Daily WHUFC News - 28th September 2016

Browne - Team are happy with the start
WHUFC.com

The Hammers drew 0-0 with Brighton and Hove Albion on Monday
The Hammers created a host of chances and had the lion's share of possession
Midfielder Marcus Browne felt his team could have done slightly better but still deserved to win.

Marcus Browne believes everyone involved with West Ham United PL2 is happy with the start they've made to the season, but admits the draw with Brighton and Hove Albion is a case of points dropped rather than a point gained.

The Hammers' No10 was among the scorers in their 2-0 away victory over Norwich City last week and felt his team could have been slightly better against the Seagulls.

A win for Terry Westley's men could have put them top of Premier League 2 Division 2 but Browne was still happy with the way his team performed on the night.

"It's definitely two points dropped tonight. The boys showed a different level of performance to the Norwich match and we dominated the majority of the game," said Browne.

"We played good football and we had a style to the way we played. We were just unfortunate not to get a goal. We were just lacking in the final third at times. If we continue to work at that, we'll get better.

"I think Brighton banked up, stayed firm and tried not to let us through. They didn't really go for the win and they were content with taking a point."

Although the Hammers found it difficult to break their opponents down, they did create a host of chances to take the three points.

Toni Martinez went close just after half-time after a delicate pull-back from Moses Makasi before Grady Diangana struck the foot of the post with a dipping free-kick.

Makasi forced a terrific save from Brighton keeper Robert Lynch-Sanchez ten minutes later and after continuous probing by the Hammers in the final 20 minutes, they left the Chigwell Construction Stadium with a point.

"When teams park the bus against you, I think we have to be a little more direct but not adapt our game too much," Browne continued. "We needed to get the ball from back to front quickly tonight and try and move them out of shape. But the things we work on in training and our style should not go out the window.

"The changing room is happy; we're content with the way we've started this year. We dropped a few points where we could have easily won them so these are all learning curves and we will get better. "

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Westley pleased despite goalless draw
WHUFC.com

West Ham United PL2 were held to a goalless draw at home to Brighton and Hove Albion on Monday evening
The Hammers created a number of opportunities and dominated possession
Manager Terry Westley was pleased that his side played with style

Terry Westley praised his players for playing with an identity, despite being held to a goalless draw at home to Brighton and Hove Albion.

The Hammers were looking to keep up the pressure on league leaders Swansea City with a victory but found it difficult to break their opponents down.

However, boss Westley was keen to focus on the style of play his players have developed over recent months and said his team were unlucky not to take the win.

"I thought we were good tonight. We were just lacking a goal but we kept a clean sheet and played with style which pleases me," said Westley.

"I often say to the coaches, if you can play with a style, a panache, an identity, you're half way there. We had that tonight, we dominated the ball and moved it about ever so well.

"We didn't create enough first half, we played too much in front of Brighton but second half we went for the game a bit more. Both full-backs were getting crosses in and creating some good opportunities and on a different night we could have come out good winners."

Westley made two changes from the side which ousted Norwich City a week ago – Domingos Quina returned in the midfield and Djair Parfitt-Williams made his first league appearance of the season having missed the opening stages of the campaign through injury.

The opening 45 minutes was a cagey affair with the Hammers looking to force the initiative. For all of their neat possession and build-up play, they struggled to fashion any meaningful chances, other than a Declan Rice strike which was cleared off the line.

Westley's men emerged after the break looking a lot more threatening and could have taken the lead on a number of occasions.

Ten minutes after the interval, Moses Makasi found some room on the edge of the box and squared it to top scorer Toni Martinez, whose powerful strike was somehow pushed away by Brighton keeper Robert Lynch-Sanchez.

Shortly after, Domingos Quina fired a dipping free-kick onto the foot of the post before Martinez returned the favour to Makasi with a delightful flick; the midfielder forced another outstanding stop from Lynch-Sanchez.

Substitutes Dan Kemp and Jaanai Gordon combined with ten minutes to play but the former could not divert his effort on goal.

The Hammers continued to probe but they came up against a resilient Brighton backline in the second half and had to settle for a point.

"Norwich did similar to what Brighton did tonight. They came and matched us up man-to-man and that's another complement to our players," Westley added.

"It's credit to our boys that teams are now playing us and changing their own gameplan to stop us.

"Browne and Quina were excellent tonight and also Dan Kemp who came on and looked threatening out wide. There were lots of positives out there tonight."

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A period of extreme transition
KUMB.com
Filed: Tuesday, 27th September 2016
By: Sir Trevor the Brewking

Blaming the stadium is futile. We sometimes lost at Upton Park if I remember rightly. These are professional players and they should be able to put in a better performance than that even if they were on Wanstead Flats. The stadium is an outward symbol of how our club is changing beyond recognition before our eyes. Not only will it take time for the entire club to adapt to the new surroundings, it'll also take time to adapt to what it's becoming as a club. We have every chance of becoming this year's Newcastle. Or Leeds. Or Aston Villa. Or Blackburn. What did those clubs have in common and what did we all say about those clubs? That they were rotten from the top and what is on the pitch reflects what's going on in the boardroom etc. I don't think we're "rotten" in the same way that Newcastle or Leeds were, but I think the move has created a massive disconnect between the people that run the club, the people that support the club and the people who work for the club. And I think this is being reflected on the pitch. I think Slaven Bilic is a brilliant manager, but maybe the task of single-handedly trying to unite the club - inwardly and outwardly - is a lot tougher than anyone could have imagined. I watched the Southampton game thinking this: is the West Ham that Mark Noble led out yesterday the same one that he led out last year? Did he play for West Ham as a 12-year-old dreaming of leading out his club anywhere else but the Boleyn? Has a little bit of him died leaving there?

No matter how many times he's been told that the move is a good one, maybe, just maybe, a part of him isn't quite sure. Maybe, just maybe, he subconsciously (even consciously) finds it difficult to put in the extreme effort that he's put in over the past x seasons for a club that's moving so far away from the one he joined. As an aside, after the game he said that he'd been there before with this club. He couldn't be more wrong. This is now a different West Ham. The pressure is now a hundred fold. The pressure NOT to be taking that stadium into the Championship will become stifling. We could fill Upton Park in the championship, we were the Cup final for many teams in the Championship, with that stadium we will be an embarrassment. Tickets will have to be literally given away to create any kind of atmosphere. This is a whole new level of pressure; Noble, none of us, have been there before. And if that is the case, I can't blame him one jot because right now that's exactly how I feel. And if it's true for him, the club captain, maybe it's true for some of the other players.

Maybe Dimitri Payet felt at home at Upton Park, loved what it stood for, and maybe that played a part in him going from Marseille cast-off to player of the Euros in a single season. Maybe it's part of the reason why Tomkins wanted to go. I could be wrong, but I watched yesterday with the increasing sense that the problem is systemic - it's not about formations, or personnel, or poor signings, or confidence, it's just manifesting itself in all these things.

We are in a period of extreme transition, possibly unprecedented in top flight English football. Until a new West Ham has been constructed in the image of the new surroundings, new aspirations, new culture etc, we will struggle. As a team, as a club, as a set of supporters. What we've tried to do so far is shoe-horn the old West Ham into a new stadium and everything else that comes in it. It's not working and I hate it.

It'll take a complete overhaul of our club before we can truly enjoy the supposed benefits of the move and all that's come with it. I'm not for sacking Bilic but he will go and we'll end up with a manager more attuned to the nouveau aspirations of the owners. I'm not for wholesale clearouts but maybe until we have a whole squad of players who have no history or attachment to the Boleyn and no experience of what it was like to have that stadium behind them, we'll never truly move on. And maybe until we have a crowd dominated by new fans, we'll still have this air of discontent. And once we've done that - got a new manager, a group of players with no attachment to the West Ham tradition, in a stadium that's not only not Upton Park, but isn't even football stadium - I'm not sure what's left. The two Daves and Karren haven't saved our club. They've partially killed it. And unlike previous owners, what they've done is irreversible and I, for one, will never forgive them for that.

Please note that the opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, nor should be attributed to, KUMB.com.

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Allardyce faces fresh allegations
KUMB.com
Filed: Tuesday, 27th September 2016
By: Staff Writer

Former Hammers boss Sam Allardyce is fighting for his job as England manager after being caught in a Fleet St sting. The Daily Telegraph have today published an article revealing how Allardyce was filmed during a set-up meeting advising how to circumnavigate Football Association rules pertaining to third party ownership. And that could lead to Allardyce - who managed West Ham from 2011 to 2015 - losing his job as national coach less than TWO months after he accepted the offer from the FA to succeed Roy Hodgson. The 61-year-old was also filmed explaining that West Ham's Enner Valencia - currently on loan at Everton - was under a "third party ownership agreement" when moving from Mexico to England two years ago.

The Ecuador international cost West Ham United some £12million in the summer of 2014 but scored just 15 goals in more than 70 appearances for the Irons before bring shipped out on loan on transfer deadline day last month. Allardyce attended the meeting with his controversial agent Mark Curtis who took several West Ham players under his wing, including the recently-departed James Tomkins, during Big Sam's tenure at Upton Park. And Allardyce - who was investigated by Panorama along with his former agent son Mark several years ago with regards to illegal payments - revealed how managers could get around the rules and regulations. "What they would be better doing is making sure the've got the ownership and the agent - so they own the agent who works for them as week," he told the undercover reporters. "If they get sold on again the agent will get more money and you get a percentage of the payer's agent's fee. "If you've done a deal with the agent where you get five per cent of the agent's fee - which is massive for doing about two hours' work."

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Sam Allardyce will be "disappointed in himself" says England manager's ex-boss Karren Brady
14:39, 27 SEP 2016 UPDATED 17:06, 27 SEP 2016
BY DARREN LEWIS
Allardyce worked under Brady during his time in charge of West Ham and "spent his whole life trying to get Three Lions job"
The Mirror

Sam Allardyce's former boss Karren Brady says he will be "disappointed in himself" over his involvement in the allegations that could cost him the England job. Brady, West Ham 's vice-chairman, has previously revealed the extent to which Big Sam has coveted the post he has wanted all his life. She worked with Allardyce during his time at Upton Park which ran from 2011 to 2015. "This is a man who spent his whole life trying to get that job and got it in his 60s." Brady told R1 newsbeat. "What a great shame if he loses that job through non-footballing reasons. And I think he'll be disappointed in himself." The former Sunderland boss is set to be sacked following remarks about the FA's rules on third party ownership - just two months after landing the England job. Allardyce held showdown talks with FA chairman Greg Clarke and chief executive Martin Glenn at Wembley Stadium on Tuesday afternoon. Allardyce agreed a £400,000 bogus contract to do after dinner speaking but his remarks made to two undercover reporters posing as businessmen are far worse. He mocked former England boss Roy Hodgson's speech impediment and questioned Gary Neville's role.

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West Ham send Zaza back?
By Football Italia staff

There are reports Simone Zaza could be returned to Juventus, as West Ham United want to avoid paying the full €23m. The deal was done this summer after lengthy negotiations and the Hammers proudly declared they had agreed a loan for €5m with option to buy for €20m plus another €3m in bonuses. That option will become mandatory after a certain number of appearances, believed to be 15 in all competition, but the exact sum was never announced. According to Calciomercato.com, Zaza has been so disappointing to fans that West Ham are considering an early exit strategy. They still need to pay the €5m for the loan, but are eager to cut him off before reaching the limit of appearances so his full purchase will no longer be obligatory. Slaven Bilic remains determined that he can get the best out of Zaza and wants to keep pushing the Italy international.

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SIMONE ZAZA LINKED WITH JANUARY EXIT TO AC MILAN
STE HOARE
ReadWestHa.com

He's only made four appearances for the club, without scoring, but West Ham striker Simone Zaza is already being linked with a move back to Italy. According to Calciomercato, AC Milan are monitoring the striker's situation and are contemplating making a move to take him in January. The player is still technically on loan from Juventus, although West Ham do have an obligation to sign him next summer if he makes a certain number of appearances this term, but if the striker struggles in London, it's feasible that an agreement could be made to send him to Milan. West Ham have had a terrible start to the season, getting knocked out of the Europa League in the qualifying stage and losing five of their six Premier League games so far. Zaza is yet to get off the mark for the Hammers and there are already some rumblings from the fans about him, although it is very early days at this stage. Time will tell what will happen with the 25-year-old, but West Ham will hope his immediate future involves him scoring plenty of goals to get their season back on track.

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Everton FC forward Enner Valencia linked to Sam Allardyce scandal
16:18, 27 SEP 2016 UPDATED 16:18, 27 SEP 2016
BY GREG O'KEEFFE
Ecuador forward was "under third party ownership" when he joined West Ham in 2014
Daily Post

It's the story that so many people are talking about but the Telegraph's sting on Sam Allardyce reveals some interesting background on one of Everton 's summer signings. Enner Valencia was a late deadline day loan siging from Allardyce's former club West Ham . The England manager, whose position is now under review, signed the Ecuadorian while in charge at Upton Park in 2014 report the Liverpool Echo . Allardcye was secretly filmed at a meeting advising Telegraph journalists who were posing as Middle East business men interested in investing in the Premier League. During the sting the group discuss the complex issue of third-party ownership of players which, although common in South American and Portugal, is banned in the Premier League . Allardcye reportedly told the reporters it is 'not a problem' to become involved in third party ownership.
Using Valencia's transfer as an example, he explained that the striker was under a third party ownership agreement when he joined the Hammers from Mexican side Pachuca for £12million in 2014. Valencia's third party agreement ended when West Ham acquired him, signing him 'whole' according to Allardyce. In this instance, though, it seems West Ham went the correct way about the deal; meaning the third-party ownership element was ended once he signed for them.
He was not fully owned by Pachuca but that was not the case with West Ham. The thorny issue facing Allardyce and the FA are accusations that he seemed to advocate for a practice that is banned by the FA and Premier League.

What is third party ownership?
According to the BBC Sport website: 'Third-party ownership of players is whereby private investors, it can be an individual, company, or fund, own part of a player's economic rights. 'It first came to attention in the UK in 2006 with the transfer of two Argentines, Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano from Brazil to West Ham United. 'The economic rights of the two players were part-owned by a London fund, in a set up that was widespread in some European countries and South America at the time. 'Then, such a set-up was not illegal in England, but there were important caveats that the investor could not attempt to influence club playing and selection decisions, or transfers, or indeed any other major club policy.' It also adds: 'Four clubs; Santos of Brazil, Seville of Spain, club K St Truidense VV of Belgium, and FC Twente from the Netherlands, were all fined by Fifa earlier this year for breaching third-party ownership rules.

'Agents still finding ways around ban'
'However, some player agents are believed to have found ways around the regulations. 'These include buying shares in a club, and then taking a cut of any transfer fee that is subsequently received by the club for their player. 'Another loophole is to ostensibly give a loan to a club and then not only be repaid that sum, but also to receive a type of interest payment, but again the sum is culled from any transfer fee achieved by the club selling on the player.

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