Daily WHUFC News - 9th November 2013

Chadwell Chatter
WHUFC.com
James Collins on his return from injury, Norwich City, his Wales comeback
and culinary talents
08.11.2013

Hello everyone,

I'm delighted to say that I'm back in full training and hope to be involved
at Norwich on Saturday. I thought I would be out for about seven weeks, but
it's just about three weeks now and I'm happy to be back. After not playing
for West Ham the weekend before, I played two quick games for Wales. We had
a tough game on the Friday night against Macedonia and then a game in
Belgium on the Tuesday and unfortunately I pulled my hamstring. Maybe it was
too much work, or perhaps just old age! They thought it would be seven
weeks, but the staff here have done great and got me back in three.
Obviously it's disappointing circumstances for me to come back with Winston
Reid getting injured at a time when he is playing so well, but we had clean
sheets when I was playing earlier in the season and hopefully we can
continue our form. I am happy to get my place back, but it's tinged with a
bit of sadness on Reidy's side.

We do a lot of work on the defensive side of the game. The Gaffer works hard
on it on the training pitch and that's how we start every game - we know if
we don't concede we're not going to lose the game. Whoever fills in, in the
centre or in the full-back positions, we know have a solid base to keep a
clean sheet.
We've got a great record away from home at the minute - we've only conceded
one penalty away to Hull - so we'll be looking to keep a clean sheet again.
Hopefully we can pop up and score at the other end and I can chip in as
well.

Last season at Norwich we kept a clean sheet and nicked a nil-nil. I
conceded a free-kick that was VERY close to being a penalty, but thankfully
it wasn't and we defended well. We'll have to do that again on Saturday and
hopefully we can nick a couple of goals. I don't think it matters how
Norwich got on last week. I have been on the end of an 8-1 defeat at Chelsea
when I was at Aston Villa and we went out the next week and probably played
the best we had all year. On other occasions, we've been thrashed and played
twice as bad the following game. You can't really say how the match will pan
out. We've just got to go there, defend well and create chances and score
goals.

Our last victory at Norwich was in January 2006 in the FA Cup third round
and I remember it well. I played against my old Cardiff team-mate Peter
Thorne, who was playing up front for them, and it was a tough game. It's
always a hard one up at Norwich because their fans are passionate about
their club and about their local community. It's always a good atmosphere
there, too.

Talking of good atmospheres, I watched my old team Cardiff's win over
Swansea last Sunday and it was great. It was a tense game and the rivalry is
massive down there, but I think the best team won on the day. I hope to be
returning to Cardiff myself next weekend when Wales take on Finland in a
friendly. Me and the manager Chris Coleman sorted out our differences and I
played in the last two World Cup qualifiers and I hope to be in the squad
again and help my country. This will be our first international following
Craig Bellamy's retirement and it will be a bit strange. I was with him a
lot on our last trip to Belgium and he has been around the Welsh set-up for
as long as I've been playing. It will be strange, but Bellars said himself
that his retirement gives another youngster a chance to come in and do well.
He's got to look after his body as he becomes an old man, but it gives
someone else a chance.

Two of our younger players, Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey, are doing great.
it speaks for itself, the way Gareth has gone to Real Madrid for a record
fee and he has done well, setting up and scoring goals. Aaron has been the
player of the season by far this year so far. They're both great lads and
have stayed grounded. They have family back in Wales and go back there,
which I think helps them off the pitch. If they can perform anywhere near
the way they have for their clubs for Wales, then we have a bright future.

Just before I go, I want to mention my proud record of identifying the
various types of fish served in the canteen! I do like my food so I tend to
get the chefs to quiz me now and then. I try to cook as much as I can at
home, even though the wife usually tries to dissuade me! I take an interest
in the kitchen and my signature dishes are usually fish, but I'll have a go
at whatever I can rustle up.

Myself and a few of the boys have opened a restaurant in Chelmsford called
59 New Street and I hope to do some cooking in there before Christmas, so
watch this space! Tim De'Ath, our old chef and current player liaison
officer and England team chef, has devised the menu there and we often go
there with our families to eat and the food is great. Hopefully a few West
Ham fans can come down and eat there, too!

Have a great weekend,
Ginge

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Hammers pair open sports centre
WHUFC.com
Sir Trevor Brooking and Jack Collison opened a new community sports centre
in Bedfordshire
08.11.2013

Two famous West Ham United No10s were on hand to open a new community sports
centre in Bedfordshire this week. Sir Trevor Brooking and Jack Collison both
attended the ceremony to mark the opening of the £1.3m Shefford Sports Club
facility, which will play host to a number of local football clubs. Among
them will be the junior club Collison played for as a schoolboy growing up,
Shefford Saints FC, as well as the town's Bedfordshire County Football
League side Shefford Town and Campton FC. Funded by the Football Foundation
- the nation's largest sports charity that is funded by the Premier League,
The FA, and the Government via Sport England - the Football Stadia
Improvement Fund and WREN, Landfill Communities Fund, the new facilities
include a full-size adult pitch, training area and five junior pitches, plus
a new clubhouse. Sir Trevor praised everyone involved in enabling the
development to take place, pointing to the importance of grassroots football
to the fortunes of English national team. "This is a really good example of
a variety of different groups working together to do the funding," he said.
"Obviously The FA had an involvement through the Football Foundation and you
have to admire the officials who have taken a long time going through the
process. "For a club with 21 junior teams to get a venue like this, with an
important clubhouse to pay for the ongoing costs of things like coaching
courses for the managers, improving the facilities, kits and everything else
that is needed to sustain a club. "As we celebrate England's qualification
for the World Cup in Brazil next year it is always heartening to attend an
event like this and see how we are benefiting our younger players, both boys
and girls. "All of the players who will be representing England at the World
Cup finals will have played for a grassroots club when they were starting
out and that is why facilities like this are so important for the future of
football in this country."

After Sir Trevor had cut the ribbon to officially open the new complex, both
he and Wales midfielder Collison spent time meeting young footballers,
posing for photographs, signing autographs and passing on advice on how to
follow in their illustrious footsteps. Collison has kept a close eye on the
development at his old club, attending a ground-breaking ceremony when work
got underway in June 2012. "The club still means a lot to me," revealed the
25-year-old. "I played here as child and my family are still local. I had a
great time playing here and so it is important that these clubs are given
the support in this way to try and improve and be able to offer the chance
for youngsters to play."

Collison won the Shefford Saints Player of the Year award as an Under-9 and
the club now has a special award named in his honour that is presented
annually to a player with the greatest potential.

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Potts expects tough test
WHUFC.com
Steve Potts believes his U18s will face their toughest test yet when they
play Aston Villa on Saturday
08.11.2013

West Ham United Under-18s manager Steve Potts is expecting a tough match on
Saturday when his team welcome Aston Villa to Little Heath (1pm kick-off).
The ex-Hammers defender believes the third place Villans will provide the
sternest test yet for his charges in their Barclays Under-18 Premier League
campaign. Potts' team are on a six match unbeaten run which has seen them
move into sixth place in the table but he believes their resilience will be
put to the test this weekend. He told West Ham TV: "I get clips of the
opposition the week before we play each team and from the clips I've seen so
far of Aston Villa, they look like the best team I've seen - I think it will
be a real test for us come Saturday. "Every game we're being tested in
different ways, on Saturday I do think Aston Villa are a very good all-round
team so that will be a real test for us whether we're playing home or away."

If Potts' team keep up their fine defensive work then all three points may
well be within their grasp against Villa. The Hammers boast the second best
defensive record in the league, a fact which is pleasing for a man who made
505 appearances at the back for West Ham United. "I often think that the
forwards get all the headlines but the defenders have to do the nitty gritty
side of the game. "You can enjoy your defending that's for sure. You can
enjoy getting a clean sheet or getting good tackles in but I think when you
talk about a defensive record it's a group thing not just the defenders.
"Everyone has to play a role now, even the forwards because gone are the
days when you could have luxury players who don't defend. You look at all
the top teams now and I think everyone puts a shift in and that's the way
the game's gone."

The 46-year-old has seen several of his squad make their bow for the
Development Squad in recent times with Reece Burke, Moses Makasi, Amos Nasha
and Josh Cullen all appearing in the Barclays Under-21 Premier League draw
against Chelsea. Burke played the full 90 minutes in that match, turning in
a strong performance alongside Pelly Ruddock at the heart of the defence and
Potts believes his performance was testament to his development. "He's
really come on over the last couple of years. With Reece he's got a
fantastic attitude, he wants to learn and I've never had a problem with him
training wise. "He's always on his game giving 100 per cent in training and
takes that into matches. He's the sort of kid that deserves to do well
because of that."

Potts also explained he is a happy man when any of his side make the step-up
to the Under-21s. "That's why we're here, to try and push the boys on as
much as we can. When you have an involvement with the boys on a day-to-day
basis and then they do get pushed up higher you're keen to see how they cope
with it and I think they've done ok with that so far."

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Six of the best - Norwich City
WHUFC.com
A look into the past at six memorable triumphs for West Ham United against
Norwich City
08.11.2013

West Ham United travel to Carrow Road on Saturday looking to extend their
unbeaten away run to four matches in all competitions when they take on
Norwich City in the Barclays Premier League. Sam Allardyce's side take a
brilliant record of six clean sheets to Norfolk and will feel confident of
extending that against Chris Hughton's goal-shy team Here whufc.com takes a
look at six memorable wins over the Canaries for Hammers fans to savour
ahead of the Saturday evening fixture.

Norwich City 1-2 West Ham United
FA Cup third tound
7 January 2006
Premier League West Ham overcame Championship side Norwich to get through to
the fourth round of the FA Cup. The Hammers were in front after just six
minutes when Bobby Zamora laid the ball to Hayden Mullins who lashed his
shot past Robert Green. Zamora himself then got on the score sheet when he
capitalised on Green's error to nod home from close-range. Paul McVeigh
pulled one back from the penalty spot after James Collins handled but the
Hammers held on to progress to the next round. Alan Pardew's team would make
it all the way to the final where they would eventually lose on penalties to
Liverpool at the Millennium Stadium.

West Ham United 1-0 Norwich City
FA Cup third round
8 January 2005
Just under a year previously, the sides would meet at this stage of the FA
Cup again, Championship side West Ham knocked out their Premier League
visitors.
An 81st minute header from striker Marlon Harewood put the Hammers into the
fourth round draw at the expense of their ailing opponents. West Ham didn't
make it any further in the competition however and after a home draw with
Sheffield United the Blades eliminated them in the replay.

West Ham 4-0 Norwich City
Division One
11 April 1992
Bottom of the table West Ham bought their ten match winless run to an abrupt
halt with a thumping win over the Canaries. Matthew Rush grabbed two goals
with Ian Bishop also scoring whilst Julian Dicks got in on the act with a
trademark penalty. The big win wasn't enough to save the Hammers who were
relegated after finishing bottom of the league.

West Ham United 4-2 Norwich City
Division One
1 January 1974
The Hammers begun the New Year in style after they put four goals past
Norwich at the Boleyn Ground. The win was vital for West Ham who started the
day in the relegation zone but climbed out of it with this big win. Graham
Paddon struck twice with Bobby Gould and Trevor Brooking also scoring to
ease their relegation fears.

Norwich City 0-1 West Ham United
Division One
10 February 1973
West Ham completed a fine double over the Canaries thanks to a goal from
Bryan Robson in front of over 32,000 fans at Carrow Road. Earlier in the
season the Hammers had beaten Norwich 4-0 at the Boleyn Ground and took all
three points once again. West Ham went on to record a fifth place finish in
the division whilst Norwich flirted with relegation before finishing a place
above the drop zone.

Norwich City 2-6 West Ham United
Division Two
11 March 1939
Charlie Paynter's West Ham side hit six past Norwich to continue the Norfolk
club's slide towards relegation. A hat-trick from centre-forward Sam Small,
two from Joseph Stanley Foxall and one from John Morton sent the visitors to
a thumping win. The Canaries were relegated on goal difference that season
whilst the Hammers finished in eleventh place.

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Olympic Stadium bid: Three admit spying on West Ham United
BBC.co.uk

Three men have admitted spying on West Ham United during the bidding process
for the Olympic Stadium. Richard Forrest, Lee Stewart and Howard Hill
admitted illegally obtaining confidential information from the football club
and Olympic Park Legacy Company at Inner London Crown Court. They were
arrested after claims that Tottenham Hotspur had spied on Olympic officials,
which the club denied. The three men will be sentenced on 20 December.
Forrest, 31, of Furzefield in Crawley, Stewart, 40, of More Lane in Esher,
and Hill, 59, of Shrigley Road South in Stockport, all admitted one charge
of obtaining personal data contrary to Section 55 Data Protection Act 1998.
A charge of fraud by false representation was left to lie on file for each
of the defendants. The men had previously denied the charge at Southwark
Crown Court. Tottenham Hotspur, Leyton Orient and West Ham all made bids to
use the stadium after the 2012 Olympic Games, with the Hammers eventually
being awarded sole use.

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Norwich v West Ham
KO 17:30
8 November 2013
By John Roder
Match of the Day commentator
BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Venue: Carrow Road Date: Saturday, 9 November

Norwich midfielder Robert Snodgrass returns after concussion, but striker
Ricky van Wolfswinkel will again miss out with a continuing toe injury.
Nathan Redmond is still nursing a hip problem and is a doubt.

West Ham defender Winston Reid is out with an ankle injury but James Collins
has overcome a hamstring complaint. Striker Mladen Petric has a calf
problem, while Andy Carroll (foot) and Ricardo vaz Te (shoulder) are
long-term absentees.

MATCH PREVIEW

Norwich manager Chris Hughton has been the focus of considerable attention
ahead of this fixture, which is being billed by some as a match the Canaries
must win if the personable former Birmingham boss is to keep his job.
Norwich have played Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea in three of their
last four league matches, a difficult run for anyone, but the manner of
their 7-0 defeat by Manuel Pellegrini's Blues last weekend has raised
considerable questions about the direction the Canaries season is taking.
Both of these teams have the same problem, namely a lack of goals, with
Norwich scoring just six times in the Premier League so far and West Ham
eight. City's new signings up front - Ricky van Wolfswinkel, Gary Hooper,
Johan Elmander and Nathan Redmond - have between them contributed just two
league goals since arriving in Norfolk, while Andy Carroll's injury means
that Sam Allardyce is short of attacking options. "There are a few Norwich
players who are due a good performance. It would be great for their manager
Chris Hughton if they can produce one against West Ham because it would take
the pressure off him a bit. "Hughton needs more than one good result,
though. After West Ham is the international break, then Norwich are away at
Newcastle and at home to Crystal Palace. Those three games will be crucial
for him." At the back it's a tale of two very different defences. Norwich
have conceded an average of two goals per match, while the Hammers have six
clean sheets so far. With all the attention on Norwich it's easy to overlook
the fact that West Ham have only two more points than their opponents this
weekend. Nonetheless, the Hammers have a better away record than at home so
far, with just one goal conceded on their travels, and they've kept a clean
sheet in their last three on the road. The atmosphere at Carrow Road in the
past few seasons has generally been positive, with the club making huge
strides since the last time they conceded seven goals. That, you may
remember, was at home to Colchester in a League One fixture back in August
2009 and led to a change of manager. Whatever happens this Saturday, it is
going to be a rather tense evening for the home fans as they look for a
positive reaction to last week's events at the Etihad.

MATCH FACTS

Head-to-head
Norwich City are unbeaten in 15 home league games against West Ham United
(W8, D7) since a 1-0 top-flight defeat in February 1973.
West Ham did, however, win 1-0 at Carrow Road in the FA Cup in January 2006
on their way to reaching the final.
Last season's meeting at Norwich in September 2012 finished goalless.

Norwich City
Only Crystal Palace (21) have conceded more goals than Norwich (20), with
the 7-0 loss at Manchester City their heaviest since they were defeated by
the same scoreline at Sheffield Wednesday in November 1938.
The Canaries have conceded 18 goals in the last five games.
Chris Hughton's side have already played four of the current top five
(Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham) in the Premier League -
losing all four games.
No club has trailed more often at half-time in the Premier League than
Norwich (six), who have gone on to lose all of those games.

West Ham United
West Ham have failed to find the net in six league games - the joint highest
number in the Premier League along with Crystal Palace.
Only Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris has kept more Premier League clean
sheets (seven) than West Ham's Jussi Jaaskelainen (six) this season.
All four of United draws this season have been goalless, the most in the top
flight.
Ravel Morrison has scored with both of his shots on target this season, with
his two goals also making him the club's top league scorer.

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Guilty
KUMB.com
Filed: Friday, 8th November 2013
By: Staff Writer

The three men accused of spying on Karren Brady and other individuals
employed by West Ham United have all pleaded guilty. 59-year-old Howard Hill
- a former partner at accountancy firm PKF, Richard Forrest, 31, and Lee
Stewart, 40 all pleaded guilty to charges of unlawfully obtaining phone
records and bank statements belonging to vice-Chairman Karren Brady and
other members of staff involved with the Club's Olympic Stadium bid. The
entire episode was exposed by a Sunday Times article in July 2011 in which
Tottenham Hotspur - who, at the time were also involved with the Olympic
Stadium bidding process - were accused of hiring PKF in order to unearth any
'conflicts of interest' which may have arisen from West Ham's bid for the
stadium. Hill, Forrest and Stewart will be sentenced on 20 December. Three
further individuals arrested in connection with the case have since been
released and will face no charges.

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Rio calling for Ravel
KUMB.com
Filed: Friday, 8th November 2013
By: Liam Newman

West Ham's Ravel Morrison has once again been included in Gareth Southgate's
England Under 21 side as the Young Lions prepare to for a double-header
against Finland and San Marino.

The Young Lions sit atop Group One of the European Qualifiers and will look
to extend their unbeaten start to the campaign as they bid to reach the 2015
tournament, which is being held in the Czech Republic.

Morrison's inclusion suggests that Southgate sees the West Ham midfielder as
a key part of his plans although the player himself might still harbour
hopes of forcing his way into the senior setup in time for next summer's
World Cup.

Morrison made an instant impact for the Young Lions, scoring two on his
first home appearance against Lithuania. He was instrumental in that 5-0
victory and only took three minutes to open the scoring before completing
his brace with England's fourth. That fine performance was preceded by his
Under 21 debut against San Marino, just five days earlier, but already the
20-year-old looks like a fundamental component of Southgate's setup.

As West Ham fans will tell you, the midfielder is blessed with a raw talent
that not too many English players seem to possess. His natural ability to
take a man on was demonstrated to perfection with that incredible solo goal
at White Hart Lane and that is gift that we rarely see from home-grown
talent.

However, for all the skill and dribbling technique that the West Ham man
possesses, you could never classify him as selfish. For many young players,
the inability to spot a pass or play the final ball is the primary weakness
that prevents them from progressing to the very highest level. Morrision on
the other hand has already shown that upon those naturally gifted shoulders
lies a genuine football brain and that arguably is what sets him aside from
some of the country's other emerging stars.

Despite all of the highly publicised problems that he encountered as a
'tearaway teen', it is impossible to overlook the significance of his time
at Old Trafford. At Manchester United he was encouraged to express an
unquestionable raw talent whilst also developing an understanding of the
game under the guidance of some of the world's greatest coaching staff.
Although it ultimately didn't work out there, he could have hardly asked for
a better foundation to grow as a player.

On leaving Old Trafford, West Ham is one of the very few places that could
allow the player to continue his growth. Nearly two years down the line it
is clear to see that Morrison has been nurtured by two of the best youth
systems in the country and the rewards are now showing for both club and
country.

Whilst it is still early days in Morrison's career at both domestic and
international level, the potential is clear for all to see and makes his
future a mouth-watering prospect for supporters of West Ham and indeed
England. The year-long loan spell at Birmingham City definitely helped the
player mature and adapt to the physical demands of first-team football
whilst simultaneously allowing him to grow in confidence and ability.

Since returning to West Ham, the youngster has been somewhat of a Ravelation
in the Hammers midfield and is proving to be one of the most exciting
talents in the entire Premier League. Whilst we've previously seen plenty of
cases where fans and pundits alike have overhyped a player based on a
promising few matches, there is a genuine feeling that Morrison will live up
to expectations and eventually become a main fixture of the senior England
setup as well as being a vital piece in Allardyce's jigsaw.

Although Morrison has burst onto the scene in recent weeks, it is an outcome
that has threatened to occur for a number of years and is only the
culmination of dedicated hard work from one of England's finest young
talents. With his troublesome past well behind him, it now seems that the
world is at Ravel's young feet and there is no reason that he can't go on to
fulfil his full potential.

The call-up to Southgate's side is another stepping stone as the young
Hammer continues his rapid development in what is already proving to be a
monumental year in the 20-year-old's career. It's another great opportunity
to force himself into Roy Hodgson's plans in this important World Cup year
and two strong performances, at the Stadium:MK and New Meadow, will
certainly do him no harm.

Elsewhere, Mohammed Diame is included in the Senegal squad and will be
expected to start in their second leg playoff match against Ivory Coast in
Dakar. However, the Lions are trailing 3-1 and qualification for the World
Cup looks unlikely.

Meanwhile, Martin O'Neill's first squad sees a recall for Joey O'Brien and
the West Ham defender could make his first international appearance in over
a year.

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Norwich City v West Ham United
KUMB.com
Filed: Friday, 8th November 2013
By: Preview Percy

More from the man who failed the audition for the "Grumpy Old Men" TV show
because he was too miserable. Television's loss is, er, our loss as
well.....

Next we journey up the M11 to the land of the extra digit where we will be
entertained by Norwich City. Kick-off is at 5.30pm for the benefit of the
be-saucered amongst you. There doesn't seem to be anything in the way of
engineering works on the appropriate railway lines so an early start should
see you sampling the local ales for a decent session.

Our hosts are not in the rudest of health at present, sitting third from
bottom with 8 points from their 10 games thus far. They have a four point
and five point cushion over Sunderland & Palace respectively at the moment.
The 8 points have come courtesy of an opening day 2-2 home draw with
Everton, a 1-0 win over Southampton (also at home) later that month, a 1-0
win over Stoke at the Britannia in September and a 0-0 draw with Cardiff
last month. Other than that it's been defeats all the way, most notably last
weekend when they shipped 7 (seven) without response against Man City,
something that left them with a goal difference of -14, only one goal better
off than the bottom two.

The Cardiff game ended controversially as Leroy Fer put the ball into an
unguarded net whilst all around were expecting him to play the ball back to
the 'keeper, the ball having been played out by Cardiff to enable a Norwich
player to receive treatment. After a minute or two of pushing and shoving
the goal was chalked off, the "handbags" earning both clubs a fine – Norwich
coughing up £20k with Cardiff's share yet to be decided at the time of
writing. Fer later owned up that he'd "scored" deliberately, an admission
which, I suppose, contained honesty, if not sportsmanship. Of course one
should not ignore the role of the referee in all this. Mike Jones (for 'twas
he) claimed that he'd disallowed the goal because he hadn't blown the
whistle for the restart. Strangely, nobody asked Jones a) why he didn't blow
up in the several seconds that elapsed between the throw being taken and the
ball entering the net; b) why he hadn't felt it necessary to signal the
restart for any of the other throw-ins that afternoon; and c) whether he
would have signalled play on had the Cardiff 'keeper picked the ball up.
Actually, it's not that strange that nobody asked. Everyone knows the
answers anyway – unlike Fer, Jones has never given the impression of being
over-familiar with the concept of honesty.

Norwich are, famously, majority owned by Mr & Mrs Wynn-Jones. You may, of
course know Mrs Wynn-Jones better as Delia Smith, Norfolk's answer to Fanny
Craddock. This fact got us thinking here at the Avram Grant Olympic Rest
Home For The Bewildered. We reckon the tv companies may be missing a trick.
The other afternoon there were at least three of the tv channels available
in the day room that weren't showing some sort of cookery programme.

A few years ago the Wynn-Joneses looked as if they were about to sell up.
Minority shareholdings were purchased by interested parties, places on the
board were arranged and it seems that Delia was to ride off into the sunset
to concentrate on her spam fritters. However, the new investors came and
went and the only major new appearance on the board in recent years has been
Stephen Fry. Which is, I suppose, quite interesting.

There were a number of changes on the personnel front during the summer. The
aforementioned Fer, whose surname is French for "Iron", came in for a
reported £7m from Dutchmen FC Twente. Norwich represents Fer's second
attempt at forging (forging, geddit? Oh suit yourselves) a career in
England. He'd agreed a deal to join Everton back in January but a problem
with one of his knees (either the right or the left – it's really not that
important you know), led to Everton trying to negotiate the transfer fee on
a pay as you go basis. Twente weren't impressed and pulled out of the deal.
Which is how he ended up in Norfolk.

Grant Holt left for Wigan to be replaced by no fewer than three strikers (as
a well-known search engine might say "three strikers? Did you mean No
strikers?). You have to say that whatever his footballing pedigree, Ricky
Van Wolfswinkel is a damned fine name. Apparently he got the nickname
"Hat-ricky" as a kid but, lets face it, when you have a name that good any
attempt to jazz it up is, frankly, a waste of time. Sometimes less is more.
RVW came in from Sporting (Lisbon), having been contacted by Dutch legend
Johan Neeskens who told him he should join the Canaries. Robin Van Persie
also called him and said the same thing, but he joined anyway, £8.5m being
the alleged fee. Van Wolfswinkel missed the Man City drubbing and the spotty
work experience oik has just told me that he'll be absent this weekend as
well, which is a shame as it would have been interesting to hear the home
support trying to shoehorn that name into a popular terrace chant.

The second striker in is the less-spectacularly-named Gary Hooper, whose
transfer in from Celtic seemed to take forever to sort out. It probably
didn't, but it just seemed that every time I saw a newspaper it contained
the words "Gary Hooper is expected to compete his transfer to Norwich soon".
Hooper's journey through the football world has been a strange one. An Essex
boy, he didn't last too long in the Spurs youth system and elected to go up
in the world by joining Grays Athletic. A bit cheesed off with getting only
two or three minutes off the bench each week, he left Grays and ended up at
Southend. His two year spell at Roots Hall was punctuated with loan spells
at Hereford and Leyton Orient before he moved on permanently to Scunthorpe,
where he averaged a goal roughly every other game. Celtic, of all people,
won the inevitable bidding war and North of the border he went for a
reported £2.4m. Up there he improved his average to a goal every game and a
half and he spent his three years in the coveted no.88 shirt (the year he
was born if you're that interested) being linked with a move back to
civilisation (or, in one case, Hull), eventually ending up at Carrow Road
for £5m. His Norwich career has been a bit stop start due to injury and it
wasn't until the Cardiff match that he made his first start.

The third striker to arrive was former Bolton chappie Johan Elmander. The
much-capped Swede has come in on a season-long loan from Galatasary. During
his Bolton career he once went through a scoreless spell that lasted no less
than nine months. Have a guess which team he broke his duck against. Yup.

Winger Robert Snodgrass is thought to be ok for this match. He was knocked
cold during the 4-0 League Cup defeat at Old Trafford, an injury that meant
he was missing from the 7-0 at Man City – though I'm not sure anyone would
have noticed one more Norwich player walking about in a daze last weekend.

And what about us? Well we had the better of the match against Villa without
quite having the cutting edge that some of the approach play deserved. Who'd
have thought that would happen what with us playing without strikers and
all.

It's been a bit quiet on the disciplinary front - I've been waiting all week
for the FA to announce Villa full-back Matt Lowton's punishment for hi stamp
on Mark Noble. I've seen the un-broadcast footage (don't ask) and it's a
shocking piece of video – all the more so for the fact that ref Webb was
close enough to have seen had he actually been looking the right way. Any
time you'd like to announce that 3 match ban would be good guys.

There will be changes afoot for this one. The club had put Biggles on
standby to whisk the Kiwi away to represent his country. However, the plan
ran into a snag when nobody in Norfolk knew where the nearest airport
capable of taking a decent-sized jet was. Or indeed where the nearest
airport was. Or what an airport actually is. Whilst the club travel agent
was patiently explaining the principles behind powered flight to a baffled
Norwich City Council official, out came the news that Reid had injured a
foot in training, thus sparing the club official the tricky bit about the
Wright Brothers. James Collins is now fit enough to return to the side
alongside James Tomkins, who has been in good form of late.

The aforementioned Noble has also been in good form but, according to
Hodgson, he's no Tom Cleverley. From a club point of view we're all glad
about that I suppose but it must be galling for the lad to see players
getting international recognition on the basis of the fact that they're
playing poorly in the right colour shirt.

Up front Mr Allardyce's comments suggest that we'll go with the zero option
once more, which would mean another spot of benchwarming for Cole C (though
with all the mind games that bosses play these days it wouldn't be a total
surprise to see him start). I suppose that this is a good a game as any to
do the 4-6-0 thing in – as the match against Spurs showed it's a formation
you can get away with against weaker opposition.

Prediction? Well their defeat last week was against Mn City who, as we know
only too well, can be devastating when they're on form. However, most
observers came away shaking their heads muttering about how poor Norwich
actually were. It's one thing picking yourselves up from a tonking from a
superior team if you're not a bad side yourselves, but the psychological
damage that must come from the realisation that you're an average side that
is going to rely heavily on there being three sides in the league even worse
than you is something that will be more difficult to overcome.
Though they will undoubtedly try to come out of the traps fighting (to mix a
metaphor), I think an early goal would see heads go down. So, assuming that
instructions to get at the opposition early doors are issued and carried
out, I can see us having a bit too much for them. With that in mind, the
Avram Grant Olympic Rest Home Fund to buy Roy Hodgson a copy of the AtoZ
that actually contains the E13 postcode (£2.50) will be placed on an away
win this week. 2-1 shall we say? Lovely.

Enjoy the game!

When Last We Met At Carrow Road – Drew 0-0 (Sept 2012) They moaned like
anything that they should have had a penalty instead of a free kick. Had
they got television up there they'd have seen from the replay that the foul
was outside the box.

Jonathan Moss Cost us the match against Stoke at the Boleyn this season by
falling for a blatant dive then ignoring Shawcross's barge into the wall as
the resulting free-kick was taken. I mean it's not as if Stoke are known for
that sort of thing is it. Oh hang on....

Danger Man: Robert Snodgrass – main source of chances for them this season –
when he knows where he is.

Daft Fact Of The Week: In 2008 Norwich put itself forward to be "European
City Of Culture". A City councillor was supposed to have blamed their
failure to win on "The Partridge Effect" - an assumed sense of ridicule
deriving from Steve Coogan's comic creation. The councillor later claimed
his comments had been exaggerated, though, in a Partridge-esque aside, he
conceded: " At the back of my mind I'm honest enough to accept that Norwich
is a bit of a cultural backwater" No kidding!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Norwich City face West Ham with both teams struggling at wrong end of table
Last Updated: November 8, 2013 11:23am
SSN

Norwich City and West Ham United are both desperate for points to ease their
relegation woes in the Premier League when they meet at Carrow Road on
Saturday. Heading into Saturday's evening kick-off, with the match live on
Sky Sports 1HD, Chris Hughton's Norwich find themselves third from bottom
with eight points from 10 matches, having scored just six goals and conceded
20. The Canaries must still be smarting from their humiliating 7-0 hammering
by Manchester City last weekend that extended their winless run to five
matches in all competitions. In fact, Norwich have not won since September
29 when they edged past Stoke City 1-0 away from home, and the pressure is
increasing on manager Hughton. Sam Allardyce's West Ham are also struggling
for points, having picked up just 10 from as many matches to languish in
15th position in the table. The Hammers, though, are unbeaten in their last
three competitive fixtures and got the better of London rivals Tottenham
Hotspur 3-0 at White Hart Lane a month ago. West Ham have struggled for
goals just like Norwich, but they have conceded only eight - fewer than
Arsenal, Liverpool, Man City, Everton and Manchester United and as many as
Chelsea.

Paul Merson's prediction

This is a massive game for Norwich. Whenever you get beat 7-0 it comes up as
S-E-V-E-N on the vidiprinter and that doesn't help any manager. The fans
will be on Chris Hughton's back a bit and you're always under pressure when
you're near the bottom of the league, especially when you've just been on
the wrong end of a big scoreline.

West Ham have kept a few clean sheets of late and have one of the best
defensive records in the division away from home. However, I am going to go
for Norwich to win 1-0 because I just feel they need it a little bit more
than West Ham. The first goal in this game will be as big as any we've seen
this season from these teams because it will probably settle the match.

PAUL PREDICTS: 1-0

Norwich
Last 6
Man City (a)7-0
Man Utd (a)4-0
Cardiff (h)0-0
Arsenal (a)4-1
1-3
0-1

Hughton is hopeful of having Scotland winger Robert Snodgrass available for
Norwich following his recovery from concussion. However, midfielder Nathan
Redmond is doubtful because of a hip problem, while record-signing Ricky van
Wolfswinkel remains out with a foot injury. Midfielders Alexander Tettey
(ankle) and Elliott Bennett (knee) are both long-term absentees for the
hosts.

West Ham
Last 6
A Villa (h)0-0
0-2
Swansea (a)0-0
Man City (h)1-3
Tottenham (a)0-3
Hull City (a)1-0

West Ham will be without defender Winston Reid for their trip to Norwich, as
the New Zealand international is out with an ankle injury he suffered in
training.
However, fellow defender James Collins is available following a hamstring
problem. The Hammers' forward options remain limited with Andy Carroll
(heel) and Mladen Petric (thigh) both ruled out, while Matthew Taylor
(thigh), George McCartney and Alou Diarra (both knee) are also absent.

Opta Stats

Norwich have lost only one of their six Premier League games against West
Ham and are unbeaten in home meetings.
West Ham have conceded only one goal in five Premier League away games this
season.
The Hammers could become the first team to draw three Premier League games
in a row 0-0 since 2009.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham midfielder Kevin Nolan believes they should be higher up table
Last Updated: November 8, 2013 9:40pm
SSN

West Ham midfielder Kevin Nolan feels their current league position does not
accurately reflect how they have been playing as they prepare to face
Norwich in Saturday Night Football. Sam Allardyce's side lie 15th in the
Premier League table, just two points clear of the relegation zone ahead of
this weekend's fixtures.
The Londoners have conceded just eight league goals all season, with
Southampton and Tottenham the only teams with meaner defences. But they have
managed to score only eight goals themselves, a factor which Nolan concedes
has prevented them from climbing the table. "When you look at the
performances we've put out this year I think we should be a lot higher,"
Nolan told Weekend Warm-Up. "We've ended up being in and around the bottom
three for most of the season but to have six clean sheets at this stage of
the season, 10 games gone in the Premier League, you can't really ask for
more. "It's just down to us now to start putting the ball in the back of the
net, that's the be all and end all." Nolan scored 10 goals for West Ham last
season, including a hat-trick in their 4-2 victory over Reading on the final
day of the campaign. He has struggled for goals this season though, with his
only one to date coming in the opening day win over Cardiff, and with his
side usually going on to win matches he scores in, Nolan is keen to find his
goalscoring touch once more. "When I score, we win games!" he added.
"There's no doubt about that, when I score a goal I want to make sure it
means something and we go on to win a game. "I'm not about personal
accolades or trying to score just to get my numbers up. "I've got to score
goals, that's a major part of my armoury if you like. I'm feeling that I'm
starting to get the chances again." Nolan will go up against an old
team-mate from his Bolton days on Saturday, with Sweden striker Johan
Elmander now leading the line for Norwich. Elmander has fond memories of his
time at the Reebok Stadium and feels Nolan remains a major threat in front
of goal.
"He's been up on the top for so many years and he's always delivering, he
just keeps on going," he said. "He's always fighting and giving everything
in every game. He'll turn up in that hole where the ball is coming, and when
he gets the chance he puts in the goal. That's something you're born with."
Elmander admits he is looking forward to testing himself against a number of
former Bolton team-mates, but insists he will do them no favours on the
field. "I think there are four or five of them there now, Jussi
Jaaskelainen, Kevin Nolan, (Ricardo) Vaz Te, (Matthew) Taylor and Andy
O'Brien," he added. "It's good friends of mine, they were really nice to me
when I was up in Bolton so it's going to be something special to play
against West Ham. "But when you're on the pitch you don't think about that
much."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Olympic Stadium: Three plead guilty to illegally obtaining private data
Last Updated: November 8, 2013 9:12pm
SSN

Three men have pleaded guilty to illegally obtaining private information
regarding the future of London's Olympic Stadium, ahead of the decision to
award West Ham use of the venue from 2016. In a criminal case at Inner
London Crown Court, Howard Hill, Richard Michael Forrest and Lee Stewart
accepted their guilt and will be sentenced next month. Following the
Olympics and before West Ham were granted use of the stadium, football club
Tottenham was accused by the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) of ordering
surveillance by private investigators on board members tasked with deciding
the fate of the arena after the Games. Accountancy firm PKF was employed by
Tottenham who denied being involved in illegal activity. Hill, a former
partner at PKF, was accused of unlawfully obtaining personal data such as
phone bills and bank statements from West Ham and OPLC workers. At a
separate court case, PKF was accused of unlawfully obtaining telephone
records of West Ham's vice-chairman Karren Brady during the bidding process.
After much wrangling and many meetings, West Ham agreed on a 99-year deal to
move from Upton Park and rent the revamped £486m stadium. The 80,000-seat
venue will be downsized to 54,000 and reconfigured with a new roof and
retractable seats. As the anchor tenant, West Ham will have primary of use
of the stadium, although the venue will retain the running track and stage
other sporting events and concerts.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
SPURSGATE
By Sean Whetstone 9 Nov 2013 at 08:24
West Ham Till I Die

Forty one years ago Howard Hunt (HH) put together a team of private
investigators nicknamed the Plumbers to break into the Watergate hotel. An
act that would turn into a massive cover up which ended the reign & career
of President Richard Nixon.

A few days after the break-in, Nixon was recorded saying,, "This fellow
Hunt, he knows too damn much." Howard Hunt later put pressure on the White
House for cash payments to cover legal fees, family support, and expenses,
for himself and his fellow burglars. In 2011 another HH (Howard Hill) is
alleged to have put together a team of private investigators who went on to
obtain phone records belonging to West Ham Vice Chairman Karren Brady.

These phone records were passed to Tottenham Hotspur's lawyers in early
March 2011, although Spurs continue to claim that the club did not receive
copies itself.

At a high court hearing in 2011 lawyers for Karren Brady and West Ham won an
order requiring accountants PKF, hired by Spurs to conduct "due diligence"
on the first bidding process for the Olympic Stadium, to hand over
"unlawfully obtained" copies of Brady's itemised phone bills.

Spurs lawyers were gathering material for a possible judicial review, which
eventually reached court in October 2011 but was then halted in its tracks
when the government and the OPLC pulled the plug on their deal with West Ham
and Newham council in the face of delays caused by legal challenges from
Spurs. The records are believed to show details of phone calls between Brady
and OPLC board members, including the then chief executive Andrew Altman.

In his witness statement the Spurs finance director Matthew Collecott said:
"I understand [Howard] Hill produced Brady's phone records to the lawyers.
When asked he confirmed they had been received anonymously. The lawyers
claim they made it clear to Howard Hill it was imperative that all
investigations were carried out within the law."

Matthew Collecott confirmed that PKF was engaged in February 2011 to carry
out "due diligence" on the process. Spurs were concerned details of their
tender for the Olympic Stadium had been leaked. West Ham's legal counsel,
said his reading of Matthew Collecott's desciption of the sequence of the
events was that Howard Hill was being painted as a "rogue agent" who had
"exceeded his authority". Both PKF and Howard Hill claimed not to know where
the phone bills came from, saying they had been sent anonymously. "I did not
attach any significance to Howard Hill's reference to receiving telephone
records," claimed Matthew Collecott.

The 2011 court case brought by West Ham heard an individual calling
themselves "Thomas Brady" with a fictional West Ham email address had
managed to obtain Brady's itemised Vodafone mobile phone bills from its
customer services department. PKF claimed not to know where the documents
had come from and said that its partner Howard Hill had claimed the
telephone records arrived "in the proverbial brown envelope".

Howard Hill admitted passing the records to the Sunday Times, which used
them as part of the basis for an article. Hill later apologised to the Spurs
chairman, Daniel Levy, after the Sunday Times article appeared, the court
was told. The judge had described how West Ham and Brady were given the
"traditional run around" by Spurs and PKF as they attempted to establish
whether the phone bills existed and who had access to them.

This week Howard Hill pleaded guilty at Inner London crown court to
unlawfully obtaining personal data such as phone bills and bank records from
executives working for West Ham and the Olympic Park Legacy Company. Two
other men Richard Forrest and Lee Stewart also pleaded guilty to the same
offence and all three will be sentenced on 20th December. Three counts of
fraud by false representation were left to lie on file.

Spurs have repeatedly insisted that they knew nothing of Hill's illegal
behaviour and PKF, which has since merged with BDO, has also said it was
unaware of any illegal activity.

In the seventies the New York Times asked 'What did Nixon Know & When Did He
Know It?'

I would like to ask that same question to Spurs Chairman Daniel Levy and
finance director Matthew Collecott.

Will this turn out to be Spursgate?

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Sam Allardyce says the pressure will be on him if West Ham lose to Norwich
9 Nov 2013 01:24
The Mirror

Sam Allardyce could not care less about Chris Hughton's plight – because
defeat for West Ham will put his job on the line. Big Sam's Hammers travel
to Carrow Road today and victory for the visitors could spell the end for
under-fire Hughton, whose side have taken just eight points from 10 games in
the Premier League. But Allardyce said Norwich will go above his side if
they win, which would put the heat on him. "If they beat us on Saturday, he
(Chris Hughton) is in a much better position than I am and the pressure then
comes on me," said Allardyce. "I'm not foolish enough, I know the pressure
is on us all. "I'm two points off Chris Hughton, so it is a massive game for
us both. "I don't want to finish on Saturday and be below Norwich City
because then the pressure reverts on to me."

Allardyce has been rocked by the news that star defender Winston Reid is
unavailable for the trip after suffering an ankle injury. But fellow
centre-half James Collins is now back from his hamstring strain and will
partner James Tomkins in defence.

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

http://vyperz.blogspot.com



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Daily WHUFC News - 8th November 2013

Norwich City match preview
WHUFC.com
All the latest news ahead of West Ham United's trip to Carrow Road on
Saturday
07.11.2013

NORWICH CITY v WEST HAM UNITED
BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
SATURDAY 9 NOVEMBER 2013
KICK-OFF: 5.30PM
REFEREE: JONATHAN MOSS
FULL AUDIO AND TEXT COMMENTARY - WEST HAM TV

Introduction
• West Ham United travel to Carrow Road on Saturday to face Norwich City in
a Barclays Premier League clash that will be televised live on Sky Sports at
5.30pm.
• The Hammers head to Norfolk looking to extend their unbeaten run away from
home to four games in all competitions after a recent draw with Swansea City
and wins over Tottenham Hotspur in the league and Burnley in the Capital One
Cup.
• Sam Allardyce's side have tasted defeat just once on their travels this
season with the sole loss coming at the KC Stadium as Hull City's Robbie
Brady scored the only goal of the game.
• Brady's penalty is the only goal which has been scored against West Ham in
six away league and cup outings so far this season.
• That means Jussi Jasskelainen has conceded only once in over 450 minutes
of the Hammers' away league matches.
• This has contributed to West Ham holding the equal third best defensive
record in the Premier League going into Saturday's game against the team
with the third worst defensive record.
• Norwich City come into the match on the back of a 7-0 defeat away to
Manchester City which left them in 18th position, three places below the
Hammers.
• Chris Hughton's team have conceded 20 goals in ten league matches so far
with 14 of those coming in their last four games.
• They havr also been struggling at the other end where the Canaries have
found the net just six times in the league, the joint worst record.
• Norwich have accumulated one home win from five league matches at Carrow
Road this season and haven't taken three points there since a 1-0 win over
Southampton on 31 August.

Team news
West Ham United
• Andy Carroll remains the Hammers only long-term injury absentee.
• Winston Reid has been ruled out with an ankle injury so James Collins will
make his return from a hamstring injury in place of the New Zealander.
• Matt Taylor and Mladen Petric are both sidelined with calf injuries whilst
George McCartney and Alou Diarra miss out having only recently returned to
training.

Norwich City
• Alexander Tetty is definitely out of Saturday's clash after suffering
ankle ligament damage against Cardiff City.
• Robert Snodgrass may return having missed the trip to Manchester City with
concussion.
• Ricky van Wolfswinkel is also out of Saturday's game.

Background
• West Ham United have faced Norwich City 48 times, winning 18 and losing
15, with 15 matches ending in draws.
• The first meeting between the two sides came on 6 October 1934, with John
James Foreman and Hugh Mills scoring in a 2-1 West Ham United win at Carrow
Road.
• Norwich City have not lost in any of their last 16 league games at home
against West Ham United dating back to 10 February 1973, when Bryan 'Pop'
Robson scored the only goal in a 1-0 Hammers victory.

Last time out
West Ham United 0-0 Aston Villa
Barclays Premier League
2 November 2013
West Ham United: Jaaskelainen, Demel, Reid, Tomkins, Rat (Diame 90),
Collison (C.Cole 63), Noble, Morrison, Jarvis (J.Cole 62), Downing , Nolan
Subs not used: Adrian, O'Brien, Maiga, Potts

Manchester City 7-0 Norwich City
Barclays Premier League
2 November 2013
Norwich City: Ruddy, Martin, Turner, Bassong, Olsson; Whittaker (Murphy 45),
Fer, Johnson, Pilkington; Howson; Hooper (Elmander 45)
Subs not used: Bunn, Hoolahan, Garrido, Becchio, R.Bennett.

Previous meeting
West Ham United 2-1 Norwich City
Barclays Premier League
1 January 2013
West Ham got 2013 off to the best possible start as goals from Mark Noble
and Joey O'Brien secured a win over Norwich City at the Boleyn Ground. Noble
scored from the penalty spot with just three minutes on the clock after
Winston Reid was fouled in the box by Ryan Bennett. O'Brien then poked home
after a Noble cut-back to double the advantage. Russell Martin pulled one
back in the 90th minute but the Hammers held on for victory.
West Ham United: Jaaskelainen, Reid, Tomkins, O'Brien (O'Neil 71), Demel,
Jarvis (Spence 85), Collison, Taylor, Noble, C.Cole, Vaz Te (Maiga 82)
Subs not used: Spiegel, Diarra, Lletget, Lee
Goals: Noble 3, O'Brien 26
Norwich City: Bunn, Martin, Bassong, Turner, R.Bennett, Snodgrass, Howson
(Fox 83), Pilkington, Hoolahan (E.Bennett 70), Tettey, Kane (Jackson 70)
Subs not used: Rudd, Barnett, Tierney, Smith
Goals: Martin 90

Last six meetings
(Premier League unless stated)
1 January 2013 - West Ham United 2-1 Norwich City
15 September 2012 - Norwich City 0-0 West Ham United
7 January 2006 - Norwich City 1-2 West Ham United (FA Cup)
8 January 2005 - West Ham United 1-0 Norwich City (FA Cup)
21 February 2004 - Norwich City 1-1 West Ham United (Division One)
15 October 2003 - West Ham United 1-1 Norwich City (Division One)
Overall record v Norwich City (all competitions) W 18 D 15 L 15

Ten-year record
West Ham United
2012/13 Premier League 10th (46 points)
2011/12 Championship 3rd (86 points - promoted to Premier League via
Play-Offs)
2010/11 Premier League 20th (33 points)
2009/10 Premier League 17th (35 points)
2008/09 Premier League 9th (51 points)
2007/08 Premier League 10th (49 points)
2006/07 Premier League 15th (41 points)
2005/06 Premier League 9th (55 points)
2004/05 Championship 6th (73 points - promoted to Premier League via
Play-Offs)
2003/04 Championship 4th (74 points)
2002/03 Premier League 18th (42 points - relegated)

Norwich City
2012/13 Premier League 11th (44 points)
2011/12 Premier League 12th (47 points)
2010/11 Championship 2nd (84 points - promoted to Premier League)
2009/10 League One 1st (95 points - promoted to Championship)
2008/09 Championship 22nd (46 points - relegated to League One)
2007/08 Championship 17th (55 points)
2006/07 Championship 16th (57 points)
2005/06 Championship 9th (62 points)
2004/05 Premier League 19th (33 points - relegated to Championship)
2003/04 Championship 1st (94 points - promoted to Premier League)
2002/03 Championship 8th (69 points)

Old boys
• Norwich City manager Chris Hughton played for West Ham United 43 times
between 1990 and 1992, winning promotion from the old Division Two in
1990/91.

Referee
• Saturdays referee will be Jonathan Moss.
• Moss was last in charge of the Hammers when West Ham suffered a 1-0 defeat
at the Boleyn Ground to Stoke City earlier this season.
• In all, Moss showed 86 yellow cards; sent-off one player and awarded nine
penalties in the 31 matches he took charge of last season.
• Headteacher Moss was promoted to the Select Group of Referees in June
2011.
• He took charge of the 2005 Conference Play-Off final between Carlisle
United and Stevenage and was then promoted to the National Group of
Referees.
• He will be assisted by Mike Mullarkey and Derek Eaton, while the fourth
official will be Andy D'Urso.

General information
• Tickets for this match are sold out.
• There are several tube services experiencing planned part closures this
weekend, including the District line and DLR. For more information click
here.
• For updates on the Greater Anglia train service click here.
• The weather forecast for Saturday's match is cloudy with showers and the
temperature is likely to be around 6C (43F).

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
'We give them the best conditions'
WHUFC.com
Hammers Head of Sport Science & Sports Medicine Andy Rolls takes us through
the away-day prep
07.11.2013

West Ham United hit the road on Saturday when they travel to Norwich City in
the Barclays Premier League. An away-day with the team involves more
planning than just the journey to the stadium and the 90 minutes that
unfolds in front of the watching public's eyes. There are accomodation needs
to consider, as well as all the essentials required for getting the players
in the right shape for the rigours of top-flight football. The Official
Website caught up with the Club's Head of Sports Science and Sports Medicine
Andy Rolls during the recent trip to Burnley to discover the ins and outs of
an away trip. "We travelled to Burnley on the morning of the game, but in
most cases we'll travel the day before," he explained. "The players had
breakfast at home before we flew up to Manchester. When we got to the hotel
they all had lunch together and there was then a medical clinic, which the
players could choose whether they went to. It could be a massage or a
stretch and some have certain routines that we fulfil for them. "We also
have a list of players we want to get on to, so we get them into a certain
room at certain times for a stretch, a rub, different mobilisations and
activations - a few exercises to get them going. "Then they have some free
time, a couple of hours when they'll be encouraged to rest. Some of them
will sleep, some will doze off and others will just watch a film, everyone
is different.
"We'll all come together after that for a pre-match meal, the manager will
do a presentation and we'll jump on the bus to get us to the stadium."

Rolls says the benefit of early travel is plain to see as the players can
maximise their preparation time. He continued: "If we flew up in the
afternoon and went straight to the stadium, you'd have stiff backs and stiff
joints from the journey. The idea to travel early is so they can have a walk
around, they're in their own rooms and they can have a massage. "We can
create the optimum athlete and put them in the best condition as we can for
the game. It also takes some of the stress out of it, because if we
travelled later it only needs one thing to go wrong and you're in trouble.
By getting there early, they can relax, have a day chilling out away from
the hassles of home and concentrate on the game ahead to allow us to arrive
fresh and ready to go."

Having to set up clinics in hotel rooms up and down the country can have its
challenges, but Rolls and his team are more than used to the routine. He
added: "It can be a challenge having to set up wherever we go, but we're
pretty well versed at it now. We have a certain amount of beds, portable
massage beds, and a big box with everything we need from scalpels for
cutting dead skin off players' feet to acupuncture needles and massage oils.
"The Club Doctor also travels with us so we have emergency medical equipment
if needed, although hopefully we never have to use it. "With me at Burnley
was another physio, Fraser Young and two masseurs, so we're all there to
help the players prepare for the game. "The hotels are pretty used to it,
they have a lot of football teams staying there. All we need is a room big
enough for four portable beds, and we're happy!"

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Big Sam on: Norwich City
WHUFC.com
Big Sam spoke to the media ahead of Saturday's trip to Norwich City
07.11.2013

Sam Allardyce has spoken to the media ahead of Saturday's match against
Norwich City at Carrow Road. The West Ham United manager fielded questions
on his team's start to the season, the injury to Winston Reid and the form
of Norwich City.

Morning Sam, we're ten games into the Barclays Premier League season, how do
you assess things?

SA: "We've done alright in performance terms and been very solid and sound
defensively. We've created a huge amount of chances but unfortunately due to
our lack of goals we haven't accumulated the points level we should have
done based on the performances we've given. We're all aware of it but we
just continue to move on and try to improve that one critical and vital
area. "There's nothing else I can ask of the lads other than to try and put
one or two more chances away. The rest of the games they've played they've
been on top of the game and they've been very consistent, playing some
really good football. We've been very resilient and it's just the final
product has not delivered as much as we would have hoped and hence we've
drawn a lot of games that we should have won on the basis of our
performance. We will continue to strive to improve that, starting against
Norwich on Saturday."

How frustrating is it for you as a manager when you look at your defensive
record, which is the third best in the league, but you're just not getting
the goals?

SA: "People point to the fact that we haven't got Andy Carroll or we haven't
played with a front man recently but it's not just that as to why we're down
on our goal count from last year. We're down on all players scoring a few
more last season than they have done this season. The main contribution to
us finishing tenth last season was that most players in our squad actually
scored a goal. Very few players in the squad didn't got a goal. Whether that
was from set-plays or open play it was very, very good from the point of
view that we were in the Premier League for the first season. "That area at
the moment, as well as not having a front man scoring, is down and that's
why we're in the position we are. We've done the first bit right, that's not
conceding a goal, and making life very difficult for the opposition,
particularly Cardiff at home and then of course Tottenham away. We've had
many performances as good as the one against Tottenham this year and we've
had better, like against Newcastle, but we haven't won. We haven't got the
rewards we deserved, we know that and we've got to try and improve on it.
That's the only area that's concerning me and hopefully we'll put that right
on Saturday."

You've only won once in your last six league games, do you put that all down
to not taking your opportunities?

SA: "Yes, there's nothing else. Like I said there's nothing else to concern
me other than that and we've got to start putting it right as quick as we
can. When you're in control of the game or you've made the chances that we
have, we all know that in the Barclays Premier League you've got to make
sure you take them. Our real positive is the fact that we've not over
stretched ourselves and we've not fallen for the sucker punch, which is the
opposition scoring and us ending up with a very disappointing, bitter
defeat. We've ended up putting a point on the board and at the end of the
day points on the board are ok but there's far too many of them at the
moment and we have to convert one of those into a win."

Whilst we're talking about strikers, Andy Carroll, your potential solution
to the problem, how close is he to coming back?

SA: "We don't know at the moment and we're just taking it week-by-week. We
hope he'll be back with us very shortly but that will depend on the guidance
of the people doing the rehabilitation and the specialist who's in control
of Andy at the moment. We're all hoping and keeping our fingers crossed but
in the meantime Carlton Cole is improving, Mladen Petric has an unfortunate
calf injury which has held his match fitness regime up. It's not as if we're
not creating chances, we are, but what we're not doing is converting them
and that's whoever it falls to. We have to believe that if we continue
playing the same way we are it will result in us scoring a goal somewhere.
If we do that then we make sure we don't slip up at the other end and get
the three points that we're looking for."

Norwich are next up on Saturday, what are your thoughts ahead of the game?

SA: "It's a six-pointer I would say already. They played very well in their
last home game against Cardiff. Irrespective of recent results I was
listening to the commentary of that game about how many chances they created
and how many chances they missed. We have to make sure that we frustrate
them in that area again on Saturday. If we can then take the game to them
like we did against Swansea and create the chances that we created, then
this time we have to be clinical and put the ball in the net."

Norwich are below you in the table, would a win against them mean more to
you than beating a team that are higher up?

SA: "It's always been more important to me across the board for many, many
years because these are the games that if you play your best then you've got
a really good chance to win. You can play your best against the big boys,
give all you've got, be very, very good and lose the game because of the
quality and amount of money they've spent. These are the bigger games for
us, these are the games that you have to be at your best because it will
give you a better chance of winning than against the big boys."

We spoke about Andy Carroll, what's the other news with regards to injuries?

SA: "Not very good at the moment apart from that we've got James Collins
back into training. George McCartney played in a Development Squad game with
Alou Diarra but they're a huge amount of time away from joining the first
team squad. Winston Reid's got an unfortunate injury this week which has
added to the recent injuries that we've picked up on a match-to-match basis.
It's a concern for us but something which we can't do anything about other
than get them fit as soon as we possibly can and make sure they stay fit."

Was Norwich's 7-0 defeat last Saturday less about their frailties and more
about what Manchester City are capable of?

SA: "Manchester City are capable of beating anyone. We don't take anything
from the size of Norwich's defeat because last night you saw them
[Manchester City] tear apart a Champions League side. I saw them tear apart
Champions League opponents that they could have won 7 or 8-2 never mind 5-2.
A loss is a loss, never mind if it's a big defeat. At the end of the day
your mentality as a manager is, 'look, it's only three points gone
regardless if you've lost 7-0 or 1-0 so you've only lost three points, let's
have the right reaction and come back fighting'.
"That's what we'll get on Saturday. We'll get a Norwich City team that will
go out and fight for everything they possibly can, particularly on their
home ground. They'll try and get the crowd behind them and look for the
result that we're all doing at the moment. I think we're all finding it
harder, apart from some of the bigger boys, to win at home this season."

In regards to Winston Reid, what's his injury and will he be fit for
Saturday?

SA: "No, he won't be fit for Saturday. Unfortunately he also won't be fit to
travel with New Zealand for their World Cup play-off either. Our Chairman
made a massive gesture this weekend by arranging a private jet for Winston
to fly him straight to his team so he could get there at the time they set.
It was a magnificent gesture which unfortunately won't be needed now. It's a
shame for us and it's a shame for New Zealand because Winston has been one
of our most consistent defenders since we've been back in the Barclays
Premier League. "We have a replacement who is fit again that means the
injury isn't causing me as big a concern as it was when the injury first
happened. James Collins is fit. James Collins was very unfortunate to be
left out at the time because defensively we've been superb this year, so
James being the replacement is a big bonus for us. He and James Tomkins is
the area I can't afford any more injuries to. Everywhere else we're
reasonably coping with, but certainly we need James and James to stay fit
and well over the next period."

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Hammers earn international call-ups
WHUFC.com
Three West Ham United players have received international call-ups for their
respective countries
07.11.2013

Ravel Morrison has been named in the England squad for their UEFA U21
Championship qualifiers against Finland and San Marino later this month.
Gareth Southgate's team are looking to continue their unbeaten start to
their qualification campaign, which has seen them take ten points from their
opening four games. Morrison earned his first call-up to the Under-21s for
their last round of qualifiers, and scored in the 5-0 mauling of Lithuania.
The Young Lions are set to take on Finland at Milton Keynes Dons' stadiummk
on Thursday 14 November, before moving on to Shrewsbury Town's Greenhaus
Stadium for the San Marino clash on Tuesday 19 November.

Fellow Hammer Joey O'Brien is in the Republic of Ireland squad for their
friendly internationals against Latvia in Dublin on Friday 15 November and
Poland in Poznan on Tuesdya 19 November. New Ireland boss Martin O'Neill is
set to take charge of the team for the two friendlies, although caretaker
boss Noel King completed his duties in the role by finalising the 27-man
squad before handing over the reins. O'Brien will be looking to win his
sixth cap for his country, and his first since a September 2012 friendly
against Oman.

Also set to represent his country in this next set of internationals is
Mohamed Diame, who has been named in the Senegal squad for the second leg of
their FIFA World Cup Play-Off against Ivory Coast on Saturday 16 November.
Senegal are 3-1 down following the away leg and will have to play the home
match in Morocco as they are currently serving a suspension from playing
matches in Senegal due to crowd disturbances.

Razvan Rat is expected to be named in Romania's squad for their FIFA World
Cup Play-Off matches against Greece, but Winston Reid will miss New
Zealand's showdown with Mexico due to an ankle injury.

Meanwhile, West Ham schoolboy Jahmal Hector-Ingram will hope to make his
England U16 debut in their Sky Sports Victory Shield clash with Northern
Ireland in Bournemouth on Friday 8 November.

Academy defenders Reece Burke and Kyle Knoyle have been named in the England
U18 squad for a two-day training camp at St George's Park this month.

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Turgott happy with form
WHUFC.com
Blair Turgott is happy with his current form following a goal against Luton
Town
07.11.2013

Wing wizard Blair Turgott is happy with his current form after his Man of
the Match performance in the Development Squad's 2-1 defeat to Luton Town on
Tuesday evening. The pacey wide man pulled a goal back for the Hammers with
51 minutes on the clock after two first half goals from Jim Stevenson put
the Hatters in control. Turgott then had the chance to equalise from the
penalty spot with six minutes left but saw his effort well saved. Despite
the miss the 19-year-old is happy with the progress he is making. He told
West Ham TV: "I think one of my assets is when I get on the ball and try to
make things happen.
"I feel like I'm playing well at the moment but I was disappointed on
Tuesday that I had a couple of chances and on another day I probably should
have done a bit better but it's just one of those things. "I spoke to Nick
the manager and he was saying to me that I have to get some more goals to
add to my assists and that's something I'm trying to do at the moment.
Obviously I would like to take the penalty again but all I can try and do is
affect the game and get some assists and goals."

The right-sided midfielder also played a part when the Development Squad
again lost out by a single goal to the same opposition just under a month
ago.
The match ended in a 1-0 defeat that day but Turgott felt that the outcome
should have been different this time around. "We're all obviously
disappointed with the loss. It was a bit harsh and I don't think we deserved
it as we had a lot of chances in both halves. "We're always disappointed to
come away without a win and even though we lost the game we had a lot of
chances. "Both their goals came against the run of play when we were having
a lot of possession but we've got to look to the next game now and try and
put that right."

Turgott and his teammates now face a long wait until the resumption of their
Barclays Under-21 Premier League campaign when they host Leicester City at
Rush Green on 29 November. Nick Haycock has, however, arranged a number of
friendlies over that period to keep his players fit and firing, but for the
moment Turgott is left to reflect on what might have been against Luton. He
said: "Second half we came out pushing and we obviously got the goal and we
had a spell where if we kept going you felt a goal was going to come. "The
team and I had a lot of chances so it's disappointing that we didn't go onto
win or get the leveller and came off losing."

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'Our hard work is the key'
WHUFC.com
Guy Demel puts defensive solidity down to training ground graft ahead of
Norwich trip
07.11.2013

Hard work has been the secret to West Ham United's defensive success this
season, according to full-back Guy Demel. The 32-year-old defender has
formed part of a solid unit at the back for the Hammers this season, which
has seen them keep six clean sheets in ten Barclays Premier League games.
West Ham have not conceded a goal on their travels with Demel on the pitch
in 2013/14 - a total of 331 minutes spread across four league matches. In
total, West Ham have conceded just three goals in 666 total minutes that
Demel has played across eight league games this term. The No20 will be
hoping to continue that run at Norwich City on Saturday. His bigger focus is
on helping the team collect their first three point haul in four starts,
however, and the Ivorian believes a repeat of recent performances will pave
the way to secure just that. He explained: "From a defensive point of view
it has been really good. It's now six games without conceding any goals and
it's proof that we do a good job as a team. The shape, the work we do as a
team and the good understanding we have as a back four are all key to us
being solid. "I have to say that in Jussi [Jaaskelainen] too, even when he
doesn't have too much to do, when we need him, he's there. He's always
concentrating and there to make the saves when needed. "We work hard as team
during the week, and that shows at the weekends. We're looking now to get
the three points - of course the clean sheets give you satisfaction, but
when you don't capitalise by getting the victories, you feel frustrated in
the end."

West Ham's goalscoring travails have been well documented, but Demel insists
they have the goal-getters in the squad to turn that side of their game
around.
He added: "You just need one goal to win the game with the way we've played
recently. We have to keep working as a team, deliver more balls and keep
believing in our offensive quality, to make sure we force our destiny. "Even
if it's a lucky goal, it doesn't matter what it looks like as long as the
ball goes in the back of the net, we keep a clean sheet and get the three
points on the board. "We're looking forward to Norwich now and trying to
capitalise on our good work defensively."

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Sam Allardyce: Norwich trip is six pointer for West Ham
BBC.co.uk

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce reckons Saturday's Premier League trip to
Norwich is a "six-pointer" despite the season only being 10 games old.Defeat
could see the Hammers drop below Norwich, into the bottom three. "It is a
six-pointer already," he said. "We'll get a Norwich City team that will come
and fight for everything."

Allardyce believes results against sides close to them in the table are more
crucial than other matches - including their 3-0 win at Tottenham. "It has
always been more important for me," said Allardyce. "Those are the games
that if you play your best you have got a really good chance of winning.
"You can play your best against the big boys, give all you've got and be
very, very good but still lose a game of football because of the amount of
talent and the money they have spent. "I always focus on these, they are the
bigger games for us, the games you need to play at your best and give
yourself a chance."

Despite their impressive win at White Hart Lane, West Ham have only won two
games this season while Norwich boss Chris Hughton is under pressure after
taking only one point from their last 12 including a 7-0 thrashing by
Manchester City in their last outing.

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(Still) ain't misbehavin'
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 7th November 2013
By: Staff Writer

West Ham United supporters are STILL the best behaved in the Premier League
- according to the latest Premier League 'Fair Play' table.

Last month KUMB revealed how Hammers fans were topping the BPL 'Fair Play'
table which issues marks based upon the 'behaviour of the public' - since
when matches against Tottenham (a), Man City (h) and Swansea (a) have been
taken into account.

And that remains the case this month with Hammers fans having increased
their advantage over closest rivals, Sunderland - who rise from fourth to
second in the table - to 0.32 of a point.

According to the Premier League's 'Fair Play' rules, each team begins a
match with five points to which an additional five can be added for
(acceptable) verbal support and recognition of good play by opposition
players.

Conversely, a maximum of five points may be deducted for persistent foul and
abusive language, persistent abuse of officials plus aggresive and
threatening conduct towards opposition fans.

The 'Behaviour of the Public' is just one of six factors taken into account
when deciding the overall Fair Play table. The other categories are
'Red/Yellow Cards', 'Positive Play', 'Respect Towards Opponents', 'Respect
Towards the Referee' and 'Behaviour of Team Officials'.

West Ham are currently sixth in the overall Fair Play table with an average
score of 8.42 - just 0.08 of a point behind current leaders Norwich City,
who Sam Allardyce's men face at Carrow Road this weekend.

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Reid out
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 7th November 2013
By: Staff Writer

Sam Allardyce has confirmed that Winston Reid will not make the trip to
Norwich this weekend. The New Zealander sustained a knock to his ankle
during training earlier in the week and will miss both West Ham's trip to
Norwich and his nation's forthcoming international matches - games that West
Ham had agreed to charter a private jet for in order to allow Reid to play
for the Hammers this Sunday. "Our Chairman made a massive gesture this
weekend by arranging a private jet for Winston to fly him straight to his
team so he could get there at the time they set," said Allardyce this
morning. "It was a magnificent gesture which unfortunately won't be needed
now. It's a shame for us and it's a shame for New Zealand because Winston
has been one of our most consistent defenders since we've been back in the
Barclays Premier League."

However Reid's disappointment is good news for Welsh centre half James
Collins, who has been sidelined since the 3-0 win at Tottenham due to the
good form of Reid and defensive partner James Tomkins. "We have a
replacement who is fit again that means the injury isn't causing me as much
concern as it was when it first happened," confirmed Allardyce. "James
Collins was very unfortunate to be left out at the time because defensively
we've been superb this year, so James being the replacement is a big bonus
for us. "He and James Tomkins is the area I can't afford any more injuries
to. Everywhere else we're coping reasonably well with, but certainly we need
James and James to stay fit and well over the next period."

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Sam hails 'six pointer'
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 7th November 2013
By: Staff Writer

It may only be November but Sam Allardyce was happy to heap the pressure on
his players by hailing this weekend's trip to Carrow Road as 'a six
pointer'.
The West Ham boss, speaking to the press ahead of Saturday's trip to Norfolk
admitted that his team need to be "more clinical" if they are to secure a
second away win of the season, to follow on from the recent 3-0 thrashing of
Tottenham at White Hart Lane. Beaten away from home just once so far this
season - and that being the controversial 1-0 defeat at Hull - Allardyce has
plenty to be optimistic about. Meanwhile Norwich are still reeling from a
7-0 humbling at Manchester City last weekend. However Big Sam recognised
that regardless of the opposition, his team need to learn how to find the
net - and quickly. "These are the games that if you play your best then
you've got a really good chance to win," said Allardyce. "These are the
bigger games for us, these are the games that you have to be at your best
because it will give you a better chance of winning than against the big
boys. "We've had many performances as good as the one against Tottenham this
year and we've had better - like against Newcastle - but haven't won. We
haven't got the rewards we deserved, we know that and we've got to try and
improve on it. That's the only area that's concerning me and hopefully we'll
put that right on Saturday.

"We'll get a Norwich City team that will go out and fight for everything
they possibly can, particularly on their home ground. They'll try and get
the crowd behind them and look for the result that we're all doing at the
moment. I think we're all finding it harder, apart from some of the bigger
boys, to win at home this season. "There's nothing else I can ask of the
lads other than to try and put one or two more chances away. We've been very
resilient and it's just the final product has not delivered as much as we
would have hoped, hence we've drawn a lot of games that we should have won."

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Hammers ignored - again
KUMb.com
Filed: Thursday, 7th November 2013
By: Staff Writer

The latest England squad has just been announced - and once again, there are
no places for any Hammers. Midfielders Mark Noble and Ravel Morrison were
widely tipped to be involved with Roy Hodgson's squad for the first time
ever - with the in-form James Tomkins also considered to be an outside bet.
However the England manager, who has seen plenty of the young Hammers in
recent weeks has yet again failed to include a single one of Sam Allardyce's
players in his squad for their upcoming friendly with Chile. Tomkins has
been overlooked in favour of more established defenders such as Gary Cahill,
Phil Jagielka and Chris Smalling. However Noble and Morrison - both of whom
have been in excellent form of late - will feel slightly more aggrieved to
have been black-balled given that the likes of Ross Barkley, Tom Cleverley
and Adam Lallana have been included. One player who is included in the full
squad is Tottenham Jermain Defoe, who was linked with a move back to West
Ham this week.

* Two other Hammers have made their respective international squads. Joey
O'Brien has been selected for the Republic of Ireland, who face friendlies
against Latvia and Poland whilst Mo Diame is in the Senegal squad for the
second leg of their World Cup play-off against Ivory Coast next weekend.

Full England Squad

Goalkeepers: Fraser Forster, Joe Hart, John Ruddy.

Defenders: Leighton Baines, Gary Cahill, Ashley Cole, Kieran Gibbs, Phil
Jagielka, Glen Johnson, Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Kyle Walker.

Midfielders: Ross Barkley, Michael Carrick, Tom Cleverley, Steven Gerrard,
Jordan Henderson, Adam Lallana, Frank Lampard, James Milner, Andros
Townsend, Jack Wilshere.

Forwards: Jermain Defoe, Rickie Lambert, Jay Rodriguez, Wayne Rooney, Daniel
Sturridge, Daniel Welbeck.


Full Under 21s Squad

Goalkeepers: Jonathan Bond, Jack Butland, George Long.

Defenders: Eric Dier, Carl Jenkinson, Michael Keane, Liam Moore, Jack
Robinson, Luke Shaw, John Stones.

Midfielders: Nathaniel Chalobah, Will Hughes, Ravel Morrison, James
Ward-Prowse, Tom Ince, Jesse Lingard, Raheem Sterling, Wilfried Zaha.

Forwards: Saido Berahino, Harry Kane, Danny Ings, Nick Powell.

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Sam Allardyce says West Ham's game at Norwich is a six-pointer
Last Updated: November 7, 2013 11:27am
SSN

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce has described Saturday's Premier League game
against Norwich as a "six-pointer". The Hammers head to Carrow Road looking
to end a three-match winless run in the league which has seen them slip to
15th place in the table with 10 points. They have also failed to find the
net in their last two games - goalless draws with Swansea and Aston Villa -
and Allardyce sees this as an ideal chance to end their barren streak in
front of goal.
The Canaries are without a win in their last four league fixtures - a run
which has seen them pick up only one point from a 0-0 home draw with Cardiff
- and conceded seven goals in last weekend's thrashing at Manchester City.
Allardyce said: "Norwich is a six-pointer already. They played well in their
last home game against Cardiff and we have to make sure we frustrate them in
that area and be clinical when we get our chances. "We've done alright so
far in performance terms, but unfortunately because of our lack of goals we
haven't accumulated the points. "We've played some good football but the end
product hasn't been there and that's why we've drawn games we should have
won. "There's nothing else to concern me other than not taking our
opportunities but we've got to start doing that as soon as possible."

Allardyce revealed Winston Reid is a doubt for the trip to Norwich although
fellow defender James Collins is now back in training. He added: "It's not
very good injury wise at the moment other than we've got James Collins back
in training. "Winston Reid picked up an unfortunate one this week which adds
to the list."

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HOW MUCH IS A PLAYER LIKE WINSTON REID WORTH?
By Sean Whetstone 7 Nov 2013 at 08:02
West Ham Till I Die

If Winston Reid was up for sale (which he is not) or if West Ham were still
a selling club (which our owners promise us we are not) There still remains
possibility that the player himself has ambition to play in the champions
league and could one day hand in a transfer request. We have to remember
footballers are professionals with career ambitions and not wedded to one
club like fans are. Loyalty with one club is rare these days. Even the
legendary Bobby Moore joined Fulham.

So the question remains is how do you value an in form centre back like
Winston Reid?. If you believe the papers then Arsenal values him at £6m but
this probably just agent talk and a complete under valuation in today's
transfer market.

In a 2011 academic paper called The Valuation of Human Capital in the
Football Player Transfer Market the conclusion in a nutshell was 'Value is
what fools are willing to pay for it'

Never was that quote more true when Liverpool paid £35m for Andy Carroll and
£20m for Stuart Downing only to sell them to West Ham for a fraction of that
price earlier this year.

There are some factors which do determine the price whether the buyers are
fools or not:

1) Squad Status

This player is an indispensable member of the team, This player is an
important first team player

2) Age

The younger the higher value we can affix to a fee from the 21-25 range. The
same for squad status: the higher the status, the higher value the fee.

3) Talent

Opta Statistics to determine whether a player is in the top 10% performers
in their positions

4) League Factor

Like the European Golden Boot we can adjust the above talent for league
factor and affix value of those factors. West Ham may not be so keen to pay
a lot money for a Brazilian forward plying his trade for a small team in the
Dutch league! Proved premier league experience adds further value.

5) Premium Position

Attacking Midfielders, central and wide areas in the final third of the
field and forwards are considered premium. The problem with marginalizing
the full back position or defence is that football is essentially a team
sport and all players should be considered as equal. But that is not the
case as a glance at the top transfer fees by position would suggest the
goalkeeping position and full back positions are not essentially considered
an area of the team where a team should spend plenty. There have been some
anomalies with a handful of significant transfers of central defenders with
Nesta, Ferdinand and Carvalho the more prominent names in the upper echelons
of transfer fees and Dani Alves by far the most expensive full-back, on
average, these positions command a smaller transfer fee than strikers for
instance.

6) Adaptability

Certain nationalities notoriously had problems with adapting to the rigours
of English football. South Americans are widely thought to have trouble
adapting to the British game but it is more a case of the managers doing
their in-depth homework on a player's lifestyle, intelligence, attitude and
personality as a person rather the footballer alone to provide a measure of
cost certainty that their import can succeed.

7) Depreciation

"depreciation" basically amounts to a rental deal. Alex Ferguson paid a
widely reported £10m for two years service of Carlos Tevez at £5m per
season, while also paying his contract, How much would a club accept in
depreciation? Arsene Wenger is probably the shrewdest manager around who is
prepared to sell a player in his late 20s even at the top of his game for a
significant return. Put this way, if Steven Gerrard was under his
management, he'd likely be sold this summer whilst extracting maximum value
for a player at the peak of his career but likely worth much less in 2-3
years as he settles into his 30s. Would he be right to do so? As a fan, NO!
But in the real world, he is doing what the best managers do.

The "salvage" value is the theoretical sell-on fee when his contract expires
(4-5 years) and this should prove an invaluable guide to the player's actual
price. How much "depreciation" would they be prepared to write off? 50%?
10%? What's reasonable? Because a player can walk away from the club at the
expiration of his contract, a club has the player for only a couple of years
before they either make the decision to extend his contract and completely
write off the transfer fee or make the decision to sell. For a two years
rental, a player at the right age would prove no risk or profitable provided
that player shows improvement or sustained performances.

8 ) Image Rights

What a player projects to bring in merchandising sales. This is a tricky
subject as merchandising sales are variable rather then fixed. Clubs would
have to release figures relating to the exact amount each player are thought
to have earned for their clubs in their commercial activities.

Other Factors include: Games played previous season (36 for Reid last
season) Goals scored, Size of buying club (modeled on stadium size) and
participation of buying club in continental club competitions.

One of the highest profile centre backs was also a product of our own West
Ham Academy. In November 2000 we sold Rio Ferdinand to Leeds for £18m who
later sold him to Manchester United for £30m in 2002. Chelsea bought the
Brazilian Centre Back David Luiz for $25 million euros in 2011 but it is
said they slapped a £50m price tag on him when Barcelona wanted him earlier
this year.

I am not suggesting Winston Reid is a David Luiz or Rio Ferdinand but at
their price tags Winston has to be worth at least £15m for any champions
league team desperate for a good centre back. Winston ticks many of the
boxes above to increase his value.

That said let's hope we keep hold of him for a few more years yet. We need
to hold out for a £50m bid from Barcelona ;-)

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Allardyce remains coy over swoop for Defoe as possible transfer divides
opinion among Hammers fans
By DAVID KENT
PUBLISHED: 22:30, 7 November 2013 | UPDATED: 22:30, 7 November 2013
Daily Mail

Sam Allardyce has refused to rule out a West Ham return for Jermain Defoe.
The England striker has become frustrated at a lack of playing time at
Tottenham and is ready to move on in January. Hammers fans remain divided
over the 31-year-old however. Some have never forgiven him for handing in a
transfer request just hours after West Ham were relegated a decade ago. But
others just want a proven poacher to come in and solve the club's current
goal-scoring problems. Allardyce knows the feelings in both camps and was
careful to leave the door open without committing himself. He said: 'I can't
really comment on that because don't forget if I comment on having an
interest in a player that can be deemed as an approach and they could bring
me up on an FA charge.
'Many a manager has been brought up on that over the years. I was
flabbergasted when that first charge was made, against David O'Leary, if I
remember rightly, saying 'if that player's available I would like to sign
him'. 'I don't want an FA charge. They have already had some of my money
which they shouldn't have had - they are not having any more.' Allardyce was
clearer on the subject of a full England call-up for Ravel Morrison. The
Under 21 star had been considered for the forthcoming friendlies with Chile
and Germany but Roy Hodgson decided to try other options. Allardyce was
relieved. He said: 'It's a bit early.'

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West Ham star Ravel Morrison misses out on full England squad as Gareth
Southgate names him for Under-21s
7 Nov 2013 17:13
The Mirror

West Ham United midfielder Ravel Morrison has missed out on a place in the
senior England squad for the upcoming friendlies against Chile and Germany.
The Hammers youngster has impressed this season - both for his club and the
England Under-21s. However, Three Lions boss Roy Hodgson has omitted him
from the full squad, leaving Gareth Southgate to select him for the Young
Lions. Morrison will now take his place in Southgate's team for their
European Championship qualifiers against Finland and San Marino. Hodgson has
often been receptive to the idea of thrusting young players into his squad,
having selected the likes of Raheem Sterling, Andros Townsend and Ross
Barkley during his time as boss. But 20-year-old Morrison will be forced to
bide his time before he his handed a full international debut. West Bromwich
Albion forward Saido Berahino is another who was tipped to make the senior
squad, but the Baggies man will instead join the Under-21s. Morrison, who
was discarded by Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson following
behavioural problems, has started to rebuild his career this season after a
loan spell with Birmingham City. The attacking midfielder made the rest of
the Premier League sit up and take notice when he scored a sensational solo
strike in the 3-0 win against Tottenham Hotspur on October 7.

The England Under-21 squad in full:

Goalkeepers: Jack Butland (Stoke City), George Long (Sheffield United),
Jonathan Bond (Watford).

Defenders: Eric Dier (Sporting Lisbon), Carl Jenkinson (Arsenal), Jack
Robinson (Liverpool), Luke Shaw (Southampton), John Stones (Everton),
Michael Keane (Manchester United), Liam Moore (Leicester City).

Midfielders: Nathaniel Chalobah (Chelsea), Will Hughes (Derby County), Ravel
Morrison (West Ham United), Thomas Ince (Blackpool), James Ward-Prowse
(Southampton), Jesse Lingard (Manchester United), Raheem Sterling
(Liverpool), Wilfried Zaha (Manchester United).

Strikers: Saido Berahino (West Bromwich Albion), Nick Powell (Manchester
United), Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Danny Ings (Burnley).

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