Hammers face Old Trafford EFL Cup trip
WHUFC.com
West Ham United will travel to Old Trafford to face Manchester United in the EFL Cup quarter-finals.
The Hammers earned their place in the competition's last eight with a 2-1 victory over Chelsea on Wednesday and a trip to the north-west is their reward.
Jose Mourinho's side saw off their city rivals Manchester City in their fourth round tie also on Wednesday, with Juan Mata scoring the only goal of the game.
West Ham's quarter final appearance will be their first at this stage in three seasons, while they have defeated the Red Devils in the last eight in the recent past - famously beating them 4-0 at the Boleyn Ground in the 2010/11 season.
The tie will be played in the week commencing 28 November. Full fixture and ticketing details will follow in due course.
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Bilic - The game plan was perfect
WHUFC.com
West Ham progressed to the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup with a 2-1 win against Chelsea at London Stadium
Boss Slaven Bilic praised his side for executing a perfect game plan
The Hammers gaffer also singled out Edimilson Fernandes as being particularly impressive after his first West Ham goal
Hammers boss Slaven Bilic said his side executed their game plan perfectly to progress to the EFL Cup quarter-finals with a 2-1 victory over Chelsea on Wednesday night.
Cheikhou Kouyate gave the hosts a first half lead before Edimilson Fernandes struck his first West Ham goal to double the advantage three minutes into the second period.
With almost the final touch of the game, Chelsea's Gary Cahill tapped home from close range but the Hammers held on to claim a deserved victory and move into the last eight.
And Bilic, delighted with his team's third win in a row at the final whistle, had nothing but praise for his players.
"We played really good tonight," the boss said. "It was a great atmosphere, a cup game, night game, London derby, and Chelsea are a great team who have hit great form recently.
"We had a game plan and the guys executed it almost perfectly. We were great in the first half and really good in the second half and when we had to defend, we defended in numbers and we were good at keeping the ball.
"In transition we hurt them and could have scored more. It was a great win and a great performance and it was good to beat Chelsea."
The Hammers continued with the system that proved so effective against Crystal Palace and Sunderland, with Kouyate slotting into the defence alongside Winston Reid and Angelo Ogbonna.
But it was Swiss summer signing Fernandes who drew the plaudits from Bilic after his left-footed finish past helpless Blues keeper Asmir Begovic.
"He is very young and he's relatively unknown in England," continued the 48-year-old. "I would be lying if I said I expected him to break into the side so quickly.
"He presents himself very well in training and he is a very talented player who needs to keep working hard.
"He has got everything; stamina, he has got technique and skill and a good football brain and he should bring us a him a lot of qualities."
Shortly after the 90 minutes at London Stadium, the Hammers were drawn against Manchester United – who beat rivals Manchester City on Wednesday evening – in the quarter-finals.
And Bilic believes the EFL Cup is a competition in which his outfit can go all the way.
He explained: "You never know in a cup. We approached this competition with great ambition, that was obvious. If we play like this, we are capable of progressing.
"This is not only important for the competition but also for the Premier League. It gives you more confidence. We will be a little bit tired on the training ground, but then it's going to be buzzing and from that we will be less tired.
"Now we have most our players back fit, we can do it, as a unit and a team. Now we have three wins on the spin. It's always going to be ups and downs but we need to focus like we have done. I'm very optimistic of course."
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Kouyate - It was an unbelievable goal
WHUFC.com
West Ham midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate was thrilled to play his part in a memorable victory over Chelsea and says he scored 'an unbelievable goal' which helped his side reach the quarter finals of the EFL Cup.
Kouyate scored the crucial first with a superb header early in the game and played his part in the Hammers recording their third straight victory.
The Senegal midfielder has shown his versatility by adapting to a new three man system at the back and the move has paid off as the Hammers have shown their best form in recent weeks.
With Manchester United now awaiting in the last eight of the competition, Kouyate would love to steer his side to a major final at Wembley.
Kouyate said: "We are very happy with the result because we beat a big team like Chelsea. The most important thing for us was to get the victory and we managed to do that.
"I saw my goal after the game and it was an unbelievable goal. I spoke with Dimi and said it had nothing to do with him this time! But I am very happy to have scored the goal.
"It was great to see Fernandes score and he is a very good player. He works so hard and I was very happy for him. We are now all focused on the next game.
"We have been working hard the last few weeks and are now getting some good results. We will stay humble because we want to continue winning.
"Last season we wanted to reach Wembley so why can't we do it this season.
"The new system is very good and I am enjoying the position. Every player has to work hard in the system and we have been doing that. The spirit has always been there."
Kouyate is now hoping the Hammers can maintain their impressive unbeaten run and re-produce the form which saw them come away with a 3-2 victory over Everton at Goodison Park last season.
He added: "I cross my fingers that we can produce another victory like we did last season. This is another big game and it will be great for the team if we can get another victory.
"Everton have a good team and it will not be easy for us."
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Randolph - We're a match for anyone
WHUFC.com
Hammers stopper Darren Randolph believes the Hammers proved they are a match for anyone after Wednesday's 2-1 EFL Cup win over Chelsea
Cheikhou Kouyate and Edimilson Fernandes were the goalscorers for the hosts in the last-16 clash
Randolph says the side are already looking forward to visiting Old Trafford in the quarter-finals
Darren Randolph believes the Hammers' 2-1 EFL Cup victory over Chelsea on Wednesday night proves they are a match for any team on any given day.
Slaven Bilic's men moved into the last eight of the competition thanks to goals from Cheikhou Kouyate and Edimilson Fernandes at London Stadium and will now face Manchester United for a place in the semi-finals.
But stopper Randolph, who returned to the starting lineup for the impressive win against the Blues, says the east Londoners won't be daunted heading to Old Trafford.
"We never seem to get the easy route in cup competitions, but it's another trip to Old Trafford, where we went last season and put in some good performances," he said.
"We look forward to going there twice [in a week]. Tonight, we showed we're a match for any team on any given day.
"It was a good display for the whole game. Obviously to beat Chelsea as well was great. Everyone who came in did their jobs and it was a good win, and a good game for the neutral as well. Everybody's happy."
The Republic of Ireland No1 replaced Adrian between the sticks after the Spaniard had kept two successive clean sheets, and he was seconds away from recording one himself before Gary Cahill's last-gasp consolation.
Randolph revealed the team's current morale made it easy to slot straight back into the side with no issues.
"It makes things easy to come in and play when we're playing with confidence," he explained. "It would be harder to come in with everyone's confidence on the floor.
"We've had a couple of good results and performances and confidence is high. It's easy to slot in and then you have to do your job when you do.
"You expect to be busy in these games [as a keeper]. Thankfully I was in the right place at the right time to make the first save [against Kante] and we went up the other end and scored. It's just nice to perform when I do get the chance to play."
The keeper also pointed to the Stadium's atmosphere as a benefit to the team's performance, revealing it helped the Hammers push on to grab a second having taken the lead.
"The atmosphere was ridiculously loud and then we scored the second goal and it's what you want to experience every week. It's not a cup game against Chelsea every week but if the atmosphere is like that every time, it's a horrible place for the other teams to come to.
"It was a great ball in for Cheikhou's goal and a great finish. We kept things tight and didn't take our foot off the gas and pushed on again.
"Fernandes makes things look easy. He's the same in training. We've got people who are ready to come into the team and do a job and it's great when you have that."
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Hammers to compete in Legia FIFA17 Cup
WHUFC.com
West Ham United's FIFA17 player Sean 'Dragonn' Allen will take on some of the top eSports talent when he heads to Poland to play for the Legia FIFA17 Cup in November.
Dragonn will come up against players from Manchester City, Paris St Germain, Wolfsburg, Schalke 04, Valencia, Ajax and host club Legia Warsaw for the right to be crowned champion.
The Hammers have led the way in the development of eSports in the UK, being the first British club to sign a FIFA player when Dragonn signed up towards the end of the 2015/16 season.
Since then the Club hosted the first ever eSports tournament between pro clubs, with Dragonn looking to go one better than his final appearance at London Stadium when he competes in Poland.
Dragonn was the 2016 FIFA Interactive World Cup runner-up, coming so close to landing the title against Denmark's Mohamad Al-Bacha, and is now on the road to booking his place at the 2017 finals – to be held in London next year.
He has an early chance to steal a march on his pro club rivals in Poland on 5 and 6 November – and you will be able to follow his progress on whufc.com and the Club's social media channels.
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West Ham United and London Stadium to pursue bans and convictions
WHUFC.com
West Ham United and London Stadium are finalising the identification of 200 individuals who will receive stadium bans having been involved in incidents of disorder during West Ham's EFL cup victory over Chelsea.
Rapid progress has been made in the investigation with extensive CCTV footage being shared with West Ham United, London Stadium partners and the Metropolitan Police.
Banning notifications will be issued for offences ranging from the use of abusive and offensive language to missile throwing. In line with our zero tolerance policy, all those involved will receive a seasonal or lifetime ban depending on the severity of the offence. Footage is also being shared with Chelsea Football Club so they can take action in line with their own policies.
All stakeholders are united in their determination to pursue not only stadium bans but also criminal prosecutions against any individual found to be involved in incidents of disorder, where the evidence merits this.
A spokesperson for London Stadium partners West Ham United, E20 Stadium LLP and London Stadium 185 said: "An extensive safety and security operation was delivered in and around London Stadium throughout Wednesday's match with close co-ordination between West Ham United, London Stadium 185 and the Metropolitan Police Service.
"A small number of individuals were intent on becoming involved in disorder and are being investigated, identified and banned from London Stadium as a matter of priority.
"The response of our safety and security teams was measured, fast and effective and we commend our stewarding and response personnel who were called to deal with several incidents of challenging behavior.
"It must be stressed that the vast majority of West Ham United and visiting supporters have behaved impeccably and we are committed to ensuring that they can continue to support their team in a safe environment.
"We wish to thank the genuine supporters who are behaving impeccably when attending matches at London Stadium for their fantastic support. We wish to assure them that we will work tirelessly to ban those who seek to affect their enjoyment and match experience."
A spokesperson for London Stadium Safety Advisory Group said: "The Stadium's safety certificate was granted after all safety plans were agreed before the start of the season. The extensive security and safety operation implemented by all partners was robust. Therefore, there are no plans to review the safety certificate or to reduce the stadium capacity.
"The issues arising due to fan disorder at Wednesday's game will be discussed at the next Safety Advisory Group (SAG) meeting. The SAG consists of Newham Council and London Legacy Development Corporation as the Stadium owners, London Stadium 185 as the Stadium operators and West Ham United as the primary tenant. It also includes the Met Police, London Ambulance Service, London Fire Brigade, British Transport Police, Westfield , Transport for London and the Sports Ground Safety Authority. The group will continue to monitor safety and security at the stadium and will advise partners to take further action when necessary."
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West Ham: MP says club should play behind closed doors if violence is repeated
BBC.co.uk
West Ham should be forced to play behind closed doors if the violence that marred Wednesday's derby with Chelsea is repeated, an MP has said.
Bottles, seats and coins were thrown at London Stadium as hundreds of fans clashed. Six people were arrested, three of whom have been charged.
It was the latest outbreak of disorder at West Ham's new ground this season.
"None of these problems were unforeseeable given the nature of the stadium," said Mark Field MP.
"Within the next 14 days, the West Ham board should present a detailed plan to the Football Association and Premier League outlining what they are going to do about security," the all-party parliamentary football group vice-chairman told the Evening Standard.
"There have been clear failings. If there is a repeat of the violence, the next two or three home games for West Ham should be played behind closed doors."
'I wouldn't take my kids to the London Stadium'
Hammers vice-chairwoman Karren Brady said the club would ban all fans involved in the violence. The club say it is finalising the identification of 200 individuals.
"Football doesn't want these people and, with over 55,000 supporters on our season ticket waiting list, we certainly don't need them at West Ham," she wrote on Twitter.
Damian Collins MP, the chairman of the select committee for culture, media and sport, told the Telegraph that West Ham "should face playing behind closed doors if they can't police the ground properly".
A spokesperson for the Sports Grounds Safety Authority (SGSA) - which advises the government on the matter - said it is "monitoring the situation very closely".
The SGSA also issues licences to 92 football clubs in the Premier League and the English Football League, as well as to Wembley and the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.
It says it is "aware and involved in issues relating to the London Stadium", adding: "All partners must act together to prioritise safety."
The Football Association and English Football League are also investigating. A league spokesman called the incidents "distasteful and unwelcome".
Previously, the Metropolitan Police have not deployed officers inside the stadium because the radio system emergency services use to communicate will not be operational until 2017. However, security was boosted for Wednesday's EFL Cup tie.
Police commander BJ Harrington said: "There were a minority of people who attended the match who were clearly intent on being involved in confrontation and violence.
"Despite extensive work with both clubs and a large and robust policing operation, there were unacceptable incidents inside and outside the stadium, before, during and after the game."
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West Ham: 'Homophobic flyers' at Chelsea game investigated
BBC.co.uk
Claims that homophobic anti-Chelsea song sheets were distributed at West Ham's London Stadium are being investigated.
Hammers fan Nadeem posted an image of one of the flyers, urging fans to sing homophobic lyrics about Chelsea captain John Terry, on social media.
Nadeem told BBC Radio 5 live that the leaflets were being handed out before the home side's 2-1 EFL Cup win.
"It was quite idiotic and a bit disgusting," he said.
Nadeem told BBC Radio 5 live's Afternoon Edition that the song sheets seemed to be being handed out by "one person being moronic" and said no fans were singing the chant.
BBC Radio 5 live sports news correspondent Richard Conway, who was at the game, said he heard no evidence of homophobic chanting.
The match was marred by crowd disorder with the police making seven arrests.
In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said its investigation into the disturbances will include "a leaflet handed out before the match containing homophobic contents".
West Ham told BBC Sport it was "investigating the alleged distribution of these flyers" and would "take the strongest possible action against those responsible".
Anti-discrimination group Kick It Out said it had "received reports of homophobic literature being distributed" and had reported it to the Football Association, which is also investigating.
Nadeem said most fans were "ignoring" the man with the leaflets and said the "overall response has been of disgust and disapproval".
On Wednesday, a BBC Radio 5 live survey found 8% of football fans would stop watching their team if they signed a gay player, although 82% said they would welcome a gay player at their club.
It followed FA chairman Greg Clarke's comments that he "wouldn't recommend" a gay footballer coming out "at the moment" because they would risk "vile abuse" from a "small minority on the terraces".
He said the sport could not yet offer the "required protection" and the FA needs to "redouble its efforts to provide that safe space".
Afternoon Edition's guest editor - Britain's first openly gay rugby league player Keegan Hirst, who plays for Wakefield - said Clarke's comments were "negative and old-fashioned".
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Any chance of some perspective?
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 27th October 2016
By: Gordon Thrower
Deputy Editor Gordon Thrower takes a look at the reporting of recent events in E20 and wonders if some reporters were actually at the same match as he was...?
Did you go to the match last night? Did you lay awake at night traumatised by all the crowd trouble? Are you off to get counselling to get you through the day? No? Me neither.
Like most amongst the crowd last night I'll admit to being on a natural high when I finally got home in the early hours of the morning, but that was purely as a result of a fine performance that had seen us deservedly beat Chelsea 2-1 in the 4th round of the League Cup. I mention those details because they seem to have been overlooked in most reports of the game, which concentrated on a minor outbreak of crowd trouble towards the end. I was rather gobsmacked to wake up this morning to read that somehow I had managed to survive something akin to a cross between the 2011 riots and the Glencoe massacre.
The reporting by the mainstream media both in the run up to the match and after the event has been sensationalist in the extreme. Now I know we've come to expect this sort of thing from the sort of newspaper read by people who point to the words and move their lips as they read, but that doesn't make it right. And, in my naivety I sort of expect a bit better from the good people of the BBC.
In the run up much was made of the fact that there were four (yes FOUR!) arrests at the Middlesbrough match. Indeed the BBC website's report on last night's match repeated this statistic, the implication being that there is an underlying trend of violence at the London Stadium. However, what they ignored in quoting that bald statistic was the reason behind those arrests.
According to the recent supporters' feedback forum one arrest was for ticket touting and another was for possession of cannabis. Which left one West Ham supporter and one Boro' fan taken away for anything vaguely disorder-related. So an already rather small arrest figure is halved when you bring context and relevance into the equation. Which, unfortunately, the BBC has continually failed to do.
Trouble at a recent game involving rugby league's Hull and Salford - which included rivals fans fighting on the pitch - attracted minimal national coverage
It wouldn't be quite so bad if the same standards of "reporting" were applied across the board. Take Liverpool, for example. Now there is a club which managed to incur three UEFA fines in as many months as a result of the actions of their supporters earlier on this year. Yet a Daily Mail report on their Europa League tie against Manchester United last season referred to police making "just" seven arrests during one of the matches.
Another video of their supporters "welcoming" the Seville team bus with a hail of bottles and flares appeared on one (admittedly local) newspaper's website captioned "Liverpool supporters create an intimidating atmosphere for their visitors". Older readers with memories of the TV comedy "Yes Prime Minister" may remember Bernard Woolley's fondness for "irregular verbs": "I am creating an intimidating atmosphere, you are throwing bottles, they are causing a riot" would seem to cover things here. At the time of writing I understand that there were seven arrests made last night. I'm willing to bet that you won't find anywhere that will say "just" seven arrests for this one!
The problem we seem to have is that, when it comes to reporting matters relating to West Ham, the media seem to lose all sense of perspective. I have written elsewhere of the events at Manchester Piccadilly station earlier this year where the actions of Network Rail, Virgin Trains and the various police forces present created dangerous overcrowding on the station concourse.
Somehow the red top newspapers somehow managed to portray this as "crowd trouble" (the honourable exception being the Manchester Evening News which pretty much reported what happened). The only place I've seen the official report into that debacle mentioned since then is, well, here. Presumably "football supporters remain remarkably calm under the circumstances despite dangerous crowd control errors" doesn't make a particularly good story.
Now nobody - least of all me – is condoning what did happen last night. But to dress it up as if it were the opening overs of World War III, rather than a minor confrontation that was over in a few minutes is just a little bit dishonest in my opinion.
Still, there was one small nugget of common sense in the BBC's reporting of the evening's events. Presumably as part of his radio commentary, David Pleat commented: "In my opinion we have over-egged this a bit. There was a hint of confrontation, arm-waving gestures and some hint of the usual rubbish. You didn't see any real fighting as such and it was quickly dispersed."
So there you have it. I now find myself in agreement with David Pleat.
Now THAT's what I call traumatic!
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Brady: we don't need these people
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 27th October 2016
By: Staff Writer
Karren Brady has broken her silence over last night's crowd issues at the end of West Ham's 2-1 win over Chelsea.
West Ham United's current vice-chair was the target of criticism throughout the day as her earlier promise that fans would "continue to see positive changes taking place at London Stadium at every home game" proved to be of little substance, as seven were arrested following clashes between rival fans.
Tonight (Thursday), Brady reacted to the criticism by threatening to expel up to 200 fans from the Olympic Stadium as a result of last night's disturbance. "Fantastic result last night. The team were exceptional and atmosphere electric," she wrote via Twitter. "Shame that a few marred the occasion.
"WHUFC and London Stadium have today been identifying all of them and we will be issuing banning orders. Football doesn't want these people & with over 55,000 supporters on our season ticket waiting list we certainly don't need them at WHUFC."
Meanwhile a statement released on behalf of both West Ham and (the also heavily-criticised) stadium operators, London Stadium 185 backed up Brady's comments by confirming that action to identify potential troublemakers had already begun.
"Rapid progression has been made in the investigation with extensive CCTV footage being shared with West Ham United, London Stadium partners, the Metropolitan Police and Chelsea Football Club," it read.
"Banning notifications will be issued for offences ranging from the use of abusive and offensive language to missile throwing in line with our zero tolerance policy. All those involved will receive a seasonal or lifetime ban depending on the severity of the offence."
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