Daily WHUFC News - 13th September 2017

Carroll: Hammers 'played our hearts out' in Huddersfield win
WHUFC.com

Andy Carroll has hailed the passion showed by West Ham United in the 2-0 win
over Huddersfield Town, praising the team for playing "our hearts out" in
the victory. Goals from Pedro Obiang and Andre Ayew in the second half saw
Slaven Bilic's side secure a deserved first win in the Premier League this
season in their first match at the London Stadium this campaign. The Hammers
dominated the performance, clearly creating the majority of the chances, and
a returning Carroll was thrilled with the spirit he and his teammates showed
in the contest. The striker said following the match: "I think we needed
this win. It's been tough but the lads are behind the manager. We went out
there and fought and we got the two goals. "It's been a tough road for us
but we went out there and we played our hearts out, and we got the three
points."
For Carroll, Monday's evening match also spelt the first time the forward
played in the Premier League for West Ham since April. The No9 has worked
extremely hard over the summer and was delighted to make his return to
action in this result. He added: "It's nice to be back on the pitch. It's
been a long time over the summer. I've been working hard in training a lot
and it's paid off. I'm feeling good. It's been tough but I've worked hard
and now I'm back. Hopefully all the misery is behind me. "I'll be in bits
tomorrow though, no doubt!"

Such an excellent win has pulled the Hammers two places up the Premier
League table but Carroll insists that West Ham are keeping their feet firmly
on the ground. "We've had a couple of weeks for the lads to chat and get
over the start of the season and now hopefully this is the kick-on we need,"
Carroll added.
"It's going to be tough. All the teams in the Premier League are quality and
you saw that tonight. Huddersfield got promoted and they are a quality team.
They were undefeated and hadn't conceded. But that's why we're in the
Premier League – to play against the best players in the world."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Bilic: Terriers triumph was the perfect birthday present
WHUFC.com

Slaven Bilic hailed the 'perfect' 49th birthday present after West Ham
United secured their first Premier League win of 2017/18 with a 2-0 victory
over Huddersfield Town. The Hammers celebrated their return to London
Stadium with a committed and largely dominant performance against the
previously unbeaten Terriers, securing three points through second half
goals from Pedro Obiang's deflected effort and Andre Ayew's close-range
finish. Having climbed off the bottom of the table, Bilic's squad will now
head to West Bromwich Albion on Saturday seeking to build on a deserved
Monday night triumph. "It is the perfect birthday present," he said. "I am
very pleased with the way we dealt with the difficult situation that was
created. After three defeats your confidence is a bit down and all that, but
the lads did everything we asked from them. "We had a gameplan and from the
first moment we were on the front foot and we were really closing them down.
We were really dominant and we created a couple of big chances and, more
than that, we stopped them from creating anything. "There were a lot of
things happening in their box, so it gave us a boost for the second half to
continue like this and we got the reward. We were a little bit lucky for the
first goal but overall we deserved the three points."

Bilic rightly hailed what was by far his team's most complete display of a
hitherto difficult campaign, which was highlighted by a high-tempo pressing
game that restricted Huddersfield for long periods "Even if we didn't win
this game, I would have been very pleased with the performance because we
did everything," the manager observed. "To be fair, when we played really
good and were dominant in the first half, we didn't score. Then, when we did
score it was at a time when we had lost the momentum a little bit. That goal
was at a crucial time for us and gave us a boost and brought us back into a
confident zone. "We scored the second one and after that we never really
stopped and we thoroughly deserved it."

While Bilic was rightly proud of his team, some home fans were unhappy with
his decision to replace Chicharito with around 25 minutes to go. However,
the manager revealed that the Mexican was tiring after his recent
international exertions and rightly felt Ayew would make an impact off the
bench. "Sometimes you have to take a chance as a manager. Chicharito had a
good game, he had a chance and he was running and doing everything for the
team but also, on the bench, we had a few players like Ayew and Sakho who
are really capable. "It was after 65 or 70 minutes when I noticed that
Chicharito was a little bit getting tired making those longer runs after he
had been away in Mexico, so it was a perfect time for Andre to come on. "It
wasn't because Chicharito didn't have a good game, but simply because it was
a good time to get fresh legs on the pitch, and we are talking about Ayew,
who can always scores goals and he scored again tonight."

The last word was saved for the returning Andy Carroll, who produced a
typically all-action performance up front. The No9 kept the Huddersfield
back four occupied throughout his 82 minutes on the pitch and won 13 aerial
duels – more than any Premier League player in a single game so far this
season. "Andy was excellent," Bilic confirmed. "You know what he will bring
on the pitch, not only winning balls in the air or playing some good
football or being a threat in the box, but he is also setting that level of
tempo, he's giving the team intensity on the pitch and leading and calling
everyone to join him. "He's always an option and especially when you have
players like Antonio and Chicharito who can run in behind, it's great to
have him in the team. "He has come back and played after a long break. He is
fit now and now hopefully he will stay fit for the whole season."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Ayew: Victory proved we are West Ham United
WHUFC.com

Andre Ayew says the valuable Premier League victory over Huddersfield Town
proved West Ham United remain true to their name. The Hammers went into
Monday's game against previously undefeated opponents sitting bottom of the
table and seemingly devoid of confidence and belief. However, with Andy
Carroll and Winston Reid returning after injury in an effective 3-4-3
formation, Slaven Bilic's side were full value for their 2-0 win. Having
dominated the first half, the hosts went ahead at London Stadium through
Pedro Obiang's deflected strike with 18 minutes remaining before substitute
Ayew made the game safe with a typically opportunistic close-range finish.
"We are happy for the manager, for the fans and for ourselves," said the
No20, who recovered from a minor injury suffered on international duty with
Ghana to take his place on the bench. "We are players, we are a team and we
are together. Times were tough, but we needed to stick together and work
hard as a team to make it happen. "We've got the first points, so let's work
hard and try to get more."

Ayew believes Monday's victory will give the squad plenty of belief heading
to The Hawthorns to face Tony Pulis's resilient West Bromwich Albion side on
Saturday afternoon. "It was a good win and an important one for us, so I'm
very happy to have won this game and hopefully it will give us a lot of
confidence for the next games," he continued. "I just had to come on and do
my job, to do something. I went away to international duty and came back, I
had a little injury but I managed to be on the sheet to play and managed to
get in and get a goal. "It was good because it's important for a player to
score early in the season to help their confidence, so we can build on this
victory and get more victories in the future."

While Ayew and his teammates were rightly delighted by their first Premier
League victory since the Ghanaian's goal saw off Burnley in May, the
experienced forward was preaching calm and patience when asked to describe
the mood in the West Ham dressing room after Monday's success. "We don't
have to get too excited," he said. "We've played at home and we won and now
we are going to West Brom and it will be very difficult there, so we have to
keep calm, work hard and be patient. "Three points does not have to change
everything. We know one week is different from another week so now we're
going to smile for maybe 48 hours, but we have to get back to work and
prepare really well for Saturday's game, because we want to get some points
at West Brom. "I think we feel relieved to have got the points. We're not
over-excited because we know we didn't start the season well and we know we
need to stay on the front foot and try to go and get something at West
Brom."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Bilic: London Stadium really feels like home now
WHUFC.com

Slaven Bilic says West Ham United 'really feel at home' at London Stadium
after kick-starting their 2017/18 Premier League campaign with a 2-0 win
over Huddersfield Town. The Hammers have lost just one of their last five
top-flight matches on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, keeping four clean
sheets and scoring important victories over Swansea City, Tottenham Hotspur
and, last night, the previously unbeaten Terriers. And manager Bilic says
the players, coaching staff and supporters are enjoying their visits to
Stratford more and more with every game they play their. "We are pleased,"
he began. "We struggled at this stadium at the beginning of last season in
the Watford game and Southampton game and even in the games we drew against
Stoke and Middlesbrough, but then in the second half of the season, in 2017,
it was only Man City a couple of times and Liverpool that we had a bad
performance, and even in those performances we started well for
half-an-hour. "In the game against Spurs, against Palace, the game against
West Brom even though we drew 2-2, we were at home. We lost the game against
Leicester here 3-2 but apart from the first seven minutes when we conceded
two, I felt at home and the players felt really at home. "So, this is
becoming or it already became our home and we can't wait to play here again.
That's the situation now. We feel that this is our home. It will never be
Upton Park, but it doesn't mean it can't be our home. "I really have a
feeling and I see the players who trained here at the weekend that we like
it more and more here. That can only come with results and good individual
performances and good memories from the games, especially the big games. And
we won a few big ones here recently, like against Swansea, against Spurs and
this one on Monday night. That's why I'm very, very positive about that."

Reflecting on Monday's deserved victory, which was achieved through
second-half goals from Pedro Obiang and Andre Ayew, the manager was happy
with the manner in which his team executed his game plan. The Hammers went
on the front foot from the kick-off, pressing Huddersfield high up the pitch
and repeatedly winning possession inside the visitors' half. With Andy
Carroll leading the line superbly, the hosts created 19 goal attempts, won
ten corners and put 32 crosses into the Terriers penalty area – compared to
47 in their previous three Premier League matches put together. At the back,
West Ham restricted Huddersfield to just one shot on target and three
corners. "I told the guys, even if we didn't win the game, I'd say 'Well
done' because they gave everything," Bilic revealed. "It was a top
performance from us, not in the sense that we played beautiful football and
all that, but it was a top performance in terms of being on the front foot,
determined and executing the game-plan, avoiding the middle zone, trying to
get the balls behind them, to the feet Antonio or to Andy and to squeeze
them and get the second ones. "By playing like that in the first half, we
basically stopped them creating anything, which builds your confidence and
leaves them feeling a little bit down. A lot of things were happening in the
first half in and around their box – crosses, corners, free-kicks, chances
and all that – but paradox of the game was that we didn't score then. "We
scored the goal in a period when we had lost a bit of momentum and were
stretched a little bit and lost that push up from the back, but we provoked
the luck. That goal brought us back into the zone of extra energy and
happiness and all that and then we scored the second one and kept our
concentration to the end. "We basically limited them to one good strike, so
the boys showed basically everything that we asked of them."

Bilic also took the opportunity to clarity recent media speculation
surrounding his relationship with Joint-Chairman David Sullivan and the
summer transfer window.
"Relations are good. Of course the media - you are not twisting my words -
but if I speak for five minutes you are using just what you want to use," he
said. "I said nothing bad about the Chairman. On the contrary, I said we
have done good business. "We wanted to get one more player, and I said that
the story from Sporting [Lisbon] is not true as far as I know. And I don't
know everything, but I know a lot of it as the story with [William] Carvalho
was going go for eight weeks. It was about money in the end, and we did
everything apart from more money. "I defended him (Mr Sullivan) and the
Board and I only wanted to clear the situation with those couple of players,
[Renato] Sanches and [Grzegorz] Krychowiak. "So, on the contrary, I never
said a bad word about the Chairman and I never will. Especially not in
public. If I have to say something to him we are in direct communication so
that's it basically. "I said he is the one doing the transfers and he is
the one I communicate with on a daily basis and he has done really good
business."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
The Premier League's aerial ace: How Carroll dominated Hudderfield
WHUFC.com

Under the lights at the London Stadium, West Ham United achieved their first
win of the new season, besting Huddersfield Town 2-0 thanks to goals from
Pedro Obiang and Andre Ayew. The match didn't just mark a return to winning
ways for Slaven Bilic's men. It also marked the return to action for Andy
Carroll, with the striker making his first league appearance for the Irons
since April. What a return to action is was too! Carroll was almost
unplayable up front for the Hammers, bringing the ball out of the air with
apparent ease, linking the play superbly and proving to be a menace that the
Huddersfield defence had no answer for. The 28-year-old's brilliant showing
can be seen in the statistics. Carroll won 15 duels in the Premier League
this weekend, the joint most of any player in the English top flight across
this round of fixtures. Thirteen of those 15 duels were aerial battles.
Unsurprisingly this was the most of any player in the Premier League this
weekend, but very impressively it is also the most won by an individual
player in any Premier League match this season. Although Carroll didn't
score it cannot be said that the striker didn't give his all. The No9
registered six shots in the match, once again the joint-most of any player
in this group of Premier League fixtures, across all 20 teams. That quantity
also puts Carroll second in the list for most shots per 90 minutes played in
the Premier League this season, a number bettered only by Tottenham's Harry
Kane.
Fans were thrilled to see Carroll back in action and the forward's quality
shone through on his return to the field. The attacker linked well with
Chicharito and Michail Antonio, caused a host of problems and gave
Huddersfield a tough time of it. Carroll's presence and form could be
crucial come Saturday as West Ham look to retain their good form away at
West Brom.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Westley: We need to learn to stay in matches
WHUFC.com

Terry Westley says his U23 players should not use poor preparation as an
excuse for their 3-1 defeat to Leicester City on Monday night. The Hammers
suffered their first Premier League 2 defeat of the season at the King Power
Stadium, going three goals down before Toni Martinez grabbed a late
consolation. And despite a near-six hour journey almost postponing the
fixture and reaping havoc with the visitors' planning for the game, Westley
explained his players must think about their level performance before
blaming other factors. He said: "It wasn't the greatest of preparation – of
course – but I don't want to make excuses for the players. It did make it
very, very tough, but having said all of that, we were in the match at half
time, so it's no excuse. "We always looked like we could get a goal. We
missed a couple and got one at the end, but because we'd conceded those two
at the start of the second half, it was all over by then. "You must be
resolute, stay with the game, defend properly – those bits let us down. We
needed to stay in the match. 1-0 down, you stay in the match, you can walk
away with a point. That's something you have to do as a first team player at
any level. "If you want to go on loan, managers and coaching staff are
looking for players who can stay with it when it's tough, and we didn't have
enough of them tonight. "The journey is really hard, especially if you're
young and that hasn't happened to you before or seen that too many times.
You can't relax – you don't know if it's going ahead. It's hard for a young
player to really focus but once the game starts, you've got to play."
The Hammers looked dangerous on the break, rushing past their hosts at every
opportunity going forward, however defensive lapses meant the game was
beyond their control just a few minutes into the second period.

Steve Beaglehole – Leicester's coach – did, though, field an extremely
strong outfit, with summer signings Kelechi Iheanacho and Vicente Iborra
scoring and Robert Huth also starting. "They had a strong team," Westley
continued. "They had £50m-worth on the pitch, which is a lot for an U23s
game. The whole game was difficult for us. "Maybe I made the wrong decision
to play. At one stage the Premier League said we can call the game off. But
then we decided to move on the motorway so we decided it should go ahead.
"There were positives – Josh Pask and Toni Martinez worked hard and looked
the senior players, more than can be said for a few of them. "Marcus Browne
[coming back from injury] got 45. I don't think the trip helped him but he's
back on the grass and that will do him the world of good. It was a real
tough decision to leave out Dan Kemp. "We obviously had Sead [Haksabanovic]
playing with us, and Kemp has been one of our best players and done well
with England. It was a real tough decision. "Now we look ahead to Liverpool
in a week. They've played four, won four, and our unbeaten run is gone in
the league. It's time to dust ourselves down, work hard and go win games
with some magic – something we know we can do."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Hart happy with first clean sheet for Hammers
WHUFC.com

There was plenty of talk about Joe Hart ending his run of 22 league
appearances without a clean sheet after Monday's 2-0 win over Huddersfield
Town. The West Ham United goalkeeper celebrated a first domestic shutout
since Torino's goalless Serie A draw with Sassuolo on 8 January, but the man
himself was happier to have picked up three Premier League points than kept
the ball out of his net. Indeed, Hart had just two saves to make, from
Philip Billing and Steve Mounie, such was the level of performance put in by
the ten outfield players in front of him. "It was about time, too!" Hart
smiled. "It's football and there is always a chance something might happen,
but I thought the defenders were fantastic and they protected me really
well, so I didn't really have much to do. "In the league [I'd not kept a
clean sheet for a while], but I've kept plenty for my country [including two
for England in FIFA World Cup qualifiers in 2017]. I just want to make as
many saves as I can and whether we keep a clean sheet or not, I'm not really
interested as long as we win! "I feel good. I'm excited to be here, I'm
happy and I just want to keep improving."
Hart believes Monday's victory proved the squad are united behind manager
Slaven Bilic, who has faced speculation and pressure in the media after West
Ham's indifferent start to the Premier League season. "We got a slice of
luck for the goal, but it was coming," he said. "I think Huddersfield were
probably watching us in the previous games and were surprised by how strong
and dynamic we were. "We needed a performance, whether we won or not. We had
a great turnout from the crowd and the performance was important. The result
was obviously more important and to get the two together was nice. "We're a
group and we stick together. He has a lot of faith in us and it was
important that we stuck together in the game and got the result."

Next up for Hart and company is a trip to West Bromwich Albion on Saturday,
where he will surely be tested by Tony Pulis's more direct approach. The
goalkeeper has won on his last four trips to The Hawthorns, all with parent
club Manchester City, and tasted victory in ten of his 12 appearances
against the Baggies, but he knows the Hammers will not have it easy this
weekend. "It's not going to be one for the football purists!" he observed.
"It's going to be a game full of heart and desire and the best team is going
to win."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Slaven Bilic: Frank de Boer's sacking was on my mind before West Ham win
BBC.co.uk

West Ham boss Slaven Bilic said Frank de Boer's sacking as Crystal Palace
manager was on his mind prior to Monday's 2-0 win against Huddersfield.
Bilic had been under pressure following three defeats from West Ham's first
three Premier League games of the season. Palace dismissed De Boer on Monday
after they lost to Burnley on Sunday - their fourth successive loss. "Was De
Boer's sacking on my mind? It was. I ain't going to lie," said Bilic. "But
I'm 49, I've been in football since I was 18, so I know. "To be fair, I came
into the zone where I didn't care about that - not in a negative way. I care
about the team - but I saw them really focused.
Huddersfield, who were promoted to the Premier League last season, arrived
at London Stadium unbeaten and as the only top-flight side yet to concede a
goal.
However, they fell behind in the second half when Pedro Obiang's shot took a
big deflection off defender Mathias Jorgensen to loop into the back of the
net.
Substitute Andre Ayew then stabbed in a quick second to move West Ham off
the bottom of the table. "It was a top performance, not in the sense of
beautiful football, but in determination and in executing the game plan,"
Bilic added. Monday's game was the Hammers' first at home this term after
playing their first three fixtures away because of the London Stadium
hosting the World Athletics Championships.
West Ham moved to the ground at the start of last season but struggled to
adapt to their new surroundings, losing eight Premier League games there.
But Bilic believes performances gradually improved and says it is now
starting to feel like home. "I said last year that our performances in the
second half of the season, apart from a couple of games, improved," said the
Croat. "We have played some really good games here. It will never be Upton
Park of course but it is becoming our home more and more."

Pressure eased on Bilic?
BBC Radio 5 live pundit Jermaine Jenas:

It was all about getting the job done for Slaven Bilic, his team and the
fans. The supporters have watched better performances. You could feel the
tension on the pitch. Fair play to West Ham because there was a lot of
pressure on them today. If you're a fan watching that from West Ham week in,
week out, it would be worrying. But Bilic could say [midfielder] Manuel
Lanzini wasn't playing and other ball players. He would say he had one way
to play. If this was how he was moving forward, his job would still be at
risk.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham and The Year of The Long Knives
KUMB.com
Filed: Monday, 11th September 2017
By: HeadHammerShark

If your household is like mine, then you will have a bin in your kitchen.

And if your family is like mine then they will stuff things into it until it
seems no more can possibly fit inside, and then continue piling things on
top of it until it starts glaring at them like some kind of erupting rubbish
Sauron in the corner of the room.

This will not move anyone to empty the bloody thing, of course. Instead
somebody will casually suggest that Dad needs to empty the bin whilst
lobbing another empty Hula Hoops packet in the general vicinity of our new
rubbish bin overlord and keeper of the One Ring.

Now I know you all love an analogy, and never has there been one so apt as
the rubbish bin of Mount Doom and the relationship between West Ham fans and
their club at present. It won't surprise you to learn that I view us as
being inside the bin, wondering quite how much more can be tipped down on
top of us and thinking we had reached the end only to find that, no - yet
more detritus is heading our way.

I had been planning to write about the recently finished transfer window
pretty much immediately upon it closing but so bewildering has it been
attempting to keep track of the shenanigans at the Olympic Stadium that I
chose to wait for the dust to settle before writing it all up. And then the
President of one of the most famous clubs in Europe called our chairmen the
"Dildo Brothers" and I decided that trying to make sense of all this would
be like trying to catch a bat with a tea towel.

If you haven't seen the above I urge you to watch it (with sound) as it is
not only brilliant, but also a nice metaphorical reflection of me trying to
catch up with all the crazy West Ham related news of the last week. But fear
not, I am your Derry, and I have donned my shorts and pulled up my socks in
the pursuit of some sort of sensible analysis of the window.


***


It seems to me that a timeline might be helpful here. After all, we are just
humans and only able to process so much stupidity in one go. So let's try
and summarise the madness as best we can. Updates in real time:

Deadline Day T -1 (AM) - Diafra Sakho goes all Odemwingie

August 30th arrives with the news that Diafra Sakho has flown to France.
Apparently the club don't know about this, which seems unlikely, but in any
case it's unfortunate as Sakho is there for a medical with Rennes. He has
apparently organised this himself, which is remarkable for a guy who nearly
burnt his flat down when he arrived because he couldn't use the kettle.

Should Sakho leave, our striking options will be Javier Hernandez and
whatever is left of Andy Carroll in the club morgue.

Deadline Day T -1 (PM) - Robert Snodgrass is upset that he, a left footed
winger, was played on the left

Former Hull legend Snodgrass is loaned to Villa and announces in an
interview that he's not a massive fan of Slaven Bilic, seemingly incredulous
that West Ham could have bought him without knowing what position he played.
At this, fifty thousand West Ham fans burst out laughing, possibly recalling
that our due diligence is generally so good that we once bought a player
from Oxford who got homesick.

No seriously, come here. What's your name?

Apparently on his debut, Bilic asked Snodgrass where he wanted to play which
conjures up a lovely image of Bilic as a Sunday League manager bringing on a
ringer. One can half imagine him telling Snodgrass that if he got booked he
was to give the name "M-A-S-U-A-K-U" and to make sure he spelt it right or
we'd all be in trouble.

Anyway, Snodgrass thought that his exploits at Hull meant he was too good to
stay and fight for his place so now he has to play for Villa as punishment.

Deadline Day (AM) - Everton reject loan bid for Kevin Mirallas

On Christmas morning in my house we have champagne and toasted ham
sandwiches. It's a tradition my wife brought with her from New Zealand,
along with a remarkably laissez faire attitude to speed limits. Likewise, on
transfer deadline day West Ham like to get in a shit loan signing and they
ain't changing for anyone.

Mirallas fits the bill rather nicely having been discovered by Tony Henry,
being 29, being in decline and having a notoriously moody attitude. Sadly
Everton turn us down perhaps because, unlike us, they have noticed that we
don't have any wingers and thought that this might be a reasonable
opportunity to nobble a notional rival. Or maybe Mirallas took one look and
just said "Nah, I don't think so". Either way he's not coming and one of my
kids has just stuffed half a watermelon into the already full bin.

Deadline Day (AM) - West Ham agree to loan Domingos Quina to Sheffield
United

I may be a petty man. I may be a small man. I may be driving myself slowly
mad by clinging to a rage from years gone past. But...fuck Sheffield United.
Fuck them right in their Ched Evans supporting eyes.

Of all the teams in the world they could have chosen to loan one of our most
promising young players to, they chose...Sheffield United? What, when you
get the chance to send a player to the team that developed Wayne Quinn you
just don't pass that up? Christ on Henry Winter's tandem, read the room
guys. In the event the move is scuppered by a greedy agent which I, for one,
find shocking.

My only faint hope here is that we were planning to loan them Quina with a
view to him being their best player all season and then recalling him with
ten games to go, ensuring they went down. Truthfully, I'm not sure we have
that kind of vision at the club.

Deadline Day (PM) - Diafra Sakho is at the races

Remember Sakho? Yesterday he was in Rennes negotiating a move there, with
the French club suddenly flush after receiving a slice of the Ousmane
Dembele fee. Sadly whatever he agreed with West Ham has fallen through, with
the club now strongly denying that he had permission to go anywhere. They
then issue formal denials through the usual channels, namely the Sullivan
kids Twitter accounts for actual fuck's sake.

Got to stay at West Ham. Won £500 on the horses

Diafra is still persisting, however, and flies back to London today. Sadly
he can't come immediately to the club to resolve his fairly obvious issues
because his agent has a horse running at Chelmsford race course. He
therefore has to hang around in the car park while Mark McKay gets his
equine fix. With that kind of work ethic and attention to detail I am
beginning to understand how McKay is in the middle of so many of our deals.

The pair eventually make their way to the club where they can't find any
Directors. This is a real thing that actually happened.

Sullivan is apparently on holiday in Marbella which is fair enough. No
reason a Director of Football would need to be around on transfer deadline
day.

Meanwhile, I am considering setting the bin on fire.

Deadline Day (PM) - William Carvalho is not coming

The faint hope that outstanding Portuguese midfielder Carvalho will join us
flickers out. He instead joins the long list of potential signings who
Sullivan might have been able to sign on Championship Manager, but couldn't
get close to in reality: Ruud van Nistelrooy, Carlos Tevez, Alexandre
Lacazette, Carlos Bacca and Keita Balde all sounded great in the tabloid
gossip columns and not a single one got close to joining. Remember that next
time you get excited over a transfer link.

Anyway, Carvalho doesn't sign and I can't imagine we'll hear any more about
that.

Deadline Day (PM) - we are linked with Andre Gomes and Jack Wilshere

These don't happen either. Wilshere is probably too young and healthy at
present.

Deadline Day (PM) - The U23 team lose 7-2 to Spurs

This might not be quite so funny if it weren't for the fact that it is now
becoming painfully obvious that we won't be able to make a full 25 man squad
without dipping into the Academy.

We also managed to miss two penalties in this game. The bin is now on fire.

Deadline Day (PM) - West Ham Twitter goes postal

Twitter, always a haven of good sense and reasoned debate has not taken the
failure to sign anyone very well. West Ham fans are spitting blood and the
mood isn't improved when some tweets critical of Bilic emerge on the West
Ham Way account, with the location showing as Marbella. You may remember
that this is where the Sullivan family are on holiday.

Initially, the account administrators seem to suggest that the reason for
the weird locations are because someone is tweeting from an aeroplane. With
tweets apparently being sent from Northern Ireland, Malta and Marbella this
seems a little unlikely unless they're on a plane being flown by Wayne
Rooney after a night out. As it transpires, there are people with access to
the account in all of those locations on the night, but by now the account
is saying that the aeroplane thing was a joke and it is in fact the person
in Northern Ireland who has posted all the tweets.

Fair enough - Twitter does weird shit sometimes.

The West Ham Way website has some ties to the club in so much as the
Sullivans have previously appeared on their radio show and also carried out
a Q&A on Twitter, and although the tweets are quickly deleted it doesn't
stop the rumour quickly spreading that they have come from the Sullivan
clan.

I ask ExWHUEmployee, the main man on the account and he says that the
Sullivans have denied it was them. Apparently Jack still has a log in from
the time he did a Q&A for the site, and they never changed the password,
which could explain why Marbella came up if the location services on Twitter
are playing up. I have no reason to doubt anything that Ex would say, but I
suppose the fact is that he can't categorically rule it out simply because
they do still have a log-in.

If you believe the guys at the West Ham Way - and I do because this would be
devastating for them if it was later found to be untrue - that it was them
who sent the tweets, then this all really is a mountain out of a molehill.
However, if I was in any way associated with the club my biggest concern
would be that when it was suggested that the Chairman's son had posted
derogatory comments about the club manager on Twitter, nobody suggested that
this was simply too outlandish to be true.

I should also add that Ex wrote this piece explaining his side of the story,
and also making a lot of balanced comments about the situation at West Ham
in general.

Oh well, after that insane incident, we can all go to bed and take comfort
from the fact that things can't possibly get any madder.

Deadline Day +1 (AM) - West Ham summon Diafra Sakho to a meeting

After his exemplary behaviour leading up to the deadline, Bilic demands that
Sakho attend a meeting so he can fine him and discuss his future. This is
critical because the day after the transfer window has closed, the West Ham
manager appears to have at last noticed that he doesn't have enough
strikers.

Ordinarily, Sakho would be extradited to the youth team for his behaviour
but instead there is now somehow discussion of incentives and a possible new
deal. All this for an obviously troubled guy who seems fairly intent on
leaving the country.

I have decided to no longer question any of this, particularly given that
this won't even come close to being the stupidest thing that West Ham do
today.

My wife has now noticed that our bin is on fire.

Deadline Day +1 (PM) - David Sullivan releases a statement

With deadline day in the rear view mirror and no further additions made,
those same West Ham fans who were busy lapping up the club propaganda about
this being a wonderful transfer window have suddenly noticed that when you
get rid of nine players and bring in only four, that might have knock on
implications. Social media is therefore ablaze. Open letters are being
drafted, votes are held, Facebook groups are formed and memes are produced.
The word is out - the Board have failed us.

They called me what?

But here's the thing - social media is not the world. A few hundred people
taking a vote on Twitter is not a representative sample. I am silently
praying that David Sullivan does not decide to respond publicly to the
criticism.

I might as well pray for a decent Robbie Williams song.

A statement is released late on September 1st. It is startling for its
stupidity and flagrant disregard for the privacy of the process of
transfers. It takes just eleven words to maroon Bilic, as he is rendered the
culprit for the failure to add to the squad while the Board are credited for
the additions. So far, so Sullivan.

Then things take a turn for the bonkers, even by West Ham standards.
Sullivan describes how Sporting Lisbon accepted a bid for Carvalho late on
deadline day but left them with no time to complete a medical. Premier
League rules state that medicals can be completed after the deadline. I am
confused.

He then goes on to state that Bilic turned down Grzegorz Krychowiak and
Renato Sanches. To what end only he knows but I cannot think of another club
who would announce such details in such a way. Oh well, that's the end of
that then. What a bizarre transfer window.

Deadline Day +2 (AM) - Sporting fire back. "We're just as insane as you!"

If you woke on September 2nd 2017 to the sound of rolling thunder, you might
have been surprised given that there was no rain evident. This is because it
wasn't thunder, but instead the sound of a million West Ham fans yelling "We
told you this would happen" in anguish at the sky.

Bruno de Carvalho - Probably our new Director of Football

Sporting, it turns out, are every bit the basket case that we are. Nuno
Saraiva, their Director of Communications has posted a statement on Facebook
in which he calls Sullivan a liar, and states that no bid for Carvalho has
ever been received.

He also makes several allusions to the pornographic background of our owner,
and a number of obtuse references to "parasites" which I read to be more
about Carvalho's advisors than West Ham, but it's translated from Portuguese
so who knows. What a time to be alive.


Deadline Day +2 (PM) - West Ham respond as professionally as one might
expect

We decide to draw a line under this debacle by releasing a non-committal
vanilla statement that blames everything on intermediaries and allows
everyone to save face and move on.

Nah, just kidding - we announce our intention to sue them via teenager David
Sullivan Jr's Twitter account. This is exactly what any other team would do.
Shut up, yes it is.

I have noticed that the fire has spread to our kitchen workbenches.

Deadline Day +3 - Nobody does anything mental for a while

Respite.


Deadline Day +5 - Everybody goes mental again

West Ham decide to respond to the Saraiva comments by leaking some emails to
Sky purporting to confirm the bid. Interestingly, the "To" field is redacted
meaning that it doesn't prove remotely that the offer was made to Sporting.
This is likely to be because the email was sent to an agent working on
behalf of the club. It is unknown whether said agent had any horses racing
around this time.

The emails, sent on 10th and 11th August, suggest that we were offering £23m
over two years, with £7.6m up front and a 10 per cent sell on clause.
William Carvalho, I should highlight, apparently has a £40m release clause
in his contract.

I am by now thinking back fondly on the time that Newcastle appointed Joe
Kinnear as Director of Football and wondering if he would come and do the
job for us. Joe, I should point out, once tried to buy one of his own
players who was out on loan.

He'd fit right in.


Deadline Day +6 - Sporting go the full Mariah Carey

Having established that Sporting are run by lunatics, it is little surprise
that they fire back with all the gravitas of Kerry Katona on GMTV.

President Bruno de Carvalho refers to the chairmen as "the Dildo Brothers"
and "these offended virgins". I'm beginning to like him.

Sporting follow all of this up by threatening to report West Ham to FIFA for
tapping up their player, while we respond by calling them attention seekers,
presumably via a teenagers Instagram account with a link to Rise of the
Krays included.

The fire has spread to my cupboards now. I really must look at that bin.


Deadline Day +7 - West Ham suggest they may return for Carvalho in January

It's nice to know we have a sense of humour. A West Ham source suggests to
The Sun that we may try and buy Carvalho again in January and I think I
speak for all of us when I say that this is a brilliant, clearly thought
through idea and I can see no way that this won't work. Go with glory.

My house is now entirely on fire. I may need to replace the bin.

***

It may surprise you to know that I have some sympathy with the Board over
all of this. If nothing else, they chose the worst dance partner imaginable
in dealing with Sporting. Like when a woman begins a relationship with a guy
and then on their first holiday finds out he wears white socks with flip
flops. It's also true that had Sullivan and Gold carried on as Sporting have
in the last week, there would be all sorts of opprobrium flying their way.

But that doesn't excuse the overall stupidity, and mind boggling lack of PR
savvy. Our problems began when Sullivan dragged this all into the public
domain with his ludicrous statement. Why on earth does he insist on
continuing to air his thoughts in this way, and why is it that nobody at the
club seems able to stop him? PR is one of those maligned and undervalued
jobs that people are happy to ridicule and dismiss until someone is calling
them The Dildo Brothers in public and then it has a value again.

So once more, why am I being given David Sullivan's intimate thoughts on all
this? Who exactly thought this was a good idea? This is as interesting and
necessary to me as hearing Dane Bowers' thoughts on Proust.

"A la recherche du temps perdu? Overrated!"


All of the issues with Sporting stem from the Sullivan statement. Here he
gave answers to questions that weren't asked, put forward information that
didn't need to be leaked and gave a commentary that nobody wanted to hear.
Apart from that it was brilliant.

I wonder if a FIFA charge will be enough to prevent these outbursts, which
seem designed solely for him to shore up his own position and are released
for his own edification? I'm guessing not.

***


It is also worth asking at this point where the rest of the Board are. I
have heard from a couple of separate sources that Gold is incensed by all of
this, but if he continues to play the role of the kindly uncle while
Sullivan and his kids lead us into these scrapes then he is just as guilty
as them.

Whither also, our CEO? Karren Brady has been noticeably absent all summer,
perhaps wisely as her deal of the century sent us off to three defeats on
the road. But here is a woman who makes a living - amongst many other things
- criticising inept business practices on television. This is like finding
out that Mary Berry works for Greggs.

The true role of a Board of Directors is to challenge and interrogate the
decision making at a company. They are supposed to offer direction. Gold and
Brady are part of the troika who have taken the club to this point, and for
them to abrogate responsibility now and allow Sullivan to have a mid life
crisis in this way is a dereliction of duty.

West Ham's misfortunes over the last year have been characterised by the
failure to ask three questions that every successful organisation must ask
itself constantly.

Firstly, are we doing what we do in the best way possible? Secondly, do we
have the appropriate people in place to deliver that work and lastly, the
appropriate means of making that assessment? I'll leave it to you to decide
if you think West Ham can answer any of those affirmatively.

Either way, Karren Brady is paid a lot of money for her role and David Gold
is taking a share of £7m a year in interest on loans to the club. Their
inertia is not acceptable.

***


Fellow West Ham blogger Alex V wrote this interesting take on the window,
and I find much there to agree with. I was going to pick out a few choice
quotes but in the end I decided that I agreed with it all so you should just
read it if you haven't already.

He rightly hits upon the lack of planning and forethought that has led us
once again to this seeming crossroads. The combination of a terrible
transfer window last year and now an appalling start to the season has
focused the minds of some supporters. They are beginning to demand more, and
want to know precisely why the trauma of the stadium move was inflicted upon
us if the club did not have the off field strategy to accompany such a giant
leap forward.

Noticeable too is that our net spend this year is way down, although this is
largely due to us being in the unusual position of having players worth
selling, and also because football has a No Returns policy which means that
Tigres can't send Enner Valencia back.

Alex also correctly highlights the part played in all this by Slaven Bilic.
He has a curious relationship with the Board in so much as they love him
because he is popular and deflects attention away from them, but they also
seem to distrust him because he is popular and deflects attention away from
them. It is this odd dynamic which has inspired this Year of the Long
Knives, whereby the Board seem to have been constantly maneuvering
themselves into a situation where Bilic can be blamed for everything, in
particular the failed transfers, such that when they eventually make their
move they will be deemed to have been left with no choice.

None of which can disguise the fact that Bilic hasn't been up to it for
quite some time, but one wonders at the working atmosphere in an environment
where he knows his employers are openly touting his job around behind his
back.

Bilic was nowhere near the first choice for the job, but that magical voodoo
2015/16 season seems to have inured him against too much of a backlash from
supporters. The Huddersfield game will be interesting in that respect,
because it feels like something has changed but it's hard to know now
whether that anger will be directed at the touchline, the Boardroom, or the
pitch. Maybe we will win 3-0, Hernandez will score a hat trick, Hart will
save a penalty and Zabaleta will break Aaron Mooy and everyone will forget
why they were angry in the first place. Such is the transient nature of the
football fan group think.

But in the long term, the Board must surely be terrified. Whilst I thought
our summer business was awful as far as long-term planning went, I did think
it would most likely be moderately successful in the short term. Then we
shed more players without replacing them and so far we look tactically
inept, physically unfit and mentally drained.

But the squad is neither strong enough or balanced enough. Whilst the first
eleven looks decent, we are a Hernandez injury away from the Doomsday
scenario of James Collins playing up front. Scoff all you like, but remember
that Ian Pearce played there for a ridiculously long time in 2002/03 because
of the same squad building ineptitude. If Bilic is truly responsible for
that then must carry the can for such largesse, but there is a horrible
feeling that he has had his legs chopped out from underneath him in this
window, with Sullivan deciding in the end not to invest heavily in the
choices of a manager he wan't planning to employ much longer.

Such decisions might be entirely sensible, but lend themselves to the
feeling that we are no longer watching a cohesive management structure and
instead are viewing the death throes of a year long power struggle. Our
descent into high farce. Our Year of the Long Knives. It is a dreadful shame
to have gone from the unadulterated joy of 2015/16 to this in such a short
time. We deserve better.

***


While you're here - I wrote this for FourFourTwo while I was waiting for
West Ham and Sporting to stop doing crazy things. Unsurprisingly, our
transfer nonsense makes an appearance.

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.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Slaven Bilic: I felt the pressure before West Ham beat Huddersfield
By James Walker-Roberts
Last Updated: 11/09/17 10:58pm
SSN

Slaven Bilic admitted he did feel under pressure before West Ham's 2-0 win
over Huddersfield on Monday Night Football. There had been speculation that
Bilic's job was under threat after the Hammers lost their opening three
games of the Premier League season. But, in their first home game of the
campaign, the Hammers offered a positive response as goals from Pedro Obiang
and Andre Ayew secured a much-needed win over Huddersfield. "I am happy for
the lads, I am happy for the whole club," Bilic told Sky Sports. "It was
very important for us. "We started with three away games, three defeats. It
was a must-win game. I was pleased with the way we played. Even if we didn't
win the game I could say nothing to the lads, they gave everything. "We
played good. It wasn't a nice performance but it was a top performance in
all other stuff, in the second balls, in determination, in closing them
down, in getting the corners and free-kicks and all that. We totally
deserved it. "I've felt the pressure for a whole year now, it didn't start
today. Although for me it's not logical to be under pressure after three
games only but it is modern football and of course I have felt the pressure.
"But we kept the calmness, we changed a little bit the shape of the team and
we said to the guys that you're going to go back to basics."
After a positive start to the game, it looked like the Hammers were set to
be frustrated until Obiang broke the deadlock with a fortuitous deflected
strike after 72 minutes. Ayew netted the second shortly afterwards and
Bilic, who was celebrating his 49th birthday, was pleased to see his side
open with a win in their second season at the London Stadium. "I said last
year that our performances in the second part of last season at home were
improved and we played some really good games here," he commented. "We are
feeling the stadium is now like our proper home. It will never be Upton
Park, but it's becoming our home more and more.

"It's all about confidence. We have a quality team with quality players,
some players are still missing but we have to keep the clean sheets to stop
them from having the ball in dangerous areas to hurt us. "It's my birthday
and this is a great present."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham win over Huddersfield was a 'massive relief', says Joe Hart
KEN DYER
ES Sport

Joe Hart has admitted that West Ham's 2-0 win over Huddersfield, their first
of the season after four matches, was a "massive relief." Hart, on a
season-long loan from Manchester City, had conceded ten goals in three
matches before last night's crunch game, West Ham's first of the season at
the London Stadium. The England goalkeeper finally kept a clean sheet
though, against newly-promoted Huddersfield and said today: "There is no
point in lying, it was a massive relief."
West Ham's manager Slaven Bilic, who was under intense pressure following
three consecutive Premier League defeats, changed the system to three at the
back but it was the presence of striker Andy Carroll for his first match
since April, which made the crucial difference. Pedro Obiang scored the
first goal which took a huge deflection in the 72nd minute and Andre Ayew
sealed the win with a second five minutes later but it was Carroll who
terrorised the Huddersfield defence until he was substituted late in the
game. "Everybody wants Andy fit and we just need to keep him going," said
Hart, "He is such a dangerous player and he is very important for us."
Without captain Mark Noble, who was injured in training at the weekend,
Bilic tinkered with his team, changing to a back three of James Collins,
Winston Reid and Jose Fonte and with Carroll, Javier Hernandez and Michail
Antonio up front. "I think we stuck to the plan and fully deserved to take
the points," said Hart. We are up and running, it's nice to be at home and
it's nice to get the win. "We got a slice of luck for the goal, but it was
coming. I think Huddersfield had probably been watching us in the previous
games and I think they may have been surprised with how dynamic we were.
There had been speculation that Bilic would have been in serious danger of
losing his job had West Ham lost last night but Hart said: "He puts a lot of
faith in us and the main thing we can learn from the game is that we must
stick together."
West Ham must now try and maintain their improvement at West Brom on
Saturday and Hart said: "It's not going to be one for the football purists.
It's going to be a tough game and we have to show that same passion to win
it. I am excited to be here and I just want to keep improving." Ayew, who
came on as a second half substitute to score the second goal, said: "We are
going to smile for 48 hours but then get back and prepare for West Brom. "We
are happy for the manager, for the fans and for ourselves but not
over-excited.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Andy Carroll sparks West Ham into life but Slaven Bilic isn't out of the
woods yet
KEN DYER
ES Sport

If Slaven Bilic was in any doubt about player power in modern football, then
he needs only call Frank de Boer. In fact, in the two weeks since West Ham's
capitulation at Newcastle, the Croatian must have wondered if his players
had similar doubts about his managerial ability as the Crystal Palace squad
had about the Dutchman's. However, on the evidence of this thoroughly
convincing victory last night, Bilic need have no concerns about his
players' support. The West Ham manager is not yet out of the woods, not
after just his team's first success in four Premier League matches — but at
least he can see daylight through the trees.
He will not have received a better present than West Ham's performance on
his 49th birthday — even though the first goal came gift-wrapped, when Pedro
Obiang's speculative shot took a huge deflection. For Bilic, though, the win
was just a belated start to West Ham's season and co-owner David Sullivan
will expect a continued improvement at West Brom on Saturday. Bilic had a
fortnight since the Newcastle defeat to formulate a game-plan and it worked
perfectly but only because of one man's presence in the team. Andy Carroll,
the 'physios' nightmare', was back and again ready to run amok after
recovering from the groin injury that ended his last campaign prematurely.
In the previous three matches, Bilic had criticised his team for losing the
ball in dangerous areas. With the big man back up front, the West Ham
manager decided to turn the opposition around by playing early, quickly —
and long — to Carroll up front. Huddersfield's central defenders could not
cope but when Carroll is fit — which has not been often enough — they are
not the only ones who have struggled. "We didn't want to push Andy but he's
been training with us for four and a half weeks," said Bilic. "You know
what you're going to get when he's on the pitch, not only good in the air
but he's giving the whole team energy, he's giving you confidence, making
the opposition a bit insecure. "I've been saying that for two years now and
the only thing is his availability for the games. Hopefully, we are going to
manage him so he can be fit for the whole season. The crowd love him — but
who doesn't?" In the end, it took 72 minutes to finally breach the
Huddersfield defence and then less than five more before substitute Andre
Ayew put the game to bed. Bilic added: "I told the guys that even if we
hadn't won the game 'well done' because they gave everything."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham transfer target William Carvalho has not given up on the move
despite clubs' massive falling out
Deal for Sporting Lisbon midfielder Slaven Bilic wants alongside Cheikhou
Kouyate now set to be revived in January
The Mirror
BYDARREN LEWIS
20:39, 12 SEP 2017

William Carvalho still wants to go to West Ham — even though there has been
a complete breakdown in relations between them and his current club,
Sporting Lisbon. Boss Slaven Bilic still wants the 25-year-old Portugal
international to form a midfield partnership with Cheikhou Kouyate — and
Carvalho remains keen on a move to the Premier League. It means the deal,
which was aborted on Deadline Day last month, is set to be reignited in
January. But it also means the Hammers could be forced to bury the hatchet
with Sporting chief Bruno de Carvalho, despite the row which saw them
threatening to sue the Portuguese club, and Sporting threatening to report
the Londoners to world governing body FIFA over an alleged illegal approach.
Last week, De Carvalho called on West Ham fans to question their club's
motives for insisting they had made a bid for the Euro 2016 winner. He also
urged them to use an insulting jibe to describe Hammers co-owners David Gold
and David Sullivan.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham stars reveal motivation for Huddersfield win as Slaven Bilic gets
welcome boost
The Hammers boss was feeling the heat after starting the season with three
straight league defeats
The Mirror
BYADRIAN KAJUMBA
12:30, 12 SEP 2017

West Ham 's players admit they 'did it for Slaven' after kickstarting their
campaign against Huddersfield. The Hammers boss was feeling the heat after
starting the season with three straight league defeats. And, as reported by
Mirror Sport last month, the club had already begun considering potential
alternatives to the Croatian. But his players eased the pressure on their
under-fire boss with a first league win of the season against Huddersfield
on Monday. And defender James Collins reckons the squad, rather than Bilic,
should have been in the spotlight before the 2-0 triumph at the London
Stadium. He said: "There has been a lot of talk and he has been under a lot
of pressure, but that's down to us. I say it all the time, I do find it a
bit funny when managers get so much stick when it's the lads on the pitch
performing or not performing as we were, and the gaffer has to take it on
his shoulder. "We had to give him a performance and a result. It was not
really about how we played tonight, it was about getting three points and
thankfully we have done that."
Jose Fonte said: "He's a passionate manager and he's a great manager. "He
deserved this because he has been under a lot of pressure as we all know.
"It was important for him and it was important to show our attitude and to
show we are always with our manager."
Goalkeeper Jose Hart said: "We are a group and we stick together, He puts a
lot of faith in us and it was important we stuck together. I think that was
the main thing - we stuck together and we got the result." A first league
clean sheet since January was an added bonus for England keeper Hart. He
said: "It's about time. There's always a chance that something might happen
but I thought the defenders were fantastic and they protected me really well
and I didn't really have that much to do. "I've kept plenty of clean sheets
for my country. I am going to keep trying to make as many saves as I can.
Whether we keep a clean one or not as long as we win I am not really too
interested. I am going to try and keep that form going."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham news: Jose Fonte insists under-fire Slaven Bilic is a great manager
JOSE FONTE labelled Slaven Bilic a "great manager" after West Ham marked his
49th birthday with a long overdue first win of the season.
By MATTHEW DUNN
PUBLISHED: 12:26, Tue, Sep 12, 2017 | UPDATED: 12:29, Tue, Sep 12, 2017
Express.co.uk

A much-improved performance from the Hammers against Huddersfield at the
London Stadium meant they finally won at the fourth attempt this campaign,
with Pedro Obiang and Andre Ayew securing a 2-0 victory. "He's a passionate
manager and he's a great manager," he said. "He deserved this because he
has been under a lot of pressure of course as we all know. "This is the
business that we are in but I think it was important for him and it was
important to show our attitude and to show we are always with our manager.
"I am pleased for today because it is his birthday as well so we gave him
what he wanted and now hopefully we can kick on. "It's an important win
after a few difficult weeks. Obviously it's three points and nothing more
than that but it is three points that will give us a little bit more
confidence."
Certainly, it was a vast improvement on the first three games when West Ham
conceded 10 goals in three defeats. But rather than moving forwards, Fonte
believes it was a step backward that finally got West Ham back to winning
ways. "As a defender it's the worst possible feeling conceding three goals
every game or four," he said. "It's unbelievable so for us today we managed
to keep a clean sheet - we felt secure with the system we played tonight.
"It worked well last year when we changed to this system. The manager in
this game reversed to last year and it was very successful. We are buzzing,
we are happy with the result."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Fonte's best, Zabaleta's too & London Stadium lift off - West Ham talking
points after beating Huddersfield
What were the main talking points to arise from the Hammers win over the
Terriers
Football london
BYSAM INKERSOLE
09:00, 12 SEP 2017

With 25 minutes to go, Bilic withdrew the ineffective Javier Hernandez and
replaced him with Andre Ayew, who has had a torrid time for club and country
recently.
Boos rung around the London Stadium as the £16m summer signing left the
pitch - not at him, but at the boss. Bilic had deployed Chicharito on the
wing for the majority of the match to accommodate the retunring Andy
Carroll. Ayew didn't see much of the ball but ended up with bagging an
assist and the crucial second goal to settle any nerves in E20. His lay-off
to Pedro Obiang for the wildly deflected opener and then popping up in the
box to stab home not long after won the Hammers the game. Ayew needed that
as much as anyone to get his confidence back and he celebrated like it as
well. So did his manager.

Jose Fonte's best game for West Ham

The subject says it all but that was, by some distance, the Portuguese's
defenders best display in claret and blue. It was reckless at times in the
first half but also effective as Huddersfield barely got a sniff and were
given a rude awakening to the Premier League. The Terriers had been riding
the crest of a wave since their promotion and three top flight games
unbeaten but Fonte proved it's no cakewalk for David Wagner's men. Fonte has
struggled since his £8m switch from Southampton last January but looks
infinitely more comfortable playing in a back three than a back four and he
displayed excellent tackling, distribution and positional awareness on
Monday night.

Pablo Zabaleta answering his critics

In the first three games of the season, the free agent summer signing had
looked every minute of his 32 years of age on the pitch and eyebrows were
raised when he was deployed as a wingback against Huddersfield.

Worries? What worries.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Jermaine Jenas criticises Cheikhou Kouyate
HITC
Shane Callaghan

West Ham United stopped the rot on Monday with a 2-0 win over the Terriers.
By all accounts, West Ham United's 2-0 win over Huddersfield Town on Monday
night was a good thing from their perspective. Slaven Bilic's side went into
their first home Premier League game of the season on the back of three
successive defeats, conceding 10 times in the process. As a result, there
was quite a lot of pressure on West Ham - not to mention on Bilic himself -
last night, but late goals from Pedro Obiang and Andre Ayew saw the Irons
pick up their first win of a troubled campaign so far. Nevertheless, former
Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Jermaine Jenas had one minor criticism for one
man: Cheikhou Kouyate. In the first half, the big Senegal midfielder went to
ground very easily under a challenge by Huddersfield's Tommy Smith, and
Jenas has labelled that decision as a "joke". "Cheikhou Kouyate just threw
himself to the floor. Tommy Smith is saying 'have a look at yourself'," he
told BBC Sport. "Yes, there's contact but he's just thrown himself down.
It's a joke really." Good win, but there's no let-up for West Ham.
The Hammers face more tricky tests over the coming weeks, starting with a
trip to West Brom this weekend, before hosting Tottenham at the London
Stadium on Saturday week.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

http://vyperz.blogspot.com