Daily WHUFC News - 10th January 2016

West Ham United 1-0 Wolves
WHUFC.com

Emirates FA Cup Third Round
West Ham United 1-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers

Nikica Jelavic fired West Ham United into the fourth round of the Emirates
FA Cup with a cracking late strike at the Boleyn Ground, his first for the
Hammers. In a game of precious few clear-cut chances, the Croat latched
onto Andy Carroll's flick with just six minutes of regulation time left to
play and dispatched a clinical first-time finish into the bottom right-hand
corner. Carl Jenkinson had earlier seen a long-range strike brilliantly
saved by Wolves stopper Carl Ikeme, before Dimitri Payet and Andy Carroll
were introduced after the break in a bid to spare the Hammers a return trip
to Molineux. But it was the former Everton and Rangers man who did the
damage, ensuring the Hammers' safe passage into the fourth round, ahead of
Monday's draw.
As expected, Slaven Bilic shuffled his pack for the visit of Wolverhampton
Wanderers. Among the seven changes, Winston Reid's return was the big news,
fit to start after a hamstring injury, while there were also recalls for
Darren Randolph, Jenkinson, Alex Song, Pedro Obiang, Mauro Zarate and
matchwinner Jelavic.
The Hammers made a sleepy start at the Boleyn Ground and Wolves went
alarmingly close within the first 30 seconds. Rajiv Van La Parra's teasing
centre from the right was begging to be tapped home, but instead drifted
past an unsure Reid and right across the face. It took the hosts the best
part of 20 minutes to test Ikeme in the visitors' goal, who comfortably
fielded Zarate's 20-yard drive, before stooping to his left to palm Obiang's
deflected effort around the post.
In an uninspiring first half, Jenkinson's cross from the right almost fell
kindly for Michail Antonio, but after his first swipe had been blocked,
Wolves hacked it clear. But Ikeme was at least called upon rather more
seriously before the half was out. Jenkinson let fly from well outside the
box and the visiting stopper had to be at his very best to tip the
full-back's stinger over the top.
The second half was punctuated by a lengthy stoppage following an injury to
Bjorn Sigurdarson, who was eventually stretchered from the field. Former
Reading man Adam Le Fondre took his place. With 25 to play Bilic called on
Payet to provide a much-needed spark. Skipper Mark Noble made way. But
Wolves were having a good go too. Michael Zyro was allowed to carry the ball
and fizzed a drive into the palms of Randolph. At the other end, Obiang
collected a poor clearance 20 yards from goal but screwed wide of the near
post. Carroll was next to join the fray, partnering Jelavic in attack. But
it was Payet who went closest, as his free-kick drifted narrowly over before
cannoning into the stanchion behind the goal. Though a replay now looked on
the cards, Jelavic popped up with a precious winner six minutes from time.
The Croat was onto Carroll's flick like a flash and his finish into the
bottom right-hand corner of Ikeme's goal was an exquisite one. Incidentally,
Jelavic's only other goal this season was also against Wolves, albeit for
his former employers Hull City. Pretty it wasn't, but the Hammers can now
look forward to Monday's fourth round draw.

West Ham United: Randolph, Jenkinson, Collins, Reid, Cresswell, Obiang,
Song, Noble (c) (Payet 66), Zarate (Carroll 71), Antonio, Jelavic (Oxford
87)
Subs: Adrian (GK), Ogbonna, Tomkins, Cullen
Goal: Jelavic 84

Wolverhampton Wanderers: Ikeme, Iorfa, Batth (c), Ebanks-Landell, Doherty,
McDonald, Edwards, Coady, Van La Parra (Graham 81), Sigurdarson (Le Fondre
56), Zyro (Henry 81)
Subs: Martinez (GK), Golbourne, Byrne, Saville

Referee: Anthony Taylor

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Noble - Going through is all that matters
WHUFC.com

It was a case of job done for Mark Noble after West Ham United sealed their
place in the fourth round of the Emirates FA Cup on Saturday.

Nikica Jelavic's 84th minute strike was enough to see off Championship side
Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Boleyn Ground and Noble was pleased to make
progress at the first time of asking against a stubborn opponent.

He said: "It's the Cup and Wolves came here to sit back and make it
difficult for us. They started really brightly actually, but we took control
of the game and I'm delighted for Jela that he's got his goal.

"He works so hard in training every day, puts a real shift in and he hasn't
had a lot of game time, but when it dropped to him today it was a top
quality finish.

"Overall it doesn't matter how you play as long as you're in the next
round."

The Hammers' good form rolls on, and with another game at Bournemouth on
Tuesday, Noble is keen for the momentum to keep on building.

He added: "We've played a lot of football in the last couple of weeks, a lot
of hard games – Southampton, Liverpool, well-earned wins. Today was a
possible banana skin for us at home, but we've come through it with a clean
sheet and a victory.

"We want to keep on putting three points on the board, keep that feeling of
winning games. We've won three in a row and the draws before that have given
us the platform to go on and do that."

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Dicks – 'It was a fantastic finish'
WHUFC.com

Julian Dicks heaped praise on match-winner Nikica Jelavic after the Croat's
first West Ham United goal booked the Hammers' passage into round four of
the Emirates FA Cup. Wolverhampton Wanderers proved no pushovers at the
Boleyn Ground and it took some 84 minutes for Jelavic's fine finish to break
the deadlock. The 30-year-old has had to bide his time since signing for
the Club but, when the opportunity presented itself on Saturday, he took it
with both hands, much to the relief of Coaching Assistant Dicks and his
colleagues.
"It was a great finish," he told West Ham TV. "He does that in training
every day. To do it at that time, it was a fantastic finish. He works hard,
he doesn't always get his rewards but this time he did. "We knew it was
going to be a tough game against Wolves and it proved to be. They weren't
the best conditions either but the lads stuck to it and we got a result."

The visitors' stubborn resistance came as no surprise to Dicks who had
expected a stern examination against a well-drilled Championship outfit.
He continued: "We struggled to break them down. We kept trying to go through
the middle instead of getting it out wide, maybe to Cress and Jenks, and
getting the ball in the box that way. "Kenny [Jackett] gets them fired up,
they've got some big, strong, physical players and as soon as we got the
ball, they got nine, ten behind the ball. So it was difficult for us to
break them down, but with teams like that you just have to keep going. "Our
crosses in the first half, our end product wasn't good enough. But I think
over the course of the 90 minutes it was a fair result."

Aside from victory itself, Dicks was delighted to see the fit-again Winston
Reid play his full part in yet another clean sheet, not least with a tricky
midweek trip to Bournemouth just around the corner. "It's nice to have
your players back and Winston's been out for a while," he added. "It was
nice for him to come through 90 minutes and keeping a clean sheet is always
good. "I think they've said that's seven or eight clean sheets that we've
kept, which is good. Obviously some of those we drew 0-0, but if you keep a
clean sheet you always have a chance of winning. "It was good that we could
rest players, with the likes of Andy and Dimitri [on the bench]. But
Bournemouth will be a tough game,they won on Saturday as well and they'll be
full of confidence. "We know what they're about, because of what happened
here [earlier in the season] and it will be a tough game for us."

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Academy slip to Royals defeat
WHUFc.com

West Ham United's U18s opened the New Year with a 3-0 defeat away at to
Reading on Saturday morning.

After picking up an impressive 1-0 Barclays U18 Premier League South victory
over the Berkshire-based side back at the beginning of October, the visitors
were hoping for a similar result.

However, the young Hammers found Reading in fine form. With just under half
an hour played, the Royals went ahead when Sam Smith fired home past Rihards
Matrevics, before midfielder Tyler Frost doubled the host's lead just before
the break.

As the rain poured down in the second half, the Hammers attempted comeback
was thwarted by Axel Andresson who powered home a penalty to seal the win.

The Hammers made four changes from the start that started in the FA Youth
Cup Third Round against Derby County prior to Christmas.

Towering Latvian U17 goalkeeper Rihards Matrevics made his U18 debut while
Development Squad regulars George Dobson, Marcus Browne and Grady Diangana
were replaced in the squad by Anthony Scully, Danny Kemp and Jake Eggleton.

The Hammers first real chance on goal came through captain Matty Carter,
although his free-kick was saved by Luke Southwood, Jahmal Hector-Ingram
pounced on the rebound, but the England youth international striker blazed
his shot well.

It was shortly after that when Reading dealt their first blow of the game.
After a number of passes went astray by the visitors, one of them fell to
Smith, who took the ball on a half-volley and buried into the corner past
Matrevics.

Reading's second goal came from through Frost who ran unchallenged to the
near post and flicked a whipped cross into the back of the net.

The more attacking approach in the second half appeared to lift the trailing
visitors, Carter again the player to get a shot off at goal, forcing another
save from Southwood.

On the hour mark though, Reading extended their lead even further to put the
game out of sight for the Hammers when defender Andresson smashed home a
penalty after Diallo was deemed to have fouled Smith.

As the game continued, West Ham did improve though and worked up a number of
opportunities to grab themselves a consolation goal, but Oscar Borg fired
over from 18 yards and Hector-Ingram's header was cleared off the line.

With that result, the Hammers stay seventh in the Premier League South, with
25 points from 18 games this season.

The Academy will hope to return to winning ways when they host Aston Villa
U18 at Little Heath on Saturday 16 January at 12:30pm.

U18: Metrevics, Eggleton (Diallo), Akinola, Pask, Rice, (Kanu), Neufville,
Carter (c), Scully, Borg, Kemp, Hector-Ingram
Subs not used: Longelo, Leonard.

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West Ham 1 Wolves 0
9 January 2016
Last updated at 18:30 GMT
BBC.co.uk

West Ham progressed into the fourth round of the FA Cup after Nikica
Jelavic's sublime strike saw off Championship side Wolves. The Croat, whose
only other goal this season came against Wolves when he was at Hull, scored
in the 85th minute when he produced a great low-angled half-volley, which
nestled in the corner. Carl Jenkinson also went close with a strike tipped
over by Carl Ikeme. James Collins denied Wolves when he hooked the ball away
from Dave Edwards. Aside from that half-chance, manager Kenny Jackett's side
barely troubled the West Ham defence. Had top scorer Benik Afobe started the
opposition backline might have endured a tougher workout. But the
22-year-old, who has scored 10 goals for the Midlands side this season, was
left out in order to finalise a £10 move to Premier League side Bournemouth.

Wolves fans will be hoping the powers-that-be reinvest wisely in January,
with the side currently in 11th and seven points shy of the play-off zone.

Hard work for the Hammers

This was not one of West Ham's more memorable FA Cup performances. The
three-time winners will have to improve their performance levels markedly in
the next round if they are going to enjoy a long run. The statistics showed
that Slaven Bilic's side had a healthy 12 efforts on goal, but many of these
were blocked near the edge of the area by a sturdy Wolves defence. Prior to
the goal, the only time keeper Ikeme had his hands stung was when he pushed
away a low effort from Pedro Obiang and then tipped over a Jenkinson
effort.A draw looked the likely and fair result until Jelavic struck.

Jelavic hurts Wolves again

The 30-year-old striker has only made nine appearances for the Hammers since
signing in September, with all but one of them as a substitute. Injuries
forced Bilic to start with the former Everton forward again, who up until
the strike was an anonymous figure in the West Ham attack. But he made the
most of the one chance that came his way. With five minutes of normal time
remaining, substitute Andy Carroll laid the ball into the path of his
team-mate who sent a fizzing effort past the reach of Ikeme. The goal was
enough to give the Hammers their third successive victory, and they are now
unbeaten in eight matches in all competitions.

What the managers said

West Ham manager Slaven Bilic: "We are delighted to be through into the next
round - it looked like it was going to be a replay, so we are happy. "It was
a great goal by Jela, he took it very well. Credit to Andy for his part too.
"Credit to Wolves because they started very well and stuck to their game
plan. They were very tough to break down."

Wolves manager Kenny Jackett: "It was a spirited performance, very resolute.
We were working hard to take the game to West Ham but we couldn't get the
goal. "It cost us in the end as they had one clear-cut chance and they took
it." On the injury to striker Bjorn Sigurdarson, who was taken off on a
stretcher in the second half: "He just collapsed, there was no one near him.
It's his back.
"We hope he is OK."

What next?
The Hammers are at Bournemouth on Tuesday, while Wolves play Fulham at home
on Tuesday.

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Slaven Bilic happy with West Ham's 1-0 FA Cup win over Wolves
By David Bowers
Last Updated: 09/01/16 7:40pm
SSN

Slaven Bilic says West Ham were rewarded for their patience following
Saturday's FA Cup third-round victory over Wolves. After dominating
throughout the game, Nikica Jelavic eventually broke Wolves' resistance with
an 86th-minute volley at Upton Park - the Croatian's first goal for the
Hammers. Bilic, who admits he was preparing for a draw, was quick to praise
Jelavic's match-winning strike against Kenny Jackett's "stubborn" side.
"First of all, it's an FA Cup game, and they are very often tough even when
you play against teams from two or three levels below," said Bilic, "I lost
a game here as a player against Wrexham. So it's well done to the lads, they
played against a team which won their last three games without conceding.
"They were very stubborn, resilient, and it's the same old story to unlock
it; it has to be their mistake, or a shot from outside the box, or some
extra quality. "But we were patient, we kept our shape and [substitute] Andy
[Carroll] as usual had a big impact and helped Jelavic score a wonderful
goal. It's good to go through with a clean sheet and a great goal. "We were
getting ready for a replay but the guys did everything to try to score. They
pushed and pushed, it wasn't the Alamo but if one team was trying to win it
in one game it was us and we got our reward."I don't think there will be any
complaints from their side."

Jackett, who is set to lose striker Benik Afobe to Bournemouth in a £10m
deal, says his side were left to rue Adam le Fondre's injury-time miss, with
the striker dragging a 15-yard effort wide of goal."That was probably our
best chance of the game," said the Wanderers boss. "It was a spirited
performance, very resolute. We were working hard to take the game to West
Ham but we couldn't get the goal. "It cost us in the end as they had one
clear-cut chance and they took it." Jackett is waiting for an update on the
condition of striker Bjorn Sigurdarson, who left the field on a stretcher
having just returned from a serious back injury. "He just collapsed, there
was no one near him," added Jackett. "It's his back. We hope he is okay."

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West Ham's Nikica Jelavic scores in 1-0 FA Cup win over Wolves
By PA Sport
Last Updated: 09/01/16 6:31pm
SSN

Nikica Jelavic scored an 84th-minute winner against Wolves to send West Ham
through to the fourth round of the FA Cup. The former Everton striker, whose
last goal came against the same opposition for Hull prior to his switch to
Upton Park, struck with five minutes remaining to secure a hard-fought 1-0
win for the hosts. Championship side Wolves arrived in east London without
their 10-goal striker Benik Afobe who is expected to complete a £10million
switch to Bournemouth over the weekend. But they did bring with them a
miserly defence which had not conceded a goal in their last three matches,
and they looked set to earn a replay until Jelavic broke the deadlock. West
Ham survived an early scare when Rajiv van La Parra's cross fizzed across
the goalmouth with no one able to apply the final touch, but they went on to
dominate the first half without finding a way through. They appealed for a
penalty when Danny Batth blocked Aaron Cresswell's drive but referee Anthony
Taylor was not convinced, before Pedro Obiang forced a sharp save from Carl
Ikeme at his near post with a deflected shot.
Obiang's header was also kept out by the Wolves keeper and Michail Antonio
miscued a close-range volley from Carl Jenkinson's cross.
The closest they came to scoring in the opening half was from the unlikely
boot of right-back Jenkinson, who collected Mauro Zarate's square pass and
let fly from 20 yards, with Ikeme tipping the ball over the crossbar. Wolves
showed more ambition at the start of the second half but their momentum was
halted by a worrying mystery injury suffered by striker Bjorn Sigurdarson.
The Icelander, starting his first Wolves match in over two years, collapsed
to his knees with no one around him and was given lengthy treatment before
departing the field on a stretcher.

New signing Michal Zyro did manage to force a save from Hammers keeper
Darren Randolph, while at the other end Obiang and Alex Song fired wide.
Hammers boss Slaven Bilic sent on the cavalry of Dimitri Payet and Andy
Carroll with 25 minutes remaining, and French midfielder Payet immediately
hit a free-kick on to the roof of the net. But it was Carroll who played a
big part in the winner, holding the the ball up on the edge of the area
before feeding Jelavic, who crashed in a superb first-time shot which flew
across Ikeme and into the corner of the net.

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West Ham chasing Benfica defender Lisandro Lopez but face competition from
Fiorentina
22:10, 9 JAN 2016 UPDATED 22:55, 9 JAN 2016
BY MIRROR FOOTBALL
The Portuguese champions want £6m for the Argentina defender who has a
contract until June 2018, but neither club has matched that as yet
Th Mirror

West Ham are in a two-way battle with Italian giants Fiorentina for
Benfica's Lisandro Lopez . The Portuguese club want £6million for the
Argentina defender, who has a contract until June 2018, but neither the
Premier League nor Serie A club has matched that. However, it is believed
West Ham will meet in Lisbon on Monday with Benfica representatives. Lopez
has struggled to establish himself at Benfica and was loaned out to La Liga
side Getafe in 2013. The Argentinian won two caps for his national side in
2011 and 2012 but hasn't played since.

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Wolves boss admits big two changed the game
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on January 9, 2016 in News, Whispers
By David Blackmore
C and H

Wolves manager Kenny Jackett conceded the impact of Dimitri Payet and Andy
Carroll was the key factor in his side being dumped out of the FA Cup.
Speaking after the game, Jackett said the appearance of the England
international lifted the crowd and his "physicality" gave the Hammers
another dimension while Payet is a "quality player". It was a spirited
performance by our players," he told the media. "We were very resilient and
I felt in the second half we were more comfortable than the first. "We
worked hard to get up the pitch to take the game to West Ham but we couldn't
find the gaps and that cost us. They had one clear chance and with the
quality they have, they are going to finish it." He later added: "I'm
disappointed [that we didn't get a replay] because there was a sense of
frustration which is always what you want to do as the away side. But West
Ham have had a terrific season and wish them well."

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Slav weary of the Carroll debate!
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on January 9, 2016 in News, Whispers
C and H

Slaven Bilic is "tired" of talking about Andy Carroll following another
press conference with the majority of questions focusing on the England
international.
Speaking to the media after watching his side limp into the fourth round of
the FA Cup after beating Wolves, he said he feels he talks "too much" about
Andy but reiterated the striker "knows what he has to do".
He added: "He is in good shape. I told him now that he has to stay fit and
look after himself because now he looks really fit."
Reflecting on the game as a whole, he said: "In the FA Cup, very often it's
very tough when you play teams that are in the leagues below you.
"But well done to the lads. We've played against a team that hadn't conceded
in, I think, three games, they were stubborn and resilient.
"We knew we would need to break them down and unlock them but it often has
to be a mistake they make and they didn't make many a lot of them.
"[As the attacking side], you need to move the ball and quickly pass to the
flanks, get players into one-on-one situations and then produce some
quality. We were patient.
"We were always going to put Payet on because he needs more games. We then
put Andy on and he had his usual big impact.
"It was a wonderful goal for Jelavic. I'm happy to go through with a clean
sheet and a great goal from Jelavic."
He conceded he had resigned himself to take his side to Wolves for a replay
for Jelavic's late strike.
"We were ready to play another game and to have a replay," he said. "I
didn't know we were going to score but the players did everything to score.
"They pushed. It wasn't the Alamo, we wanted to settle this in one game."
He later added: "We didn't have a negative performance, we were ready for
the replay but I'm happy we don't have to do it.
"We are not in the same situation like Liverpool who are in two cups and
Europe. We have a big enough squad [to cope with FA Cup replays]"

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Job done as 'invisible' Jelavic seals it
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on January 9, 2016 in News, Whispers
By David Blackmore, Editor of Blowing Bubbles Monthly
at Upton Park for CandH

For 82 minutes I was struggling to think of anything Nikica Jelavic had done
before his fine finish. He was a ghost. Invisible. A passenger. I was
struggling to give him more than two out of 10 and that was purely for just
turning up. He had an absolute nightmare of a game. Yes, he does deserve
credit for his goal and that will be what everyone will remember from this
game in the weeks ahead. I just hope Slaven doesn't let one flash of
brilliance rule over 82 minutes of inadequate play. As for the game itself,
it was the case of job done. Next round.
The first half, let's be honest, was a snore fest. We started painfully
slowly, letting Wolves spray it about for the first 10 minutes and winning
all the second balls. Zarate had a few nice touches early on – one flick to
Cresswell early on was particularly sublime – but he is so one-footed it's
painful. So poor was the opening period that the state of the pitch was the
main thrust of conversation around me. We carried a lot of passengers in the
first half. As for Jenkinson, he needs to stop playing for a while, or he
needs someone to get hold of him and tell him to man up. His body language
is awful and he clearly doesn't want to be playing for West Han United at
the moment. When the likes of Cresswell or Antonio get the ball, their first
touch is out of their feet, forward and positive but Jenkinson is so
negative with his play. Confidence or no confidence, he is not doing the
basic things right. When receiving the ball in a good position, I want to
see him taking his man on – not running up to him, turning back and passing
backwards. What summed up his first half was when he took the ball down
nicely and smashed it goalwards only for their keeper to knock it over.
Great play, crowd applauds and yet his body language was of someone who just
didn't want to be there. When we finally chugged into the game, Song and
Obiang had a few nice touches. Noble too. Certainly the final 20 minutes we
dominated possession. We sprayed it from left to right nicely but offered
nothing up top in the final third. Antonio was really the only spark in the
final third for the first half. Our only saving grace in the first half was
that Reid and Collins were absolute rocks at the back and never looked
threatened. It really was a case of more of the same in the second half
until the introduction of Dimitri Payet. The fact the biggest cheer of the
game was for the Frenchman pretty much sums up the game up to that point.
Payet, and the introduction of Carroll minutes later, swung the game towards
West Ham. Without them, we wouldn't have won.

Winston Reid got Man of the Match but for me, Pedro Obiang was our standout
performer. He didn't put a foot wrong. He was involved in everything going
forward and put in some great challenges at the other end.

Randolph: Didn't have much to do. Made a couple of good saves. 6

Cresswell: Nothing special from Aaron but was streets ahead of Jenkinson.
Usual shift. 6

Reid: Was a rock at the back. Never looked under any threat from Wolves. 7

Collins: Along with Reid, was very strong. Won a lot of headers and made
some excellent challenges. 7

Jenkinson: Time for a reality check Carl. He needs to sit down and think
about what he really wants. 3

Noble: Struggled. Didn't quite seem at the races. Huffed and puffed but end
product wasn't great. 5

Obiang: Outstanding performance. Excellent touches, moved the ball quickly,
asked questions of their 'keeper. 8

Song: Tried to make too many "wonder" passes. Did well to get the ball down
at times when it was pinging about. 6

Antonio: Another impressive display. Was the only spark in the final third
for a huge chunk of the game. 7

Zarate: One moment of class followed by poor play. Helped us get into game
but was too predictable, too often. 5

Jelavic: Superb match-winning goal. Did nothing up to that point. 5

SUBS:

Payet: Changed the atmosphere in the ground when he came on. Looked like he
was going to make things happen. 7

Carroll: He did everything Jelavic didn't. Superb performance off the bench.
7

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