Preview - Middlesbrough
WHUFC.com
When and where?
West Ham United v Middlesbrough
Premier League
London Stadium
Saturday 1 October 2016, 3pm BST
What's the story?
West Ham United will be looking for a boost going into the international break when they host Middlesbrough in the Premier League on Saturday.
A run of four straight defeats in the league has left Slaven Bilic's men 18th in the table, with three points from their opening six games.
Back-to-back losses at London Stadium – to Watford and Southampton – mean the Hammers need to get back on track at home against Boro, with two weeks between fixtures following this one.
Middlesbrough, who include former Hammer Stewart Downing in their ranks, ended a seven-year spell in the Championship with promotion last term, finishing runners-up to Burnley.
Under manager Aitor Karanka, Boro were beaten play-off finalists the year before and were rewarded for their steady improvement last term.
This season, they began with an unbeaten run of three games, drawing with Stoke City and West Bromwich Albion, and defeating Sunderland in the Tees-Wear derby.
However, a sequence of three defeats has followed, with Crystal Palace, Everton and Tottenham Hotspur all getting the better of the Riverside Stadium side.
They currently sit 16th in the table with five points.
Team news
The Hammers will be without Havard Nordtveit, after he underwent a small medical procedure this week.
He joins Andre Ayew, Aaron Cresswell, Andy Carroll and Diafra Sakho on the sidelines, although both Cresswell and Carroll are due to return after the international break.
For Middlesbrough, winger Adama Traore is pushing for a start after impressing from the bench against Tottenham.
Defender Fabio Da Silva is back in training and could feature at London Stadium.
Any links between the two?
Yes! Stewart Downing rejoined his hometown club in the summer of 2015 after two seasons with the Hammers.
The England winger scored seven goals in 79 games for West Ham, before returning to Middlesbrough, where he began his career.
Elsewhere, Sofiane Feghouli played with Boro duo Alvaro Negredo and Antonio Barragan at Valencia.
The teams last met in the Hammers' Championship play-off winning season in 2011/12, drawing 1-1 at the Boleyn Ground after West Ham triumphed 2-0 in the north east.
How can I get to the game?
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How can I watch the game?
The match is not being broadcast live in the UK, but you can follow all the action on whufc.com. We've got live audio commentary, in-running stats, photos and more. Get involved in the conversation on social using #WHUMID
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Hammers receive international calls
WHUFC.com
West Ham United's large band of international players will be in action for their respective nations during the October break.
FIFA 2018 qualifiers will take place across the globe, with as many of 13 Hammers potentially involved in Europa, Africa and South America.
The second round of European qualifiers will kick-off on Thursday 6 October, with Darren Randolph, James Collins, Angelo Ogbonna, Simone Zaza, Adrian and Gokhan Tore all set for duty.
Randolph's Republic of Ireland will try to build on their opening 2-2 draw in Serbia when they host Georgia in Dublin in Group D, before heading for their third qualifier in Moldova on Sunday 9 October.
In the same group, Collins earned his 50th cap in the opening 4-0 win over Moldova in Cardiff and will hope to add to his tally when Chris Coleman's side travel to Austria on Thursday before hosting Georgia on 9 October.
Ogbonna and Zaza could both be involved as Italy host Adrian's Spain in a mouth-watering Group G clash in the pair's old home, Juventus Stadium in Turin, on Thursday. Following that, the Azzurri head for FYR Macedonia on 9 October, while Spain travel to Albania. Italy won their opening qualifier 3-1 in Israel, while Spain thrashed Liechtenstein 8-0. The final squads will be confirmed this weekend.
In Group I, Tore's Turkey drew 1-1 in Croatia in their opening tie, and will next host Ukraine in Konya on 6 October before traveling to Reykjavik to tackle Euro 2016 stars Iceland on 9 October. Turkey's final squad is yet to be confirmed.
Dimitri Payet's France continue their Group A challenge on Thursday 7 October, when they welcome Bulgaria the Stade de France in Paris. Les Bleus, who drew 0-0 in Belarus in September, then travel to Amsterdam to tackle the Netherlands on Monday 10 October.
Havard Nordtveit will miss Norway's Group C fixtures in Azerbaijan on Friday 8 October and home to San Marino on Tuesday 11 October, but Martin Samuelsen, on loan at Blackburn Rovers, could be involved. Norway opened with a 3-0 home defeat by Germany in Oslo.
Completing the European slate of fixtures, Michail Antonio and England host Malta at Wembley on 8 October before heading to Slovenia on 11 October. The Three Lions, who have yet to confirm their final squad, won 1-0 in Slovakia in their first tie.
In Africa, Cheikhou Kouyate's Senegal kick-off their Round 1 Group D campaign by welcoming Cape Verde Islands to Dakar on 8 October. The group is completed by Burkina Faso and South Africa.
Sofiane Feghouli's Algeria also begin their challenge in a fearsome-looking Group B when they host Cameroon in Bilda on 9 October. The group also includes Nigeria and Zambia.
In South America, Enner Valencia, who is on loan at Everton, and Ecuador host Chile in Quito on 6 October before travelling to Bolivia on 11 October.
Away from World Cup qualifiers, Winston Reid's New Zealand have two eye-catching friendly matches to play in Nashville, Tennessee. The first is against Mexico on 8 October, followed by a meeting with the United States on 11 October.
Finally, at senior level, Doneil Henry, on loan at Danish club AC Horsens, travel to Mauritania and Morroco for friendly internationals on 7 and 11 October respectively.
At age-group level, Edimilson Fernandes (Switzerland U21), on-loan Bradford City midfielder Josh Cullen (Republic of Ireland U21), Reece Oxford (England U20), Nathan Trott (England U19), Declan Rice (Republic of Ireland U19), Domingos Quina (Portugal U19), Conor Coventry (Republic of Ireland U17), Rihard Matrevics (Latvia U19) and Malyk Hamilton (Canada U18) have also received call-ups for a selection of qualifiers, international tournaments and friendly internationals.
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Byram - This is a massive chance for us
WHUFC.com
Sam Byram is no stranger to being under pressure and feels well equipped to deal with the current situation at West Ham United. The Hammers are currently in the bottom three and with five defeats from the opening six Premier League games, Byram knows the importance of seeing the Hammers get back on the winning trail when they face Middlesbrough on Saturday and feels all the players will have a major point to prove. The 23-year-old was thrown into the deep end when he made his debut for Leeds United and faced a number of battles during his time at Elland Road. Byram feels that experience has made him a stronger character and given him the belief that he can produce his best form in the Premier League. Byram said: "You hear it a lot with players who go to Leeds and struggle to cope with the pressure. "But I played there for three seasons and enjoyed my time there and got used to that pressure. It is something you have to take in your stride and you have to deal with it. "It is something that has helped me massively with the big move to West Ham and being able to play in front of a bigger crowd who have high expectations for the season. "This is a massive chance for us to turn things around. We have been working on things during the week and will take that into the game.
"From seeing the week of training we have had I can say the lads have the hunger to get the win and there is no doubt there will be 100 per cent effort at the weekend."
It has been well documented that the players held a meeting at the start of the week to address the situation and Byram feels it has helped bring the team together even more. The talented full-back has no doubts there is enough quality in the squad to see them move away from the foot of the table and hopes a victory on Saturday will help turn their season around.
Byram added: "We all know the situation is not great at the moment but we had a positive meeting and with a couple of good results we could be mid-table because the table is so tight at the moment. "This is not the best position for us to be in, but this is the start of the season and we will keep the confidence and will keep working hard in training. "We know the victories will come because we have got so much quality and the passion and the hunger to get the points. "The crowd can play a massive part and if they are behind us and cheering everything, it lifts the players massively. "It is a squad full of big characters and players who have performed all over the world. It is part of the game and you get bad times in football but it is about staying strong mentally and being able to overcome that."
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Five Talking Points - Middlesbrough
WHUFC.com
The hot topics for discussion ahead of Middlesbrough's Premier League visit to London Stadium on Saturday afternoon...
Positive approach needed
Everyone who has spoken publicly since last weekend's 3-0 home Premier League defeat by Southampton – Board, manager, current and former players – has stated the need for West Ham United to remain positive. The Hammers may be on a run of four straight defeats, but they cannot afford to feel sorry for themselves if they are to climb the table sooner rather than later. Prior to the season, West Ham would have targeted three points from this home fixture with newly-promoted Boro, and recent results should not change the mindset of those in Claret and Blue. This remains a very winnable fixture.
Something's got to give
While West Ham's recent form has been nothing to write home about, with four straight Premier League defeats in the books, Middlesbrough have also struggled for positive results since opening 2016/17 with five points from three matches. Boro lost all three Premier League games in September, with 2-1 defeats at the Riverside Stadium by Crystal Palace and Tottenham Hotspur bookending a 3-1 loss at Everton, so confidence will not be high in the visitors' dressing room on Saturday. With neither club collecting a single point in the month, both will hope to start October with a morale-boosting victory.
Key man
While West Ham may have struggled collectively this season, Dimitri Payet remains key to their hopes of turning things around sooner rather than later. The France playmaker has continued to create chances, making 3.8 key passes per game in his four Premier League appearances so far – third in the top flight behind Chelsea's Willian and Liverpool's Roberto Firmino. Those passes have helped him chalk up three assists in just 293 minutes of action – two for Michail Antonio against Watford and a third for the same player at West Bromwich Albion – to put him joint-second in the Premier League standings behind Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne. Payet is also unleashing 3.8 shots per game on average, good enough for fourth in the league behind Manchester United's Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Manchester City's Sergio Aguero and Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho.
Battle of the Spanish stoppers
Saturday's fixture could come down to which Spanish goalkeeper performs best – West Ham United's Adrian or Middlesbrough's Victor Valdes. Adrian, who will hope to be included in Spain's squad for their upcoming FIFA World Cup qualifiers with Italy and Albania, has made a joint-Premier League high 24 saves in six appearances this season, and looked to be back to his best against Southampton last Sunday. The experienced Valdes, who signed for Boro this summer following spells with Barcelona and Manchester United, has been far less busy, making eight saves in four appearances, but has still conceded an average of two goals-per-game. The battle of the Spanish stoppers could go a long way to deciding who comes out on top at London Stadium.
Downing's return
Finally, Stewart Downing is set to face West Ham for the first time since leaving east London to return home in summer 2015. Some eyebrows were raised when the England international swapped the Premier League for the Championship, but Downing's self-stated hope of being involved in a promotion battle came true last season. Now 32, the Middlesbrough-born winger remains an important player for the club where he started his career 15 years ago, and Hammers fans will be wary of his elusive running and ability to deliver quality and shoot accurately with either foot.
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U18s full of confidence ahead of visit to Chelsea
WHUFC.com
West Ham United's travel to Chelsea on Saturday (11am kick-off)
The Hammers have won their last two matches scoring eight goals in the process
Mark Phillips says his team are full of confidence going into the match
Mark Phillips says his team are relishing the prospect of a battle with London rivals Chelsea this Saturday in the U18 Premier League South Division. The young Hammers are brimming with confidence after two successive victories against Fulham and, most recently, Brighton and Hove Albion last weekend. However, Phillips believes that Chelsea will present a completely different proposition compared to the Hammer's two previous opponents, but said his team are more than up to the task. "Chelsea will think they can outpass us and outscore us and have the lion's share of possession but we're also confident in ourselves," said the U18s assistant manager. "They'll set up in their own way and won't change their style no matter who their playing against. They move the ball around really well in midfield. It should be a good encounter and it's one that me and the boys are looking forward to."
The Hammers strong form over the last few weeks is thanks in large to striker Jahmal Hector-Ingram, who scored a hat-trick against Fulham and twice against Brighton. The 17-year-old's form is no surprise to Phillips who expects him to continue his purple patch in the games to come. "Jahmal's love to score in bunches. Once he's confident and on a roll, he'll score lots for us," he added. "It's five in two for him now and that's not a bad record to have so hopefully he can continue that against Chelsea."
The U18s travel to west London without their tricky No7 Dan Kemp who's earned his place Terry Westley's PL2 squad to face Leicester City in the Premier League Cup. Phillips' team kick-off their league fixture with Chelsea at 11am on Saturday at Cobham Training Ground.
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Feghouli - I am representing the Algerian people
WHUFC.com
Algeria hero Sofiane Feghouli is the cover star for Saturday's 100-page Official Programme for the Premier League visit of Middlesbrough.
The winger talks about his summer move to West Ham United, his pride at representing his national side and relishing the challenge of facing former Valencia teammates Antonio Barragan and Alvaro Negredo, who are now with Boro.
The No7 could make his first Premier League start for the Hammers on Saturday before jetting off to represent his country in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier with Cameroon next week, and the player himself knows the importance of performing well in both fixtures.
"I know that when I play abroad that I am representing the Algerian people," said Feghouli, who will also represent his nation at the African Cup of Nations finals in Gabon in early 2017. "They are back in Algeria supporting me and so I always try to give my best to give the best impression possible of Algeria and to make my fellow countrymen and women proud.
"The Algerian national game has never been as strong as it is today and we have a very talented squad. We have been playing together for a couple of seasons and we are maturing as a team. Hopefully, this will show on the pitch in the upcoming tournaments, especially during the African Cup of Nations next year."
Elsewhere in Saturday's issue, fans can find out more about the star-studded FIFA 17 launch, which was held at London Stadium this week and featured West Ham's very own eSports star Sean 'Dragonn' Allen.
Interview-wise, former player and lifelong Hammer Ian Pearce shares stories of his career and first visit to London Stadium, Ian 'Moose' Abrahams chats to Boro-supporting Olympic table tennis star Paul Drinkhall and new England U19 goalkeeper Nathan Trott talks about his eventful career history.
Supporters can also find out more about Saturday's visitors Middlesbrough and read exclusive columns penned by Joint-Chairman David Sullivan, manager Slaven Bilic and captain Mark Noble.
Fans will also be able to collect the latest four stickers for their Hammers Heroes Sticker Album, which was given away free with the Official Programme issued for the AFC Bournemouth fixture in August.
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Steinberg - Slaven could change the system
WHUFC.com
Guardian football writer Jacob Steinberg believes Slaven Bilic is ready to make some important changes to the system for the game against Middlesbrough on Saturday and hopes it will be a turning point for the Club as they look to turn their season around.
With the Hammers suffering five defeats from their opening six league games, Steinberg knows the importance of the Hammers getting back on the winning trail before the international break takes place.....
Despite the situation that West Ham are in, I still thought Slaven came across really well during the press conference and had a good sense of humour. He is obviously trying to remain positive.
He was fairly honest about the meeting which took place after the Southampton game clearly he knows it is not working at the moment.
That is not just from a defensive point of view, but also a collective point of view as well.
At least he is not under any illusions about what is going on at the moment.
If they play like they did against Southampton last weekend, then Middlesbrough will have a very good chance of winning the game.
It really depends what kind of response they will have at the weekend and I will be very interested to see what team Slaven names for the game.
Will he change the formation because if you analyse what he said during the press conference, he said he has spent a lot of time thinking about the system which suggests he could be considering a change.
Maybe Payet could move into the middle and will this be the game that Feghouli get his first Premier League start?
Even giving someone like Zaza more support upfront could be another option.
I look at someone like Pedro Obiang who does not get much of a chance from the substitutes bench.
The defence might not be playing well but it is a collective issue and there is a case for adding a bit more steel to the midfield.
I think the West Ham fans should be concerned by what is going on at the moment. I think they have got a good squad of players, but you can say the same back in 2003.
They went down that year with 42 points so these things can run away with you.
If they don't get a victory on Saturday, they will then face two weeks of negativity over the international break before another difficult game against Crystal Palace who are playing pretty well at the moment and have a striker in form.
They then face Sunderland which is huge and a difficult run after that.
The top teams have improved so you need to start winning games against the likes of Middlesbrough and Sunderland.
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West Ham United v Middlesbrough
SAT, 01 OCT 2016PREMIER LEAGUE
15:00
Venue: London Stadium
TEAM NEWS
West Ham manager Slaven Bilic says he will give "almost" the same squad that lost at home to Southampton a chance of redemption this weekend. Havard Nordtveit will miss the game following a minor medical procedure, while Aaron Cresswell, Andy Carroll, Andre Ayew and Diafra Sakho remain out.
Middlesbrough winger Adama Traore is pushing for a start after an impressive cameo against Tottenham. Defender Fabio Da Silva is back in training and could feature.
MOTD COMMENTATOR'S NOTES
Jonathan Pearce: "West Ham's new home seems badly disconnected with their fans, and their season is desperate on all fronts. "They've lost five of their opening six league games of a season for the first time ever. They are reportedly investigating claims that players were drunk this week. Their signing of Enner Valencia may now face probes after the Sam Allardyce allegations. "Boro also look troubled. Three defeats on the spin, just five shots on target away and only two wins in 22 trips to London. The Hammers need a redemptive win to calm concerns but it's crucial for both sides."
WHAT THE MANAGERS SAY
West Ham manager Slaven Bilic on a club-sanctioned night out on Monday: "The team bonding was completely my idea. I told Mark Noble to take the guys out and go for a meal. "I am totally concentrated on the game on Saturday. It is good for us all to stick together and good for team building." Middlesbrough head coach Aitor Karanka: "We need to improve our performances. We are learning but we have to learn quickly. When we play in our intensity and our style, and with the right attitude, we will win games. "The players need to know that we can compete, but we must compete from the first minute."
LAWRO'S PREDICTION
The Hammers looked all over the show at the back against Southampton last week. But Boro are probably the perfect team for them to play at the moment, because they don't pose much of an attacking threat - they have had the fewest shots per game on average of any Premier League team so far this season.
Prediction: 2-0
MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head
West Ham have won their last seven Premier League home games against Middlesbrough. It's their second longest winning streak against a Premier League opponent: they won nine in a row against Blackburn. Middlesbrough have not scored more than once in an away league game at West Ham since a 2-1 victory in April 1989, managing only four goals in 14 subsequent games.
West Ham United
West Ham have lost five of their opening six matches of a league season for the first time.
They could lose five consecutive Premier League matches for the first time since May 2011.
Slaven Bilic's side have conceded as many as 16 goals in their opening six games of a top-flight season for the first time since 1967-68, when they let in 18.
The Hammers have conceded at least two goals in 13 of their last 16 league matches, letting in 36 goals overall.
Dimitri Payet has lost all four Premier League games he has been involved in this season - he only lost six games in the whole of 2015-16.
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough have won only one of their last 12 Premier League matches (D4, L7).
Boro have lost their last five Premier League away games in London.
Alvaro Negredo has scored in only one of his last 18 Premier League appearances.
Víctor Valdes has played six Premier League games (two for Manchester United, four for Middlesbrough) and never been on the winning side.
SAM's verdict
Most probable score: 1-0 Probability of draw: 23%
Probability of home win: 60% Probability of away win: 17%
SAM (Sports Analytics Machine) is a super-computer created by @ProfIanMcHale at the University of Salford that is used to predict the outcome of football matches.
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West Ham's Slaven Bilic: It hurts when I look in the mirror, it hurts when I look at the Premier League table
SLAVEN BILIC
Evening Standard
I have been told that I looked very "down" in interviews after the defeat by Southampton. Well, yes, I was "down" but how am I supposed to be? I don't think there is a problem if a manager is like that after his team have lost, especially four times in a row. The defeat did hurt, so why should I pretend that it didn't? It hurt me personally, totally. It hurts me when I look at the Premier League table, it hurts me when I look in the mirror. What is the point of smiling? Does that make me a brave leader? I am a leader and I am very brave but I hurt after a defeat. Most of the managers are the same. It doesn't mean I have lost my faith or determination — on the contrary – but we lost again and I don't like it. It hurt me. I can hide it, I can pretend but what is the benefit? Yes, I was "down" but it didn't drag on. I was ready to do my job soon after and prepare for the next game, which is Middlesbrough tomorrow.
In every team the players don't always start from zero. It helps the manager to know, from previous experiences, what your players can do on the pitch, what is their capacity. After a good season, you remember what every player did to bring you to that position and that helps you set the goals and standards for the following season. It enables you to set the bar higher. That is why, on paper, the players here have the credit. When, however, things are not going well, some of those players inevitably lose that credit. These players are not robots. We know even before the season starts that some of them will gain and others lose. If other players within the squad are training well, then I must consider them seriously.
We can't say that anyone in this squad hasn't been involved. Because of the Europa League and injuries, everyone has had their chance. No one can say they didn't get their chance. The reason why I'm saying now the credit has run out is to mobilise the players, put them on red alert if you like. There's no more: "We're going to do it next week." It has to be now. That's the message I want to get across. I'm not suggesting that everyone will lose their place in the team but I am no longer saying: "I'm not worried, it will come." I am worried.
What I am saying is: "It's time to mobilise yourselves. Do it — and do it now. Don't be too casual, too calm."
In training they are not like this, they care — but you have to do it in a game. At the moment the confidence is low. That is to be expected. When we concede, we sink down. Against Southampton, they scored in the 41st minute and then created more chances in the four minutes before half-time than they had done in the rest of the first half. We have had our meetings but talking can only go so far. I will never give up but, now, we have to do it. On Monday, I said to our captain Mark Noble: "Why don't you all go out? You are off tomorrow. Have a meal, a few beers."
Generally it was good and a lot of time it helps. Okay, I've seen some stories about one or two of our players maybe staying out longer than others and we will deal with that after the Middlesbrough game. When you are not doing well there seems to be many of these stories. I understand that. There was another one this week about players' children at the training ground.
I am tempted to give a two-word reply to that but if my mother in Croatia saw it, she wouldn't be happy. Seriously, come on. I know how it works with these stories, though. It was the same for Chelsea last year, for Newcastle, for Manchester City, a few Italian and German clubs as well. When it happens to them, you might think about it for a few minutes and ask yourself: "What is happening there?" When it happens to you, though, it is a little different. Last season there were more kids at the training ground at Chadwell Heath, so that's it. The bottom line is that your methods are great — when you are winning. If you are not, your methods come under question. You are either too strict, or too soft. If you are winning, you are good because you are strict or good because you are friendly with them. I want to say, though, that these things are my responsibility and I take it. These kind of stories don't keep me awake at night but do they affect me? Yes, for a few minutes. The only way you can stop these things are by starting to win matches and there are three reasons why, I believe, we will: Training — the players are doing well, they remain hungry, they know the situation, they want to change it — they are a good bunch. We have some players coming back from injury.
It is still early and it is not so hard to catch up. We can't keep waiting, though. It has to be now.
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West Ham United v Middlesbrough
KUMB.com
Filed: Friday, 30th September 2016
By: Preview Percy
Whatever it is Preview Percy drinks when he writes these previews, he assures us that he has a "therapeutic use exemption" for it. You may wish to apply for one yourself before reading any further...
Next up we play host to Middlesbrough. It's a Saturday 3pm kick-off which is just how it should be of course. Travel? Well the bad news is that all the stuff that is going on in and out of Liverpool Street, including replacement buses to Newbury Park, will still be going on. Worse still, if you come in from east of Pitsea on C2C be prepared for diversions and replacement buses between Pitsea and Upminster. If you left the ground early last week you might just wish you had stayed put.
So Boro' then. They have 5 points from 6 games so far leaving them two points and two places above our good selves. All their points thus far came in the first three games which consisted of a 1-1 draw at home to Stoke, a 2-1 win in the "other" North East derby at Sunderland and the world's least surprising 0-0 draw at West Brom. Since then they have lost their last three at home to Palace & Spurs (both 1-2) and away at Everton (3-1). They were also knocked out of the League Cup 2-1 at Fulham. So they have a few things to think about then.
Of course this time last year they were in the Championship having been relegated in 2008-09. Their promotion last season, which was achieved by virtue of their finishing in second place on 89 points, four points behind champions Burnley. They were there or thereabouts for most of the season though it wasn't all plain sailing. Manager Aitor Karanka is said to have had a bit of a contretemps with club owner Steve Gibson over none other than Stewart Downing. Now Downing's a bit of a favourite up there, not least with Gibson. However, it seems that Karanka doesn't share the general enthusiasm for the player that abounds on Teeside. Things came to a head in March when a frank exchange of views between chairman and manager took place at the club's training ground. Convention dictates that any disagreement that takes place on a training ground should be referred to as a "bust-up". At the end of the bust-up it looked as if Karanka would be on his bike as assistant Steve Agnew took charge of the team for the trip to Charlton, a match that they somehow contrived to lose 2-1 against a team destined for relegation with a whimper. The result may or may not have had something to do with the fact that on the Monday hands were shaken, backs were patted and bygones allowed to be bygones and Karanka returned to lead the team to second place. In a neat spot of predictive processing by the fixture computer (or more likely, by fluke) their last game of the season saw them play Brighton with whom they were level on points, carrying a two goal goal difference advantage. The 1-1 draw thus saw them promoted on goal difference.
According to the work experience girl wearing the Department S t-shirt without knowing who they are, the promotion gave us a bit of a windfall as the Downing deal provided for an add-on payment of a reported £1m to be paid should they get promoted. Hurrah. Whatever Karanka's misgivings about the player – and with the exception of one or two matches I myself could never quite see what all the fuss was about – that particular hatchet would seem to have been buried as Downing has started all 6 league games this season.
The biggest fee shelled out this summer was the £12m that went out on Dutch midfielder Marten de Roon who is probably known as "Wayne" to his mates. He came in from Atalanta where he had spent just the one season following three years with Heerenveen. Although he got 36 matches under his belt with Atalanta last season It seems the new boss didn't fancy him and the lure of Middlesbrough's lights (red, amber , green) proved too great to resist.
Between the sticks they brought in veteran custodian Victor Valdes from our old friends FC Unattached, with whom he had been training since the expiry of his contract with Moan Utd. He spent much of his time at Old Trafford on the naughty step having fallen out with management after refusing to play in a reserve match. The latter part of last season was spent on loan in Belgium which surely counts as cruel and inhuman punishment. Standard Liege were the beneficiaries before he signed for Boro' this summer on becoming a free agent. Clearly Belgium must be worse than I thought. Valdes is one of those chaps with two countries on his international appearances list. To his 20 Spanish caps he can add a further 12 for his native Catalonia which, like Scotland and Wales, isn't a proper country. Unlike Scotland and Wales they don't have FIFA membership so don't get to play with the big boys that often.
For once, the work experience girl's t-shirt this week is, in fact, quite apt given that another £3m (or, if you prefer €5m) went on another "Vic" in the form of Dane Viktor Fischer. Danish Vic's early days were spent with that club with the typing error for a name that Winston Reid used to play for. However, there is some sort of Danish connection with Ajax, who have sourced many players from that part of the world over the years and Fischer ended up completing his youth career in Amsterdam. He then spent four years in the first XI before Boro' swooped during the last window. Variously described as an attacking midfielder or a winger he's now into double figures for Danish caps.
They also pulled in a new right-back in the form of Spaniard Antonio Barragan. This is in fact Barragan's second spell in England. As an 18-year-old he raised a few eyebrows when Liverpool nicked him from the Seville youth set-up, despite him not having ever played for Southampton as far as anyone could tell. He managed just the one first XI outing for the scousers – in a so-called Champions League qualifier – before returning to Spain where, following shorter stints with Deportivo La Corunna and Valledolid he pitched up at Valencia. He spent 5 years there, a particular highlight coming in scoring in a 2-1 win over Real Madrid that brought a 22 match unbeaten run to a conclusion and wiped that silly smug grin off Christiano Ronaldo's boat. At 29, and with his last international recognition coming at U21 level 9 years ago, it's probably fair to say that he's not going to be bothering the compilers of international tournament sticker albums any time soon.
One of the more notable arrivals was that of Alvaro Negredo who came in on loan from Valencia. Negredo might be remembered for his spell with Man City in which he scored a hat-trick in a 6-0 1st leg win in the League Cup semi-final a couple of years ago. I forget against who. Clearly stunned by having been present during the Gary Neville reign at Valencia someone has persuaded him that Middlesbrough is a good place to be so here he is. He opened his account for the season in the season-opener against Stoke.
They also spent £2m on Cardiff full-back Fabio. He first came to prominence when on Moan Utd's books alongside his twin brother Rafael. Fabio appears to have been the lesser of the talents in the family, and while his brother is plying his trade in France with Lyon, Fabio ended up at QPR on loan before ending up in Wales. He's been struggling with a knee injury of late though he's on the list as being ready for a return this weekend.
Elsewhere it's been quite a week hasn't it. Football managers on the take? Who'd have thought it? You'll be telling me next that (Name of well-known football personality removed for legal reasons) had been known to (nature of accusation removed for legal reasons) with his dog as signatory. As for the former England manager, well the theory goes that as a player during an era when the rewards were so much lower it must be galling to see bog standard players becoming multi-millionaires hence his rather sad chasing of a pound note at every possible opportunity. The reported million pound pay-off is a bit of an insult though – that's the sort of deal that should get whoever agreed it at the FA put away here in the Avram Grant Olympic Rest Home For The Bewildered. Only we're full.
Us? Well last week was a complete and utter shambles. I knew it was going to be a bad day when the rest home's "Happy Bus" picked us up to go to the match. Our journey was blighted by the appearance of that short bloke who helps run this site on the radio. Like most right-thinking people I wanted to kick in the "Happy Bus" windows when I heard his know-nothing ramblings. Since it was on the BBC I suggested to Matron that she should withhold the Rest Home's TV licence for this year but she just coughed a bit and changed the subject.
Since then they've had a crisis meeting and been out on a bonding session which ended up either with either a quiet night in with some cocoa or like something like the last days of Gomorrah depending on who you care to believe. Frankly if they stop buggering about in defence during matches and start winning games they can stay up as late as they like as far as I'm concerned. Maybe even as late as eleven.
Team news and Nordveidt will be absent, this putting a dent in his quest to play in all eleven positions in as short a time as possible. We are told that his absence will be due to a "small procedure". The last time I had one of those I (nature of procedure removed for reasons of taste).
Apart from that we'll be pretty much left with the same squad that depressed us so much last weekend, though the injury situation should ease after the break. Unless of course our luck continues on its current trajectory and pick up even more knocks over the coming week or two.
Prediction. Well things were so bad last week that I am tempted to draw on that old phrase "things can only get better". However, I was then reminded that that particular song got used in the 1997 general election and subsequent events proved how wrong that title could be. Nevertheless, I do have a feeling about this one – and it's not the result of that small procedure I mentioned earlier. They are on a bit of a streak of their own at the moment and, let's face it, something has got to start going right for us eventually by the law of averages. So I will be taking the £2.50 we had collected towards Sam Allardyce's retirement fund here at the Swan And Superinjunction and I will be placing it on a 2-0 home win, once the windows have been repaired on the Happy Bus so I can get down to Winstones The Turf Accountants to place the bet.
Enjoy the game!
When last we met at the Boleyn: Drew 1-1 (Championship March 2013). Not much of a game to remember. Faye opened the scoring but we failed to press home the advantage, presumably under instruction not to go forward in case we surrendered the lead. So that we surrendered the lead to an 84th minute drive from Ogbeche. We also endured the statutory turning down of a stonewall penalty. Just to show some things never change.
Referee: Neil Swarbick. When he sent off the wrong player last season one of the papers said that Premier League referees would be "coming under scrutiny" due to their poor performances. Well Daily Telegraph what are you waiting for?
Danger Man: Stewart Downing The law of the ex and all that.
Percy's Poser: Last week we asked you for the name of the alcohol-free beer advertised by Lawrie McMenemy shortly before his arrest for drink-driving. The first correct answer out of the digital hat was provided by Mrs Ursula Macfisheries of East Tilbury who told us "it was called Barbican and McMenemy's catchphrase was 'it's great mon'. Needless to say, it wasn't" Mrs Macfisheries wins a lifetime supply of the product.
For this week's poser we look North East. The fine tv programme Auf Wiedersehen Pet is generally associated with Newcastle but part of series three was actually set in Middlesbrough. Our question is: why did the BBC have to broadcast a disclaimer caption at the end of that series? The first correct answer out of the digital hat will win a genuine can of Middlesbrough Smog (well we'll give you the empty can and satnav directions to Teeside anyway).
Please note that the opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, nor should be attributed to, KUMB.com.
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LOAN WATCH – THE SEASON SO FAR
BY BRIAN KNOX ON 30 SEPTEMBER 2016 AT 12:29AM
TheWestHamWay.co.uk
The Hammers have a record breaking 11 players out on loan this season but in truth only 3 of those are regular starters for the teams that they have been loaned out to with Reece Burke on the sidelines at present with an injury.
Josh Cullen, Lewis Page and Josh Pask have all been playing regularly for Bradford City, Coventry City and Gillingham respectively in League One and doing very well by all accounts.
Young Irish International Cullen has once again performed admirably since his return to the Bantams, scoring a goal and notching two assists along with 2 or 3 Man of the Match performances to date. Page and Pask have also been praised on numerous occasions by their respective management teams and fanbases alike.
On the other side of the coin Stephen Hendrie hasn't been named in the Blackburn Rovers first team squad in the last month for any of their league games whilst the other West Ham loanee at Ewood Park, Martin Samuelsen, has played a grand total of 7 minutes of Championship football in September since his season long loan move there.
Young defender/defensive midfielder, George Dobson has suffered a similar fate at Walsall. George has actually remained on the bench this month without stepping onto the pitch at all.
Kyle Knoyle who had a very good loan spell at Dundee United last season, playing the majority of their games towards the end of the season, suffered a serious elbow injury during pre-season and has yet to recover, so he is currently still on the sidelines at Wigan Athletic beside Reece Burke who will miss the next month after a hernia operation.
Young Serbian attacker, Luka Belic has yet to make the Motherwell first team squad after joining the Scottish Premier League side on deadline day.
Enner Valencia has yet to start his first league game for Everton since his loan move to Goodison but he did start the game against Norwich City in the EFL Cup last week in which the Championship side upset the odds with a 2-0 win away from home.
Another player that doesn't seem to have much luck on the injury front hasn't yet appeared for his new team either. Doneil Henry joined AC Horsens of the Danish Superliga last month but a knee injury has kept him on the sidelines until recently where he was an unused sub against Winston Reid's former team FC Midtjylland.
Whilst the Hammers brass are sure to be happy with the fact that players like Cullen, Page and Pask are playing as regularly as they are, I'm pretty sure they wont be too impressed that other young players out on loan such as Hendrie, Samuelsen and Dobson are receiving very little playing time at all. Unfortunately under the new FIFA regulations regarding emergency loans, each of those players will have to stay with their respective clubs until January at the earliest and cannot be loaned anywhere else until the window re-opens.
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DAILY NEWS: ANTONIO COULD HAVE BEEN SPURS AND INJURIES TO RETURN!
BY EXWHUEMPLOYEE ON 29 SEPTEMBER 2016 AT 9:41PM
TheWestHamWay.co.uk
Daily News Roundup from @IronsNews:
Social media reports Andy Carroll and Darren Randolph were drunk on Tuesday, after a team bonding meal on Monday night. On the matter, Bilic said: "I spoke to the chairman. After the game, at the start of next week, we are going to talk about it and if necessary we are going to act. But if you are asking who's idea it was it was my idea, completely. I told them to do that, for me it's a good thing to do, not every week but in a great situation or a bad situation it's good to stick together and its a good thing to do. It's good for team building and that's it."
Finally some good news for West Ham as Slaven Bilic's side are handed triple injury boost
West Ham have received a welcome injury boost as they look to bounce back from their torrid start to the new season. Aaron Cresswell, Andre Ayew and Diafra Sakho are all progressing well and should be back in action soon. 'He gave me my first opportunity so I'm definitely sad but you've just got to move on, that's how it is in football.' 'The manager I really like and who's done well over the years, I' d say Alan Pardew, I was with him at Southampton and I think he's a quality manager, I think he'd do well as England manager,' Antonio told ITV London.
West Ham searching for 'One good result'
"One good result can change the whole season. We cannot think it is just going to happen. We need to earn it. I am concerned and it has been a bad start," Bilic told reporters on Thursday. "But with one win we can build everything back with a win over Middlesbrough over Saturday."
Spurs wanted Antonio in their academy after spotting him as a youngster. But Mrs Antonio didn't want her son trekking from their south west London home to Spurs' north London training base. "In hindsight it's definitely made me better as a player. It's made me more hungry, it's made me want to go out… it's made me eager and I'm never satisfied."
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PL2 side prepare to begin cup defence
WHUFC.com
West Ham United PL2 start the defence of their Premier League Cup title away at Leicester City
The Hammers won the crown last year, beating Hull City in the final in May
Saturday's match is being held at Loughborough University (1pm kick-off)
West Ham United PL2 begin the defence of their Premier League Cup crown on Saturday as they travel to Leicester City in Group E.
The Hammers go into the match off the back of a 0-0 stalemate at home to Brighton and Hove Albion in Premier League 2 on Monday, but midfielder Marcus Browne believes the team will show what a good side they are this weekend.
The match is being held at Loughborough University (1pm kick-off) with Terry Westley's men beginning the defence of the title they won last season with a dramatic penalty shootout victory over Hull City.
"We've got a bit of a point to prove, to prove the win wasn't luck and we are a good team and a good club," said midfielder Marcus Browne.
"The changing room is happy and we're looking forward to getting our defence started on Saturday."
Westley was full of praise for his side on Monday night in the draw with the Seagulls, saying they played with a style and identity.
The PL2 boss was keen to stress if the Hammers continue to perform in the same manner and add a touch of ruthlessness, they will achieve more success.
"I often say to coaches, if you can play with a style, panache and an identity, you're half way there," said Westley.
"We didn't create enough in the first half (v Brighton) but if we continue to work at it on the training ground, the goals will come.
Westley was also delighted to see Djair Parfitt-Williams back out on the field against the South Coast side – his first appearance since pre-season.
The winger had been missing through injury but made his first league start of the campaign. He'll also be set to feature in the cup tie with the Foxes on Saturday.
"Brighton was Djair's first game since pre-season so it's great that he got 45 minutes under his belt. He really needs a good three or four games into him before he gets back to full match fitness."
The Premier League Cup (Group E) match between West Ham United PL2 vs Leicester City kicks off at 1pm on Saturday from Loughborough University.
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Eamonn Dolan memorial match announced
KUMB.com
Filed: Friday, 30th September 2016
By: Staff Writer
Exeter City have announced details of a one-off memorial match in honour of former coach Eamonn Dolan.
Dolan, who began his career at West Ham under John Lyall in the 1980s died earlier this year at the age of just 48 following a long and brave battle against cancer.
And earlier this week it was announced that a charity match will be staged by Exeter City in honour of Dolan, a former player and manager of theirs.
Scheduled for 1pm on Sunday, October 23. entry to the game is by donation with a suggested gift of £10 for adults and £5 for under-18s and seniors.
Watch Dolan's three goals for West Ham United here
Fans also have the chance to play alongside their former heroes as two playing spots are available in the game at £250 per head.
Anyone interested in playing in the match should contact Barry Full (fullsbarry@gmail.com). Sponsorship opportunitiesare also available. For more information contact Mark Jenkins (mark.jenkins@ecfc.co.uk) or by phoning 07966 144430.
Exeter have confirmed that some former West Ham stars are set to feature (deatils to be confirmed) along with a number of ex-Grecian stars including Sean Devine and Steve Flack
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West Ham's Simone Zaza compared to DENNIS BERGKAMP by boss Slaven Bilic as poor start frustrates fans
22:30, 30 SEP 2016
BY DARREN LEWIS
Italy striker hasn't scored yet in four games but it was the same for Arsenal's Dutch wizard and many Premier League newcomers, points out the Hammers manager
The Mirror
Slaven Bilic has defended West Ham 's capture of £25million striker Simone Zaza and their summer sale of James Tomkins. Bilic insists he still has faith in Italy international Zaza — despite his poor start to his career in the Premier League. The Hammers paid an initial £5m loan fee to take the 25-year-old from Serie A champions Juventus last month, with a further £20m due if he joins on a permanent basis next summer. However, Zaza has left fans underwhelmed with his performances so far, failing to score in his first four appearances. It has even sparked suggestions the club could pull the plug on his loan deal in January, with AC Milan keen to take him back to Serie A. But Bilic said: "He is definitely a good player who came from a big club to a new country. New players need time. If we go back and think about Dennis Bergkamp, who needed – I don't know – a year? "It is quite common with even the best players from abroad. Plus, Zaza wasn't a regular there and didn't have match fitness. It takes time sometimes and unfortunately we don't have that time."
West Ham sit in the bottom three ahead of Saturday's game at home to Middlesbrough . Promoted Boro haven't won in five in all competitions, but the Hammers are even worse — losing five of the six opening Premier League games for the first time ever. West Ham are also investigating claims some of their players were drunk in public on Tuesday morning, but manager Bilic maintains he is focused solely on the three points. Regarding Tomkins, the Croatian claimed the player forced his transfer to London rivals Crystal Palace. He added: "I told you in the beginning the situation with Tomkins. "It was never me or the club that wanted to sell him. James wanted to play week in, week out. I rated him a lot as a guy and as a player. "I used him a lot last year and he played many games for us. But when he wasn't the first choice, he found it very hard in a nice and sporting way. Not in a bad way. "That is the reason. I hate to sell. "For me it was always the plan to play local players – West Ham academy players, then London-based players, then English, then British. Then, if we can't find that, we go abroad. Tomkins is local.
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West Ham v Middlesbrough preview: Hammers and Boro target return to winning ways
Last Updated: 30/09/16 11:20am
SSN
West Ham and Middlesbrough will look to put a torrid September behind them when they face each other at London Stadium on Saturday. Slaven Bilic's West Ham failed to win a Premier League game in September, while build-up to this match was dominated by allegations Andy Carroll and Darren Randolph were drunk after a sanctioned night out. Bilic admitted he urged the players to enjoy some time off together, with the club currently struggling in 18th position in the table. Boro meanwhile have lost three games in a row following an unbeaten league run in August, most recently falling to a Heung-Min Son double against Tottenham last weekend.
Team news
Bilic confirmed Havard Nordtveit is doubtful to face Boro, and Andre Ayew remains sidelined for another three to four weeks through injury. Aaron Cresswell will return to training on Monday and is likely to feature for the Hammers after the international break.
Head coach Aitor Karanka has no fresh injury concerns ahead of the clash. For Middlesbrough, club captain Grant Leadbitter (hernia) is progressing well but remains out for the game.
Karanka also confirmed Fabio (knee) and James Husband (shoulder) have returned to training but the pair are likely to be eased back into action.
Opta stats
Alvaro Negredo has scored five goals in four appearances in all competitions against the Hammers, although all five goals arrived in the EFL Cup.
West Ham have lost five of their opening six top-flight games in a season for the first time in their history.
Boro have lost their last five Premier League away games in London and have won only two of their last 22 trips to the capital (D3 L17).
Since the start of April, West Ham have conceded 19 home goals, more than any other Premier League team in that period.
Middlesbrough have not scored more than once in an away league game at West Ham since a 2-1 win in April 1989, netting four goals in 14 games since.
West Ham have lost all four Premier League games Dimitri Payet has appeared in this season - he only lost six games in the whole of 2015-16.
Victor Valdes has played six Premier League games (two for Man Utd, four for Middlesbrough) and has never been on the winning side.
Merson's prediction
This is the type of game that makes Super 6 very difficult! You just don't know. This could be any score either way. West Ham are really struggling, their defence is all over the place and they are not playing to the standards they were last season. It was bad business to sell James Tomkins. He might not be the difference, but he makes a difference. He can play at centre-half or full-back, he is comfortable on the ball and at the moment they have no defenders. They sold him for just £10m, it wasn't a huge fee. Middlesbrough are lacking pace and have become a bit predictable. But if they can turn in a performance like they did in the second half against Tottenham last week when the game was lost, then they have more of a chance. It's a really tough one to call.
PAUL PREDICTS: 1-1 (Sky Bet odds 5/1)
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West Ham vs Middlesbrough: Team news, kick-off time, probable line-ups, odds and stats for the Premier League clash
Norwegian Havard Nordtveit is West Ham's latest injury absentee
Middlesbrough head coach Aitor Karanka has no fresh injury concerns
Fabio da Silva has missed the last four but is available for selection
By SPORTSMAIL REPORTER
PUBLISHED: 11:05, 30 September 2016 | UPDATED: 11:05, 30 September 2016
Ahead of this weekend's Premier League action, Sportsmail will be providing you with all you need to know about every fixture, with team news, provisional squads, betting odds and Opta stats. Here is all the information you need for West Ham's home clash with Middlesbrough...
West Ham vs Middlesbrough (London Stadium)
Team news
West Ham
Havard Nordtveit is West Ham's latest injury absentee ahead of the visit of Middlesbrough. The versatile midfielder underwent a small medical procedure on Wednesday and will be out for a week. Left-backs Aaron Cresswell and Arthur Masuaku and forwards Andy Carroll, Andre Ayew and Diafra Sakho remain on the sidelines.
Provisional squad: Adrian, Randolph, Arbeloa, Byram, Reid, Collins, Ogbonna, Oxford, Kouyate, Obiang, Fernandes, Noble, Payet, Lanzini, Antonio, Feghouli, Tore, Zaza, Fletcher, Calleri.
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough head coach Aitor Karanka has no fresh injury concerns ahead of Saturday's Premier League trip to West Ham. Fabio da Silva has missed the last four games with a knee problem, but is available for selection once again, while fellow full-back James Husband is also back in training after dislocating a shoulder in pre-season. That means only midfielder Grant Leadbitter is still missing, and he could return to the training pitch within weeks with his recovery from hernia surgery progressing more quickly than expected.
Provisional squad: Valdes, Guzan, Chambers, Friend, Barragan, Nsue, Da Silva, Ayala, Gibson, Espinosa, De Roon, Clayton, Ramirez, Forshaw, Downing, Stuani, Fischer, De Sart, Traore, Negredo, Nugent, Rhodes.
WEST HAM VS MIDDLESBROUGH
Kick-off: Saturday, 3pm
Referee: Neil Swarbrick
Managers:
Slaven Bilic (West Ham)
Aitor Karanka (Middlesbrough)
Head-to-head league record:
West Ham wins 17
Draws 5
Middlesbrough wins 7
Recent league form (latest result first):
West Ham: LLLLW
Middlesbrough: LLLDW
Key match stats (supplied by Opta)
West Ham United have won their last seven Premier League home games against Middlesbrough; only versus Blackburn (9) have they recorded a longer winning streak at home.
Alvaro Negredo has scored five goals in four appearances (all comps) against the Hammers, although all five goals arrived in the EFL Cup (0 in 2 apps in the PL).
West Ham have lost five of their opening six top-flight games in a season for the first time in their history.
Boro have lost their last five Premier League away games in London and have won only two of their last 22 trips to the nation's capital (D3 L17).
Since the start of April, West Ham have conceded 19 home goals, more than any other Premier League team in that period.
Middlesbrough's haven't scored more than once in an away league game at West Ham since a 2-1 win in April 1989, netting four goals in 14 games since.
The Hammers have allowed their opposition 32 shots on target from inside the penalty area in the Premier League this season, more than 14 teams have allowed in total.
Alvaro Negredo has scored in only one of his last 18 Premier League appearances.
West Ham have lost all four Premier League games Dimitri Payet has appeared in this season – he only lost six games in the whole of 2015-16.
Víctor Valdés has played six Premier League games (two for Man Utd, four for Middlesbrough) and has never been on the winning side.
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Hammers need big Boro performance to wake London Stadium slumber
ESPN
Slaven Bilic admits his West Ham side are well below par. Common sense and logic suggest it should happen rarely, but followers of the Premier League know it occurs with alarming regularity in football. Every season a team generally considered to be "too good to struggle" ends up in the relegation mire, as the wheels come off in spectacular fashion. The downfall is depressingly similar. It starts in a small way, with something seemingly insignificant; a loss of form, board level issues, rumours of dressing room spats; then escalates to a couple of alarming defeats, before transcending into a pitiful spiral that no-one seems able to stop. All the while the players claim it's not the manager; that their job is to play football and what happens off the field doesn't affect them. As the drama unfolds into a crisis and someone blames someone else, everyone secretly wonders just how they got into the mess in the first place.
Sadly, no strangers to this, West Ham United have seen it all before. This season, the catalyst seems to be the new stadium. A ground that generally got a thumbs up when fans excitedly entered to see the Hammers defeat FC Domzale in the Europa League back in early August, has now turned into a soulless monster that is sucking the life out of the club. Of course, it may always have been a vacuum -- it's difficult to find anyone who thinks the move was right just now -- but be assured that any current assessment is entirely down to a series of horrendous defeats. At least one of those defeats -- a 4-2 mauling against West Brom -- took place in the West Midlands, but once in a spin, details become unimportant.
Take Mark Noble after the awful 3-0 drubbing by Southampton. "When we play at Upton Park..." he started in an interview, seemingly unaware that he was using the wrong tense, suggesting the Stratford move was, perhaps, just a temporary measure. The anger, hurt and look of frustration was palpable sure, but there was more. The haunted look of someone who isn't sure what the problem is, nor why it's getting worse.
Slaven Bilic has strangely worn the same look since the first game and if body language is anything to go by, then Hammers fans need to hold on for a bumpy ride. Quite what started this nobody seems to know, but sensible talk about the failure to get a right-back or strengthen a creaking defence in the summer doesn't seem to enter into it. Perhaps the manager spent too much time as a pundit at Euro 2016; there's certainly a sense he wasn't prepared for the new campaign.
West Ham supporters are growing frustrated with the team's poor performances this season. What's needed to stop the spiral now is an antidote to all this; something positive, something to hang on to. At the moment that thing seems to be a clean sheet. Under normal circumstances -- whatever they are at West Ham -- a home game against a newly promoted club might be seen as a chance to grab a vital three points before the international break. This season however, Bilic needs to try and sort himself and his defence out and put in a performance that at least assures the crowd that waiting until the January transfer window isn't the only solution.
A point against Middlesbrough at home might seem a small expectation but if there's a solid defensive performance to go along with it, then it will definitely be taken as a positive.
During the break, Bilic can try and regroup and stop the rot, but that will best be done with an encouraging display. If there's to be one then it needs to begin against Aitor Karanka and his men. Something to get the crowd enthused may not be the solution to all the problems at the London Stadium but it would surely be a start.
Peter Thorne, aka Billy Blagg (@BillyBlaggEsq), is ESPN FC's West Ham blogger.
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http://vyperz.blogspot.com
Saturday, October 1
Friday, September 30
Daily WHUFC News - 30th September 2016
Slaven Speaks - Middlesbrough
WHUFC.com
Slaven Bilic faced the media ahead of the big game against Middlesbrough on Saturday and says the players are working even harder in training and remain positive as they look to turn the season around. Bilic was asked about the team meeting which took place on Monday and also provides the latest team-news ahead of the game at London Stadium.....
Can you clear up what happened with the team at the start of the week and do you feel like it has improved team spirit?
SB: "It was completely my idea. After the Southampton game we had a big meeting and spoke and at the end of the meeting I told Mark the skipper to take the guys out to dinner, to spend time together which is always good. "I've been there before, it's definitely a good idea and good to do it. If you are asking, it was completely my idea and I told them to do that. "For me it's a good thing, not every week but in a great situation or a bad situation it's good to stick together and its a good thing to do. It's good for team building and that's it.
Are you hoping it will have a positive effect on the team when they play Middlesbrough on Saturday?
SB: "After that night we had a day off. Training yesterday was really good, but training last week was really good without bonding. I have been saying we now have to produce it in games."
How concerned you have been by the start to the season?
SB: "I am concerned. If we are talking about the last five Premier League games it's simply not the way we expected it to be, it's definitely not good and that's why the only thing we are thinking about is the game on Saturday against Middlesbrough. "With one win we can build everything back and we have a good chance at home. We are a team that is alive, the players are good together, they train, they listen, we talk about it a lot. "But we need to do it in a game and not for half an hour, or an hour, or when we are one down or four down. But we have to do it for 90 minutes."
Do you question how you can change the situation around and help the team get back on the winning trail?
SB: "Of course - you are questioning yourself when you are doing great so of course I am asking myself a lot of questions. I did last year when we were doing well and one short spell when we were doing not so well. We were seventh so that means we were losing games as well. "This year you have to change, you can't sit still and think it's gonna change by itself. But also you can't lose your head and change everything. I am questioning myself and I'm trying to be very open with that. But I'm a big believer in being calm, a strong philosophy which worked so well last year here. But of course you have got to change something."
What is the latest team-news ahead of the game and can you provide updates on Aaron Cresswell and Andre Ayew?
SB: "We are almost the same as last week. The left-backs are not back yet. Aaron Cresswell is going to start training with us Monday and should be okay after the international break.
"Ayew is another three to four weeks minimum. We also have a couple of players doubtful but we will see today. Nordtveit's got a bit of a problem. We will see tomorrow."
Who takes responsibility on the field for the current situation?
SB: "The captain and of course the best players. We can't expect it from the young ones. They can bring something, they don't feel the burden like the experienced players so they can be match winners and all that. "But I'm expecting the most experienced players to take responsibility."
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Shuttle Bus Service update
WHUFC.com
Following the successful introduction of the Shuttle Bus Service that carries disabled fans to and from London Stadium, West Ham United are delighted to announce that the number of buses have been increased from four to six to accommodate the popular demand. So far the innovative scheme, which is just one example of the Club's commitment to affordable and accessible football, assists more than 500 fans every matchday. The Service, available at every home game, is in operation two hours before kick-off where it picks fans up from platform 13 at Stratford Station, and arrives at Car Park Two, to allow access to the Podium via the lifts in the Stadium Store. To ensure that our disabled fans enjoy the best matchday experience possible, anyone who does not fit the below criteria will not be allowed to use the Shuttle Bus Service. To maintain the smooth running of this valuable service, the Club would like to reiterate that:
The Shuttle Bus Service is available for any disabled Season Ticket Holder, as well as one carer.
All those wishing to use the Shuttle Bus will need to board the bus together and show their Access Cards. One card will show the disabled supporter's name, and the second will have the carer's name.
Access to the Shuttle Bus is also extended to Claret Members, who will have an Access Card with their name on it, and a paper ticket with a carer printed on it.
All senior and infirm citizens will also be allowed to use the buses but will need to request a permit in order to use the shuttle bus.
Similarly, any supporter who is pregnant, or those that have a temporary disability (i.e a broken leg) can also arrange a permit.
Any other supporters with a mobility problem will have to produce a letter from their doctor or consultant confirming that they are not able to walk.
All those eligible to apply for a permit need to emailaccessibility@westhamunited.co.uk at least 48 hours before kick-off. When emailing, please include the relevant match in the subject heading of all correspondence.
Please note that these measures will be in place ahead of our home fixture with Sunderland on Saturday 22 October.
However members of the accessibility team will be on hand this Saturday, during our match with Middlesbrough, to monitor and assist those fans that require this service.
If you have questions or feedback about the Shuttle Bus Service, or any other accessibility issue, please do not hesitate to get in touch by emailingaccesibility@westhamunited.co.uk
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Adrian - We are still optimistic
WHUFC.com
West Ham United keeper Adrian is adamant the players have been working extra hard work this week to turn their season around and is confident they can secure an important victory against Middlesbrough on Saturday.
The Spanish keeper has felt the pain of a frustrating start just as much as anyone and knows the hard work that is needed to fix the situation.
Adrian welcomed the chance for his team-mates to have an important meeting at the start of the week and can see the positive attitude that all the players have heading into the game at the weekend.
With the Hammers enjoying one of their best seasons in the top flight last year, Adrian sees no reason why they cannot re-produce that form and move clear of danger at the bottom of the table.
Adrian said: "For everyone this is a difficult period at the moment, but we are still optimistic and feel we have a great squad.
"We want this situation to change and have better results on the pitch. We have to work harder to fix the mistakes we have been making.
"We are mostly the same players who did so well last season and we need to show that kind of form again. Everyone is fully focused on the game on Saturday and we know that we need to win the game.
"We want to show the fans that we have a great team. They always support us every game and this is a tough moment for them, but we all need to stay together and remain as a team.
"It was good for us a team to come together and we need to enjoy being together, because it was not like that in the last game.
"We got a bad result so the mentality has to change a little and we have to stay together, both on and off the pitch and get a good result on Saturday.
"If we play well and show a good performance the fans will be very happy and proud of this team, We want to get a good result in front of our fans.
"We have big names in the team and many players in each position. We have a strong squad with the new signings and if we can get a good result, the mentality will change with everyone."
Adrian is looking forward to meeting up with Spanish compatriot Alvaro Negredo and knows the dangers the Middlesbrough striker can pose to his side on Saturday.
Adrian added: "I have known Negredo for a long time and have played against him many times. We have to be careful of him because he is a great striker.
"But we cannot think about Middlesbrough and have to focus on our team and give 100 per cent to get the three points.
"Last season we had a great home record and we want to do the same at London Stadium. When you are playing at home you want to show that you are strong and for team to be afraid of playing there."
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A season of struggle?
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 29th September 2016
By: Ingwe
I have been a West Ham fan since 1965. I followed them in South Africa, getting airline editions of the Daily Mirror (SA not having TV in those days) for the football results and reports. I grew to love my team and will remain a supporter till I die.
I'm not sure that I have been more disappointed over the years by some West Ham performances than the abysmal showing against a poor Saints side last Sunday.
Sam Allardyce's type of football - as played by all the teams he managed - was horrible and I was not impressed by Bilic's arrival. Yes, the Hammers finished high up in the Premier League last season but I don't think any of it was due to Bilic's input. I wouldn't be sorry to see him go. What has he won elsewhere?
I see the new owners, not as true Hammers supporters, but essentially business people who have an eye on an asset rather than the best interests of the club and its supporters. The main real asset, the Boleyn Ground, was sold and we now play in an athletics stadium that has the atmosphere of a closed shopping mall.
The plethora of KUMB Forum posts by fans who complained of getting rained on show that the stadium wasn't designed as a football ground. I'm afraid I just don't buy into the argument that having a massive capacity will generate funds needed to buy big players etc.
I'd rather we filled our old ground with players playing attractive football - but more importantly, players who want to play for the club, not 'stars' from European leagues who can't get into their first teams and, where relevant, their national teams with any regularity.
They come for the money and the owners' key criteria is whether they will show a suitable return on their subsequent sale.
The summer transfer window was spent chasing a Colombian striker (Carlos Bacca) who clearly didn't want to play for West Ham. Players who did want to play, like Charlie Austin, were rejected by management. Ironic then that he should score first on Sunday!
We rely on Dimitri Payet to 'rescue' us with skilful free kicks, whilst the rest of the midfield look totally uncommitted. Players like Ashley Fletcher and Reece Oxford should be given a chance and other skilful players who would leap for first team experience, like Martin Samuelsen, are sent out on loan.
Why not have a team comprising players who are not only good, but who want to play for West Ham?
I hate to see fans booing the players off or leaving early; that is no way to support your team. But I do understand their total frustration in supporting a team, as only we Irons fans can, and then find that owners haven't done what they said they would.
They're in a stadium most didn't want, paying more for the privilege, having a manager who has brought in players who have performed poorly, played other players, like Antonio, completely out of position, for a number of games and doesn't seem to have a clue how to create a team capable of defending as well scoring goals.
After the pre-season and the Europa league debacle, I thought that we will be in a relegation struggle yet again. All talk of finishing in a Championship qualifying position, I think, is just wishful thinking. I would love to be proved wrong.
What I would want, more than merely surviving in the Premier League, is to get our old club back; free from the likes of Brady, Gold and Sullivan and with players who should recognise the immense good fortune and privilege that they enjoy, being born with a talent that allows them to become millionaires in their twenties, to play their hearts out.
Losing then, wouldn't feel so bad.
Contrasting Swansea's, Palace's and Southampton's performances last weekend, shows what teams with 'weaker' players on paper can do - and makes West Ham's performance even worse.
Call me fickle if you want but, if you really think that we aren't going to struggle this season, this is an example of hope over experience! I so want to be wrong.
Please note that the opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, nor should be attributed to, KUMB.com.
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Cresswell to return next week
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 29th September 2016
By: Staff Writer
Full back Aaron Cresswell will return to full training with the first team next week. Club Doc Stijn Vandenbroucke has revealed that the full back, who has been training with the development squad in recent days is set to return to regular training from Monday - several shy of his estimated return date. "Aaron trained very well with the Under-23s on Wednesday," revealed Vandenbroucke. "The Academy kindly put on a very hard session, which Aaron took part in under the supervision of Eamon Swift, our rehab-fitness coach. "He will take part in another training session with the Under-23s on Friday and join the first team next week."
Vandenbroucke also revealed that Andre Ayew, who returned to Marseille last week to continue his rehabilitation will be back at Rush Green this weekend. "He has been working very hard on the pitch and is ready for the next stage in the rehab," he said. "Andre will continue working on improving his fitness levels for the next few weeks before he will join controlled introduction sessions with the Under-23s."
Meanwhile Arthur Masuaku, who sustained a medial ligament injury in the EFL Cup clash with Accrington Stanley is also nursing a broken hand. "He is now wearing a brace," said Vandenbroucke, "which he will be in for the next two weeks before being reassessed and taking the next stage in his rehab. "We started exercises with him at Rush Green on Wednesday."
Finally there was little news on the situation regarding Diakfa Sakho, who is said to be continuing his delayed 'pre-season'. "He has to build up a lot of fitness after three months out," reported Vandenbroucke. "The encouraging thing is that he has had no adverse reaction in his back to the hard work he has been putting in. Diafra is working very hard and there is light at the end of the tunnel."
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Curbs tips Noble to shine despite difficult start to season
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 29th September 2016
By: Staff Writer
Alan Curbishley believes Mark Noble's passion for West Ham will help him and the Hammers pull themselves away from danger. In an exclusive interview with Blowing Bubbles Monthly, Curbishley believes Noble was one shining positive from his time as boss who still plays a key role at the club to this day. During the great escape, I put him in the team for the game against Spurs, where we lost 4-3 to a last-gasp goal, and it was only when I saw the highlights after the game that I noticed he was down on his haunches, almost in tears – that's how much it meant to him,' said Curbishley. "When we won at Old Trafford on the last day to stay up, he was the first one sprinting across the pitch to jump on the coaching staff. There aren't many players left these days like that and fans love players like that."
Read more from Curbishley on Icelandic owners, Carlos Tevez and why he could have done something really special before it all went wrong for him in Blowing Bubbles' October issue.
Elsewhere in the popular publication, which supporters can get hard copies of at the entrance to the Olympic Park outside Westfield on Saturday, Michail Antonio and Cheikhou Kouyate have outlined their hopes for the season. As has the voice of Formula One, David Croft, who discusses all things West Ham. Meanwhile ex Hammer George Parris believes Aaron Cresswell's reputation has soared since he has been injured. In addition, Sky Sports' Bianca Westwood asks if it's time West Ham truly honoured Billy Bonds. Blowing Bubbles also looks forward to our League Cup game against Chelsea and asks if this is exactly what West Ham fans need at Stratford? Lucy Woolford asks if West Ham and Zaza can make their unlikely alliance work while two writers debate whether or not West Ham missed a trick not signing Christian Benteke? For those living in the UK who aren't going to the Middlesbrough game, you can secure your issue here. Those living in Europe and further afield can also pay for a hard copy on the same page as well as securing a subscription to receive future issues.
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Nordtveit to miss 'Boro clash
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 29th September 2016
By: Staff Writer
Utility man Havard Nordtveit has been ruled out of this weekend's Premier League clash with Middlesbrough. The summer arrival, who has featured in midfield, central defence and at full back since joining the club has been ruled out of the match with what the club are describing as "a small medical procedure". "Havard Nordtveit had a procedure at Spire Roding Hospital on Wednesday and will be unavailable for one week," confirmed club docv Stijn Vandenbroucke. "He will return to training in the middle of next week." The 26-year-old Norwegian international - who joined West Ham on a free transfer during the summer having agreed to move to London back in March - has featured in four of United's six Premier League matches thus far this season.
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West Ham fans need to let Upton Park go, it's boring to blame the new ground - Don Hutchison
JAMES BENGE
Evening Standard
Former West Ham midfielder Don Hutchison has warned the Hammers and their supporters cannot blame their recent woes entirely on their new stadium.
Slaven Bilic's side have struggled to adapt to life in the London Stadium and look unlikely to improve on their seventh place finish in the final season at Upton Park even with the new campaign just over a month old. West Ham currently lie 18th in the table after just one win in six games and are out of the Europa League. The Hammers have already lost three games at their new home, conceding seven in two league games against Watford and Southampton, and Hutchison believes visitors may be raising their performance on the new pitch. "I've been to the new stadium and when you're in the bowels of it, I've never seen a stadium that looks as good," Hutchison added. "It's better than Wembley. It's better than the Emirates. It's plush, it's slick, it really is a sensational stadium. I don't buy into the theory that the new stadium has had a negative effect on the players – they need to roll up their sleeves and get on with it.
Their struggles come in spite of over £40million of investment in the transfer window where Bilic brought in 13 players including striker Simone Zaza, winger Sofiane Feghouli and club record signing Andre Ayew, who was injured in his first appearance. It is these players, rather than their new surroundings, that Hutchison believes are responsible for the early season woes at the London Stadium. Hutchison added: "The main thing for me is the new signings. Last year Slaven Bilic saw all of his signings hit the ground running and adapt straight away, which in itself is rare. This summer, West Ham thought they were going to be in the Europa League and so they've signed 13 new players to create a squad designed to compete on all fronts. "Unfortunately, they've gone out early to Astra Giurgiu and now they are left with players who are not up to Premier League standard. "Andre Ayew I think is up to the level, but the likes of Gokhan Tore and Arthur Masuaku are nowhere near Premier League and West Ham standards. Going out of Europe so early leaves West Ham with a big squad, but not one necessarily equipped to perform week-in, week-out in the Premier League."
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Slaven Bilic brushes off reports that West Ham are lining up Roberto Mancini as his replacement
HITC
Tom Nightingale
Former Manchester City boss Mancini has been linked with the Hammers hotseat this week. West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic has responded to questions about Roberto Mancini by insisting that he is not worried about reports suggesting that the Italian manager is being lined up to replace him, as quoted by the Daily Express. Bilic is coming under pressure from some sections of the Hammers support and the media as the London club struggle with a difficult start to the season. After finishing seventh last season in arguably their most impressive campaign this century, the Irons were knocked out of the Europa League before reaching the group stage and have lost five of their first six Premier League fixtures. That has led to rumours that Bilic's job could be under threat, and a report earlier this week from calciomercato suggested that the club were lining up Premier League-winning boss Mancini as a potential replacement. Bilic was quizzed about these rumours in his press conference on Thursday, but gave a bullish response. The Croatian said, via the Express: "Last year, when you were asking me about new contracts, I didn't want to talk about this. I am not worried about that [Mancini link]. I am delighted to be here and have a job. "But I am concentrated on training and preparing the game, analysing the opponent and working with the players, putting the best possible team out and put my whole energy into my team. That is my contract, new or old."
It is, of course, still very early in the season, but the poor manner in which West Ham have begun both the campaign and life at their new London Stadium home is undoubtedly a cause for concern. Bilic's side have conceded 11 times in their last three games, and a drastic upturn in form is desperately needed if they are to avoid this terrible start becoming symptomatic of a poor season on the whole.
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West Ham duo Andy Carroll and Darren Randolph to discover their fates amid all-night drinking claims
12:32, 29 SEP 2016 UPDATED 12:32, 29 SEP 2016
BY DARREN LEWIS
Both players have vehemently denied either drinking or being drunk, but the Hammers are looking into reports to the contrary
The Mirror
Slaven Bilic says Andy Carroll and Darren Randolph will learn their fates next week after claims they were drunk and in a pub on Tuesday morning. Mirror Sport revealed yesterday that West Ham are investigating the conduct of both players after claims that they were spotted the morning after a team-bonding night out. The bonding session had been fully sanctioned by Bilic. But the club are unhappy at suggestions that Carroll and Randolph were out the following morning. Both players are understood to have denied to the club that they were drunk. But the club are making their own inquiries. Bilic, whose West Ham side face Middlesbrough this weekend, said: "It was suggested [that they were drunk] but it's not proven. [The team bonding night] was my idea. "We have a game and we ain't gonna discuss it. We are always discussing it to solve problems in our family, within the club. "There are rumours, I am aware of them, I spoke to the chairman about it and he agreed we should focus on the game. "We are gonna talk about it, find out what happened but now it's not proven, it's rumours. We will talk and if necessary act on it. That's all I'm going to say on it."
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West Ham say 'emotional' farewell to Boleyn Ground as final game raises £75,000 for charity
VAISHALI BHARDWAJ
Evening Standard
West Ham have labelled the beginning of demolition work at their former Boleyn Ground home as "emotional", but insist the Hammers' rich history in Upton Park will be felt "for years to come". Developer Barratt London will today begin the process of knocking down Upton Park, West Ham's home for 112 years until May, which is expected to take a number of months to complete. The London developer will then build 842 homes, including 211 affordable houses, shops, a library and new cycle routes on the site and also commemorate West Ham's time in the area with a new statue of Hammers legend Bobby Moore. The centre circle of the Boleyn Ground pitch will also be preserved in a landscaped courtyard while the half-way line will be illuminated through the use of in-laid lighting. Former West Ham midfielder Jack Collison praised Upton Park as being a "special place" as he acknowledged on Twitter the beginning of demolition work on Wednesday, a view that has also been echoed by the club. "Wednesday is the start of an emotional process for the hundreds of thousands of West Ham United supporters who have such fond and special memories of the Boleyn Ground over the last 112 years," a West Ham spokesperson told Standard Sport. "From Geoff Hurst's six goals against Sunderland to Paolo Di Canio's wonder volley, Trevor Brooking's Cup Winner's Cup masterclass to Winston Reid's epic finale winner, these memories will live with our supporters forever. "Now the legacy of our famous old home will be felt throughout the area for years to come, with Barratt London committed to delivering a project that honours the site's rich heritage. "Rather than sell the land to the highest bidder, the West Ham United Board elected to sell to the bidder who offered the best legacy for West Ham United, the Boleyn Ground and, most importantly, our community. "The developers have now promised to deliver a hat-trick of improvements to the area - jobs, homes and legacy."
Barratt London, who completed the purchase of the Boleyn Ground from Galliard Homes in August, hosted the final-ever football match at the stadium on Tuesday afternoon to raise money for charity. The tournament featured 24 five-a-side teams made up of employees from companies involved in the re-development of the site, and raised about £75,000 for Children of Heroes, MacMillan Cancer Support and The Silver Line charities. Speaking about the re-development of West Ham's former home into residential houses, finance director at Barratt London, Tom Olsen, said: "The entire team involved in redeveloping Upton Park recognises the heritage embedded here and we are keen to mark the start of its new era with an event that will benefit a variety of charitable causes."
Jack collison ✔ @jackcollison
Demolition work starts today... What a special place.... Thanks for the memories... #TheBoleyn
8:41 AM - 28 Sep 2016
116 116 Retweets 392 392 likes
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Sam Allardyce in the spotlight over Ravel Morrison's West Ham loan move
STANDARD SPORT
Evening Stadnard
Sam Allardyce could face questions over allegations of unexplained payments in relation to Ravel Morrison's loan move from West Ham to Cardiff. Allardyce was West Ham manager when the midfielder moved to Cardiff in September 2014 and the Welsh club launched an investigation after questions were raised over fees connected with the deal. The Daily Telegraph report an agent is understood to have told the club the payment had been agreed with Allardyce. Cardiff brought in an external company to investigate but did not find any evidence of the payment being made to Allardyce. However, Cardiff failed to report the issue to the FA, which is in breach of the governing body's rules. The FA could now launch an investigation into Cardiff, which could lead to Allardyce being quizzed. The Telegraph also reported that eight unnamed managers with Premier League experience are alleged to have taken bribes for the transfers of players
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Slaven Bilic defends West Ham players after team bonding night out in London
JAMES OLLEY
Evening STandard
Slaven Bilic today defended his West Ham players after they were pictured out at 7am, admitting he sanctioned a night out in a bid to improve the club's slump in form. The Hammers have lost five of their first six Premier League games and Bilic allowed his players to hit the town in a "team bonding" exercise on Monday evening. The squad reportedly racked up a £5,000 bill during dinner at a Kinghtsbridge restaurant before Andy Carroll, Darren Randolph and Aaron Cresswell were pictured in the same clothes in a McDonalds at 7am the next morning.
"The team bonding was completely my idea," Bilic said this morning. "I told Mark Noble to take the guys out and go for a meal, to spend some time together. "I am totally concentrated on the game on Saturday. It is good for us all to stick together and good for team building."
The club are believed to be investigating their players' behaviour and will decide on any punishment in due course. Carroll and Cresswell are currently sidelined through injury, although Bilic revealed today that the latter could return after next month's international break. Bilic enjoyed a superb debut season in England last term but he is under pressure as West Ham seemingly struggle to adapt to life at the London Stadium. They host Middlesbrough on Saturday and he said: "I am concerned and it has been a bad start. "But with one win we can build everything back with a win over Middlesbrough over Saturday. "I am asking myself a lot of questions even when it was good last season. You think about how you can change things. You can't sit still."
Bilic also gave his reaction to Sam Allardyce's departure as England manager following a newspaper sting in which he was caught offering advice on breaking FA rules regarding players transfers and agreeing in principle a £400,000 payment to represent a Far East firm. "I followed what has happened with England this week," he said. "It is very sad for English football. "I am sorry for Sam. We all love our jobs and I am so happy with my job. I don't remember seeing someone who was so happy to get it. "He has not lost his position from results on the pitch and I feel very sorry for him."
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http://vyperz.blogspot.com
WHUFC.com
Slaven Bilic faced the media ahead of the big game against Middlesbrough on Saturday and says the players are working even harder in training and remain positive as they look to turn the season around. Bilic was asked about the team meeting which took place on Monday and also provides the latest team-news ahead of the game at London Stadium.....
Can you clear up what happened with the team at the start of the week and do you feel like it has improved team spirit?
SB: "It was completely my idea. After the Southampton game we had a big meeting and spoke and at the end of the meeting I told Mark the skipper to take the guys out to dinner, to spend time together which is always good. "I've been there before, it's definitely a good idea and good to do it. If you are asking, it was completely my idea and I told them to do that. "For me it's a good thing, not every week but in a great situation or a bad situation it's good to stick together and its a good thing to do. It's good for team building and that's it.
Are you hoping it will have a positive effect on the team when they play Middlesbrough on Saturday?
SB: "After that night we had a day off. Training yesterday was really good, but training last week was really good without bonding. I have been saying we now have to produce it in games."
How concerned you have been by the start to the season?
SB: "I am concerned. If we are talking about the last five Premier League games it's simply not the way we expected it to be, it's definitely not good and that's why the only thing we are thinking about is the game on Saturday against Middlesbrough. "With one win we can build everything back and we have a good chance at home. We are a team that is alive, the players are good together, they train, they listen, we talk about it a lot. "But we need to do it in a game and not for half an hour, or an hour, or when we are one down or four down. But we have to do it for 90 minutes."
Do you question how you can change the situation around and help the team get back on the winning trail?
SB: "Of course - you are questioning yourself when you are doing great so of course I am asking myself a lot of questions. I did last year when we were doing well and one short spell when we were doing not so well. We were seventh so that means we were losing games as well. "This year you have to change, you can't sit still and think it's gonna change by itself. But also you can't lose your head and change everything. I am questioning myself and I'm trying to be very open with that. But I'm a big believer in being calm, a strong philosophy which worked so well last year here. But of course you have got to change something."
What is the latest team-news ahead of the game and can you provide updates on Aaron Cresswell and Andre Ayew?
SB: "We are almost the same as last week. The left-backs are not back yet. Aaron Cresswell is going to start training with us Monday and should be okay after the international break.
"Ayew is another three to four weeks minimum. We also have a couple of players doubtful but we will see today. Nordtveit's got a bit of a problem. We will see tomorrow."
Who takes responsibility on the field for the current situation?
SB: "The captain and of course the best players. We can't expect it from the young ones. They can bring something, they don't feel the burden like the experienced players so they can be match winners and all that. "But I'm expecting the most experienced players to take responsibility."
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Shuttle Bus Service update
WHUFC.com
Following the successful introduction of the Shuttle Bus Service that carries disabled fans to and from London Stadium, West Ham United are delighted to announce that the number of buses have been increased from four to six to accommodate the popular demand. So far the innovative scheme, which is just one example of the Club's commitment to affordable and accessible football, assists more than 500 fans every matchday. The Service, available at every home game, is in operation two hours before kick-off where it picks fans up from platform 13 at Stratford Station, and arrives at Car Park Two, to allow access to the Podium via the lifts in the Stadium Store. To ensure that our disabled fans enjoy the best matchday experience possible, anyone who does not fit the below criteria will not be allowed to use the Shuttle Bus Service. To maintain the smooth running of this valuable service, the Club would like to reiterate that:
The Shuttle Bus Service is available for any disabled Season Ticket Holder, as well as one carer.
All those wishing to use the Shuttle Bus will need to board the bus together and show their Access Cards. One card will show the disabled supporter's name, and the second will have the carer's name.
Access to the Shuttle Bus is also extended to Claret Members, who will have an Access Card with their name on it, and a paper ticket with a carer printed on it.
All senior and infirm citizens will also be allowed to use the buses but will need to request a permit in order to use the shuttle bus.
Similarly, any supporter who is pregnant, or those that have a temporary disability (i.e a broken leg) can also arrange a permit.
Any other supporters with a mobility problem will have to produce a letter from their doctor or consultant confirming that they are not able to walk.
All those eligible to apply for a permit need to emailaccessibility@westhamunited.co.uk at least 48 hours before kick-off. When emailing, please include the relevant match in the subject heading of all correspondence.
Please note that these measures will be in place ahead of our home fixture with Sunderland on Saturday 22 October.
However members of the accessibility team will be on hand this Saturday, during our match with Middlesbrough, to monitor and assist those fans that require this service.
If you have questions or feedback about the Shuttle Bus Service, or any other accessibility issue, please do not hesitate to get in touch by emailingaccesibility@westhamunited.co.uk
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Adrian - We are still optimistic
WHUFC.com
West Ham United keeper Adrian is adamant the players have been working extra hard work this week to turn their season around and is confident they can secure an important victory against Middlesbrough on Saturday.
The Spanish keeper has felt the pain of a frustrating start just as much as anyone and knows the hard work that is needed to fix the situation.
Adrian welcomed the chance for his team-mates to have an important meeting at the start of the week and can see the positive attitude that all the players have heading into the game at the weekend.
With the Hammers enjoying one of their best seasons in the top flight last year, Adrian sees no reason why they cannot re-produce that form and move clear of danger at the bottom of the table.
Adrian said: "For everyone this is a difficult period at the moment, but we are still optimistic and feel we have a great squad.
"We want this situation to change and have better results on the pitch. We have to work harder to fix the mistakes we have been making.
"We are mostly the same players who did so well last season and we need to show that kind of form again. Everyone is fully focused on the game on Saturday and we know that we need to win the game.
"We want to show the fans that we have a great team. They always support us every game and this is a tough moment for them, but we all need to stay together and remain as a team.
"It was good for us a team to come together and we need to enjoy being together, because it was not like that in the last game.
"We got a bad result so the mentality has to change a little and we have to stay together, both on and off the pitch and get a good result on Saturday.
"If we play well and show a good performance the fans will be very happy and proud of this team, We want to get a good result in front of our fans.
"We have big names in the team and many players in each position. We have a strong squad with the new signings and if we can get a good result, the mentality will change with everyone."
Adrian is looking forward to meeting up with Spanish compatriot Alvaro Negredo and knows the dangers the Middlesbrough striker can pose to his side on Saturday.
Adrian added: "I have known Negredo for a long time and have played against him many times. We have to be careful of him because he is a great striker.
"But we cannot think about Middlesbrough and have to focus on our team and give 100 per cent to get the three points.
"Last season we had a great home record and we want to do the same at London Stadium. When you are playing at home you want to show that you are strong and for team to be afraid of playing there."
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A season of struggle?
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 29th September 2016
By: Ingwe
I have been a West Ham fan since 1965. I followed them in South Africa, getting airline editions of the Daily Mirror (SA not having TV in those days) for the football results and reports. I grew to love my team and will remain a supporter till I die.
I'm not sure that I have been more disappointed over the years by some West Ham performances than the abysmal showing against a poor Saints side last Sunday.
Sam Allardyce's type of football - as played by all the teams he managed - was horrible and I was not impressed by Bilic's arrival. Yes, the Hammers finished high up in the Premier League last season but I don't think any of it was due to Bilic's input. I wouldn't be sorry to see him go. What has he won elsewhere?
I see the new owners, not as true Hammers supporters, but essentially business people who have an eye on an asset rather than the best interests of the club and its supporters. The main real asset, the Boleyn Ground, was sold and we now play in an athletics stadium that has the atmosphere of a closed shopping mall.
The plethora of KUMB Forum posts by fans who complained of getting rained on show that the stadium wasn't designed as a football ground. I'm afraid I just don't buy into the argument that having a massive capacity will generate funds needed to buy big players etc.
I'd rather we filled our old ground with players playing attractive football - but more importantly, players who want to play for the club, not 'stars' from European leagues who can't get into their first teams and, where relevant, their national teams with any regularity.
They come for the money and the owners' key criteria is whether they will show a suitable return on their subsequent sale.
The summer transfer window was spent chasing a Colombian striker (Carlos Bacca) who clearly didn't want to play for West Ham. Players who did want to play, like Charlie Austin, were rejected by management. Ironic then that he should score first on Sunday!
We rely on Dimitri Payet to 'rescue' us with skilful free kicks, whilst the rest of the midfield look totally uncommitted. Players like Ashley Fletcher and Reece Oxford should be given a chance and other skilful players who would leap for first team experience, like Martin Samuelsen, are sent out on loan.
Why not have a team comprising players who are not only good, but who want to play for West Ham?
I hate to see fans booing the players off or leaving early; that is no way to support your team. But I do understand their total frustration in supporting a team, as only we Irons fans can, and then find that owners haven't done what they said they would.
They're in a stadium most didn't want, paying more for the privilege, having a manager who has brought in players who have performed poorly, played other players, like Antonio, completely out of position, for a number of games and doesn't seem to have a clue how to create a team capable of defending as well scoring goals.
After the pre-season and the Europa league debacle, I thought that we will be in a relegation struggle yet again. All talk of finishing in a Championship qualifying position, I think, is just wishful thinking. I would love to be proved wrong.
What I would want, more than merely surviving in the Premier League, is to get our old club back; free from the likes of Brady, Gold and Sullivan and with players who should recognise the immense good fortune and privilege that they enjoy, being born with a talent that allows them to become millionaires in their twenties, to play their hearts out.
Losing then, wouldn't feel so bad.
Contrasting Swansea's, Palace's and Southampton's performances last weekend, shows what teams with 'weaker' players on paper can do - and makes West Ham's performance even worse.
Call me fickle if you want but, if you really think that we aren't going to struggle this season, this is an example of hope over experience! I so want to be wrong.
Please note that the opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, nor should be attributed to, KUMB.com.
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Cresswell to return next week
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 29th September 2016
By: Staff Writer
Full back Aaron Cresswell will return to full training with the first team next week. Club Doc Stijn Vandenbroucke has revealed that the full back, who has been training with the development squad in recent days is set to return to regular training from Monday - several shy of his estimated return date. "Aaron trained very well with the Under-23s on Wednesday," revealed Vandenbroucke. "The Academy kindly put on a very hard session, which Aaron took part in under the supervision of Eamon Swift, our rehab-fitness coach. "He will take part in another training session with the Under-23s on Friday and join the first team next week."
Vandenbroucke also revealed that Andre Ayew, who returned to Marseille last week to continue his rehabilitation will be back at Rush Green this weekend. "He has been working very hard on the pitch and is ready for the next stage in the rehab," he said. "Andre will continue working on improving his fitness levels for the next few weeks before he will join controlled introduction sessions with the Under-23s."
Meanwhile Arthur Masuaku, who sustained a medial ligament injury in the EFL Cup clash with Accrington Stanley is also nursing a broken hand. "He is now wearing a brace," said Vandenbroucke, "which he will be in for the next two weeks before being reassessed and taking the next stage in his rehab. "We started exercises with him at Rush Green on Wednesday."
Finally there was little news on the situation regarding Diakfa Sakho, who is said to be continuing his delayed 'pre-season'. "He has to build up a lot of fitness after three months out," reported Vandenbroucke. "The encouraging thing is that he has had no adverse reaction in his back to the hard work he has been putting in. Diafra is working very hard and there is light at the end of the tunnel."
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Curbs tips Noble to shine despite difficult start to season
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 29th September 2016
By: Staff Writer
Alan Curbishley believes Mark Noble's passion for West Ham will help him and the Hammers pull themselves away from danger. In an exclusive interview with Blowing Bubbles Monthly, Curbishley believes Noble was one shining positive from his time as boss who still plays a key role at the club to this day. During the great escape, I put him in the team for the game against Spurs, where we lost 4-3 to a last-gasp goal, and it was only when I saw the highlights after the game that I noticed he was down on his haunches, almost in tears – that's how much it meant to him,' said Curbishley. "When we won at Old Trafford on the last day to stay up, he was the first one sprinting across the pitch to jump on the coaching staff. There aren't many players left these days like that and fans love players like that."
Read more from Curbishley on Icelandic owners, Carlos Tevez and why he could have done something really special before it all went wrong for him in Blowing Bubbles' October issue.
Elsewhere in the popular publication, which supporters can get hard copies of at the entrance to the Olympic Park outside Westfield on Saturday, Michail Antonio and Cheikhou Kouyate have outlined their hopes for the season. As has the voice of Formula One, David Croft, who discusses all things West Ham. Meanwhile ex Hammer George Parris believes Aaron Cresswell's reputation has soared since he has been injured. In addition, Sky Sports' Bianca Westwood asks if it's time West Ham truly honoured Billy Bonds. Blowing Bubbles also looks forward to our League Cup game against Chelsea and asks if this is exactly what West Ham fans need at Stratford? Lucy Woolford asks if West Ham and Zaza can make their unlikely alliance work while two writers debate whether or not West Ham missed a trick not signing Christian Benteke? For those living in the UK who aren't going to the Middlesbrough game, you can secure your issue here. Those living in Europe and further afield can also pay for a hard copy on the same page as well as securing a subscription to receive future issues.
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Nordtveit to miss 'Boro clash
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 29th September 2016
By: Staff Writer
Utility man Havard Nordtveit has been ruled out of this weekend's Premier League clash with Middlesbrough. The summer arrival, who has featured in midfield, central defence and at full back since joining the club has been ruled out of the match with what the club are describing as "a small medical procedure". "Havard Nordtveit had a procedure at Spire Roding Hospital on Wednesday and will be unavailable for one week," confirmed club docv Stijn Vandenbroucke. "He will return to training in the middle of next week." The 26-year-old Norwegian international - who joined West Ham on a free transfer during the summer having agreed to move to London back in March - has featured in four of United's six Premier League matches thus far this season.
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West Ham fans need to let Upton Park go, it's boring to blame the new ground - Don Hutchison
JAMES BENGE
Evening Standard
Former West Ham midfielder Don Hutchison has warned the Hammers and their supporters cannot blame their recent woes entirely on their new stadium.
Slaven Bilic's side have struggled to adapt to life in the London Stadium and look unlikely to improve on their seventh place finish in the final season at Upton Park even with the new campaign just over a month old. West Ham currently lie 18th in the table after just one win in six games and are out of the Europa League. The Hammers have already lost three games at their new home, conceding seven in two league games against Watford and Southampton, and Hutchison believes visitors may be raising their performance on the new pitch. "I've been to the new stadium and when you're in the bowels of it, I've never seen a stadium that looks as good," Hutchison added. "It's better than Wembley. It's better than the Emirates. It's plush, it's slick, it really is a sensational stadium. I don't buy into the theory that the new stadium has had a negative effect on the players – they need to roll up their sleeves and get on with it.
Their struggles come in spite of over £40million of investment in the transfer window where Bilic brought in 13 players including striker Simone Zaza, winger Sofiane Feghouli and club record signing Andre Ayew, who was injured in his first appearance. It is these players, rather than their new surroundings, that Hutchison believes are responsible for the early season woes at the London Stadium. Hutchison added: "The main thing for me is the new signings. Last year Slaven Bilic saw all of his signings hit the ground running and adapt straight away, which in itself is rare. This summer, West Ham thought they were going to be in the Europa League and so they've signed 13 new players to create a squad designed to compete on all fronts. "Unfortunately, they've gone out early to Astra Giurgiu and now they are left with players who are not up to Premier League standard. "Andre Ayew I think is up to the level, but the likes of Gokhan Tore and Arthur Masuaku are nowhere near Premier League and West Ham standards. Going out of Europe so early leaves West Ham with a big squad, but not one necessarily equipped to perform week-in, week-out in the Premier League."
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Slaven Bilic brushes off reports that West Ham are lining up Roberto Mancini as his replacement
HITC
Tom Nightingale
Former Manchester City boss Mancini has been linked with the Hammers hotseat this week. West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic has responded to questions about Roberto Mancini by insisting that he is not worried about reports suggesting that the Italian manager is being lined up to replace him, as quoted by the Daily Express. Bilic is coming under pressure from some sections of the Hammers support and the media as the London club struggle with a difficult start to the season. After finishing seventh last season in arguably their most impressive campaign this century, the Irons were knocked out of the Europa League before reaching the group stage and have lost five of their first six Premier League fixtures. That has led to rumours that Bilic's job could be under threat, and a report earlier this week from calciomercato suggested that the club were lining up Premier League-winning boss Mancini as a potential replacement. Bilic was quizzed about these rumours in his press conference on Thursday, but gave a bullish response. The Croatian said, via the Express: "Last year, when you were asking me about new contracts, I didn't want to talk about this. I am not worried about that [Mancini link]. I am delighted to be here and have a job. "But I am concentrated on training and preparing the game, analysing the opponent and working with the players, putting the best possible team out and put my whole energy into my team. That is my contract, new or old."
It is, of course, still very early in the season, but the poor manner in which West Ham have begun both the campaign and life at their new London Stadium home is undoubtedly a cause for concern. Bilic's side have conceded 11 times in their last three games, and a drastic upturn in form is desperately needed if they are to avoid this terrible start becoming symptomatic of a poor season on the whole.
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West Ham duo Andy Carroll and Darren Randolph to discover their fates amid all-night drinking claims
12:32, 29 SEP 2016 UPDATED 12:32, 29 SEP 2016
BY DARREN LEWIS
Both players have vehemently denied either drinking or being drunk, but the Hammers are looking into reports to the contrary
The Mirror
Slaven Bilic says Andy Carroll and Darren Randolph will learn their fates next week after claims they were drunk and in a pub on Tuesday morning. Mirror Sport revealed yesterday that West Ham are investigating the conduct of both players after claims that they were spotted the morning after a team-bonding night out. The bonding session had been fully sanctioned by Bilic. But the club are unhappy at suggestions that Carroll and Randolph were out the following morning. Both players are understood to have denied to the club that they were drunk. But the club are making their own inquiries. Bilic, whose West Ham side face Middlesbrough this weekend, said: "It was suggested [that they were drunk] but it's not proven. [The team bonding night] was my idea. "We have a game and we ain't gonna discuss it. We are always discussing it to solve problems in our family, within the club. "There are rumours, I am aware of them, I spoke to the chairman about it and he agreed we should focus on the game. "We are gonna talk about it, find out what happened but now it's not proven, it's rumours. We will talk and if necessary act on it. That's all I'm going to say on it."
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West Ham say 'emotional' farewell to Boleyn Ground as final game raises £75,000 for charity
VAISHALI BHARDWAJ
Evening Standard
West Ham have labelled the beginning of demolition work at their former Boleyn Ground home as "emotional", but insist the Hammers' rich history in Upton Park will be felt "for years to come". Developer Barratt London will today begin the process of knocking down Upton Park, West Ham's home for 112 years until May, which is expected to take a number of months to complete. The London developer will then build 842 homes, including 211 affordable houses, shops, a library and new cycle routes on the site and also commemorate West Ham's time in the area with a new statue of Hammers legend Bobby Moore. The centre circle of the Boleyn Ground pitch will also be preserved in a landscaped courtyard while the half-way line will be illuminated through the use of in-laid lighting. Former West Ham midfielder Jack Collison praised Upton Park as being a "special place" as he acknowledged on Twitter the beginning of demolition work on Wednesday, a view that has also been echoed by the club. "Wednesday is the start of an emotional process for the hundreds of thousands of West Ham United supporters who have such fond and special memories of the Boleyn Ground over the last 112 years," a West Ham spokesperson told Standard Sport. "From Geoff Hurst's six goals against Sunderland to Paolo Di Canio's wonder volley, Trevor Brooking's Cup Winner's Cup masterclass to Winston Reid's epic finale winner, these memories will live with our supporters forever. "Now the legacy of our famous old home will be felt throughout the area for years to come, with Barratt London committed to delivering a project that honours the site's rich heritage. "Rather than sell the land to the highest bidder, the West Ham United Board elected to sell to the bidder who offered the best legacy for West Ham United, the Boleyn Ground and, most importantly, our community. "The developers have now promised to deliver a hat-trick of improvements to the area - jobs, homes and legacy."
Barratt London, who completed the purchase of the Boleyn Ground from Galliard Homes in August, hosted the final-ever football match at the stadium on Tuesday afternoon to raise money for charity. The tournament featured 24 five-a-side teams made up of employees from companies involved in the re-development of the site, and raised about £75,000 for Children of Heroes, MacMillan Cancer Support and The Silver Line charities. Speaking about the re-development of West Ham's former home into residential houses, finance director at Barratt London, Tom Olsen, said: "The entire team involved in redeveloping Upton Park recognises the heritage embedded here and we are keen to mark the start of its new era with an event that will benefit a variety of charitable causes."
Jack collison ✔ @jackcollison
Demolition work starts today... What a special place.... Thanks for the memories... #TheBoleyn
8:41 AM - 28 Sep 2016
116 116 Retweets 392 392 likes
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Sam Allardyce in the spotlight over Ravel Morrison's West Ham loan move
STANDARD SPORT
Evening Stadnard
Sam Allardyce could face questions over allegations of unexplained payments in relation to Ravel Morrison's loan move from West Ham to Cardiff. Allardyce was West Ham manager when the midfielder moved to Cardiff in September 2014 and the Welsh club launched an investigation after questions were raised over fees connected with the deal. The Daily Telegraph report an agent is understood to have told the club the payment had been agreed with Allardyce. Cardiff brought in an external company to investigate but did not find any evidence of the payment being made to Allardyce. However, Cardiff failed to report the issue to the FA, which is in breach of the governing body's rules. The FA could now launch an investigation into Cardiff, which could lead to Allardyce being quizzed. The Telegraph also reported that eight unnamed managers with Premier League experience are alleged to have taken bribes for the transfers of players
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Slaven Bilic defends West Ham players after team bonding night out in London
JAMES OLLEY
Evening STandard
Slaven Bilic today defended his West Ham players after they were pictured out at 7am, admitting he sanctioned a night out in a bid to improve the club's slump in form. The Hammers have lost five of their first six Premier League games and Bilic allowed his players to hit the town in a "team bonding" exercise on Monday evening. The squad reportedly racked up a £5,000 bill during dinner at a Kinghtsbridge restaurant before Andy Carroll, Darren Randolph and Aaron Cresswell were pictured in the same clothes in a McDonalds at 7am the next morning.
"The team bonding was completely my idea," Bilic said this morning. "I told Mark Noble to take the guys out and go for a meal, to spend some time together. "I am totally concentrated on the game on Saturday. It is good for us all to stick together and good for team building."
The club are believed to be investigating their players' behaviour and will decide on any punishment in due course. Carroll and Cresswell are currently sidelined through injury, although Bilic revealed today that the latter could return after next month's international break. Bilic enjoyed a superb debut season in England last term but he is under pressure as West Ham seemingly struggle to adapt to life at the London Stadium. They host Middlesbrough on Saturday and he said: "I am concerned and it has been a bad start. "But with one win we can build everything back with a win over Middlesbrough over Saturday. "I am asking myself a lot of questions even when it was good last season. You think about how you can change things. You can't sit still."
Bilic also gave his reaction to Sam Allardyce's departure as England manager following a newspaper sting in which he was caught offering advice on breaking FA rules regarding players transfers and agreeing in principle a £400,000 payment to represent a Far East firm. "I followed what has happened with England this week," he said. "It is very sad for English football. "I am sorry for Sam. We all love our jobs and I am so happy with my job. I don't remember seeing someone who was so happy to get it. "He has not lost his position from results on the pitch and I feel very sorry for him."
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http://vyperz.blogspot.com
Thursday, September 29
Daily WHUFC News - 29th September 2016
The Big Interview - Sofiane Feghouli
WHUFC.com
Sofiane Feghouli suffered a frustrating start to his career at West Ham United after he picked up a hamstring injury during the Betway Cup against Juventus. But the Algeria international has now made a full recovery and is ready to kickstart his career in east London and help the Hammers move away from the bottom three....
Sofiane, how disappointed you were with the result against Southampton on Sunday and how confident are you that the Club can turn things around?
SF: "We are discussing the reasons for our start to the season in the dressing room. We have suffered due to a series of injuries to some key players. That alone has caused us some issues at the start of the season. "We also had quite a few games in a short period due to the Europa League and so physically we struggled a bit. Slowly but surely, physically we are getting back to fitness. I know personally that I need time on the pitch to improve my own match fitness and to get back my rhythm. "I am sure that in the coming weeks as we get some of our players back to fitness, we will start to perform better as a team."
How important is this next period of games for the Club starting with the Middlesbrough game on Sunday?
SF: "Our objective is to win every match and by doing so, we can start to improve our league position. "We have quality in this squad, but it is down to us to improve and to take the responsibility on our shoulders. "We need to focus on the games one by one and that begins in our match against Middlesbrough. After that, we can start to look at the next game."
You will be coming up some familiar faces on Saturday having played with Alvaro Negredo and Antonio Barragan during your time in Valencia. How would you describe them as players?
SF: "Alvaro is a true striker. He has a cool head in front of goal and can cause teams real problems. "Antonio is a defender who loves to get forward and he is very effective on the wing creating danger each and every time he pushes on. "Both Alvaro and Antonio are great guys with brilliant characters and are an asset in the dressing room because they both create a positive atmosphere."
You have now played in front of the West Ham fans in the Premier League. How would you describe the atmosphere at London Stadium?
SF: "It is really exciting for us to play in front of so many fans at home. We hope that they can continue to support us and push us on throughout the ninety minutes so that we can start winning games at home. "We will be doing everything we can to make them happy and we need to get a win to improve the confidence of the squad and to help us to start climbing the table."
It's been a couple of months since you joined the Club, how are you settling into life here in the Premier League?
SF: "I am really happy to be in England and playing for West Ham. Playing in a new league, in a new country and with a new way of life is an incredibly rewarding experience and one that I am enjoying. "After six years in Spain with Valencia, I am pleased with how things are going at the Club. "It was obviously annoying to have picked up an injury so early on in my career with West Ham, preventing me from starting the season as I would have liked to. "I am getting back my form and hopefully, in the next couple of weeks and with some game time, I can get back to feeling 100 per cent."
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YouTuber to millions
WHUFC.com
YouTube personality and gamer Behzinga is a huge West Ham fan who features the club regularly in his online videos...
For a guy who has more than two million YouTube subscribers, you wouldn't think gaining one extra Twitter follower would be a big deal. That wasn't the case for 21-year-old YouTuber Behzinga, however, when he was followed by West Ham United's official account. "When they followed me on Twitter, I was absolutely buzzing for a few weeks!" claimed the Hammers supporter, who himself is followed by fans online from all over the world. "I was showing everyone, going around saying 'West Ham have followed me!' It's the stuff of dreams, your team following you and being able to ask you to get involved with their work in some way, the team you've grown up following."
Sidemen
Behzinga – or Ethan Payne to his family – has been YouTubing for just over four years, and is a member of the popular group on the video platform, Sidemen. He often produces videos from his time watching the Hammers and many of his fans online are also of Claret and Blue persuasion. But despite being one of the biggest YouTube names, Behzinga doesn't feel the heat or pressure of his two million subscribers. "Of course I'm stunned with how quickly things have happened for me, but I simply just share my experiences for other people to enjoy and experience with me. For perhaps that older generation not familiar with YouTube, that's simply what we do. "It's been about three years since I've properly been regularly producing videos and you go to events now with thousands of people there coming to see you and sure, you do have to pinch yourself every now and again. "But like a lot of YouTubers, I've come down a route and things have just snowballed since. In my final few years at school, I started up and kept it a secret at first, otherwise you got rinsed for it! "There were a few other people in school in the year below who got rinsed, so I kept things quiet, watched a lot of other guys on there and things just grew and grew. I started with gaming and things like Call of Duty and FIFA and now I'm here!"
Skills
Although Behzinga is extremely humble about his route into YouTubing and the skills required, he explained certain things are necessary to succeed online. He said: "You need creativity. That's a massive thing for sure, being able to think of different ideas and put your own twist on things. It's not about who does things first on YouTube, but who executes it right.
"It's about taking ideas, playing with them and making them yours and doing your own thing. You need motivation in general, too. I'm driven by success so ultimately, if I do something online that is really successful, I want to do it again. "You should never try to do things that you don't like just to jump on a trend. Jumping on trends is good, but do it in your own way and don't force anything."
While Behzinga's own channel has over 2,000,000 subscribers, his group Sidemen has just over half of the 21-year-old's personal total. Despite their popularity, the Bethnal Green-born YouTuber explained how simple the formation of the group was. "It is literally a group of mates that play games – that's what we are. There were four or five of us that all knew each other from school and watching each other's stuff and we thought 'Why not make a group out of this?' "It's just great fun and good to watch. We've picked up a few on the way and it just is a group of mates playing some games and having a laugh. "We've got different types of humour and different personalities in the group and I think that's why it works so well. We can all take a joke. You should never take yourself too seriously, and we certainly don't!"
Committed Hammer
Something Behzinga is serious about, committed to, however, is watching West Ham United. The online star has been a Hammers supporter since he was young and recalled some of his very best memories following the Irons. "I've literally known nothing else than to be a West Ham fan," he continued. "My Dad used to work in London and his manager knew Bobby Zamora who used to get us loads of tickets for the youth club. I used to go down with all the boys and was lucky enough to get to quite a few games. "I used to sit in the Bobby Moore Lower next to all the away fans and when I was younger, I would get tickets whenever I could at the Boleyn Ground. "There have been some ups and downs supporting the Club. My favourite memory – which people might slam me for! – is going to the FA Cup final against Liverpool at the Millennium Stadium. "It was such a phenomenal game which was ultimately heartbreaking when you think back on it, but seeing us in an FA Cup final and almost winning was incredible. It was such a great day and if it wasn't for Steven Gerrard, we would have won."
Like many Hammers who experienced the incredible last season at the Club's old Boleyn Ground, Behzinga also looks back on the first campaign under current manager Slaven Bilic with fondness. "The Liverpool replay in the cup last season was amazing – I remember running up and down my aisle going mad. I was also there for the last game at the Boleyn Ground. I cried like a baby! "I've never been to a game and just sat and soaked up the atmosphere. I don't think I'll ever experience an atmosphere like that again. You really felt it. It gave me goosebumps. It was all over you. To beat United 3-2 to complete it – it was crazy. That tops all the memories I think. The memory of the atmosphere makes me tingle now, still."
FIFA Gamer
As a keen FIFA player online and in his videos, Behzinga got the opportunity to give the new EA Sports game a test drive recently ahead of its official release, and he revealed playing with the Hammers in the game is incredible. "Michail Antonio is an absolute beast on the new FIFA 17. He's a baller! His overall rating of 76 does not reflect his quality. He's better than that! "Michail is incredible and one of my favourite players to play with on the new game, and Dimitri Payet, predictably, is a different beast. I love to play with the whole West Ham team, to be honest. "Also, the Stadium looks incredible in the game. It's great to play there on it. I love doing gaming videos because everyone's intrigued to see what other people are getting up to on the games. I'll make sure West Ham are involved regularly!"
To check out Behzinga's latest videos online, head to his YouTube channel.
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From the Treatment Room
WHUFC.com
Aaron Cresswell is in training with the Under-23 squad
Arthur Masuaku to undergo surgery to repair fracture in his hand
Andre Ayew ready for the next stage in his rehab for thigh injury
Head of Medical and Sports Science Stijn Vandenbroucke issues an update – in association with Spire Roding Hospital...
Hello everybody.
We have positive news of Aaron Cresswell, Andre Ayew, Diafra Sakho and an update on Arthur Masuaku in this week's From the Treatment Room.
First, Aaron trained very well with the Under-23s on Wednesday. The Academy kindly put on a very hard session, which Aaron took part in under the supervision of Eamon Swift, our rehab-fitness coach. He will take part in another training session with the Under-23s on Friday and join the first team next week.
Arthur unfortunately was injured in the EFL Cup tie with Accrington Stanley, suffering a medial ligament injury in his left knee. He is now wearing a brace, which he will be in for the next two weeks before being reassessed and taking the next stage in his rehab. We started exercises with him at Rush Green on Wednesday.
Arthur also suffered a small fracture in his hand, which occurred in the West Bromwich Albion match. He played through the injury in that game, and the EFL Cup tie, but we will now undergo a small fixation operation on Thursday.
Andre returned to France as planned to continue his rehab. He will return to Rush Green at the weekend. He has been working very hard on the pitch and is ready for the next stage in the rehab, introducing the ball, passing, kicking and faster running. Andre will continue working on improving his fitness levels for the next few weeks before he will join controlled introduction sessions with the Under-23s.
Diafra is progressing well after a week on the training pitch running and working with the ball. He has to build up a lot of fitness after three months out, but the encouraging thing is that he has had no adverse reaction in his back to the hard work he has been putting in. Diafra is working very hard and there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Havard Nordtveit had a small medical procedure at Spire Roding Hospital on Wednesday and will be unavailable for one week. He will return to training in the middle of next week.
Finally, Andy Carroll is continuing his rehab.
Stijn Vandenbroucke
Head of Medical and Sports Science
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Simply Slaven
WHUFC.com
These have been testing times for Slaven Bilic and his players in recent weeks, but in an exclusive interview the West Ham manager insists they are doing everything to put things right and are remaining positive as they look to turn the season around.
With five defeats from the opening six Premier League games, the Hammers manager knows the importance of getting back on the winning trail when they face Middlesbrough at London Stadium on Saturday.
Bilic and his players have been working even harder on the training pitch to address the situation and the players have spent more time together as they look to re-produce the form which saw them enjoy a memorable final season at the Boleyn Ground.
The Hammers boss has no doubts there is enough quality in the team to move away from the bottom three and hopes to see a big improvement on Saturday.
Bilic said: "The start was not the one we were expecting considering the great season we had last year and the move into the new Stadium.
"Things are not going well for us on the pitch, but we are positive and are working hard in training to put things right.
"We have had four defeats which we are not used to, but we have done lots of analysing, hard training, hard work and the atmosphere is good.
"It is not flat and we are very positive in the training sessions but we have to produce that during games and start winning games and that will bring the situation back to what it was last season.
"No-body can change it apart from us, starting with me. I am the manager and it is my team. It is the team that made us all proud last season. We have to change the situation.
"We cannot wait for it to change and have to act. We need to dig in harder and believe in ourselves."
Bilic has nothing but praise for the support that West Ham fans show towards the team and has called for them more than ever to get behind the side.
Bilic added: "This is the moment when we need them. We feel the fans support and all that I ask from them is that they stay behind us.
"It is a big part for us to feel good at home. We want the fans to see their team winning and go home happy. It is the same with the players.
"This is a new ground and different to the one we played in but we have to make it our home."
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Nolan - It's time to stand up and be counted
WHUFC.com
Former West Ham United captain Kevin Nolan made 157 appearances for the Club, scoring 31 goals, between 2011 and 2015...
Looking from the outside, it has been a difficult start to the season for the Hammers. The injuries have not helped and I have sympathy with Slaven and the lads in that regard, but it is now up to the players on the pitch to stand up and be counted.
It is very early in the season and that's a positive, but it's got to change sooner rather than later because if you don't get points on the board early, then you start to fall behind.
Even if you are only three points behind later in the season, say, you are thinking that one win gets you back level, but then you lose and they win and all of a sudden the gap is six points and a lot harder to close.
After the season the lads had last year, it was always going to be more difficult this year, for a few reasons.
First, they have left the Boleyn Ground for London Stadium, and it always takes time to adjust. I was at the new ground recently working with Football Focus and it is fantastic for the players – all the facilities are brand new and they don't want for anything, but it still takes time to get used to and get comfortable in your new surroundings.
For the players, they have got to forget about everything going on around them and just concentrate on what is happening on that bit of green grass they play on every week, because that variable doesn't change, and nobody else can effect what happens there.
In the dressing room, too, the players have got to take responsibility. This is a time when the big characters need to stand up and inspire themselves and their teammates. We have got plenty of big characters at the Club like Nobes, Ginge, Andy, Cheikhou and Adrian, from those I played with, and they need to let the whole squad know that the players are the only ones who can get themselves out of the current situation.
While that is the case, the atmosphere can really help. I know from my four years at the Club what a powerful force the fans can be and, at times like these, you really need everyone behind you, giving you confidence and belief in what you are doing.
I am fully expecting West Ham to turn things around by the end of the season, but for that to happen, the players cannot be allowed to go and sit in corners and feel sorry for themselves.
As a captain, when performances are not great, people look to you from inside and outside the dressing room for confidence and belief. I know Nobes and he has the drive and the ability to lead the team out of this.
He is a fan, as well as the captain, and he will be hurting as much as anyone, as he said in his interview after the Southampton game.
He now has to focus on how he led the team through their difficult period before Christmas last season, when the squad was without a lot of injured players, but managed to come through that period unbeaten. Nobes has got big and broad enough shoulders and he will lead by example.
The Middlesbrough game this weekend has a certain type of pressure attached to it.
At the start of the season, it would have been one that West Ham would have targeted three points from, and that is still the case, but they will come to London believing they can turn us over.
They've got some good players, like Stewie Downing who we all know well from his time here, and it will be a tough game, as they all are in the Premier League.
The London Stadium is inspiring visiting clubs, whose players will remember it from the London 2012 Olympic Games, but West Ham need to see this game as an opportunity to win and kick-start their season. I certainly hope the lads can do just that.
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of West Ham United.
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Ballot open for Sunderland
WHUFC.com
The Claret Members' ballot for our Premier League home game against Sunderland on Saturday 22 October is now open.
With all tickets for the opening games against Bournemouth, Watford, Southampton and Middlesbrough having been allocated in the Members' ballot, signing up gives you the best chance to watch the Hammers in action at London Stadium this season
Become a Claret Member here
To enter the ballot for Sunderland, simply head to eticketing.co.uk/whufc, log in to your Ticketmaster account, select the fixture and add to basket.
The ballot is open now and will close on Sunday 9 October. Successful applicants will be notified by email by Monday 10 October
The Club is keen to ensure that Claret Members can sit alongside friends and family for this unmissable fixture, and so fans wishing to apply with other members should include all client reference numbers in the one transaction, and, if successful, will be seated together.
By becoming a Member today, supporters not only ensure access to the ballot, but will be guaranteed exclusive ticket priority for every Premier League home game during the first season in our stunning new Stadium.
With 52,000 plus Season Ticket Holders, an even greater number on the waiting list and tens of thousands of Claret Members already registered, Claret Membership is your access to home match tickets in this unique season.
Membership is priced at just £40 for Adults and £25 for Under-16s, with supporters already on the Season Ticket Waiting List eligible for a £5 discount.
Similarly, Claret Members can also join the Season Ticket Waiting List for the reduced price of just £5.
Supporters entering the ballot have the option of selecting up to a maximum of two price points. If you are happy to accept any price band, and thereby increasing the likelihood of being successful, kindly select your preferred area of the Stadium and leave the second option blank.
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Chelsea on sale to Season Ticket Holders
WHUFC.com
West Ham United host Chelsea in EFL Cup fourth round on Wednesday 26 October at 7.45pm
Season Ticket Holder priority period open now until 5pm on Monday 3 October
Tie will be first London derby at Hammers' new home
West Ham United are pleased to confirm that the London derby against Chelsea in the EFL Cup fourth round will take place on Wednesday 26 October with a 7.45pm kick-off.
Buy your Chelsea tickets now!
The reward for beating Accrington Stanley in the last round of the EFL Cup is a mouthwatering home game against the former Premier League champions and there looks set to be another capacity crowd at London Stadium.
As part of the Board's commitment to affordable football, ticket prices start from just £15 for Adults and £10 for Kids.
Tickets are available to Season Ticket Holders now, with the exclusive priority window ending at 5pm on Monday 3 October.
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Live reporting
By Matthew Henry and Michael Emons
Facebook: BBC Sport
Posted at 14:04
Earlier, we told you how West Ham are set to investigate Andy Carroll and Darren Randolph over claims they were drunk in London on Tuesday afternoon (see 11:10 BST). But BBC Sport have spoken to the West Ham fan who started the Twitter rumours, and it's fair to say he's feeling a little sheepish that what started as a "joke" could have landed the players in hot water.
"There were photos circulating on Twitter earlier on Tuesday, so I got it and put it up as a joke and what started as an innocent joke has just turned into them being party animals," said Aran Nicol. "I didn't expect this at all, it was a joke." The wonders of social media...
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West Ham to investigate Andy Carroll and Darren Randolph over drunk claims
BBC.co.uk
West Ham will investigate claims that Andy Carroll and Darren Randolph were drunk on Tuesday afternoon.
England striker Carroll, 27, and Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Randolph, 29, had been on a club-sanctioned night out on Monday.
Pictures surfaced on social media on Tuesday of the pair, with users suggesting they appeared drunk.
A West Ham spokesman said: "The club is looking into these allegations and will deal with the players as we see fit."
Carroll interacted with fans throughout the day, at one point seeming to suggest that he and Randolph were out for coffee, and not drinking.
He tweeted: "I seriously need to sort my parties out!! Sorry lads.
"Back in the day my parties had the wish I was there effect!"
He also retweeted one fan who suggested that people were gullible to believe they were drinking alcohol.
The club have lost five of their six Premier League games this season.
They next face Middlesbrough at their new London Stadium on Saturday at 15:00 BST.
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EXWHUEMPLOYEE'S COLUMN: PLAYERS STILL BACK BILIC AFTER MEETING
BY EXWHUEMPLOYEE ON 27 SEPTEMBER 2016 AT 10:41PM
TheWestHamWay.co.uk
It has been a while since I wrote one of these but I hope to continue to write more regularly from now onwards. As always I am still looking for writers who can commit to actually writing something 😉 and preferably during the day too, so if that is you please get in contact.
So today Big Sam has mutually resigned from his position at England and there are obvious questions around any misdemeanours which may have happened during his time with us. There was always a lot of talk especially from Ravel Morrison's camp around Sam putting pressure on players to switch agents to Mark Curtis. It was Ravel's refusal to do so that spelt the end of his career at West Ham apparently and just before he left Allardyce managed to persuade Reece Burke to join Mark Curtis as well.
There was always question marks around Sam's agent dealings, however I have been told by people in the club today (and by respected media figures) that the club should have nothing to worry about. Talk of the club suffering a 12 points deduction are not correct, and represent nothing more than sensationalism to sell papers. There was also a suggestion that as Enner Valencia was being third party-owned at one point, this could come back to haunt us now this story has broken. Fortunately, this is not true and the third party agreement ended before we signed him, therefore there is nothing in there that represents a legal issue. Nonetheless, the club are braced for a number of stories to break from other agents and outlets telling of stories of Sam's dealings, so it looks like West Ham's new head of Media relations, Max Fitzgerald, has his hands full in his new role.
Our current manager took the players out for a meal yesterday where all cards were put on the table. It is said that the players still stand by Bilic and that he hasn't lost the dressing room. Talk through certain media outlets has been that Bilic is too soft and allows pets and children into the training ground seems wide of the mark, as I have heard the opposite. There were concerns around the tough nature of Bilic's training at the start of the season and fears that it could have contributed to a lot of muscle injuries during his tenure, which the chairmen and manager are said to have discussed, and changed them as a result.
Interestingly, during this meeting, Bilic apparently informed the squad that nobody will be picked on reputation from this point onwards, and that those who are not performing will be immediately dropped in favour of squad players with a point to prove.
There is strong talk though that the manager will be given three more games , with the club fully expecting that he will have turned it around by then. In the unexpected event that it comes to Bilic departing, I have heard of some of the names being lined up and there is a real range of experience and managers with potential. I think we should all get behind Bilic and do what we can to try to turn it around for him. Running polls on whether Bilic should be dismissed seems premature and unhelpful to the current situation.
Bilic will have a game or so after the international break to prove himself. This is because the club see that when Sakho and Carroll return to the side, and Cresswell not that far off, Bilic will finally get a full complement of players, if not, very close to full. It is also thought that Bilic is prepared to give Sakho a second/third chance now to prove himself at the club. Having originally said he had no future at the club, this comes as something of a U-turn, but I think the current striker situation has made him act.
Reports have surfaced tonight of Randolph and Carroll being out on some all-night bender with Randolph said to be abusing people who were on their way to work. Again, this isn't really the press that the club needs and I do question why some people who support the club want to do their to draw attention to a story like this. Andy Carroll is said to be disappointed by the reaction and believes that they have not done anything wrong. I am sure the club will look into it, which will probably end with the conclusion that there isn't a problem.
We're all wondering the same thing at this point: What exactly has gone wrong this season? This will be discussed in detail on our radio show tomorrow. This is live on Phoenix FM at 7pm and available to download on iTunes after the show. In a nutshell though, I believe the exit from the Europa League created a negative feel before the Premier League had started, something which the squad found hard to shift. A lot of players had been bought/not sent out on loan in preparation in for a long European campaign which never materialised. Once we exited, Reece Burke promptly left on loan and it meant the likes of Randolph, Obiang, Tore and Calleri realising they would be getting a lot less games and probably feeling resentful.
The move to the stadium has not helped. Had it ran smoothly and there was a positive feeling among the fans then this would be reflected on the pitch but the anger around sitting and standing and inadequate stewarding meant that rather than supporting the team there was a lot of negativity.
I also question our use of the transfer market. I would say we have opted to sign quantity over quality this year. We have spent a lot of money on a lot of players when perhaps we would have been better to buy three £20m players that improved our first team rather than just our squad.
Injuries have really not helped the situation, but strangely, despite the fact that we have managed to play our best players in Payet, Lanzini and Antonio, we have failed to reach any sort of consistency. Despite this, we are still missing players like Cresswell, Ayew and Carroll, who will surely make a difference upon their return. One area where the crisis has hit us particularly badly, is the defence. The constant changing of players, I think, has meant that a solid understanding has not been able to form yet. Similarly, we have faced problems in our forward line. With Andy Carroll out injured all of our preseason planning and preparation went out of the window and we had to change system very quickly. All of this is worrying, but innately fixable.
Let us not forget, that all of these absences have also meant we are playing to play too many players out of position. Antonio at right back was a prime example of this. His 'adventure' in the position caused a problem which affected the team in more ways than one. It was clear he wasn't a right back and that he was at fault for early goals conceded. David Sullivan was then said to have spoken with Bilic had said he didn't think it a good idea playing him there which Slaven promptly listened to. This was good to show that Bilic can change his mind but some of the players obviously felt some concern at this tactical decision.
There is a need, in my view, for us to play only one of Noble or Kouyate now, so that we can bring in Obiang to protect the back four. I believe he is one of the most unlucky players to have played for us, as his talent is there for all to see. I would play Reece Oxford at centre back as the others are all out of form, this would make particular sense as Oxford seems to be getting frustrated as he hasn't played as much as he was hoping. Obviously, this is of concern to the club, as they want him to remain at the club for the foreseeable future.
In more positive news, we raised £1017 for Jonjo Heurmann's charity event, which gives us massive pleasure to donate to the causes of such a heroic young man. A big shout out is in order to to all of those helped, contributed and donated. I have put a tweet out asking for the winners of the prizes to get in touch so please, if you entered, do check my account.
Tomorrow marks the end of a place that held so many beautiful memories for all of us. The place I am referring to, as you know, is The Boleyn Ground as tomorrow marks the beginning of deconstruction work to the beautiful old lady down, something I am not sure I can stomach to see.
Finally, If you are interested in writing for The West Ham way, please get in touch with the site or me via my twitter account
COYI
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West Ham fan admits fabricating Twitter rumour about Andy Carroll and Darren Randolph
15:18, 28 SEP 2016 UPDATED 16:19, 28 SEP 2016
BY AARON FLANAGAN
The Hammers confirmed on Wednesday that they were investigating claims that Carroll and Randolph were drunk on Tuesday morning
The Mirror
A fan of West Ham has admitted to an "innocent joke" about Andy Carroll and Darren Randolph which could have landed the pair in hot water. West Ham confirmed that they were investigating claims that Carroll and Randolph were drunk on Tuesday afternoon following a club sanctioned night out on Monday.
Pictures of striker Carroll - currently out injured - and keeper Randolph circulated on social media amid claims that they had visited two venues on Tuesday morning. But the Twitter user who initially claimed that they were drinking has retracted his comments after realising that the players could get in trouble.
Follow
Aran @AranNicolWHUFC
I've got you into this lads, I'm gonna get you out of it. Love you @AndyTCarroll @RandzOfficial
12:32 PM - 28 Sep 2016
1 1 Retweet 4 4 likes
"There were photos circulating on Twitter earlier on Tuesday, so I got it and put it up as a joke and what started as an innocent joke has just turned into them being party animals," Aran Nichol told BBC Sport. "I didn't expect this at all, it was a joke."
Follow
Tristan Carnegie @TristanCarnegie
Andy Carroll and Randolph smashed at midday shouting at birds in Shoreditch has made my Tuesday. 😂😂
2:37 PM - 27 Sep 2016
11 11 Retweets 19 19 likes
Both players vehemently denied either drinking or being drunk. But the Hammers confirmed they would be looking into reports to the contrary. As fans commented on the situation, Carroll retweeted one message which said: "Brilliant that so many fell for this about u and [Randolph] drinking." But the club are understood to be unamused. A Hammers spokesman said: "The club will be looking into these allegations and we will deal with the players as we see fit."
West Ham currently sit in the Premier League's bottom three after a run of four successive defeats, the latest a 3-0 home thumping at home to Southampton.
Bilic's position is not under threat but club chiefs were forced to reassure fans on Monday that the club are working hard to stop the slump.
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Former England boss Sam Allardyce deal for client John Carew made me "very uncomfortable" claims striker's agent
20:41, 27 SEP 2016 UPDATED 20:46, 27 SEP 2016
BY ADRIAN KAJUMBA
Per Flod reveals his unease at what went on when the Norwegian international joined Big Sam's West Ham as a free agent five years ago
The Mirror
The agent of a player Sam Allardyce once signed claims he is "not terribly surprised" to see the England boss has landed himself in trouble over transfers. Big Sam paid the price for revelations he tried to use his role to negotiate a £400,000 deal and also offered businessmen advice on how to get around FA rules on third-party ownership. The allegations reminded former agent Per Flod of how "uncomfortable" he felt dealing with boss Allardyce over his client, John Carew. Norwegian striker Carew joined Allardyce's West Ham on a free transfer in 2011. Flod told Norwegian broadcaster NRK: "It was obvious money was going to someone who should not have received any. "I came across people in the transfer that I had no control of. It was one of the hardest transfers I ever had. "It was not the way I wanted it to be. And it was obvious that the set of people outside the system had influence on the transfer and that money went in different ways than it should have. "There was contact to me from a person, which I do not want to say the name of, who was acting very differently. And my fee, which was agreed, was suddenly cut in half because there were others who were having money."
Flod claimed the deal was only done because he eventually agreed to halve his fee and added: "I will not argue that Allardyce even got money here. But it was a transfer with items that I was very uncomfortable (with)." Flod is no longer an agent, but insists he would have been finished at the time if he spoke up then.
He said: "It's like that in this business that when acting as an agent, and you want to continue to work in a market, the moment you go out and notify someone, you're done. So it was not a topic for me."
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West Ham and Rooney get Hammered
on Monday, 26 September 2016. Posted in Richard Keys Blog
http://www.richardajkeys.com/index.php/blog/item/west-ham-and-rooney-get-hammered#comments
After six games last season West Ham were in the top 3 - and my suggestion that their fans 'should be careful what they wish for' wasn't looking too accurate. Many a Hammer would regularly, and quite rightly, point out how well Slaven Bilic had taken to life as a coach in the P Lge and that my fears weere considerably wide of the mark.
After six games this season West Ham are in the bottom three and my warnings don't look quite so daft do they?
Look, I have no desire to open up old wounds with West Ham fans and I genuinely don't like to see the club struggle - it's a fine club that's contributed hugely to the English game down the years, especially for those of us of a certain vintage - Moore, Peters and Hurst were all heroes of mine.
What always disappointed me about the modern West Ham fan was how ungrateful he/she was to Big Sam. Hands up - Sam is a mate so of course I'll defend him wherever and whenever I feel I have to. I first got close to him back in 2008 when I worked in Qatar for the first time and he was hugely supportive of me and Andy when we were tucked up by Sky. Aren't you supposed to be loyal to good friends? I thought that was unwritten law in the East End - perhaps more so than anywhere else in London?
Sam didn't just save West Ham at the most needy point in their history, he first settled and then built the club back into a P Lge outfit. Bilic has never been shy of making that point. Sam made last season possible.
In warning that Hammers fans 'should be careful what they wish for' I was making the point that the old fashioned belief that their team should always play the 'West Ham' way was outdated and dangerous. You simply can't play 'nice' football in our league anymore.
Bilic, who I like enormously - he's a real football man, both knew last season and knows now that there is no such thing as the 'West Ham way' anymore. I pointed out last season, that before Christmas, the percentage of long balls West Ham played was up from 18% to 23%. Not my stats - Opta's.
In the last minute on Sunday I saw Antonio chucking a long throw into the box. Most Hammers fans would've missed this because they'd already left the stadium, but is they 'West Ham way'? The throw very nearly did its job though.
Last season the Hammers were brilliant and I said so on many occasions. Payet was sublime. Any football fan must've enjoyed his contribution to their season.
This time around they're a shadow of themselves. So is Payet. Perhaps he's struggling at the moment after all the excesses of the past 12 months, but right now he looks like a player that wants to be elsewhere. West Ham need him again - and fast.
I don't believe the Hammers will struggle all season. They're not as bad as their results have been so far but nor were they as good as results were last season. The truth is that they're somewhere in between - about where Sam left them.
The crisis at Old Trafford appears to be over! I said last week that I didn't believe Mourinho wouldn't sort things out. He hasn't yet, but Saturday was obviously much better. Or was it?
I thought they looked nervous for 20 mins. Goals change games and their opener did just that. Mata was terrific and helped put the game to bed before half time. A good job too, because Leicester had the better of the second half.
Were United better without Rooney? No. I'm not having that. I think they were miles better without Fellaini, something which seems to have gone totally un-noticed after all the nonsense surrounding Rooney.
I asked before - what is it with the Rooney-bashers? Why? Why are they so keen to run him out of both Old Trafford and England? I've never understood it. I repeat - the fella is a phenomenon. He's been awesome for club and country. His record speaks for itself. When has he ever complained about a job he's been asked to do for either?
Yes - he's out of sorts just now, but he'll be back. And when he is let's hope he's given just ONE job to do on the pitch. I can tell you, without fear of contradiction, that in the games he's played for United this season his manager has had him perform in a combined 12 different positions - shifting him forwards, back and sideways. Twelve! Rooney has adapted without complaint done what he's been asked, all for the good of the team. Back off him and enjoy him while we still can. We won't see his like again.
I thought it was interesting how Antonio Conte reacted to Chelsea's dismal performance at Arsenal. A warning Antonio - that dressing room won't react positively to criticism. It never has. Ask Villas Boas, Scolari and more recently Mourinho, to name just a few. You can go all the way back to Ranieri. Dennis Wise was in our BeIN Sports studios this weekend. When I made that point he reacted with a wry smile! I said in the summer, if those big ego's at The Bridge thought they were in for an easier time once they'd outed Mourinho then they should think again. Conte is more pedantic, tougher, demanding and he'll upset them. What happens next is going to be very interesting.
Oh. In amongst all the hysteria surrounding Rooney I saw this headline - 'Son proves Spurs don't need Kane'. Really? What a daft statement. They were good at the weekend - but is anyone seriously thinking they won't miss Kane? Believe me, they look able at the minute - but they'll miss Kane all right.
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West Ham to investigate behaviour of Andy Carroll and Darren Randolph after claims pair were drunk
Slaven Bilic ordered his West Ham players to enjoy a team bonding night
Hammers are currently languishing in 18th position in the Premier League
Andy Carroll joined group in attending an Italian restaurant in London
West Ham now investigating claims the striker and goalkeeper Darren Randolph were drunk on Tuesday afternoon
The Hammers face Middlesbrough at the London Stadium on Saturday
By PA REPORTER
PUBLISHED: 10:17, 28 September 2016 | UPDATED: 10:22, 28 September 2016
West Ham are investigating claims striker Andy Carroll and goalkeeper Darren Randolph were drunk on Tuesday afternoon following a club sanctioned night out on Monday. Carroll and Randolph led the group to an Italian restaurant in Knightsbridge. The pair, along with injured left back Aaron Cresswell, were then spotted in Mcdonald's at 7am. There were conflicting reports on social media the following day and manager Slaven Bilic will likely have questions for the pair. The Hammers have lost five of their six Premier League games this season, including four in a row, and play Middlesbrough on Saturday in their new London Stadium home. A West Ham United spokesman said: 'The club will be looking into these allegations and will deal with the players as we see fit.'
Carroll, who is currently out with a knee injury, posted a series of posts on Twitter, with fans replying asking if he was drunk. When it was suggested he was, in fact, in a coffee shop, Carroll replied: 'I seriously need to sort my parties out!! Sorry lads.' He added: 'Back in the day my parties had the wish I was there effect!' He then posted an image of his cracked phone screen and re-tweeted a post by a West Ham fan, who had the handle @Monkeyboy-WHU. '@AndyTCarroll brilliant that so many fall for this s**** about u & @RandzOfficial!'
One Twitter user and West Ham fan, with the handle @AranNicolWHUFC, had posted a photo of the pair. He wrote: '@AndyTCarroll and @RandzOfficial appear to be enjoying themselves... P***** out of their nut. Nice one lads. £WHUFC'
But in subsequent replies to other fans @AranNicolWHUFC admitted he had not taken the photo. 'They're at a pub and making a scene of themselves apparently,' he wrote. 'I never witnessed it, probably isn't even true, could be out having a coffee or all we know.' This is what I'm dealing with I can't afford a new one!! #NewContract pic.twitter.com/u0s8GDSUva
— Andy Carroll (@AndyTCarroll) September 27, 2016
With their season already under scrutiny, West Ham boss Bilic decided to try to release the pressure by giving his squad clearance to go out together on Monday evening.
Bilic's men have lost five of their opening six league matches this season but some of his players really seized the opportunity to let their hair down as they visited the fast food joint and enjoyed a team bonding night out after yet another shambolic performance and result. The Hammers were soundly beaten 3-0 by Southampton at home last weekend and are in dire need of making their new London Stadium a fortress - starting with the visit of Middlesbrough this Saturday. But before turning their attentions to that important game against Aitor Karanka's men, Bilic showed his man-management skills by allowing his first team squad to let their hair down at a plush restaurant in west London. Many of those who have let him and the supporters down this season were pictured sheepishly leaving the glitzy Signor Sassi restaurant, just over 24 hours after the heavy defeat to the Saints. Defender James Collins - who lost his place in the side after the return of New Zealand international Winston Reid - was among those keen to keep a low profile on the outing.
New recruits Simone Zaza, Alvaro Arbeloa and Jonathan Calleri were present for the meal, and Bilic will hope all three start to integrate themselves at the club after an inauspicious start. West Ham currently lie 18th in the Premier League with just three points from one victory in six games. The side look a different team to last season, when they pushed hard to finish in the top four, and there are fears the atmosphere at their Rush Green complex has become too complacent and relaxed. Bilic said: 'I said at the beginning of the season, when we moved into our newly refurbished training ground, that I wanted to create an environment where players felt comfortable spending time there before and after training, and would be happy to bring their kids sometimes. 'I am completely content with the balance of hard work and the welcoming environment of Rush Green Training Ground.'
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http://vyperz.blogspot.com
WHUFC.com
Sofiane Feghouli suffered a frustrating start to his career at West Ham United after he picked up a hamstring injury during the Betway Cup against Juventus. But the Algeria international has now made a full recovery and is ready to kickstart his career in east London and help the Hammers move away from the bottom three....
Sofiane, how disappointed you were with the result against Southampton on Sunday and how confident are you that the Club can turn things around?
SF: "We are discussing the reasons for our start to the season in the dressing room. We have suffered due to a series of injuries to some key players. That alone has caused us some issues at the start of the season. "We also had quite a few games in a short period due to the Europa League and so physically we struggled a bit. Slowly but surely, physically we are getting back to fitness. I know personally that I need time on the pitch to improve my own match fitness and to get back my rhythm. "I am sure that in the coming weeks as we get some of our players back to fitness, we will start to perform better as a team."
How important is this next period of games for the Club starting with the Middlesbrough game on Sunday?
SF: "Our objective is to win every match and by doing so, we can start to improve our league position. "We have quality in this squad, but it is down to us to improve and to take the responsibility on our shoulders. "We need to focus on the games one by one and that begins in our match against Middlesbrough. After that, we can start to look at the next game."
You will be coming up some familiar faces on Saturday having played with Alvaro Negredo and Antonio Barragan during your time in Valencia. How would you describe them as players?
SF: "Alvaro is a true striker. He has a cool head in front of goal and can cause teams real problems. "Antonio is a defender who loves to get forward and he is very effective on the wing creating danger each and every time he pushes on. "Both Alvaro and Antonio are great guys with brilliant characters and are an asset in the dressing room because they both create a positive atmosphere."
You have now played in front of the West Ham fans in the Premier League. How would you describe the atmosphere at London Stadium?
SF: "It is really exciting for us to play in front of so many fans at home. We hope that they can continue to support us and push us on throughout the ninety minutes so that we can start winning games at home. "We will be doing everything we can to make them happy and we need to get a win to improve the confidence of the squad and to help us to start climbing the table."
It's been a couple of months since you joined the Club, how are you settling into life here in the Premier League?
SF: "I am really happy to be in England and playing for West Ham. Playing in a new league, in a new country and with a new way of life is an incredibly rewarding experience and one that I am enjoying. "After six years in Spain with Valencia, I am pleased with how things are going at the Club. "It was obviously annoying to have picked up an injury so early on in my career with West Ham, preventing me from starting the season as I would have liked to. "I am getting back my form and hopefully, in the next couple of weeks and with some game time, I can get back to feeling 100 per cent."
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YouTuber to millions
WHUFC.com
YouTube personality and gamer Behzinga is a huge West Ham fan who features the club regularly in his online videos...
For a guy who has more than two million YouTube subscribers, you wouldn't think gaining one extra Twitter follower would be a big deal. That wasn't the case for 21-year-old YouTuber Behzinga, however, when he was followed by West Ham United's official account. "When they followed me on Twitter, I was absolutely buzzing for a few weeks!" claimed the Hammers supporter, who himself is followed by fans online from all over the world. "I was showing everyone, going around saying 'West Ham have followed me!' It's the stuff of dreams, your team following you and being able to ask you to get involved with their work in some way, the team you've grown up following."
Sidemen
Behzinga – or Ethan Payne to his family – has been YouTubing for just over four years, and is a member of the popular group on the video platform, Sidemen. He often produces videos from his time watching the Hammers and many of his fans online are also of Claret and Blue persuasion. But despite being one of the biggest YouTube names, Behzinga doesn't feel the heat or pressure of his two million subscribers. "Of course I'm stunned with how quickly things have happened for me, but I simply just share my experiences for other people to enjoy and experience with me. For perhaps that older generation not familiar with YouTube, that's simply what we do. "It's been about three years since I've properly been regularly producing videos and you go to events now with thousands of people there coming to see you and sure, you do have to pinch yourself every now and again. "But like a lot of YouTubers, I've come down a route and things have just snowballed since. In my final few years at school, I started up and kept it a secret at first, otherwise you got rinsed for it! "There were a few other people in school in the year below who got rinsed, so I kept things quiet, watched a lot of other guys on there and things just grew and grew. I started with gaming and things like Call of Duty and FIFA and now I'm here!"
Skills
Although Behzinga is extremely humble about his route into YouTubing and the skills required, he explained certain things are necessary to succeed online. He said: "You need creativity. That's a massive thing for sure, being able to think of different ideas and put your own twist on things. It's not about who does things first on YouTube, but who executes it right.
"It's about taking ideas, playing with them and making them yours and doing your own thing. You need motivation in general, too. I'm driven by success so ultimately, if I do something online that is really successful, I want to do it again. "You should never try to do things that you don't like just to jump on a trend. Jumping on trends is good, but do it in your own way and don't force anything."
While Behzinga's own channel has over 2,000,000 subscribers, his group Sidemen has just over half of the 21-year-old's personal total. Despite their popularity, the Bethnal Green-born YouTuber explained how simple the formation of the group was. "It is literally a group of mates that play games – that's what we are. There were four or five of us that all knew each other from school and watching each other's stuff and we thought 'Why not make a group out of this?' "It's just great fun and good to watch. We've picked up a few on the way and it just is a group of mates playing some games and having a laugh. "We've got different types of humour and different personalities in the group and I think that's why it works so well. We can all take a joke. You should never take yourself too seriously, and we certainly don't!"
Committed Hammer
Something Behzinga is serious about, committed to, however, is watching West Ham United. The online star has been a Hammers supporter since he was young and recalled some of his very best memories following the Irons. "I've literally known nothing else than to be a West Ham fan," he continued. "My Dad used to work in London and his manager knew Bobby Zamora who used to get us loads of tickets for the youth club. I used to go down with all the boys and was lucky enough to get to quite a few games. "I used to sit in the Bobby Moore Lower next to all the away fans and when I was younger, I would get tickets whenever I could at the Boleyn Ground. "There have been some ups and downs supporting the Club. My favourite memory – which people might slam me for! – is going to the FA Cup final against Liverpool at the Millennium Stadium. "It was such a phenomenal game which was ultimately heartbreaking when you think back on it, but seeing us in an FA Cup final and almost winning was incredible. It was such a great day and if it wasn't for Steven Gerrard, we would have won."
Like many Hammers who experienced the incredible last season at the Club's old Boleyn Ground, Behzinga also looks back on the first campaign under current manager Slaven Bilic with fondness. "The Liverpool replay in the cup last season was amazing – I remember running up and down my aisle going mad. I was also there for the last game at the Boleyn Ground. I cried like a baby! "I've never been to a game and just sat and soaked up the atmosphere. I don't think I'll ever experience an atmosphere like that again. You really felt it. It gave me goosebumps. It was all over you. To beat United 3-2 to complete it – it was crazy. That tops all the memories I think. The memory of the atmosphere makes me tingle now, still."
FIFA Gamer
As a keen FIFA player online and in his videos, Behzinga got the opportunity to give the new EA Sports game a test drive recently ahead of its official release, and he revealed playing with the Hammers in the game is incredible. "Michail Antonio is an absolute beast on the new FIFA 17. He's a baller! His overall rating of 76 does not reflect his quality. He's better than that! "Michail is incredible and one of my favourite players to play with on the new game, and Dimitri Payet, predictably, is a different beast. I love to play with the whole West Ham team, to be honest. "Also, the Stadium looks incredible in the game. It's great to play there on it. I love doing gaming videos because everyone's intrigued to see what other people are getting up to on the games. I'll make sure West Ham are involved regularly!"
To check out Behzinga's latest videos online, head to his YouTube channel.
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From the Treatment Room
WHUFC.com
Aaron Cresswell is in training with the Under-23 squad
Arthur Masuaku to undergo surgery to repair fracture in his hand
Andre Ayew ready for the next stage in his rehab for thigh injury
Head of Medical and Sports Science Stijn Vandenbroucke issues an update – in association with Spire Roding Hospital...
Hello everybody.
We have positive news of Aaron Cresswell, Andre Ayew, Diafra Sakho and an update on Arthur Masuaku in this week's From the Treatment Room.
First, Aaron trained very well with the Under-23s on Wednesday. The Academy kindly put on a very hard session, which Aaron took part in under the supervision of Eamon Swift, our rehab-fitness coach. He will take part in another training session with the Under-23s on Friday and join the first team next week.
Arthur unfortunately was injured in the EFL Cup tie with Accrington Stanley, suffering a medial ligament injury in his left knee. He is now wearing a brace, which he will be in for the next two weeks before being reassessed and taking the next stage in his rehab. We started exercises with him at Rush Green on Wednesday.
Arthur also suffered a small fracture in his hand, which occurred in the West Bromwich Albion match. He played through the injury in that game, and the EFL Cup tie, but we will now undergo a small fixation operation on Thursday.
Andre returned to France as planned to continue his rehab. He will return to Rush Green at the weekend. He has been working very hard on the pitch and is ready for the next stage in the rehab, introducing the ball, passing, kicking and faster running. Andre will continue working on improving his fitness levels for the next few weeks before he will join controlled introduction sessions with the Under-23s.
Diafra is progressing well after a week on the training pitch running and working with the ball. He has to build up a lot of fitness after three months out, but the encouraging thing is that he has had no adverse reaction in his back to the hard work he has been putting in. Diafra is working very hard and there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Havard Nordtveit had a small medical procedure at Spire Roding Hospital on Wednesday and will be unavailable for one week. He will return to training in the middle of next week.
Finally, Andy Carroll is continuing his rehab.
Stijn Vandenbroucke
Head of Medical and Sports Science
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Simply Slaven
WHUFC.com
These have been testing times for Slaven Bilic and his players in recent weeks, but in an exclusive interview the West Ham manager insists they are doing everything to put things right and are remaining positive as they look to turn the season around.
With five defeats from the opening six Premier League games, the Hammers manager knows the importance of getting back on the winning trail when they face Middlesbrough at London Stadium on Saturday.
Bilic and his players have been working even harder on the training pitch to address the situation and the players have spent more time together as they look to re-produce the form which saw them enjoy a memorable final season at the Boleyn Ground.
The Hammers boss has no doubts there is enough quality in the team to move away from the bottom three and hopes to see a big improvement on Saturday.
Bilic said: "The start was not the one we were expecting considering the great season we had last year and the move into the new Stadium.
"Things are not going well for us on the pitch, but we are positive and are working hard in training to put things right.
"We have had four defeats which we are not used to, but we have done lots of analysing, hard training, hard work and the atmosphere is good.
"It is not flat and we are very positive in the training sessions but we have to produce that during games and start winning games and that will bring the situation back to what it was last season.
"No-body can change it apart from us, starting with me. I am the manager and it is my team. It is the team that made us all proud last season. We have to change the situation.
"We cannot wait for it to change and have to act. We need to dig in harder and believe in ourselves."
Bilic has nothing but praise for the support that West Ham fans show towards the team and has called for them more than ever to get behind the side.
Bilic added: "This is the moment when we need them. We feel the fans support and all that I ask from them is that they stay behind us.
"It is a big part for us to feel good at home. We want the fans to see their team winning and go home happy. It is the same with the players.
"This is a new ground and different to the one we played in but we have to make it our home."
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Nolan - It's time to stand up and be counted
WHUFC.com
Former West Ham United captain Kevin Nolan made 157 appearances for the Club, scoring 31 goals, between 2011 and 2015...
Looking from the outside, it has been a difficult start to the season for the Hammers. The injuries have not helped and I have sympathy with Slaven and the lads in that regard, but it is now up to the players on the pitch to stand up and be counted.
It is very early in the season and that's a positive, but it's got to change sooner rather than later because if you don't get points on the board early, then you start to fall behind.
Even if you are only three points behind later in the season, say, you are thinking that one win gets you back level, but then you lose and they win and all of a sudden the gap is six points and a lot harder to close.
After the season the lads had last year, it was always going to be more difficult this year, for a few reasons.
First, they have left the Boleyn Ground for London Stadium, and it always takes time to adjust. I was at the new ground recently working with Football Focus and it is fantastic for the players – all the facilities are brand new and they don't want for anything, but it still takes time to get used to and get comfortable in your new surroundings.
For the players, they have got to forget about everything going on around them and just concentrate on what is happening on that bit of green grass they play on every week, because that variable doesn't change, and nobody else can effect what happens there.
In the dressing room, too, the players have got to take responsibility. This is a time when the big characters need to stand up and inspire themselves and their teammates. We have got plenty of big characters at the Club like Nobes, Ginge, Andy, Cheikhou and Adrian, from those I played with, and they need to let the whole squad know that the players are the only ones who can get themselves out of the current situation.
While that is the case, the atmosphere can really help. I know from my four years at the Club what a powerful force the fans can be and, at times like these, you really need everyone behind you, giving you confidence and belief in what you are doing.
I am fully expecting West Ham to turn things around by the end of the season, but for that to happen, the players cannot be allowed to go and sit in corners and feel sorry for themselves.
As a captain, when performances are not great, people look to you from inside and outside the dressing room for confidence and belief. I know Nobes and he has the drive and the ability to lead the team out of this.
He is a fan, as well as the captain, and he will be hurting as much as anyone, as he said in his interview after the Southampton game.
He now has to focus on how he led the team through their difficult period before Christmas last season, when the squad was without a lot of injured players, but managed to come through that period unbeaten. Nobes has got big and broad enough shoulders and he will lead by example.
The Middlesbrough game this weekend has a certain type of pressure attached to it.
At the start of the season, it would have been one that West Ham would have targeted three points from, and that is still the case, but they will come to London believing they can turn us over.
They've got some good players, like Stewie Downing who we all know well from his time here, and it will be a tough game, as they all are in the Premier League.
The London Stadium is inspiring visiting clubs, whose players will remember it from the London 2012 Olympic Games, but West Ham need to see this game as an opportunity to win and kick-start their season. I certainly hope the lads can do just that.
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of West Ham United.
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Ballot open for Sunderland
WHUFC.com
The Claret Members' ballot for our Premier League home game against Sunderland on Saturday 22 October is now open.
With all tickets for the opening games against Bournemouth, Watford, Southampton and Middlesbrough having been allocated in the Members' ballot, signing up gives you the best chance to watch the Hammers in action at London Stadium this season
Become a Claret Member here
To enter the ballot for Sunderland, simply head to eticketing.co.uk/whufc, log in to your Ticketmaster account, select the fixture and add to basket.
The ballot is open now and will close on Sunday 9 October. Successful applicants will be notified by email by Monday 10 October
The Club is keen to ensure that Claret Members can sit alongside friends and family for this unmissable fixture, and so fans wishing to apply with other members should include all client reference numbers in the one transaction, and, if successful, will be seated together.
By becoming a Member today, supporters not only ensure access to the ballot, but will be guaranteed exclusive ticket priority for every Premier League home game during the first season in our stunning new Stadium.
With 52,000 plus Season Ticket Holders, an even greater number on the waiting list and tens of thousands of Claret Members already registered, Claret Membership is your access to home match tickets in this unique season.
Membership is priced at just £40 for Adults and £25 for Under-16s, with supporters already on the Season Ticket Waiting List eligible for a £5 discount.
Similarly, Claret Members can also join the Season Ticket Waiting List for the reduced price of just £5.
Supporters entering the ballot have the option of selecting up to a maximum of two price points. If you are happy to accept any price band, and thereby increasing the likelihood of being successful, kindly select your preferred area of the Stadium and leave the second option blank.
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Chelsea on sale to Season Ticket Holders
WHUFC.com
West Ham United host Chelsea in EFL Cup fourth round on Wednesday 26 October at 7.45pm
Season Ticket Holder priority period open now until 5pm on Monday 3 October
Tie will be first London derby at Hammers' new home
West Ham United are pleased to confirm that the London derby against Chelsea in the EFL Cup fourth round will take place on Wednesday 26 October with a 7.45pm kick-off.
Buy your Chelsea tickets now!
The reward for beating Accrington Stanley in the last round of the EFL Cup is a mouthwatering home game against the former Premier League champions and there looks set to be another capacity crowd at London Stadium.
As part of the Board's commitment to affordable football, ticket prices start from just £15 for Adults and £10 for Kids.
Tickets are available to Season Ticket Holders now, with the exclusive priority window ending at 5pm on Monday 3 October.
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Live reporting
By Matthew Henry and Michael Emons
Facebook: BBC Sport
Posted at 14:04
Earlier, we told you how West Ham are set to investigate Andy Carroll and Darren Randolph over claims they were drunk in London on Tuesday afternoon (see 11:10 BST). But BBC Sport have spoken to the West Ham fan who started the Twitter rumours, and it's fair to say he's feeling a little sheepish that what started as a "joke" could have landed the players in hot water.
"There were photos circulating on Twitter earlier on Tuesday, so I got it and put it up as a joke and what started as an innocent joke has just turned into them being party animals," said Aran Nicol. "I didn't expect this at all, it was a joke." The wonders of social media...
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West Ham to investigate Andy Carroll and Darren Randolph over drunk claims
BBC.co.uk
West Ham will investigate claims that Andy Carroll and Darren Randolph were drunk on Tuesday afternoon.
England striker Carroll, 27, and Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Randolph, 29, had been on a club-sanctioned night out on Monday.
Pictures surfaced on social media on Tuesday of the pair, with users suggesting they appeared drunk.
A West Ham spokesman said: "The club is looking into these allegations and will deal with the players as we see fit."
Carroll interacted with fans throughout the day, at one point seeming to suggest that he and Randolph were out for coffee, and not drinking.
He tweeted: "I seriously need to sort my parties out!! Sorry lads.
"Back in the day my parties had the wish I was there effect!"
He also retweeted one fan who suggested that people were gullible to believe they were drinking alcohol.
The club have lost five of their six Premier League games this season.
They next face Middlesbrough at their new London Stadium on Saturday at 15:00 BST.
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EXWHUEMPLOYEE'S COLUMN: PLAYERS STILL BACK BILIC AFTER MEETING
BY EXWHUEMPLOYEE ON 27 SEPTEMBER 2016 AT 10:41PM
TheWestHamWay.co.uk
It has been a while since I wrote one of these but I hope to continue to write more regularly from now onwards. As always I am still looking for writers who can commit to actually writing something 😉 and preferably during the day too, so if that is you please get in contact.
So today Big Sam has mutually resigned from his position at England and there are obvious questions around any misdemeanours which may have happened during his time with us. There was always a lot of talk especially from Ravel Morrison's camp around Sam putting pressure on players to switch agents to Mark Curtis. It was Ravel's refusal to do so that spelt the end of his career at West Ham apparently and just before he left Allardyce managed to persuade Reece Burke to join Mark Curtis as well.
There was always question marks around Sam's agent dealings, however I have been told by people in the club today (and by respected media figures) that the club should have nothing to worry about. Talk of the club suffering a 12 points deduction are not correct, and represent nothing more than sensationalism to sell papers. There was also a suggestion that as Enner Valencia was being third party-owned at one point, this could come back to haunt us now this story has broken. Fortunately, this is not true and the third party agreement ended before we signed him, therefore there is nothing in there that represents a legal issue. Nonetheless, the club are braced for a number of stories to break from other agents and outlets telling of stories of Sam's dealings, so it looks like West Ham's new head of Media relations, Max Fitzgerald, has his hands full in his new role.
Our current manager took the players out for a meal yesterday where all cards were put on the table. It is said that the players still stand by Bilic and that he hasn't lost the dressing room. Talk through certain media outlets has been that Bilic is too soft and allows pets and children into the training ground seems wide of the mark, as I have heard the opposite. There were concerns around the tough nature of Bilic's training at the start of the season and fears that it could have contributed to a lot of muscle injuries during his tenure, which the chairmen and manager are said to have discussed, and changed them as a result.
Interestingly, during this meeting, Bilic apparently informed the squad that nobody will be picked on reputation from this point onwards, and that those who are not performing will be immediately dropped in favour of squad players with a point to prove.
There is strong talk though that the manager will be given three more games , with the club fully expecting that he will have turned it around by then. In the unexpected event that it comes to Bilic departing, I have heard of some of the names being lined up and there is a real range of experience and managers with potential. I think we should all get behind Bilic and do what we can to try to turn it around for him. Running polls on whether Bilic should be dismissed seems premature and unhelpful to the current situation.
Bilic will have a game or so after the international break to prove himself. This is because the club see that when Sakho and Carroll return to the side, and Cresswell not that far off, Bilic will finally get a full complement of players, if not, very close to full. It is also thought that Bilic is prepared to give Sakho a second/third chance now to prove himself at the club. Having originally said he had no future at the club, this comes as something of a U-turn, but I think the current striker situation has made him act.
Reports have surfaced tonight of Randolph and Carroll being out on some all-night bender with Randolph said to be abusing people who were on their way to work. Again, this isn't really the press that the club needs and I do question why some people who support the club want to do their to draw attention to a story like this. Andy Carroll is said to be disappointed by the reaction and believes that they have not done anything wrong. I am sure the club will look into it, which will probably end with the conclusion that there isn't a problem.
We're all wondering the same thing at this point: What exactly has gone wrong this season? This will be discussed in detail on our radio show tomorrow. This is live on Phoenix FM at 7pm and available to download on iTunes after the show. In a nutshell though, I believe the exit from the Europa League created a negative feel before the Premier League had started, something which the squad found hard to shift. A lot of players had been bought/not sent out on loan in preparation in for a long European campaign which never materialised. Once we exited, Reece Burke promptly left on loan and it meant the likes of Randolph, Obiang, Tore and Calleri realising they would be getting a lot less games and probably feeling resentful.
The move to the stadium has not helped. Had it ran smoothly and there was a positive feeling among the fans then this would be reflected on the pitch but the anger around sitting and standing and inadequate stewarding meant that rather than supporting the team there was a lot of negativity.
I also question our use of the transfer market. I would say we have opted to sign quantity over quality this year. We have spent a lot of money on a lot of players when perhaps we would have been better to buy three £20m players that improved our first team rather than just our squad.
Injuries have really not helped the situation, but strangely, despite the fact that we have managed to play our best players in Payet, Lanzini and Antonio, we have failed to reach any sort of consistency. Despite this, we are still missing players like Cresswell, Ayew and Carroll, who will surely make a difference upon their return. One area where the crisis has hit us particularly badly, is the defence. The constant changing of players, I think, has meant that a solid understanding has not been able to form yet. Similarly, we have faced problems in our forward line. With Andy Carroll out injured all of our preseason planning and preparation went out of the window and we had to change system very quickly. All of this is worrying, but innately fixable.
Let us not forget, that all of these absences have also meant we are playing to play too many players out of position. Antonio at right back was a prime example of this. His 'adventure' in the position caused a problem which affected the team in more ways than one. It was clear he wasn't a right back and that he was at fault for early goals conceded. David Sullivan was then said to have spoken with Bilic had said he didn't think it a good idea playing him there which Slaven promptly listened to. This was good to show that Bilic can change his mind but some of the players obviously felt some concern at this tactical decision.
There is a need, in my view, for us to play only one of Noble or Kouyate now, so that we can bring in Obiang to protect the back four. I believe he is one of the most unlucky players to have played for us, as his talent is there for all to see. I would play Reece Oxford at centre back as the others are all out of form, this would make particular sense as Oxford seems to be getting frustrated as he hasn't played as much as he was hoping. Obviously, this is of concern to the club, as they want him to remain at the club for the foreseeable future.
In more positive news, we raised £1017 for Jonjo Heurmann's charity event, which gives us massive pleasure to donate to the causes of such a heroic young man. A big shout out is in order to to all of those helped, contributed and donated. I have put a tweet out asking for the winners of the prizes to get in touch so please, if you entered, do check my account.
Tomorrow marks the end of a place that held so many beautiful memories for all of us. The place I am referring to, as you know, is The Boleyn Ground as tomorrow marks the beginning of deconstruction work to the beautiful old lady down, something I am not sure I can stomach to see.
Finally, If you are interested in writing for The West Ham way, please get in touch with the site or me via my twitter account
COYI
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West Ham fan admits fabricating Twitter rumour about Andy Carroll and Darren Randolph
15:18, 28 SEP 2016 UPDATED 16:19, 28 SEP 2016
BY AARON FLANAGAN
The Hammers confirmed on Wednesday that they were investigating claims that Carroll and Randolph were drunk on Tuesday morning
The Mirror
A fan of West Ham has admitted to an "innocent joke" about Andy Carroll and Darren Randolph which could have landed the pair in hot water. West Ham confirmed that they were investigating claims that Carroll and Randolph were drunk on Tuesday afternoon following a club sanctioned night out on Monday.
Pictures of striker Carroll - currently out injured - and keeper Randolph circulated on social media amid claims that they had visited two venues on Tuesday morning. But the Twitter user who initially claimed that they were drinking has retracted his comments after realising that the players could get in trouble.
Follow
Aran @AranNicolWHUFC
I've got you into this lads, I'm gonna get you out of it. Love you @AndyTCarroll @RandzOfficial
12:32 PM - 28 Sep 2016
1 1 Retweet 4 4 likes
"There were photos circulating on Twitter earlier on Tuesday, so I got it and put it up as a joke and what started as an innocent joke has just turned into them being party animals," Aran Nichol told BBC Sport. "I didn't expect this at all, it was a joke."
Follow
Tristan Carnegie @TristanCarnegie
Andy Carroll and Randolph smashed at midday shouting at birds in Shoreditch has made my Tuesday. 😂😂
2:37 PM - 27 Sep 2016
11 11 Retweets 19 19 likes
Both players vehemently denied either drinking or being drunk. But the Hammers confirmed they would be looking into reports to the contrary. As fans commented on the situation, Carroll retweeted one message which said: "Brilliant that so many fell for this about u and [Randolph] drinking." But the club are understood to be unamused. A Hammers spokesman said: "The club will be looking into these allegations and we will deal with the players as we see fit."
West Ham currently sit in the Premier League's bottom three after a run of four successive defeats, the latest a 3-0 home thumping at home to Southampton.
Bilic's position is not under threat but club chiefs were forced to reassure fans on Monday that the club are working hard to stop the slump.
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Former England boss Sam Allardyce deal for client John Carew made me "very uncomfortable" claims striker's agent
20:41, 27 SEP 2016 UPDATED 20:46, 27 SEP 2016
BY ADRIAN KAJUMBA
Per Flod reveals his unease at what went on when the Norwegian international joined Big Sam's West Ham as a free agent five years ago
The Mirror
The agent of a player Sam Allardyce once signed claims he is "not terribly surprised" to see the England boss has landed himself in trouble over transfers. Big Sam paid the price for revelations he tried to use his role to negotiate a £400,000 deal and also offered businessmen advice on how to get around FA rules on third-party ownership. The allegations reminded former agent Per Flod of how "uncomfortable" he felt dealing with boss Allardyce over his client, John Carew. Norwegian striker Carew joined Allardyce's West Ham on a free transfer in 2011. Flod told Norwegian broadcaster NRK: "It was obvious money was going to someone who should not have received any. "I came across people in the transfer that I had no control of. It was one of the hardest transfers I ever had. "It was not the way I wanted it to be. And it was obvious that the set of people outside the system had influence on the transfer and that money went in different ways than it should have. "There was contact to me from a person, which I do not want to say the name of, who was acting very differently. And my fee, which was agreed, was suddenly cut in half because there were others who were having money."
Flod claimed the deal was only done because he eventually agreed to halve his fee and added: "I will not argue that Allardyce even got money here. But it was a transfer with items that I was very uncomfortable (with)." Flod is no longer an agent, but insists he would have been finished at the time if he spoke up then.
He said: "It's like that in this business that when acting as an agent, and you want to continue to work in a market, the moment you go out and notify someone, you're done. So it was not a topic for me."
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West Ham and Rooney get Hammered
on Monday, 26 September 2016. Posted in Richard Keys Blog
http://www.richardajkeys.com/index.php/blog/item/west-ham-and-rooney-get-hammered#comments
After six games last season West Ham were in the top 3 - and my suggestion that their fans 'should be careful what they wish for' wasn't looking too accurate. Many a Hammer would regularly, and quite rightly, point out how well Slaven Bilic had taken to life as a coach in the P Lge and that my fears weere considerably wide of the mark.
After six games this season West Ham are in the bottom three and my warnings don't look quite so daft do they?
Look, I have no desire to open up old wounds with West Ham fans and I genuinely don't like to see the club struggle - it's a fine club that's contributed hugely to the English game down the years, especially for those of us of a certain vintage - Moore, Peters and Hurst were all heroes of mine.
What always disappointed me about the modern West Ham fan was how ungrateful he/she was to Big Sam. Hands up - Sam is a mate so of course I'll defend him wherever and whenever I feel I have to. I first got close to him back in 2008 when I worked in Qatar for the first time and he was hugely supportive of me and Andy when we were tucked up by Sky. Aren't you supposed to be loyal to good friends? I thought that was unwritten law in the East End - perhaps more so than anywhere else in London?
Sam didn't just save West Ham at the most needy point in their history, he first settled and then built the club back into a P Lge outfit. Bilic has never been shy of making that point. Sam made last season possible.
In warning that Hammers fans 'should be careful what they wish for' I was making the point that the old fashioned belief that their team should always play the 'West Ham' way was outdated and dangerous. You simply can't play 'nice' football in our league anymore.
Bilic, who I like enormously - he's a real football man, both knew last season and knows now that there is no such thing as the 'West Ham way' anymore. I pointed out last season, that before Christmas, the percentage of long balls West Ham played was up from 18% to 23%. Not my stats - Opta's.
In the last minute on Sunday I saw Antonio chucking a long throw into the box. Most Hammers fans would've missed this because they'd already left the stadium, but is they 'West Ham way'? The throw very nearly did its job though.
Last season the Hammers were brilliant and I said so on many occasions. Payet was sublime. Any football fan must've enjoyed his contribution to their season.
This time around they're a shadow of themselves. So is Payet. Perhaps he's struggling at the moment after all the excesses of the past 12 months, but right now he looks like a player that wants to be elsewhere. West Ham need him again - and fast.
I don't believe the Hammers will struggle all season. They're not as bad as their results have been so far but nor were they as good as results were last season. The truth is that they're somewhere in between - about where Sam left them.
The crisis at Old Trafford appears to be over! I said last week that I didn't believe Mourinho wouldn't sort things out. He hasn't yet, but Saturday was obviously much better. Or was it?
I thought they looked nervous for 20 mins. Goals change games and their opener did just that. Mata was terrific and helped put the game to bed before half time. A good job too, because Leicester had the better of the second half.
Were United better without Rooney? No. I'm not having that. I think they were miles better without Fellaini, something which seems to have gone totally un-noticed after all the nonsense surrounding Rooney.
I asked before - what is it with the Rooney-bashers? Why? Why are they so keen to run him out of both Old Trafford and England? I've never understood it. I repeat - the fella is a phenomenon. He's been awesome for club and country. His record speaks for itself. When has he ever complained about a job he's been asked to do for either?
Yes - he's out of sorts just now, but he'll be back. And when he is let's hope he's given just ONE job to do on the pitch. I can tell you, without fear of contradiction, that in the games he's played for United this season his manager has had him perform in a combined 12 different positions - shifting him forwards, back and sideways. Twelve! Rooney has adapted without complaint done what he's been asked, all for the good of the team. Back off him and enjoy him while we still can. We won't see his like again.
I thought it was interesting how Antonio Conte reacted to Chelsea's dismal performance at Arsenal. A warning Antonio - that dressing room won't react positively to criticism. It never has. Ask Villas Boas, Scolari and more recently Mourinho, to name just a few. You can go all the way back to Ranieri. Dennis Wise was in our BeIN Sports studios this weekend. When I made that point he reacted with a wry smile! I said in the summer, if those big ego's at The Bridge thought they were in for an easier time once they'd outed Mourinho then they should think again. Conte is more pedantic, tougher, demanding and he'll upset them. What happens next is going to be very interesting.
Oh. In amongst all the hysteria surrounding Rooney I saw this headline - 'Son proves Spurs don't need Kane'. Really? What a daft statement. They were good at the weekend - but is anyone seriously thinking they won't miss Kane? Believe me, they look able at the minute - but they'll miss Kane all right.
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West Ham to investigate behaviour of Andy Carroll and Darren Randolph after claims pair were drunk
Slaven Bilic ordered his West Ham players to enjoy a team bonding night
Hammers are currently languishing in 18th position in the Premier League
Andy Carroll joined group in attending an Italian restaurant in London
West Ham now investigating claims the striker and goalkeeper Darren Randolph were drunk on Tuesday afternoon
The Hammers face Middlesbrough at the London Stadium on Saturday
By PA REPORTER
PUBLISHED: 10:17, 28 September 2016 | UPDATED: 10:22, 28 September 2016
West Ham are investigating claims striker Andy Carroll and goalkeeper Darren Randolph were drunk on Tuesday afternoon following a club sanctioned night out on Monday. Carroll and Randolph led the group to an Italian restaurant in Knightsbridge. The pair, along with injured left back Aaron Cresswell, were then spotted in Mcdonald's at 7am. There were conflicting reports on social media the following day and manager Slaven Bilic will likely have questions for the pair. The Hammers have lost five of their six Premier League games this season, including four in a row, and play Middlesbrough on Saturday in their new London Stadium home. A West Ham United spokesman said: 'The club will be looking into these allegations and will deal with the players as we see fit.'
Carroll, who is currently out with a knee injury, posted a series of posts on Twitter, with fans replying asking if he was drunk. When it was suggested he was, in fact, in a coffee shop, Carroll replied: 'I seriously need to sort my parties out!! Sorry lads.' He added: 'Back in the day my parties had the wish I was there effect!' He then posted an image of his cracked phone screen and re-tweeted a post by a West Ham fan, who had the handle @Monkeyboy-WHU. '@AndyTCarroll brilliant that so many fall for this s**** about u & @RandzOfficial!'
One Twitter user and West Ham fan, with the handle @AranNicolWHUFC, had posted a photo of the pair. He wrote: '@AndyTCarroll and @RandzOfficial appear to be enjoying themselves... P***** out of their nut. Nice one lads. £WHUFC'
But in subsequent replies to other fans @AranNicolWHUFC admitted he had not taken the photo. 'They're at a pub and making a scene of themselves apparently,' he wrote. 'I never witnessed it, probably isn't even true, could be out having a coffee or all we know.' This is what I'm dealing with I can't afford a new one!! #NewContract pic.twitter.com/u0s8GDSUva
— Andy Carroll (@AndyTCarroll) September 27, 2016
With their season already under scrutiny, West Ham boss Bilic decided to try to release the pressure by giving his squad clearance to go out together on Monday evening.
Bilic's men have lost five of their opening six league matches this season but some of his players really seized the opportunity to let their hair down as they visited the fast food joint and enjoyed a team bonding night out after yet another shambolic performance and result. The Hammers were soundly beaten 3-0 by Southampton at home last weekend and are in dire need of making their new London Stadium a fortress - starting with the visit of Middlesbrough this Saturday. But before turning their attentions to that important game against Aitor Karanka's men, Bilic showed his man-management skills by allowing his first team squad to let their hair down at a plush restaurant in west London. Many of those who have let him and the supporters down this season were pictured sheepishly leaving the glitzy Signor Sassi restaurant, just over 24 hours after the heavy defeat to the Saints. Defender James Collins - who lost his place in the side after the return of New Zealand international Winston Reid - was among those keen to keep a low profile on the outing.
New recruits Simone Zaza, Alvaro Arbeloa and Jonathan Calleri were present for the meal, and Bilic will hope all three start to integrate themselves at the club after an inauspicious start. West Ham currently lie 18th in the Premier League with just three points from one victory in six games. The side look a different team to last season, when they pushed hard to finish in the top four, and there are fears the atmosphere at their Rush Green complex has become too complacent and relaxed. Bilic said: 'I said at the beginning of the season, when we moved into our newly refurbished training ground, that I wanted to create an environment where players felt comfortable spending time there before and after training, and would be happy to bring their kids sometimes. 'I am completely content with the balance of hard work and the welcoming environment of Rush Green Training Ground.'
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