Lanzini hails Boleyn Ground atmosphere
WHUFC.com
Manuel Lanzini has praised the Claret and Blue Army for creating a welcoming
atmosphere on his Barclays Premier League debut against Leicester City.
While West Ham United ultimately lost the match 2-1, substitute Lanzini
relished the opportunity to perform in front of a raucous, sold-out Boleyn
Ground. The Argentinian forward is well-used to loud crowds from his time
with first club River Plate of Buenos Aires, and admitted he was happy to be
back in such surroundings after a year with UAE Arabian Gulf League club Al
Jazira. "I absolutely loved the atmosphere and the stadium, because I have
come from a place where there were not a lot of fans at the matches," said
the 22-year-old. "Coming back to a feeling like I had back home in
Argentina, I loved it!"
Roared on by a capacity crowd, West Ham came close to overturning a two-goal
deficit, but ultimately fell to a disappointing home defeat by the in-form
Foxes. Lanzini himself was involved heavily in the closing stages, combining
with his new teammates in an unsuccessful attempt to break through the
massed ranks of the Leicester defence. "I had some mixed emotions," he
admitted. "To sum it up, it was quite a strange match and we have a few
things to work on and correct to ensure it won't happen again. "It was a
difficult game because we were dominating and playing well and somehow we
found ourselves 2-0 down and then we had to push more men forward and try to
score a goal and come back. "Leicester didn't let us back in it. They sat
back and defended really well and that's maybe we were not able to create so
many clear-cut chances, but we tried our best."
While Saturday's result was a blow to Lanzini and everyone connected with
the Club, he insists that Slaven Bilic's possession-based style of football
will pay dividends more often than not.
Next up for West Ham is another home match, with newly-promoted AFC
Bournemouth coming to the Boleyn Ground on Saturday. The No28 says the
Hammers will be ready for the Cherries. "Obviously my style of football is
that I like to receive the ball to feet, not in the air, so I like our
style!" said the 5'7 attacker. "I think we played a good style of football
on Saturday, but it was an unusual game and we have some stuff to correct
for the future."
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Monday on Monday
WHUFC.com
Slaven Bilic vowed that his West Ham United side will learn from their
mistakes from the Leicester defeat when the host AFC Bournemouth this
Saturday. Despite an improved second half performance, Bilic explained that
he was not happy with the Hammers' first half performance. "We weren't good
enough at winning second balls and dealing with long balls. Leicester were
getting all of them, there are plenty of those situations in a football
game, and if you lose the majority of them then it is impossible to win. "I
wasn't angry at half-time. You have to be reasonable, I can't be angry if
they scored a good goal, and their second was a good goal. But I can't
accept that too many times, we weren't doing the basics, and that makes it
much harder. If you don't win the first ball, you have to run, 20, 40 metres
back to recover and that is a waste of energy."
While the manager may have been disappointed with his first home game, he
said he remained confident that his squad could bounce back at the earliest
opportunity, another home game against Premier League new boys AFC
Bournemouth. "We are not going to panic, we knew what we had before the
game. For West Ham it is not that uncommon to beat Arsenal and then lose the
next match. After a great start we knew that it was going to be a difficult
and tough game, every game is a tough one. "In football, you have many
results like Saturday's where, somehow, clubs find it easier to play away
games. They are not under the same pressure to win or to play well. On the
other hand you have to use your home crowd to make it easier for you.
"Football is all about confidence; naturally you will have more confidence
when you're 2-0 up then 2-0 down. Sometimes we have to take more
responsibility with the ball."
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Westley: "I'm staggered we lost"
WHUFC.com
Academy Manager Terry Westley spoke of his disbelief at the Development
Squad's 2-1 defeat away at West Bromwich Albion. In a match where the
Hammers were on top for large swathes of the game, it was the Baggies who
came away with the points. Reflecting on a host of missed chances, Westley
said: "I'm just staggered we lost the game. I'm really disappointed to not
have won the game, but to lose it in the last minute, I can't quite believe
it. "Up until the very last kick we had chances to score, so we shouldn't
have even come away with a 1-0 win, it should have been more."
Having started brightly, early chances fell to Elliot Lee and Manuel Lanzini
yet it was the hosts who took the lead as Adil Nadi's free-kick on the edge
of the box beat Tim Brown. After the break the Hammers regrouped through
Lee's close range header however, against the run of play, substitute Kyle
Howkins popped up in the six-yard box to role the ball home in the 89th
minute. Westley continued: "We need to be more clinical, that's the
learning curve. If you concede two you have to score at least three away
from home. We had enough chances to do that but realistically that doesn't
happen, particularly at the level where we want our players to be a t.
"Having said that, the performance today was the best I've seen in my
fourteen months at the Club. I thought we were absolutely terrific. "We've
been challenging the players to keep possession better, and to shift it
around the pitch, but with purpose and intent. I thought we did that today."
While Westley, along with a number of his players were mystified at the
result, he remained positive that the Hammers were heading in the right
direction. "You only had to see the reaction from their staff after the
game, the way their manager demonstrated how disappointed he was in their
performance. That shows how on top we really were. "If we play like that
every week then yes, we'll come out on top eventually. We will continue to
work together, there was so many terrific performances."
The Academy Manager reserved a special mention for Leo Chambers, who
returned to competitive action after more than 18 months out through injury.
"If I look at Leo Chambers, he hasn't played for nearly two years, that was
his first game back and you wouldn't have known it by watching him today.
For him to have come through that is a real plus for the boy. "Samuelsen was
dangerous whenever he had the ball, the attacking three looked dangerous
while the first teamers, Diego, Lanzini and Stephen Hendrie looked very good
and were always an outlet. "Finally, Elliot got his goal, that's what El is
all about, he's a goalscorer and always a threat in and around the box. When
the ball drops in the eighteen-yard box that's when he comes alive and he
showed it again today."
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Obiang - We're heading in the right direction
WHUFC.com
Pedro Obiang is firmly of the opinion that West Ham United are headed in the
right direction, after the Spaniard made his Barclays Premier League bow on
Saturday. The former Sampdoria midfielder joined the fray for the second
half against Leicester City and though he could not quite mastermind a
Hammers revival, he showed plenty to suggest he has a bright future in
Claret and Blue. Obiang, whose pre-season preparations were hampered by a
hamstring injury, was naturally disappointed to be part of a losing cause on
debut, but found plenty a positive to soften the blow. "I really
enjoyed it," he told West Ham TV. "It obviously didn't turn out the way I
expected, but it was a good opportunity to show the fans what I'm capable of
and show the manager that he can count on me in difficult moments.
"I still think it was a good match, but we lacked that little bit of
ferocity that we had against Arsenal. "There's good and bad, it's mixed
emotions. It's positive, because I was able to play and show my qualities as
a player, and the downside, obviously, is that we didn't win. "I've got a
good feeling about the team and certainly, little by little, we're heading
in the right direction."
Saturday's 2-1 reverse was Obiang's first outing since a 3-3 draw at
Peterborough United back in early July and yet the 23-year-old insists he is
now fighting fit. He certainly enjoyed himself in front of a raucous full
house at the Boleyn Ground and hopes the Hammers fans are going to take to
him this season. "I've been OK since the injury, a few slight twinges, but
that's normal," he continued. "There's a lot of attention on you when you're
on the pitch, you feel the pressure, but it was all good. I needed to get
back out there to pick up the pace, and now I can finally relax a little
more. "I really hope the fans are happy with me, and I intend to give them
my best, alongside my teammates, in every game, because they are the heart
of this Club, and with patience and a little calm we will achieve a lot."
With his competitive debut now out of the way, Obiang's attention turns to
the visit of Bournemouth next Saturday, an opportunity, he says, to right
the wrongs of Saturday's disappointing home defeat. "As they say in
football, the beautiful thing is that every week you can improve on what
you've done in the last match. "So we will prepare ourselves keeping in
mind the small mistakes that we made during this match. Being at home again
will make things a lot easier for us."
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Two clubs submitted bids for Charlie Austin, confirms Rangers' DOF
KUMB.com
Filed: Monday, 17th August 2015
By: Staff Writer
Queens Park Rangers Director of Football Les Ferdinand has admitted that QPR
have received two firm bids for Charlie Austin.
Former striker Ferdinand, who spent four months at West Ham back in 2003
told BBC Sport that the Championship club had received two offers for the
26-year-old forward - although neither bid was sufficient to interest
Rangers.
"There's been lots of rumours in the papers, but we've only had two firm
bids," confirmed Ferdinand.
"I wouldn't say they've been turned down as we've spoken to the clubs, but
they've not met the valuation the club have placed on Charlie. For that
reason Charlie's still a Queens Park Rangers player."
Ferdinand also confirmed that QPR were looking for a fee in the region of
£15million for Austin, who scored 18 times for Rangers last season despite
their relegation from the Premier League.
"Being realistic, when you look at what Benteke and people like that have
gone for - and that Blackburn have turned down a £13m bid for Jordan Rhodes
in the Championship - I don't think we're pricing him out of the market," he
added.
"I just think it's a true valuation of the player."
Despite neither interested party being willing to meet QPR's £15m valuation
of Austin thus far, Ferdinand still expects there to be yet more twists and
turns before the transfer window closes.
"You see a lot of transfers done in the last week of the season," he said.
"I hope it doesn't happen but I'm gearing myself up for that. It's not a
foregone conclusion that he will go, but the rumours won't stop until the
transfer window closes."
West Ham have kept a close eye on Austin's situation since the end of last
season but are currently unwilling to meet QPR's valuation, as a result of
the player's history with injuries.
For David Sullivan and his team, investing such a large sum on a player with
long-standing injury concerns is a risk they are unwilling to take at
present, having already had their fingers burnt by the purchase of Andy
Carroll who has made just 27 starts in his three years at the Boleyn Ground.
But with the transfer deadline rapidly approaching, and with West Ham still
unable to attract the additional striker they so desperately need, that
stance could yet soften.
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Darren Randolph conceded EIGHT last time he played Bournemouth
KUMB.com
Filed: Monday, 17th August 2015
By: Staff Writer
West Ham's United's reserve goalkeeper Darren Randolph will be hoping to do
rather better than the last occasion on which he faced Bournemouth, should
he be selected to play against the Cherries this weekend. The 28-year-old
goalkeeper, who moved from Birmingham in the summer as a replacement for the
outgoing Jussi Jaaskelainen is set to start in goal against Eddie Howe's
newly-promoted side in place of Adrian, who was sent off by substandard
referee Anthony Taylor during the 2-1 home defeat against Leicester. However
Randolph - who has failed to impress since arriving at the Boleyn Ground -
will be hoping for a much easier afternoon that the last occasion on which
he faced Bournemouth, when he found himself picking the ball out of the net
no less than EIGHT times. Back in October 2014, Randolph's Birmingham side
were thrashed 8-0 at home by Howe's team. Having lost David Edgar to a red
card after just seven minutes, City found themselves 3-0 down at the break
courtesy of goals from Brett Pitman, Callum Wilson and Matt Richie. However
it was to get much worse after the break when five goals in the space of 23
minutes - a Mark Pugh hat-trick and a brace from Tokelo Rantie - condemned
Birmingham to their heaviest home defeat in their 139-year history.
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West Ham to appeal red card given to Adrian in loss to Leicester
Last Updated: 17/08/15 4:28pm
SSN
West Ham will appeal the red card given to goalkeeper Adrian in Saturday's
2-1 home defeat to Leicester. The 28-year-old was sent off by referee
Anthony Taylor in stoppage time at Upton Park for a high boot into the chest
of Jamie Vardy, having come up for a corner with the Hammers chasing a late
equaliser. West Ham manager Slaven Bilic confirmed on Saturday night that
he would consult with club officials before deciding whether to appeal the
decision. Having seemingly done so, West Ham will now lodge a bid to see a
potential three match ban for Adrian overturned. If they are unsuccessful
with their appeal, the Spaniard will miss the upcoming matches with
Bournemouth, Liverpool and Newcastle, with second-choice goalkeeper Darren
Randolph likely to deputise in his absence.
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OVERRULED! - IT IS TIME FOR VIDEO REFS
By HamburgHammer 17 Aug 2015 at 17:00
WTID
If this sounds familiar to you it is because we've been discussing this last
year already. Yet again – and very early in the season too – West Ham have
suffered from a shocking refereeing display and I am not even talking about
the inept efforts at the Europa League qualifying stage.
Anthony Taylor for sure was not in the mood to give anything for the home
team on Saturday, his decision near the end of the first half NOT to award a
penalty to West Ham and send Leicester's goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel off
for holding out his arm in the box to clearly stop Sakho from following up
the ball massively changed the odds for West Ham to turn the first half
deficit into a draw or even a home win in the second half.
I hate to blame referees for all and sundry as obviously West Ham didn't
play well in the first half and maybe overall deserved to lose the game.
But it's become a quite regular occurrance that refs (at least in the
Premier League) get one or two big decisions wrong every weekend. I am
talking about big decisions here: penalty or no penalty, sending off or just
a yellow card, goal scored from an offside position, stuff like that which
can really affect final scorelines.
And it's not German pedantry or nitpicking on my part either. Those big
decision can lose a team vital points that ultimately have a much bigger
impact: League position, progressing in a cup competition, relegation,
qualifying for the Europa or Champions League. Jobs are on the line here and
I'm not just talking about the players or managers, it can and does affect
clubs in a big way.
The answer is very simple in my view – take a book out of how they deal with
these things in US sports for instance. I do follow all American sports with
interest, baseball, American Football, Ice Hockey. They all have ways and
means to overrule a controversial decision on the pitch. You might say that
those sports are very stop start anyway, so a further delay doesn't really
matter so much as it would in football. And I know that football as the
globally most loved sport tends to hang on to its rules and traditions a bit
longer than might be healthy in some cases. But remember: Rome wasn't built
in a day. It wasn't too long ago that no substitute players were allowed in
football.
There was a time when there were no players' names on the back of the shirt.
Back in the day the goalkeeper could still pick up every backpass without
being penalised. There's goalline technology now and referees are armed with
vanishing spray to mark the position of the wall for a freekick.
In all of these cases there were frowns and doubts from diehard oldschool
fans initially, but I reckon most football fans are glad that now those
changes have been made. In terms of the substitutes on the bench it is a
necessity of course, in my view it's the same with handing over certain
decisions to a video referee. In baseball and football these are initiated
by a manager's or coaches challenge, in the dugout they have their own TV
people who within seconds indicate to the manager if the incident is worth
challenging. There's then two ways of going about this: In American Football
the umpire crew on the field checks out the replays on the sidelines,
looking at as many replays as they need (but usually this is done within 60
seconds), they can then uphold or overrule their initial call on the field.
In baseball this decision is being handled by an operations center in
Manhattan where every single game is being monitored on several screens and
from several angles. It is them who view the replays and then relay their
decision back to the umpire crew in the respective ballpark. In this case
the video referee does have the final decision. Again those instant replay
decisions usually don't last longer than 60 seconds. In Ice Hockey the
referees themselves decide to ask for clarification from the instant replay
headquarters in Toronto if they are unsure if a goal should stand or not.
I feel it is time to introduce similare measures in football (at least at
the Premier League level). As a fan you want the referee to get the big
decisions right and with the speed of the game these days and so much
hinging on the referee's whistle it is natural for referees to be a bit
overchallenged at times (pun fully intended). It is not about mocking
referees in general or questioning their efforts.
It is about giving them some much needed assistance in order for them to get
the big decisions right and maybe even gain more respect from the fans in
the process.
Give each manager one challenge per half. if it is just one this makes sure
that the managers use it when it's needed for a big call rather than use it
in a sinister way to halt the flow of the game or stop the opposition's
momentum.
The time it usually takes for the players to moan and argue with the referee
(and for the TV station to show replays of the incident from three different
angles) can be used in a much better way for a video referee to have a look
and then give his decision on the big screen (like in rugby league). Rather
than just delaying proceedings on the pitch I feel this would even add to
the suspense and drama of it all. Plus you get more decisions right
obviously. Which to me is the main point.
Do manager's cahllenges and the introduction of video referees in football
remove controversy and heated discussions in the pubs afterwards from the
equation ?
Of course not. There will still be plenty of incidents to talk about. But
you won't have to talk about referees getting it so wrong in such a shocking
way quite so often anymore. Which can only be a good thing.
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West Ham appeal Adrian's red card for studs-up, waist-high challenge against
Leicester
0 COMMENTS22:30, 17 AUGUST 2015
BY ADRIAN KAJUMBA
Keeper had gone up for a corner with his Hammers trailing late on and was
trying to hook the ball back into the box when he clattered Jamie Vardy
The Mirror
West Ham have appealed goalkeeper Adrian's dismissal against Leicester at
Upton Park on Saturday. The Hammers' Spanish shot-stopper is facing a ban
after being sent off late on against the Foxes. Adrian was shown a straight
red card for a high challenge on the visitors' striker, Jamie Vardy. He
caught Vardy in the stomach with his boot in the process of trying to hook
the ball back into the box and West Ham believe the contact was
unintentional. West Ham are expected to find out on Tuesday if their appeal
has been successful. Right-back Carl Jenkinson was forced to play in goal
after Adrian went off as the Hammers had made all three substitutions. "I
thought the red card was a bit harsh. It was a high foot, but I am sure it
was accidental," said Arsenal loanee Jenkinson. "I ended up in goal but
fortunately I didn't have too much to do."
In pictures — West Ham 1-2 Leicester:
Hammers manager Slaven Bilic said after the game that he was sure Adrian did
not mean to catch Vardy, but admitted it "could have been seen as a red
card" owing to the height of the challenge. Shinji Okazaki and Riyad Mahrez
netted goals for Leicester, meaning Dimitri Payet's fine strike for the home
side counted for nothing.
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Irons look at Bees striker
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 17, 2015 in News, Whispers
C AND H
West Ham are reported this morning as considering a move for Brentford
striker Andre Gray. Slaven Bilic is stepping up the front man hunt and
according to The Mirror "Gray is among the names" on a growing Hammers list.
The report claims that Brentford had rejected three bids for the £7 million
rated striker and claims that Derby County and Bristol City are also keen.
The 24 year old has two years remaining on his contract at Griffin Park but
the club are ready to offer a new deal to tie down his future. The former
Shrewsbury youngster was again on the score sheet in the weekend game
against Bristol City in a 4-2 win at Ashton Gate. Boss Marinus Dijkhuizen
said: Gray showed what an asset he is to us and I am desperate to keep him.
But sometimes money talks and it is not in my hands. "If anything he has
added to his value with this performance. I have two very good strikers and
would love to keep them together."
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Slav knows vultures are circling!
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 17, 2015 in News, Whispers
ClaretandHugh's Steve Knightley gives his impressions on the recent Fans'
Forum
Those lucky enough to attend the Fans Forum last week got to hear Slaven's
targets for this season. To make a long story short: There is no points
target and there is no overall position target. The objective is clear. Play
every game at 100 per cent and all will fall in place, including how we
approach the FA Cup and the League Cup. Smart words from the new boss.
We have seen before how missing your target by even a single point can
determine your season a failure, and as we all know, this season in
particular the critics and the Big Sam faithful are waiting for any excuse
to chip in and spread the 'I told you so' vibes.
Everything would indicate that Slav fully understands the challenges ahead
and is also entirely aware the vultures are lurking already. He's entirely
at ease with the fans (as our picture shows) and a straight talker. He also
understands that nobody needs the added pressure of another target to meet.
Let's also remember how we were relegated with what was considered a 'safe'
points total. It really is just added pressure. Time will tell if this
approach is the right one Personally, I think it's spot on but I also
believe he has a secret and personal target of a strong top ten. You don't
have two strong personalities like Bilic and Dicks leading your team and
hope to finish with a 'yeah whatever' points total!
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Former Hammers backroom team tough it out
Posted by Hammers Newshound on August 17, 2015 in News, Whispers
C AND H
Sam Allardyce's former backroom have now each played three games in charge
managing their new teams with only Ian Hendon's Leyton Orient getting off to
a flying start. Sam's former second in charge, Neil McDonald joined
Blackpool in league 1. Blackpool fans have already called for him to be
sacked even before the season started. Blackpool's pre-season friendly with
Lancaster City in July was abandoned following a protest by the League One
club's fans. Tangerines boss Neil McDonald was forced to lead his side off
the pitch in his first match in charge while they were winning 3-1 after a
pitch invasion by about two dozen of the club's disgruntled supporters.
McDonald has achieved just one point in League one after a first day draw
2-2 against Colchester, they were then dumped out of the first round of the
League cup by Northampton 3-0 last Tuesday before losing again last Saturday
2-0 to Rochdale during his first home game in charge. That leaves Blackpool
in 20th place in the table. Former Hammer Teddy Sherrinham's Stevenage is
faring no better after three games with just one point to show for it. He
lost to Notts County 2-0 for his league opener at home then went on to lose
2-1 to Ipswich last Tuesday in the first round of the league cup. Away from
home he has managed a 2-2 draw against Newport last Saturday to earn his
team a solidarity point. Stevenage sit in 19th spot in League two after two
games.
Meanwhile, Former Hammers First Team coach Ian Hendon has guided Leyton
Orient to a 100% record in the League so far. Hendo's team beat Barnet 2-0
on the opening day of the season at home before going on to lose 2-1 to MK
Dons in the League Cup first round last Tuesday. They bounced back last
Saturday beating Dagenham and Redbridge 3-1 away from home to gain maximum
point and means they are second in League one, one goal difference behind
leaders Wycombe.
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"Slav could have been slaughtered"
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 17, 2015 in News, Whispers
C AND H
West Ham believe Pedro Obiang is set to make a huge impact on the Hammers
season after an all-action debut against Leicester. And one key insider told
ClaretandHugh exclusively: "Had he been on from the start of the game we may
have seen a different result. "After he replaced Reece Oxford at the start
of the second half it started to happen for the Hammers and that looks the
way forward. "The manager had a very difficult decision to make because
Reece had enjoyed a brilliant debut at Arsenal and had to be given his
chance. He could have been slaughtered otherwise. "But this was a very
different sort of game and was far more suited to Pedro's game so despite
the defeat the future is looking very good and we appear to have a powerful
and versatile squad."
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Alex Song Update
Posted by whufc_news@hotmail.com on August 17, 2015 in News, Transfer
Rumours
There has been speculation linking Everton with a move for Barcelona
midfielder Alex Song, with a £5m fee being touted. However the 27 year-old
wishes to remain in London and the Hammers have agreed terms with the
Spanish giants, to sign the player for free. The only remaining issue (for
some time) appears to be agreeing personal terms with Song, but a reliable
source on West Ham fan site KUMB (username: jinxed), the player has now
signed a contract with the club, and an announcement will be made in due
course.
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Have Irons walked into a Gooners Jenks trap?
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 17, 2015 in News, Whispers
By Steve Knightley
C and H
Have we walked in to a Jenkinson trap?
It's been known for a player to extend their loan at a football club.
Usually by a month or so.
What isn't particularly common is for a player to be on loan for a year,
sign a new deal with their parent club, and then return on loan to the club
at which they spent the previous year.
Speaking of his loan spell at West Ham, Carl told the Fans Forum, "I decided
at the end of last year that I wanted to come here. Obviously Arsenal are a
club I'm contracted to, they hold all the aces really, if those choose to
sell me or want me on loan it's completely out of my hands".
"But the one thing I told my agent is that I wanted to come back to West
Ham. I loved every minute last year, I played a lot of football and I really
enjoy my football here. I really wanted to come back and that was clear from
the offset".
Interesting then, after those words, that before Carl came back he signed
another five year deal with Arsenal..
Now let me make this point quite clear. I absolutely 100% believe Carl, I
really do. I was sat four ft from him and not only was he completely genuine
with his response but he also replied with a smile on his face and sat proud
in his freshly pressed training kit. My suspicions for any trap-setting lay
in the North side of London.
To me it makes no sense to have a player on loan at a club to 'enhance their
development' and yet consider that player developed enough to offer him a
FIVE YEAR deal. Five years is certainly one of the longer contract periods.
Not the longest, but it's up there.
My personal view is that Arsenal have seen us coming here and forced both
arms up our back. There is no doubt that Carl is a key player for us.
Bilic is rebuilding this team and Carl is at the foundation. Sure, Carl was
not for sale over the summer, but give another sterling performance with us
this season and a five year contract effectively locking Carl in to Arsenal,
I bet a pretty hefty price tag will be attached to him.
The question is, what do we do? Take the bait and wear the pen out writing
zeros and commas on the cheque to Arsenal, or start looking for a
replacement after Christmas?
Only time will tell I suppose. Place your bets!
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Rob Green Update
Posted by whufc_news@hotmail.com on August 17, 2015 in News, Transfer
Rumours
QPR goalkeeper Robert Green has told his friends and fellow teammates that
he expects to return to West Ham before the close of the transfer window,
according to the London Evening Standard.
A report in the Daily Mail last week suggested the Hammers have made a move
to re-sign the former fan favourite, who has his heart set on a move back to
Upton Park. And it is now believed that the West Londoners are preparing for
his departure, by making offers for Southend's Daniel Bentley and
Huddersfield's Alex Smithies.
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Report: West Ham in negotiations to sign Anthony Vanden Borre
HITC
Billy Hawkins
West Ham are in talks to bring Anthony Vanden Borre back to the Premier
League. Vanden Borre is known in England for the spell he spent with
Portsmouth in 2010, and a report in Belgian media outlet Sport claims that
he is in negotiations with West Ham concerning a move to East London.
Currently playing for Anderlecht, his future at the Belgian club looks to be
over, and manager Herman Van Holsbeeck is attempting to sell him before the
transfer window closes. Clubs from Turkey, France and England are stated as
having shown an interest in the right-back, but West Ham are named in the
report as actually being in negotiations with the 27-year-old. A Belgian
international, with 29 caps to his name, Vanden Borre is a well travelled
defender with a wealth of experience. He was a consistent first-team player
for Anderlecht as a 17-year-old, and has also played for clubs in Italy, as
well as the spell he spent with Portsmouth.
He made 25 appearances for the South Coast club in the Premier League,
sitting on the bench as they reached the 2010 FA Cup Final. With Anderlecht
looking to sell Vanden Borre, it is likely he will be available for a cut
price fee, and he has a wealth of experience making him a suitable option
for the Hammers. SEE ALSO: Report: West Ham target prolific Championship
striker, as Bilic eyes attacking reinforcements Able to play in the centre
of defence, as well as in midfield, his strongest position is at right-back,
and Vanden Borre will provide cover and competition for Carl Jenkinson and
the entire back-line - with injuries hitting Slaven Bilic's men hard already
this season. He could also prove an able deputy for the troublesome
defensive midfield position, and will negate the need to sign another
midfielder before the transfer window closes at the end of this month.
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Hammers offered Ayew £90K per week
Posted by Hammers Newshound on August 17, 2015 in News, Whispers
C AND H
Hammers Chairman's son Jack Sullivan has admitted that West Ham offered
Andre Ayew £90,000 per week to become a Hammer before Swansea came in with a
massive offer of £120,000 per week to gazump them. Jack was told by one West
Ham fan 'look at Ayew, the board just let him go, why? Questions need to be
asked' Young Sullivan replied on wtitter '"We offered 90k a week! Swansea
offered 120k" The former Olympique de Marseille man was a free agent when
his contract came to and end so could name his price as West Ham, Crystal
Palace and Swansea all chased his signature. Swansea signed him on a four
year deal which will reportedly cost them £25m in wages plus handsome fees
for several agents running into six figures. Ayew has scored two goals in
two games for Swansea but was it worth breaking the bank at £120,000 per
week to make him West Ham's highest earner? Jack Sullivan added via Social
media "We are not done in the transfer window! We are hoping to sign a
striker and a midfielder."
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Bilic explains why he won't always lay into West Ham stars
HITC
Lewis Doe
West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic feels it's a fine balance knowing when
to rip into his players. West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic has explained
on the club's official website that he feels he has to be reasonable over
when he lays into his players. The Hammers found themselves 2-0 down,
eventually suffering a 2-1 defeat against Leicester over the weekend as the
side failed to back up their superb display against Arsenal on the opening
day of the season. However, Bilic has suggested that sometimes managers have
to resist the urge to rip into their players, because of the way the
opposition may have earned their right to be in front. "I wasn't angry at
half-time. You have to be reasonable, I can't be angry if they scored a good
goal, and their second was a good goal," he told whufc.com. "But I can't
accept that too many times, we weren't doing the basics, and that makes it
much harder. If you don't win the first ball, you have to run, 20, 40 metres
back to recover and that is a waste of energy."
Learn a lesson and sharpen up
It's important for West Ham to view the Leicester game, learn what needs to
be better and carry that forward as they look to forget about the defeat.
It's clear that the Hammers have talent and the ability to win big games,
but they need to show it consistently, avoiding complacency each time they
play well against one of the best teams in the division. That consistency
will allow the side to climb the table, eventually consolidating in an
impressive position before the move to the Olympic Stadium.
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LAZIO TO BID FOR WEST HAM STRIKER TARGET
By Joe Hulbert
It is believed by the Gazzetta dello sport that one of West Ham's major
targets, Alexandre Pato, is being targeted by Italian giants Lazio. The
former AC Milan star has previously been linked with a move to Upton Park
but West Ham will face tough competition according to new reports.
The Brazilian was one of a dozen players being considered as Slaven Bilic
looks to replace Enner Valencia, who picked up a knock. He was no doubt one
of the better options on their shortlist, so the Croatian manager could be
concerned as Lazio have made 'tentative contact'. The report continues to
suggest that the Brazilian has been a long-term target and he is being
considered alongside Liverpool flop Mario Balotelli as a future signing.
Pato was clinical upon his return to the Brazilian League, bagging 26 goals
in 75 games for two different clubs. He was however released by Corinthians
and would be available on a free transfer. There is no estimation of what
kind of salary Lazio or West Ham would need to give him, but it is likely to
be high due to his European pedigree.
This is a transfer saga that could heat up for the Irons, as it is very
clear that Lazio have now declared their interest in Pato.
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QPR striker Charlie Austin ready to join West Ham as Bilic calls for
reinforcements
SIMON JOHNSON Monday 17 August 2015 12:53 BST0 comments
Evening Standard
West Ham have joined the race to sign QPR striker Charlie Austin. Austin is
aware of West Ham's interest and is prepared to join them. There has been no
official bid from the Hammers for the striker, who scored his first goal of
the season in QPR's 2-2 draw with Cardiff on Saturday. There is still an
issue regarding the fee, with QPR refusing to lower their £15million asking
price. Slaven Bilic is keen to strengthen his front-line, especially with
Enner Valencia facing three months out with a knee and ankle injury, and has
already looked at signing Tottenham's Emmanuel Adebayor. Austin is only
interested in a move to a club within the capital. He was hoping to join
Chelsea but Loic Remy has committed his future to Stamford Bridge, leaving
manager Jose Mourinho with sufficient attacking options. Tottenham also have
Austin on their wish-list but only if they fail to sign Saido Berahino or
Javier Hernandez. It is believed Everton, Newcastle, West Brom, Bournemouth
and Aston Villa are also tracking Austin but he is not interested in a move
to any of those sides. Austin has only one year left on his current
contract. QPR will offer him a new deal if he doesn't secure a transfer
during this window. The situation has become further complicated, though, by
QPR midfielder Leroy Fer's failed move to Sunderland. With Fer's loan move
to the Stadium of Light collapsing, there was more pressure on QPR to get
some other high earners, such as goalkeeper Robert Green, off the payroll.
Green is on around £40,000 a week and likely to move on in the transfer
window, having turned down a move to Chelsea earlier this year because he
didn't want to sit on the bench.
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West Ham set to appeal Adrian red card
KEN DYER Monday 17 August 2015 12:57 BST0 comments
Evening STandard
West Ham are expected to appeal Adrian's red card against Leicester. The
goalkeeper was sent off late in the game following a challenge on striker
Jamie Vardy. Slaven Bilic afterwards insisted that any offence was
unintentional and the club, after reviewing the footage, now look likely to
appeal referee Anthony Taylor's decision. Speaking after their defeat on
Sunday, Bilic admitted it 'could have been seen as a red card' before
bemoaning the referee's decision to not award his side a penalty. "We lost
the game in the first half, we were better in the second," Bilic told
reporters. "The first-half performance was not down to Reece Oxford - there
were a few candidates I could have taken off. "I remember the penalty
incident and for me he could give a penalty. I saw it again and for me it is
(a penalty). "Maybe it was hard for the referee to see, but Schmeichel
didn't get the ball and then spread his arms - it could have changed the
game. That was the moment you need something."
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Green set to seal West Ham return
goal.com
17 Aug 2015 12:45:00
By Greg Stobart
QPR goalkeeper Rob Green is set to rejoin West Ham on a free transfer, Goal
understands. The 35-year-old spent six seasons at Upton Park, being named
their player of the year in 2007-08, but left for their London rivals in
2012 after failing to agree terms over a new contract. Green was Harry
Redknapp and Chris Ramsey's first-choice goalkeeper as QPR were relegated
from the Premier League last season and has featured in all three of the Rs'
matches so far this season. The 12-time England international will become
Slaven Bilic's second keeper signing since taking over earlier in the
summer, following Darren Randolph's arrival on a free following the expiry
of his Birmingham City contract. Green will compete with Adrian and Darren
Randolph, who started in three of West Ham's Europa League games this
season, for a starting berth.
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Everton to battle West Ham to sign Barcelona bruising midfielder
London 24
08:35 17 August 2015 Brad Pinard
Everton have joined West Ham in the battle to sign Alex Song this summer,
according to Spanish outlet Fichajes. The midfielder is back at Barcelona
after a loan spell with West Ham last season but has picked up a knee
injury, and his return date is unknown. The Hammers are still keen on Song
though, but have changed their approach to a loan deal with a buy-out clause
inserted, rather than the original £3.6million offer. Everton however are
happy to fork out the fee up front and so Barcelona could see that as a more
attractive offer. Song is expected to favour a return to Upton Park, with
West Ham openly admitting their desire to bring him back to London. The
likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and Spurs have been linked to Song this summer
but it looks to be between Everton and West Ham, depending on his injury.
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Slaven Bilic defends players and says West Ham fans are used to losing after
beating a top side
HITC
Damien Lucas
Slaven Bilic has defended his players after their defeat to Leicester City
and says West Ham United fans are used to losing after beating the top
teams. The Hammers opened the new Premier League season with a bang when
they convincingly beat Arsenal 2-0 at the Emirates last week. The shock
result had many pundits and fans tipping the east Londoners for big things
this season with Bilic's new emphasis on attacking football. But in the
first half against the Foxes West Ham were way below par on that Gunners
display and were punished accordingly, trailing 2-0 at the break. The
performance improved drastically in the second half and Bilic's side pulled
one back through star man Dimitri Payet. The damage had already been done,
though, and the Hammers were brought crashing back down to earth after the
euphoria of the Arsenal result.
'A common problem'
Now in the wake of the defeat to Ranieri's men, Bilic has defended his
players and told West Ham's official website that the club's fans are used
to beating top sides and then going on to lose the next game. "We are not
going to panic, we knew what we had before the game," Bilic told
www.whufc.com. "For West Ham it is not that uncommon to beat Arsenal and
then lose the next match. "In football, you have many results like
Saturday's where, somehow, clubs find it easier to play away games. "They
are not under the same pressure to win or to play well. On the other hand
you have to use your home crowd to make it easier for you."
Bizarre statement shows Bilic understands the club
While it may seem a bizarre thing to say after a defeat from which
supporters are still smarting, it shows Bilic is aware of the challenge that
faces him. Any true Hammers fan will testify that the club has made a habit
over the years of beating a top side before losing to a supposedly inferior
team next time out. In fact it is a trait that is often used against the
club by rival fans claiming that is the real 'West Ham way'. What it does
show, though, is that Bilic knows the club inside out and will not try to
hide away or make excuses and his honesty will go a long way with the club's
loyal and knowledgeable fans. The former Croatia boss will also know the
best way to fix the problem, go out and beat Bournemouth next week to get
everyone back on the positive train.
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West Ham eyeing Andre Gray swoop as Slaven Bilic bids to boost strike force
before deadline
7:00, 17 AUGUST 2015
BY JACOB MURTAGH
The Hammers are still in the market for another frontman with Andy Carroll
and Enner Valencia on the treatment table
The Mirror
West Ham are considering a move for Brentford striker Andre Gray. The
Hammers are still in the market for another frontman with Andy Carroll and
Enner Valencia on the treatment table.
Bees goal-getter Gray is among the names on their radar as Slaven Bilic aims
to boost his options in attack before the transfer window closes. Brentford
have already rejected three bids from Championship rivals Hull City for the
£7million-rated hotshot. Derby and Bristol City are also interested in the
24-year-old, who scored 18 goals last season following a £500,000 switch
from Luton Town. Gray still has two years remaining on his contract at
Griffin Park but Bees chiefs will offer him improved terms in a bid to tie
down his long-term future. The former Shrewsbury youngster netted for the
second time in as many games during Saturday's 4-2 win at Ashton Gate. But
boss Marinus Dijkhuizen admits the forward could still be sold if someone
meets the club's asking price. He said: "Andre Gray showed what an asset he
is to us and I am desperate to keep him. But sometimes money talks and it is
not in my hands. "If anything he has added to his value with this
performance. I have two very good strikers and would love to keep them
together."
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Should West Ham consider re-signing Jermain Defoe to solve striker crisis?
HITC
Olly Dawes
West Ham are in search of a new striker - and Jermain Defoe reportedly wants
a move back down south. It's no secret that West Ham United need to sign a
new striker - and soon. Injuries to Andy Carroll and Enner Valencia have let
manager Slaven Bilic with few options in the final third, as Diafra Sakho
and Mauro Zarate valiantly continue to lead the line. A move for Mexican
international Raul Jimenez has fallen through after he chose to join Benfica
instead, leaing Bilic to renew his search for a new striker following
Saturday's 2-1 home defeat to Leicester City. With just over two weeks to go
until the transfer deadline, Bilic needs to move quickly to find his new
forward - and whilst a number of different names are being linked, should
the Hammers consider a move for a former Upton Park favourite? A report from
the Daily Mirror on Saturday night suggested that Sunderland striker Jermain
Defoe was seeking a transfer away from the Stadium of Light in a bid to
return down south. The 32-year-old started his career with West Ham, and hit
41 goals in 105 games for the club before moving on to Tottenham in January
2004, where Defoe became an England regular. Now though, the veteran forward
is reportedly keen to return down south after a tough spell with Sunderland,
so should West Ham be considering a move to re-sign Defoe? Defoe has
certainly proven himself as a regular goalscorer in the Premier League over
the years, but it's fair to say that he has lost some of the pace that made
him so much of a threat on the shoulder of defences, whilst West Ham may be
looking for a more physical hitman in the absence of Andy Carroll. The move
would give West Ham a proven striker and hand Defoe his return to the south
of England, but Bilic should first look towards younger, more physical
strikers before considering a move for a short-term answer like Defoe, whose
best years appear to be behind him. If West Ham's top targets can't be
signed, they could certainly do worse than offer Defoe a return to Upton
Park, over 11 years after he left the club to join London rivals Spurs.
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West Ham starlet Reece Oxford is ''a man now'' and must quickly adapt, says
Mark Noble
0 COMMENTS22:30, 16 AUGUST 2015
BY HECTOR NUNNS
Oxford, who receives his GCSE results on Thursday, was taken out of the
firing line at half-time by manager Slaven Bilic as the Hammers slumped to a
2-1 loss
The Mirror
Mark Noble has told teenager Reece Oxford he is now "a man" after
experiencing the highs and lows of Premier League football in just eight
days. Manager Slaven Bilic hauled the 16-year-old out of the firing line at
half-time as the Hammers crumbled in the opening 45 minutes under a
Leicester onslaught. That came after Oxford, whose GCSE results arrive on
Thursday, muzzled Mesut Ozil throughout a superb display in the opening-day
win at Arsenal. But West Ham captain Noble insists such initiations are all
part of the learning process for the now fully-blooded midfield prospect. He
said: "It was always going to be tough for Reece. If we lose at Arsenal he
doesn't get the coverage he's got. But he's a big boy. "I said to him in
there – he's a man now, he's going to have to cope with it. I'm pretty sure
he will. He's got a great temperament and he's going to be a great player.
"If you play in the Premier League and you're playing away at the Emirates,
you've got to become a man. I learned it playing at an early age as well.
"You've got to buckle up and take the negatives on the chin. You've got to
grow stronger otherwise in this league you'll go under. But Reece knows that
and will be a great player. "This was a good lesson for all of us on what to
expect this season. Some people out there thought we might roll over
Leicester after Arsenal, but that was never the case." Bilic said: "It's
going to definitely help Reece in his career to experience both sides of
results, in first couple of games of career in first week. We will all learn
lessons from this match."
Meanwhile Adrian protested his innocence on Twitter after being sent off for
a wild challenge on Jamie Vardy in stoppage time, coming up for a corner and
then being left stranded. Bilic admitted the incident looked like dangerous
play, but goalkeeper Adrian said: "Never in my career I have kicked nobody
with bad intention to deserve a red card... neither today. "Is it a crime
now to lift your leg? How do you kick a ball without lifting your leg?" West
Ham's hunt for a striker is likely to intensify, with Burak Yilmaz set to
arrive from Galatasaray.
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Three midfielders West Ham could sign that are better than Tom Huddlestone
HITC
Tim Poole
Jack Sullivan has said West ham are looking for a midfielder. According to
the Daily Mirror, Hull City midfielder Tom Huddlestone is close to joining
West Ham United. The Hammers faithful, however, don't seem best pleased with
the news. Here are three better alternatives...
Alex Song
For whatever reason, the Irons have been unable to agree a permanent deal
for the man who spent last season on loan at Upton Park. But the 27-year-old
is a perfect fit for West Ham considering the fact they are short in
midfield, as well as his knowledge of the club after spending last campaign
there. Reports suggest Everton are leading the race for Song's signature.
It's time for West Ham to act.
Lucas Leiva
Like Song, West Ham may have to up the ante when it comes to signing the
Liverpool midfielder, with interest in the Brazilian reportedly plentiful.
But that's just a reality the east London club are going to have to wake up
to if they want to sign a good enough addition in the middle of the park.
Lucas has a very limited skill set and will only offer something
defensively. That could be perfect for West Ham, however, as it will add
depth and offer them tactical variety. Meanwhile, the one thing Lucas is
good at - protecting the back four - he can be very good at indeed.
Mathieu Flamini
A left-field option but one that was well received by fans when suggested on
HITC Sport the other day. The 31-year-old may be surplus to requirements at
Arsenal but, as a squad player, could offer a lot at Upton Park. The
Frenchman is hard working and, like Lucas, a defence-minded player. And he
may just be another better option than Hull City's Huddlestone.
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Burak Yilmaz 'accepts £6.4m West Ham transfer after advanced talks'
Jamie Sanderson for Metro.co.uk
Monday 17 Aug 2015 12:53 am
Burak Yilmaz is happy to sign for West Ham after advanced talks with the
club, according to reports. The Hammers turned to Galatasaray's Yilmaz over
the weekend as the club look to add a world class forward to their ranks
before the window shuts. And after negotiations took place over a
£6.4million deal, Turkish outlet Sporun Dibi says Yilmaz is ready to sign
for West Ham this summer. They claim he's happy to sign on the dotted and
has accepted the transfer. The 30-year-old is a powerful striker with an
incredible goalscoring record of 57 goals in 87 games.
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Tuesday, August 18
Monday, August 17
Daily WHUFC News - 17th August 2015
From the Boardroom - David Gold
WHUFc.com
The Joint-Chairman pays tribute to the Hammers faithful on Claret and Blue Day...
I'm always fearful that I go on about this too much but, having been in football for nearly 25 years and supporting it for longer than I care to remember, I continue to be amazed by the West Ham fans. They are just superb. They are so spirited and as long as they see endeavour like they saw in the second half against Leicester City on Saturday, they will get right behind you. They drove us on in the second half and if we'd got anything from the game if would have been down to them. It would have made Claret and Blue Day all the more special.
Overall, like everyone else, I'm disappointed about the result as it was a game we felt we could get something from. It's true that we knew Leicester have been on a long run and have brought in good players and it would be tough, but we didn't think we would lose the game.
I remember speaking to Mark Noble just before kick-off and he said he thought it was a going to be a very tough game and that turned out to be the case. I think it's undeniable that they were the better team in the first half and they led 2-0 at half time and that's hard to come back from.
But Slaven made the change to bring on Pedro Obiang and I think that changed the whole dynamic of the game and for a moment you thought we were going to go on and win it 5-2. We looked positive and went on to score an early goal.
I thought Pedro made a huge impact and there was a lot of running in him and he wanted to get forward. Sadly, although we pressed and pressed, we didn't get that breakthrough and I think it was Diafra Sakho who had a wonderful chance and the goalkeeper made the save it could have been 2-2.
We could have gone on to win the game at that point as they were on the back foot and took off their striker and went more defensive but sadly we couldn't break them down.
What that result means now is that Saturday's game against Bournemouth is a big, big game. I know it is only the third game but having beaten all the odds by beating Arsenal we couldn't consolidate our position by beating Leicester. So now we must try to get three points against Bournemouth, particularly as we have Liverpool the following week.
I know it will be another capacity crowd and, with support like we saw on Saturday, I am confident we will have a better outcome.
David Gold
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Kouyate - A bad day at the office
WHUFC.com
Cheikhou Kouyate bemoaned a bad day at the office on Saturday, after West Ham United were undone by two first-half Leicester City goals at the Boleyn Ground. Though Dimitri Payet's first Barclays Premier League goal offered the Hammers hope in the second period, Kouyate admitted the damage had long since been done. And on the back of a stunning start at the Emirates Stadium a week earlier, West Ham's Senegalese midfielder could scarcely hide his disappointment. "It's no good," he confirmed. "You win your first game at Arsenal, a very big game, a very good game. You go to Arsenal in a derby, win 0-2, and then afterwards you come to a home game and lose. It's very hard to take. "We didn't play well on Saturday. Leicester played very well, they were very compact and very strong. It's obviously a bad day for West Ham."
Though West Ham's second-half revival was a spirited one, Kouyate felt the Hammers had already given themselves too much ground to claw back after a below-par first 45. That said, the hosts certainly had the wind in their sails after Payet's goal and, but for Kasper Schmeichel in the Leicester goal, might have rescued a point. He continued: "We paid the price for the first half, we weren't there. The 'keeper made some good saves but the fact we've lost the game on Saturday is down to us. "Leicester played on the counter attack, but the game was probably decided after the first half. It was a horrible first half for West Ham. "After we made it 2-1, we had confidence and had energy – but we didn't make the right decisions. "They're a team who came here to sit back and wait, so it was for us to find the answers. It was all blocked down the middle, so it was about trying to pass down the sides, but it wasn't to be on Saturday."
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Knoyle relishing Baggies test
WHUFC.com
After a busy and prosperous pre-season, the West Ham United's Development Squad start their competitive campaign with a trip to face West Bromwich Albion on Monday 17 August.
The Hammers, who will compete in the Barclays U21 Premier League Second Division, approach the new season full of confidence after a string of regulars pushed their way into first team reckoning in the UEFA Europa League.
In total, nine players made their senior debuts, alongside Reece Burke, who made the step up last term and has continued to impress. Josh Cullen, Amos Nasha, Lewis Page, Reece Oxford, Djair Parfitt-Williams, Kyle Knoyle, Alex Pike, Jordan Brown and Martin Samuelsen all participated in the Hammers' European adventure and several could be in contention to face the Baggies.
One of those debutants, who may feature on Monday night, is right-back Kyle Knoyle. The England U18 international made his full senior debut for the Hammers against FC Astra Giurgiu: "Making My first team debut is something I've dreamt of and strived towards since I first joined West Ham five years ago.
"It was a surreal experience that I'll never forget, once the referee blew the whistle my head was in the game and I felt comfortable. That is one of many positives I can take but there were also areas of my game which I need to improve on. In general I took a lot from my debut; the traveling supporters were also amazing.
"Before kick-off I was excited about the opportunity. I'd say when we had the team meeting a couple of hours before the game, when the gaffer wrote down the team, it hit me and the nerves started to creep in a little. After that I was fine, the nerves settled and I went out there with my main thought of enjoying the experience."
Having enjoyed a taste of first team football, Knoyle is eager for more. While he's been training with the first team on a regular basis for several months, the eighteen-year-old is confident he can make the step up from Europa League into the Premier League.
"My aspiration this season is to comfortably make the transition from U21 football to first team football. My dream will always be for an opportunity to arise where I can get games for the first team at West Ham.
"If it is felt best by the Club that I need to get some Football League experience first, then I will just do my best for the U21s until a suitable loan option becomes available.
"With regards to my international aspirations, I am firm believer if I get my Club football right, international opportunities will come and it is always an honour to play for your country."
Monday's hosts, West Bromwich Albion got their season off to a great start as they beat Swansea City 2-1 away with goals from brothers Samir and Adil Nadi in their opening fixture.
The Development Squad will play West Bromwich Albion on Monday 17 August. Kick off has been moved forward to 3pm, make sure you're following @whufc_official and www.whufc.com for live updates, match reports and exclusive reaction.
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Ladies defeated in opener
WHUFC.com
West Ham Ladies opened the 2015/16 FA Women's Premier League Southern Division season with a 5-0 defeat at Coventry United on Sunday.
Defender Nikki Miles headed the hosts into an early lead and the game remained in the balance at 1-0 for a long time, with debutants Georgia Miller and Aleah Headley missing chances for the Hammers straight after the break. After being let off my new manager Marc Nurse's West Ham, the home side rallied and extended their lead through Maz Gauntlett, Helen Dermody, Miles' second and a late lob from substitute Amanda Whalley.
The Hammers line-up contained several new faces from the side that beat Shanklin LFC in the club's final pre-season fixture. Indian international goalkeeper Aditi Chaucan replaced Jess Parlane in goal, with Latoya Bailey also making her debut in place of the injured Emma Sherwood in attack.
Headley came into the midfield alongside April Bowers to replace Grenada international Shirvae Edwards, while Kelley Blanchflower returned to action in place of the unavailable Lily Mellors.
After an extremely successful pre-season that saw the Hammers net 44 goals and concede just one, Nurse's side would have hoped for a better start. From a short corner, Dermody was given far too much time and space to cross and she found Miles at the back post, who headed home confidently past Chaucan. Although they were a goal down, the Hammers grew in confidence and started to gain more control and possession of the ball, but they could not fashion an equaliser. Just seconds after half-time, the visitors showed created their best chance of the game. However, Miller blazed her shot high over the crossbar. Moments later, West Ham were in again, but Headley rushed her shot from the edge of the area and sliced well wide.
Nurse's side remained just a goal down and repeatedly threaten to level until the final 21 minutes, when Coventry added four goals to make the final scoreline somewhat one-sided. One too many misplaced passes opened up a chance for Coventry to punish their guests. Chaucan made a fantastic save in a one on one situation, but the ball fell kindly to Gauntlett, who buried the ball into the far corner of the net.
If Coventry's second goal was not enough of a killer blow for Nurse's team, it got much worse in the following 12 minutes as the home side managed to net another three goals.
Firstly, Miles was well placed at the far post to head home her second of the game in very similar fashion to her first, followed by Dermody running clear through to slide the ball home. To complete a forgettable afternoon at Bedworth Villa FC, substitute Whalley's long range effort caught Chaucan slightly off her line.
West Ham will be determined to get this result out of their systems, but their opening home fixture against Portsmouth Ladies scheduled for 23 August has been postponed due to Pompey players' international commitments.
Nurse's side are therefore next in action in the FA Women's Premier League Cup Determining Round against Crystal Palace on Sunday 30 August. Kick-off at AFC Hornchurch's Bridge Avenue Stadium is at 2pm, with tickets already available here.
Ladies: Chaucan, Stimson, Revell, Little (c), Bottom, Xidhas, Bowers, Headley, Miller (Locke), Bailey (Adeyemo), Blanchflower
Subs not used: Parlane, Gullefer
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Hull City 'powerless' over Tom Huddlestone - Steve Bruce
BBC.co.uk
Steve Bruce says Hull City will be unable to prevent Tom Huddlestone leaving if any club matches the release clause in the midfielder's contract. Bruce said after his side's 1-1 draw at Wolves on Sunday that Hull had received no bids for any of their players. But he confirmed an interest from West Ham in ex-Tottenham man Huddlestone. The Hull manager said: "I am sure West Ham, like anybody, knows he has a buy-out in his contract and if they get to that figure I am powerless." Bruce added: "The agents will be touting him around everywhere, which I know they are. But there's nothing I can do." Huddlestone, 28, capped four times by England, joined Hull from Tottenham for around £5m in August 2013 and has made 78 appearances for the club.
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West Ham were unlucky to lose against Leicester, says Mark Noble
Last Updated: 16/08/15 2:03pm
SSN
West Ham captain Mark Noble believes his side were unlucky to come away with nothing after the 2-1 defeat to Leicester City at Upton Park.
Shinji Okazaki and Riyad Mahrez put the Foxes two goals up before Dimitri Payet pulled a goal back in the second half. Kasper Schmeichel denied Diafra Sakho late on with a fine save before Hammers keeper Adrian was sent off in stoppage time for a high boot. And Noble insists there were a lot of positives to take from the defeat. He said: "A lot of chances were created and we played a lot of good stuff. "We lost the game so no one is going to care about how we played but, to us, it matters. For sure we could have won the game. "We controlled the game and had a couple of chances early on and hit the crossbar. West Ham boss Slaven Bilic was disappointed with his side's 2-1 defeat to Leicester but accepts this can happen in the Premier League "I know we lost the game, but we played very well in the second half and should definitely have come away with a draw. "We controlled the game from start to finish and got caught cold by a couple of goals, but it could have been whole different story on another day."
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West Ham youngster Reece Oxford's granddad admits: "It was clear from the age of six he'd be a star"
0 COMMENTS13:26, 16 AUGUST 2015
BY HAMISH MACKAY
Oxford made his Premier League debut in front of 60,000 fans at the Emirates Stadium when West Ham beat Arsenal 2-0 on the opening day of the season
The Mirror
The grandfather of West Ham youngster Reece Oxford claims he knew the 16-year-old would make it as star as early as 10 years ago. Oxford made his Premier League debut in front of 60,000 fans at the Emirates Stadium when West Ham beat Arsenal 2-0 on the opening day of the season. For many of those watching both inside the ground and on television, Oxford was a revelation. Some were staggered by the talent and composure of such a young footballer. But not Jeffrey Renaud, 62, who happens to be Oxford's grandfather. "It was clear from the age of six Reece would be a star," Renaud told the Sun on Sunday. " He had a ball at his feet all the time and was always playing in the garden. "It feels like yesterday that he was dribbling around the corridor of our home. It pretty much was." His grandfather also revealed that football had helped keep him out of trouble during his childhood, even when friends may have led him astray. He said: "He never really got in really bad trouble but some of his friends could be naughty from time to time. For Reece, football was always the most important thing."
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Obiang set for Oxford position
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 16, 2015 in News, Whispers
C AND H
Reece Oxford looks set for a spell on the bench after his impressive League debut at Arsenal. The 16 year old was substituted by Pedro Obiang at half time in yesterday's defeat against Leicester. And the summer signing immediately added bite to the Irons and looked set to nail down a place in midfield for the forseeable future. ClaretandHugh was told: "It was impossible to not play Reece after his performance last week but it's always going to be difficult at that age. "He's a tremendous prospect and is very much a part of the squad but Pedro showed that he's an exciting player during the second half."
ClaretandHugh was told exclusively: "Pedro looked the business and was involved in much of our good stuff. Reece is a fantastic young player but looks likely to be used more sparingly. He's very young after all."
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Double standards from Downing
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 16, 2015 in News, Whispers
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Not much shocks me in football anymore – the people who play the game even less – but Stewart Downing has truly taken the biscuit today.
He decided to tell the Daily Star that he never wanted to leave Liverpool for West Ham and would have preferred to have played for his place under "Brendan" (Rodgers). However, that apparently proved impossible because he explained "Brendan said he wanted me to stay, but the club told me that there was an offer from West Ham. I didn't want to move."
Now hold on a minute mate, are you the same Stewart Downing who in another relatively recent interview with the slightly more upmarket Daily Telegraph had this to say about the Liverpool manager: ""He put a headline out, saying I needed to 'fight' more. It hurt. If you ask all the managers I've played for, I always try, always train hard. "If Brendan had a problem with me, if he'd pulled me and told me, then no problem. He didn't. It hurt the way he did it. "I went to see him, November time, and he just said to me: 'This isn't going to happen for you here, basically find a new club.'
There's more about how Rodgers came up with the idea of playing at left back, that even when he was back in the team he knew the writing was on the wall and that he knew he had to move concluding with the words: "I knew I had to move. I knew he wouldn't play me."
Downing of course – on leaving for Middlesbrough – insisted that had Slaven Bilic shown more enthusiasm to keep him he would still be at Upton Park. Yes of course Stewart!
OK, he's gone – not necessarily forgotten but gone – and maybe it's best to leave these issues where they belong – in the dustbin of history.
However, I think such things need pointing out. If you are going to make statements such as Downing has today you need a good memory.
Double standards Mr Downing and that's being kind!
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Irons on 'Greeno' return rumour!
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 16, 2015 in News, Whispers
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West Ham have revealed they have no plans to bring former favourite Robert Green back to Upton Park. Speculation that the club have been ready to move in on the 35 year old has been around for some time but the Irons ruled out the possibility exclusively to ClaretandHugh.
The former England keeper Green, 35 spent six years with us before moving across London in 2012 and has always been held in high affection by the fans at the Boleyn. It had been rumoured the £50k a week stopper was seen as perfect cover for Adrian and the Spaniard's sending sending off against Leicester has set to grapevine buzzing again today. However, when ClaretandHugh put the question to our highest placed insider we were told categorically: "There's absolutely no situation of that kind in our minds. The answer in one word is "no""
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DG reveals top priority transfer plans
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 16, 2015 in News, Whispers
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David Gold has again confirmed the Hammers need a new striker as a top priority. We revealed earlier this afternoon that Slaven Bilic is stepping up the chase for a striker this week with the closing of the summer window two weeks ago. The co chairman – talking to ClaretandHugh exclusively – explained: "We are looking absolutely everywhere and are narrowing down the options. "The Enner Valencia situation has of course made things much more urgent. We are doing everything we can to get a forward in and the manager is very much on the case. " However, he remains hopeful that Andy Carroll will be back by September saying: "He's working really hard and not far away but we continue the hunt regardless of that." When we reminded him that perhaps we shouldn't go to bed too early – in a reference to his famous winter deadline day tweet – he declared: "Not sure I'll be using that line again!"
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Hammers repeat their Yilmaz position
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 16, 2015 in News, Whispers
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A widely reported story that Turkish goal ace Burak Yilmaz is all but on his way to the Irons has been well over-cooked. The news first broke last week and was immediately knocked back by senior executives within the club to ClaretandHugh yet today the same story with a few twirls is doing the rounds again. Claims out of Turkey suggested initially the deal was all but done with a three year deal on the table worth £48k a week – a figure now denied. Since our story revealing this was well wide of the mark the player's agent has been reported on Lig Radio as saying: "We will not enter talks before the Galatasaray –Sivasspor game but rumours regarding a €10 million offer are false as we have not spoke about money."
He added that talk of a of a three-year, £48,000-a-week contract was also wrong as we had explained via our Irons sources. After checking the latest speculation today we were told exclusively: "We know about the player, but as was the case last week talks are no better than tentative."
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Exclusive: Hammers relaxed at Allardyce attack
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 16, 2015 in News, Whispers
EXCLUSIVE
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West Ham have shrugged off Sam Allardyce's remarks of "ingratitude" believing his outburst was "inevitable." The former manager's well publicised remarks last week drew a massive response against him from the fans after a double-barrelled attack which also claimed the squad wasn't good enough for Europe. But senior figures inside the club – who preferred to remain anonymous – were entirely relaxed about the former manager's intervention via comments to a foreign news service. One – speaking exclusively to ClaretandHugh – said: "He says on the one hand it was a mutual decision to leave but on the other says the board weren't grateful for what he'd done for the club. "Blimey, that really is a bit rich because the two Davids have regularly thanked him for his time at the club which was moderatel successful. "Their gratitude was also shown in a £3 million a year deal with various other bonus payments. It's all a bit odd to be reading this sort of stuff as a result! "It was almost inevitable that Sam would eventually say something about his last season at the club and the way things turned out. It wasn't unexpected. "But the reasons for him not receiving a new deal are pretty obvious. He had been with us for four years and that's a very long time in this job and industry. Managers don't have a very long life span do they. "He has every right to say what he likes but the simple fact is that his work here was done. The club decided to go in a different direction as is their right. It's a hard one to understand really because all that happened was a period in the club's managerial history simply came to a natural end.
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Slav steps up striker hunt
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 16, 2015 in News, Whispers
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The Hammers remain in the market for a striker and midfielder. With just a fortnight left of the current window, co owner David Sullivan's youngest son Jack has assured fans the spending is not over. Supporters have become more an more vociferous on the social networks as the club has failed to add the long sought striker to their ranks. With Enner Valencia now facing possible surgery the need is becoming more and more pressing and ClaretandHugh was told the club is stepping up it's hunt for a top front man this week. A source told us: "Names such as Adebayor and Hernandez are on the list of targets and we need to get something sorted out before window closes. The manager continues to look at the options available to him." Meanwhile Sullivan jnr tweeted: "We are not done in the transfer window! We are hoping to sign a striker and a midfielder."
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Adrian red card: Irons may appeal
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 16, 2015 in News, Whispers
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West Ham are waiting on referee Anthony Taylor's report before making a decision on whether to appeal Adrian's red card during yesterday's game against Leicester City. The Spaniard was adjudged to have been guilty of dangerous play when he went in with a high boot after joining the attack as the Hammers sought an equaliser at the end. It looked very harsh as there appeared no intention to injure anybody as he backtracked towards his own goal. However manager Slaven Bilic – whilst accepting that – appeared to accept the referee's decision. However, ClaretandHugh was told a few minutes ago that no decision has yet been made on what line the club will take. A source told us exclusively: "We might appeal. We will take a look at the referee's report and look at the incident from all available angles before we make that decision." Adrian tweeted last night that he had never in his career deliberately attempted to hurt anyone and the TV evidence suggested that he was unaware of any player in the vicinity as he attempted to clear the ball.
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WHUFc.com
The Joint-Chairman pays tribute to the Hammers faithful on Claret and Blue Day...
I'm always fearful that I go on about this too much but, having been in football for nearly 25 years and supporting it for longer than I care to remember, I continue to be amazed by the West Ham fans. They are just superb. They are so spirited and as long as they see endeavour like they saw in the second half against Leicester City on Saturday, they will get right behind you. They drove us on in the second half and if we'd got anything from the game if would have been down to them. It would have made Claret and Blue Day all the more special.
Overall, like everyone else, I'm disappointed about the result as it was a game we felt we could get something from. It's true that we knew Leicester have been on a long run and have brought in good players and it would be tough, but we didn't think we would lose the game.
I remember speaking to Mark Noble just before kick-off and he said he thought it was a going to be a very tough game and that turned out to be the case. I think it's undeniable that they were the better team in the first half and they led 2-0 at half time and that's hard to come back from.
But Slaven made the change to bring on Pedro Obiang and I think that changed the whole dynamic of the game and for a moment you thought we were going to go on and win it 5-2. We looked positive and went on to score an early goal.
I thought Pedro made a huge impact and there was a lot of running in him and he wanted to get forward. Sadly, although we pressed and pressed, we didn't get that breakthrough and I think it was Diafra Sakho who had a wonderful chance and the goalkeeper made the save it could have been 2-2.
We could have gone on to win the game at that point as they were on the back foot and took off their striker and went more defensive but sadly we couldn't break them down.
What that result means now is that Saturday's game against Bournemouth is a big, big game. I know it is only the third game but having beaten all the odds by beating Arsenal we couldn't consolidate our position by beating Leicester. So now we must try to get three points against Bournemouth, particularly as we have Liverpool the following week.
I know it will be another capacity crowd and, with support like we saw on Saturday, I am confident we will have a better outcome.
David Gold
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Kouyate - A bad day at the office
WHUFC.com
Cheikhou Kouyate bemoaned a bad day at the office on Saturday, after West Ham United were undone by two first-half Leicester City goals at the Boleyn Ground. Though Dimitri Payet's first Barclays Premier League goal offered the Hammers hope in the second period, Kouyate admitted the damage had long since been done. And on the back of a stunning start at the Emirates Stadium a week earlier, West Ham's Senegalese midfielder could scarcely hide his disappointment. "It's no good," he confirmed. "You win your first game at Arsenal, a very big game, a very good game. You go to Arsenal in a derby, win 0-2, and then afterwards you come to a home game and lose. It's very hard to take. "We didn't play well on Saturday. Leicester played very well, they were very compact and very strong. It's obviously a bad day for West Ham."
Though West Ham's second-half revival was a spirited one, Kouyate felt the Hammers had already given themselves too much ground to claw back after a below-par first 45. That said, the hosts certainly had the wind in their sails after Payet's goal and, but for Kasper Schmeichel in the Leicester goal, might have rescued a point. He continued: "We paid the price for the first half, we weren't there. The 'keeper made some good saves but the fact we've lost the game on Saturday is down to us. "Leicester played on the counter attack, but the game was probably decided after the first half. It was a horrible first half for West Ham. "After we made it 2-1, we had confidence and had energy – but we didn't make the right decisions. "They're a team who came here to sit back and wait, so it was for us to find the answers. It was all blocked down the middle, so it was about trying to pass down the sides, but it wasn't to be on Saturday."
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Knoyle relishing Baggies test
WHUFC.com
After a busy and prosperous pre-season, the West Ham United's Development Squad start their competitive campaign with a trip to face West Bromwich Albion on Monday 17 August.
The Hammers, who will compete in the Barclays U21 Premier League Second Division, approach the new season full of confidence after a string of regulars pushed their way into first team reckoning in the UEFA Europa League.
In total, nine players made their senior debuts, alongside Reece Burke, who made the step up last term and has continued to impress. Josh Cullen, Amos Nasha, Lewis Page, Reece Oxford, Djair Parfitt-Williams, Kyle Knoyle, Alex Pike, Jordan Brown and Martin Samuelsen all participated in the Hammers' European adventure and several could be in contention to face the Baggies.
One of those debutants, who may feature on Monday night, is right-back Kyle Knoyle. The England U18 international made his full senior debut for the Hammers against FC Astra Giurgiu: "Making My first team debut is something I've dreamt of and strived towards since I first joined West Ham five years ago.
"It was a surreal experience that I'll never forget, once the referee blew the whistle my head was in the game and I felt comfortable. That is one of many positives I can take but there were also areas of my game which I need to improve on. In general I took a lot from my debut; the traveling supporters were also amazing.
"Before kick-off I was excited about the opportunity. I'd say when we had the team meeting a couple of hours before the game, when the gaffer wrote down the team, it hit me and the nerves started to creep in a little. After that I was fine, the nerves settled and I went out there with my main thought of enjoying the experience."
Having enjoyed a taste of first team football, Knoyle is eager for more. While he's been training with the first team on a regular basis for several months, the eighteen-year-old is confident he can make the step up from Europa League into the Premier League.
"My aspiration this season is to comfortably make the transition from U21 football to first team football. My dream will always be for an opportunity to arise where I can get games for the first team at West Ham.
"If it is felt best by the Club that I need to get some Football League experience first, then I will just do my best for the U21s until a suitable loan option becomes available.
"With regards to my international aspirations, I am firm believer if I get my Club football right, international opportunities will come and it is always an honour to play for your country."
Monday's hosts, West Bromwich Albion got their season off to a great start as they beat Swansea City 2-1 away with goals from brothers Samir and Adil Nadi in their opening fixture.
The Development Squad will play West Bromwich Albion on Monday 17 August. Kick off has been moved forward to 3pm, make sure you're following @whufc_official and www.whufc.com for live updates, match reports and exclusive reaction.
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Ladies defeated in opener
WHUFC.com
West Ham Ladies opened the 2015/16 FA Women's Premier League Southern Division season with a 5-0 defeat at Coventry United on Sunday.
Defender Nikki Miles headed the hosts into an early lead and the game remained in the balance at 1-0 for a long time, with debutants Georgia Miller and Aleah Headley missing chances for the Hammers straight after the break. After being let off my new manager Marc Nurse's West Ham, the home side rallied and extended their lead through Maz Gauntlett, Helen Dermody, Miles' second and a late lob from substitute Amanda Whalley.
The Hammers line-up contained several new faces from the side that beat Shanklin LFC in the club's final pre-season fixture. Indian international goalkeeper Aditi Chaucan replaced Jess Parlane in goal, with Latoya Bailey also making her debut in place of the injured Emma Sherwood in attack.
Headley came into the midfield alongside April Bowers to replace Grenada international Shirvae Edwards, while Kelley Blanchflower returned to action in place of the unavailable Lily Mellors.
After an extremely successful pre-season that saw the Hammers net 44 goals and concede just one, Nurse's side would have hoped for a better start. From a short corner, Dermody was given far too much time and space to cross and she found Miles at the back post, who headed home confidently past Chaucan. Although they were a goal down, the Hammers grew in confidence and started to gain more control and possession of the ball, but they could not fashion an equaliser. Just seconds after half-time, the visitors showed created their best chance of the game. However, Miller blazed her shot high over the crossbar. Moments later, West Ham were in again, but Headley rushed her shot from the edge of the area and sliced well wide.
Nurse's side remained just a goal down and repeatedly threaten to level until the final 21 minutes, when Coventry added four goals to make the final scoreline somewhat one-sided. One too many misplaced passes opened up a chance for Coventry to punish their guests. Chaucan made a fantastic save in a one on one situation, but the ball fell kindly to Gauntlett, who buried the ball into the far corner of the net.
If Coventry's second goal was not enough of a killer blow for Nurse's team, it got much worse in the following 12 minutes as the home side managed to net another three goals.
Firstly, Miles was well placed at the far post to head home her second of the game in very similar fashion to her first, followed by Dermody running clear through to slide the ball home. To complete a forgettable afternoon at Bedworth Villa FC, substitute Whalley's long range effort caught Chaucan slightly off her line.
West Ham will be determined to get this result out of their systems, but their opening home fixture against Portsmouth Ladies scheduled for 23 August has been postponed due to Pompey players' international commitments.
Nurse's side are therefore next in action in the FA Women's Premier League Cup Determining Round against Crystal Palace on Sunday 30 August. Kick-off at AFC Hornchurch's Bridge Avenue Stadium is at 2pm, with tickets already available here.
Ladies: Chaucan, Stimson, Revell, Little (c), Bottom, Xidhas, Bowers, Headley, Miller (Locke), Bailey (Adeyemo), Blanchflower
Subs not used: Parlane, Gullefer
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Hull City 'powerless' over Tom Huddlestone - Steve Bruce
BBC.co.uk
Steve Bruce says Hull City will be unable to prevent Tom Huddlestone leaving if any club matches the release clause in the midfielder's contract. Bruce said after his side's 1-1 draw at Wolves on Sunday that Hull had received no bids for any of their players. But he confirmed an interest from West Ham in ex-Tottenham man Huddlestone. The Hull manager said: "I am sure West Ham, like anybody, knows he has a buy-out in his contract and if they get to that figure I am powerless." Bruce added: "The agents will be touting him around everywhere, which I know they are. But there's nothing I can do." Huddlestone, 28, capped four times by England, joined Hull from Tottenham for around £5m in August 2013 and has made 78 appearances for the club.
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West Ham were unlucky to lose against Leicester, says Mark Noble
Last Updated: 16/08/15 2:03pm
SSN
West Ham captain Mark Noble believes his side were unlucky to come away with nothing after the 2-1 defeat to Leicester City at Upton Park.
Shinji Okazaki and Riyad Mahrez put the Foxes two goals up before Dimitri Payet pulled a goal back in the second half. Kasper Schmeichel denied Diafra Sakho late on with a fine save before Hammers keeper Adrian was sent off in stoppage time for a high boot. And Noble insists there were a lot of positives to take from the defeat. He said: "A lot of chances were created and we played a lot of good stuff. "We lost the game so no one is going to care about how we played but, to us, it matters. For sure we could have won the game. "We controlled the game and had a couple of chances early on and hit the crossbar. West Ham boss Slaven Bilic was disappointed with his side's 2-1 defeat to Leicester but accepts this can happen in the Premier League "I know we lost the game, but we played very well in the second half and should definitely have come away with a draw. "We controlled the game from start to finish and got caught cold by a couple of goals, but it could have been whole different story on another day."
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West Ham youngster Reece Oxford's granddad admits: "It was clear from the age of six he'd be a star"
0 COMMENTS13:26, 16 AUGUST 2015
BY HAMISH MACKAY
Oxford made his Premier League debut in front of 60,000 fans at the Emirates Stadium when West Ham beat Arsenal 2-0 on the opening day of the season
The Mirror
The grandfather of West Ham youngster Reece Oxford claims he knew the 16-year-old would make it as star as early as 10 years ago. Oxford made his Premier League debut in front of 60,000 fans at the Emirates Stadium when West Ham beat Arsenal 2-0 on the opening day of the season. For many of those watching both inside the ground and on television, Oxford was a revelation. Some were staggered by the talent and composure of such a young footballer. But not Jeffrey Renaud, 62, who happens to be Oxford's grandfather. "It was clear from the age of six Reece would be a star," Renaud told the Sun on Sunday. " He had a ball at his feet all the time and was always playing in the garden. "It feels like yesterday that he was dribbling around the corridor of our home. It pretty much was." His grandfather also revealed that football had helped keep him out of trouble during his childhood, even when friends may have led him astray. He said: "He never really got in really bad trouble but some of his friends could be naughty from time to time. For Reece, football was always the most important thing."
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Obiang set for Oxford position
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 16, 2015 in News, Whispers
C AND H
Reece Oxford looks set for a spell on the bench after his impressive League debut at Arsenal. The 16 year old was substituted by Pedro Obiang at half time in yesterday's defeat against Leicester. And the summer signing immediately added bite to the Irons and looked set to nail down a place in midfield for the forseeable future. ClaretandHugh was told: "It was impossible to not play Reece after his performance last week but it's always going to be difficult at that age. "He's a tremendous prospect and is very much a part of the squad but Pedro showed that he's an exciting player during the second half."
ClaretandHugh was told exclusively: "Pedro looked the business and was involved in much of our good stuff. Reece is a fantastic young player but looks likely to be used more sparingly. He's very young after all."
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Double standards from Downing
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 16, 2015 in News, Whispers
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Not much shocks me in football anymore – the people who play the game even less – but Stewart Downing has truly taken the biscuit today.
He decided to tell the Daily Star that he never wanted to leave Liverpool for West Ham and would have preferred to have played for his place under "Brendan" (Rodgers). However, that apparently proved impossible because he explained "Brendan said he wanted me to stay, but the club told me that there was an offer from West Ham. I didn't want to move."
Now hold on a minute mate, are you the same Stewart Downing who in another relatively recent interview with the slightly more upmarket Daily Telegraph had this to say about the Liverpool manager: ""He put a headline out, saying I needed to 'fight' more. It hurt. If you ask all the managers I've played for, I always try, always train hard. "If Brendan had a problem with me, if he'd pulled me and told me, then no problem. He didn't. It hurt the way he did it. "I went to see him, November time, and he just said to me: 'This isn't going to happen for you here, basically find a new club.'
There's more about how Rodgers came up with the idea of playing at left back, that even when he was back in the team he knew the writing was on the wall and that he knew he had to move concluding with the words: "I knew I had to move. I knew he wouldn't play me."
Downing of course – on leaving for Middlesbrough – insisted that had Slaven Bilic shown more enthusiasm to keep him he would still be at Upton Park. Yes of course Stewart!
OK, he's gone – not necessarily forgotten but gone – and maybe it's best to leave these issues where they belong – in the dustbin of history.
However, I think such things need pointing out. If you are going to make statements such as Downing has today you need a good memory.
Double standards Mr Downing and that's being kind!
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Irons on 'Greeno' return rumour!
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 16, 2015 in News, Whispers
C AND H
West Ham have revealed they have no plans to bring former favourite Robert Green back to Upton Park. Speculation that the club have been ready to move in on the 35 year old has been around for some time but the Irons ruled out the possibility exclusively to ClaretandHugh.
The former England keeper Green, 35 spent six years with us before moving across London in 2012 and has always been held in high affection by the fans at the Boleyn. It had been rumoured the £50k a week stopper was seen as perfect cover for Adrian and the Spaniard's sending sending off against Leicester has set to grapevine buzzing again today. However, when ClaretandHugh put the question to our highest placed insider we were told categorically: "There's absolutely no situation of that kind in our minds. The answer in one word is "no""
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DG reveals top priority transfer plans
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 16, 2015 in News, Whispers
C AND H
David Gold has again confirmed the Hammers need a new striker as a top priority. We revealed earlier this afternoon that Slaven Bilic is stepping up the chase for a striker this week with the closing of the summer window two weeks ago. The co chairman – talking to ClaretandHugh exclusively – explained: "We are looking absolutely everywhere and are narrowing down the options. "The Enner Valencia situation has of course made things much more urgent. We are doing everything we can to get a forward in and the manager is very much on the case. " However, he remains hopeful that Andy Carroll will be back by September saying: "He's working really hard and not far away but we continue the hunt regardless of that." When we reminded him that perhaps we shouldn't go to bed too early – in a reference to his famous winter deadline day tweet – he declared: "Not sure I'll be using that line again!"
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Hammers repeat their Yilmaz position
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 16, 2015 in News, Whispers
C AND H
A widely reported story that Turkish goal ace Burak Yilmaz is all but on his way to the Irons has been well over-cooked. The news first broke last week and was immediately knocked back by senior executives within the club to ClaretandHugh yet today the same story with a few twirls is doing the rounds again. Claims out of Turkey suggested initially the deal was all but done with a three year deal on the table worth £48k a week – a figure now denied. Since our story revealing this was well wide of the mark the player's agent has been reported on Lig Radio as saying: "We will not enter talks before the Galatasaray –Sivasspor game but rumours regarding a €10 million offer are false as we have not spoke about money."
He added that talk of a of a three-year, £48,000-a-week contract was also wrong as we had explained via our Irons sources. After checking the latest speculation today we were told exclusively: "We know about the player, but as was the case last week talks are no better than tentative."
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Exclusive: Hammers relaxed at Allardyce attack
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 16, 2015 in News, Whispers
EXCLUSIVE
C AND H
West Ham have shrugged off Sam Allardyce's remarks of "ingratitude" believing his outburst was "inevitable." The former manager's well publicised remarks last week drew a massive response against him from the fans after a double-barrelled attack which also claimed the squad wasn't good enough for Europe. But senior figures inside the club – who preferred to remain anonymous – were entirely relaxed about the former manager's intervention via comments to a foreign news service. One – speaking exclusively to ClaretandHugh – said: "He says on the one hand it was a mutual decision to leave but on the other says the board weren't grateful for what he'd done for the club. "Blimey, that really is a bit rich because the two Davids have regularly thanked him for his time at the club which was moderatel successful. "Their gratitude was also shown in a £3 million a year deal with various other bonus payments. It's all a bit odd to be reading this sort of stuff as a result! "It was almost inevitable that Sam would eventually say something about his last season at the club and the way things turned out. It wasn't unexpected. "But the reasons for him not receiving a new deal are pretty obvious. He had been with us for four years and that's a very long time in this job and industry. Managers don't have a very long life span do they. "He has every right to say what he likes but the simple fact is that his work here was done. The club decided to go in a different direction as is their right. It's a hard one to understand really because all that happened was a period in the club's managerial history simply came to a natural end.
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Slav steps up striker hunt
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 16, 2015 in News, Whispers
C AND H
The Hammers remain in the market for a striker and midfielder. With just a fortnight left of the current window, co owner David Sullivan's youngest son Jack has assured fans the spending is not over. Supporters have become more an more vociferous on the social networks as the club has failed to add the long sought striker to their ranks. With Enner Valencia now facing possible surgery the need is becoming more and more pressing and ClaretandHugh was told the club is stepping up it's hunt for a top front man this week. A source told us: "Names such as Adebayor and Hernandez are on the list of targets and we need to get something sorted out before window closes. The manager continues to look at the options available to him." Meanwhile Sullivan jnr tweeted: "We are not done in the transfer window! We are hoping to sign a striker and a midfielder."
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Adrian red card: Irons may appeal
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 16, 2015 in News, Whispers
C AND H
West Ham are waiting on referee Anthony Taylor's report before making a decision on whether to appeal Adrian's red card during yesterday's game against Leicester City. The Spaniard was adjudged to have been guilty of dangerous play when he went in with a high boot after joining the attack as the Hammers sought an equaliser at the end. It looked very harsh as there appeared no intention to injure anybody as he backtracked towards his own goal. However manager Slaven Bilic – whilst accepting that – appeared to accept the referee's decision. However, ClaretandHugh was told a few minutes ago that no decision has yet been made on what line the club will take. A source told us exclusively: "We might appeal. We will take a look at the referee's report and look at the incident from all available angles before we make that decision." Adrian tweeted last night that he had never in his career deliberately attempted to hurt anyone and the TV evidence suggested that he was unaware of any player in the vicinity as he attempted to clear the ball.
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Sunday, August 16
Daily WHUFC News - 16th August 2015
West Ham United 1-2 Leicester City
WHUFC.com
West Ham United came back down to earth with a Barclays Premier League bump on Saturday, as Claudio Ranieri's Leicester City made it six out of six with victory at the Boleyn Ground. The Foxes were two goals to the good at the interval, courtesy of Shinji Okazaki on the rebound from point-blank range and then Riyad Mahrez's sweet left-foot finish. Dimitri Payet halved the Hammers' arrears ten minutes after the break, beating Kasper Schmeichel with a glorious strike into the top corner . That, however, was about as good as it got in a largely frustrating afternoon for the hosts, who had Adrian harshly sent off late on for a high challenge on Jamie Vardy.
Slaven Bilic made just one change to the side that swept Arsenal aside, with Carl Jenkinson, ineligible against his parent club on Sunday, replacing the unfortunate James Tomkins at right-back. Summer signing Pedro Obiang was among the substitutes, having recovered from a hamstring injury. Fresh from their heroics at the Emirates, the Hammers were almost ahead inside two minutes here. Payet's free-kick from the left was met by Diafra Sakho, whose header grazed the bar. With 16 gone, Mauro Zarate let fly from the edge of the box and the Argentine's strike ricocheted perfectly into the path of that man Sakho again. West Ham's No15 smashed it over the top from ten yards, but the offside flag was up in any case. The tide then turned in dramatic fashion. Mahrez firstly slalomed his way into the box, beating Aaron Cresswell and Oxford, before eventually being crowded out. From the resulting corner, Robert Huth's overhead needed an Adrian glove to turn it behind, though referee Anthony Taylor awarded a goal-kick.
Leicester's sense of injustice soon abated as they hit the front in the 27th minute. Vardy's left-wing cross drifted over Angelo Ogbonna and was met sweetly on the volley by Okazaki. Adrian sprung to his left to produce an excellent one-handed stop, but the ball ballooned straight up in the air for the Japanese forward to nod home the rebound. There was more damage done before the interval, with the dangerous Mahrez slamming the visitors into a two-goal lead. After Okazaki had run in behind, Marc Albrighton picked out Mahrez, who barely had to break stride as he swept home emphatically into the far corner.
As the first half ticked down, Cresswell delivered a low ball to the near post, where the waiting Zarate tried to flick it goalward, but got it all wrong. Then Cheikhou Kouyate made tracks into the box, but his cross-cum-shot drifted harmlessly over the top. But the best chance was still to come. Deep into added time, Sakho raced onto Payet's through ball and beat Schmeichel to it, prodding just wide, before falling to earth under the challenge of the Leicester 'keeper. Replays showed Sakho had indeed been impeded by the outstretched arm of Schmeichel but Taylor was having none of it and merely told Sakho to get back to his feet.
Obiang was brought on for his Premier League bow at the interval, with young Oxford the man to make way. The Spaniard started with a skip in his step as the Hammers began to knock on the Leicester door with a greater degree of urgency. And on 55 minutes the Foxes gave way. Noble squared for the Frenchman on the edge of the box, whose first shot was blocked by Sakho of all people. Kouyate had the presence of mind to roll it straight back to the No27, who set himself and then dispatched a right-footed shot into the top corner. Deficit halved, game on.
Moments later, Sakho dropped off to the far post to meet Payet's deep corner, but his header, in truth, was comfortable enough for Schmeichel. But Leicester were not done either. An unmarked Albrighton fired Mahrez's corner well wide of the target, before Danny Drinkwater spurned another presentable chance, blazing high over the top from 20 yards. With ten still to play, Sakho went closer still. Substitute Manuel Lanzini nodded into the Senegal striker's direction, who slammed into the midriff of the grateful Schmeichel. A yard either side and West Ham would surely have been celebrating the equaliser.
There was late drama, but certainly not of the kind that West Ham wanted. Adrian went up for a corner and in a desperate bid to retrieve possession only succeeded in connecting with Vardy on the edge of the box. A high challenge it was, no doubt, but Adrian only had eyes for the ball. With all three changes made, Jenkinson went between the sticks for the dying seconds, as the visitors made it two league wins out of two.
West Ham United: Adrian, Jenkinson, Reid, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Oxford (Obiang 46), Kouyate (Lanzini 76), Noble (c), Payet, Sakho, Zarate (Maiga 82)
Subs: Randolph, Nolan, Tomkins, Jarvis
Goal: Payet 55
Booked: Jenkinson
Sent off: Adrian
Leicester City: Schmeichel, de Laet (Benalouane 66), Drinkwater, Morgan (c), Huth, Vardy, King, Albrighton, Schlupp, Okazaki (Kante 62), Mahrez (Fuchs 82)
Subs: Hammond, Kramaric, Ulloa, Maddison
Goals: Okazaki 27, Mahrez 38
Booked: Vardy, Okazaki, Benalouane
Referee: Anthony Taylor
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Noble - We got caught cold
WHUFC.com
Mark Noble has urged West Ham United fans not to get too downhearted following Saturday's 2-1 Barclays Premier League defeat by Leicester City. Six days on from winning at Arsenal, the Hammers produced another encouraging and at times dominant display, but two first-half defensive lapses allowed the Foxes to snatch the three points. After hitting the crossbar early on through Diafra Sakho, Leicester scored opportunist goals through Shinji Okazaki and Riyad Mahrez. Although Dimitri Payet pulled one back on the hour-mark, West Ham could not find a way past Kasper Schmeichel a second time and were ultimately left with nothing to show for their considerable efforts.
To add to the frustration of losing, the Hammers saw Adrian sent-off late on for a dangerous challenge on Jamie Vardy, while Schmeichel earlier escaped punishment after appearing to impede a goal-bound Sakho just before half-time. "For sure we could have won the game," said Noble, whose side enjoyed 70 per cent of possession at the Boleyn Ground. "We controlled the game and had a couple of chances early on and hit the crossbar. If that goes in, it's a different story. "There are a lot of positives to take. I know we lost the game, but we played very well in the second half and should definitely have come away with a draw. "I didn't see the Schmeichel incident too clearly and it's a tough one for the ref, but it was disappointing to get booed off at half-time, I must say. We came away from a massive win at Arsenal and obviously everyone came along and thought we would batter Leicester, but that's not the way in this league. "We got caught cold by a couple of goals, but we fought back hard in the second half and we definitely should have come away with a draw."
While victory over Arsenal does not mean West Ham will win the league title, defeat by Leicester does not mean the Hammers will be relegated. Noble pointed out that West Ham's general play was good, but that two poor passages of play and two goals in nine first-half minutes meant their performance will be forgotten by those outside the dressing room. "A lot of chances were created and we played a lot of good stuff, but we lost the game so no-one is going to care about how we played but, to us, it matters," he concluded. "We controlled the game from start to finish and got caught cold by a couple of goals, but it could have been whole different story on another day."
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U18s pick up first point
WHUFC.com
West Ham United picked up their first point of the Barclays U18 Premier League season by drawing 1-1 with Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.
After last weekend's 3-1 defeat at Fulham, the Hammers got off to the best of starts against Spurs when winger Oscar Borg poked home from Noha Sylvestre's headed pass. In the second half, one misplaced pass during a West Ham attacking move allowed Spurs to counter and punish their hosts, with Kazatah Sterling confidently burying the ball past the onrushing Sam Howes. The Hammers made just two changes to the side that travelled to Motspur Park a week earlier. England U18 goalkeeper Howes replaced Tim Brown in goal, whilst 17-year-old full-back Jake Eggleton replaced Marcus Browne. It took the hosts just eight minutes to test Spurs goalkeeper Alfie Whiteman. After a one-two on the edge of the penalty area between Matt Carter and Joe Powell, the latter curled a testing effort that the Spurs stopper acrobatically tipped over the bar.
Declan Rice headed over from a corner before the Hammers took the lead on 14 minutes when the Spurs defence failed to clear their lines properly, giving captain Sylvestre time to nod the ball through to Borg, who coolly poked past Whiteman. On 23 minutes, Jahmal Hector-Ingram almost doubled the Hammers' lead, only to be denied by a dramatic block.
Spurs fought back and went close on a succession of occasions as the first half wore on. Charlie Owens bent a shot straight at Howes before the goalkeeper tipped a curling effort from Marcus Edwards onto the crossbar and Keanan Bennetts headed wide from a corner.
Spurs finally levelled after 38 minutes when George Dobson lost the ball during an attacking move. Spurs broke and Charlie Hayford used his speed and cut inside Rice to find Sterling, who knocked the ball under Howes and into the corner of the net. After the break, Spurs came out quickly but it was the Hammers who wasted the first chance on goal. After the visitors lost possession from a corner, Hector-Ingram broke alone used his speed and strength to beat several defenders, before shooting over the crossbar. Dobson curled wide before being replaced by schoolboy Idris Kanu, while fellow U16 Alfie Lewis replaced Jake Eggleton. The Hammers continued to press for a winner and the attacking trio of Hector-Ingram, Borg and Kanu worked hard to fashion an opening without success.
In the closing minutes, Spurs broke and it almost looked like substitute Ryan Loft was in on goal, only for Neufville to appear from nowhere to make a superb last-ditch tackle. The hero of the day was Howes, though, who managed to get down to deny another Tottenham substitute, Sam Shashona, with the final touch of the game.
West Ham travel to Norwich City on Saturday 22 August at 11am in their next league fixture.
U18s: Howes, Eggleton (Lewis 60), Neufville, Sylvestre, Akinola, Rice, Borg, Dobson (Kanu 69), Hector-Ingram, Carter, Powell
Subs not used: Boness, Henry, Longelo
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Jenkinson - It's frustrating
WHUFC.com
Carl Jenkinson's first Barclays Premier League appearance of his second loan spell with West Ham United did not go to plsn on Saturday.
Fresh from defeating Arsenal in the season opener last weekend, West Ham were confident of building on that start against Leicester City, but two goals in the first half for the visitors meant a second half revival counted for little. Dimitri Payet was on target for the hosts in their 2-1 defeat, with a further deviation from the script coming at the death when Jenkinson had to don the goalkeeping gloves afrer Adrian's red card. It all added up to a frustrating debut for the 23-year-old. "We started well in the first ten minutes, but then we conceded two cheap goals," he said. "They were well worked by Leicester, but both were avoidable. After that it was an uphill battle - we got one back but we couldn't quite get the second one which is obviously really frustrating. "I thought it was quite an even game. They were decisive with their finishing and they took the chances they got. I felt when we got one back that we would get another. It wasn't to be, but on to next week as they say."
On the positive side, Jenkinson said the team showed a good response to the disappointing interval scoreline, even if ultimately they could not get back into the contest. He added: "I think the team has a lot of character. We showed that last week and we showed it again today. Obviously we didn't get the result we wanted and everyone, the team and the fans, will be very disappointed and rightly so. "We had a real go in the second half. No-one can deny that, we did have a real go and gave 110 per cent. On another day we'd have got a point out of the game as a minimum."
As for his brief stint between the posts, Jenkinson was relieved he did not have much to do. "I think the red card was a bit harsh," he added. "It was a high foot but Adrian isn't a malicious man, I'm sure it was accidental. "I've ended up in goal, which was strange but fortunately I didn't have too much to do. It's probably a first and last for that one."
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West Ham 1 Leicester 2
15 August 2015
Last updated at 17:34
By Chris Bevan
BBC Sport
Leicester held on to beat West Ham and continue their 100% winning start to the season under Claudio Ranieri. Shinji Okazaki put the Foxes ahead, heading home the loose ball after goalkeeper Adrian blocked his volley. Riyad Mahrez made it 2-0 before half-time with a powerful finish for his third goal of the season. West Ham improved after the break and Dimitri Payet pulled a goal back, but Kasper Schmeichel denied Diafra Sakho as they searched for an equaliser. Schmeichel had escaped punishment for colliding with Sakho inside the area before half-time but his opposite number Adrian was not so lucky late in the game. The Hammers keeper was sent off for a challenge on Jamie Vardy after he went up for a corner in stoppage time.
After his impressive display in West Ham's win over Arsenal last weekend, young West Ham midfielder Reece Oxford found things a lot more difficult against the Foxes. The 16-year-old, who will find out his GCSE results on Thursday, found it hard to cope with the pace and movement of Leicester's attack as the visitors went 2-0 up inside 38 minutes. Leicester always looked to break quickly and both their goals came through neat build-ups and clever final balls from first Vardy and then Albrighton.
Vardy was this week given a "substantial" fine and ordered to undergo diversity awareness training after allegedly abusing a Japanese man in a casino Oxford was not the only West Ham player to have a poor game defensively in the first 45 minutes but he was the one taken off at half-time as Hammers boss Slaven Bilic tried to find a way back into the game. "It was not that Reece played worse than the rest of the team," Bilic said. "He played well but our passing was really slow in the first half and with Pedro Obiang we were much quicker in tempo."
Hammers reshuffle almost pays off
West Ham saw most of the ball in the first half - enjoying 63% possession with an 83% passing accuracy - but did little damage with it and did not manage a shot on target before the break. Bilic brought on new signing Obiang for Oxford at half-time but also asked Mauro Zarate to hug the left touchline and that helped the Hammers significantly increase their attacking threat, particularly down that flank. The Hammers enjoyed even more possession as the game went on but Leicester defended deep and in numbers and held out thanks to Schmeichel's key save from Sakho, one of three good stops he made after the break.
Manager reaction
Leicester boss Claudio Ranieri: "We are working very hard with the defensive line. I have very good players in front, very fast but it is important we all stay together.
Bilic disappointed with bad result "I didn't want to defend too deep but when you see your players go deep it is better to help them with their mentality." West Ham manager Slaven Bilic: "We lost the game in the first half. Two-nil down is very difficult to come back from. We are very disappointed. "We scored a goal early enough in the second half to play our normal game but with more aggression. I was expecting us to score a second, but we didn't."
Man of the match
Leicester striker Shinji Okazaki came off after 62 minutes but not before he had scored his first goal since his summer move from German side Mainz and also had a hand in the Foxes second goal
BBC Sport's chief football writer Phil McNulty on Leicester
Leicester City have won their opening two games of a Premier League season for the first time since 1997-98 The Foxes have won 28 points since the start of April 2015 - more than any other Premier League side Leicester have won nine of their last 11 Premier League fixtures - one more than they managed in their previous 55 top-flight games Since Aug 2010 Dimitri Payet has scored or assisted 93 goals in the top five leagues, four more than Mesut Ozil and Juan Mata in that period Payet's goal in the 55th minute was West Ham's first shot on target of the game
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West Ham Utd 1-2 Leicester City
KUMB.com
Filed: Saturday, 15th August 2015
By: Staff Writer
West Ham fell to their first defeat of the new season - thanks to two first half goals from today's visitors Leicester City. And on what ultimately proved to be a hugely-disappointing afternoon for Slaven Bilic and his players, the Hammers ended the game with only ten men thanks to yet another appalling decision from referee Anthony Taylor. Taylor, as many of you will recall, was the hapless official who dismissed both Carlton Cole and Everton's Darren Gibson at the Boleyn for three years ago for raising their feet above their waists.
And his decision to dismiss Adrian in the final minute of normal time for a mistimed challenge on City's Jamie Vardy - on the edge of Leicester's penalty area - left the entire stadium wondering exactly how this particular individual continues to gain employment as a top flight official.
Despite starting the brighter of the two sides, it was West Ham who fell behind when recent arrival Shinji Okazaki saw his initial effort saved brilliant by West Ham's Spanish stopper who could then only look on as the former Mainz striker nodded the rebound into an empty net.
And the Hammers had barely picked themselves up from that particular disappointment when the Foxes doubled their advantage - despite the goal coming from a move that should have been interrupted for offside.
Seven minutes ahead of the half time interval, Shinji Okazaki and Marc Albrighton combined on the left flank before the latter centred for Riyad Mahrez who hit a powerful effort into the roof of Adrian's net.
That's how it remained until the break - despite West Ham having enjoyed 63 per cent of possession and an 85 per cent pass completion rate. Further proof that the only stat which counts is that in the 'goals scored' column.
With young Reece Oxford replaced by debutant Pedro Obiang at the interval, West Ham went about the second half with increased purpose and finally got their reward nine minutes after the restart when Dimitri Payet scored what will surely prove to be the first of many goals for West Ham.
The French midfielder's first effort - West Ham's first shot on target in the entire game - was blocked by Diafra Sakho, but Cheik Kouyate was alert enough to send the rebound back into Payet's path, from where he lofted the ball above Kasper Schmeichel.
Despite continuing to pile on the pressure for the remainder of the game, the Hammers were unable to score that all-important second goal to secure at least a point - which was the very least Bilic's side deserved.
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Slaven Bilic unhappy with West Ham's first half display in defeat to Leicester
Last Updated: 15/08/15 7:57pm
SSN
West Ham manager Slaven Bilic admits his side's poor first half performance was the reason behind their 2-1 home defeat to Leicester on Saturday. The Hammers, fresh from their shock opening day win at Arsenal, failed to find the same fluency shown at the Emirates Stadium last Sunday and were undone by two first half goals from Shinji Okazaki and Riyad Mahrez. Summer signing Dimitri Payet gave West Ham hope of an unlikely comeback, scoring his first goal for the club 10 minutes after the interval. The hosts were unable to muster an equaliser however, and Bilic was left to rue a costly opening 45 minutes. "It's a big disappointment, but that just shows how hard the Premier League is. After the good performance against Arsenal, we were hoping that we were going to get three points here against Leicester because we play at home," Bilic said. "We could have got a point at the end, but we lost the game in the first half. We started well, but after 10-15 minutes, they were quicker than us. They had pace, aggression and were winning easy headers and the second balls. They were much livelier."
Bilic once again included Reece Oxford in his starting line-up, following the 16-year-old's outstanding display in the midfield against Arsenal last weekend. But the youngster failed to reproduce his impressive performance and was withdrawn at half time, with debutant Pedro Obiang replacing him. Bilic refused to lay any blame with Oxford however, and insists his decision was simply tactical. "It was not down to Reece or his bad performance. I just wanted Pedro to bring much quicker passing, which we seemed to do in the second half and it put us in a position to hurt them more," he added."We scored the goal and I hope if we continue like that we can create more chances. We had a couple, but we didn't score. We are very disappointed."
West Ham's miserable afternoon was compounded when goalkeeper Adrian was sent off in stoppage for a high boot on Leicester forward Jamie Vardy."On Adrian, it was a fair sending off, but it is quite obvious that he didn't mean to do it. He was just following the ball and he was not aware a player was there," Bilic said. "We should have a major role in his punishment. There's a big difference between whether the player meant to do it or that it was an accident. Adrian simply didn't mean to do it."When asked whether the club would appeal referee Anthony Taylor's decision, Bilic added: "I have to speak to the people at the club and see what our chances will be."
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THE STRIKER GAP PART 2
By Blind Hammer 16 Aug 2015 at 08:00
WTID
In the second part of his blog Blind Hammer examines how the Academy Striker Gap over the last 50 years has distorted West Ham's Transfer Policy and suggests some strategic re-evaluations of priorities.
It was hard In the euphoria of the glow following the superb win over Arsenal to return to this critique. How could any criticism, even constructive criticism be mounted in this week? Yet the news about Sacko's arrest and the possibility of its impact on his availability reminded me of our historic lack of depth in striker quality.
In my first blog I suggested that in the 50 years since the Academy produced Geoff Hurst and Brian Dear, only Tony Cottee had emerged at a standard that equated to or exceeded Brian Dear, let alone Geoff Hurst. I argued that a return of one striker in 50 years was an unacceptable return. A Comment on that blog queried my refusal to allow full credit for the development of Jermaine Defoe. Defoe was with Charlton from 1997 before Joining West Ham in 1999. Soon after he famously spent 2000-1 at Bournemouth on loan before returning to become a important member of the first team . In the 4 years of Defoe's development it seems likely that only in 1999 was the Academy influential. This is why I allow only partial credit.
In this part I will argue is that this Academy striker gap is producing a double transfer whammy. The failure to produce strikers means not only that the club has to buy in strikers but is also not receiving transfers fees for strikers produced. This striker gap has produced nearly 50 years of pressure on scarce transfer resources.
Strikers are notoriously expensive. Cup successes in the 1970s and 1980s enabled the purchase of proven goal scorers like Paul Goddard and Pop Robson who delivered the goods. More recently similar attempts to invest in quality forwards like Dean Ashton and Andy Carroll has unluckily seen both plagued by injury.
Whilst the bigger clubs can shake off an unlucky striker investment, Liverpool have responded to Sturridge's injuries by investing £32 million in Benteke, West Ham cannot splash the cash so regularly. This has meant that West Ham have had to, over the last 50 years, resort to cheaper gambles to fill the striker void. Occasionally these gambles have been spectacularly successful. Di Canio, McAvennie, and lately Sackho have been good examples of this. Gould, Hartson, Bellamy, Kanoute and Demba Ba are other good investments.
However for every successful example there are plenty of duds that are too numerous to fully mention here. Some examples prove this point. From the 70s we have an un-honourable tradition of multiple dud striker imports. This rogue's gallery includes Jimmy Greaves and John Radford, but it is since the mid-1990s that more and more duds arrive and depart with dizzying speed, draining resources out of the club. Consider the embarrassing Marco Boogers in 1995 who Redknapp apparently signed without seeing. Reflect on the wages paid out on Florin R?ducioiu and Daniel da Cruz in 1996, Paulo Alves in 1997 and Davor Šuker in 2000. Kaba Diawara was given a go in 2001. We tried Brian Deane in 2004; Titi Camara was given a go from 2000 to 2003 before Henri Camara was experimented with in 2007, as was the barely remembered Kepa Blanco. David Di Michele kept the flow of resources going out of the club in 2008. These undeniably undistinguished signings were outdone in 2009 by the signing of Savio Nsereko who apparently did not even have the psychological toughness to be away from home. After this the revolving door of failed strikers showed no sign of abating. The relatively anonymous Guillermo Franco arrived in 2010. However 2010 was best remembered for the recruitment of the ineffectual "roly poly" Benni McCarthy. Benni was in turn followed hard on his heels by the faded Robbie Keane and John Carew in 2011 , the outclassed Sam Baldock and so far Modibo Maïga in 2012 followed by Mladen Petri? in 2013 and Marco Borriello in 2014. I am sure others can nominate further misfit candidates but I will stop before I get depressed in what is after all a great week to be a Hammer.
The record over 50 years cannot lie. The constant resorting to cheap striker purchases and loans that turn out to be misfits is underpinned by The Academy's failure to produce the goods in Striker output. When the Academy products trickle down to lower clubs there is rarely even any transfer income. Rob Hall is a possible low level exception.
A hardnosed approach may suggest abandoning the Academy and simply re-directing resources into buying in young talent. This would be anathema to many supporters including myself, for whom the concept of an Academy is hard wired into our view of the club. Southampton has proved that the Academy model can work. My view is that a reform to a striker based concentration in the Academy could save it. It would take the production of only one striker of class to justify the funding of the Academy for many years. Consider the sums being suggested for the signing of Tottenham's Harry Cane as an example.
Mine is the view of a fan and of an evident Academy outsider. It is true that An Academy insider would be more qualified to comment but some questions are obvious. How are Academy coaching resources strategized? Do we spend equal time on developing goal keepers, defenders and midfielders as we do Strikers? If so this is, in my view a serious mistake. If we examine a team line-up from statistical format strikers are a minority forming at most 2 and often only one of the team slots. Calculated pro rata strikers would attract only perhaps 9 or 18% of development resources. However looking just from a financial standpoint it makes no sense at all to invest only 9 or 18% of Academy resources into striker development. Payet is apparently one of the best playmakers in Europe with Champions League experience but he has so far only cost us £10 million. Charlie Austin, an injury prone striker from a relegated club with no European experience or profile with only one year left on his contract will apparently cost £15 million with eye watering wages of £110,000 a week. Andy Carroll even before the latest TV deal was almost as expensive at apparently £17 million with wages of £85,000 a week. Clubs at the top end of the Premiership will now pay £30million, £40 million or even £50 million for proven goal scoring talent.
Given this in-balance from a financial standpoint it would seem to make sense for at least 50% or even more of Academy resources and effort be devoted to identifying and nurturing Striker talent. The next priority for development is attacking playmakers. This may well mean that Academy teams would become more unbalanced in development and not all that successful as rounded teams in youth leagues. Defensive players may receive proportionately less attention. However if the Academy could then produce a single gem such as a Harry Cane, or a modern day tony Cottee this would all become irrelevant. It is much easier and cheaper to buy in quality defenders and defensive deep laying midfielders.
The reality is that a successful Academy does not have to necessarily produce a Harry Cane or other world class player, though that would be nice. We simply have to provide an alternative strategy to the constant resorting to aged or injured mediocre stream of failed imports. The record of failure through reliance on cheap foreign imports or loans is too clear to deny. It is to resolve this historic striker deficiency in producing even journeymen Strikers of the standard of an Iain Dowie or Carlton Cole that the Academy should focus.
Part of this probably means that we have to emulate other clubs in scouting globally and not just locally or even nationally for young striking talent. Additionally a number of targets need to be set in place if they are not there already. We should, at least every 2 years, be loaning an Academy striker to a League 1 or preferably Championship Club who will provide significant playing time. Out of this program we should produce 1 Striker who can meaningfully participate in the first team squad every 6 years. These are not, to my mind, unrealistic targets, despite the competitiveness of the Premier League. Failure to meet this target should provoke an Academy Coaching review and an evaluation of investments. It is a tough world in the Premiership and we need our development set up to provide the returns we need.
David Griffith
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WEST HAM 1, LEICESTER CITY 2. UNFORTUNATELY WE'VE SEEN THIS BEFORE.
By David Hautzig 15 Aug 2015 at 21:38
WTID
The first report I wrote for this site was the debacle against Southampton last season. Coming off an exhilarating win at Palace, confidence was high.
And then they ran us off the pitch.
There was an eerily similar feeling today. Which wasn't helped by the fact that I had to watch the match hours after it ended due to a family commitment. The pundits didn't predict a good day for us, as both Lawro and Merson predicting a Leicester City win. They must have known something I didn't.
It looked pretty good at the very beginning. In the 3rd minute Noble won a free kick on the left side of the Leicester City penalty area. He curled his free kick into the box in the direction of Sakho, but Morgan got their first. However his attempted clearance went over Schmeichel, clipped the cross bar and out of play.
Perhaps because I already knew the result, but the next 25 minutes looked and felt uneventful. Sakho had a chance in front of goal that he sent over the bar, but the offside flag had gone up. Vardy made a run for Leicester that looked like it could have been dangerous but he ran the ball out before he could send a pass into the area. Then West Ham moved the ball around the penalty area well, only for Jenkinson to send a shot about 58 feet too high. Mahrez beat Cresswell on the edge of the area and moved in on Adrian before Kouyate came in to help clear from danger. Moments later Huth tried an overhead kick that Adrian pushed out for what should have been a corner. But in the first of what would turn out to be a few questionable decisions by Anthony Taylor West Ham were awarded a goal kick.
Two minutes later, Leicester City didn't need any decision from the referee. They just needed desire and will from Okazaki. Vardy broke down the left and sent a cross that Okazaki volleyed at Adrian. He made the initial save, but the ball went straight up in the air and Okazaki stayed with the ball and headed it in on its way down.
West Ham 0, Leicester City 1.
I'd like to say we responded with vigor and skill. Actually, I'd like to say we responded at all. Apart from a high shot by Zarate and a corner, West Ham looked like they forgot they had conceded at all. They were reminded in no time.
In the 38th minute, Okazaki, Albrighton, Vardy and Mahrez combined good passing with somewhat comatose West Ham defending to set up Mahrez all alone in the box to double the Leicester City lead. When I read Twitter from the road, there was a lot of blame placed on Oxford for the second goal. But everyone lost their man, missed their mark, and generally switched off.
West Ham 0, Leicester City 2.
West Ham had their chances in first half injury time. First when Cresswell danced around De Laet outside the Leicester City penalty area, but his cross to Zarate got tangled up in the Argentinean's feet and rolled out for a goal kick. Then, Zarate and Noble played a one-two before Noble fed Kouyate on the left. But instead of trying to find Sakho in front he tried a shot from a tough angle and hit the side netting. Then, in the final minute of extra time, Payet sent a lofted pass that Sakho ran onto. Sakho got to the ball first, made a touch, and was brought down by Schmeichel.
Reality = Penalty and red card for Schmeichel.
Taylor = Play on.
Halftime. West Ham 0, Leicester 2.
The second half began with Obiang making his debut replacing Oxford. And for the first few minutes of the second half, that was pretty much the notable moment. The passing was slow, the movement directionless. Finally, in the 55th minute, the West Ham we were hoping to see…and maybe expecting to see…turned up. Noble crossed to Payet, but his shot was blocked. However, the ball fell to Kouyate who served up another shot for Payet and this time he found the target, drilling the ball into the top of the net.
West Ham 1, Leicester City 2.
West Ham went right back on the attack, moving the ball around the penalty area before a Payet shot was deflected out for a corner. Moments later, Payet made his presence known again driving to the byline before Schmeichel intercepted his attempted cross. Huth then sent a Zarate cross out for a corner. The resulting free kick went to Sakho near the far post but his header didn't have much pace and Schmeichel grabbed it easily. Then Zarate did what he does so often, beating many defenders but trying to beat one too many. It was the kind of possession and play that made one think a goal was coming.
Leicester City weathered the West Ham onslaught and pushed back, winning two corners and a Vardy free kick in a dangerous area. Mahrez stepped up to take it, but his curling free kick went wide and high. In the 74th minute, Leicester City should have restored their two goal lead when Albrighton got on the end of a corner but sent a volley over the bar instead of into an open corner of the goal. A minute later Mahrez fed Drinkwater a ball in the same spot Albrighton had just been in. But again, with a corner of the net open Drinkwater sent his shot high.
In need of more creativity, West Ham made their second substitution bringing Lanzini in for Kouyate. At least that was likely the theory. In the 80th minute, theory almost turned into scientific fact when West Ham had their best chance at an equalizer. Sakho headed a cross to Lanzini in the area, who then immediately headed it back to Sakho. With both sides of the goal open, Sakho shot square into Schmeichel's chest. He didn't even have to move.
West Ham moved the ball around well for the final ten minutes of the match, but very little penetrated the final line of defense. Maiga coming on didn't exactly turn the volume up a notch, but options for fresh legs were few and far between. Anthony Taylor completed his hat trick of bonehead calls in the final minute of added time when he sent off Adrian for what he absurdly thought was dangerous play. Even the TV announcers here thought it was ridiculous. In all probability the card will be rescinded, and the game was already decided. But it made his earlier mistakes that much infuriating by knowing that the referee had indeed played a part in the outcome.
Final Score. West Ham 1, Leicester City 2.
I am trying to remind myself of a lot of rational things. We are learning a new way to play and that takes time. We have few options up front due to injuries. We always get too excited about memorable wins, and we always get too despondent over disappointing losses. Obiang looked quite good. So did Lanzini in his limited time. Jenkinson was awful and likely won't have this bad a game for a long time. I don't want to say that Bournemouth is now a very big game.
So I won't.
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OBIANG IMPRESSES IN A BAD DAY AT THE OFFICE
By Iain Dale 15 Aug 2015 at 19:54
WTID
Well, that was after the Lord Mayor's Show. So typical of West Ham. Worldbeaters one week, then they contrive to lose against an inferior team. I suppose it was inevitable, but it really needn't have been this way. We dominated the game for 25 minutes, but after the first goal we were second best for the rest of the first half. In the second Pedro Obiang added a new bite and urgency to the midfield having replaced the highly ineffective Reece Oxford. We pressed and pressed but just couldn't score. Quite how Schmeichel saved a shot down to his right, I don't know, but it was at that point you sensed it wasn't going to be our day. The one bright moment was Payet's goal, which was a delight to watch. Noble, who was very active down the right – just as well since Jenkinson had his worst game in a Hammers shirt – pulled the ball back across the penalty area where it was met and nudged to Payet who slammed the ball high into the net from just behind the penalty spot.
We played like Arsenal last week. We didn't seem to want the ball enough. Too often we were second to it. Only Ogbonna, Noble and Kouyate looked really hungry for it. Sakho's mind was clearly elsewhere, as you might expect, although it has to be said that Mauro Zarate had some delightful dribbles and flicks, and at one point in the second half he wasn't that far from scoring one of the great West Ham balls at all time. Unfortunately, he suffers from the same syndrome as many Arsenal players – he thinks he can walk the ball into the net, but fails to take into account that an opposition player is about to dispossess him.
So, a few talking points…
1. Adrian was sent off for the second time this season. That takes a rare talent for a goalkeeper. Will this hasten the re-signing of Rob Green this week?
2. Ogbonna and Reid looked solid for much of the game. Were either of them to blame for the goals? I couldn't really see.
3. Why was Reece Oxford so absent in the first half when his replacement, Pedro Obiang, was so hugely impressive in the second half?
4. Has Obiang played himself into the starting lineup for the Bournemouth game?
5. Did Modibo Maiga actually touch the ball once after he came on?
6. Dimitri Payet's performance was an enigmatic one. He'd drift out of the game to then play a very telling ball.
7. Do we just put this down to experience, or were there worrying signs to observe?
And the player points?
Adrian 5
Ogbonna 8
Reid 7
Cresswell 6
Jenkinson 5
Kouyate 6
Noble 7
Oxford 5
Zarate 6
Sakho 5
Payet 7
Lanzini 5
Maiga 4
Obiang 8
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West Ham transfers: Hammers close in on Hull midfielder Tom Huddlestone
0 COMMENTS22:00, 15 AUGUST 2015
BY STEVE STAMMERS , DEAN JONES
The Hammers looked set to sign Joey Barton before dramatically pulling the plug on the deal and are still not agreed on terms with Alex Song
The Mirror
West Ham are closing in on Hull midfielder Tom Huddlestone. The Hammers backed out of a deal to sign Joey Barton in midweek and are still not agreed on terms with Alex Song. It has led them to consider fresh options in the centre of the park and a bid is now being lodged for 28-year-old Huddlestone, who joined Hull in 2013 from Spurs. Huddlestone made 67 Premier League appearances for the Tigers after his £5m move from White Hart Lane but is one of the club's higher earners. The departure would leave Hull short of options in midfield after losing Jake Livermore to suspension following a positive drugs test, though the 25-year-old may be back sooner than originally expected.
The Hammers are also set to offer midfielder Cheik Kouyate a new deal. The powerful Senegal international had an impressive first season at Upton Park following his £5.25million move from Anderlecht last summer. He arrived with compatriot Diafra Sakho who was rewarded for his impact with a new contract before the end of last season. Now Kouyate is ready to extend his stay at West Ham and double his £15,000-a-week wages.
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Report: Irons chase a Tiger!
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 16, 2015 in News, Whispers
C AND H
Reports this morning that the Irons are "closing in" on Hull City's former Spurs midfielder Tom Huddlestone seem wide of the mark.
After pulling out of a pay as you play deal for Joey Barton The Mirror is reporting that we are now moving in on the Tigers high earner.
The 28 year old has made 67 Premier League appearances for Hull after his £5m move from White Hart Lane in 2013. However, given that the club is known to be keen to sign Alex Song regardless of his present injury problems before the end of August it's hard to see how this one might happen. Barton was wanted on a short term deal as cover for that situation and it's hard to see why Huddlestone would want a short term arrangement. A source said: "We need back up and I'm not sure that a player such as Huddlestone would be suitable in those circumstances."
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Let's get Leicester defeat in perspective
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 15, 2015 in News, Whispers
C AND H
Today's performance and result needs to be put into its proper perspective. Yes we all know Leicester City made a storming end to last season but when you look at the stats they carried into this season they really are truly stunning. They won seven games – starting with us, drew one and lost one (against Chelsea) – and have now won the first two games of the new season. The confidence factor is huge in football – 80 per cent of the game is often played between the ears and some of their football in the first half was outstanding.
Too often we judge matches on reputations of teams – thus Arsenal would beat us and we'd beat the Foxes particularly as our home record against them is pretty amazing. Leicester have scored 25 goals over these last 11 games and are on the highest of highs. We meanwhile won three games from 21 and despite the much needed and celebrated victory over the Gunners there is work to be done. Slaven Bilic made the point that we were far too slow in the first half as the Foxes took control and punished us with their quick passing and pacey forward movement game. But we showed in the second that we can be pretty potent – especially down the left side. When Jenks is up to speed we'll be looking fine down the right too. Pedro Obiang (above) looked an operator with bite and promise. We are a decent team who were beaten by another in outstanding form. It's been an odd start to the season and with Bournemouth up next we are again thinking three points – I think we'll get them but we need to up the tempo. An interesting season ahead.
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Ref Taylor's shocker hurts Hammers
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 15, 2015 in News, Whispers
C AND H
West Ham 1 Leicester City 2
I hate making excuses but had we had a decent referee in charge this afternoon this would have been a game from which we would almost certainly taken a point – MINIMUM.
But the dreadful Anthony Taylor who infamously sent Carlton Cole off for nothing a couple of seasons back looked to back into his best Hammers-hating routine.
Despite Kaspar Schmeichel clearly fouling Diafra Sakho at the end of the first half, well inside the box, we received no penalty and the stopper stayed on the pitch when it was a clear RED. Utterly disgraceful.
But the bloke managed to top even that at the very end as the Irons chased the game. After Adrian had gone up for a cleared corner he was red-carded himself for a high boot and was dismissed for dangerous play – APPALLING!
The Hammers will clearly appeal and should win without a shadow of a doubt just as they did when Cole was dismissed.
The visitors had gone two up in the first half through a hit from Ozazaki after a fine Adrian save and an unstoppable Mahrez belter.
It was a deserved first half lead but had Taylor a single idea of what represents a foul the Foxes would have been playing with 10 men in the second half.
The Hammers after such a slow first 45 mins stepped on the gas with most of their best stuff coming down the left side through Payet and Zarate.
And it all looked good when the new signing smashed home a fabulous effort on 55 minutes which should have started a major offensive.
Sadly City began to take the sting out of things after feeling the heat for 15 minutes and created chances of their own although Sakho could have equalised when his close range shot hit the Leicester stopper's body and rebounded to safety.
Disappointing Yes but a hugely exciting and attractive match – a million miles from the previous era and but for Tylor it could all have been so very different.
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WHUFC.com
West Ham United came back down to earth with a Barclays Premier League bump on Saturday, as Claudio Ranieri's Leicester City made it six out of six with victory at the Boleyn Ground. The Foxes were two goals to the good at the interval, courtesy of Shinji Okazaki on the rebound from point-blank range and then Riyad Mahrez's sweet left-foot finish. Dimitri Payet halved the Hammers' arrears ten minutes after the break, beating Kasper Schmeichel with a glorious strike into the top corner . That, however, was about as good as it got in a largely frustrating afternoon for the hosts, who had Adrian harshly sent off late on for a high challenge on Jamie Vardy.
Slaven Bilic made just one change to the side that swept Arsenal aside, with Carl Jenkinson, ineligible against his parent club on Sunday, replacing the unfortunate James Tomkins at right-back. Summer signing Pedro Obiang was among the substitutes, having recovered from a hamstring injury. Fresh from their heroics at the Emirates, the Hammers were almost ahead inside two minutes here. Payet's free-kick from the left was met by Diafra Sakho, whose header grazed the bar. With 16 gone, Mauro Zarate let fly from the edge of the box and the Argentine's strike ricocheted perfectly into the path of that man Sakho again. West Ham's No15 smashed it over the top from ten yards, but the offside flag was up in any case. The tide then turned in dramatic fashion. Mahrez firstly slalomed his way into the box, beating Aaron Cresswell and Oxford, before eventually being crowded out. From the resulting corner, Robert Huth's overhead needed an Adrian glove to turn it behind, though referee Anthony Taylor awarded a goal-kick.
Leicester's sense of injustice soon abated as they hit the front in the 27th minute. Vardy's left-wing cross drifted over Angelo Ogbonna and was met sweetly on the volley by Okazaki. Adrian sprung to his left to produce an excellent one-handed stop, but the ball ballooned straight up in the air for the Japanese forward to nod home the rebound. There was more damage done before the interval, with the dangerous Mahrez slamming the visitors into a two-goal lead. After Okazaki had run in behind, Marc Albrighton picked out Mahrez, who barely had to break stride as he swept home emphatically into the far corner.
As the first half ticked down, Cresswell delivered a low ball to the near post, where the waiting Zarate tried to flick it goalward, but got it all wrong. Then Cheikhou Kouyate made tracks into the box, but his cross-cum-shot drifted harmlessly over the top. But the best chance was still to come. Deep into added time, Sakho raced onto Payet's through ball and beat Schmeichel to it, prodding just wide, before falling to earth under the challenge of the Leicester 'keeper. Replays showed Sakho had indeed been impeded by the outstretched arm of Schmeichel but Taylor was having none of it and merely told Sakho to get back to his feet.
Obiang was brought on for his Premier League bow at the interval, with young Oxford the man to make way. The Spaniard started with a skip in his step as the Hammers began to knock on the Leicester door with a greater degree of urgency. And on 55 minutes the Foxes gave way. Noble squared for the Frenchman on the edge of the box, whose first shot was blocked by Sakho of all people. Kouyate had the presence of mind to roll it straight back to the No27, who set himself and then dispatched a right-footed shot into the top corner. Deficit halved, game on.
Moments later, Sakho dropped off to the far post to meet Payet's deep corner, but his header, in truth, was comfortable enough for Schmeichel. But Leicester were not done either. An unmarked Albrighton fired Mahrez's corner well wide of the target, before Danny Drinkwater spurned another presentable chance, blazing high over the top from 20 yards. With ten still to play, Sakho went closer still. Substitute Manuel Lanzini nodded into the Senegal striker's direction, who slammed into the midriff of the grateful Schmeichel. A yard either side and West Ham would surely have been celebrating the equaliser.
There was late drama, but certainly not of the kind that West Ham wanted. Adrian went up for a corner and in a desperate bid to retrieve possession only succeeded in connecting with Vardy on the edge of the box. A high challenge it was, no doubt, but Adrian only had eyes for the ball. With all three changes made, Jenkinson went between the sticks for the dying seconds, as the visitors made it two league wins out of two.
West Ham United: Adrian, Jenkinson, Reid, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Oxford (Obiang 46), Kouyate (Lanzini 76), Noble (c), Payet, Sakho, Zarate (Maiga 82)
Subs: Randolph, Nolan, Tomkins, Jarvis
Goal: Payet 55
Booked: Jenkinson
Sent off: Adrian
Leicester City: Schmeichel, de Laet (Benalouane 66), Drinkwater, Morgan (c), Huth, Vardy, King, Albrighton, Schlupp, Okazaki (Kante 62), Mahrez (Fuchs 82)
Subs: Hammond, Kramaric, Ulloa, Maddison
Goals: Okazaki 27, Mahrez 38
Booked: Vardy, Okazaki, Benalouane
Referee: Anthony Taylor
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Noble - We got caught cold
WHUFC.com
Mark Noble has urged West Ham United fans not to get too downhearted following Saturday's 2-1 Barclays Premier League defeat by Leicester City. Six days on from winning at Arsenal, the Hammers produced another encouraging and at times dominant display, but two first-half defensive lapses allowed the Foxes to snatch the three points. After hitting the crossbar early on through Diafra Sakho, Leicester scored opportunist goals through Shinji Okazaki and Riyad Mahrez. Although Dimitri Payet pulled one back on the hour-mark, West Ham could not find a way past Kasper Schmeichel a second time and were ultimately left with nothing to show for their considerable efforts.
To add to the frustration of losing, the Hammers saw Adrian sent-off late on for a dangerous challenge on Jamie Vardy, while Schmeichel earlier escaped punishment after appearing to impede a goal-bound Sakho just before half-time. "For sure we could have won the game," said Noble, whose side enjoyed 70 per cent of possession at the Boleyn Ground. "We controlled the game and had a couple of chances early on and hit the crossbar. If that goes in, it's a different story. "There are a lot of positives to take. I know we lost the game, but we played very well in the second half and should definitely have come away with a draw. "I didn't see the Schmeichel incident too clearly and it's a tough one for the ref, but it was disappointing to get booed off at half-time, I must say. We came away from a massive win at Arsenal and obviously everyone came along and thought we would batter Leicester, but that's not the way in this league. "We got caught cold by a couple of goals, but we fought back hard in the second half and we definitely should have come away with a draw."
While victory over Arsenal does not mean West Ham will win the league title, defeat by Leicester does not mean the Hammers will be relegated. Noble pointed out that West Ham's general play was good, but that two poor passages of play and two goals in nine first-half minutes meant their performance will be forgotten by those outside the dressing room. "A lot of chances were created and we played a lot of good stuff, but we lost the game so no-one is going to care about how we played but, to us, it matters," he concluded. "We controlled the game from start to finish and got caught cold by a couple of goals, but it could have been whole different story on another day."
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U18s pick up first point
WHUFC.com
West Ham United picked up their first point of the Barclays U18 Premier League season by drawing 1-1 with Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.
After last weekend's 3-1 defeat at Fulham, the Hammers got off to the best of starts against Spurs when winger Oscar Borg poked home from Noha Sylvestre's headed pass. In the second half, one misplaced pass during a West Ham attacking move allowed Spurs to counter and punish their hosts, with Kazatah Sterling confidently burying the ball past the onrushing Sam Howes. The Hammers made just two changes to the side that travelled to Motspur Park a week earlier. England U18 goalkeeper Howes replaced Tim Brown in goal, whilst 17-year-old full-back Jake Eggleton replaced Marcus Browne. It took the hosts just eight minutes to test Spurs goalkeeper Alfie Whiteman. After a one-two on the edge of the penalty area between Matt Carter and Joe Powell, the latter curled a testing effort that the Spurs stopper acrobatically tipped over the bar.
Declan Rice headed over from a corner before the Hammers took the lead on 14 minutes when the Spurs defence failed to clear their lines properly, giving captain Sylvestre time to nod the ball through to Borg, who coolly poked past Whiteman. On 23 minutes, Jahmal Hector-Ingram almost doubled the Hammers' lead, only to be denied by a dramatic block.
Spurs fought back and went close on a succession of occasions as the first half wore on. Charlie Owens bent a shot straight at Howes before the goalkeeper tipped a curling effort from Marcus Edwards onto the crossbar and Keanan Bennetts headed wide from a corner.
Spurs finally levelled after 38 minutes when George Dobson lost the ball during an attacking move. Spurs broke and Charlie Hayford used his speed and cut inside Rice to find Sterling, who knocked the ball under Howes and into the corner of the net. After the break, Spurs came out quickly but it was the Hammers who wasted the first chance on goal. After the visitors lost possession from a corner, Hector-Ingram broke alone used his speed and strength to beat several defenders, before shooting over the crossbar. Dobson curled wide before being replaced by schoolboy Idris Kanu, while fellow U16 Alfie Lewis replaced Jake Eggleton. The Hammers continued to press for a winner and the attacking trio of Hector-Ingram, Borg and Kanu worked hard to fashion an opening without success.
In the closing minutes, Spurs broke and it almost looked like substitute Ryan Loft was in on goal, only for Neufville to appear from nowhere to make a superb last-ditch tackle. The hero of the day was Howes, though, who managed to get down to deny another Tottenham substitute, Sam Shashona, with the final touch of the game.
West Ham travel to Norwich City on Saturday 22 August at 11am in their next league fixture.
U18s: Howes, Eggleton (Lewis 60), Neufville, Sylvestre, Akinola, Rice, Borg, Dobson (Kanu 69), Hector-Ingram, Carter, Powell
Subs not used: Boness, Henry, Longelo
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Jenkinson - It's frustrating
WHUFC.com
Carl Jenkinson's first Barclays Premier League appearance of his second loan spell with West Ham United did not go to plsn on Saturday.
Fresh from defeating Arsenal in the season opener last weekend, West Ham were confident of building on that start against Leicester City, but two goals in the first half for the visitors meant a second half revival counted for little. Dimitri Payet was on target for the hosts in their 2-1 defeat, with a further deviation from the script coming at the death when Jenkinson had to don the goalkeeping gloves afrer Adrian's red card. It all added up to a frustrating debut for the 23-year-old. "We started well in the first ten minutes, but then we conceded two cheap goals," he said. "They were well worked by Leicester, but both were avoidable. After that it was an uphill battle - we got one back but we couldn't quite get the second one which is obviously really frustrating. "I thought it was quite an even game. They were decisive with their finishing and they took the chances they got. I felt when we got one back that we would get another. It wasn't to be, but on to next week as they say."
On the positive side, Jenkinson said the team showed a good response to the disappointing interval scoreline, even if ultimately they could not get back into the contest. He added: "I think the team has a lot of character. We showed that last week and we showed it again today. Obviously we didn't get the result we wanted and everyone, the team and the fans, will be very disappointed and rightly so. "We had a real go in the second half. No-one can deny that, we did have a real go and gave 110 per cent. On another day we'd have got a point out of the game as a minimum."
As for his brief stint between the posts, Jenkinson was relieved he did not have much to do. "I think the red card was a bit harsh," he added. "It was a high foot but Adrian isn't a malicious man, I'm sure it was accidental. "I've ended up in goal, which was strange but fortunately I didn't have too much to do. It's probably a first and last for that one."
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West Ham 1 Leicester 2
15 August 2015
Last updated at 17:34
By Chris Bevan
BBC Sport
Leicester held on to beat West Ham and continue their 100% winning start to the season under Claudio Ranieri. Shinji Okazaki put the Foxes ahead, heading home the loose ball after goalkeeper Adrian blocked his volley. Riyad Mahrez made it 2-0 before half-time with a powerful finish for his third goal of the season. West Ham improved after the break and Dimitri Payet pulled a goal back, but Kasper Schmeichel denied Diafra Sakho as they searched for an equaliser. Schmeichel had escaped punishment for colliding with Sakho inside the area before half-time but his opposite number Adrian was not so lucky late in the game. The Hammers keeper was sent off for a challenge on Jamie Vardy after he went up for a corner in stoppage time.
After his impressive display in West Ham's win over Arsenal last weekend, young West Ham midfielder Reece Oxford found things a lot more difficult against the Foxes. The 16-year-old, who will find out his GCSE results on Thursday, found it hard to cope with the pace and movement of Leicester's attack as the visitors went 2-0 up inside 38 minutes. Leicester always looked to break quickly and both their goals came through neat build-ups and clever final balls from first Vardy and then Albrighton.
Vardy was this week given a "substantial" fine and ordered to undergo diversity awareness training after allegedly abusing a Japanese man in a casino Oxford was not the only West Ham player to have a poor game defensively in the first 45 minutes but he was the one taken off at half-time as Hammers boss Slaven Bilic tried to find a way back into the game. "It was not that Reece played worse than the rest of the team," Bilic said. "He played well but our passing was really slow in the first half and with Pedro Obiang we were much quicker in tempo."
Hammers reshuffle almost pays off
West Ham saw most of the ball in the first half - enjoying 63% possession with an 83% passing accuracy - but did little damage with it and did not manage a shot on target before the break. Bilic brought on new signing Obiang for Oxford at half-time but also asked Mauro Zarate to hug the left touchline and that helped the Hammers significantly increase their attacking threat, particularly down that flank. The Hammers enjoyed even more possession as the game went on but Leicester defended deep and in numbers and held out thanks to Schmeichel's key save from Sakho, one of three good stops he made after the break.
Manager reaction
Leicester boss Claudio Ranieri: "We are working very hard with the defensive line. I have very good players in front, very fast but it is important we all stay together.
Bilic disappointed with bad result "I didn't want to defend too deep but when you see your players go deep it is better to help them with their mentality." West Ham manager Slaven Bilic: "We lost the game in the first half. Two-nil down is very difficult to come back from. We are very disappointed. "We scored a goal early enough in the second half to play our normal game but with more aggression. I was expecting us to score a second, but we didn't."
Man of the match
Leicester striker Shinji Okazaki came off after 62 minutes but not before he had scored his first goal since his summer move from German side Mainz and also had a hand in the Foxes second goal
BBC Sport's chief football writer Phil McNulty on Leicester
Leicester City have won their opening two games of a Premier League season for the first time since 1997-98 The Foxes have won 28 points since the start of April 2015 - more than any other Premier League side Leicester have won nine of their last 11 Premier League fixtures - one more than they managed in their previous 55 top-flight games Since Aug 2010 Dimitri Payet has scored or assisted 93 goals in the top five leagues, four more than Mesut Ozil and Juan Mata in that period Payet's goal in the 55th minute was West Ham's first shot on target of the game
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West Ham Utd 1-2 Leicester City
KUMB.com
Filed: Saturday, 15th August 2015
By: Staff Writer
West Ham fell to their first defeat of the new season - thanks to two first half goals from today's visitors Leicester City. And on what ultimately proved to be a hugely-disappointing afternoon for Slaven Bilic and his players, the Hammers ended the game with only ten men thanks to yet another appalling decision from referee Anthony Taylor. Taylor, as many of you will recall, was the hapless official who dismissed both Carlton Cole and Everton's Darren Gibson at the Boleyn for three years ago for raising their feet above their waists.
And his decision to dismiss Adrian in the final minute of normal time for a mistimed challenge on City's Jamie Vardy - on the edge of Leicester's penalty area - left the entire stadium wondering exactly how this particular individual continues to gain employment as a top flight official.
Despite starting the brighter of the two sides, it was West Ham who fell behind when recent arrival Shinji Okazaki saw his initial effort saved brilliant by West Ham's Spanish stopper who could then only look on as the former Mainz striker nodded the rebound into an empty net.
And the Hammers had barely picked themselves up from that particular disappointment when the Foxes doubled their advantage - despite the goal coming from a move that should have been interrupted for offside.
Seven minutes ahead of the half time interval, Shinji Okazaki and Marc Albrighton combined on the left flank before the latter centred for Riyad Mahrez who hit a powerful effort into the roof of Adrian's net.
That's how it remained until the break - despite West Ham having enjoyed 63 per cent of possession and an 85 per cent pass completion rate. Further proof that the only stat which counts is that in the 'goals scored' column.
With young Reece Oxford replaced by debutant Pedro Obiang at the interval, West Ham went about the second half with increased purpose and finally got their reward nine minutes after the restart when Dimitri Payet scored what will surely prove to be the first of many goals for West Ham.
The French midfielder's first effort - West Ham's first shot on target in the entire game - was blocked by Diafra Sakho, but Cheik Kouyate was alert enough to send the rebound back into Payet's path, from where he lofted the ball above Kasper Schmeichel.
Despite continuing to pile on the pressure for the remainder of the game, the Hammers were unable to score that all-important second goal to secure at least a point - which was the very least Bilic's side deserved.
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Slaven Bilic unhappy with West Ham's first half display in defeat to Leicester
Last Updated: 15/08/15 7:57pm
SSN
West Ham manager Slaven Bilic admits his side's poor first half performance was the reason behind their 2-1 home defeat to Leicester on Saturday. The Hammers, fresh from their shock opening day win at Arsenal, failed to find the same fluency shown at the Emirates Stadium last Sunday and were undone by two first half goals from Shinji Okazaki and Riyad Mahrez. Summer signing Dimitri Payet gave West Ham hope of an unlikely comeback, scoring his first goal for the club 10 minutes after the interval. The hosts were unable to muster an equaliser however, and Bilic was left to rue a costly opening 45 minutes. "It's a big disappointment, but that just shows how hard the Premier League is. After the good performance against Arsenal, we were hoping that we were going to get three points here against Leicester because we play at home," Bilic said. "We could have got a point at the end, but we lost the game in the first half. We started well, but after 10-15 minutes, they were quicker than us. They had pace, aggression and were winning easy headers and the second balls. They were much livelier."
Bilic once again included Reece Oxford in his starting line-up, following the 16-year-old's outstanding display in the midfield against Arsenal last weekend. But the youngster failed to reproduce his impressive performance and was withdrawn at half time, with debutant Pedro Obiang replacing him. Bilic refused to lay any blame with Oxford however, and insists his decision was simply tactical. "It was not down to Reece or his bad performance. I just wanted Pedro to bring much quicker passing, which we seemed to do in the second half and it put us in a position to hurt them more," he added."We scored the goal and I hope if we continue like that we can create more chances. We had a couple, but we didn't score. We are very disappointed."
West Ham's miserable afternoon was compounded when goalkeeper Adrian was sent off in stoppage for a high boot on Leicester forward Jamie Vardy."On Adrian, it was a fair sending off, but it is quite obvious that he didn't mean to do it. He was just following the ball and he was not aware a player was there," Bilic said. "We should have a major role in his punishment. There's a big difference between whether the player meant to do it or that it was an accident. Adrian simply didn't mean to do it."When asked whether the club would appeal referee Anthony Taylor's decision, Bilic added: "I have to speak to the people at the club and see what our chances will be."
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THE STRIKER GAP PART 2
By Blind Hammer 16 Aug 2015 at 08:00
WTID
In the second part of his blog Blind Hammer examines how the Academy Striker Gap over the last 50 years has distorted West Ham's Transfer Policy and suggests some strategic re-evaluations of priorities.
It was hard In the euphoria of the glow following the superb win over Arsenal to return to this critique. How could any criticism, even constructive criticism be mounted in this week? Yet the news about Sacko's arrest and the possibility of its impact on his availability reminded me of our historic lack of depth in striker quality.
In my first blog I suggested that in the 50 years since the Academy produced Geoff Hurst and Brian Dear, only Tony Cottee had emerged at a standard that equated to or exceeded Brian Dear, let alone Geoff Hurst. I argued that a return of one striker in 50 years was an unacceptable return. A Comment on that blog queried my refusal to allow full credit for the development of Jermaine Defoe. Defoe was with Charlton from 1997 before Joining West Ham in 1999. Soon after he famously spent 2000-1 at Bournemouth on loan before returning to become a important member of the first team . In the 4 years of Defoe's development it seems likely that only in 1999 was the Academy influential. This is why I allow only partial credit.
In this part I will argue is that this Academy striker gap is producing a double transfer whammy. The failure to produce strikers means not only that the club has to buy in strikers but is also not receiving transfers fees for strikers produced. This striker gap has produced nearly 50 years of pressure on scarce transfer resources.
Strikers are notoriously expensive. Cup successes in the 1970s and 1980s enabled the purchase of proven goal scorers like Paul Goddard and Pop Robson who delivered the goods. More recently similar attempts to invest in quality forwards like Dean Ashton and Andy Carroll has unluckily seen both plagued by injury.
Whilst the bigger clubs can shake off an unlucky striker investment, Liverpool have responded to Sturridge's injuries by investing £32 million in Benteke, West Ham cannot splash the cash so regularly. This has meant that West Ham have had to, over the last 50 years, resort to cheaper gambles to fill the striker void. Occasionally these gambles have been spectacularly successful. Di Canio, McAvennie, and lately Sackho have been good examples of this. Gould, Hartson, Bellamy, Kanoute and Demba Ba are other good investments.
However for every successful example there are plenty of duds that are too numerous to fully mention here. Some examples prove this point. From the 70s we have an un-honourable tradition of multiple dud striker imports. This rogue's gallery includes Jimmy Greaves and John Radford, but it is since the mid-1990s that more and more duds arrive and depart with dizzying speed, draining resources out of the club. Consider the embarrassing Marco Boogers in 1995 who Redknapp apparently signed without seeing. Reflect on the wages paid out on Florin R?ducioiu and Daniel da Cruz in 1996, Paulo Alves in 1997 and Davor Šuker in 2000. Kaba Diawara was given a go in 2001. We tried Brian Deane in 2004; Titi Camara was given a go from 2000 to 2003 before Henri Camara was experimented with in 2007, as was the barely remembered Kepa Blanco. David Di Michele kept the flow of resources going out of the club in 2008. These undeniably undistinguished signings were outdone in 2009 by the signing of Savio Nsereko who apparently did not even have the psychological toughness to be away from home. After this the revolving door of failed strikers showed no sign of abating. The relatively anonymous Guillermo Franco arrived in 2010. However 2010 was best remembered for the recruitment of the ineffectual "roly poly" Benni McCarthy. Benni was in turn followed hard on his heels by the faded Robbie Keane and John Carew in 2011 , the outclassed Sam Baldock and so far Modibo Maïga in 2012 followed by Mladen Petri? in 2013 and Marco Borriello in 2014. I am sure others can nominate further misfit candidates but I will stop before I get depressed in what is after all a great week to be a Hammer.
The record over 50 years cannot lie. The constant resorting to cheap striker purchases and loans that turn out to be misfits is underpinned by The Academy's failure to produce the goods in Striker output. When the Academy products trickle down to lower clubs there is rarely even any transfer income. Rob Hall is a possible low level exception.
A hardnosed approach may suggest abandoning the Academy and simply re-directing resources into buying in young talent. This would be anathema to many supporters including myself, for whom the concept of an Academy is hard wired into our view of the club. Southampton has proved that the Academy model can work. My view is that a reform to a striker based concentration in the Academy could save it. It would take the production of only one striker of class to justify the funding of the Academy for many years. Consider the sums being suggested for the signing of Tottenham's Harry Cane as an example.
Mine is the view of a fan and of an evident Academy outsider. It is true that An Academy insider would be more qualified to comment but some questions are obvious. How are Academy coaching resources strategized? Do we spend equal time on developing goal keepers, defenders and midfielders as we do Strikers? If so this is, in my view a serious mistake. If we examine a team line-up from statistical format strikers are a minority forming at most 2 and often only one of the team slots. Calculated pro rata strikers would attract only perhaps 9 or 18% of development resources. However looking just from a financial standpoint it makes no sense at all to invest only 9 or 18% of Academy resources into striker development. Payet is apparently one of the best playmakers in Europe with Champions League experience but he has so far only cost us £10 million. Charlie Austin, an injury prone striker from a relegated club with no European experience or profile with only one year left on his contract will apparently cost £15 million with eye watering wages of £110,000 a week. Andy Carroll even before the latest TV deal was almost as expensive at apparently £17 million with wages of £85,000 a week. Clubs at the top end of the Premiership will now pay £30million, £40 million or even £50 million for proven goal scoring talent.
Given this in-balance from a financial standpoint it would seem to make sense for at least 50% or even more of Academy resources and effort be devoted to identifying and nurturing Striker talent. The next priority for development is attacking playmakers. This may well mean that Academy teams would become more unbalanced in development and not all that successful as rounded teams in youth leagues. Defensive players may receive proportionately less attention. However if the Academy could then produce a single gem such as a Harry Cane, or a modern day tony Cottee this would all become irrelevant. It is much easier and cheaper to buy in quality defenders and defensive deep laying midfielders.
The reality is that a successful Academy does not have to necessarily produce a Harry Cane or other world class player, though that would be nice. We simply have to provide an alternative strategy to the constant resorting to aged or injured mediocre stream of failed imports. The record of failure through reliance on cheap foreign imports or loans is too clear to deny. It is to resolve this historic striker deficiency in producing even journeymen Strikers of the standard of an Iain Dowie or Carlton Cole that the Academy should focus.
Part of this probably means that we have to emulate other clubs in scouting globally and not just locally or even nationally for young striking talent. Additionally a number of targets need to be set in place if they are not there already. We should, at least every 2 years, be loaning an Academy striker to a League 1 or preferably Championship Club who will provide significant playing time. Out of this program we should produce 1 Striker who can meaningfully participate in the first team squad every 6 years. These are not, to my mind, unrealistic targets, despite the competitiveness of the Premier League. Failure to meet this target should provoke an Academy Coaching review and an evaluation of investments. It is a tough world in the Premiership and we need our development set up to provide the returns we need.
David Griffith
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WEST HAM 1, LEICESTER CITY 2. UNFORTUNATELY WE'VE SEEN THIS BEFORE.
By David Hautzig 15 Aug 2015 at 21:38
WTID
The first report I wrote for this site was the debacle against Southampton last season. Coming off an exhilarating win at Palace, confidence was high.
And then they ran us off the pitch.
There was an eerily similar feeling today. Which wasn't helped by the fact that I had to watch the match hours after it ended due to a family commitment. The pundits didn't predict a good day for us, as both Lawro and Merson predicting a Leicester City win. They must have known something I didn't.
It looked pretty good at the very beginning. In the 3rd minute Noble won a free kick on the left side of the Leicester City penalty area. He curled his free kick into the box in the direction of Sakho, but Morgan got their first. However his attempted clearance went over Schmeichel, clipped the cross bar and out of play.
Perhaps because I already knew the result, but the next 25 minutes looked and felt uneventful. Sakho had a chance in front of goal that he sent over the bar, but the offside flag had gone up. Vardy made a run for Leicester that looked like it could have been dangerous but he ran the ball out before he could send a pass into the area. Then West Ham moved the ball around the penalty area well, only for Jenkinson to send a shot about 58 feet too high. Mahrez beat Cresswell on the edge of the area and moved in on Adrian before Kouyate came in to help clear from danger. Moments later Huth tried an overhead kick that Adrian pushed out for what should have been a corner. But in the first of what would turn out to be a few questionable decisions by Anthony Taylor West Ham were awarded a goal kick.
Two minutes later, Leicester City didn't need any decision from the referee. They just needed desire and will from Okazaki. Vardy broke down the left and sent a cross that Okazaki volleyed at Adrian. He made the initial save, but the ball went straight up in the air and Okazaki stayed with the ball and headed it in on its way down.
West Ham 0, Leicester City 1.
I'd like to say we responded with vigor and skill. Actually, I'd like to say we responded at all. Apart from a high shot by Zarate and a corner, West Ham looked like they forgot they had conceded at all. They were reminded in no time.
In the 38th minute, Okazaki, Albrighton, Vardy and Mahrez combined good passing with somewhat comatose West Ham defending to set up Mahrez all alone in the box to double the Leicester City lead. When I read Twitter from the road, there was a lot of blame placed on Oxford for the second goal. But everyone lost their man, missed their mark, and generally switched off.
West Ham 0, Leicester City 2.
West Ham had their chances in first half injury time. First when Cresswell danced around De Laet outside the Leicester City penalty area, but his cross to Zarate got tangled up in the Argentinean's feet and rolled out for a goal kick. Then, Zarate and Noble played a one-two before Noble fed Kouyate on the left. But instead of trying to find Sakho in front he tried a shot from a tough angle and hit the side netting. Then, in the final minute of extra time, Payet sent a lofted pass that Sakho ran onto. Sakho got to the ball first, made a touch, and was brought down by Schmeichel.
Reality = Penalty and red card for Schmeichel.
Taylor = Play on.
Halftime. West Ham 0, Leicester 2.
The second half began with Obiang making his debut replacing Oxford. And for the first few minutes of the second half, that was pretty much the notable moment. The passing was slow, the movement directionless. Finally, in the 55th minute, the West Ham we were hoping to see…and maybe expecting to see…turned up. Noble crossed to Payet, but his shot was blocked. However, the ball fell to Kouyate who served up another shot for Payet and this time he found the target, drilling the ball into the top of the net.
West Ham 1, Leicester City 2.
West Ham went right back on the attack, moving the ball around the penalty area before a Payet shot was deflected out for a corner. Moments later, Payet made his presence known again driving to the byline before Schmeichel intercepted his attempted cross. Huth then sent a Zarate cross out for a corner. The resulting free kick went to Sakho near the far post but his header didn't have much pace and Schmeichel grabbed it easily. Then Zarate did what he does so often, beating many defenders but trying to beat one too many. It was the kind of possession and play that made one think a goal was coming.
Leicester City weathered the West Ham onslaught and pushed back, winning two corners and a Vardy free kick in a dangerous area. Mahrez stepped up to take it, but his curling free kick went wide and high. In the 74th minute, Leicester City should have restored their two goal lead when Albrighton got on the end of a corner but sent a volley over the bar instead of into an open corner of the goal. A minute later Mahrez fed Drinkwater a ball in the same spot Albrighton had just been in. But again, with a corner of the net open Drinkwater sent his shot high.
In need of more creativity, West Ham made their second substitution bringing Lanzini in for Kouyate. At least that was likely the theory. In the 80th minute, theory almost turned into scientific fact when West Ham had their best chance at an equalizer. Sakho headed a cross to Lanzini in the area, who then immediately headed it back to Sakho. With both sides of the goal open, Sakho shot square into Schmeichel's chest. He didn't even have to move.
West Ham moved the ball around well for the final ten minutes of the match, but very little penetrated the final line of defense. Maiga coming on didn't exactly turn the volume up a notch, but options for fresh legs were few and far between. Anthony Taylor completed his hat trick of bonehead calls in the final minute of added time when he sent off Adrian for what he absurdly thought was dangerous play. Even the TV announcers here thought it was ridiculous. In all probability the card will be rescinded, and the game was already decided. But it made his earlier mistakes that much infuriating by knowing that the referee had indeed played a part in the outcome.
Final Score. West Ham 1, Leicester City 2.
I am trying to remind myself of a lot of rational things. We are learning a new way to play and that takes time. We have few options up front due to injuries. We always get too excited about memorable wins, and we always get too despondent over disappointing losses. Obiang looked quite good. So did Lanzini in his limited time. Jenkinson was awful and likely won't have this bad a game for a long time. I don't want to say that Bournemouth is now a very big game.
So I won't.
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OBIANG IMPRESSES IN A BAD DAY AT THE OFFICE
By Iain Dale 15 Aug 2015 at 19:54
WTID
Well, that was after the Lord Mayor's Show. So typical of West Ham. Worldbeaters one week, then they contrive to lose against an inferior team. I suppose it was inevitable, but it really needn't have been this way. We dominated the game for 25 minutes, but after the first goal we were second best for the rest of the first half. In the second Pedro Obiang added a new bite and urgency to the midfield having replaced the highly ineffective Reece Oxford. We pressed and pressed but just couldn't score. Quite how Schmeichel saved a shot down to his right, I don't know, but it was at that point you sensed it wasn't going to be our day. The one bright moment was Payet's goal, which was a delight to watch. Noble, who was very active down the right – just as well since Jenkinson had his worst game in a Hammers shirt – pulled the ball back across the penalty area where it was met and nudged to Payet who slammed the ball high into the net from just behind the penalty spot.
We played like Arsenal last week. We didn't seem to want the ball enough. Too often we were second to it. Only Ogbonna, Noble and Kouyate looked really hungry for it. Sakho's mind was clearly elsewhere, as you might expect, although it has to be said that Mauro Zarate had some delightful dribbles and flicks, and at one point in the second half he wasn't that far from scoring one of the great West Ham balls at all time. Unfortunately, he suffers from the same syndrome as many Arsenal players – he thinks he can walk the ball into the net, but fails to take into account that an opposition player is about to dispossess him.
So, a few talking points…
1. Adrian was sent off for the second time this season. That takes a rare talent for a goalkeeper. Will this hasten the re-signing of Rob Green this week?
2. Ogbonna and Reid looked solid for much of the game. Were either of them to blame for the goals? I couldn't really see.
3. Why was Reece Oxford so absent in the first half when his replacement, Pedro Obiang, was so hugely impressive in the second half?
4. Has Obiang played himself into the starting lineup for the Bournemouth game?
5. Did Modibo Maiga actually touch the ball once after he came on?
6. Dimitri Payet's performance was an enigmatic one. He'd drift out of the game to then play a very telling ball.
7. Do we just put this down to experience, or were there worrying signs to observe?
And the player points?
Adrian 5
Ogbonna 8
Reid 7
Cresswell 6
Jenkinson 5
Kouyate 6
Noble 7
Oxford 5
Zarate 6
Sakho 5
Payet 7
Lanzini 5
Maiga 4
Obiang 8
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West Ham transfers: Hammers close in on Hull midfielder Tom Huddlestone
0 COMMENTS22:00, 15 AUGUST 2015
BY STEVE STAMMERS , DEAN JONES
The Hammers looked set to sign Joey Barton before dramatically pulling the plug on the deal and are still not agreed on terms with Alex Song
The Mirror
West Ham are closing in on Hull midfielder Tom Huddlestone. The Hammers backed out of a deal to sign Joey Barton in midweek and are still not agreed on terms with Alex Song. It has led them to consider fresh options in the centre of the park and a bid is now being lodged for 28-year-old Huddlestone, who joined Hull in 2013 from Spurs. Huddlestone made 67 Premier League appearances for the Tigers after his £5m move from White Hart Lane but is one of the club's higher earners. The departure would leave Hull short of options in midfield after losing Jake Livermore to suspension following a positive drugs test, though the 25-year-old may be back sooner than originally expected.
The Hammers are also set to offer midfielder Cheik Kouyate a new deal. The powerful Senegal international had an impressive first season at Upton Park following his £5.25million move from Anderlecht last summer. He arrived with compatriot Diafra Sakho who was rewarded for his impact with a new contract before the end of last season. Now Kouyate is ready to extend his stay at West Ham and double his £15,000-a-week wages.
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Report: Irons chase a Tiger!
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 16, 2015 in News, Whispers
C AND H
Reports this morning that the Irons are "closing in" on Hull City's former Spurs midfielder Tom Huddlestone seem wide of the mark.
After pulling out of a pay as you play deal for Joey Barton The Mirror is reporting that we are now moving in on the Tigers high earner.
The 28 year old has made 67 Premier League appearances for Hull after his £5m move from White Hart Lane in 2013. However, given that the club is known to be keen to sign Alex Song regardless of his present injury problems before the end of August it's hard to see how this one might happen. Barton was wanted on a short term deal as cover for that situation and it's hard to see why Huddlestone would want a short term arrangement. A source said: "We need back up and I'm not sure that a player such as Huddlestone would be suitable in those circumstances."
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Let's get Leicester defeat in perspective
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 15, 2015 in News, Whispers
C AND H
Today's performance and result needs to be put into its proper perspective. Yes we all know Leicester City made a storming end to last season but when you look at the stats they carried into this season they really are truly stunning. They won seven games – starting with us, drew one and lost one (against Chelsea) – and have now won the first two games of the new season. The confidence factor is huge in football – 80 per cent of the game is often played between the ears and some of their football in the first half was outstanding.
Too often we judge matches on reputations of teams – thus Arsenal would beat us and we'd beat the Foxes particularly as our home record against them is pretty amazing. Leicester have scored 25 goals over these last 11 games and are on the highest of highs. We meanwhile won three games from 21 and despite the much needed and celebrated victory over the Gunners there is work to be done. Slaven Bilic made the point that we were far too slow in the first half as the Foxes took control and punished us with their quick passing and pacey forward movement game. But we showed in the second that we can be pretty potent – especially down the left side. When Jenks is up to speed we'll be looking fine down the right too. Pedro Obiang (above) looked an operator with bite and promise. We are a decent team who were beaten by another in outstanding form. It's been an odd start to the season and with Bournemouth up next we are again thinking three points – I think we'll get them but we need to up the tempo. An interesting season ahead.
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Ref Taylor's shocker hurts Hammers
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 15, 2015 in News, Whispers
C AND H
West Ham 1 Leicester City 2
I hate making excuses but had we had a decent referee in charge this afternoon this would have been a game from which we would almost certainly taken a point – MINIMUM.
But the dreadful Anthony Taylor who infamously sent Carlton Cole off for nothing a couple of seasons back looked to back into his best Hammers-hating routine.
Despite Kaspar Schmeichel clearly fouling Diafra Sakho at the end of the first half, well inside the box, we received no penalty and the stopper stayed on the pitch when it was a clear RED. Utterly disgraceful.
But the bloke managed to top even that at the very end as the Irons chased the game. After Adrian had gone up for a cleared corner he was red-carded himself for a high boot and was dismissed for dangerous play – APPALLING!
The Hammers will clearly appeal and should win without a shadow of a doubt just as they did when Cole was dismissed.
The visitors had gone two up in the first half through a hit from Ozazaki after a fine Adrian save and an unstoppable Mahrez belter.
It was a deserved first half lead but had Taylor a single idea of what represents a foul the Foxes would have been playing with 10 men in the second half.
The Hammers after such a slow first 45 mins stepped on the gas with most of their best stuff coming down the left side through Payet and Zarate.
And it all looked good when the new signing smashed home a fabulous effort on 55 minutes which should have started a major offensive.
Sadly City began to take the sting out of things after feeling the heat for 15 minutes and created chances of their own although Sakho could have equalised when his close range shot hit the Leicester stopper's body and rebounded to safety.
Disappointing Yes but a hugely exciting and attractive match – a million miles from the previous era and but for Tylor it could all have been so very different.
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