Daily WHUFC News - 7th December 2017

Hart hoping for happy Shrewsbury homecoming in FA Cup
WHUFC.com

West Ham United's Emirates FA Cup third round draw away to Shrewsbury Town
brought a broad smile to the face of Joe Hart. The Hammers goalkeeper was
born and raised in Shrewsbury and grew up dreaming of pulling on the shirt
of his local club. After excelling for the Shropshire county representative
team, Hart was snapped up by the Shrews at the age of 14. A year later, he
was named on the substitutes' bench in League Two, before former West Ham
striker Jimmy Quinn handed him a senior debut in April 2004, one day past
his 17th birthday. The 2005/06 season saw Hart, still just 18, establish
himself as Shrewsbury's No1 and win League Two Team of the Year honours,
England U19 international recognition and earn a big-money move to Premier
League Manchester City. The rest is well-documented history, but Hart will
never forget the town he called home for more than half of his life, nor the
club which gave him the springboard to become a footballing superstar.
"It's the first time I'll have gone back to Shrewsbury for a competitive
game, so I'm really looking forward to it," the 30-year-old confirmed.
"It's a beautiful town and a nice place to live. We are kind of on the edge
of everything in our own little world, but it's a great place, full of proud
people, and I have nothing but good things to say about Shrewsbury. It's my
home. "It was nice to be involved in the first team from such a young age.
They put me in the team when we were in non-league and we were just above
the drop zone, when I was only 17 or 18, and we managed to stay up, which
was good. They always had a lot of faith in me, which I really appreciated."

Hart was in the crowd last time Shrewsbury welcomed Premier League
opposition back in January 2003. That afternoon, David Moyes' Everton were
the visitors to Gay Meadow, where they were surprisingly beaten 2-1 by the
fourth-tier Shrews. Fifteen years on, Hart and Moyes will be back, albeit at
Shrewsbury's New Meadow stadium, which opened in 2007. While the England
goalkeeper and Scottish manager were on opposite sides last time out, they
will both be out to avoid another third-round shock. "Shrewsbury are doing
pretty well this year, so I'm sure it'll be a tough game for us," Hart
confirmed. "They moved into a new stadium and it took a while for them to
get used to it, so they've had some ups and downs, but they're flying high
at the top of League One this season, so it's looking good. "The FA Cup is
always a test, particularly away from home, whoever you are playing. Even if
you go to a non-league club, it'll be a big game and a hard one to win. "I
went to the game the last time they beat Premier League opposition in the FA
Cup, which was Everton back in 2003. I was there, but obviously I hope the
result is different this time around!"

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Pixie Lott surprises West Ham Foundation students
WHUFC.com

Students in Year Five at Our Lady and St Joseph Catholic Primary School in
Poplar received a huge surprise as popstar Pixie Lott stopped in for their
session with the West Ham United Foundation. Lott, who is a life-long West
Ham supporter, shocked the group of pupils on Tuesday as she dropped in to
participate in a Primary Stars lesson being given by coaches from the
Hammers Foundation. The popular singer helped the students to write poems
based on the theme of resilience for entry into the Writing Stars
competition, which the Premier League is running for Key Stage 1 and Key
Stage 2. Lott also took time to answer questions about her music and new
single, 'Won't Forget You', and talked to the students about showing
resilience during her life and career. "The Writing Stars competition is
amazing," she told whufc.com: "Anything that's going to encourage kids to
write and be creative, especially writing about positive messages like
resilience, is a real positive in my eyes. "Hearing them say things like
'achieve your dreams' and 'believe in yourself' is incredible. I really hope
that sticks with them for the rest of their lives. It's great that West Ham
are involved in this. It's such a positive and inspiring thing."

The singer was delighted to have the opportunity to put smiles on faces
during her visit, with Lott taking the time to give each student an
autograph while also posing for photos and offering advice for their poems.
She continued: "I've loved just chatting to the kids. They were so energetic
and I found out a lot about them – including what they want to be when they
grow-up. There's a lot of aspiring footballers and singers! "I've done a lot
of school visits and I just really enjoy it. I never got any of these sorts
of visits when I was at school and I would have loved it, so to be able to
do that for these kids, and others in other schools, is just amazing. It
brightens up their day, which brightens up mine."

Lott was invited to participate in a rhyme battle alongside ten-year-old
student Alfie, who bested the singer in the competition. Alfie said: "I've
had so much fun today. It was good to work with the coaches and I was so
surprised to see Pixie Lott. It was fun to do the rhyme battle with Pixie
and win as well. It was such a good day!"

Adam Walker, a football development officer with the West Ham United
Foundation, was full of praise for Lott's involvement in Tuesday's session
and for the Primary Stars scheme. "It's amazing like someone like Pixie can
give up her time to come and support the West Ham United Foundation, and
visit to the local schools," Walker said. "The children were amazed when
she walked in the door and the moment she did she had their complete
attention. "She's been really kind, polite and attentive. She's helped the
children out with their poems, got involved with our rhyme battles, which
were very funny, and also answered loads of questions. It's been an
immensely enjoyable session." He added: "It's a brilliant scheme. The
Premier League is a massive help too, with the backing they give us as a
Foundation. It allows us to go out and deliver the Primary Stars programme.
"The Writing Stars competition has got all of our schools engaged and ready
to enter. From that we're seeing some excellent poems and incredible
engagement in the subject."

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Powell: We're gutted but proud of Checkatrade achievements
WHUFC.com

Joe Powell admitted the whole squad are gutted after West Ham United's U21s
were eliminated by Luton Town in the Checkatrade Trophy round of 32. The
Hatters bagged a convincing 4-0 win at Kenilworth Road thanks to goals from
Lawson D'Ath, Aaron Jarvis, Kavan Cotter and Jordan Cook to put an end to
the Hammers' campaign in the competition. It was, however, a great
achievement to reach the knockout stages of the tournament; the east
Londoners were one of only four academy sides to advance from the group
stages from the 16 who entered at the start of the season. Powell, who
played the full 90 minutes at left-back on Tuesday, said the team is proud
of their accomplishments in the Checkatrade Trophy this season but are
hurting after the harsh defeat. "We believed we could win going into the
game," he said. "We had chances at 0-0, we had corners and then even at 1-0
we were still in the game. Our heads dropped a bit but we carried on. "At
2-0, the heads dropped again but I think we gave a bit more to prove we
wanted to stay in the game get something out of it, but it wasn't to be.
"We are proud of where we got to, but we're still not happy with the way the
game went and it's something we can look back and learn from it. But 100 per
cent, we're proud."

West Ham struggled to deal with the physical threat their League Two
opponents – currently top of the fourth tier – offered in Bedfordshire. The
second goal in particular came from a long ball down the middle of the pitch
and Powell declared it is a style of play the Hammers must learn to deal
with if they are to learn from the experience of playing in the competition
this season. "Playing long ball, that's something we're new to and we need
to work on that," he continued. "Playing U23 teams, everyone wants to get
the ball down, that's the philosophy everyone is taught as a kid – pass the
ball out from the back. "Playing Football League teams therefore is hard,
but it's something you need to be able to do playing at any level. You go to
the Premier League, you see it there too. "We need to adapt to that and try
and get better at that because it gave us problems tonight."

The Luton clash marked Terry Westley's side fifth defeat in a row – and
fourth to nil – and the youngsters will be looking to get back on track when
London rivals Tottenham Hotspur visit Dagenham and Redbridge's Chigwell
Construction Stadium on Monday. Tickets are priced at £5 and £3 for adults
and concessions respsectively, and supporters can pay on the door or show
their Season Ticket Holder card to enter for free for the 7pm kick-off.

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Westley: We must stay in these types of games
WHUFC.com

West Ham United under-21s Checkatrade Trophy campaign came to an end on
Tuesday evening after they suffered a 4-0 defeat to Luton Town at Kenilworth
Road. Trailing 1-0 at the interval, West Ham conceded three second half
goals bringing an end to what had, up until now, been a hugely positive
competition for Terry Westley's side. The Academy Director praised his
former side's performance, but admitted the final 4-0 score line was unfair.
I think we can say 4-0 is a little harsh in the end, the goals weren't great
I have to say that, not particularly well worked, but goals that grind you
down at this level" he explained. "If you can't stick with it, you will get
punished – we saw it against Wycombe and we saw it again tonight."

Sead Haksabanovic and Toni Martinez both went close for West Ham with the
score at 1-0, but the sucker-punch moment came when Aaron Jarvis got on the
end of a speculative long ball to strike past Nathan Trott in the 56th
minute. The Hammers struggled to recover from then on. "At half-time I
thought we were right in the game so I told the lads exactly that" Westley
explained. "They had to stay with the game, be tough and there was going to
be a moment in the game when the ball was going to drop for us and we were
going to have an opportunity. "But we didn't stay in it long enough to have
that opportunity, the second goal was too easy. It was just a 60-yard boot
up the pitch that we haven't dealt with well enough. "I'm disappointed that
we didn't keep in the game long enough because I felt our front players had
enough to hurt them but we didn't quite do that."

Luton struck twice more, the last of which in time added on after the 90'
but Westley insisted that even in defeat, matches like these against
Football League opponents are crucial to his players' development. "It would
have been nice to come back [to Luton] and win, but we haven't done that.
"The fundamentals of the game; tackling, running, defending properly and
clearing the ball; this is the hardest bit to learn at under-23 football
because everything is not always on the line but tonight it was. If you
don't win, you're out. Luton go through and good luck to them in the next
round."

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David Moyes: West Ham manager to target players with Premier League
experience
By Simon Stone
BBC Sport

West Ham manager David Moyes is expected to target players with Premier
League experience as he seeks to guide the club away from the relegation
zone. On Tuesday, the Hammers said a dispute with Sporting Lisbon over their
pursuit of William Carvalho had been resolved. But Moyes, who succeeded
Slaven Bilic last month, is not thought to want the Portugal midfielder in
January. West Ham have spent only three of the past 25 seasons outside the
top flight but are 19th in the table on 10 points. Moyes, who has been
assured he has money to spend during next month's transfer window, has
overseen three defeats and a draw in his four games in charge. While another
move for Carvalho is not being ruled out, it is understood Moyes feels
knowledge of English football is key if signings are to have an immediate
impact. Sporting said they were going to report the Hammers to Fifa for an
illegal pursuit of the 25-year-old midfielder in the summer. The Portuguese
club also made personal comments about West Ham owners David Sullivan and
David Gold. "Friendly relations between the clubs will resume," said a
Hammers statement.

In September, West Ham said they made a bid for Carvalho and released emails
that they claimed showed their official approach. But Sporting's
communications director Nuno Saraiva questioned the validity of the leaked
emails, which apparently showed a 25m euros (£22.8m) offer, as well
suggestions Sullivan was called a "liar" and a "parasite" in a Facebook
post. West Ham refuted the claims, called them "attention seeking", and
considered legal action. However, on Tuesday the Premier League club said:
"West Ham and Sporting acknowledge that a breakdown in communication based
in contacts between representatives from both clubs in respect of a possible
transfer of William Carvalho was the cause of a misunderstanding. "The clubs
have had positive communications and the matter is now resolved. "There will
be no barriers to both clubs negotiating or working together in the future."

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Javier Hernandez and Andy Carroll fitness update ahead of West Ham's clash
against Chelsea
David Moyes has had to do without the pair for the past couple of games
Football London
ByTashan Deniran-Alleyne
18:30, 6 DEC 2017


West Ham United are reportedly cautious over Javier Hernandez's attempts to
win his race to return from injury against Chelsea at the weekend, but
expect Andy Carroll to be out of action for a little while longer. The
29-year-old handed David Moyes a massive boost by returning to full
first-team training after missing the last four Premier League games in
succession due to an injury picked up whilst on international duty with
Mexico last month. His last appearance came in the 4-1 home defeat by
Liverpool at the start of November - a result which sealed Slaven Bilic's
fate as manager - and in that period the Hammers have netted just twice
whilst sliding to second from bottom in the table by virtue of an inferior
goal difference to Crystal Palace. Having netted four times in 11
appearances since his move from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer, Hernandez's
availability will certainly come as a massive boost for Moyes in his
attempts to steer the East London outfit to safety and it may not be too
long before he can call upon the services of the ex-Manchester United
striker.
According to the Daily Mail, the Irons are hopeful that the Mexican will be
fit enough to take part in the derby against the Blues on Saturday. However,
there is some caution surrounding the striker as officials fear a setback if
he's rushed back too soon and therefore could be held back to ensure he's
fully fit for the clash with Arsenal four days later. Furthermore, the
report provides an update on Carroll - who has made just nine appearances
across all competitions this season - as he's yet to return to training and
will miss the London derby double-header, although it's believed his injury
isn't too serious and could make his return against former club Newcastle
United on December 23.

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Javier Hernandez set to hand West Ham major fitness boost by returning to
action against Chelsea
Javier Hernandez has been out since suffering a thigh injury on November 4
The Mexico international is yet to play under West Ham manager David Moyes
Hernandez could face Chelsea while Andy Carroll should be back this month
By Kieran Gill for MailOnline
PUBLISHED: 13:32, 6 December 2017 | UPDATED: 14:27, 6 December 2017

West Ham are hopeful Javier Hernandez will be fit for their Premier League
clash against Chelsea with the striker back in first-team training. The
29-year-old has not appeared since a 4-1 defeat by Liverpool on November 4,
when he suffered a thigh injury. Yet Hernandez has re-joined his team-mates
at Rush Green and is facing a fitness test to be included in David Moyes'
squad on Saturday. West Ham will not want to bring Hernandez back too soon
and risk a setback, with another London derby coming up on Wednesday against
Arsenal. Meanwhile, Andy Carroll is further away and has not yet returned to
full training. The 28-year-old striker's injury is not long-term, however,
and he should be back in contention before Christmas. Carroll will want to
be fit for the visit of former club Newcastle on December 23 in particular.


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MOYES READY FOR U-TURN AS HE SEEKS FRESH DEAL FOR WEST HAM MANFeatured Image
Date: 6th December 2017 at 9:03pm
Written by: Josh Challies
Forever WestHam

West Ham boss David Moyes is set to make the biggest tactical decision of
his short tenure at the London Stadium so far, as he's set to commit a
U-turn with one player. The Daily Mail claim that Spanish goalkeeper Adrian
is set to be handed a new contract, with the 30-year-old impressing during
the recent defeat to Manchester City- where loanee Joe Hart was unable to
feature against his parent side. Adrian is widely reported to be set to
retain his position heading into this weekend's clash against Chelsea,
though he's still yet to sign a new contract and has previously spoken about
his frustrations due to a lack of first-team football.
Moyes is now desperate for the Hammers to push a deal for Adrian over the
line and any agreement is likely to come with assurances towards the
Spaniard that he will get first-team football, handing a huge blow to Hart's
World Cup aspirations with England.
Suitors for Adrian are not short with fellow strugglers Crystal Palace known
to be admirers but Moyes' goal looks to be to cement the future of the
veteran.

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West Ham can't afford to let Reece Oxford leave permanently
HITC
Jeorge Bird

The West Ham starlet is reportedly wanted on a permanent deal by his loan
club. Reece Oxford may not have progressed quite as expected since his
initial breakthrough into the West Ham United team two seasons ago, but the
prospect still has a very good chance of succeeding at the club. Capable of
playing as a centre-back or a defensive-midfielder, Oxford showed some very
encouraging initial signs for West Ham in the 2015/16 season but has since
endured some frustrating loan spells. Last season, for instance, Oxford was
unable to command a regular starting berth after joining Reading on loan for
the second half of the campaign. Meanwhile, this season he has been
restricted to just one minute of Bundesliga football for Borussia
Monchengladbach, with the 18-year-old finding himself in another frustrating
situation. Despite the lack of game time he has been afforded, however,
Monchengladbach are eager to sign Oxford on a permanent basis, as reported
by the London Evening Standard. Given Oxford's vast potential, West Ham
simply cannot contemplate letting him leave permanently, even if
Monchengladbach were to make an appealing offer. At the very least Oxford
deserves a sustained opportunity to show that he is worthy of a regular
place in the West Ham side, something which he could well be afforded next
season. Allowing Oxford to leave at this stage of his development could turn
out to be a disastrous move for West Ham, who should instead still see him
as a potential solution to the defensive issues that they have endured this
season.

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Does West Ham's interest in Sporting's Carvalho mean end for Noble?
HITC
Tom Seymour

West Ham have renewed their interest in Sporting's William Carvalho - if
they sign him what happens to Mark Noble? West Ham United may be set to
renew their interest in Sporting Lisbon midfielder William Carvalho after
relations between the two clubs have been repaired, according to the Sun.
The Hammers have released a statement saying the two sides have settled
their differences after a very public falling out between the two
hierarchies over the summer. Former manager Slaven Bilic was a keen admirer
of Carvalho - with a potential deal for the 25-year-old being the reason
behind the controversy between the two teams - and his replacement David
Moyes appears to also be interested. That is probably not good news for
captain Mark Noble, who has been greatly criticised for his performances for
West Ham over the past two seasons. Noble started Moyes' first game as boss
after being appointed Bilic's successor in a 2-0 defeat to Watford, but was
once again perceived to have a poor performance and has not played for the
Scot since. With Carvalho operating in a similar role to the 30-year-old in
central midfield and also being five years the Englishman's junior, if the
Portugal international does finally join the East Londoners then that could
see the skipper's opportunities reduce even more significantly.

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Report claims Everton-linked N'Zonzi favours London move... and West Ham
should not be discounted
HITC
Aiden Cusick

Gambling Times reporter Graeme Bailey claims West Ham United should not be
discounted in the race to sign Steven N'Zonzi, who is wanted by several
clubs including Everton. Speaking to France Football this week, N'Zonzi
confirmed his intention to leave Sevilla this winter, and could be sold for
less than his £35 million release clause. But despite the presence of his
former manager Sam Allardyce at Everton, N'Zonzi is said to favour a move to
London, where his son is residing.
Arsenal are another club linked this week, although Bailey's report states
that West Ham - and Chelsea, too - "should not be discounted" in the race to
sign the 28-year-old, which could also include Paris Saint-Germain.
Interestingly, bookmakers Bet Victor have already listed the Hammers at 8/1
to sign N'Zonzi in January, behind Leicester City (6/1) and favourites
Everton (5/1). West Ham are being tipped to move for a midfielder in
N'Zonzi's mould this winter, with Sporting CP's William Carvalho linked
again this week.

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