West Ham United statement
WHUFC.com
West Ham United can confirm that the gentleman who suffered a stab wound in
White Hart Lane on Sunday has been discharged from hospital following
treatment. The 35-year-old man sustained a stab wound to the abdomen at
approximately 3pm on Sunday in White Hart Lane at the junction with
Tottenham High Road. London's Air Ambulance attended and the man was taken
to an east London hospital by ambulance. The Club would like to wish the
supporter concerned a continued speedy recovery. Following the Metropolitan
Police's initial appeal for information and witnesses, which was retweeted
on the Club's Official Twitter account on Sunday evening, no arrests have
yet been made and the Club are again calling on supporters to assist the
investigation.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact Haringey CID on 0203 276
3070 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
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Makasi - We're full of confidence
WHUFC.com
Twenty year old midfielder Moses Makasi put in a dominant performance
against Derby County during his first full ninety minutes of the season.
Playing alongside Josh Cullen and Marcus Browne, during the 3-2 victory over
the league leaders, the trio formed a solid partnership that broke down
Rams' attacking moves while creating a host of chances for the Hammers.
Reflecting on a good evening for the Dev Squad, which saw Elliot Lee net a
brace and Cullen score his second in as many games, Makasi, who also made
his first start said: "It's been a long time since I played a full 90
minutes so it felt good to be part of the team again, and of course good to
win. The main thing was a good team performance all round. "To beat the team
that are top of the league shows we are developing. We're winning games
regularly which is also good. "It was a tough game tonight, there were some
big challenges. At half time Terry told us to keep our cool and make sure we
don't make any rash decisions. We're winning the game so there's no need to
rise to it."
The victory over the Rams takes the Hammers to ninth in the Barclays U21
Premier League Division Two. The Dev Squad's recent run of form has seen
Terry Westley's side accumulate nine points from a possible twelve. Makasi
continued: "Compared to other games, in terms of keeping the ball it wasn't
the best. The main thing was to get three points and climb up the table, we
did that and we're looking forward to getting back into training and
preparing for the next game. "Personally, I thought for my first full 90
minutes, it was a steady performance, I could've done a bit better on the
ball but overall I'm happy, it's always good to win!"
Up next for the Hammers is a stern test of a different nature as they face
two tough away games in the space of just three days. First up, the Hammers
travel to South Wales to play Swansea City in the League before facing
Exeter City in the Barclays U21 Premier League Cup just two days later. The
energetic midfielder continued to say that it was a challenge the Dev Squad
are relishing: "Two games in three days will be tough, but that's what we
will have to get used to as first team players so it's good preparation.
"These recent wins have been very good for confidence, as long as we keep
winning, that always gives you confidence for the next game. Hopefully we'll
keep pushing and got those points we need."
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The Big Interview - James Tomkins
WHUFC.com
James Tomkins has seen many changes at West Ham United over the years but he
is bracing himself for the biggest chapter in the Club's history when we
move into the new Stadium next summer.
Having come through the Club's famous academy and becoming an established
member of the first-team squad, the Hammers defender will be full of
emotions as we prepare to move away from the Boleyn Ground. But the
26-year-old cannot wait to showcase his talents in a bigger arena and is
excited by the prospect of playing in front of 50,000 fans every week.
How excited are you by the prospect of playing in the new Stadium and the
developments which have occurred in recent months?
JT: "The Stadium looks really good and we have been looking at all the
changes that have taken place.
"The atmosphere looked unbelievable during the Rugby World Cup and it looks
unbelievable when you come here. Everyone is looking forward to playing
here."
A lot of supporters came to view the Stadium during the tournament and
everyone seems to be really impressed. Is that the feedback you have
received from people you have spoken to?
JT: "I know the fans have been impressed with how close the view is to the
pitch. That was a big factor and it looks fantastic.
"You can imagine what it is going to be like when it is full of West Ham
fans and everyone is looking forward to it."
There have been so many changes taking place with the roof, floodlights and
the turnstiles being put in. It feels very real and the move is getting ever
closer.
JT: "The move feels like it is just around the corner and we are not far
away from doing it now.
"We need to continue having a good start to the season and it is a great
stepping stone to see how far we have progressed.
"We finished 12th last season and we want to improve on that season. This is
the perfect timing to see what direction we want to head in."
Slaven has said that he wants to take each game as it comes but as players
how much do you think about the big move next summer?
JT: "I think everyone is buzzing about the move and I am sure the stadium is
going to be full because we have a massive base of West Ham fans.
"For me this is pretty much like home and every time I come to the stadium
you can see even more changes taking place."
You only have to look at what the new East Stand will be like with the
crossed Hammers in the seats. There is still work to be done but the fans
have a lot to be excited about?
JT: "It is not even finished yet and there are still a lot of changes to be
made with the claret and blue in the stands. It will be surreal and it is
hard to keep your eyes off it.
"You wonder what the pitch is going to be like but when you take a look now
it looks impressive and everyone is looking forward to it more than they
were before."
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Samuelsen heads for Posh loan move
WHUFC.com
Academy youngster Martin Samuelsen has joined Sky Bet League One side
Peterborough United on loan until 2 January 2016 The 18-year-old Norway U19
international has impressed with the Hammers' U21 side since joining from
Manchester City in the summer and will now head to the ABAX Stadium to
further his development. He could make his debut on Tuesday evening as the
Posh take on Barnsley looking to move into the play-off positions. Samuelsen
already has two senior appearances to his name, having come on as a
substitute in both legs of the Hammers' UEFA Europa League second qualifying
round tie against Birkirkara in the summer. He will be eligible to play in
seven League One games during his initial loan period.
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Henry loaned to Rovers
WHUFC.com
West Ham United can confirm that Doneil Henry has returned for a second loan
spell with Blackburn Rovers. Twenty-two-year-old Henry will hope to pick up
where he left off after rejoining Championship side Rovers on an emergency
loan until January. The Canada centre-back impressed in three loan
appearances for the Lancashire club in January this year, only for his spell
to be cut short by a hamstring injury. Now being managed by former Aston
Villa boss Paul Lambert, Blackburn rose to 13th in the table by winning 2-1
at Preston North End in the Scot's first game in charge. Henry could debut
for a second time in a Rovers shirt at home to Sheffield Wednesday on
Saturday – the same club he faced on his first appearance for the club
earlier this year. Also out on loan are Matt Jarvis (Norwich City), Diego
Poyet (MK Dons) and Josh Pask (Dagenham & Redbridge).
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James impressed with Hammers keepers
WHUFC.com
Former West Ham United goalkeeper and current BT Sport pundit David James
has high praise for Hammers stopper Adrian. The No13 may have been beaten
four times at Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, but still made a string of fine
saves to continue his strong start to the campaign. James, who won 53 caps
for England in a 24-year playing career, should know a thing or two about
goalkeeping and he has been impressed with both Adrian and Darren Randolph.
He said: "Adrian has impressed since he's come across from Spain - for two
or three season now. "Even when he missed a few games earlier this season,
Darren Randolph came in and did very well, so I think there's a combination
where the defence are helping the goalkeeper and vice-versa. "It's all
contributing to West Ham being a very strong side. Fortunately, and happily
a side that look like they are going to finish well up in the top half of
the league and not be involved at the other end. "It will be a sad time for
West Ham to leave the Boleyn Ground, but if Man City are a good example of
leaving their spiritual home then perhaps West Ham can follow in their
footsteps and who knows, there could be European success ahead."
James made 91 league appearances for the Hammers in a two-and-a-half-year
stint in E13 and he still has plenty of fond memories of east London. He
continied: "I've got plenty of memories of this place, it's funny being in
the home changing room again actually. It's slightly different, but there's
definitely an essence of the changing room when I first came in when the new
stand was built. "There were so many memories playing here. I got injured
playing for England before my debut for the Club, missed a few games,
eventually made my debut against Tottenham and lost 1-0. That was memorable.
"We got relegated, which was sad. I stayed here in the Championship, and I
think strangely playing essentially as England's No1 with West Ham in the
Championship made me very proud. "It meant I could stay with the Club - I
was part of the reason why we didn't stay in the league, despite our
record-breaking relegation points total, but I felt I had to represent the
fact I wanted to be at the Club. I was proud to be a West Ham player. "Alan
Pardew came in and eventually we decided to part company, but I was very
proud of the time I was here, and coming back here the reception from the
fans is always very good."
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Doneil Henry: Blackburn Rovers sign West Ham United defender
BBC.co.uk
Blackburn Rovers have re-signed defender Doneil Henry on loan from West Ham
United until 3 January. The 22-year-old Canada international played three
games for Rovers during a loan spell last season. Henry joined the Hammers
from Cypriot side Apollon Limassol in January 2015, and has made one
first-team appearance. "It is great to be back here again - it is a great
club. The last time I was here I felt really welcomed," Henry told the club
website. His previous loan spell at Ewood Park was cut short by a hamstring
injury. New Rovers manager Paul Lambert said: "I'm delighted to be able to
bring Doneil back. I know that he did very well last time he was here, prior
to his injury. "We felt that it was important to add an extra body to the
defensive department and Doneil was the obvious choice."
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West Ham gossip: Doumbia, Lanzini, Townsend, Bilic
BBC.co.uk
West Ham are looking to boost their attacking options with a January move
for Roma striker Seydou Doumbia, according to Italian newspaper Corriere
dello Sport. The Ivory Coast international is on loan at CSKA Moscow after
failing to make an impact in Rome since joining from the Russian club for
£11m in January. The newspaper says Doumbia, 27, could have his season-long
deal cut if the Hammers pursue their interest in the January transfer
window. Despite Manuel Lanzini saying it is "an absolute honour" to be
linked with Liverpool, the 22-year-old playmaker will make his loan deal at
West Ham permanent, according to the Mirror. Lanzini is expected to have an
extended run in the side with Dimitri Payet ruled out for three months. Yet
the Daily Star reports Hammers manager Slaven Bilic is also keen to add
more depth to his squad and is ready to make an approach for out-of-favour
Tottenham winger Andros Townsend, 24.
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Martin joins The Posh
KUMb.com
Filed: Tuesday, 24th November 2015
By: Staff Writer
Development squad midfielder Martin Samuelsen has joined League One outfit
Peterborough United on a short-term loan. The 18-year-old Norwegian, who
moved from Manchester City to West Ham United on a free transfer back in
June is yet to feature in a Premier League fixture for the Hammers. However
Samuelsen - who will remain at his temporary home until 2 January - could
make his Football League debut for the Posh against Barnsley at their London
Road stadium tonight, have signed in time to satisfy league rules. The Under
19 international's two first team appearances for West Ham both came in the
Europa League qualifiers back in July against Maltese outfit Birkirkara, who
United overcame via a penalty shootout having drawn the tie 1-1.
Since then Samuelsen has made a number of appearances for Terry Westley's
Development Squad, with his most recent appearance at the Boleyn Ground
coming in a 2-0 defeat against Fulham's Under 21s.
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West Ham fan stabbed after Spurs game released from hospital
Last Updated: 24/11/15 4:34pm
SSN
West Ham have confirmed that a supporter stabbed before Sunday's game with
Tottenham has been discharged from hospital. A 35-year-old man was admitted
to hospital on Sunday after being stabbed in the abdomen at approximately
3pm in White Hart Lane at the junction with Tottenham High Road. The man has
now left hospital after receiving treatment with West Ham tweeting that they
wished the supporter a "continued, speedy recovery." No arrests have been
made and the Hammers have again called upon witnesses to help police with
their enquiries. "Following the Metropolitan Police's initial appeal for
information and witnesses, which was retweeted on the club's Official
Twitter account on Sunday evening, no arrests have yet been made and the
club are again calling on supporters to assist the investigation," a
statement on the club's official website read.
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Manuel Lanzini trying to fill the gap left by Dimitri Payet at West Ham
Last Updated: 25/11/15 1:54am
SSN
Manuel Lanzini has been a surprise hit at West Ham following his loan move
from Al Jazira but the onus is really on him now following Dimitri Payet's
injury. Adam Bate looks at his impact so far... Many of the West Ham fans
had already begun to trudge their way down the Seven Sisters Road by the
time that Manuel Lanzini lashed in the team's consolation goal in their 4-1
defeat at Tottenham on Sunday. Slaven Bilic wasn't in the mood to make
excuses and so the moment couldn't offer too much comfort, but it was a
reminder that Lanzini has been a success since his summer arrival.
After playing just 15 minutes of West Ham's first three matches, the
Argentine announced himself at Anfield in late August. He opened the scoring
inside three minutes before muscling Dejan Lovren off the ball to set up
Mark Noble for the second goal in a 3-0 win over Liverpool. Further goals
against Crystal Palace and Everton have established him as a favourite among
fans and team-mates alike.
Lanzini scored three minutes into his West Ham debut away to Astra Giurgiu
in the Europa League and then repeated the feat by scoring three minutes
into his Premier League debut against Liverpool. "He has been one of the
players of the season so far for us," said Winston Reid. "He's not just an
attacker, he also defends and he can run from box to box. He's very
creative, so it's good. He's only a young kid, there are going to be some
difficult games for him, but fortunately for us he's having really, really
good games at the moment. The main thing is that he keeps developing."
However, there were no guarantees that would be the case. Lanzini, nicknamed
'The Jewel', did have a considerable reputation as a teenager having been
part of the River Plate first-team at 17. Wearing the No.10 shirt, he later
played a big role in River's promotion and their subsequent title win. Twice
he scored against Boca Juniors in La Bombonera. But he has joined West Ham
from Al Jazira not River Plate.
The Arabian Gulf League might not conjure exciting thoughts of young talent
readying themselves to make an instant impact upon the Premier League, but
those preconceptions have been challenged. Sure, Lanzini's spell there
would've been motivated by money but spare him the sanctimony. Big contracts
are scarce in Argentina and the player has found his way to Europe
nevertheless.
Former West Ham player Tony Gale looks at the problem of replacing Dimitri
Payet. Any concerns that Lanzini might be too lightweight for the Premier
League have proven erroneous too. In fact, only four of his team-mates have
made more tackles and there's been an appetite for work that - prior to the
weekend - saw West Ham flourish on their travels. "He does not look strong
but some players can defy that physicality to impose themselves," said
Bilic.
The West Ham boss has been an admirer for some time. Indeed, he wanted to
take Lanzini with him to Turkey when he was coaching Besiktas. A further
clue to how highly he regards the 22-year-old is that he recently compared
him to Luka Modric, with whom he worked during his time in charge of the
Croatia national team. It's high praise and a reflection of Lanzini's
quality in possession. "He always wants the ball," Bilic explained in his
column for the Evening Standard. "That's why we put him in midfield. He
could play in a number of positions but his best is wherever the ball is. So
he has to be central where he can have most contact. He always makes himself
available. If the players are in trouble, he comes and gets it."
West Ham - Premier League 2015/16
Player Dribbles Per 90
Manuel Lanzini 27 3.1
Mauro Zarate 10 2.6
Dimitri Payet 28 2.4
Victor Moses 14 2.4
It would have been easy for Bilic to banish Lanzini to the fringes of the
game. Instead, he has gone with the brave option - rewarding the player's
own bravery in trying to make things happen. The responsibility is greater
following Dimitri Payet's injury but it seems as though Lanzini has the
character to embrace it. "He's always playing pranks and having a laugh,"
says Enner Valencia.
Lanzini's Ecuadorian team-mate is one of a number of Spanish speakers within
the West Ham dressing room. It's helped him to settle and he's on record in
wanting to make his loan stay permanent. There have been reports of interest
from Liverpool but David Sullivan has stressed that the option belongs to
the Hammers.
A battle for Lanzini's services was not necessarily what was anticipated
when this deal was confirmed, but it's a testament to the speed with which
he's made the adjustment. His former River team-mate Erik Lamela took rather
longer to adapt. West Ham supporters will now be hoping that Lanzini's
Premier League stay lasts as long as that of his compatriot.
West Ham v West Brom is live on Sky Sports 1 HD from 1pm on Sunday
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West Ham submit planning for new training ground
Posted by Sean Whetstone on November 24, 2015 in News, Whispers
C and H
West Ham have submitted planning permission to Havering London Borough
council to remodel and rebuild their Training Ground & Sports Stadium at
Rush Green Road, Romford. The text submitted with the planning diagrams
below says: "The main aim of the alterations and extensions to the existing
buildings on the site is to provide the required facilities internally that
are necessary for a Premier League football team, to improve the external
appearance of the building and to use the West Ham United Club colours to
give it identity."
"The extension to the building would be to the north elevations to ensure
that no designated pitches are lost and would include a treatment area,
hydrotherapy pool and plant room. In addition, a new stand alone structure
to the north of the building would be built to provide a boardroom and
office to allow meetings to be held on site."
"Externally, it is proposed to clad the building using a mixture of timber
boarding and the Club's colours. The extension and new office building would
also be a mixture of timber cladding and Club colours. The training ground
would include six high quality pitches, including the pitch within the
stadium area, that are the same standard and size of the pitch used by the
first team. This is to improve the quality of training provided to the
players and ensure that all their training mirrors the conditions they will
encounter in a first-team game."
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Gold talks on Irons fans' Spurs discontent
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on November 24, 2015 in News, Whispers
C and H
David Gold has urged Hammers fans to "keep the faith" after suffering the
awful pain of Sunday afternoon! The co-chairman – a regular on Twitter –
has noticed the first rumblings of discontent with the manager's tactics and
said: "We all have our views and it is the manager who will have to sort
things out with Dimitri Payet unavailable. Speaking exclusively to
ClaretandHugh he said"Obviously like every manager he has issues to deal
with and it's not easy but what we can do is to support him and the team in
a very difficult situation. "He has done brilliantly to take us into sixth
place and remember the number of games played is on an odd number. It is
always more accurate when you are on an even number and we have a home game
coming up!" Gold is aware of the discussion over Andy Carroll and the
decision to push Diafra Sakho wide but said: "It would be wrong for me to
comment on that – these are managerial issues. Slaven must sort it out –
it's his call, not mine. "He's a very good manager and we are all going to
be very interested in ho he sets up the the team up against West Brom at
the weekend. "The pain of the weekend was awful for everybody but we
regroup. We move on and I appeal to all supporters to keep the faith." He
added: "Sunday was awful. Spurs were at the top of their game and were the
better team on the day but that is not to say they are going to be over the
remainder of the season."
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James Tomkins and the manager!
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on November 24, 2015 in Hugh's Blogs, News,
Whispers
C and H
The first doubts may be arising among some over Slaven Bilic but it's not an
anxiety shared by the players. After one point from three games the early
rumblings of discontent and expressions such as "should I start to worry "
have been appearing on the ClaretandHugh facebook group at
https://www.facebook.com/groups/363174467150521/.
We have heard accusations of a one dimensional system, the inability to find
a Plan B whatever that may be – although it sounds good as most cliches do –
and of Saturday being incredibly important. Err, aren't they all?! The A
game was presumably a team involving Payet, the B plan saw Carroll handed a
central role and Sakho moved right. It failed in the biggest possible way –
feel free to add your own "of course." Now we await Plan C presumably.
Dimitri Payet is as important a player as it gets so all of this reshuffling
may need a little time. Patience is required. I was interested to read this
morning that Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris reckons the Spurs squad are now
understanding the style of football required of them. That took a season
as it usually does so let's be fair and give people a fair crack of the
whip.
All the players are onside according to James Tomkins who says: " We're
trying to play out a lot more than we were last year, and the manager has
been brilliant with that. The lads have really taken to him, and he's
someone who you can go and approach. He's easy to talk to.
He's very emotional and very passionate and sometimes at half-time when you
feel that something hasn't gone right, he'll tell us. It's nice to know.
We're still getting used to each other, but everyone has taken to him."
All of that augurs well. Every team has a dip here and there and the timing
of Payet's injury, given Spurs were next up, could hardly have been worse.
Slaven Bilic got it wrong on Saturday but this is no time to start worrying.
Sixth place is a fantastic achievement at this stage of things and if the
players are behind him as seems to be the case, we all need to stay there as
well.
COYI
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Irons say midfielder won't be loaned
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on November 24, 2015 in News, Whispers
C and H
West Ham have killed all speculation that Pedro Obiang could be loaned to
Napoli or anywhere else in the January window. Rumours have been rife over
the midfielder for several weeks with his absence from the first team
raising – in some places – questions over his Hammers future. Obiang was
again missing from the squad on Sunday at White Hart Lane sparking a round
of fresh speculation. . But ClaretandHugh has been assured this morning that
the midfielder is seen as a key player over the long term. A key insider
explained that Obiang is now fully recovered from his injury problems and
ready to join battle for a regular starting spot. And with Mark Noble
suspended for the game against West Brom he will come into the reckoning
along of course with Alex Song who returned at the weekend. We were told: "
There is absolutely zero chance of Obiang being loaned out. That won't
happen. He is now fully fit and could feature against WBA."
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Twitter attack brings quick Irons response
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on November 24, 2015 in News, Whispers
C and H
David Gold has been fencing off criticism of the club's percieved attitude
towards the Acadamey. Fans on Twitter have been concerned that we are not
making the most of what we have at youth and Development Squad level with
one asking whether the academy still existed! He asked: "Do West Ham still
have an academy? It seems not anymore. If we do when are they going to give
anyone the chance to break through. And another declared angrily: "Spurs
invested the Bale £££s in youth & training so are now reaping the rewards.
We Paid Fat Sam to annihilate ours."
Gold, however, quickly responded by pointing to the bench for the game
against Tottenham declaring: "16 year old Reece Oxford from our academy was
on the bench against Tottenham yesterday. dg"
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This player needs support – NOT ABUSE!
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on November 24, 2015 in News, Whispers
Certain West Ham fans need to bite their tongues on the Carl Jenkinson
issue. The outrage on social network may be understandable but it will do
absolutely nothing to help the player through a difficult period. It needs
to stop right now because the torrent of abuse engulfing Jenks is wrong. At
a time when he needs support the most he's getting the opposite. We had been
considering showing some of the remarks currently doing the rounds on
Twitter which at tmes resembles an idiots playground. But we quickly decided
against it because whilst constructive criticism is allowable some of the
abuse aimed at the lad crosses the line. None of us can claim to be squeaky
clean when it comes to some of the words we use in our distress after a bad
result but let's not single out one individual as the cause of all our
problems. That's stupid. The Spurs disaster was a collective disaster and
should be treated as such. Let's get behind the team and the players –
anything else is self defeating and wrong.
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Lanzini makes his Hammers hopes clear
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on November 24, 2015 in News, Whispers
C and H
Manuel Lanzini has made it clear he is perfectly content to stay with West
Ham. Regularly linked with a possible Liverpool takeaway in the summer,
Claretand Hugh has regularly reported that he will sign for the Hammers
under the terms of a deal we have stitched up with his club Al Jaziera.
David Sullivan recently confirmed the contract he had in place with the
Saudi club was "unbreakable." but fears arose the player may have his head
turned by the advances of Liverpool. However, the brilliant playmaker has
made it clear he's more than ready to become a Hammer on a permanent deal
which has finally put the issue to bed as under the terms of the deal, West
ham are set to buy up his contract anyway. Lanzini – speaking on the issue –
said: "It's an honour to be linked with a club like Liverpool but I heard
the president (Sullivan) say the club wants me to stay. I am fine
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Lanzini makes his Hammers hopes clear
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on November 24, 2015 in News, Whispers
C and H
Manuel Lanzini has made it clear he is perfectly content to stay with West
Ham. Regularly linked with a possible Liverpool takeaway in the summer,
Claretand Hugh has regularly reported that he will sign for the Hammers
under the terms of a deal we have stitched up with his club Al Jaziera.
David Sullivan recently confirmed the contract he had in place with the
Saudi club was "unbreakable." but fears arose the player may have his head
turned by the advances of Liverpool. However, the brilliant playmaker has
made it clear he's more than ready to become a Hammer on a permanent deal
which has finally put the issue to bed as under the terms of the deal, West
ham are set to buy up his contract anyway. Lanzini – speaking on the issue –
said: "It's an honour to be linked with a club like Liverpool but I heard
the president (Sullivan) say the club wants me to stay. I am fine here."
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West Ham transfer news: Hammers weighing up January swoop for Roma striker
By talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) | Tuesday, November 24, 2015
West Ham are considering a January swoop for Roma striker Seydou Doumbia,
according to reports in Italy. The Ivory Coast international is currently on
loan at CSKA Moscow after struggling to make an impact in Italy. The
27-year-old only joined Roma in January from CSKA for £11m - but he headed
back there in the summer on a season-long deal. However, according to
Corriere dello Sport, Doumbia's loan could be cut short as West Ham weigh up
a January move. The Hammers are on the hunt for attacking reinforcements and
have been impressed by the forward this season. Doumbia has been in fine
form this term and already has eight goals in all competitions.
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http://vyperz.blogspot.com
Wednesday, November 25
Tuesday, November 24
Daily WHUFC News -
Loan round up
WHUFC.com
Diego Poyet played the full game as MK Dons were held to a 1-1 draw with
Fulham. The hosts led when Josh Murphy crossed to Dean Bowditch, who drilled
in a half-volleyed effort from long range. Fulham restored parity on the
stroke of half-time when Dembele tapped home Ross McCormack's cross.
The draw sees the Dons slip into the relegation zone having secured 15
points from their opening 17 league games. However, should they win their
next game, away at Wolves next weekend, they could climb to 17th.
Young goalkeeper Clarke Bogard continued his impressive form for Tilbury
with a 3-1 win over Harlow Town. The Ryman Football League Division North
side secured the three points thanks to a Danny Glozier penalty and goals
from Matt Game and Kurt Smith. Tilbury have won 16 of the 27 games Bogard
has featured in, including being named man-of-the-match once.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
From the Boardroom - David Sullivan
WHUFC.com
It was an extremely disappointing result against Tottenham on Sunday and I
know that Slaven and the players will be working even harder this week to
put things right and help us get straight back on the winning trail when we
face West Brom.
After getting just one point from the last three games we know the
importance of the game at the Boleyn Ground next weekend.
Without doubt we came up against a Tottenham side at the top of their game
at White Hart Lane, but we were simply not good enough.
Considering the amazing start to the season we had away from home, our last
two performances against Watford and Spurs have been poor in comparison.
We know we need to do better in the coming weeks, starting against West
Brom.
I have to also say that I was very shocked and surprised at Match of the Day
2 on Sunday night featuring photos of myself and Daniel Levy saying our
relationship was frosty.
I would like to say publicly that both myself and David Gold have an
excellent relationship with Daniel and we greatly admire the job he has done
at his club.
We were competitors for the Olympic Stadium and both clubs had a different
vision for the stadium, but the competition closed and we've moved on.
We are moving to our new ground, situated in our Borough of Newham next
Summer and Spurs are moving to their new stadium the year after and it is
being built in their borough.
We have all moved on and there is no animosity and unpleasantness between
us. Life is really too short for all of that and the events in Paris two
weeks ago maybe puts everything into perspective.
I would urge all West Ham fans to treat rival supporters with the respect
they deserve as they, like us, are supporters of this fabulous game that we
ALL love.
That's not to say we won't be doing all we can to right the wrongs of
yesterday's defeat when we play them next year, but our approach will be in
a sporting and professional manner.
Thank you for continued excellent support and let's hope we can get back to
winning ways on Sunday.
David Sullivan
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Kouyate - It was a huge disappointment
WHUFC.com
Cheikhou Kouyate had no excuses for his side's disappointing display against
Tottenham on Sunday but says the players are already focusing on putting
things right against West Brom and getting straight back on the winning
trail. It could have been a different story for the Hammers if Kouyate's
scissor kick had not struck the crossbar minutes after Harry Kane had fired
Spurs into the lead. But the Hammers fell further behind when Toby
Alderweireld scored from a corner and the game was essentially over when
Kane added his second of the game shortly after half-time. Kyle Walker
compounded the misery when he made it four for the home side and not even a
late strike from Manuel Lanzini could help salvage anything from the London
derby. Kouyate says the players will be determined to put things right in
front of the televised cameras once again on Sunday and hopes to be
celebrating all three points at the Boleyn Ground. Kouyate said: "We gifted
Tottenham their goals on Sunday. We were up against a big team and we have
given them presents. We know that they are a good side and they have
punished us. What's done is done and they deserved it. "We know that this
sort of thing happens from time to time, but with it being a derby, it's a
huge disappointment for us and particularly for the supporters. "We started
the match poorly but when they scored the first we came back into the game,
started playing, and had a few chances of our own. But when they scored the
second, it was obviously an uphill battle. "You can't lay the blame at the
defence, because we're a team and we defend with eleven and on Sunday it
wasn't easy. We have to try to take the positives and look ahead to next
weekend. "Their intensity was no surprise. We're away from home, at
Tottenham, and plus it's a derby as well. We know that from the first 15
minutes it's going to be difficult, we'd been warned and we were prepared,
but didn't do what was needed. "We've got to regroup and really try to take
the three points on Sunday against West Brom."
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
FT- Dev Squad 3-2 Derby County
WHUFC.com
FT: There goes the full time whistle. The Hammers have held on to a deserved
victory at Rush Green. Elliot Lee led the way magnificently, scoring twice
and setting up the other. It was a real team performance tonight. We'll have
reaction for you shortly.
90: Final moments now. Hang on!
89: Towering header from Onariase relieves some pressure, the Hammers hoof
it downfield yet Browne is penalised for a heavy challenge, he's booked too.
87: Spiegel clears his lines in the knick of time. Makasi is going to get
booked for handball. Wastes some valuable seconds if nothing else.
84: Amos Nasha is on for Stephen Hendrie to help and try and bolster the
midfield. Not too long to go now. Can the Hammers hold on?
81: GOAL for Derby County. Striker Ivan Calero strikes from close range to
ensure a nervy final few minutes. 3-2.
76: Spell of the pressure from the Rams. This is their third consecutive
corner, the hosts eventually clear through Parfitt-Williams.
73: Derby desperately trying to claw their way back into the game. The game
is getting a tad scrappy as the Hammers try and slow the proceedings down.
Excellent game management from the hosts, showing a great deal of maturity.
68: Leo Chambers has been superb this evening, he's taken off for a well
earnen rest. Manny Onariase is on in his place.
64: That goal was slightly against the run of play as Derby had started the
second half very strongly. However, conceding their third goal has somewhat
knocked the wind out of their sails.
58: GOOOOAL! 3-1! Elliot Lee scores his second of the evening with a fine
glancing header from Parfitt-Williams' cross. That Derby miss looks even
more costly now.
57: Huge let off! Mason Bennett is free, onside and unmarked, yet heads his
effort at point-black range into Spiegel's arms.
54: Foot race between Zanzala and Spiegel. The striker gets there first and
the goalkeeper clatters him, the referee thankfully gives a corner. You've
seen them given!
51: Excellent ball from Chambers sets Parfitt-Williams flying down the wing.
He Cryuff-turns majestically past two players but is eventually holted. The
crowd loved that!
47: GOAL for Derby! Callum Guy shoots from the edge of the box, through a
packed penalty area and pulls a goal back. Just the start the visitors
needed. 2-1.
46: We're back under way here at Rush Green. Alex Pike is on in place of
Reece Oxford.
45: Final exchanges of the half, Spiegel boots it high upfield and that's
the half-time whistle. Plenty left in this game you feel.
43: Nasty challenge by Jamie Hanson on Josh Cullen who absolutely plows
through the back of him. Cullen is left in a heap and clearly unhappy with
the challenge. Hanson goes into the book, with some fans calling for a
straight red.
41: The Hammers are really in the ascendancy here. Lee tries his luck from
distance but he gets too much on it.
37: GOOOOAL to the Hammers! Josh Cullen runs on to Marcus Browne's parried
effort following superb work by Elliot Lee. He got to byline, twisted and
turned his man before laying it on a plate for Browne. 2-0!!
36: There's a real edge to this game now. Jake Buxton goes into the book for
a foul on Browne.
34: Brief handbags between Leo Chambers and Zanzala. There was contact but
nothing major yet it takes several moments to calm things down. As ever,
Oxford is chief peacemaker.
31: Super play by Josh Cullen who twists out of a tight corner before
spreading it 40-yards to Kyle Knoyle. Xabi Alonso-esqe from the midfielder.
30: Jamie Hanson tries his luck from the edge of the box but it flies
harmlessly over.
29: Marcus Browne is adjudged to have fouled Callum Guy. He and his
teammates are disgusted at the decision but Derby have a free-kick in a
dangerous position...
27: Ivan Calero twists and turn before aiming for the top corner. It isn't
miles away but Spiegel was watching it closely.
24: Excellent save by Raphael Spiegel to deny Zanzala from close range.
Excellent goalkeeping.
21: Oxford shepherds Zanzala out of play as the winger was one-on-one.
Page's throw in is finally cleared.
19: Free kick to Derby as Zanzala's pace is too much for Knoyle who cuts him
down mid-sprint. The Hammers clear the delievery without too much fuss.
17: The game is just settling into a more steady rhythm after a frantic
start. Just the final ball missing for the Hammers as Page overhits his
through ball.
15: Teasing ball in by Page but Koos comes to collect with Lee lurking.
13: Oxford showing his evident class tonight. Commanding at the back, he's
orchestrating everything. As silky as you like on the ball. His confidence
is spreading through the team.
11: Fast and furious tempo to this game so far, both teams zipping it around
nicely. The hosts have enjoyed more territory and possession so far, the
Rams are getting frustrated.
7: GOOOOOAL!! Elliot Lee makes no mistake from the spot. He steps uf
confidently and sends Kelle Roos the wrong way. 1-0! Just the start the
Hammers needed.
7: Lee bares down on goal again and tries to feed Parfitt-Williams. It has
just too much on it yet the Hammers force a corner. From the corner Reece
Oxford is hauled down and it's a penalty!!
5: End to end stuff here! Leo Chambers does well to block Ivan Calero on the
edge of the box. Down the other end Browne's through ball almost finds Lee.
3: Free-kick by Josh Cullen headed away, the Hammers have possession back
and are using it well. Stephen Hendrie is playing further than usual at
left-wing with Lewis Page behind him.
1: Marcus Browne and Elliot Lee get us under way in the first half, the
Hammers are kicking left-to-right in the first half.
18.59: Here we go! Both teams are out on the field, pre-match handshakes are
underway and we're all set. COYI!
18.45: Just 15 minutes to go until kick off. Rush Green statdium is filling
up nicely, fantastic support for youth football. Here's hoping they're
rewarded with a decent match!
18.35: It's a chilly evening here at Rush Green, both sets of players are
out extra early to make sure they've warmed up properly. They're going to
need tonight, could well come down to whoever wants it more.
18.20: One of the stand out performers for the U21s this season has
undoubtedly been Marcus Browne. The 17-year-old midfielder has gone from
strength-to-strength since making the step up from the U18s. Read what he
had to say about his break-through season here.
18.10: Terry Westley has named a strong team for tonight's game, and they'll
need to be at their best as visitors Derby are currently top of the league
with 19 points from their opening nine games. They are also the League's top
scorers with 21 goals so far.
West Ham United U21: Spiegel, Knoyle, Page, Makasi, Chambers (Onariase 68),
Oxford (c) (Pike 46), Parfitt-Williams, Cullen, Lee, Browne, Hendrie (Nasha
84)
Subs: Brown, Brown (GK)
Derby County U21: Roos, Santos, Ssewankambo, Hanson, Buxton, Cover, Guy,
Vernam, Zanzala, Bennett, Kalero
Subs: Elsnik, Mackay (GK), Stabana, Bunjaku, McDonald
Referee: Andrew Laver
6pm: Hello and welcome to tonight's coverage live from the Academy of
Football! Kick off here at Rush Green is 7pm and Terry Westley has named a
strong line up to face his former side Derby County.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
From the Newsroom - Matty Lawless
WHUFC.com
Mail Online Deputy Sports Editor Matty Lawless looks back at yesterday's
game at Spurs...
Losing to Tottenham is never nice. On the school run this morning I was
reminded of the score by quite a few, rightfully, smug Spurs fans. Payback
for my smarting two years ago.
And that's why it hurts West Ham supporters so much. Win and you claim
bragging rights at work, in the pub, or even on the school run.
Lose? Then it's probably best to keep your head down for a few days because
you know the score... you've been reminded of it at 15 times already today!
So, who do I blame: The players? The manager? No. The kit man...
Surely someone should have reminded him that our amazing away wins over
Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City and Crystal Palace all coincided with
wearing our alternative strips? We even came back from two goals down to
earn a draw at Sunderland. All thanks to the power of the away kit.
Just what was he thinking when he packed the home claret and blue shirts
into that big aluminum container for the trip to White Hart Lane? Did
anybody not tell him that they failed to inspire at Watford?
In all seriousness though, it was purely a bad day at the office. It
happens. It's just not nice when it happens against your arch-rivals.
I'm certain the players would have shared the disappointment of the
supporters and, indeed, their manager Slaven Bilic after the game.
Spurs - who are on an magnificent run of late, losing only once in the
Premier League this season - were helped by a catalogue of West Ham errors.
But they did play extremely well too. They deserved to win.
Tactically speaking, I would have considered a similar approach to our last
visit to north London, when we beat Arsenal, playing young Reece Oxford in
that holding midfield role to protect the back four. In doing so, Oxford may
have nullified the threat of Harry Kane, who often plays as a deep lying
striker. And it might have countered the attacking threat of Moussa Dembele
and Dele Alli surging through the middle.
I would have also liked to see Diafro Sakho play as the focal point in
attack, at the top, with Mauro Zarate playing in behind. Maybe Andy Carroll
would have been a great impact option to call upon. He would be the last
person any tired defender would want to see.
Nikica Jelavic deserves credit for his role in creating Manuel Lanzini's
superb consolation goal. Is it time to give the Croatian a chance to shine
from the start this weekend?
So, Slaven Bilic has now matched Sam Allardyce's performance after 13 games
last season with 21 points.
'Has the bubble burst?' read one tweet. We'll find out next Sunday in what
will be a tough test against a West Brom side who upset Arsenal at the
weekend.
The key thing is not to use injuries as an excuse. Dimitri Payet is a huge
loss, we all know. But there are very capable players in Bilic's squad. The
bench at White Hart Lane illustrated that, in my opinion. If he wants to
change it up for West Brom, he has plenty of options. I expect Alex Song
will be pushing hard for a start in training this week.
Let's hope we see the real West Ham next Sunday, for a match when we
celebrate some of the great cult heroes who we've marveled at over the years
at the Boleyn Ground.
And in the meantime, try to avoid any of those tormenting Tottenham
supporters...
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Westley - It was a real team effort
WHUFC.com
Academy Manager Terry Westley praised his side for the manner in which they
overcame top-of-the-table Derby County 3-1 at Rush Green on Monday evening.
Westley's side started the game the stronger and secured a valuable three
points thanks to an Elliot Lee brace and a second goal in as many games for
Josh Cullen.
Reflecting on a determined performance, Westley surmised: "It was a good
performance and a good result. In terms of getting three points that was the
most pleasing result we've had all season, because it was a proper match.
Some people will tell you that U21 football isn't competitive, well that
certainly was. I've watched a lot of League One football this season, from
the firstt to the 95th minute that was a proper competition game. That was
up there with anything I've seen in League One."
Prolific striker Lee broke the deadlock after just seven minutes. Reece
Oxford, captaining the side, was hauled down at a corner, upstepped Lee to
send Kelle Roos the wrong way.
Half an hour later, Cullen doubled the advantage as he ran onto Marcus
Browne's parried shot, following further great work from Lee to get past his
man at the byline.
In the second half the hosts rallied as Callum Guy pulled one back, yet Lee
was on hand to restore their advantage with delightfully cushioned header
from Djair Parfitt-Williams searching cross.
Ivan Calero netted late on to ensure a nervy final few moments yet the
Hammers held on to secure their second consecutive win.
Westley continued: "It was a tough game, tackles were coming in thick and
fast. You have to accept that as part of the game and stay calm and be
resolute and I thought we did that well particularly in the second half. It
was a test to see if we were going to see it through or if we were going to
cave in and thankfully we stood firm.
"I've said it several times, West Brom away, Stoke away and Blackburn away
we really should have got something from these games. So tonight was
particularly pleasing that we got what we deserved."
In an all-round impressive display by everyone wearing claret and blue,
Westley reserved special mention to his star striker Lee, whose brace saw
him double his tally for the season with four goals.
"The third goal was a peach of a goal where he ran, got in a good cross and
Elliot did ever so well to get a good header on it. I'm pleased for because
he's on his way back, he's had a few injuries and that's as good as I've
seen him all season.
"It was certainly an all-round team performance, everyone, even the subs had
a massive contribution to the tempo of the game. Their centre forward was as
good as I've seen all season, he's a young boy but he was a threat down the
sides, Chambers and Oxford did well to keep him quite first half and then
Manny came on and Kyle Knoyle changed position but they all coped very
well."
After a difficult start, the Hammers now have three wins out of the last
four games, scoring nine goals in the process.
Westley continued: "That's two on the bounce, three out of the last four
which is great for confidence. We're heading in the right direction but more
importantly it's how we are playing.
"We should have made more passes than we did, but we beat the team top of
the league. It's certainly a good confidence boost.
"We've got two tough games coming up, tough because they're both away. One
against Swansea in the league and then straight away in the cup at Exeter.
It would be nice to go through a few rounds and make it interesting, it'll
be a good challenge for the 16 players who play both games."
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Atkinson appointed for Baggies clash
KUMB.com
Filed: Monday, 23rd November 2015
By: Staff Writer
West Ham United's clash with West Bromwich Albion will be officiated by
Martin Atkinson.
The 44-year-old referee will take West Ham for the second time in the
Premier League this season - and Hammers fans will be hoping he can bring
them luck again, having previously overseen West Ham's 2-0 win at Arsenal on
the opening day of the campaign.
In fact Bradford-born Atkinson has been something of a lucky charm for West
Ham in recent months, having also refereed United's wins over Hull City,
Manchester City and Leicester City last season.
This season he has taken more Premier League games than any other official -
11 along with Mike Dean, Mark Clattenburg and Anthony Taylor - issuing 47
yellow cards and no reds at an average of 4.3 cautions per game.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Guy completes United switch
KUMB.com
Filed: Monday, 23rd November 2015
By: Staff Writer
Former West Ham defender Guy Demel has joined Dundee United on a short-term
deal. Now 34, popular right-back Demel spent four years at the Boleyn Ground
before being released on a free transfer at the end of last season. It was
confirmed this afternoon that he has joined former team mate Carlton Cole
(now at Celtic) in the Scottish Premiership, having signed for The Terrors
until the end of the 2015/16 season. "Once I spoke to the head coach, I was
excited by the challenge of Dundee United and the role he has planned for
me," said the former Ivory Coast international. "I want to identify myself
with the club. "I have many years of experience in football and if I can use
my knowledge to help the younger players here that is what I will do.I have
been training hard and I can't wait to play for Dundee United. I am ready as
soon as the head coach needs me."
United manager Mixu Paatelainen welcomed the arrival of the experience
defender, adding: "Guy comes with a lot experience and fantastic pedigree.
He can add a lot to our squad. "He is a powerful player but above all a good
footballer. He will be a strong character in our dressing room and I am
delighted to start working with him."
Demel made 76 appearances in the Championship and Premier League for West
Ham between 2011 and 2015, scoring just once in a 2-1 home defeat against
Liverpool back in April 2014.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
TAKE A STEP BACK, BREATHE DEEP AND RELAX
By Benjamin Cronin 23 Nov 2015 at 18:00
WTID
Losing to Tottenham hurts. Leaving White Hart Lane, feeling like 4-1 was a
lucky escape is just embarrassing. There's not much that can be said about
yesterday afternoon's performance. In fact, the less said, the better. After
looking forward to the fixture all day, I sat down with my notepad in hand,
eagerly anticipating a decent game of football. In what was a dull, yet
satisfactory opening twenty minutes, I'd only managed to scribble a few
lines. After fifty minutes, both my pen and notepad were thrown across the
room and my fingers were itching towards the remote to turn the TV off and
end the misery. I'm not going to deny that it was an incredibly frustrating
game to watch but it's one we need to learn from, not moan about.
Yes, Bilic got the tactics wrong. Leaving Andy Carroll up top, when trying
to soak up pressure and hit them on the break was never going to work. We
can all have our say and pick holes in the performance, but it's in the
past. It may well be that the system and tactics implemented under Sam
Allardyce would have made for a different game but I'm quite happy to take
the losses that will inevitably come in our transition away from the
previous approach that many were so unhappy with. Some will say we should
pick and choose when to use such a style of play but unfortunately, we can't
have the best of both worlds. We've now got an important fixture against
West Bromwich Albion to look forward to and a chance to see just what the
squad and staff our made of.
I've previously spoken about how big an impact a disappointing result can
have on the week that follows a West Ham fixture and this one is no
different. Well, it being our worst performance of the season and against
our bitter rivals does perhaps make it slightly different, but you know what
I mean. Although it's an incredibly bitter pill to swallow, it's one that
comes with an antidote. An antidote that can be provided with a return to
winning ways against West Brom next week. We only need to remind ourselves
of the dire performance against Bournemouth to see how quickly things can
change. With criticism flying in from left, right and centre, we went
unbeaten in seven league games, beating Liverpool, Manchester City and
Chelsea along the way.
I'm fully aware that if the team and tactics used on Sunday were to be used
for the next seven games, we could see ourselves tumbling down the table at
a rate of knots. I'm sure (and hope) there are many that share my faith in
Slaven Bilic and the squad at our disposal having the ability to figure out
a way to right the wrongs we all had to witness yesterday afternoon. I
appreciate that after such a shocking display as the one we saw against
Spurs, sometimes a good vent of frustration is needed. The time for that has
now passed. The club is still in a very good position (if I was offered 6th
place in the table and 21 points after 13 games, I'd have taken it without a
moment's hesitation) and we should be looking up, rather than down, forwards
instead back.
I'd like to think the majority are like myself and let optimism prevail over
disappointment. From some, the negativity will stream forth until they have
no other option but to be positive and that really doesn't bother me. What I
can't understand is the onslaught of criticism for players who are part of
the club we all love so much. It was hard to watch Andy Carroll practically
walk around the pitch and struggle to have any input, I know. For me, he
still doesn't seem fit. He doesn't move in the same way. He doesn't play
with the intensity we all know he can but does that really mean he should be
shipped out and forgotten about? I might be in the minority but I truly
believe he can still do a job for the club. We may have paid over the odds
for what could now be considered an 'impact sub' but he's still an impact
sub that can really make a difference in games when we're running out of
options, one that I think would be sorely missed later in the season if we
were to let him go.
Mark Noble is a fan favourite in more ways than one. The local lad, adored
by so many, is often the first port of call for those looking to dish out
some criticism. There's no room for sentiment in football, I know that. I
might have grown up watching Mark Noble play, hearing of the potential
transfers that have never materialised due to his commitment to the club but
that isn't why I like him as a player, it's because of his ability. He might
not be as nippy as some fans think is necessary for his role but he does
what is asked of him and to a standard I believe has a positive influence on
the team. I know they'll be a stream of comments that counter that claim and
feel free to do so, I'll just have to save the full scope of my opinion for
an article in the future.
They'll be people out there that have to deal with the aftermath of
yesterday's result for the remainder of the week and unfortunately, I'm in
the same boat. At least the boat we're in isn't sinking. It's one that can
be patched up and prove the doubters wrong next week. We have the
opportunity to show that we can perform without the likes of Payet and
Valencia and I firmly believe it's an opportunity that will be taken.
COYI
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham to seal Manuel Lanzini permanent signing despite ''honour'' of
Liverpool interest in playmaker
19:12, 23 NOV 2015 UPDATED 19:38, 23 NOV 2015
BY DARREN LEWIS
The option to keep him was agreed during the summer ahead of his season-long
loan spell and he has netted four times in 11 league games since
The Mirror
Playmaker Manuel Lanzini will make his loan deal permanent with West Ham to
end speculation that he could be poached by Liverpool. The Hammers have
already agreed pre-arranged terms with the 22-year-old who scored a superb
consolation on Sunday in the 4-1 defeat to Spurs. His performances had
attracted admiring glances from Merseyside, but the option to keep him was
agreed during the summer ahead of his season-long loan spell. Lanzini has
netted four times in 11 Premier League appearances so far this season and is
set for an extended run in the side with Dmitri Payet injured. Lanzini said
last week: "It's an absolute honour that a team like Liverpool has put an
eye on me. "But I heard the president say that the club wants me to stay. I
am fine here."
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Unhappy Sullivan wants peace to break out
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on November 23, 2015 in News, Whispers
C and H
David Sullivan has made it clear that one point from the last three games is
unacceptable and declares: "We know we need to do better in the coming
weeks, starting against West Brom. "
Commenting to the official site at www.whufc.com he said: "Without doubt we
came up against a Tottenham side at the top of their game at White Hart
Lane, but we were simply not good enough. Considering the amazing start to
the season we had away from home, our last two performances against Watford
and Spurs have been poor in comparison."
He is equally unhappy with comments he picked up on Match of the Day 2
declaring himself "very shocked and surprised" at photos featuring himself
and Daniel Levy saying their relationship was frosty. He said: "I would like
to say publicly that both myself and David Gold have an excellent
relationship with Daniel and we greatly admire the job he has done at his
club. We were competitors for the Olympic Stadium and both clubs had a
different vision for the stadium, but the competition closed and we've moved
on. We are moving to our new ground, situated in our Borough of Newham next
Summer and Spurs are moving to their new stadium the year after and it is
being built in their borough. We have all moved on and there is no animosity
and unpleasantness between us. Life is really too short for all of that and
the events in Paris two weeks ago maybe puts everything into perspective. I
would urge all West Ham fans to treat rival supporters with the respect they
deserve as they, like us, are supporters of this fabulous game that we ALL
love. "
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
It's all about how we get up after this KO
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on November 23, 2015 in News, Whispers
C and H
Rich Sprent casts his eye over the chaos of Tottenham and comes to many
conclusions whilst also getting something very painful out of the way.
But there are no easy answers with Dimitri Payet sidelined and Rich reckons
this weekend's game is just about as big as it gets.
A dozen lessons learned and hiding in a long shadow
There are several ways this blog could be written. A six-parter serial in
what went wrong. An attack on the players and coach for the poor showing.
Endless complaint about Andy Carroll. Even a whine about the Everton
midfielder who's robbed us of our talisman for the next few months.
I prefer to quote Vince Lombardi, "It's not whether you get knocked down,
it's whether you get back up".
Let's get something painful out of the way. Sp*rs are a good side. Their
coach got it right by pressing us high, isolating each forward player in
turn whilst winning the midfield. We sat too deep; were too linear in our
play; Failed to support the forwards enough and again made elementary
errors.
We got it wrong on the day. Kouyate had a decent game. Lanzini was decent on
the ball. Adrian made EIGHT saves. Reid showed passion after it had all gone
belly up. Collectively they were poor and the result didn't flatter the
North London side.
The only thing that really concerned me however was an apparent lack of
bottle out there. We allowed their arrogant players to lord it. Danny Rose,
Dele Alli, Kyle Walker? Do me a favour. They were strutting around like
pimped up cocks in a farmyard. It should never have been allowed to happen
against us. We failed to impose ourselves whatsoever.
Andy Carroll? He's the easy target for many. However there are many good
sides in the world today that have a similar forward and produce good
football. In fact, Besiktas, in Mario Gomez, are not so strangely, VERY
similar in style to West Ham.
They compensate for his lack of pace and movement by having a very fluid
midfield with three waspish attackers. It's interesting that since AC has
started, Kouyate has dropped deeper with Noble pushed more forward of him.
The effort is there to not isolate the forward and keep the ball moving.
Yesterday, we were too deep however, out-thought and sadly outfought
everywhere.
Slav would have learned loads from yesterday. Sadly English teams are rarely
quick at adapting to change in tactics.
After yesterday's shambles where practically everything went wrong there
comes a week on the training pitches to put it right. West Brom this coming
Sunday is now a huge game. If we are serious in our ambition to compete for
European football then this game is what it's all about. We flopped against
a team who are not only our closest rivals in distance but in the table
also.
There will be many crying out for Sakho through the middle and Zarate to
come in at #10 or out wide. There's also Song, Antonio and Ogbonna to
consider.
Tomkins at fullback will also be cried out for but this will restrict the
midfield further as he is very defensive and doesn't overlap.
All these potential changes will still require a change in play. It's not as
easy as just replacing a player. Neither Manuel Lanzini or Mauro Zarate are
the same player as Dimitri Payet. There is no doubt that with Sakho's
running and Payet's genius we have been irresistible at times. Slav needs to
find the formula to play successfully without the Frenchman.
The trick is on for Slav to get the sum of all parts right to be able to
deliver as close to the brilliance of the early results achieved. He's got a
wonderful array of players to choose from to get a team to play.
The obvious dilemma is the big Geordie. If he's fit then by not playing
Carroll it shows one or both of two things: That the team is failing to play
with him in the side. Or that he isn't performing. He hasn't been sparkling
since starting but then nor have any of the other players around him. That
these very good players are misfiring with him in the side is more an
indictment on them as what's being thrown at the big number 9.
If he's dropped then it's surely an admission that he has no role at West
Ham other than as a gamechanger sub. A very expensive sub at that.
Sakho is fit. With him up top the team would still need to make up for the
absence of Payet. There would be no hiding space in Andy's long shadow for
the players if they fail to shine without him in the line up.
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Two players came out of WHL with great credit
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on November 23, 2015 in News, Whispers
C and H
Stats don't lie unless you are talking about possession which can prove
useless if you are doing nothing with the ball! I've been hunting hard to
find an upside - any upside - to the disaster of White Hart Lane and have
discovered that once again Manuel Lanzini comes out of a game with great
credit according to the stats. His goal, produced from a great flick from
Jelavic was something to shout about and in different match circumstances
would have been pored over time and time again. The flick recalled Payet at
his best in one outing at the Boleyn when Lanzini flashed his finish over
the top of the bar. But back to yesterday and the stats are showing that
Manu prodcued a pass accuracy of 93 per cent, scored the goal and provided
one key pass . He couldn't have done more in a very one sided game but
special mention too must go to the often unsung hero Cheik Kouyate who was
again at the heart of things for us. He was always playing his heart out and
hit the bar - albeit from an offside position - but with the flag staying
down, who knows what kind of game might have developed had he scored.
Onwards and upwards - HOPEFULLY and well done to the pair of them.
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Spurs fans ashamed of stabbing incident at WHL
Posted by Sean Whetstone on November 22, 2015 in News, Whispers
C and H
Spurs fans including former player Micky Hazard have taken to social media
to wish the stabbed West Ham fan a speedy recovery and show their disgust
that it happened in their manor close to White Hart Lane. Although the
attacker is unknown and at large, Tottenham fans have taken it among
themselves to speak out about the mindless act of violence perpetrated an
hour before kick off.
Jamie Francis ?@THFC_Francis
I get rivalries can get heated but stabbing another fan is a disgrace! Hope
the West Ham is ok and recovers alright
Daj Mangat ?@mangats
Disgusted to hear about the stabbing of a West Ham fan today. Whoever did
this. Get out of my club!
Micky Hazard @MickyHazard
Thoughts are with the West Ham fan stabbed today,there's no room whatsoever
in football for violence so whoever did it hang your head in shame
danny ?@dan_t81
To the West Ham fan who was stabbed I wish u well and a speedy recovery no
rivalry deserves this. Who ever did this is mindless filth
lucky ?@_1lucky
Hope the West Ham fan stabbed is ok. No place for that in football. Or ever
Tottenham Hotspur ?@THFC__Fans
Disgraceful if a Spurs fan has stabbed a West Ham fan. Disgraceful behaviour
hopefully he's given jail time and a lifetime ban
Mafs ?@Mafs42
You are no supporter of football if you revel in the stabbing of an opposing
fan - Get the f**k out of my club
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What an awful day at Spurs
November 22, 2015
ExWHUEmployee
thewesthamway.co.uk
So for those of you who follow my twitter account or have been reading the
West Ham way you would have seen I was quite excited about this game. I was
going with a close mate who I do not see as much as I would like to and was
meeting up with about three separate groups of friends. One of my mates
had a ticket for the game that was a senior ticket because his dad had not
been able to go to the game which he discovered that morning. He had tried
to call Tottenham Hotspur's ticket office and our very own to upgrade the
ticket. With it being Sunday he was unable to get in touch with either so
we decided to go down to the game early and pay for the upgrade either at
the ticket office or on the door.
We arrived at the ground very early and saw "The West Ham Way key
contributors" the Sullivan boys arrive looking very up for the game
themselves. As we walked to the ground the atmosphere felt a little
uncomfortable and on edge. In the wake of the atrocities that happened in
Paris just over a week ago there was a very visible police presence, many
carrying machine guns.
We arrived at the Upper Tier visitors section at about 2:45pm and tried to
get into the ground so that we could upgrade the ticket to a full adult. As
we walked past the first stewards we had our tickets checked-no problems and
then we walked past the sniffer dog (the most friendly character out of the
lot) we finally approached another two stewards. One steward took the
tickets and looked at me and my mates and said none of you are a senior
ticket I am having that. I tried to explain to him that we were going to
upgrade the ticket and he said they are not doing upgrades and it was now
his property. I argued that this is not right and that I will pay either on
the turnstiles or at the ticket office which was on the corner. He said no
we are not doing that today, you can't go in, you will have to go home in a
really aggressive and arrogant manner.
We said that this was ridiculous and what were we meant to do as no one had
answered the phone and told us that you couldn't do an exchange and he just
muttered not my problem. I am not a particularly aggressive or
argumentative person and neither are my mates but his whole attitude stunk.
He seemed like he was deliberately trying to wind us up and luckily for him
I was with this group of mates rather than the ones I met in the ground.
As this was going on two ladies arrived who had also had the same problem
and they were at least consistent and refused them entry on the same
grounds. We continued to protest this was ridiculous and that we need the
ticket back to get a refund if we are going to and he imitated ripping up
the ticket to us and said no. Of course this behaviour infuriated us so I
spoke to his superior on his recommendation who said if it was him he would
have let us in but he couldn't undermine his steward. We obviously argued
that this was crazy whilst the other steward smirked at us.
The same steward then said to us "look lads it because of the Paris attacks
if you must know, I bet you feel bad now". We said bad for what? That this
was clearly not connected we wanted to go to a football game and you are
stopping us for no reason. His next response which is surely more illegal
than trying to upgrade a ticket, was to go and buy one from a tout and get
in. At this point we were admittedly getting quite wound up so the police
came over and had a word, we explained the situation and they agreed it was
wrong but they couldn't override the steward. So as we were faced with the
prospect of drawing lots as to who missed the game when we saw over our
shoulder the two ladies in the same situation being let in. We went over
and the senior steward finally said we could go in (who knows what had
changed their minds!) and as were the other one who had been a problem all
along muttered something about snitching to the police! His attitude quite
frankly was disgusting and he seemed hell bent on winding us up.
As we went in we could hear a load of noise on the corner and it seemed like
it was all kicking off. We went inside the ground and got a pint and bumped
into the ladies from earlier who had been let in. They were going to write
a complaint about the steward which I hope they do and we would support it.
My first set of mates arrived and told me how they had been outside on the
corner and it had all gone off. He said the West Ham fans were walking to
the ground chanting and some Spurs fans rushed them. A car pulled up and
some other people got out and joined the attack. He said he saw a man lying
on the floor and a few people holding their faces and then the police ran
in.
After this another mate entered about ten minutes later, who is unconnected
to the first mate. He described what he had seen and that there was an air
ambulance being called to a man who had been stabbed in the back by a man
who had jumped out of a car. A younger teenager who he knew had been hit in
the face by a man who said "You come round here shouting Irons, I am going
to teach you a lesson (censored version)" and punched him full on in the
face and then no surprise he ran off. These stories seemed to be confirmed
by other people who I overheard in the toilets too.
I am choosing not to talk about the match too much as it was a disaster.
The tactics were all wrong and at least Slaven has admitted that rather than
try and blame other things like most managers do. It is very hard to
defend any players performance in that game but the defence for me were
diabolical. So many errors at so many crucial times. It is now time to
bring in Ogbonna and at the moment I would shift Tomkins to right back and
give Jenko a rest for the next game. I would also be tempted to put AC back
to the bench and put Sakho up top for the WBA game. I am not writing off
either player like some have done but both are clearly not on form at the
moment. It is also surely time to give Antonio a chance too and perhaps
his time will come against WBA. I do not really want to write much more
than I have but please keep checking The West Ham Way this week for many
more exciting and exclusive articles.
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Hammers may opt to keep injured Bantams loan star Burke
Bradford Telegraph and Argus
Simon Parker, Bradford City Reporter
CITY are waiting to find out if they will see Reece Burke again. But the
indications are that West Ham may decide to hang on to him after he has
recovered from his current injury. Under the terms of a youth loan, Burke's
temporary stay has to be extended each month. And with the England under-20
international back with the Premier League club for treatment for a medial
ligament strain, Phil Parkinson is facing up to the possibility of the
youngster not returning. The Hammers have been keeping a close eye on
Burke's progress at Valley Parade and see him very much in their plans.
Parkinson admitted: "We're just waiting to see what happens with that one
and whether they want to call him back. We'll have to see. "Reece's loan is
up and he is injured for a couple of weeks anyway. "If he comes back, it's
fantastic. But if he doesn't then we wish him all the best and he's made a
good contribution for us." Parkinson has been pleased with the growing form
of Nathan Clarke, who impressed in Saturday's 2-0 win at Scunthorpe - City's
sixth clean sheet in a row. "I thought he was brilliant," said the City
boss. "You've got to understand that three games in eight days after not
playing is tough. "But his calmness was there for all to see. He brings a
different quality to the team in terms of being a captain of clubs before.
"The winter months are coming and the tough conditions like Saturday suit a
player like Nathan. "The lads love him. The reason they've got so much
respect for him is that when he was out the team he was terrific with them
in the dressing room. "He never once moaned to me. He just got on with his
job and he's getting his rewards for that now."
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http://vyperz.blogspot.com
WHUFC.com
Diego Poyet played the full game as MK Dons were held to a 1-1 draw with
Fulham. The hosts led when Josh Murphy crossed to Dean Bowditch, who drilled
in a half-volleyed effort from long range. Fulham restored parity on the
stroke of half-time when Dembele tapped home Ross McCormack's cross.
The draw sees the Dons slip into the relegation zone having secured 15
points from their opening 17 league games. However, should they win their
next game, away at Wolves next weekend, they could climb to 17th.
Young goalkeeper Clarke Bogard continued his impressive form for Tilbury
with a 3-1 win over Harlow Town. The Ryman Football League Division North
side secured the three points thanks to a Danny Glozier penalty and goals
from Matt Game and Kurt Smith. Tilbury have won 16 of the 27 games Bogard
has featured in, including being named man-of-the-match once.
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From the Boardroom - David Sullivan
WHUFC.com
It was an extremely disappointing result against Tottenham on Sunday and I
know that Slaven and the players will be working even harder this week to
put things right and help us get straight back on the winning trail when we
face West Brom.
After getting just one point from the last three games we know the
importance of the game at the Boleyn Ground next weekend.
Without doubt we came up against a Tottenham side at the top of their game
at White Hart Lane, but we were simply not good enough.
Considering the amazing start to the season we had away from home, our last
two performances against Watford and Spurs have been poor in comparison.
We know we need to do better in the coming weeks, starting against West
Brom.
I have to also say that I was very shocked and surprised at Match of the Day
2 on Sunday night featuring photos of myself and Daniel Levy saying our
relationship was frosty.
I would like to say publicly that both myself and David Gold have an
excellent relationship with Daniel and we greatly admire the job he has done
at his club.
We were competitors for the Olympic Stadium and both clubs had a different
vision for the stadium, but the competition closed and we've moved on.
We are moving to our new ground, situated in our Borough of Newham next
Summer and Spurs are moving to their new stadium the year after and it is
being built in their borough.
We have all moved on and there is no animosity and unpleasantness between
us. Life is really too short for all of that and the events in Paris two
weeks ago maybe puts everything into perspective.
I would urge all West Ham fans to treat rival supporters with the respect
they deserve as they, like us, are supporters of this fabulous game that we
ALL love.
That's not to say we won't be doing all we can to right the wrongs of
yesterday's defeat when we play them next year, but our approach will be in
a sporting and professional manner.
Thank you for continued excellent support and let's hope we can get back to
winning ways on Sunday.
David Sullivan
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Kouyate - It was a huge disappointment
WHUFC.com
Cheikhou Kouyate had no excuses for his side's disappointing display against
Tottenham on Sunday but says the players are already focusing on putting
things right against West Brom and getting straight back on the winning
trail. It could have been a different story for the Hammers if Kouyate's
scissor kick had not struck the crossbar minutes after Harry Kane had fired
Spurs into the lead. But the Hammers fell further behind when Toby
Alderweireld scored from a corner and the game was essentially over when
Kane added his second of the game shortly after half-time. Kyle Walker
compounded the misery when he made it four for the home side and not even a
late strike from Manuel Lanzini could help salvage anything from the London
derby. Kouyate says the players will be determined to put things right in
front of the televised cameras once again on Sunday and hopes to be
celebrating all three points at the Boleyn Ground. Kouyate said: "We gifted
Tottenham their goals on Sunday. We were up against a big team and we have
given them presents. We know that they are a good side and they have
punished us. What's done is done and they deserved it. "We know that this
sort of thing happens from time to time, but with it being a derby, it's a
huge disappointment for us and particularly for the supporters. "We started
the match poorly but when they scored the first we came back into the game,
started playing, and had a few chances of our own. But when they scored the
second, it was obviously an uphill battle. "You can't lay the blame at the
defence, because we're a team and we defend with eleven and on Sunday it
wasn't easy. We have to try to take the positives and look ahead to next
weekend. "Their intensity was no surprise. We're away from home, at
Tottenham, and plus it's a derby as well. We know that from the first 15
minutes it's going to be difficult, we'd been warned and we were prepared,
but didn't do what was needed. "We've got to regroup and really try to take
the three points on Sunday against West Brom."
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FT- Dev Squad 3-2 Derby County
WHUFC.com
FT: There goes the full time whistle. The Hammers have held on to a deserved
victory at Rush Green. Elliot Lee led the way magnificently, scoring twice
and setting up the other. It was a real team performance tonight. We'll have
reaction for you shortly.
90: Final moments now. Hang on!
89: Towering header from Onariase relieves some pressure, the Hammers hoof
it downfield yet Browne is penalised for a heavy challenge, he's booked too.
87: Spiegel clears his lines in the knick of time. Makasi is going to get
booked for handball. Wastes some valuable seconds if nothing else.
84: Amos Nasha is on for Stephen Hendrie to help and try and bolster the
midfield. Not too long to go now. Can the Hammers hold on?
81: GOAL for Derby County. Striker Ivan Calero strikes from close range to
ensure a nervy final few minutes. 3-2.
76: Spell of the pressure from the Rams. This is their third consecutive
corner, the hosts eventually clear through Parfitt-Williams.
73: Derby desperately trying to claw their way back into the game. The game
is getting a tad scrappy as the Hammers try and slow the proceedings down.
Excellent game management from the hosts, showing a great deal of maturity.
68: Leo Chambers has been superb this evening, he's taken off for a well
earnen rest. Manny Onariase is on in his place.
64: That goal was slightly against the run of play as Derby had started the
second half very strongly. However, conceding their third goal has somewhat
knocked the wind out of their sails.
58: GOOOOAL! 3-1! Elliot Lee scores his second of the evening with a fine
glancing header from Parfitt-Williams' cross. That Derby miss looks even
more costly now.
57: Huge let off! Mason Bennett is free, onside and unmarked, yet heads his
effort at point-black range into Spiegel's arms.
54: Foot race between Zanzala and Spiegel. The striker gets there first and
the goalkeeper clatters him, the referee thankfully gives a corner. You've
seen them given!
51: Excellent ball from Chambers sets Parfitt-Williams flying down the wing.
He Cryuff-turns majestically past two players but is eventually holted. The
crowd loved that!
47: GOAL for Derby! Callum Guy shoots from the edge of the box, through a
packed penalty area and pulls a goal back. Just the start the visitors
needed. 2-1.
46: We're back under way here at Rush Green. Alex Pike is on in place of
Reece Oxford.
45: Final exchanges of the half, Spiegel boots it high upfield and that's
the half-time whistle. Plenty left in this game you feel.
43: Nasty challenge by Jamie Hanson on Josh Cullen who absolutely plows
through the back of him. Cullen is left in a heap and clearly unhappy with
the challenge. Hanson goes into the book, with some fans calling for a
straight red.
41: The Hammers are really in the ascendancy here. Lee tries his luck from
distance but he gets too much on it.
37: GOOOOAL to the Hammers! Josh Cullen runs on to Marcus Browne's parried
effort following superb work by Elliot Lee. He got to byline, twisted and
turned his man before laying it on a plate for Browne. 2-0!!
36: There's a real edge to this game now. Jake Buxton goes into the book for
a foul on Browne.
34: Brief handbags between Leo Chambers and Zanzala. There was contact but
nothing major yet it takes several moments to calm things down. As ever,
Oxford is chief peacemaker.
31: Super play by Josh Cullen who twists out of a tight corner before
spreading it 40-yards to Kyle Knoyle. Xabi Alonso-esqe from the midfielder.
30: Jamie Hanson tries his luck from the edge of the box but it flies
harmlessly over.
29: Marcus Browne is adjudged to have fouled Callum Guy. He and his
teammates are disgusted at the decision but Derby have a free-kick in a
dangerous position...
27: Ivan Calero twists and turn before aiming for the top corner. It isn't
miles away but Spiegel was watching it closely.
24: Excellent save by Raphael Spiegel to deny Zanzala from close range.
Excellent goalkeeping.
21: Oxford shepherds Zanzala out of play as the winger was one-on-one.
Page's throw in is finally cleared.
19: Free kick to Derby as Zanzala's pace is too much for Knoyle who cuts him
down mid-sprint. The Hammers clear the delievery without too much fuss.
17: The game is just settling into a more steady rhythm after a frantic
start. Just the final ball missing for the Hammers as Page overhits his
through ball.
15: Teasing ball in by Page but Koos comes to collect with Lee lurking.
13: Oxford showing his evident class tonight. Commanding at the back, he's
orchestrating everything. As silky as you like on the ball. His confidence
is spreading through the team.
11: Fast and furious tempo to this game so far, both teams zipping it around
nicely. The hosts have enjoyed more territory and possession so far, the
Rams are getting frustrated.
7: GOOOOOAL!! Elliot Lee makes no mistake from the spot. He steps uf
confidently and sends Kelle Roos the wrong way. 1-0! Just the start the
Hammers needed.
7: Lee bares down on goal again and tries to feed Parfitt-Williams. It has
just too much on it yet the Hammers force a corner. From the corner Reece
Oxford is hauled down and it's a penalty!!
5: End to end stuff here! Leo Chambers does well to block Ivan Calero on the
edge of the box. Down the other end Browne's through ball almost finds Lee.
3: Free-kick by Josh Cullen headed away, the Hammers have possession back
and are using it well. Stephen Hendrie is playing further than usual at
left-wing with Lewis Page behind him.
1: Marcus Browne and Elliot Lee get us under way in the first half, the
Hammers are kicking left-to-right in the first half.
18.59: Here we go! Both teams are out on the field, pre-match handshakes are
underway and we're all set. COYI!
18.45: Just 15 minutes to go until kick off. Rush Green statdium is filling
up nicely, fantastic support for youth football. Here's hoping they're
rewarded with a decent match!
18.35: It's a chilly evening here at Rush Green, both sets of players are
out extra early to make sure they've warmed up properly. They're going to
need tonight, could well come down to whoever wants it more.
18.20: One of the stand out performers for the U21s this season has
undoubtedly been Marcus Browne. The 17-year-old midfielder has gone from
strength-to-strength since making the step up from the U18s. Read what he
had to say about his break-through season here.
18.10: Terry Westley has named a strong team for tonight's game, and they'll
need to be at their best as visitors Derby are currently top of the league
with 19 points from their opening nine games. They are also the League's top
scorers with 21 goals so far.
West Ham United U21: Spiegel, Knoyle, Page, Makasi, Chambers (Onariase 68),
Oxford (c) (Pike 46), Parfitt-Williams, Cullen, Lee, Browne, Hendrie (Nasha
84)
Subs: Brown, Brown (GK)
Derby County U21: Roos, Santos, Ssewankambo, Hanson, Buxton, Cover, Guy,
Vernam, Zanzala, Bennett, Kalero
Subs: Elsnik, Mackay (GK), Stabana, Bunjaku, McDonald
Referee: Andrew Laver
6pm: Hello and welcome to tonight's coverage live from the Academy of
Football! Kick off here at Rush Green is 7pm and Terry Westley has named a
strong line up to face his former side Derby County.
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From the Newsroom - Matty Lawless
WHUFC.com
Mail Online Deputy Sports Editor Matty Lawless looks back at yesterday's
game at Spurs...
Losing to Tottenham is never nice. On the school run this morning I was
reminded of the score by quite a few, rightfully, smug Spurs fans. Payback
for my smarting two years ago.
And that's why it hurts West Ham supporters so much. Win and you claim
bragging rights at work, in the pub, or even on the school run.
Lose? Then it's probably best to keep your head down for a few days because
you know the score... you've been reminded of it at 15 times already today!
So, who do I blame: The players? The manager? No. The kit man...
Surely someone should have reminded him that our amazing away wins over
Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City and Crystal Palace all coincided with
wearing our alternative strips? We even came back from two goals down to
earn a draw at Sunderland. All thanks to the power of the away kit.
Just what was he thinking when he packed the home claret and blue shirts
into that big aluminum container for the trip to White Hart Lane? Did
anybody not tell him that they failed to inspire at Watford?
In all seriousness though, it was purely a bad day at the office. It
happens. It's just not nice when it happens against your arch-rivals.
I'm certain the players would have shared the disappointment of the
supporters and, indeed, their manager Slaven Bilic after the game.
Spurs - who are on an magnificent run of late, losing only once in the
Premier League this season - were helped by a catalogue of West Ham errors.
But they did play extremely well too. They deserved to win.
Tactically speaking, I would have considered a similar approach to our last
visit to north London, when we beat Arsenal, playing young Reece Oxford in
that holding midfield role to protect the back four. In doing so, Oxford may
have nullified the threat of Harry Kane, who often plays as a deep lying
striker. And it might have countered the attacking threat of Moussa Dembele
and Dele Alli surging through the middle.
I would have also liked to see Diafro Sakho play as the focal point in
attack, at the top, with Mauro Zarate playing in behind. Maybe Andy Carroll
would have been a great impact option to call upon. He would be the last
person any tired defender would want to see.
Nikica Jelavic deserves credit for his role in creating Manuel Lanzini's
superb consolation goal. Is it time to give the Croatian a chance to shine
from the start this weekend?
So, Slaven Bilic has now matched Sam Allardyce's performance after 13 games
last season with 21 points.
'Has the bubble burst?' read one tweet. We'll find out next Sunday in what
will be a tough test against a West Brom side who upset Arsenal at the
weekend.
The key thing is not to use injuries as an excuse. Dimitri Payet is a huge
loss, we all know. But there are very capable players in Bilic's squad. The
bench at White Hart Lane illustrated that, in my opinion. If he wants to
change it up for West Brom, he has plenty of options. I expect Alex Song
will be pushing hard for a start in training this week.
Let's hope we see the real West Ham next Sunday, for a match when we
celebrate some of the great cult heroes who we've marveled at over the years
at the Boleyn Ground.
And in the meantime, try to avoid any of those tormenting Tottenham
supporters...
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Westley - It was a real team effort
WHUFC.com
Academy Manager Terry Westley praised his side for the manner in which they
overcame top-of-the-table Derby County 3-1 at Rush Green on Monday evening.
Westley's side started the game the stronger and secured a valuable three
points thanks to an Elliot Lee brace and a second goal in as many games for
Josh Cullen.
Reflecting on a determined performance, Westley surmised: "It was a good
performance and a good result. In terms of getting three points that was the
most pleasing result we've had all season, because it was a proper match.
Some people will tell you that U21 football isn't competitive, well that
certainly was. I've watched a lot of League One football this season, from
the firstt to the 95th minute that was a proper competition game. That was
up there with anything I've seen in League One."
Prolific striker Lee broke the deadlock after just seven minutes. Reece
Oxford, captaining the side, was hauled down at a corner, upstepped Lee to
send Kelle Roos the wrong way.
Half an hour later, Cullen doubled the advantage as he ran onto Marcus
Browne's parried shot, following further great work from Lee to get past his
man at the byline.
In the second half the hosts rallied as Callum Guy pulled one back, yet Lee
was on hand to restore their advantage with delightfully cushioned header
from Djair Parfitt-Williams searching cross.
Ivan Calero netted late on to ensure a nervy final few moments yet the
Hammers held on to secure their second consecutive win.
Westley continued: "It was a tough game, tackles were coming in thick and
fast. You have to accept that as part of the game and stay calm and be
resolute and I thought we did that well particularly in the second half. It
was a test to see if we were going to see it through or if we were going to
cave in and thankfully we stood firm.
"I've said it several times, West Brom away, Stoke away and Blackburn away
we really should have got something from these games. So tonight was
particularly pleasing that we got what we deserved."
In an all-round impressive display by everyone wearing claret and blue,
Westley reserved special mention to his star striker Lee, whose brace saw
him double his tally for the season with four goals.
"The third goal was a peach of a goal where he ran, got in a good cross and
Elliot did ever so well to get a good header on it. I'm pleased for because
he's on his way back, he's had a few injuries and that's as good as I've
seen him all season.
"It was certainly an all-round team performance, everyone, even the subs had
a massive contribution to the tempo of the game. Their centre forward was as
good as I've seen all season, he's a young boy but he was a threat down the
sides, Chambers and Oxford did well to keep him quite first half and then
Manny came on and Kyle Knoyle changed position but they all coped very
well."
After a difficult start, the Hammers now have three wins out of the last
four games, scoring nine goals in the process.
Westley continued: "That's two on the bounce, three out of the last four
which is great for confidence. We're heading in the right direction but more
importantly it's how we are playing.
"We should have made more passes than we did, but we beat the team top of
the league. It's certainly a good confidence boost.
"We've got two tough games coming up, tough because they're both away. One
against Swansea in the league and then straight away in the cup at Exeter.
It would be nice to go through a few rounds and make it interesting, it'll
be a good challenge for the 16 players who play both games."
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Atkinson appointed for Baggies clash
KUMB.com
Filed: Monday, 23rd November 2015
By: Staff Writer
West Ham United's clash with West Bromwich Albion will be officiated by
Martin Atkinson.
The 44-year-old referee will take West Ham for the second time in the
Premier League this season - and Hammers fans will be hoping he can bring
them luck again, having previously overseen West Ham's 2-0 win at Arsenal on
the opening day of the campaign.
In fact Bradford-born Atkinson has been something of a lucky charm for West
Ham in recent months, having also refereed United's wins over Hull City,
Manchester City and Leicester City last season.
This season he has taken more Premier League games than any other official -
11 along with Mike Dean, Mark Clattenburg and Anthony Taylor - issuing 47
yellow cards and no reds at an average of 4.3 cautions per game.
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Guy completes United switch
KUMB.com
Filed: Monday, 23rd November 2015
By: Staff Writer
Former West Ham defender Guy Demel has joined Dundee United on a short-term
deal. Now 34, popular right-back Demel spent four years at the Boleyn Ground
before being released on a free transfer at the end of last season. It was
confirmed this afternoon that he has joined former team mate Carlton Cole
(now at Celtic) in the Scottish Premiership, having signed for The Terrors
until the end of the 2015/16 season. "Once I spoke to the head coach, I was
excited by the challenge of Dundee United and the role he has planned for
me," said the former Ivory Coast international. "I want to identify myself
with the club. "I have many years of experience in football and if I can use
my knowledge to help the younger players here that is what I will do.I have
been training hard and I can't wait to play for Dundee United. I am ready as
soon as the head coach needs me."
United manager Mixu Paatelainen welcomed the arrival of the experience
defender, adding: "Guy comes with a lot experience and fantastic pedigree.
He can add a lot to our squad. "He is a powerful player but above all a good
footballer. He will be a strong character in our dressing room and I am
delighted to start working with him."
Demel made 76 appearances in the Championship and Premier League for West
Ham between 2011 and 2015, scoring just once in a 2-1 home defeat against
Liverpool back in April 2014.
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TAKE A STEP BACK, BREATHE DEEP AND RELAX
By Benjamin Cronin 23 Nov 2015 at 18:00
WTID
Losing to Tottenham hurts. Leaving White Hart Lane, feeling like 4-1 was a
lucky escape is just embarrassing. There's not much that can be said about
yesterday afternoon's performance. In fact, the less said, the better. After
looking forward to the fixture all day, I sat down with my notepad in hand,
eagerly anticipating a decent game of football. In what was a dull, yet
satisfactory opening twenty minutes, I'd only managed to scribble a few
lines. After fifty minutes, both my pen and notepad were thrown across the
room and my fingers were itching towards the remote to turn the TV off and
end the misery. I'm not going to deny that it was an incredibly frustrating
game to watch but it's one we need to learn from, not moan about.
Yes, Bilic got the tactics wrong. Leaving Andy Carroll up top, when trying
to soak up pressure and hit them on the break was never going to work. We
can all have our say and pick holes in the performance, but it's in the
past. It may well be that the system and tactics implemented under Sam
Allardyce would have made for a different game but I'm quite happy to take
the losses that will inevitably come in our transition away from the
previous approach that many were so unhappy with. Some will say we should
pick and choose when to use such a style of play but unfortunately, we can't
have the best of both worlds. We've now got an important fixture against
West Bromwich Albion to look forward to and a chance to see just what the
squad and staff our made of.
I've previously spoken about how big an impact a disappointing result can
have on the week that follows a West Ham fixture and this one is no
different. Well, it being our worst performance of the season and against
our bitter rivals does perhaps make it slightly different, but you know what
I mean. Although it's an incredibly bitter pill to swallow, it's one that
comes with an antidote. An antidote that can be provided with a return to
winning ways against West Brom next week. We only need to remind ourselves
of the dire performance against Bournemouth to see how quickly things can
change. With criticism flying in from left, right and centre, we went
unbeaten in seven league games, beating Liverpool, Manchester City and
Chelsea along the way.
I'm fully aware that if the team and tactics used on Sunday were to be used
for the next seven games, we could see ourselves tumbling down the table at
a rate of knots. I'm sure (and hope) there are many that share my faith in
Slaven Bilic and the squad at our disposal having the ability to figure out
a way to right the wrongs we all had to witness yesterday afternoon. I
appreciate that after such a shocking display as the one we saw against
Spurs, sometimes a good vent of frustration is needed. The time for that has
now passed. The club is still in a very good position (if I was offered 6th
place in the table and 21 points after 13 games, I'd have taken it without a
moment's hesitation) and we should be looking up, rather than down, forwards
instead back.
I'd like to think the majority are like myself and let optimism prevail over
disappointment. From some, the negativity will stream forth until they have
no other option but to be positive and that really doesn't bother me. What I
can't understand is the onslaught of criticism for players who are part of
the club we all love so much. It was hard to watch Andy Carroll practically
walk around the pitch and struggle to have any input, I know. For me, he
still doesn't seem fit. He doesn't move in the same way. He doesn't play
with the intensity we all know he can but does that really mean he should be
shipped out and forgotten about? I might be in the minority but I truly
believe he can still do a job for the club. We may have paid over the odds
for what could now be considered an 'impact sub' but he's still an impact
sub that can really make a difference in games when we're running out of
options, one that I think would be sorely missed later in the season if we
were to let him go.
Mark Noble is a fan favourite in more ways than one. The local lad, adored
by so many, is often the first port of call for those looking to dish out
some criticism. There's no room for sentiment in football, I know that. I
might have grown up watching Mark Noble play, hearing of the potential
transfers that have never materialised due to his commitment to the club but
that isn't why I like him as a player, it's because of his ability. He might
not be as nippy as some fans think is necessary for his role but he does
what is asked of him and to a standard I believe has a positive influence on
the team. I know they'll be a stream of comments that counter that claim and
feel free to do so, I'll just have to save the full scope of my opinion for
an article in the future.
They'll be people out there that have to deal with the aftermath of
yesterday's result for the remainder of the week and unfortunately, I'm in
the same boat. At least the boat we're in isn't sinking. It's one that can
be patched up and prove the doubters wrong next week. We have the
opportunity to show that we can perform without the likes of Payet and
Valencia and I firmly believe it's an opportunity that will be taken.
COYI
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West Ham to seal Manuel Lanzini permanent signing despite ''honour'' of
Liverpool interest in playmaker
19:12, 23 NOV 2015 UPDATED 19:38, 23 NOV 2015
BY DARREN LEWIS
The option to keep him was agreed during the summer ahead of his season-long
loan spell and he has netted four times in 11 league games since
The Mirror
Playmaker Manuel Lanzini will make his loan deal permanent with West Ham to
end speculation that he could be poached by Liverpool. The Hammers have
already agreed pre-arranged terms with the 22-year-old who scored a superb
consolation on Sunday in the 4-1 defeat to Spurs. His performances had
attracted admiring glances from Merseyside, but the option to keep him was
agreed during the summer ahead of his season-long loan spell. Lanzini has
netted four times in 11 Premier League appearances so far this season and is
set for an extended run in the side with Dmitri Payet injured. Lanzini said
last week: "It's an absolute honour that a team like Liverpool has put an
eye on me. "But I heard the president say that the club wants me to stay. I
am fine here."
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Unhappy Sullivan wants peace to break out
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on November 23, 2015 in News, Whispers
C and H
David Sullivan has made it clear that one point from the last three games is
unacceptable and declares: "We know we need to do better in the coming
weeks, starting against West Brom. "
Commenting to the official site at www.whufc.com he said: "Without doubt we
came up against a Tottenham side at the top of their game at White Hart
Lane, but we were simply not good enough. Considering the amazing start to
the season we had away from home, our last two performances against Watford
and Spurs have been poor in comparison."
He is equally unhappy with comments he picked up on Match of the Day 2
declaring himself "very shocked and surprised" at photos featuring himself
and Daniel Levy saying their relationship was frosty. He said: "I would like
to say publicly that both myself and David Gold have an excellent
relationship with Daniel and we greatly admire the job he has done at his
club. We were competitors for the Olympic Stadium and both clubs had a
different vision for the stadium, but the competition closed and we've moved
on. We are moving to our new ground, situated in our Borough of Newham next
Summer and Spurs are moving to their new stadium the year after and it is
being built in their borough. We have all moved on and there is no animosity
and unpleasantness between us. Life is really too short for all of that and
the events in Paris two weeks ago maybe puts everything into perspective. I
would urge all West Ham fans to treat rival supporters with the respect they
deserve as they, like us, are supporters of this fabulous game that we ALL
love. "
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It's all about how we get up after this KO
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on November 23, 2015 in News, Whispers
C and H
Rich Sprent casts his eye over the chaos of Tottenham and comes to many
conclusions whilst also getting something very painful out of the way.
But there are no easy answers with Dimitri Payet sidelined and Rich reckons
this weekend's game is just about as big as it gets.
A dozen lessons learned and hiding in a long shadow
There are several ways this blog could be written. A six-parter serial in
what went wrong. An attack on the players and coach for the poor showing.
Endless complaint about Andy Carroll. Even a whine about the Everton
midfielder who's robbed us of our talisman for the next few months.
I prefer to quote Vince Lombardi, "It's not whether you get knocked down,
it's whether you get back up".
Let's get something painful out of the way. Sp*rs are a good side. Their
coach got it right by pressing us high, isolating each forward player in
turn whilst winning the midfield. We sat too deep; were too linear in our
play; Failed to support the forwards enough and again made elementary
errors.
We got it wrong on the day. Kouyate had a decent game. Lanzini was decent on
the ball. Adrian made EIGHT saves. Reid showed passion after it had all gone
belly up. Collectively they were poor and the result didn't flatter the
North London side.
The only thing that really concerned me however was an apparent lack of
bottle out there. We allowed their arrogant players to lord it. Danny Rose,
Dele Alli, Kyle Walker? Do me a favour. They were strutting around like
pimped up cocks in a farmyard. It should never have been allowed to happen
against us. We failed to impose ourselves whatsoever.
Andy Carroll? He's the easy target for many. However there are many good
sides in the world today that have a similar forward and produce good
football. In fact, Besiktas, in Mario Gomez, are not so strangely, VERY
similar in style to West Ham.
They compensate for his lack of pace and movement by having a very fluid
midfield with three waspish attackers. It's interesting that since AC has
started, Kouyate has dropped deeper with Noble pushed more forward of him.
The effort is there to not isolate the forward and keep the ball moving.
Yesterday, we were too deep however, out-thought and sadly outfought
everywhere.
Slav would have learned loads from yesterday. Sadly English teams are rarely
quick at adapting to change in tactics.
After yesterday's shambles where practically everything went wrong there
comes a week on the training pitches to put it right. West Brom this coming
Sunday is now a huge game. If we are serious in our ambition to compete for
European football then this game is what it's all about. We flopped against
a team who are not only our closest rivals in distance but in the table
also.
There will be many crying out for Sakho through the middle and Zarate to
come in at #10 or out wide. There's also Song, Antonio and Ogbonna to
consider.
Tomkins at fullback will also be cried out for but this will restrict the
midfield further as he is very defensive and doesn't overlap.
All these potential changes will still require a change in play. It's not as
easy as just replacing a player. Neither Manuel Lanzini or Mauro Zarate are
the same player as Dimitri Payet. There is no doubt that with Sakho's
running and Payet's genius we have been irresistible at times. Slav needs to
find the formula to play successfully without the Frenchman.
The trick is on for Slav to get the sum of all parts right to be able to
deliver as close to the brilliance of the early results achieved. He's got a
wonderful array of players to choose from to get a team to play.
The obvious dilemma is the big Geordie. If he's fit then by not playing
Carroll it shows one or both of two things: That the team is failing to play
with him in the side. Or that he isn't performing. He hasn't been sparkling
since starting but then nor have any of the other players around him. That
these very good players are misfiring with him in the side is more an
indictment on them as what's being thrown at the big number 9.
If he's dropped then it's surely an admission that he has no role at West
Ham other than as a gamechanger sub. A very expensive sub at that.
Sakho is fit. With him up top the team would still need to make up for the
absence of Payet. There would be no hiding space in Andy's long shadow for
the players if they fail to shine without him in the line up.
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Two players came out of WHL with great credit
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on November 23, 2015 in News, Whispers
C and H
Stats don't lie unless you are talking about possession which can prove
useless if you are doing nothing with the ball! I've been hunting hard to
find an upside - any upside - to the disaster of White Hart Lane and have
discovered that once again Manuel Lanzini comes out of a game with great
credit according to the stats. His goal, produced from a great flick from
Jelavic was something to shout about and in different match circumstances
would have been pored over time and time again. The flick recalled Payet at
his best in one outing at the Boleyn when Lanzini flashed his finish over
the top of the bar. But back to yesterday and the stats are showing that
Manu prodcued a pass accuracy of 93 per cent, scored the goal and provided
one key pass . He couldn't have done more in a very one sided game but
special mention too must go to the often unsung hero Cheik Kouyate who was
again at the heart of things for us. He was always playing his heart out and
hit the bar - albeit from an offside position - but with the flag staying
down, who knows what kind of game might have developed had he scored.
Onwards and upwards - HOPEFULLY and well done to the pair of them.
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Spurs fans ashamed of stabbing incident at WHL
Posted by Sean Whetstone on November 22, 2015 in News, Whispers
C and H
Spurs fans including former player Micky Hazard have taken to social media
to wish the stabbed West Ham fan a speedy recovery and show their disgust
that it happened in their manor close to White Hart Lane. Although the
attacker is unknown and at large, Tottenham fans have taken it among
themselves to speak out about the mindless act of violence perpetrated an
hour before kick off.
Jamie Francis ?@THFC_Francis
I get rivalries can get heated but stabbing another fan is a disgrace! Hope
the West Ham is ok and recovers alright
Daj Mangat ?@mangats
Disgusted to hear about the stabbing of a West Ham fan today. Whoever did
this. Get out of my club!
Micky Hazard @MickyHazard
Thoughts are with the West Ham fan stabbed today,there's no room whatsoever
in football for violence so whoever did it hang your head in shame
danny ?@dan_t81
To the West Ham fan who was stabbed I wish u well and a speedy recovery no
rivalry deserves this. Who ever did this is mindless filth
lucky ?@_1lucky
Hope the West Ham fan stabbed is ok. No place for that in football. Or ever
Tottenham Hotspur ?@THFC__Fans
Disgraceful if a Spurs fan has stabbed a West Ham fan. Disgraceful behaviour
hopefully he's given jail time and a lifetime ban
Mafs ?@Mafs42
You are no supporter of football if you revel in the stabbing of an opposing
fan - Get the f**k out of my club
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What an awful day at Spurs
November 22, 2015
ExWHUEmployee
thewesthamway.co.uk
So for those of you who follow my twitter account or have been reading the
West Ham way you would have seen I was quite excited about this game. I was
going with a close mate who I do not see as much as I would like to and was
meeting up with about three separate groups of friends. One of my mates
had a ticket for the game that was a senior ticket because his dad had not
been able to go to the game which he discovered that morning. He had tried
to call Tottenham Hotspur's ticket office and our very own to upgrade the
ticket. With it being Sunday he was unable to get in touch with either so
we decided to go down to the game early and pay for the upgrade either at
the ticket office or on the door.
We arrived at the ground very early and saw "The West Ham Way key
contributors" the Sullivan boys arrive looking very up for the game
themselves. As we walked to the ground the atmosphere felt a little
uncomfortable and on edge. In the wake of the atrocities that happened in
Paris just over a week ago there was a very visible police presence, many
carrying machine guns.
We arrived at the Upper Tier visitors section at about 2:45pm and tried to
get into the ground so that we could upgrade the ticket to a full adult. As
we walked past the first stewards we had our tickets checked-no problems and
then we walked past the sniffer dog (the most friendly character out of the
lot) we finally approached another two stewards. One steward took the
tickets and looked at me and my mates and said none of you are a senior
ticket I am having that. I tried to explain to him that we were going to
upgrade the ticket and he said they are not doing upgrades and it was now
his property. I argued that this is not right and that I will pay either on
the turnstiles or at the ticket office which was on the corner. He said no
we are not doing that today, you can't go in, you will have to go home in a
really aggressive and arrogant manner.
We said that this was ridiculous and what were we meant to do as no one had
answered the phone and told us that you couldn't do an exchange and he just
muttered not my problem. I am not a particularly aggressive or
argumentative person and neither are my mates but his whole attitude stunk.
He seemed like he was deliberately trying to wind us up and luckily for him
I was with this group of mates rather than the ones I met in the ground.
As this was going on two ladies arrived who had also had the same problem
and they were at least consistent and refused them entry on the same
grounds. We continued to protest this was ridiculous and that we need the
ticket back to get a refund if we are going to and he imitated ripping up
the ticket to us and said no. Of course this behaviour infuriated us so I
spoke to his superior on his recommendation who said if it was him he would
have let us in but he couldn't undermine his steward. We obviously argued
that this was crazy whilst the other steward smirked at us.
The same steward then said to us "look lads it because of the Paris attacks
if you must know, I bet you feel bad now". We said bad for what? That this
was clearly not connected we wanted to go to a football game and you are
stopping us for no reason. His next response which is surely more illegal
than trying to upgrade a ticket, was to go and buy one from a tout and get
in. At this point we were admittedly getting quite wound up so the police
came over and had a word, we explained the situation and they agreed it was
wrong but they couldn't override the steward. So as we were faced with the
prospect of drawing lots as to who missed the game when we saw over our
shoulder the two ladies in the same situation being let in. We went over
and the senior steward finally said we could go in (who knows what had
changed their minds!) and as were the other one who had been a problem all
along muttered something about snitching to the police! His attitude quite
frankly was disgusting and he seemed hell bent on winding us up.
As we went in we could hear a load of noise on the corner and it seemed like
it was all kicking off. We went inside the ground and got a pint and bumped
into the ladies from earlier who had been let in. They were going to write
a complaint about the steward which I hope they do and we would support it.
My first set of mates arrived and told me how they had been outside on the
corner and it had all gone off. He said the West Ham fans were walking to
the ground chanting and some Spurs fans rushed them. A car pulled up and
some other people got out and joined the attack. He said he saw a man lying
on the floor and a few people holding their faces and then the police ran
in.
After this another mate entered about ten minutes later, who is unconnected
to the first mate. He described what he had seen and that there was an air
ambulance being called to a man who had been stabbed in the back by a man
who had jumped out of a car. A younger teenager who he knew had been hit in
the face by a man who said "You come round here shouting Irons, I am going
to teach you a lesson (censored version)" and punched him full on in the
face and then no surprise he ran off. These stories seemed to be confirmed
by other people who I overheard in the toilets too.
I am choosing not to talk about the match too much as it was a disaster.
The tactics were all wrong and at least Slaven has admitted that rather than
try and blame other things like most managers do. It is very hard to
defend any players performance in that game but the defence for me were
diabolical. So many errors at so many crucial times. It is now time to
bring in Ogbonna and at the moment I would shift Tomkins to right back and
give Jenko a rest for the next game. I would also be tempted to put AC back
to the bench and put Sakho up top for the WBA game. I am not writing off
either player like some have done but both are clearly not on form at the
moment. It is also surely time to give Antonio a chance too and perhaps
his time will come against WBA. I do not really want to write much more
than I have but please keep checking The West Ham Way this week for many
more exciting and exclusive articles.
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Hammers may opt to keep injured Bantams loan star Burke
Bradford Telegraph and Argus
Simon Parker, Bradford City Reporter
CITY are waiting to find out if they will see Reece Burke again. But the
indications are that West Ham may decide to hang on to him after he has
recovered from his current injury. Under the terms of a youth loan, Burke's
temporary stay has to be extended each month. And with the England under-20
international back with the Premier League club for treatment for a medial
ligament strain, Phil Parkinson is facing up to the possibility of the
youngster not returning. The Hammers have been keeping a close eye on
Burke's progress at Valley Parade and see him very much in their plans.
Parkinson admitted: "We're just waiting to see what happens with that one
and whether they want to call him back. We'll have to see. "Reece's loan is
up and he is injured for a couple of weeks anyway. "If he comes back, it's
fantastic. But if he doesn't then we wish him all the best and he's made a
good contribution for us." Parkinson has been pleased with the growing form
of Nathan Clarke, who impressed in Saturday's 2-0 win at Scunthorpe - City's
sixth clean sheet in a row. "I thought he was brilliant," said the City
boss. "You've got to understand that three games in eight days after not
playing is tough. "But his calmness was there for all to see. He brings a
different quality to the team in terms of being a captain of clubs before.
"The winter months are coming and the tough conditions like Saturday suit a
player like Nathan. "The lads love him. The reason they've got so much
respect for him is that when he was out the team he was terrific with them
in the dressing room. "He never once moaned to me. He just got on with his
job and he's getting his rewards for that now."
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http://vyperz.blogspot.com
Monday, November 23
Daily WHUFC News - 23rd November 2015
Spurs take derby day spoils
WHUFC.com
Barclays Premier League
Tottenham Hotspur 4-1 West Ham United
West Ham United's winless Barclays Premier League run stretched to three
matches as Tottenham Hotspur scored a 4-1 win at White Hart Lane.
Two goals from the in-form Harry Kane and one apiece from Toby Alderweireld
and Kyle Walker were enough for Spurs to secure the local derby spoils in
north London, and render Manuel Lanzini's late rocket a mere consoltation.
Cheikhou Kouyate saw his scissor-kick leave Hugo Lloris' crossbar shaking
seconds after Kane's opener, but in truth Mauricio Pochettino's side were
deserved winners on a cold afternoon in N17. Prior to kick-off, thoughts
turned to events in Paris nine days previously, where more than 130 people
lost their lives in a series of horrific terrorist attacks. The French
national anthem was played before both teams joined for a team photo in a
show of support and solidarity. When the game began, the Hammers started
brightly and forced a couple of corners, but neither caused any significant
alarm inside the home penalty area. The same could be said for Aaron
Cresswell's eighth-minute shot from 35 yards, which flew high into the stand
behind Hugo Lloris' goal. After making a slow start themselves, Mauricio
Pochettino's team sprung into life on 21 minutes, when a slick passing move
involving Walker, Hueng-Min Son and Mousa Dembele ended with Christian
Eriksen shooting left-footed and Adrian diving full-length to claw away for
a corner. Two minutes later, the Spaniard was helpless as Kane blasted high
into the net for his fifth goal in successive matches. The striker reacted
quickest after England squad-mate Dele Alli's shot had been blocked and span
into his path.
The game was now well and truly alive and West Ham could have been level
within two minutes themselves. Mark Noble's shot was blocked high into the
air and was met flush by Kouyate's scissor-kick, only for the acrobatic
effort to thump the same crossbar his header flew under last season.
West Ham's frustration grew still further on 33 minutes when Spurs doubled
their lead with a Premier League-leading eighth set-piece goal of the
season. While West Ham's defence failed to react quickly enough, Eriksen's
left-wing corner was met by the unmarked Toby Alderweireld, who powered a
glancing header into the net.
It could have been even worse for Bilic's side before half-time as Kane
raced onto Alli's fortuitous through ball, before scuffing his shot horribly
wide of Adrian's goal with only the No13 to beat.
The 22-year-old made no mistake when he was given another chance five
minutes after the break, though, smacking a low shot past Adrian after James
Tomkins' pass had been intercepted by Danish playmaker Eriksen.
Spurs were now in complete control and could have gone further in front had
it not been for Adrian, who made a fantastic double save to deny Son and
Eriksen.
Bilic made a pair of substitutions with just under half-an-hour remaining,
bringing on Mauro Zarate and Nikica Jelavic, but neither could find the goal
the Hammers needed to get back in the game.
Instead, Tottenham continued to create chances, with Kane testing Adrian and
Walker flashing a cross inches beyond Son's boot.
West Ham's first opportunity of the second half fell to Winston Reid, but
his header from Zarate's corner was grabbed comfortably enough by Lloris.
Frustrations threatened to boil over on a couple of occasions, with Noble
and Sakho both seeing yellow following altercations with Alli and Walker,
who were also booked.
Substitute Ryan Mason was then denied by Adrian before Walker made
absolutely sure by racing forward and curling his shot into the far corner
with the outside of his right foot.
Lanzini then lost goalscorer Walker before beating Lloris with an
unstoppable left-foot drive into the roof of the Tottenham net, but by the
time the Argentine's fifth of the season went in a large number of West Ham
fans had understandably made for the exits.
Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris (c), Walker, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose, Dier,
Alli (Mason 70), Son, Dembele, Eriksen, Kane (Carroll 90)
Subs: Vorm (GK), Trippier, Townsend, Onomah, Davies
Goals: Kane 23, 50, Alderweireld 33, Walker 84
Booked: Alli, Walker
West Ham United: Adrian, Jenkinson, Reid, Cresswell, Noble (c) (Song 79),
Kouyate, Sakho, Moses (Zarate 63), Lanzini, Carroll (Jelavic 63)
Subs: Spiegel (GK), Ogbonna, Oxford, Antonio
Goal: Lanzini 87
Booked: Noble, Sakho
Referee: Anthony Taylor
Attendance: 35,968
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Noble - This defeat hurts us the most
WHUFC.com
West Ham United captain Mark Noble admits the 4-1 defeat against Tottenham
hurts the players the most this season but they have vowed to put things
right when they face West Brom next weekend.
After recording memorable away wins over Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester
City this season, Slaven Bilic's side failed to hit the same standards at
White Hart Lane.
Two goals from Harry Kane helped Tottenham record a 4-1 victory and not even
a late strike from Manuel Lanzini could help lift the spirits of the
travelling supporters.
Noble admits it could have been a different game if Cheikhou Kouyate's
scissor kick had gone in minutes after Tottenham's opener, but says they
want to get the defeat out of their system quickly and get straight back on
the winning trail in the next home game.
Noble said: "This defeat hurts us the most because it is a London derby. We
have been on the winning side a lot over the last few years.
"They scored from a set play in the first half and we were not out of the
game at that point. We had a couple of chances ourselves and Cheikhou hit
the crossbar.
"If that chance goes in it is a different game. But when you go 2-0 down in
a London derby it is tough to come back from.
"But they scored straight after half-time and that made it virtually
impossible for us. It was a disappointing day.
"Goals at home can lift the crowd and when Harry Kane scored it made life
that much harder for us. The third goal really killed us and it was sloppy
play from us.
"But we need to put this behind us and look forward to West Brom which is
another game on television and put things right."
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Bilic frustrated by Tottenham errors
Slaven Bilic apologised to West Ham United supporters after watching his
side finish up 4-1 Barclays Premier League losers at Tottenham Hotspur.
The manager admitted his team had been second best in all departments at
White Hart Lane, where two mistakes set Spurs on their way to a comfortable
victory. The Hammers snatched a late consolation goal through Manuel
Lanzini, but Bilic told West Ham TV he was sorry for the ribbing the Claret
and Blue Army will take from their Tottenham-supporting work colleagues or
schoolmates on Monday morning. "Of course I want to apologise to them
because it's a special kind of game and tomorrow it's not going to be very
good for our fans to go to work with the Spurs teasing them and all that,"
the manager stated. "First, I want to apologise to them and second I want to
promise them that we're going to bounce back and we're going to prepare for
a game against West Brom and we're going to be back on the winning track."
On a cold Sunday afternoon in north London, Bilic's team froze after a
bright-ish start, falling behind to Harry Kane's strike on 23 minutes after
Dele Alli's shot had been blocked into his path. Cheikhou Kouyate then
thumped the crossbar with a scissor-kick before the unmarked Toby
Alderweireld's header made it 2-0. James Tomkins' errant pass allowed
Christian Eriksen to set up Kane for Spurs' third five minutes into the
second half before Kyle Walker added a fourth with a well-placed finish,
rendering Lanzini's late rocket a mere consolation.
Having had two weeks to prepare his squad – albeit one without the injured
Dimitri Payet and Enner Valencia – for the derby, Bilic could not hide his
disappointment. "I cannot pretend I am not disappointed because I am and the
dressing room is very, very quiet, of course," he explained. "We are all
disappointed and it simply wasn't us. We didn't play good. "We started OK
and had some points where we were good around their box. They were pressing
and are good in that and scored a goal from their first chance with a bit of
luck, but we were too deep in that situation and invited them to be close to
our goal a lot of times, and then there's always a risk you will make a
mistake. "To be fair, the second goal was a cheap one from the corner. At
half-time I said we were not happy but we were still in the game and I was
expecting us to bounce back and score a goal, then it is still open, big
time.
"Their third goal obviously killed us in that moment and after that
unfortunately, we have to be happy with 4-1, which is a very, very bad
result, especially against Spurs in a derby game."
At least two of Tottenham's goals could have been avoided with better
concentration from the Hammers, but Bilic was not making any excuses for his
side's defeat. "We can say that and we can say we hit the post after they
scored the first and their third was a big mistake from an individual error,
but they had a couple more chances in the first half so they could have had
four goals at half-time," he said, honestly. "I have no excuses for this
performance. We have to say they were much better than us. "On one hand,
we're going to analyse this game. On the other hand, we're going to put this
game to bed as soon as possible and prepare for our next gam e."
Bilic and West Ham will seek to end their three-match winless run when they
host West Bromwich Albion at the Boleyn Ground on Sunday 29 November.
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Ladies edged out by Brighton
WHUFC.com
West Ham United Ladies put in a strong defensive performance, but couldn't
stop Brighton & Hove Albion securing a 1-0 win at Sussex FA HQ on Sunday.
In a fixture where the Hammers had their backs to the wall for the majority
of the game, Brighton tested the Hammers Indian international goalkeeper
Aditi Chauhan several times, but just couldn't beat her.
That was until the 74th minute when Brighton struck the winning goal as a
stray ball into the box from Deanna Cooper found a way past Chauhan.
Marc Nurse had a reshuffle of his pack after the Hammers' recent defeat away
to Tottenham Hotspur a week ago. Chauhan was again named between the sticks
at the end of a week where she celebrated her 23rd birthday and being named
the Woman in Football winner at the Asian Football Awards, whilst Teni
Charles made her West Ham debut in attack and Kelsey Smith awaited her debut
on the bench.
Brighton narrowly missed out on victory over the Hammers a number of weeks
ago at AFC Hornchurch when midfielder Shirvae Edwards came off the bench to
fire in a vital equaliser against the run of play.
Fast forward to Sunday and the Seagulls instantly went about their business
as the aimed to go one better this time and secure all three points, but the
Hammers defence, led by captain Katie Bottom, were strong and continually
denied their hosts.
West Ham managed one shot on target in the whole of the opening 45 minutes,
but Italian midfielder Giulia Ferrandi could only find the grateful hand of
Brighton keeper Faye Baker from distance.
In the second half, Brighton continued their relentless attack of the West
Ham goal, but the visitors refused to be budged and ensured that they stood
strong.
The deadlock was broken with just over 15 minutes left when Cooper managed
to find the net from a cross which totally evaded all the Hammers defence,
including Chauhan.
West Ham tried their hardest to try and start an attacking move, but the
Seagulls were too strong and could have scored again in the closing stages.
The game went from bad to worse when Nurse's side had to end the game with
just nine players as Italian midfielder Erika Campesi picked up an injury in
a strong tackle, whilst Hannah Wheeler was unable to continue and had to be
taken off.
Brighton looked to make use of the extra numbers and extend their lead, but
again Chauhan was the last line of defence that refused to be beaten again.
Nurse's side will be hoping for three points when they head to Plymouth
Argyle on Sunday 29 November, with kick-off at 2pm.
Ladies: Chauhan, Ritson, Wheeler, Bottom (c), Strange, Campesi, Miller
(Anderson-James), Ferrandi, Charles (Smith), Pinna (Hinz). Subs not used:
Sammons, Edwards.
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Bilic slams team after derby day humbling
KUMB.com
Filed: Sunday, 22nd November 2015
By: Staff Writer
Slaven Bilic laid into his team after they were heavily beaten by neighbours
Tottenham at White Hart Lane this afternoon.
Bilic was hugely disappointed by his team's performance after they went down
4-1 in this afternoon's big Premier League clash and accused his team of
failing to raise their game for the occasion.
"The performance matches the result," said Bilic. "They were better than us.
"Up until the first goal they were pressing us but didn't create a lot. We
also had some situations in the last third of the pitch. The first goal
lifted them and we went into a bit of shock.
"We were two-nil down at half time but were still in the game. We needed to
raise our game, to be more focused and hungry on the ball and to be better
in the transitions when they were really good.
"But the third goal, which came out of a mistake just killed us and to be
fair, it could have been more."
And the manager, who saw his team fall to only their second away defeat in
the Premier League since he arrived at the club admitted that his team got
exactly what they deserved.
"On the one hand we've got to forget the result but we've got to talk about
this game because of the games we've got to play," he added.
"We've shown so many times that when we are focused we are a good team. But
we weren't good enough to get anything out of that game."
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Man stabbed ahead of Tottenham's match against West Ham
Last Updated: 22/11/15 9:05pm
SSN
A 35-year-old man is in a stable condition in hospital after being stabbed
in the abdomen outside White Hart Lane ahead of Tottenham's game with West
Ham. The Metropolitan police have confirmed they were called to an incident
at 3pm on the junction between White Hart Lane and Tottenham High Road prior
to Sunday's London derby, which ended in a 4-1 win to Spurs. The victim was
taken to an east London hospital, where he remains, and Haringey CID are
investigating. However, no arrests have yet been made. West Ham are aware of
the incident and are working with police but Tottenham were unavailable for
comment when contacted by Sky Sports News HQ.
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West Ham United are a mid-table team, says Scott Parker
Last Updated: 22/11/15 9:16pm
SSN
Scott Parker says West Ham are a mid-table team and are suffering a blip in
confidence after a good start to the season following their 4-1 defeat to
Tottenham on Sunday. West Ham have done well on their travels so far this
season with wins against Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool, but have
now lost their last two. Slaven Billic was without midfielder Dimitri Payet
for the trip to White Hart Lane, who was ruled out for up to three months
after a tackle by Everton's James McCarthy. "West Ham are a mid-table team,
they have some very good players and I see this as just a blip in
confidence," Parker said after the game on Super Sunday. "It depends how
quickly you can bounce back from it. Billic is right when he says 4-1 in a
London derby hurts a little bit more and they need to try and re-group a
bit. "I didn't think there was much in the first 15 minutes, their game plan
was going quite well. The space between the back four and midfield was quite
condensed and it looked like a bit of an early boxing match in terms of
trying to weigh each other up, but goals are important in games and after
the first one went in, it was a tough afternoon for them.
"At the start of the season, it was probably a surprise to see Billic come
in, probably a bit of a risk if anything. You know what you get with Sam
Allardyce but he's come in and done a fantastic job, got some early results
which were probably a bit false on the scale of where they were in the
league. "But confidence is key, so hopefully they can pick up some results
now and get going again."
Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp echoed the same sentiments during the
post-match analysis, and thinks West Ham fans have been subject to some
'unrealistic expectations' so far this season. "I think they've been
punching above their weight. You only have to look at their results so far
and if you're a West Ham fan, you're in dream land because you're beating
Arsenal, Liverpool and Man City away and they're starting to have
unrealistic expectations. "Billic has done a great job and they're playing
good football but I think they're a mid-table team. I don't think we should
get too excited thinking they can get into the top four. Watford away and
today have been damaging on the team and you can see the confidence draining
out of them and they've got to pick themselves back up."
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Slav gets it all wrong as AC flops again
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on November 22, 2015 in News, Whispers
C and H
It's hard to say it but whichever way you try explaining this afternoon's
disaster it started at Slav's door and was exacerbated by some very poor
performances from several players.
The minute I saw the team sheet – probably like most of you – I knew we were
done for! Andy Carroll through the middle and Diafra Sakho wide? Never…not
in a million years – we've been here before and it doesn't work. End of.
Sakho's effectiveness was reduced by about 50 per cent and Carroll didn't
reach that percentage in another awful display.
We really can't keep feasting off one winning goal against Chelsea from him
however tasty it was at the time.
He is not a threat and his reputation is rapidly becoming a myth perpetrated
by people with an agenda. Andy Carroll as the replacement plan for a team
that plays around Dimi Payet – err sorry how does that work?
Blimey, even the £2 million Nikica Jelavic looked a far better player than
him and produced a great ball for Lanzini's goal. In other circumstances
we'd be raving about it as Payet-like.
Sakho has to play through the middle. it's as simple as that and as has been
said many times, at best, Carroll is an impact sub.
Like the boss I didn't believe we were out of the game at half time but not
for the first time a defensive error – again by James Tomkins – sealed our
fate.
That was most certainly not JT's first error of the season that has led to a
goal and today's incident may be the moment when his run in the team came to
an end with Anglo Ogbonna fit and raring to go being recalled.
After all an £8 million signing can't sit out on the bench forever and
Tomkins may have made it very easy for the boss to do what some of us have
been hoping for over the last two weeks – recall the big Italian.
Talking of leaving players on the bench, where does Michail Antonio go from
here? Surely the perfect moment to see what he's got arrived when the third
goal went in and there was nothing to lose.
That he didn't get anywhere near the action was a shock to me and starts to
pose big questions about his future. Mauro Zarate gave us nothing and could
himself have been withdrawn to make way late on for the £7 mllion signing.
The sub-plot in all of this that went almost unnoticed was the arrival Alex
Song taking the place of the man everybody has been naming as the victim of
his recovery from injury – Mark Noble.
The captain can I think prepare for a difficult rest of the season should
Song come back to anything like his best.
The manager has had a bad day at the office but I refuse to throw stones. In
the words of an old song: "When the going gets tough, the tough get going."
We are gonna be fine but today was horrible. We simply have to suck it up
and move on.
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Police make statement on stabbed Hammers fan
Posted by Sean Whetstone on November 22, 2015 in News, Whispers
C and H
Metropolitan Police have confirmed a 35-year-old male believed to be a West
Ham supporter was stabbed in the abdomen around White Hart Lane one hour
before kick-off in a statement this evening.
The statement says: "Police are called at approximately 15:00hrs on Sunday,
22 November, to reports of a stabbing in White Hart Lane at the junction
with Tottenham High Road. Officers and London Ambulance and London's Air
Ambulance attended and found a 35-year-old man with a stab wound to his
abdomen. He was taken to an east London hospital where he remains in a
stable condition."
The injured fan remains in the Royal London hospital having sustained minor
injuries. The police have recovered a blade at the scene. Both clubs are now
working with the police to identify those responsible.
The police statement also commented on the reports of a 14 year old being
stabbed: "Detectives are aware of reports that a 14-year-old boy had also
been stabbed within the vicinity of White Hart Lane. At this stage we have
yet to receive a report of this nature and detectives are investigating only
one reported stabbing. We await details as to whether anyone has self
presented at hospital with injuries consistent with being stabbed."
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http://vyperz.blogspot.com
WHUFC.com
Barclays Premier League
Tottenham Hotspur 4-1 West Ham United
West Ham United's winless Barclays Premier League run stretched to three
matches as Tottenham Hotspur scored a 4-1 win at White Hart Lane.
Two goals from the in-form Harry Kane and one apiece from Toby Alderweireld
and Kyle Walker were enough for Spurs to secure the local derby spoils in
north London, and render Manuel Lanzini's late rocket a mere consoltation.
Cheikhou Kouyate saw his scissor-kick leave Hugo Lloris' crossbar shaking
seconds after Kane's opener, but in truth Mauricio Pochettino's side were
deserved winners on a cold afternoon in N17. Prior to kick-off, thoughts
turned to events in Paris nine days previously, where more than 130 people
lost their lives in a series of horrific terrorist attacks. The French
national anthem was played before both teams joined for a team photo in a
show of support and solidarity. When the game began, the Hammers started
brightly and forced a couple of corners, but neither caused any significant
alarm inside the home penalty area. The same could be said for Aaron
Cresswell's eighth-minute shot from 35 yards, which flew high into the stand
behind Hugo Lloris' goal. After making a slow start themselves, Mauricio
Pochettino's team sprung into life on 21 minutes, when a slick passing move
involving Walker, Hueng-Min Son and Mousa Dembele ended with Christian
Eriksen shooting left-footed and Adrian diving full-length to claw away for
a corner. Two minutes later, the Spaniard was helpless as Kane blasted high
into the net for his fifth goal in successive matches. The striker reacted
quickest after England squad-mate Dele Alli's shot had been blocked and span
into his path.
The game was now well and truly alive and West Ham could have been level
within two minutes themselves. Mark Noble's shot was blocked high into the
air and was met flush by Kouyate's scissor-kick, only for the acrobatic
effort to thump the same crossbar his header flew under last season.
West Ham's frustration grew still further on 33 minutes when Spurs doubled
their lead with a Premier League-leading eighth set-piece goal of the
season. While West Ham's defence failed to react quickly enough, Eriksen's
left-wing corner was met by the unmarked Toby Alderweireld, who powered a
glancing header into the net.
It could have been even worse for Bilic's side before half-time as Kane
raced onto Alli's fortuitous through ball, before scuffing his shot horribly
wide of Adrian's goal with only the No13 to beat.
The 22-year-old made no mistake when he was given another chance five
minutes after the break, though, smacking a low shot past Adrian after James
Tomkins' pass had been intercepted by Danish playmaker Eriksen.
Spurs were now in complete control and could have gone further in front had
it not been for Adrian, who made a fantastic double save to deny Son and
Eriksen.
Bilic made a pair of substitutions with just under half-an-hour remaining,
bringing on Mauro Zarate and Nikica Jelavic, but neither could find the goal
the Hammers needed to get back in the game.
Instead, Tottenham continued to create chances, with Kane testing Adrian and
Walker flashing a cross inches beyond Son's boot.
West Ham's first opportunity of the second half fell to Winston Reid, but
his header from Zarate's corner was grabbed comfortably enough by Lloris.
Frustrations threatened to boil over on a couple of occasions, with Noble
and Sakho both seeing yellow following altercations with Alli and Walker,
who were also booked.
Substitute Ryan Mason was then denied by Adrian before Walker made
absolutely sure by racing forward and curling his shot into the far corner
with the outside of his right foot.
Lanzini then lost goalscorer Walker before beating Lloris with an
unstoppable left-foot drive into the roof of the Tottenham net, but by the
time the Argentine's fifth of the season went in a large number of West Ham
fans had understandably made for the exits.
Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris (c), Walker, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose, Dier,
Alli (Mason 70), Son, Dembele, Eriksen, Kane (Carroll 90)
Subs: Vorm (GK), Trippier, Townsend, Onomah, Davies
Goals: Kane 23, 50, Alderweireld 33, Walker 84
Booked: Alli, Walker
West Ham United: Adrian, Jenkinson, Reid, Cresswell, Noble (c) (Song 79),
Kouyate, Sakho, Moses (Zarate 63), Lanzini, Carroll (Jelavic 63)
Subs: Spiegel (GK), Ogbonna, Oxford, Antonio
Goal: Lanzini 87
Booked: Noble, Sakho
Referee: Anthony Taylor
Attendance: 35,968
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Noble - This defeat hurts us the most
WHUFC.com
West Ham United captain Mark Noble admits the 4-1 defeat against Tottenham
hurts the players the most this season but they have vowed to put things
right when they face West Brom next weekend.
After recording memorable away wins over Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester
City this season, Slaven Bilic's side failed to hit the same standards at
White Hart Lane.
Two goals from Harry Kane helped Tottenham record a 4-1 victory and not even
a late strike from Manuel Lanzini could help lift the spirits of the
travelling supporters.
Noble admits it could have been a different game if Cheikhou Kouyate's
scissor kick had gone in minutes after Tottenham's opener, but says they
want to get the defeat out of their system quickly and get straight back on
the winning trail in the next home game.
Noble said: "This defeat hurts us the most because it is a London derby. We
have been on the winning side a lot over the last few years.
"They scored from a set play in the first half and we were not out of the
game at that point. We had a couple of chances ourselves and Cheikhou hit
the crossbar.
"If that chance goes in it is a different game. But when you go 2-0 down in
a London derby it is tough to come back from.
"But they scored straight after half-time and that made it virtually
impossible for us. It was a disappointing day.
"Goals at home can lift the crowd and when Harry Kane scored it made life
that much harder for us. The third goal really killed us and it was sloppy
play from us.
"But we need to put this behind us and look forward to West Brom which is
another game on television and put things right."
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Bilic frustrated by Tottenham errors
Slaven Bilic apologised to West Ham United supporters after watching his
side finish up 4-1 Barclays Premier League losers at Tottenham Hotspur.
The manager admitted his team had been second best in all departments at
White Hart Lane, where two mistakes set Spurs on their way to a comfortable
victory. The Hammers snatched a late consolation goal through Manuel
Lanzini, but Bilic told West Ham TV he was sorry for the ribbing the Claret
and Blue Army will take from their Tottenham-supporting work colleagues or
schoolmates on Monday morning. "Of course I want to apologise to them
because it's a special kind of game and tomorrow it's not going to be very
good for our fans to go to work with the Spurs teasing them and all that,"
the manager stated. "First, I want to apologise to them and second I want to
promise them that we're going to bounce back and we're going to prepare for
a game against West Brom and we're going to be back on the winning track."
On a cold Sunday afternoon in north London, Bilic's team froze after a
bright-ish start, falling behind to Harry Kane's strike on 23 minutes after
Dele Alli's shot had been blocked into his path. Cheikhou Kouyate then
thumped the crossbar with a scissor-kick before the unmarked Toby
Alderweireld's header made it 2-0. James Tomkins' errant pass allowed
Christian Eriksen to set up Kane for Spurs' third five minutes into the
second half before Kyle Walker added a fourth with a well-placed finish,
rendering Lanzini's late rocket a mere consolation.
Having had two weeks to prepare his squad – albeit one without the injured
Dimitri Payet and Enner Valencia – for the derby, Bilic could not hide his
disappointment. "I cannot pretend I am not disappointed because I am and the
dressing room is very, very quiet, of course," he explained. "We are all
disappointed and it simply wasn't us. We didn't play good. "We started OK
and had some points where we were good around their box. They were pressing
and are good in that and scored a goal from their first chance with a bit of
luck, but we were too deep in that situation and invited them to be close to
our goal a lot of times, and then there's always a risk you will make a
mistake. "To be fair, the second goal was a cheap one from the corner. At
half-time I said we were not happy but we were still in the game and I was
expecting us to bounce back and score a goal, then it is still open, big
time.
"Their third goal obviously killed us in that moment and after that
unfortunately, we have to be happy with 4-1, which is a very, very bad
result, especially against Spurs in a derby game."
At least two of Tottenham's goals could have been avoided with better
concentration from the Hammers, but Bilic was not making any excuses for his
side's defeat. "We can say that and we can say we hit the post after they
scored the first and their third was a big mistake from an individual error,
but they had a couple more chances in the first half so they could have had
four goals at half-time," he said, honestly. "I have no excuses for this
performance. We have to say they were much better than us. "On one hand,
we're going to analyse this game. On the other hand, we're going to put this
game to bed as soon as possible and prepare for our next gam e."
Bilic and West Ham will seek to end their three-match winless run when they
host West Bromwich Albion at the Boleyn Ground on Sunday 29 November.
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Ladies edged out by Brighton
WHUFC.com
West Ham United Ladies put in a strong defensive performance, but couldn't
stop Brighton & Hove Albion securing a 1-0 win at Sussex FA HQ on Sunday.
In a fixture where the Hammers had their backs to the wall for the majority
of the game, Brighton tested the Hammers Indian international goalkeeper
Aditi Chauhan several times, but just couldn't beat her.
That was until the 74th minute when Brighton struck the winning goal as a
stray ball into the box from Deanna Cooper found a way past Chauhan.
Marc Nurse had a reshuffle of his pack after the Hammers' recent defeat away
to Tottenham Hotspur a week ago. Chauhan was again named between the sticks
at the end of a week where she celebrated her 23rd birthday and being named
the Woman in Football winner at the Asian Football Awards, whilst Teni
Charles made her West Ham debut in attack and Kelsey Smith awaited her debut
on the bench.
Brighton narrowly missed out on victory over the Hammers a number of weeks
ago at AFC Hornchurch when midfielder Shirvae Edwards came off the bench to
fire in a vital equaliser against the run of play.
Fast forward to Sunday and the Seagulls instantly went about their business
as the aimed to go one better this time and secure all three points, but the
Hammers defence, led by captain Katie Bottom, were strong and continually
denied their hosts.
West Ham managed one shot on target in the whole of the opening 45 minutes,
but Italian midfielder Giulia Ferrandi could only find the grateful hand of
Brighton keeper Faye Baker from distance.
In the second half, Brighton continued their relentless attack of the West
Ham goal, but the visitors refused to be budged and ensured that they stood
strong.
The deadlock was broken with just over 15 minutes left when Cooper managed
to find the net from a cross which totally evaded all the Hammers defence,
including Chauhan.
West Ham tried their hardest to try and start an attacking move, but the
Seagulls were too strong and could have scored again in the closing stages.
The game went from bad to worse when Nurse's side had to end the game with
just nine players as Italian midfielder Erika Campesi picked up an injury in
a strong tackle, whilst Hannah Wheeler was unable to continue and had to be
taken off.
Brighton looked to make use of the extra numbers and extend their lead, but
again Chauhan was the last line of defence that refused to be beaten again.
Nurse's side will be hoping for three points when they head to Plymouth
Argyle on Sunday 29 November, with kick-off at 2pm.
Ladies: Chauhan, Ritson, Wheeler, Bottom (c), Strange, Campesi, Miller
(Anderson-James), Ferrandi, Charles (Smith), Pinna (Hinz). Subs not used:
Sammons, Edwards.
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Bilic slams team after derby day humbling
KUMB.com
Filed: Sunday, 22nd November 2015
By: Staff Writer
Slaven Bilic laid into his team after they were heavily beaten by neighbours
Tottenham at White Hart Lane this afternoon.
Bilic was hugely disappointed by his team's performance after they went down
4-1 in this afternoon's big Premier League clash and accused his team of
failing to raise their game for the occasion.
"The performance matches the result," said Bilic. "They were better than us.
"Up until the first goal they were pressing us but didn't create a lot. We
also had some situations in the last third of the pitch. The first goal
lifted them and we went into a bit of shock.
"We were two-nil down at half time but were still in the game. We needed to
raise our game, to be more focused and hungry on the ball and to be better
in the transitions when they were really good.
"But the third goal, which came out of a mistake just killed us and to be
fair, it could have been more."
And the manager, who saw his team fall to only their second away defeat in
the Premier League since he arrived at the club admitted that his team got
exactly what they deserved.
"On the one hand we've got to forget the result but we've got to talk about
this game because of the games we've got to play," he added.
"We've shown so many times that when we are focused we are a good team. But
we weren't good enough to get anything out of that game."
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Man stabbed ahead of Tottenham's match against West Ham
Last Updated: 22/11/15 9:05pm
SSN
A 35-year-old man is in a stable condition in hospital after being stabbed
in the abdomen outside White Hart Lane ahead of Tottenham's game with West
Ham. The Metropolitan police have confirmed they were called to an incident
at 3pm on the junction between White Hart Lane and Tottenham High Road prior
to Sunday's London derby, which ended in a 4-1 win to Spurs. The victim was
taken to an east London hospital, where he remains, and Haringey CID are
investigating. However, no arrests have yet been made. West Ham are aware of
the incident and are working with police but Tottenham were unavailable for
comment when contacted by Sky Sports News HQ.
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West Ham United are a mid-table team, says Scott Parker
Last Updated: 22/11/15 9:16pm
SSN
Scott Parker says West Ham are a mid-table team and are suffering a blip in
confidence after a good start to the season following their 4-1 defeat to
Tottenham on Sunday. West Ham have done well on their travels so far this
season with wins against Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool, but have
now lost their last two. Slaven Billic was without midfielder Dimitri Payet
for the trip to White Hart Lane, who was ruled out for up to three months
after a tackle by Everton's James McCarthy. "West Ham are a mid-table team,
they have some very good players and I see this as just a blip in
confidence," Parker said after the game on Super Sunday. "It depends how
quickly you can bounce back from it. Billic is right when he says 4-1 in a
London derby hurts a little bit more and they need to try and re-group a
bit. "I didn't think there was much in the first 15 minutes, their game plan
was going quite well. The space between the back four and midfield was quite
condensed and it looked like a bit of an early boxing match in terms of
trying to weigh each other up, but goals are important in games and after
the first one went in, it was a tough afternoon for them.
"At the start of the season, it was probably a surprise to see Billic come
in, probably a bit of a risk if anything. You know what you get with Sam
Allardyce but he's come in and done a fantastic job, got some early results
which were probably a bit false on the scale of where they were in the
league. "But confidence is key, so hopefully they can pick up some results
now and get going again."
Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp echoed the same sentiments during the
post-match analysis, and thinks West Ham fans have been subject to some
'unrealistic expectations' so far this season. "I think they've been
punching above their weight. You only have to look at their results so far
and if you're a West Ham fan, you're in dream land because you're beating
Arsenal, Liverpool and Man City away and they're starting to have
unrealistic expectations. "Billic has done a great job and they're playing
good football but I think they're a mid-table team. I don't think we should
get too excited thinking they can get into the top four. Watford away and
today have been damaging on the team and you can see the confidence draining
out of them and they've got to pick themselves back up."
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Slav gets it all wrong as AC flops again
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on November 22, 2015 in News, Whispers
C and H
It's hard to say it but whichever way you try explaining this afternoon's
disaster it started at Slav's door and was exacerbated by some very poor
performances from several players.
The minute I saw the team sheet – probably like most of you – I knew we were
done for! Andy Carroll through the middle and Diafra Sakho wide? Never…not
in a million years – we've been here before and it doesn't work. End of.
Sakho's effectiveness was reduced by about 50 per cent and Carroll didn't
reach that percentage in another awful display.
We really can't keep feasting off one winning goal against Chelsea from him
however tasty it was at the time.
He is not a threat and his reputation is rapidly becoming a myth perpetrated
by people with an agenda. Andy Carroll as the replacement plan for a team
that plays around Dimi Payet – err sorry how does that work?
Blimey, even the £2 million Nikica Jelavic looked a far better player than
him and produced a great ball for Lanzini's goal. In other circumstances
we'd be raving about it as Payet-like.
Sakho has to play through the middle. it's as simple as that and as has been
said many times, at best, Carroll is an impact sub.
Like the boss I didn't believe we were out of the game at half time but not
for the first time a defensive error – again by James Tomkins – sealed our
fate.
That was most certainly not JT's first error of the season that has led to a
goal and today's incident may be the moment when his run in the team came to
an end with Anglo Ogbonna fit and raring to go being recalled.
After all an £8 million signing can't sit out on the bench forever and
Tomkins may have made it very easy for the boss to do what some of us have
been hoping for over the last two weeks – recall the big Italian.
Talking of leaving players on the bench, where does Michail Antonio go from
here? Surely the perfect moment to see what he's got arrived when the third
goal went in and there was nothing to lose.
That he didn't get anywhere near the action was a shock to me and starts to
pose big questions about his future. Mauro Zarate gave us nothing and could
himself have been withdrawn to make way late on for the £7 mllion signing.
The sub-plot in all of this that went almost unnoticed was the arrival Alex
Song taking the place of the man everybody has been naming as the victim of
his recovery from injury – Mark Noble.
The captain can I think prepare for a difficult rest of the season should
Song come back to anything like his best.
The manager has had a bad day at the office but I refuse to throw stones. In
the words of an old song: "When the going gets tough, the tough get going."
We are gonna be fine but today was horrible. We simply have to suck it up
and move on.
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Police make statement on stabbed Hammers fan
Posted by Sean Whetstone on November 22, 2015 in News, Whispers
C and H
Metropolitan Police have confirmed a 35-year-old male believed to be a West
Ham supporter was stabbed in the abdomen around White Hart Lane one hour
before kick-off in a statement this evening.
The statement says: "Police are called at approximately 15:00hrs on Sunday,
22 November, to reports of a stabbing in White Hart Lane at the junction
with Tottenham High Road. Officers and London Ambulance and London's Air
Ambulance attended and found a 35-year-old man with a stab wound to his
abdomen. He was taken to an east London hospital where he remains in a
stable condition."
The injured fan remains in the Royal London hospital having sustained minor
injuries. The police have recovered a blade at the scene. Both clubs are now
working with the police to identify those responsible.
The police statement also commented on the reports of a 14 year old being
stabbed: "Detectives are aware of reports that a 14-year-old boy had also
been stabbed within the vicinity of White Hart Lane. At this stage we have
yet to receive a report of this nature and detectives are investigating only
one reported stabbing. We await details as to whether anyone has self
presented at hospital with injuries consistent with being stabbed."
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