fans which is a vital trait to have for a
manager, especially at West Ham.
If we are still seeing performances like the Bournemouth one in December I
will start to worry. As of now I still have faith in Bilic's ability to give
us both good football and points on the board. I already love his frankness
in interviews, him saying it like it is and taking the blame for mistakes on
the chin.

This alone buys him a lot of goodwill from my side.

My own local team TSV Wandsbek Concordia (you remember, the lads from
Hamburg's EastEnd) lost their game yesterday in heartbreaking fashion
conceding the 2:2 equaliser (after leading 2:0) in the second minute of
injury time.

You can't take anything for granted in football which keeps us coming back
for more. West Ham will be fine this season, but we need to stay away from
the panic button at this point. Which doesn't mean, Mr.Sullivan and Mr.Gold,
that you can take the foot off the gas in terms of making some more quality
signings.

If you keep talking the talk, you need to back it up with some action from
your wallets. Money alone doesn't score goals but it does no harm either
spending some.

Especially if you only have one fit striker.

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West Ham boss Slaven Bilic feels "under pressure" already after back to back
home defeats
0 COMMENTS22:30, 23 AUGUST 2015
BY DARREN LEWIS
Leicester and now Bournemouth have taken the three points at Upton Park and
the Hammers' red card tally under new boss is now FIVE in nine games
The Mirror

Slaven Bilic has admitted he is under pressure at West Ham already. Since
shocking Arsenal two weeks ago in the season's opening match, the Irons, who
have spent £24million in the transfer market so far, have conceded six goals
in losing twice at home - to Leicester and to newly-promoted Bournemouth -
and were booed off by their own fans at Upton Park on Saturday. Bilic
accepted: "I am under pressure. That comes with the territory and that is
why I have to turn it around. "We are in the same boat. We were second best
again and I don't like this situation. "I buy the idea that it's only the
start and all that. We have to change it and we have to start doing it."

Carl Jenkinson's late red card means that West Ham have had FIVE players
dismissed in just nine matches under Bilic, including their failed Europa
League qualifying bid. The Croatian, a late choice by a club he used to
represent as a player to succeed Sam Allardyce after David Moyes and Rafa
Benitez turned the job down, added: "I can't blame the fans. They were
behind us, to be fair, in the first half and the second half. "But what do
you expect if we are two down against a team [like Bournemouth]. OK, they
are a good team who got promoted and to be fair it could have been worse at
2-0 down. The reactions from the fans were normal. The expectations are high
anywhere you go."

Bilic, however, has also accused his players them of dining out on their
shock win at the Emirates. He said: "Maybe the game against Arsenal has come
into our heads. Maybe we think we are going to do that (again) nice and
easy. Or in style. But in the Premier League against most of the clubs you
have to dig in to have a chance to get points from every game. "The
throw-ins are just a matter of, 'Do I want to be there? Am I concentrated
enough to go five yards to close them down to leave the other side of the
pitch free - because they can't throw it there. Or am I relying too much on
my mate to do that job for me?'"

West Ham tried and failed to bring experienced QPR keeper Robert Green back
to Upton Park ahead of this match with Adrian suspended.
The previously unconvincing Darren Randolph, however, prevented the
scoreline from being even more embarrassing with fine saves in each half.

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West Ham transfers: Wissam Ben Yedder approach line up in attempt to solve
striker crisis
0 COMMENTS22:30, 22 AUGUST 2015
BY TOM HOPKINSON , NEIL MOXLEY
The Irons want another forward having already lost Enner Valencia and Andy
Carroll to injury PLUS: Joey Barton hasn't given up hope of a move to Upton
Park
The Mirror

West Ham have turned to France to solve their goalscoring problems and are
lining up a move for Toulouse forward Wissam Ben Yedder, writes Neil Moxley
in the Sunday People. The striker will cost the Hammers around £6m and is
seen as a like-for-like replacement for Enner Valencia who has been
sidelined with ligament trouble. West Ham co-owner David Sullivan has been
scouring the European leagues for a replacement who can make a difference
for Slaven Bilic during Valencia's absence and is mulling over a move for
the speedy finisher.

Meanwhile, Joey Barton hasn't given up hope that a move to West Ham could
resurface, writes Tom Hopkinson in the Sunday People. The free agent is
wanted by several Championship clubs, including Nottingham Forest and
Charlton, but still has his heart set on joining a Premier League side
following his release from QPR. He trained at West Ham, his most likely
option, a couple of weeks ago and underwent a medical, but the club decided
not to sign him after serious opposition from fans. That prompted the
midfielder, 32, to release a video in which praised the Hammers'
'knowledgeable' fans and told those who didn't want him at their club there
were no hard feelings. He has since met with Forest owner Fawaz Al-Hawasi
and even though there are misgivings about signing him a move to the City
Ground could materialise.

However, Barton still thinks he can do a job in the Premier League and hopes
West Ham's mixed start to the season will see them re-approach him as Slaven
Bilic looks to strengthen his squad.

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Slaven Bilic questions West Ham's desire after Bournemouth run riot at Upton
Park
0 COMMENTS19:23, 22 AUGUST 2015
BY ARASH HEKMAT
Callum Wilson helped himself to a maiden top flight hat trick as the
Cherries secured their first win in the Premier League
The Mirror

Slaven Bilic was critical of his side's showing after West Ham suffered a
second consecutive Premier League defeat, this time against newly promoted
Bournemouth. Before today, the Cherries hadn't even scored a Premier League
goal, let alone won a game. But it took young sensation Callum Wilson less
than 12 minutes to change all that, scoring the first of his three goals as
Eddie Howe's side outscored the hosts 4-3. Despite fighting back level from
two goals down, West Ham quickly handed the initiative back to Bourenmouth,
going 4-2 down before Modibo Maiga's late strike helped add a touch of
respectability to the scoreline. Speaking after the game, Bilic was critical
of his team's performance, in particular with the lack of passion shown as
they slumped to defeat against the newly-promoted side. He said: "It went
wrong from the start. We played a very bad first half. It is very hard to
explain three of their four goals - you can't make errors like that at this
level. "They were more lively and more aggressive but you can't make those
mistakes. It's not an alarming situation but we can't continue to play
without more desire. We simply need a better mentality."

For Eddie Howe, this was a first taste of success in England's top league
and, despite a virtuoso display by 23-year-old Wilson, the manager had
praise for the way his whole team played, particularly after they had been
pegged back at 2-2. "It was a really strange game," he said after the match.
"We were in cruise control in the first half and pleased with our
discipline. In the second half we allowed West Ham back into the game but,
full credit to the players, they managed to win the game in the end. "How we
reacted at 2-2 was the key moment. We scored a key third goal through Marc
Pugh, a fantastic finish, and we thoroughly deserved to win."

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Former boss Sam Allardyce does not know what the 'West Ham way' is as
Hammers continue to struggle
0 COMMENTS14:24, 23 AUGUST 2015
BY AARON FLANAGAN
Allardyce spent four years at the helm at Upton Park but is now taking a
break from football - and distanced himself from the Sunderland job
The Mirror

Former West Ham manager Sam Allardyce says he still does not know what the
'West Ham way' is. Allardyce was axed from his job at the end of last season
after failing to earn a new deal at Upton Park and was subsequently replaced
by the enigmatic Slaven Bilic. But Allardyce, who was in charge of the
Hammers for four years, says that he does not know what the fabled style of
play West Ham fans accept actually is. The 60-year-old claimed that his
style of play was to pick up wins - something he did in the first half of
last season. Bilic is himself looking to find a winning, and accepted, style
of play, after falling to home defeats against Leicester and Bournemouth in
the past two weeks, shipping six goals in the process. I still don't know
quite what the West Ham way is," Allardyce said on Match of the Day.
"I always thought that playing attractive football and winning [was the
West Ham way]. "But the winning is the first priority, we all know that.
Then playing very well. "We did that last year - certainly the first half
[of the season], we didn't quite manage it in the second half. We played
some exciting football."

And on supporter protests at Upton Park, he said: "There are times you feel
the criticism is a little harsh - when you've taken them from where they
started to where they've got to. "There's always a big expectation based on
what you achieve and can you achieve more than that. And there's always been
a big expectation at West Ham." Allardyce has already been touted as the
favourite to replace Dick Adovcaat at Sunderland following their disastrous
start to the season. But Big Sam was soon to quash those reports while live
on air. He said: "It's not true. Look how relaxed I am looking, I'm not
stressed like those boys [other managers]. There's no truth in it. "I'm
taking a break. It was four years at West Ham. I'm chilling out."

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"I was not playing badly": Angelo Ogbonna hits back after being hauled off
in first half of Bournemouth defeat
18:44, 22 AUGUST 2015
BY ED MALYON
The Italian defender was not pleased to be taken off as Bournemouth raced
into an early lead at Upton Park
The Mirror

Angelo Ogbonna has hit back at boss Slaven Bilic after the West Ham manager
took him off in the first half of the east London club's defeat to
Bournemouth. The newly-promoted Cherries, who before today had never scored
a top-flight goal in their history, went 2-0 up early on through a Callum
Wilson brace - provoking the ire of the Upton Park crowd. Seeking to change
things, Bilic hauled off the Italian defender for James Tomkins as West Ham
managed to pull level at 2-2 before conceding twice more in a game they
ended 4-3 losers. And Ogbonna, an £8million signing this summer, took to
Twitter after the match to manifest his disappointment at the decision.
"Haunted and unhappy match! I have to accept the coach's decisions but I was
disappointed when i had to go back to the bench after 35' "I was not playing
badly," he wrote. "However I don't give up, we don't give up."

The Croatian coach has already fallen out with one player since arriving
back at the Hammers.New Hammers boss Bilic laid down the law after clashing
with Morgan Amalfitano. And the French midfielder has paid the price for
challenging Bilic's authority by being axed from the first team-fold and
ordered to train with the kids, leaving his Upton Park future in doubt.
Bilic and Amalfitano clashed after the Frenchman missed a team meeting.
Amalfitano is understood to have "given the manager attitude" when he took
exception to being confronted about his absence in front of his teammates.
The fuming Hammers boss reacted by banning Amalfitano, 30 , from the club's
first-team training ground at Chadwell Heath in Essex. Amalfitano has now
been ordered to train with the club's development squad at nearby Rush
Green, where the Under-21s and Under-18s are based. Having been involved in
the Hammers first four games of the season, the 30-year-old has been left
out of the squads for their last four matches.

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Blog: Karen Brady cuts to heart of OS matter
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 24, 2015 in News, Whispers
C AND H

Karren Brady has delivered the ultimate interview on the Olympic Stadium and
it flattens the ' waste of taxpayers money' argument as completely as
Tottenham would have flattened the OS itself. The world and his wife – along
with eight London Supporters Trusts – have attacked a deal which saw the
Irons accepted as anchor tenants. The Supporters Groups have launched a
petition in pursuit of a public inquiry which if successful would waste
millions more of taxpayers' money. But speaking to the Daily Mail, the
Hammers vice chairman has presented an irresistible reasoning as to why
they have all got it so wrong. Led by the Barry Hearn and the BBC's Dan Roan
the near obsessional chorus of disapproval from jealous fans, this has
become the bore of the century. But for ClaretanHugh Ms Brady has dismissed
their criticisms at a stroke declaring: "Anyone could have bought this.
Leyton Orient, the Qataris, anyone. "But nobody saw it, nobody saw the
potential here. So roll back that movie without West Ham. Taxpayers' money
would have poured into a big hole, been concreted over and never seen
again."

She points out quite accurately that now the stadium is nearly finished
"everyone recognises what is has become the longest running and says it's a
steal" Her point however is that this was most certainly not the case during
negotiations and that there was no queue of rival buyers? Without West Ham
this would have been pulled down. It was going to be 25,000 with no roof.
She adds: "What would have happened then? Who would have come to that
stadium? That's a legacy? Tottenham just wanted to flatten it and start
again. So no Olympic Stadium at all. This is going to be an asset, a
national asset. We shouldn't have to keep justifying ourselves.'

There's much more and its well worth a read but that for us cuts to the
heart of the matter and ClaretandHugh has held the same position throughout
this saga. West Ham has done absolutely nothing wrong – they made a bid…it
was accepted. All other questions should be addressed to the London Legacy
Development Corporation.

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Exclusive: Irons consider controversial U-turn
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 23, 2015 in News, Whispers
EXCLUSIVE
C AND H

Joey Barton is back on the Irons radar. ClaretandHugh understands the
manager may give the thumbs up for the club to perform a U turn on the
defensive midfielder after yesterday's shocking performance by the back four
in the 4-3 defeat by Bournemouth. Slaven Bilic left Upton Park shocked by
some of the defending which only pressed home the need for a defensive
midfielder to shield the back line. Alex Song is nowhere fit enough to move
in to the side and any medical he faces is on his general condition rather
than the current ankle problem from which he is recovering. That will come
later. In the meantime the team's need for such a player became glaringly
obvious and ClaretandHugh was told exclusively after the game that Barton
remains a possibility. We were told : " There's a discussion going on but at
the end of the day it is the manager's decision and my understanding is he
is currently thinking things over. It could happen."

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Song facing long lay-off
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 23, 2015 in News, Whispers
C AND H

Reports that Alex Song has failed his 'medical' is wide of the mark given
that he faces two! The Hammers are still awaiting the outcome of the first –
which is looking at his general well being. The second will be held when he
has recovered from the ankle injury which needed surgery in the summer. But
a top source revealed to ClaretandHugh that the ankle problem will ensure
that he "is unable to play until November the earliest." And that assessment
by the club's medical team assumes that the midfielder makes a normal
recovery from the operation which involved removing a piece of floating bone
from his ankle. David Sullivan has already commented: "He's injured at the
moment, which is something you've got to weigh up. But we've got until
September 1st to make a decision." It's for that reason the Hammers may
perform the U-turn on Joey Barton, as reported earlier on this site today,
whom they believe they can get on a pay as you play basis. ClaretandHugh was
told by a top Hammers source: "Even if we decide to sign Alex the facts are
that he won't be fit to play again until November the very earliest so
there's some hard thinking to be done."

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Irons end interest in former star
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 22, 2015 in News, Whispers
C AND H

West Ham will make no further moves aimed at bringing Robert Green to Upton
Park! Club officials were absolutely delighted with the form shown by
much-maligned Darren Randolph against Bournemouth and believe they have a
decent number two on their hands. Although four goals went by the Republic
of Ireland international he could not be held responsible for any of them
and but for a couple of fine saves the scoreline could have been worse. We
were told: "Darren's form in the Europa Cup matches hadn't been encouraging
and there were some worries which led to the Green moves. "But he was
excellent against Bournemouth and there's a few relieved people around. On
the back of that performance the club will stick with Darren."

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