Daily WHUFC News - 29th September 2015

Payet relishing partnership with Sakho
WHUFC.com

Dimitri Payet is relishing his partnership with Diafra Sakho in the West Ham
United attack and hopes he can provide a lot more goals for the Senegal
international. Payet has wasted no time settling into his new surroundings
at the Boleyn Ground and was voted man of the match once again during the
2-2 draw against Norwich on Saturday. The France international was among the
top providers in Europe last season and created more chances than Barcelona
superstar Lionel Messi. Payet has already set up three assists this season
and played a crucial role in the Hammers first goal on Saturday when he
showed his quality down the right hand side and played the perfect cross in
for Sakho who converted from close-range. The Hammers are the joint-top
goalscorers in the Premier League and it is no surprise that the arrival of
Payet has contributed towards the Club's impressive start to the campaign.
Slaven Bilic's side now head to Sunderland on Saturday and Payet hopes that
he can maintain his superb run of form and help set up more goals for the
West Ham forwards. Payet said: "I found myself in a good position and I saw
Diafra who was calling for the ball in the middle, I managed to picked him
out and he was able to score. It was very good. "I am very happy with my
start here and I'm working hard to ensure it continues. "We were behind
twice in the game, we managed to get back to 1-1, then to 2-2 in the final
seconds, so we'll settle for the point. "A draw at home is never good, but
given the way the match panned out we'll take it. It was the start of the
game that cost us the two points on Saturday. "For sure it was difficult
[after they scored] as there wasn't much time left, but afterwards we pushed
right until the end and we were rewarded for it."

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Loan round up
WHUFC.com

Diego Poyet played the full match as MK Dons slipped to a 3-1 home defeat to
Derby County. New signing Bradley Johnson put the visitors ahead with a
sweetly taken strike however Dons equalised just six minutes later through
Josh Murphy. With a draw looking like the most likely outcome, the Rams
scored twice in the final minute as first Darren Bent, and then Tom Ince
scored to seal the win. The defeat has seen Karl Robinson's side slip into
the relegation zone with seven points from nine games.

Reece Burke's Bradford City slipped to a 2-0 home defeat to Peterborough
United in Graham Westley's first game in charge of The Posh. The 18-year-old
centre-back played the full game, and despite an accomplished performance,
could not prevent Lee Angol and Chris Forrester scoring. The defeat sees the
Bantams slip to 18th in League One, with ten points from their opening nine
games.

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Adrian eyes faster starts
WHUFC.com

West Ham United goalkeeper Adrian admits his side need to start better at
home after being forced to twice come from behind to claim a draw against
Norwich City. In three of their four home fixtures this season the Hammers
have conceded the first goal - going some way to explain their return of
four points from those matches. The stopper was impressed once again with
the character shown but says the Hammers need to stop making life hard for
themselves. "Away we are playing very well but sometimes here at home we
need to start much better" he said. "We allow the other team to have more
confidence and they can score. "For us, at the moment we are playing better
away from home but you have your fans here and of course if you play well,
the fans are with you. "We need a result or to score first to have our fans
with us."

Adrian was once again in fine form against the Canaries, at one point even
using his face to block from Cameron Jerome, and he explained afterwards
that any save is a good one, no matter what part of the body makes it! "It
was a good face save," he laughed. "It was a great strike and I did not have
time to put my hands up to save it so I used my face."

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Manager on Monday
WHUFC.com

Slaven Bilic said the best was still to come from his West Ham side despite
the Hammers' strong start to their Premier League campaign. After seven
games, the Irons currently find themselves third in the Barclays Premier
League table, having won four of their opening games. Following their 2-2
draw with Norwich City on Saturday, the Claret and Blues will look to extend
their unbeaten run to five games when they travel to play basement boys
Sunderland. Speaking ahead of the clash with the Black Cats, Bilic said: "We
are third in the table, and we can still improve. Of course we can, and we
know how to improve. That is the big thing for me. "Our home games are the
bread, and we've got four points in the last two home games but from our
away games we have three wins, but it's more than that. It's who we beat but
also how we won."

As a result of the high-profile away wins over Arsenal, Liverpool and
Manchester City, the Croatian continued to express his belief that his side
have already confounded many pre-season expectations. "Before the season
started no one said we were a big team, the away wins have already changed
the perception, and the way people look at us. We are not big guns, we have
some really great players but we have to work our socks off every game. "We
are going to get there, and keep improving, getting stronger as the season
goes on. I think by the end of the season, we will have more home wins then
away wins."

In recent weeks, the Hammers have been boosted by the return of two key
players to the first team; Adrian has excelled since returning from
suspension while Andy Carroll has made a telling contribution returning from
injury. Bilic continued: "Adrian made some unbelievable saves; he's done
that in every game he's played for us this season. He is a fantastic
goalkeeper, both keepers did well today. "I don't want to tame Andy Carroll,
he is like a boxer, he fights for everything. That is his style, and what
makes him a great player. We can only protect him by easing him back in,
once he's on the pitch, that's the way he plays, and that's the way we want
him to play."

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Stat Attack - Kouyate's eye for goal
WHUFC.com

Since Cheikhou Kouyate has been at West Ham United, a new side to his game
has developed.

In just 37 league games for the Club he has scored as many goals as he
managed in the previous 189.

While part of that can be attributed to the time he had at Anderlecht
stationed in central defence, there can be no doubt that he has become more
prolific as he career has developed - and that can even be said of his short
time in E13.

None of his first 14 games in the Barclays Premier League yielded a goal,
but since notching in the 2-1 defeat to Arsenal last Christmas, he has
scored seven goals in 23 games.

Scoring at a rate of one goal every three games would possibly sound alien
to a player whose previous goalscoring ratio was one every 29, but
particularly this season, Kouyate has shown a real appetite for poaching in
front of goal.

His header in the 2-0 win at Arsenal on the opening day showed an
opportunism in his beating to the ball of Petr Cech as Dimitri Payet
delivered a free-kick.

Then in scoring against AFC Bournemouth and Norwich City, he was
Johnny-on-the-spot to find himself in the right place to smash home after
his teammates had been denied.

Goals from midfield was an area manager Slaven Bilic identified as being
needed to improve on his arrival, and he will certainly be hopeful that
Kouyate's growing aptitude in the opposition's penalty area will continue to
be a fruitful source for the Hammers.

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Slaven Bilic: West Ham are not part of 'big guns' yet
Last Updated: 28/09/15 1:01am
SSN

Slaven Bilic does not feel West Ham should be included with the Premier
League 'big guns' despite their superb start to the season. The Irons are
third in the table despite requiring an injury-time equaliser to salvage a
2-2 draw with Norwich City on Saturday. Bilic says the purchasing power of
the "smaller clubs" in the division has not created a new power system in
the league but says their ability to make quality signings has made life
difficult for the established larger clubs. "After beating Arsenal,
Liverpool and Man City away, people are expecting us to beat Norwich 6-0. It
doesn't happen like that," said the Croat, who took over at Upton Park in
the summer. "[Jose] Mourinho said it best - it is not a new world order, but
this kind of money, the financial injection to smaller clubs in the Premier
League has raised the quality of the teams. Every team has it now. "Before,
in the Premier League, all the teams had energy. Now you have quality, now
it's difficult for the big guns. Every team is good enough "We would love
to be big guns, but let's be fair - nobody said we are big guns before the
season started. "Because of the away wins, they are putting us there, but we
are not the big guns. No. We have some really great players, but we have to
work our socks off every single game."

Bilic feels a collective team ethic is vital to progression. He continued:
"If you are just a little bit slower, you will be struggling, that was
obvious to see [against Norwich]. "Maybe if we worked hard all game, Norwich
are still good enough to beat you, but if you match them in that, then we
were much better. "Then [when we did that] they started to panic, kicking
the balls out, then we got to every second ball. "But if you then give them
a little bit of space, when they have a throw in and you did not close it,
the team passes and the ball comes up to No 14 [Wes Hoolahan] who makes a
dribble, and they go again."

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At last! A much needed Hammers reality check!
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on September 28, 2015 in News, Whispers
C and H

During a long career in this business I've heard more managerial cliches
than I care to remember mixed with an excruciating crucifixion of the
English language on occasions! Many bosses spend an eternity saying very
little. Speak less - say more are the words that spring to mind! I've heard
more mixed metaphors about taking things with "a pinch of petter" or having
"fires in the iron" when asking about possible transfers, than I want to
remember. One one famous occasion an unnamed manager told me in response to
a question: "Oh I'll keep my head under the apple cart because I don't want
to upset the oranges!" WHAT?

So when blokes like Slaven Bilic come along you celebrate and enjoy them. I
like and trust intelligence and this guy has it in spades. Look what he has
to say about the state of the Premier League and our place in it right now.
Just a clear assessment based on the need for some to take a reality check.
Needed and very well expressed without the necessity for any sort of cliche
or "know what I mean." He said during his post match press conference:
"After beating Arsenal, Liverpool and Man City away, people are expecting us
to beat Norwich 6-0. It doesn't happen like that. "We would love to be big
guns, but let's be fair - nobody said we are big guns before the season
started. Because of the away wins, they are putting us there, but we are not
the big guns. No. We have some really great players, but we have to work our
socks off every single game."

It was a reality check everybody needed. One cam become swayed by ill
informed criticism on the social networks from people with the right, if not
the knowledge, to express a worthwhile opinion. There have been bosses who
resort to the easy excuses for failure or claim all the credit after one
half decent result. In Slaven Bilic the Hammers have a very bright man with
a very firm grasp on his business who also has some highly amusing turns of
phrase - "room full of girls" and "buses without handbrakes" - spring to
mind. His assessment of our position after a mere handful of games seems
spot on to me and perhaps for now it may be worth taking the OTT Twitter and
FB reactions with the aforementioned pinch of pepper!

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NOBLE INTENTIONS, HARSH REACTIONS
By HamburgHammer 28 Sep 2015 at 08:00
WTID

Mark Noble has done it on Saturday, so why shouldn't I follow suit, hold my
hands up and say, yes, Mark Noble, our new skipper, cost us the three points
against the Canaries.
His overall game was well below par, and remember, the par had been set
pretty high during most of his games for us so far this season, helping us
to win those epic games at Arsenal, Liverpool and Man City.


He giftwrapped the first goal to the opposition by telegraphing a pass to
Tomkins, lacking in care, distance, accuracy and thought, so it was no
surprise to see Norwich pouncing and gratefully delivering the ball into our
net. The second goal showed Noble watching his opponent run, run some more,
put the ball on his favourite foot, pick his spot and score what most would
have thought the winning goal. Thanks to Kouyate's late strike it was indeed
a point well worth respecting for a change.

Mark Noble instantly accepted the blame and held the hands up for his
mistakes while Bilic interestingly enough failed to blame his captain, a
refreshing change to the previous regime. Bilic treats his players with
respect and appears always willing to work on and eradicate mistakes rather
than pointing them out to the media, waving a finger of blame into his
charges' faces.

Browsing through post match reactions on a forum or two on Saturday evening
was not the best idea as I couldn't quite believe what i read from some
folks. Noble being brandished as a Championship player, being good at
nothing but pirouetting in the middle of the pitch, making sideway or
backward passes (most of which apparently directly led to opposition goals).
Noble not being able to pass or tackle. Noble delivering crap corner kicks
and even worse freekicks.

His 'fanclub' just stopped short of criticising his penalty taking and his
handwriting.


Now I have a confession to make. Yes, over the last year or so I was
extremly harsh on our previous skipper Kevin Nolan. I've been criticised for
doing my extensive Nolan watching, my singling him out for everything that
was bad about our football whenever things started looking a bit tosh on the
pitch.

In essence, I tried to argue, I was criticising the manager all this time
for playing his tried and trusted favorite player time and time again in the
hope he could somehow return to his form when he was our leading goalscorer
for two seasons running.

Nolan indeed in his final twelve months at the club rarely convinced on the
pitch, at that point indeed he couldn't run, he couldn't tackle, he didn't
play many key passes, in short: He was a passenger. Bilic was fair enough to
give him a few games at the start of the season to properly evaluate him
upon which both sides decided to part ways.


Noble of course is younger, he's got a long-term contract now (making sure
we get a decent fee in case he schould leave early, but can anyone really
imagine Mr. West Ham leaving for Fulham ? Well, other famous West Ham
players have done that in the past of course, but I reckon Noble could
actually be one of those rare cases of being a career one-team guy (if you
discount his time away on loan).

Noble is our new skipper and in my view he has done us proud so far - being
a human being he had a stinker of a game against Norwich, will hopefully put
it behind him and bounce back, just like our team did on Saturday.

If you compare Noble and Nolan there are quite a few differences insofar as
due to his age Noble's career is still in full swing while Nolan's is coming
to an end. Noble can indeed tackle (sometimes too much), he can still play
key passes and has chipped in with some goals already while his workrate is
second to none. But we have a new manager now, a new mentality and a much
deeper squad.

Which means that even a skipper and Mr. West Ham is no longer untouchable.
Noble will be well aware of that fact. Soon enough Song will be back on the
agenda and I'm sure even Mark Noble would agree that he cannot touch Song in
terms of natural ability, skill and panache.

With Kouyate and Obiang also very much in the picture Noble has his work cut
out for him to keep his place as skipper and starter. Again: Bilic will not
hesitate to go ahead with a Song/Kouyate or Kouyate/Obiang combo if he
reckons it'll give us the best chance of winning.

This is what we as fans always wanted: Competition for places proper and a
manager who doesn't favour players due to nostalgic days spent together at
previous clubs.
I have a strong feeling that Noble will be more than happy to take on this
challenge head on. He will fight for his place and he will be a better and
more mature player for it.

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Away-day specialists West Ham are too ''nervous'' playing in front of home
fans, says keeper Adrian
0 COMMENTS 22:30, 27 SEP 2015
BY NEIL MCLEMAN
Slaven Bilic's side have won at Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City this
season but again struggled at Upton Park with a draw against Norwich
The Mirror

Adrian has admitted West Ham prefer playing away from home because of the
"nervous" atmosphere at Upton Park. Slaven Bilic's unpredictable side remain
third in the Premier League after salvaging a late point against stylish
Norwich in a 2-2 draw. But their farewell season at the Boleyn Ground is so
far proving more of an ordeal than a -celebration. And their Spanish keeper
claimed the team, who have won at the Emirates, Anfield and the Etihad,
would prefer not to be playing any more games in their famous old ground.
"For us, I think it is much better to play away from home but you have your
fans here and of course if you play well, the fans are with you," Adrian
said. "But if not, everyone is a little bit nervous. We need a result or to
score first to have our fans with us. "We need to start much better because
we allow the other team to have more confidence and they can score. "Away
from home probably the team play without pressure when you play a big team
as everyone thinks you are going to lose. "But it is not an excuse. We need
to improve here at home and keep going away from home with the same
performances. "What else can we do? We can't play every time away from
home!"

Adrian even produced a face-saving block when he stopped Cameron Jerome's
full-blooded volley with his boat. "I did not have time to put my hands up
so I put my face!" he laughed. The Hammers have increased -expectation of
their fans with their away successes but have picked up only four points in
four matches at home. But Bilic insisted: "We are going to get there. At the
end of the season we will have more home wins than away wins. "But after
beating Arsenal, Liverpool and Man City away, people are expecting us to
beat Norwich 6-0. It doesn't happen like that."

Bilic and Alex Neil have very different backgrounds and appearances. The
Croat, who played in a World Cup semi-final, dons a sharp suit on the
touchline. Canaries boss Alex Neil turned out for Barnsley and Mansfield
and shows his blue-collar roots with his match-day tracksuit. But both men
have teams who produce universally appealing football. "The manager knows
what he wants and what he expects from us. And if we do that right we'll
come away with the results we need," said Norwich's Robbie Brady. "He has us
well-drilled." Mark Noble gave the ball away for Brady's first goal for
Norwich. French playmaker Dimitri Payet set up Diafra Sakho's first leveller
before sub Nathan Redmond scored after 83 minutes. Fellow sub Andy Carroll
caused the confusion to allow to Cheikhou Kouyate to net the injury-time
equaliser.

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