Daily WHUFC News - 1st November 2016

Manager on Monday
WHUFC.com

As his side prepare to face Stoke City this weekend, their last game before
the November international break, Slaven Bilic said his side can take
encouragement from the number of chances his side created away at Everton.
Despite the defeat, the manager highlighted the number of openings his men
created, particularly in the opening stages of Sunday's encounter.
Bilic said: "We played some good football at times, we created some chances,
so I am happy about that. I felt that they were vulnerable at the back,
particularly at the beginning of the game and we created problems. "I
thought we coped with their strong attack well in the first half. But we
can't blame anyone else for this defeat, we can't blame unluckiness, it was
down to us. It was a 50-50 game, we just couldn't take it."
While the breakthrough proved elusive, the travelling Hammers carved out 13
chances in total – which left the manager with reason to believe his side
deserved more than a 2-0 defeat.
He continued: "There's a bitter taste because we know we should have taken
something from this game. I had that feeling at half-time, and it continued
as the game went on. "Once they scored, we knew it would always be tough to
come back against them as they are a very difficult side to play against."

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Stat's a Fact - Adrian at his best
WHUFC.com

On a disappointing afternoon at Goodison Park Adrian was, not for the first
time West Ham United's standout performer against Everton. The man whose
unforgettable penalty scored a shootout win over the Toffees in January 2014
was again to the fore. Without the Spaniard's heroics, West Ham's goal would
unquestionably have been breached on more than two occasions.
Adrian was heavily involved on Merseyside, touching the ball 49 times –
three more occasions than midfielder Manuel Lanzini and ten more times than
right wing-back Edimilson Fernandes.
Of those touches, four were saves.

The first was undoubtedly the best. It came on 26 minutes when Ross Barkley
collected a Bryan Oviedo cut-back before lashing a shot goalwards, only for
Adrian to thrust his right hand into the air and push the ball to safety.
The stop illustrated Adrian's goalkeeping skills perfectly, with the
Spaniard showing good positioning, fine agility and the strong wrist
required to keep fiercely-struck footballs out of his net. The No13 was back
in action eight minutes before half-time, tipping over a cross-shot from
Kevin Mirallas that may have been sneaking under his crossbar. Into the
second half and Adrian was hugely unfortunate to concede five minutes after
the break. Seamus Coleman collected Winston Reid's clearance 30 yards from
goal, cut onto his left foot and fired an accurate low shot towards the
bottom right-hand corner. Adrian dived low and pushed the ball aside, only
for Yannick Bolasie to react quickly, get the better of a challenge with
Reid, and the ball to loop over the goalkeeper for Romelu Lukaku to head in.
The 29-year-old could do nothing about Everton's second goal. The lively
Lukaku raced in behind a tiring West Ham defence, collected the ball and
clipped a cross to the unmarked Barkley, who swept home from ten yards into
the bottom corner. There was still time for Adrian to impress on a fourth
occasion, as he parried Lukaku's volley after another superb piece of play
from the Belgian. In between, Adrian showed superb handling, catching four
Everton corners high above his head with the minimum of fuss and coming out
to smother when Lukaku was threatening early on, while his distribution was
more than satisfactory throughout. In an ideal world, the goalkeeper would
have nothing to do, but having been called upon, the former Betis man was
not found wanting.

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Antonio - We have to pick ourselves up
WHUFC.com

Michail Antonio is convinced his team-mates can bounce straight back from
the disappointing 2-0 defeat against Everton and get straight back on the
winning trail against Stoke next weekend. The Hammers four match unbeaten
run came to an end at Goodison Park after goals from Romelu Lukaku and Ross
Barkley secured all three points for the Merseyside Club. Antonio felt the
luck was against his side and it could have been a different story if they
had made their early dominance count. But despite the defeat, the West Ham
forward sees no reason why they cannot re-produce the form which saw them
record back-to-back wins over Crystal Palace, Sunderland and Chelsea and
move back up the table. Antonio said: "We have to pick ourselves up because
we were unbeaten in four games and we know we can do it again. "We want
another win next weekend against Stoke at London Stadium. "At the beginning
of the game I thought we dominated the game in the opening 25 minutes. "We
were getting good balls into the box but didn't manage to convert them.
"After that the game went 50/50 and I thought their first goal was a bit
lucky. It took a ricochet and then bounced back to Lukaku who put the ball
into an empty net. "We need to try and find a way of stopping Lukaku. We
just have to pay more attention towards him and stop him scoring in the next
game. "These things happen in football. We have got to pick ourselves and go
again. "We could sense it was not going to be our day. Things were not
coming off for us but we still put in a good performance and kept fighting
until the end."

Antonio was unlucky not to get his name on the scoresheet in the second half
when he burst clear of Ashley Williams and only had Joel Robles to beat in
the Everton goal, but the Spanish keeper made a fine save. The 26-year-old
is enjoying his new role down the middle and says he will continue to work
hard and hopefully get back among the goals again in the near future.
Antonio added: "I had a great chance and was looking up to see if anyone
else was around but I couldn't see anyone and tried to curl the ball around
the keeper but he got his foot down and managed to save it. "On another day
I would have scored with that opportunity but it didn't happen for me
today."

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Loan round up
WHUFC.com

Reece Burke and Kyle Knoyle helped Wigan record a first Championship away
win of the season
Stephen Hendrie was in action for Blackburn in the Championship in their 1-1
draw
Josh Cullen helped Bradford City record a seventh win of the season in
League One

With the help of Hammers loanees Reece Burke and Kyle Knoyle, Wigan Athletic
picked up a crucial first away win of the season on Saturday, beating
Cardiff City by a single goal in Wales.
Burke played the full 90 minutes for the Latics, while Knoyle – making his
first appearance for the side having recovered from an injury which ruled
the him out of action during the summer – was introduced for the final
minute in the Welsh capital. And it was a late strike which won the tie for
manager-less Wigan in the Championship, as Jordi Gomez struck following
David Perkins' assist with just four minutes of normal time remaining. The
Tics remain in the relegation zone, but are now just one point behind
Saturday's opponents who are hovering nervously above the bottom three.

Elsewhere in the Championship, Stephen Hendrie played his first Blackburn
Rovers game since August as he featured during the final 18 minutes of the
side's 1-1 draw against Wolverhampton Wanderers. Sam Gallagher struck early
in the first half at Ewood Park, and Blackburn looked as if they had done
enough for all three points until David Edwards nodded Wolves level with 12
minutes left on the clock. Martin Samuelsen – also on loan with Owen Coyle's
outfit – was an unused substitute.

Down a division in League One, Josh Cullen – a key player for Bradford City
throughout the current campaign – played in his side's 3-2 away win over AFC
Wimbledon. The Bantams, who remain hot on the heels of automatic
promotion-chasing Scunthorpe United and Bolton Wanderers, took the lead
after three minutes thanks to Jordy Hiwula's fifth of the season. The Dons
pulled themselves level on 18 minutes through Tom Elliot, and with 22
minutes remaining, gave themselves the lead from the penalty spot when Lyle
Taylor converted from 12 yards.
Stuart McCall's men – now without Cullen, who left the field on 70 minutes –
were determined, however, not to lose only their second league game of the
season, and James Hanson – also from the spot – made it 2-2. And two minutes
into injury time, Hanson became the late hero for City, meeting Stephen
Darby's cross to give the visitors all three points in south west London.

Two more Hammers loanees went head-to-head in League One, as Walsall and
Coventry City battled it out, prompting the meeting of George Dobson and
Lewis Page. Midfielder Dobson was left on the Saddlers' bench however, while
Page played the full 90 minutes in the 1-1 draw at the Bescot Stadium. Andy
Rose gave Coventry the lead eight minutes before the break before Erhun
Oztumer, with 14 minutes left, levelled from just inside the box.

Finally in the third tier, Josh Pask played nine minutes as a substitute for
Gillingham, though they were beaten 2-1 at Fleetwood Town. David Ball and
Ash Hunter scored for the hosts either side of Jake Hessenthaler's 52nd
minute strike.

Lastly, Doneil Henry played seven minutes for Danish side AC Horsens on loan
in their Superliga defeat to Sønderjyske.

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Ladies lose out to leaders
WHUFC.com

Ladies beaten 5-0 by league leaders Coventry United on Sunday afternoon
Hammers recover from difficult first half to blank visitors after half-time
Captain Amy Cooper says team will take belief from their second-half
performance

A spirited West Ham United Ladies were beaten by Coventry United in the FA
Women's Premier League Southern Division. The Hammers fell 5-0 down by
half-time at Thurrock FC's Ship Lane on Sunday afternoon, but dug in to
prevent their high-flying opponents from adding to their tally after the
break. Captain Amy Cooper was pleased with the way the home side recovered
from the shock of conceding early goals, and said the second-half
performance gave the squad cause for optimism. "We worked hard in the first
half but we let them break us down with sloppy mistakes," said Cooper. "In
the second half we were more organised but couldn't put our chances away. We
showed improvement which was encouraging, and so onto next week's cup game."

The visitors shrugged off the effects of a delayed journey from the Midlands
– which caused the kick-off to be delayed by half-an-hour – to go ahead
within the opening eight minutes through Alison Hall's improvised finish.
Having gone ahead, and playing with a confidence and intensity that the
hosts initially found it difficult to match, and it took a brave Hannah
Wheeler block to prevent Coventry doubling their lead on 18 minutes.
However, from the resulting corner, Coventry captain Natasha Lynch reacted
quickest inside the penalty area to poke the ball past goalkeeper Aditi
Chauhan and into the bottom corner. Moments later, Hall scored her second of
the game to make it 3-0, rising above the West Ham defence to head home
powerfully from another corner. Then, just past the half-hour mark, Hall
completed her hat-trick, beating Chauhan with a low, hard shot. Despite
falling behind, West Ham did not give up, with Katie Bottom leading the
charge with a number of determined challenges on the right flank.
Unfortunately, a firm but fair challenge also resulted in lively Hammers
forward Shannon Albuery being forced off with a knee injury, to be replaced
by substitute Kat Clifton. To add insult to injury, Hall scored her fourth
goal, and Coventry's fifth, with a long-range strike a few minutes before
half-time. There was still time for Whitney Locke to miss West Ham's best
chance of the game before the break, with the forward flashing a shot across
the face of the Coventry goal. After the break, the Hammers seemed to find
their rhythm and began to stroke the ball around, with Dayne Chong, Chloe
Burr and Locke catching the eye, in particular. Amy Cooper and Kat Clifton
managed to gain control of midfield and the defensive pairing of Wheeler and
Auguste quietened the hitherto rampant Coventry forward line. Olivia Sammons
replaced Sasha Kelly on the hour, allowing Bottom to take up a central
midfield role, from where she could be more effective. West Ham finished the
stronger of the two sides but there were to be no further goals, meaning
Coventry remain unbeaten and top of the table, while Greg de Carnys' Hammers
sit tenth. The Hammers take a break from league action this coming weekend,
when they welcome Keynsham Town Ladies to Ship Lane for an FAWPL Plate
third-round tie. Kick-off on Sunday is at 2pm, with free admission for
Under-16s and tickets priced at £5 for Adults.

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Travelling fans earn praise
WHUFC.com

West Ham United supporters impressed their hosts at Everton on Sunday
3,000 travelling fans paid tribute to the fallen in poignant Remembrance
ceremony
Hammers also stood and applauded late Evertonians Howard Kendall and Rhys
Jones

West Ham United's travelling supporters have been praised for the respect
they showed to Everton Football Club at Goodison Park on Sunday. The
3,000-strong Claret and Blue Army's conduct was recognised by Evertonian
Lenny Jameson, who wrote to fan website Knees Up Mother Brown to thank them.
The Hammers' away support is always outstanding, but those who made the trip
to Liverpool truly surpassed themselves by the way they embraced the hosts'
Remembrance commemorations. As one would expect, the West Ham support fell
silent during a wreath-laying ceremony, a moment of silence and the playing
of the Last Post before kick-off. Then, on four minutes, the visiting fans
joined their Everton counterparts by applauding in memory of late Toffees
player and manager Howard Kendall, who passed away in October 2015. Kendall,
who won the league title with Everton as both a player and manager, became
the youngest-ever FA Cup finalist when he turned out for Preston North End
against the Hammers in 1964. Finally, at half-time, the West Ham fans
gathered in the Bullens Stand stood and applauded in tribute to the late
Rhys Jones, the eleven-year-old Everton fan who was tragically shot on his
way home from football training in 2007.

A drama series being made in Jones' memory entitled Little Boy Blue was
being filmed in and around Goodison Park on Sunday, and the half-time
filming saw actors re-enact the afternoon Everton paid tribute to the young
Rhys nearly a decade ago. "As an Evertonian," wrote Jameson to KUMB.com, "I
was at the game today, seated with my disabled friend behind the goal right
next to the West Ham supporters. The support for their team was first-class
throughout the whole game. "My main point however is their reaction to the
minute's silence and two different minute's applause that were held today.
"The Remembrance Day silence was, as it should be, impeccably observed. And
the response from the West Ham fans to the minutes' applause for Howard
Kendall and Rhys Jones was absolutely fantastic. "The wholehearted way in
which they all joined in was a wonderful sight to see. I hope you can pass
this message on from us Evertonians and thank them all from the bottom of
our hearts. "They were an absolute credit to their club and to football."

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Ayew - When the gaffer needs me I will be ready
WHUFC.com

Andre Ayew is convinced the defeat at Everton is only a minor blip and says
the players should not forget the impressive form in recent weeks which has
helped turned the Club's season around. The Hammers saw their four match
unbeaten run come to an end at Goodison Park after goals from Romelu Lukaku
and Ross Barkley helped the Merseyside Club secure a 2-0 victory.
Slaven Bilic's side had plenty of chances to get something from the game but
failed to make their early pressure count. Ayew, who appeared as a second
half substitute and also came close to getting on the scoresheet, is
convinced the team should still remain positive despite the setback on
Sunday and hopes to see a much better outcome against Stoke on Saturday.
Ayew said: "We cannot forget the work we have put into the last three games
because of one defeat and Everton are a good team. "We need to learn from
our mistakes and get back to winning ways against Stoke. "We know it will be
another tough games but we are in front of our fans and we can beat them at
home if we do what we have to do."

Ayew is now hoping to get another full week of training under his belt and
put himself in contention for the game at London Stadium on Saturday. The
26-year-old is pleased to be part of the squad once again and says he will
be ready when the manager feels the time is right to name him in the
starting line-up. Ayew added: "The injury feels good and I am working hard.
Things are going well and hopefully I can continue like this. "It is up to
the manager when I am ready to start a game but the most important thing is
that we continue to work hard and try and win games. When the gaffer needs
me I will be ready.
Ayew feels his team-mates were unlucky not to get on the scoresheet at
Goodison Park and hopes they will have more luck in front of goal when they
face Stoke.
"I thought the team played very well in the first half and if we could have
scored it would have been a completely different game. We have just had
three games when the players gave everything. "We knew the first 20 minutes
in the second half would be very difficult because they would press and try
and score an early goal which they managed to do. "We also had our chances
and didn't put them in. We need to keep working hard and soon it will come.
We are doing well and are playing some great football. We need to try and
score some more goals and not concede. "The manager told me when he brought
me on just to play my game and try and get on the scoresheet. It is part of
my game to get into goalscoring situations and soon I will get a good chance
and put the ball in the net."

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FT - West Ham United PL2 2-1 West Bromwich Albion
WHUFC.com

FT: The Hammers faced a late scare there but managed to see out the victory
in the end. An own goal and Ashley Fletcher made for a comfortbale first
half.... O'Shea rifled in a volley for West Brom with minutes to play but
Terry Westley's men hold out for the three points. Final score: West Ham
United PL2 2-1 West Bromwich Albion. Thanks for tuning in this evening and
we'll be back on Friday for the Premier League Cup tie with Nottingham
Forest.

90+3: Goal for WBA. O'Shea rifles in from the edge of the area. 2-1

90+1: The Hammers U18 hero Jahmal Hector-Ingram comes on to replace Calleri
for the final few minutes. 2-0

90: More good defending as Kemp snuffs out an attack. Fourth official adds
four minutes. 2-0

88: The Hammers look like they're going to see this one out. West Brom have
hardly threatened apart from that one header from Barbir. 2-0

86: Quina again breaks through the Baggies defence but he cannot release a
pass in time to Calleri. 2-0

85: Second sub for the Hammers - Browne is off and on come Dan Kemp. Great
performance once again by Browne. 2-0

83: Change for West Brom. Barbir is on. And he's straight into the action,
forcing a brilliant save from Howes. 2-0

80: More brilliant play by Quina who links up with Fletcher once again. His
cross is just behind the Hammers striker. 2-0

76: Slight pause in play as Quina is down. The youngster is up and ready to
enter the fray again. 2-0

72: Sylvestre slots straight in at LB. Good shift by Westley and he
continues his comeback from injury. Still 2-0 with 20 minutes to play.

69: Free-kick by West Brom whipped straight at Howes by Leko. Yet to see
Howes properly tested this evening. Sub for the Hammers - Sylvestre replaces
Westley. 2-0

66: Almost three! Calleri blocks the keeper's clearance and there's Browne
looking to add to his tally of three this season. However, Rose in the
Albion goal produces a terrific stop. Albion sub - Elbouzedi on for Smith up
front. 2-0

62: West Brom look like they're about to make a change. The Hammers are
defending well and have a outlet in the front three of Calleri, Browne and
Fletcher. 2-0

60: Samuelsen is the third WHU player to enter the referee's book for a late
challenge on the near touchline. No threat so far in this second half by the
Baggies. The Hammers looking comfortable. 2-0

57: Hammers looking to hit WBA on the counter in this second half. Browne
tries to find Calleri but his pass is blocked - the Hammers look a threat as
they aim to add to their lead. 2-0

52: Good chance to make it three. Calleri is played in by Makasi but can
only shoot straight at Rose in the Baggies goal. 2-0

48: Couple of corners to WBA dealt with brilliantly by Neufville, first, and
then Rice. Defensively, the Hammers have been solid as a rock so far. 2-0

46: We're back underway at the CCS. No changes by either side. The Hammers
two goals to the good remember.

HT: The Hammers lead at the break thanks to that own goal by Jack Fitzwater
and Ashley Fletcher's header. It's 2 and it could have easily been more in
that first half. Terry Westley will be pleased with what he has seen so far.
2-0 at the break.

45: 2 minutes added by the fourth official.

43: Not long until half-time here. The Hammers still lead 2-0 thanks to that
own goal and Fletcher's header and they've been pretty comfortable since.
The Baggies are yet to really threaten in this first half.

41: Chance for West Brom. Scrivens' corner just misses the head of Smith.
2-0

38: More wonderful play by Quina - he glides past three players with
consummate ease and his ball through to Fletcher is just behind the Hammers
No9. So unlucky. 2-0

33: GOALL!! Fletcher makes it 2 after a wonderful cross from Calleri. Since
then, Browne has an effort tipped onto the bar, Rice forces a magnificent
save from Rose and Calleri puts it wide from close range. Crazy few minutes
here. It's 2-0 though. Get in!

29: Great footwork by Fletcher wins a corner. The delivery is put in with
venom by Browne and Rice rises highest but cannot divert his header on goal.
1-0

26: Silky play by Quina sees him beat three Albion players before eventually
being fouled. Sometimes forget that he is just 16 years old. 1-0

24: Sam Westley now gets a talking to from the referee. Didn't look happy
about a certain decision and he has now gone into Mr Brook's book. 1-0

21: Late tackle by Browne on Donnellan which the Baggies defender doesn't
seem best pleased about. Donnellan gives Browne a push and both players are
booked. 1-0

16: Lovely long ball forward by Pike is expertly taken down by Fletcher. The
Baggies defender maages to clear for a corner. Put in by Browne, and
Samuelsen gets to the front post but cannot divert his effort on goal. 1-0

13: Corner whipped in by Leko headed away brilliantly by Neufville. The
Hammers have been happy to let their opponents have the ball since the goal.
They're still in control though. 1-0

10: At the other end, Leko sends a shot well over the bar. 1-0.

7: GOALLL! The Hammers are a goal up already. Ashley Fletcher does
brilliantly to turn in the area and his powerful cross is turned home by
West Brom's Jack Fitzwater. 1-0!

4: Chance for West Brom here. Samuelsen fouls Wilson just on the edge of the
box. Free-kick is whipped in but is too high for the men in the box. 0-0

2: Lots of interchanging on position from the Hammers early on. The midfield
on Quina, Samuelsen, Makasi will be moving around quite a lot this evening.
Browne just in behind Fletcher ad Calleri up top. 0-0

1: We're underway at the CCS. Come on lads!

6.45pm: Both sets of players are finishing up their warm-ups at the Chigwell
Construction Stadium. We're moments away from kick-off here.

6.35pm: The visitors have Jonathan Leko in their ranks this evening - he
played 40 minutes for the Baggies first team in their 4-0 defeat to
Manchester City on Saturday. It's going to be a tough night for the Hammers,
but one they'll be relishing, that's for sure. Kick-off around 25 minutes
away.

6.20pm: The Hammers go into tonight after an impressive victory away at
Middlesbrough last Friday. They're currently fourth in PL2 Division 2, a
place behind the Baggies who are third - that should make for an interesting
match with both sides having ambitions to be the best in this division.
Remember, admission is free for season ticket holders this evening.

6.10pm: So lots to talk about ahead of tonight's match. The most striking
are the returns of Martin Samuelsen and Ashley Fletcher and the inclusion of
Jonathan Calleri. Samuelsen has been on loan at Blackburn Rovers this season
but didn't feature for the Lancashire side this weekend so he plays his
first PL2 game since the win over Newcastle United. Fletcher appeared on the
bench for the first team at the weekend against Everton and makes his third
PL2 start of the year with Jonathan Calleri making his Premier League 2 bow.
Kick-off is at 7pm from Dagenham and Redbridge's Chigwell Construction
Stadium.

West Ham United XI: Howes, Westley (Sylvestre, 69), Pike, Rice (c),
Neufville, Quina, Makasi, Samuelsen, Browne (Kemp, 80), Fletcher, Calleri
(Hector-Ingram, 90).

Subs: Matrevics, Hector-Ingram, Akinola.

Goals: Fitzwater (OG), Fletcher

West Brom: Rose, Wilson, McCourt, Donnellan, Fitzwater, O'Shea, Leko, Field,
Smith (Elbouzedi, 66), Harper, Scrivens.

Subs: Sweeney, Palmer, Pritchatt, Barbir.

Goals: O'Shea.

5.50pm: Good evening and welcome to the Chigwell Construction Stadium for
tonight's Premier League 2 match between West Ham United and West Bromwich
Albion. The Hammers have not played at home since the 0-0 draw with Brighton
and Hove Albion on the 26th September and make a welcome return to their
newly-adopted home ground this evening. It should be a fascinating game
tonight - West Ham are fourth in Division 2 and the Baggies are just a place
above them, with both sides aiming to be at the top of the league come the
end of the season. Team news to follow shortly!

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#WHUAREYA - Tunji Akinola
WHUFC.com

Tunji Akinola has been in fine form this season, skippering the U18s who
have stormed to top of the league in their Premier League U18 South
division.

He has also played a number of times for the PL2 outfit, including their
Checkatrade Trophy clash against Wycombe Wanderers when he came up against
the beast that is Adebayo Akinfenwa.

Akinola - a centre-back by trade - sat down with West Ham TV to go under the
spotlight in the feature #WHUAREYA.

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West Ham: London Stadium should be knocked down, says expert
BBC.co.uk

West Ham's London Stadium should be knocked down and rebuilt to suit
football fans, a stadium expert says. Paul Fletcher, who has built or
advised on more than 30 new grounds, says athletics was wrongly put before
football at the former Olympic Stadium. He says fans are too far from the
pitch at a ground beset by problems since the Hammers moved there this
summer. "Either we go on as we are for the next 30 or 40 years or we knock
it down and start again," Fletcher told the BBC. "Something has to give. If
you want to satisfy spectators the only way to get those spectators near
that pitch is to knock it down and start again," added the former Burnley
striker turned chief executive.
Fletcher, who was behind new stadiums at Bolton, Huddersfield and Coventry,
among others, and was commercial director for Wembley Stadium, said he was
asked about the development of an Olympic stadium in 2000. "I said what you
must do is design a football stadium that converts to an athletics stadium
for two weeks of its lifetime," he said. "When I build my football stadiums,
my number one concern is the spectator "What they've done is tried to
convert an athletics stadium into a football pitch and, in my opinion, it
doesn't work. "The building was almost built when they started to talk to
West Ham."

West Ham won the bid to occupy the Olympic Stadium in March 2013 and played
their first game there in August 2016, after 112 years at Upton Park.
However, their move has been marred by fan violence, leading the club to
issue a five-point security plan to prevent further disorder. Hundreds of
supporters clashed during the Hammers' EFL Cup tie against Chelsea, with
seven arrests made as riot police were deployed inside the stadium.
Vice-chairwoman Karren Brady said the club would ban any fans involved in
the violence, while Mark Field MP said the club should be forced to play
behind closed doors until the issues are solved. "Let's face it, there was
only going to be one end user and it was only going to be West Ham,"
Fletcher added. "Everyone in those days spoke about legacy. The only legacy
was going to be as a football stadium and they should have been talking to
West Ham and ask them what they want."

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West Ham target Alexandre Lacazette set to be offered new Lyon deal
15:37, 31 OCT 2016 UPDATED 21:56, 31 OCT 2016
BY DARREN LEWIS
Lyon President Jean Michel Aulas has confirmed the Ligue 1 outfit will hand
the striker fresh terms in a bid to ward off interest
The Mirror

Lyon are set to frustrate West Ham 's bid to solve their striker crisis in
January by offering Alexandre Lacazette a new deal. The 25-year-old marksman
rejected the Irons during the summer but West Ham are exploring all options
with the club struggling for goals. Lyon are sitting eighth in Ligue 1 but
Lacazette, who had fancied a move to Arsenal, has netted a total of nine
goals in his nine appearances in all competitions this season. Speaking
following Lyon's 2-1 victory over Toulouse on Saturday, Lyon President Jean
Michel Aulas confirmed: "I would like for us to be able to extend
Alexandre's contract."

West Ham are already set to press Diafra Sakho back into action as soon as
they can. Sakho has not played since May and is still at the club after
failing a medical ahead of a potential summer move to West Brom. Last season
he was disgruntled at not getting an improved deal while others at West Ham
did. But his attitude has since softened while West Ham have rebuilt bridges
with him as they focus on moving away from the bottom four.

Simone Zaza, brought in on loan with a view to a £25million deal, has been a
bitter disappointment. It led to Slaven Bilic starting without a striker in
the club's EFL Cup win over Chelsea last week. They did so again in their
2-0 Premier League defeat at Everton on Sunday.

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AC Milan to unsettle £18m West Ham deal with January striker bid - reports
By JAMES CAMBRIDGE
PUBLISHED: 15:20, Mon, Oct 31, 2016 | UPDATED: 15:41, Mon, Oct 31, 2016
Express.co.uk

Zaza is currently on loan from Juve with West Ham but has failed to impress
since moving to the Premier League. The Hammers have an £18million buy-out
clause in place which will be activated if Zaza make a certain number of
appearances. However, the Italy international is yet to score in nine
outings for Slaven Bilic's side. And according to reports in Italy, Milan
are prepared to offer the 25-year-old a swift return to the Serie A. Italian
website CalcioMercatoWeb claim the San Siro club are considering a bid for
Zaza in January due to Paris Saint-Germain's interest in Carlos Bacca. The
report says if Bacca leaves for PSG then Zaza would be Milan's first-choice
replacement. Bacca has been in impressive form this term, scoring six times
in 11 appearances for Vincenzo Montella's side. Zaza is less prolific, but
still managed eight goals in 24 appearances for Juventus last season. The
Italy international is under contract with Juve until June 2017.

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Wasteful West Ham must develop 'cruel streak' or risk another slump, says
Slaven Bilic
IAN WHITTELL
Evening STandard

Slaven Bilic believes his side must grow up fast and develop a "cruel"
streak if they are to avoid more frustrations like the defeat at Goodison
Park yesterday. After West Ham's three-game winning run come to an end,
Bilic highlighted a second-half incident involving Michail Antonio to prove
his point. West Ham had just conceded the opening goal to Romelu Lukaku,
thanks in part to Winston Reid being caught daydreaming and allowing Yannick
Bolasie to find the Belgian after Adrian had saved from Seamus Coleman. It
showed Everton's clinical response to errors but, when home defender Ashley
Williams did likewise minutes later and slipped to allow Antonio to break
into the area, the winger failed to beat Joel Robles. "I was looking up to
see if someone was around but could see there was no one," said Antonio of
his run deep into Everton territory. "I tried to wrap it around him but he
managed to get his foot down and save it. Another day I would have scored
there but it just didn't happen for me."

Antonio's response to his miss was understandable but, for his manager, it
showed why his team lost and why they will find themselves one place above
the relegation zone tonight should Stoke beat Swansea. "We can't blame
anyone," said Bilic. "It's not the ref, or I don't know what, or we weren't
just unlucky. It was all 50-50 and we just didn't take it. "The first goal
was kind of cheap, the wrong decision or whatever, and it was always hard
after that. I'm not saying they didn't deserve it. They were more mature and
more cruel than we were. When they were offered something from us they took
it straight away, which we didn't. The first goal was the crucial moment,
the decisive moment. In the Premier League, if you make these kind of
mistakes, usually it's game over. "If you make that kind of decision and
mistake you can only get away with it if you're lucky. We weren't so the
goal went to Lukaku and they took it. "But then Williams made a mistake
straight after that and we didn't capitalise on that. It was a decisive
moment but the game is for 90 minutes."

After Lukaku continued his run of scoring in all seven of his League games
against West Ham, worse was to come for Bilic 15 minutes from time when Ross
Barkley started and finished a move for the second goal. Barkley's long ball
to Lukaku ended with the Belgian crossing to the far post where the
midfielder half-volleyed home, making amends for a first-half shot which he
had been brilliantly saved by Adrian. "At the end of the day, it means
nothing because we lost," said Adrian of that stop. "Their first goal was a
little lucky and then we started to lose our composure and they scored
again."

Next weekend the Hammers return to the London Stadium for a meeting with a
Stoke side who could be two points above them after tonight. Not that Bilic
is too concerned about his team's general position. Andre Ayew, for
example, continued his comeback from injury with 30 decent minutes at
Goodison while the opening 20 minutes had seen the visitors carve out at
least three clear chances with Dimitri Payet and Manuel Lanzini virtually
unplayable as they scythed through Everton's midfield. "I mean we didn't go
crazy after three wins, two in the Premier League," said Bilic. "Now we can
find a lot of positives from this game but also we're disappointed and have
to bounce back. "If we play like this, but add more cruelness, positiveness
and more penetration where it matters, when it matters, then we're going to
be good."

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Andre Ayew confident West Ham will bounce back against Stoke City after
Everton defeat
Published on: 31 October 2016
ghanasoccer.com

West Ham United midfielder Andre Ayew is confident his side will bounce back
against Stoke City after they suffered a 2-0 defeat at Everton on Sunday.
The Ghana international was handed a run-in at Goodison Park as goals from
Romelu Lukaku and Ross Barkley condemned the Hammers to the defeat. But the
26-year-old insists his team can't get dragged down by the defeat and
confident they will bounce back against Stoke at the London stadium. He told
Essex Live: "We played well, we had won three in a row and our players gave
a lot in the two games then the first half today but we played well. "We
knew the first 20 minutes of the second half would be difficult and they got
an early goal but we had our chances and didn't put them in.
I don't think Wednesday affected us, in football terms we had the quality,
we showed that in the first half. If we could have scored in the first then
it would have been a different game. "We are doing well, honestly, we are
playing good football we just need to try and score more goals. We cant
waste what we did in the last three games and forget what we did. We just
need to go back, watch our mistakes and try to learn from them. "Stoke will
be tough, but In front of our fans, I believe we can beat them at home, for
sure."

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Club vrs Country War: West Ham United to reject Ghana's invitation for Andre
Ayew to play against Egypt
Published on: 31 October 2016
http://ghanasoccernet.com/

West Ham United are bracing themselves to reject an invitation from the
Ghana Football Association to have Andre Ayew play for the Black Stars
against Egypt on November 13th . The 26-year-old forward is slowing
returning to the pitch following a lengthy lay off that has seen the club
endure a disastrous start to the English season. The former Swansea City man
only made a return to the pitch against Chelsea last week and played in the
last 20 minutes of the 2-0 defeat to West Ham United over the weekend. West
Ham united are taking things slowly with Ayew because they know very well
that a misjudgment could damage all the hard work that has been done to
bring the forward back to playing two months ahead of time. Ghana coach
Avram Grant however is in desperate need of the player whose influence
transcend beyond the pitch for the 2018 World Cup qualifier against the
almighty Pharaoh in Alexandria.
It remains to be seen how this episode will pan out with Ayew's commitment
to his nation unquestionable while West Ham United had to smash their
transfer record for his signature in the summer.

By Rahman Osman

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It was a great feeling to be back on the pitch again- Andre Ayew
Published on: 31 October 2016
ghanasoccernet.com

Ghana international Andre Ayew has revealed his delight after playing only
in second league game for Slaven Bilic's side in the defeat against Everton.
The Black Stars deputy skipper was expected to be out for four months but
made a quicker than expected return to the pitch last week. "It is a great
feeling to be back," Ayew told his club's official website.
"I was supposed to be out for a very long time but the medical staff worked
hard here and also in France. "I want to thank all the people who helped me
get out to play because we worked really, really hard. Now I hope it is just
the beginning. "There were different ideas from different specialists and we
took the decision not to have the operation. Now things are going well.
Hopefully, I can keep on training and get back to my fitness." "I am not a
player who had a lot of injuries in the past. It is part of the game. It was
tough to accept that in the first game. I had to relax, do the treatment I
had to do to get my leg right again." "It wasn't easy but I knew the
sacrifice that was ahead of me if I wasn't going to have the operation.
Hopefully, it was a good decision we took." "I hope and pray that the next
games will be the same so my confidence level will get higher. Every day I
am getting stronger from training and I feel better." The Ghana
international will be hoping for smooth game next weekend before going for
international duty in two weeks time. "I get more confidence from the guys
around me. They played when I was injured. They were calling me, etc. "It
was a difficult moment but at the end of the darkness you always see the
light. Hopefully it will now continue. It was so frustrating what happened
in that first game. But that's football. You learn from that. "You need to
stay focused in the good moments and the bad moments and try to give your
best on the field."

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West Ham's Michail Antonio: We have to find a way of stopping Everton star
Romelu Lukaku next time
JAMES BENGE
Evening Standard

Michail Antonio has urged his West Ham team-mates to get over their problems
with Romelu Lukaku in time for their next encounter with the Everton
striker. Lukaku has scored in all nine of his matches against the Hammers as
Everton brought their winless run to an end with a 2-0 victory at Goodison
Park. The Belgian international was on hand to head home as Yannick Bolasie
flicked a cross in from Seamus Coleman's blocked shot. Ross Barkley scored
the second from a Lukaku cross, scant reward for a mostly impressive display
by the visitors, who had had much the better of the opening exchanges. What
West Ham seemed to lack was a finisher as incisive as Lukaku, who has proven
to be a scourge for the Hammers since arriving at Everton in 2013. Antonio
wants to see the run ended when the two sides meet again in April. "At the
beginning of the game I thought we dominated the game in the opening 25
minutes," Antonio told the club website. "We were getting good balls into
the box but didn't manage to convert them. "After that the game went 50/50
and I thought their first goal was a bit lucky. It took a ricochet and then
bounced back to Lukaku who put the ball into an empty net. "We need to try
and find a way of stopping Lukaku. We just have to pay more attention
towards him and stop him scoring in the next game. "These things happen in
football. We have got to pick ourselves and go again. "We could sense it was
not going to be our day. Things were not coming off for us but we still put
in a good performance and kept fighting until the end."

West Ham return to action at the London Stadium on Saturday as they host a
Stoke side who, ahead of Monday's clash with Swansea, are showing signs of
recovery after a woeful start to the season. Should Mark Hughes' side avoid
defeat they will leapfrog the Hammers, who would then slip down to 17th
place in the table. It would serve to reaffirm that, whilst West Ham's form
is improving, there is a long way to go for Antonio and company. "We have to
pick ourselves up because we were unbeaten in four games and we know we can
do it again," Antonio added.
"We want another win next weekend against Stoke at London Stadium."

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