Daily WHUFC News - 5th October 2017

What happened next? The Hammers who beat Derby in 2003
WHUFC.com

West Ham United left it late, but kept their strong start to the 2003/04
Football League Division One season going with a 1-0 victory away at Derby
County 14 years ago today. Don Hutchison stepped off the bench and volleyed
home the winner in the final minute, pushing the Hammers up to third in the
league table.
Here, we look at what the players who turned out in claret and blue that day
did next...

David James

David was still England's No1 goalkeeper, despite the Hammers' relegation
the previous summer. He moved to Man City three months later and went on to
play for Portsmouth, Bristol City and Bournemouth, before moving overseas
with Icelandic side ÍBV Vestmannaeyjar. He retired aged 44 after a spell as
player-manager of Indian side Kerala Blasters and has since worked as a
pundit.

Tomas Repka

Hardman defender Tomas was a Hammer for five years, helping the club win
promotion back to the top flight before returning to his homeland to play
for Sparta Prague. He retired in 2014 after a one-game spell with Hvozdnice.

Christian Dailly

Dailly became a cult hero among Hammers fans during his six years at the
Boleyn Ground. After the Hammers he turned out for Rangers, Charlton
Athletic, Portsmouth and Southend United. He retired in 2012 and his son
Harvey has followed him into football, making his Dundee United in August -
27 years after his father did the same.

Ian Pearce

Ian enjoyed a distinguished career at the top of the game with Chelsea,
Blackburn, the Hammers and Fulham, but he wasn't afraid to drop down the
levels in his later years, turning out for Oxted & District, Kingstonian,
Lincoln City and Lingfield. He was also assistant manager to Chris Sutton
during his time with Lincoln.

Wayne Quinn

Wayne's loan with the Hammers from Newcastle United that season proved to be
the end of his professional career. He was released by the Magpies in 2004
and returned home to Cornwall, where he played non-league football for
Penzance and Falmouth Town. In 2013 he became player-manager of
Penzance-baded side Mousehole.

Niclas Alexandersson

Alexandersson was on loan from Everton at the time, with his Goodison Park
spell coming to an end at the conclusion of the season. He returned to
Sweden with IFK Goteborg, where he remained until his retirement in 2009. He
gained 109 caps for his country.

Michael Carrick

Academy product and 1999 FA Youth Cup winner Michael was coming to the end
of his time with the Hammers, moving on to Tottenham in January 2004. He
signed for Manchester United two years later and has since won five Premier
Leagues, three League Cups, a UEFA Champions League and an FA Cup.

Kevin Horlock

Kevin spent one season with the Hammers before signing for Ipswich Town in
summer 2004. Spells with Doncaster and Scunthorpe followed before he moved
into coaching. He currently manages Essex non-league side Maldon & Tipree,
along with holding the post of assistant manager with Colchester United's
U23s.

Matt Etherington

Etherington was just starting out on a 195-game Hammers career at this
point, which saw him become a popular figure in claret and blue. He went on
to play for Stoke City, where injury forced his retirement at the age of 33
in 2014.

David Connolly

Irishman David had a season with the Hammers before playing for Leicester,
Wigan, Sunderland, Southampton, Portsmouth and AFC Wimbledon, where a long
and varied career came to a close in 2015.

Neil Mellor

Scouser Neil burst onto the scene with eye-catching goals for Liverpool
against Olympiacos and Arsenal before heading to the Hammers on loan. He
never re-scaled those early heights, playing for Preston and Sheffield
Wednesday before hanging up his boots and embarking on a career in the
media..

Substitutes

Don Hutchison (for Mellor, 71)

Hutchison made the match-winning contribution from the bench in what was his
second spell with the Hammers. He later played for Millwall, Coventry and
Luton and is now a pundit.

Rob Lee (for Carrick, 83)

Rob left the Hammers at the end of this season for brief spells with Oldham
and Wycombe. He is another member of this team to have moved into punditry
and his son Elliot also turned out for West Ham, and is now at Luton Town.

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Westley: Academy should take pride in international call-ups
WHUFC.com

Academy Director Terry Westley says West Ham United should take pride in the
number of young players called up for international duty. The Academy of
Football has no fewer than eight players away representing their respective
nations in a variety of competitive and friendly matches across Europe.

Declan Rice and Josh Cullen (Republic of Ireland U21), Martin Samuelsen
(Norway U21), Reece Oxford and Nathan Trott (England U20), Rihards Matrevics
(Latvia U19), Anthony Scully (Republic of Ireland U19) and Dan Kemp (England
U19) were all selected, while Domingos Quina was forced to pull out of the
Portugal U20 squad through injury.

"The number of international call-ups for Academy shows where we are at as a
Club, scouting, coaching and developing outstanding young players who are
among the very best in their country," said Westley. "If you are in the
England U20 squad like Oxford and Trott, or a Portugal U20 squad that won
the European U19 Championship last summer like Quina, you have got a
pedigree of player there that we can be proud of. "Rice and Cullen are
important players for Ireland U21s, who have made a terrific start to their
own European Championship qualifying group. "We also have Nathan Holland,
who was on standby for England U20s, Dan Kemp called up for the U19s and
Anthony Scully playing in midfield for Ireland U19s. "The status of our
players continues to rise and, as an Academy and as a Club as a whole, this
is very encouraging and an endorsement of the work we are doing here at West
Ham United."

Rice and Bolton Wanderers loanee Cullen are in the Republic of Ireland U21
squad for home Group 5 ties with Martin Samuelsen's Norway on Thursday – who
also host Germany in Drammen next Tuesday – and Israel in Dublin on Monday.
Nathan Trott and Reece Oxford, who is on loan at German club Borussia
Moenchengladbach, are in the England U20 squad for friendly matches with
Italy in Gorgonzola on Thursday and at home to Czech Republic next Tuesday.
Sticking with the Young Lions, Kemp is in the England U19 squad for
friendlies in Czech Republic on Friday and Slovakia on Monday. Finally,
Scully's Republic of Ireland U19s host Azerbaijan on Wednesday, Cyprus on
Saturday and Serbia on Tuesday in UEFA European Championship qualifiers in
Waterford, while Rihards Matrevics has been called-up by Latvia U19s for a
training camp and friendly matches in Riga.

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Brighton tickets on General Sale
WHUFC.com

Friday Night Football returns to London Stadium when Brighton & Hove Albion
visit east London and tickets for the visit of the Seagulls are now on
General Sale.

Our last Friday night game was that unforgettable victory over Tottenham
Hotspur at the end of last season - so head to London Stadium as the Hammers
will look to kick-off the weekend in style against Brighton on 20 October.

The Hammers defeated Brighton 6-0 in our last home meeting in the 2011/12
promotion season and you can be there as we go for another three points!

Ticket start at just £30 adults and £15 concessions, so hurry to secure your
seat before they sell out.

Supporters can purchase four tickets per person, online by clicking here,
over the telephone on 0330 030 1966, or in person at the London Stadium
Ticket Office.

*Phone lines are open 9am-5pm Monday to Saturday)

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Westley pleased with different challenge against Villarreal
WHUFC.com

West Ham United Academy Director Terry Westley was pleased his young Hammers
were tested in a different way when Villarreal were the opposition in the
Premier League International Cup on Wednesday night. The Spaniards visited
the U23s in Dagenham and were 3-0 winners thanks to striker Adrian Dalmau's
hat-trick. The young Yellow Submarine B team side, who play in Spain's third
division, popped the ball around with pace and precision though the 3-0
scoreline was flattering given the hosts had two attempts cleared off the
line. Despite the defeat, it was the challenge of facing an outfit capable
of playing a different way to most of the Hammers' English opponents which
left Westley confident his side learned from the experience. He said: "I
like that we've had a different challenge. We knew they were going to be
strong opposition, and that's what this competition is. We deserved to be in
this by winning promotion and qualifying for European competition last
season, and then you know you'll be up against it. "The average age of their
side, they have a lot of 23-year-olds, they're playing in the second
division of senior football in Spain and it's the international break so we
have a few away. "If you add all of those elements up, it was always going
to be difficult. But it's different. We now go and have a sit down meal with
the opposition, which again is different. All of those facets can only help
bring our young players to the next level. "It's what you learn from it. If
we learn from it, it's a well-worth exercise. The opposition deserve great
credit though, because I thought they were very good."

The Hammers conceded the opener after just 15 seconds when Conor Coventry
lost possession on the edge of his own box and Dalmau raced clear to score.
But although the pacey forward scored twice more, it was the Hammers who
caused more problems in front of goal with Nathan Holland constantly a
threat. "I think Nathan Holland caused them problems going the other way,"
Westley continued. "I think both full-backs in Vash [Neufville] and Ben
[Johnson] came out on the credit side. "I think those players in particular
can think they held their own. The challenge is, with the other players,
that's the sort of level we're talking about.
"The biggest difference [with the way they played] was their movement
without the ball. If you're next to someone, they'll move and ask you
questions. "That was the real telling point and they were able to move and
take unusual positions rather than rigid English systems which we might play
against more often. "Their flexibility was something that was a real test."

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Carlton Cole: My West Ham Scrapbook
WHUFC.com

Former West Ham United striker Carlton Cole picks out some of the highlights
of his time in Claret and Blue...

Scoring on debut against Charlton in August 2006

MY debut couldn't have got any better than that. I just remember feeling a
little bit of relief that I'd come on and made an impact straight away. I
knew that I needed to get the fans on my side straight away and that was a
quality way to start my West Ham career and I needed something like that to
set me on my way.
Scoring on my debut gave me confidence to crack on, and it was against
Charlton – one of the teams I had gone on loan to previously – so that made
it extra-special because I did want to score against them! That was really
good and I do remember that as one of the highlights of my career, scoring
my first goal for West Ham.

The 'overchuffed' interview in January 2011

I'VE got loads of those sort of quotes in my locker. The 'overchuffed'
quote, it's not even a word, it's not in the dictionary. That word just came
into my mind, I don't know why, but that was just how I was feeling at the
time! With the steam coming off my head too, it was just drama all around!
I've just finished the game and scored against Birmingham in the League Cup
semis, I'm obviously hot, and you know what happens when you're hot and
sweating, and you're in the freezing cold, it's a sort of combustion. I
didn't realise at the time, but when everyone was looking at the TV it
looked like my head was on fire. It was just a chemical reaction with my big
head. I appreciated how the fans treated me and every time I go back they
treat me very well. I've got so much respect for West Ham fans, because once
you're a West Ham player and have a good relationship with them, they'll
always respect you. Hats off to them.

Winning the 2012 Championship Play-Off final against Blackpool

IT was a massive highlight for me because my whole family were there. It was
such a huge game for us, with the Club's future in the balance, and to be
part of that, scoring the first goal and having the grit and determination
to win that game, by scoring in the last minute through Vaz Te, was
brilliant. I assisted that goal as well. I think it was a ball in from Kevin
Nolan from the left. I almost got it to try and get the goal, but the keeper
was right there. The only thing I could do was kind of hook it away from
him. I knew that someone was on my right and I was just hoping that they
were on the move as well. When I looked as I scooped it away from the
keeper, just to keep the ball alive, it was Vaz Te. I actually thought he'd
missed it and skied it over the bar, but he roofed it and It couldn't have
fallen to a better person and a better guy. We didn't really play well in
that game, every single one of us was nervous, but the West Ham fans were
the 12th man for us, and it pushed us through right to the end.

Scoring in the 3-1 win against Chelsea in the 2012/13 season

THIS was our first year back in the Premier League, and when you come up
from the Championship and beat a team like Chelsea, it solidifies that you
can do it at this level. It makes you more confident that we're not going
back down and we can beat teams at this level, in the Premier League. This
was my first ever goal against Chelsea too, so it was a very special moment
for me. Obviously, I've got love for Chelsea, because they gave me my chance
in life and this football career, but I made my home at West Ham so that's
why it felt really good to score a goal against a team that let me go.

Re-signing for the Club in 2013 and scoring his first goal back against
Fulham

WHEN I came back, I had to do a lot of work in the gym to get back to the
fitness that I should have been when I got the call. I wasn't fit enough, I
was trying to prove that I was fit, and when I actually did sign and came on
and scored against Fulham it was just like, 'I'm back in the Premier League
with West Ham with a bang'. I think I went on a good goalscoring run after
that. I scored against Man United and Arsenal, so it was good to be involved
and to have the fans really involved in my progress, from where I was,
released, to score that first goal was brilliant.

Carlton's final goal for West Ham in the dramatic FA Cup replay against
Everton in 2015

THAT was one of the classic games under the Upton Park lights. It was an
intense game, and I didn't expect to come on to be honest, but we went 2-1
down and Sam threw me on. The goal was with my first touch – James Tomkins
headed it back across goal and I just put a leg out and it hit off my shin
and went it. It was meant to be! I couldn't believe it myself, we were back
in the game and we went to penalties. It was a great standard of penalties
in the shootout, I notched mine and obviously it went to Adrian. He made
history with his, taking off his gloves and bashing it in. It was amazing
and I just felt so grateful to be a part of it. It's one of those nights
that everyone will remember.

Being back at London Stadium for the game against Spurs

IT was brilliant to be back. I did a bit of TV for beIN Sport and it was
great to see the fans. I went on the pitch at half-time and even though we
were losing they still welcomed me. I'm very happy to be part of West Ham's
history and I'll always love West Ham. I'm back in England now looking for a
club. I've been doing some hardcore training and I'm looking to see where my
future lies. I still enjoy the game and I want to end my career on a high.
Hopefully I can squeeze out a few more years and give my knowledge to the
youth too.

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One more time for the WHISTLE posse?
KUMB.com
Filed: Tuesday, 3rd October 2017
By: Staff Writer

A former member of the WHISTLE group has been revealed as a key member of
the team working with City financier Amanda Staveley, who is actively
seeking to take control of a Premier League club. Lifelong Hammers fan David
Bick was a member of the fan-led action group WHISTLE that attempted to
wrestle control of West Ham United from former owner Terry Brown during the
tempestuous 2003/04 season.
That bid ended acrimoniously when Brown opted on a course of litigious
action, serving writs against all three main menbers of the group - Bick
plus fellow WHISTLE members Mike Hanna and Barry Abrahams - after they
questioned the Chairman's legitimacy and called for his resignation. However
KUMB has learned that Bick and his City-based Square 1 Consulting PR company
are heavily involved with financier Amanda Staveley of PCP Capital Partners,
who was spotted at Newcastle United last weekend and has been linked with a
move for a Premier League club.
The Dubai-based Staveley, whose company was involved in the £210million deal
that saw Sheikh Mansour take over Manchester City via the Abu Dhabi United
Group sat with the directors at St James' Park but has been linked with
other Premier League clubs, including West Ham. And given her close working
relationship with Bick, it is not beyond the realms of possibility that a
fresh move for West Ham could yet be on the cards.

Who were WHISTLE?

WHISTLE were a pressure group formed by a select group of season ticket
holders in 2003, who sought to oust Terence Brown as Chairman of West Ham
Utd as a result of what they perceived to be financial mismanagement. Brown
responded to the group's missives and public meetings by issuing writs
against three of its most prominent members, including Bick, having
previously referred to WHISTLE's campaign as "an unwarranted and unnecessary
distraction". Legal action was subsequently dropped after Bick and fellow
WHISTLE member Barrie Abrahams published apologies. Brown remained a
controversial character until he sold his majority share in 2006 to
Bjorgolfur Gudmunssson - who was himself declared bankrupt two years later,
plunging the club into debt. Brown - who borrowed £2m in order to buy a
stake in West Ham during the early 1990s - made a profit in the region of
£30million when selling his 36 per cent stake in the club some 15 years
later.

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West Ham 1-0 Swansea (And Other Ramblings)
KUMB.com
Filed: Monday, 2nd October 2017
By: HeadHammerShark

One of my favourite time waster websites is Awkward Family Photos which
pretty much does what it says on the tin. I believe this to be the
masterpiece of the oeuvre:

Hernandez, Carroll, Lanzini and Antonioooooooo

I urge you to really focus on this picture because it is absolutely the best
thing to emerge from this game. There is quite a lot going on.

It is also a rather magnificently apt pictorial representation of the
problem that Slaven Bilic is currently encountering. No matter what he does
to try and make this team slot together, any movement in one area seems to
cause a disaster somewhere else. His early season ambitions of squeezing all
his attackers in and letting the cards fall where they may has backfired
spectacularly as our defence proved as porous as a paper umbrella. He then
shifted the other way by focusing on that back line, with some success, but
this meant that suddenly our attack - a red-headed toddler if ever I saw one
- was face down on a beach. I have some sympathy with his predicament,
although it is primarily of his own making.

***

I have been much concerned lately with the concept of listening and what
happens when people stop hearing what you have to say. This has been
partially triggered by the number of people taking the time to tell me they
no longer read The H List, apparently due to the lack of positivity, but
also because that very point feels inextricably linked to the fact that
Slaven Bilic no longer seems to be getting through to his players.

On the first point - c'est la vie. There are plenty of places you can go for
people to tell you how well things are going at West Ham. That's their
prerogative of course, because none of us watch games of football for xG or
shot locations but because we want to dream, experience joy and lose
ourselves, however briefly, in the endless Elysian fields of possibility.

I understand that and it's why I don't look down my nose at the "Three
positive things to come of our 4-0 defeat to Manchester United!" articles.
But at the same time, that's not me. I reckon I am perfectly capable of
getting excited but I'd argue that this last eighteen months has been enough
to test the resolve of all but the most optimistic Hammer.

I don't watch games solely for the electric rush of immediate gratification
that follows a win. I enjoy that, of course, but I want the feeling of
momentum and the all-encompassing notion that we are being swept along as
part of a bigger overall strategy. For the first time since the late
Nineties, I felt that way in 2015/16. It's been a sobering feeling to have
fallen off that wave quite so spectacularly.

None of which, by the way, is to ask for praise or comment or anything else.
If I am entitled to write these columns then people are equally entitled to
dislike them. That's pretty much how it's supposed to work and if you write
things on the internet then you'd better have a thick enough skin to cope
with the resulting scrutiny. It's a shame to lose readers, but if that's the
price of doing business then that's how it will have to be.

I also know how many people read The H List and it's quite significantly
less than a number of other West Ham sites. In the end, people vote with
their (cyber) feet.

But as I pondered all of this last week, it did occur to me that, in the
same way that I'm running out of synonyms for "inept", and struggling to
find new ways to say the same thing, maybe Slaven Bilic is similarly
reaching for fresh inspiration to convince his team to rouse themselves from
the footballing doldrums.

A kiss before dying?

***

I never had much doubt that West Ham would win this game, although my
confidence began seriously wavering around the hour mark when Andy Carroll
seemed to be briefly playing in midfield, Chicharito was on his mobile
firing his agent and the crowd had taken on the friendly, jovial tone that
one traditionally associates with the Colosseum. In fact I even predicted a
shitty 1-0 win on an appearance with the chaps from Hammers Chat, during the
week.

This was yet another of those typical Bilic games, so synonymous with his
reign that he is almost becoming defined by them. A high pressure match that
he apparently has to win, even though it's early in the season, the board
pretty clearly don't want to fire him and Crystal Palace exist. So it was on
to this familiar terrain that we all clambered and the teams didn't
disappoint.

This might be the single worst game of football I've ever seen, although in
fairness this will take some beating. My criteria here is that both teams
must be fairly - oh fuck it - inept and in that vein I have to rule out all
those 7-1 away defeats because you'd have to accept that the opposition in
those games were probably pretty decent.

No, for a truly awful game you need both teams to be conjoined in futility
and apparently bereft of inspiration. And, well, here you go:

Say what you will about Bilic, but he seems to know how to win these sorts
of game. By my record he has faced these win or die games against Palace
(a), Hull (h), Burnley (h), Swansea (h - twice) and Huddersfield (h) and won
them all without conceding a single goal in the process. I'm not sure what I
think about this, but at some point we might have to acknowledge that there
is a certain skill to this. Of course, a better skill would be to not need
to win them in the first place, but we're a bit past that now.

As per this shot map from Caley Graphics the first thing to acknowledge here
is that Swansea were absolutely woeful. Not a single shot from inside the
box, and all the attacking threat of the Golgafrinchan Ark Fleet Ship B from
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, who got all the way to Earth and
immediately crashed. This, by the way, was considered perfectly acceptable
because they were all incompetent and the Golgafrinchans just wanted to get
rid of them.

For as disjointed and frustratingly patchwork as our play was, you can't
compare it to Swansea. And it should be pointed out they looked a hell of a
lot more dangerous playing away at Spurs than they did here. Actually, now
really I think about it, they were fucking useless here.

Our back four were impressive and, whilst it's easy to dismiss the weak
opposition, both Abraham and Bony are reasonable strikers. However, they
were easily contained by Reid and Fonte, whilst Pablo Zabaleta contains to
render my pre-season warnings about his fitness as foolish. He was
outstanding here, and whilst Aaron Cresswell still came in for plenty of
stick it seems pretty likely that he was simply ordered by Bilic to hold his
position in order to keep the shape of the flat back four.

The febrile atmosphere in the stadium didn't help. Cresswell and Fonte both
fell victim to the boo boys as they were forced back by aggressive Swansea
pressing - the only thing the visitors did well all afternoon - and the
atmosphere generally teetered on the edge of full rebellion all afternoon.
For a team playing with their confidence in their boots, it was a difficult
day on which to perform.

***

So, what was happening further up the field?

Well, Bilic employed the 4-4-2 formation that had briefly served him well in
the closing stages of the Spurs match. That was against ten men, and a team
already 3-0 up, but he saw enough to convince himself that it could work
here.

And then he deployed Michail Antonio and Andre Ayew as the wide players.

It will smack of 20/20 hindsight but I am amazed that Bilic thought this
could ever work. Neither Antonio or Ayew do enough defensive work for that
position, and neither does Marko Arnautovic for that matter, who was due to
play there until eating some Spurs lasagne and coming down with a sickness
bug before the game.

Thus it came to pass that Ayew was chucked on with limited preparation time,
and played out of position once again. If the definition of a manager is to
put his or her employees into the best possible position to perform their
job, then Bilic is failing at this.

There is no doubt that this was a formation tried to try and extract the
best from Andy Carroll and Chicharito, but given their strengths it was a
regression all the way back to the previous century. When English football
evolved away from the 4-4-2 obsession it was by virtue of, typically
foreign, second strikers who dropped in between the lines of attack and
midfield and became link players in a 4-4-1-1 system. Think Bergkamp and
Zola.

This wasn't what we were trying to do here.

Instead we were trying to replicate the Kevin Phillips/Niall Quinn
partnership that worked so well for Sunderland, and which involved the
second, smaller striker running on to flick ons and link play from his
bigger partner. And to start with, I thought Carroll did his part fairly
well. He put himself about in the fashion of a rhino in a soft play area and
generally reminded Swansea why he tends to always score against them.

Big Andy

But we weren't doing the things one would expect to make that system work.
No long diagonal balls from full backs for Carroll to flick on or knock
down, and no drives to the byeline from which the wide players could deliver
crosses into the box.

Instead, I don't really know what was going on. The players are low on
confidence and playing their third different starting system, just seven
matches into the season. We could argue that teams should be able to flick
back and forth, but there seems little doubt that they were uncomfortable in
this formation and the output was dire.

Everywhere you looked someone was having a stinker. Cheikhou Kouyate looked
like he had been dragged out of the crowd by a hypnotist and told he was a
Premier League midfielder, and Mark Noble just continues to fade from view
like the vapour trail of a vanishing jet.

Shockingly, a tactical plan stolen from Sunderland wasn't working.

A decent chunk of this can be explained away. To my mind the best wide
players in a 4-4-2 would be Byram and Masuaku, who can do enough defensively
to justify letting the full backs push up a bit and would lend some nice
solidity when the opposition have the ball. The issue is that with Kouyate
and Noble inside them, there is a serious lack of creativity there.

As it was, our attacks unfolded like a slow time lapse photograph - you had
to keep staring at it to figure out if the bloody thing was moving at all.
And then, on came Masuaku, who ran at the Swansea defence and didn't manage
much until he did, and one beautiful sweeping cross bypassed everyone and
found the lurking Diafra Sakho at the back post. 1-0, 91 minutes,
redemption. Just like that, we're off to a better start than last season.

For a manager much maligned for his substitutes, they sure do seem to paying
some dividends lately.

That feeling of rebellion in the crowd was there all day, and seemed to have
been festering for a week, perhaps as a result of the post Spurs autopsies
that split the fanbase. After half an hour of this game, it was evident that
the system was not working. I would argue that modern managers are far too
slow to make changes in such situations, and that if ever a team should have
been changed quickly it was this one. Swansea were matching us in formation
and the rows of four were making it impossible for anyone to pass to each
other, apparently.

Yet, despite the game crying out for something different, it was allowed to
rumble on. Taking players off after half an hour isn't a recipe for a happy
squad but this might have been an exceptional case. The problem was
compounded by the fact that Antonio looked like he was carrying an injury
for most of the day, highlighting once more the folly of asking players to
play when half fit.

The problem I see with Bilic is that he gives off the very strong impression
of picking his eleven players first and then trying to choose a formation to
shoehorn them into. As such, Carroll and Chicharito were going to play no
matter what, and thus he stumbled upon 4-4-2 as the least worst option
available. One wonders if this might be the decision which finally loses him
the crowd.

Read some of the articles about Bilic, and ask around a bit and a familiar
theme emerges, however. The players like him and continue to play for him
but are baffled by the tactics. They also sympathise with the pressure that
comes of working for the Kim Jong Sullivan family, and don't appreciate the
continued interventions from Pyongyang-on-Thames.

But be that as it may, the word is that anyone going in search of concrete
instructions from the coaching staff is generally met with platitudes or
motivational speeches and, well, none of that is hard to believe watching
the team play.

But, I suppose we can't ignore the facts. This was a third clean sheet in
four games and Bilic's substitutes have contributed two goals and three
assists in that span. The crescendo of boos that greeted Chicharito's
replacement was remarkable given how little impact the Mexican had in the
game. We can argue over whose fault that is, but he wasn't doing anything
and I didn't really disagree. I thought it more important to try and get
Sakho and Masuaku on than pandering to a crowd who were already in a fickle
mood, and felt it should have happened far earlier.

Carroll subsequently showed his worth by hitting the crossbar in the latter
stages with a lovely improvised flick, and whilst I wouldn't be starting him
so unquestioningly as Bilic seems to, I also wouldn't boo him for being
chosen as a sponsors Man of the Match.

That incident capped a remarkable afternoon as some poor bastard in a box
somewhere chose to give Carroll a bottle of Moet so he could get a picture
with him and a quick chat and somehow managed to generate a tidal wave of
boos for one of our own players. I'm all for supporting your team in
whatever way you want, but figuring out that Man of the Match awards are
meaningless might be a good fucking start.

This is not important

***

But all of this shouldn't detract from how insipid and soul destroying this
afternoon was. I know there were injuries, I know Lanzini and Obiang are
coming back, I know the opposition were terrible, I know the confidence was
low, I know we're grinding out points and I know that Bilic is a nice guy
who carries himself with dignity and class. Those things all matters but I'm
not sure they matter as much as the fact that we are going absolutely
nowhere.

I don't know how anyone could watch this latest victory plucked from the
jaws of mediocrity and see anything resembling a plan. Sure, the
substitution of Masuaku has been influential for two games running, but
anyone who thinks that he would be putting in those touchline crosses in the
ninetieth minute of games while playing at left back hasn't been paying
attention. He has been able to do that because the presence of Cresswell
behind him, and the situation of the game has allowed him to advance that
far upfield.

Hands up anyone fancying another crack at 4-4-2 next week at Burnley? Keep
them up if you fancy that Arnautovic is the answer to the disjointedness?
And keep 'em there if you can see an easy way to slot Manuel Lanzini into
this team? And keep them up still if you believe Bilic has a clear
understanding of how he's going to make all of that work tactically?

Now let me see who's still got their hand up. Ah - how nice to see you, Mrs
Bilic.

I retain a healthy admiration for Bilic because I think he has to work with
intolerable interference from our owners, but at some point we have to ask
why we are permanently drifting instead of heading toward some sort of
identifiable end point. I think a lot of that comes back to a question I
have been asking of him for a while now - what sort of team does Slaven
Bilic's West Ham look like?

If we are a fast, counter-attacking team, then Carroll cannot play and
arguably Chicharito might also be a bit of a luxury if we can't find a way
to get him on the ball in the box. Alternatively, if Bilic wants a physical,
direct team that plays off a big striker, then he should just pick one and
find a way to make it work.

The problem with the current bastardised hybrid is that it is neither. We
can't play quickly because hardly anyone in the team has any pace, and we
don't play long ball because it's not really how any of them want to play.
So we drift along in the middle, and it's good enough to beat teams like
Swansea and Huddersfield and it's not even close to good enough for teams
like Manchester United or Spurs.

Perhaps the saving grace here might be Lanzini, who returned on Saturday and
did more in his brief cameo than any of the four midfielders who started the
game did all day. If our season truly does hinge around the fitness of a
solitary player, however, then it might be time to stock up on sleeping bags
because it's going to be a long winter.

Have you tried telling them to be more passionate?

***

One interesting piece of news from last week was that Reece Oxford has come
back from his baffling loan to Borussia Mönchengladbach, a team better than
the one he was leaving. I remain convinced that the club are approaching
loans wrongly, with barely any attention being paid to exactly what benefit
the youngsters are going to derive from them.

What is perhaps timely is that West Ham have a gaping hole at the defensive
midfield position currently. Noble is out of sorts and Pedro Obiang is
currently demonstrating the recovery powers of a leper and William Carvalho
is in Portugal and that doesn't leave much else.

Perhaps I'm a fool, but that brief wondrous glimpse of Oxford two years ago
continues to eat away at me. It's more than Declan Rice has ever shown,
although he now seems to be favoured. Perhaps those rumours that Oxford is
too big for his boots are true, but to see that type of talent and then
watch it shrivel would be a painful cross to bear.

***

We had the relatively interesting development late last week when a new
owner joined up with the Kim Jongs and the Golds. American asset manager
Albert "Tripp" Smith purchased the balancing 10% stake previously held by
Straumar dating back to the rip-roaringly successful Icelandic takeover.

Smith is a billionaire, courtesy of selling his company GSO Capital Partners
to the Blackstone Company in 2008. This makes sense, because you'd really
have to be billionaire to call yourself Tripp and not have everyone laugh at
you.

I don't really have much idea of why he's done this beyond the fact that men
in his line of work don't typically make investments for sentimental
reasons. He must see some value, either in the form of a future sale or an
increase in expected revenue streams, which would both be welcome
developments.

One additional point to mention is that the club will doubtless be hugely
more valuable now than when Gold and Sullivan purchased their shares in
2010. The amount that Tripp has paid for his shares probably won't be a
million miles away from the individual investments made by the owners back
then. In case you're wondering why anyone would ever invest in Premier
League football clubs.

If he brings only one thing to the club, then I would welcome some of the
dead-eyed professionalism that characterises people in his industry. It
might be a laugh when our owners shoot their mouths off and get called The
Dildo Brothers, but it all hurts our wider standing within the game. I
wonder if 10 per cent buys him the right to pull the reins on the Sullivan
horses at any time?

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.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Joe Hart says he has 'failed' in his England career until now
Last Updated: 02/10/17 12:16pm
SSN

Goalkeeper Joe Hart says he has "failed" in his England career until now.
Reflecting on his international career to date, Hart told The Offside Rule
podcast: "It was something I didn't need to dream about - because I didn't
think it was possible. "The next thing after that is to do something with
your England career and make it matter. I have failed up until now so I need
to change that." Hart is one of four goalkeepers in the squad for the final
World Cup Qualifiers with Slovenia on Thursday and Lithuania on Sunday,
alongside Jordan Pickford, Jack Butland and Fraser Forster. Hart added: "I
want to amass as many caps as I can, I want to be the goalkeeper who plays
for England, but I would swap all of that for a trophy or playing an
important role in a good summer for the nation. That's my only intention
when I play for England."
The 30-year-old is on loan at West Ham from Manchester City, who he says
were asking too much money for him. "I would have loved to have signed
somewhere permanent: I want to be set, I want to have goals and be driven.
"But there was too much money put on my head and people weren't willing to
pay it so another loan came about. "I was very grateful when West Ham gave
me the opportunity, so it's another case of getting my head down and working
hard and fighting for the cause."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
HAMMERS SUPER-FAN PROMISES MOTIVATIONAL DRESSING ROOM TALKFeatured Image
Date: 4th October 2017 at 10:00pm
Written by: Forever Westham

West Ham United super-fan Triple H says he is ready to get in the dressing
room and give Slaven Bilic's side a much needed motivational talk after
their narrow victory over Swansea at the weekend. The wrestling superstar,
who was appearing on Sky Sports News to talk about the WWE's upcoming
events, spoke of the Hammers last gasp win at Swansea at the weekend and
insists he is ready to lend a helping hand if necessary. "Here's the thing,
it's only last second but a win is a win," the Cerebral Assassin told Sky
Sports. "So we take the win and hopefully we will capitalise on that and
make it into something bigger. "That brings the confidence to you, now you
just got to capitalise on that, you get a bit of momentum going and next
thing you know the whole complexion changes."

The Game has been with the WWE for over two decades, and now finds himself
as the organisations 'executive Vice President'. His skills on the mic, as
well as his larger than life personality, are something he believes could
benefit Slaven Bilic's men. "Yeah, I'm up for it." said H when asked about
the possibility of getting into the Hammers dressing room. "I can get 'em
fired up."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
NOWHERE NEAR A 4-1 CAKE WALK , BUT AS THE SAYING GOES: 'THREE POINTS IS
THREE POINTS' !
By S J Chandos 4 Oct 2017 at 08:00
WTID

I guess I always knew it was a overly optimistic prediction, but I was
probably just yearning for those long ago days when we could earn a good win
and not have games on a knife edge until the 89th minute! Although it was a
abject first half performance in every sense of the word, the second half
was slightly better and there is something particularly satisfying about a
late winner. I was so pleased for Sakho, in scoring the winning goal, and I
still maintain that he should be starting more regularly. Something that
will now hopefully happen in the aftermath of Saturday's dramatic turn of
events.

For me, it was not that Bilic made the substitution, but that it took so
long for it to happen. The match really was not going well, we were being
out passed by Swansea and could not seem to string two passes together
ourselves for most of the match, something that only noticeably improved
with the introduction of Lanzini. Antonio looked out of sorts, Noble
struggled in midfield and Ayew had an awful match. Plus the
Carroll-Hernandez striking combination was misfiring, with most of the balls
literally going way over the Mexican International's head. No, for me,
Bilic, should have gone with a Sakho-Hernandez combination on Saturday and
should definitely start with it in the next match away at Burnley. Why?
Because, I just feel that these two strikers compliment each other better,
with Sakho leading the line and Hernandez tucking in just behind and playing
off of him. Also, with Sakho in the team, there is more football played on
the ground and less of a temptation to go for the long ball up field, which
invariably cuts the Mexican out of the game.

Readers will recall that I tackled the issue of where best to play Hernandez
last week and concluded that he would be better suited to playing a advanced
role in the centre of a three in a 4-3-2-1. And I was pleased to see Bilic
select a team which contrived to give Hernandez a more central striking
role. However, it was the choice of Carroll as the main striker that
probably ultimately undermined him in my opinion. Still, it is a system that
is well worth testing again and with Sakho replacing Carroll and Arnautovic
selected over Ayew, hopefully it will play out much better next time. At
least we obtained a clean sheet whilst playing the dreaded flat back four.
Indeed, our best performers were probably defenders, with Zabaletta, Fonte
and Reid all having good games. I would certainly have picked any one of
those three over supposed MoTM, Andy Carroll.

Anyway, 'three points is three points,' no matter how unconvincing the
overall performance. We really did need that win going in to the
international break and hopefully we will pick up some more victories over
the next three or four matches. It is true that 'winning becomes a habit' in
football and to emerge victorious after such a weak performance is a good
sign of sorts. And in all honesty Bilic needs all the positive 'habits' and
signs he can muster at the moment. I have said it before and I will say it
again, I like Bilic as an individual. He is honest, has integrity and
genuinely has a pride in managing the club. When he joined I really thought
he was the real deal, as his side put together some great performances in
his first season. Yet, last season was very 'up and down' and it raised some
doubts about whether Bilic was the manager to lead us to the fabled 'next
level.' This season, young as it still is, has only served to deepen those
reservations. I would love to see Bilic turn it around, win the club a
trophy this season and sign a new contract. However, failing a dramatic
transformation of our situation, you do get the impression that he will be
moving on at the end of the season when his contract expires. If it happens
that way, it will be very disappointing, but that is football I am afraid!

I see that a few social media football sites have taken to monitoring Zaza's
goal scoring achievements in La Liga and using it as a stick to beat West
Ham and Bilic. They write articles to the effect of, 'if only West Ham still
had Zaza,' the striker who has scored more goals than the whole Hammers
forward line! It is all mischief, but this Hammer supporter does not have
any such regrets. it was clear from the beginning that Zaza lacked the
physicality to excel in the PL. And I believe that was the reason for his
failure, not Bilic, nor the tactics/system that he employed. He is
performing better in Spanish football because he is better suited to it. It
was the best move for the club and player himself, full stop! The same
websites will no doubt be arguing that we should have kept Calleri as well
if he scores a few goals. Now that would be stretching that type of argument
a bit too far.

It has been announced that the Hammers seat allocation for the 4th round of
the Carabou Cup is 4,800. That is a smaller allocation than most thought and
it seems the 50,000 limit capacity at Wembley could see the club lose out
financially from the tie. Oh well, we will just have to beat them then and
make up the money in the 5th round! Do not write us off completely, Spurs
are not comfortable playing their matches at Wembley and we have been known
to raise our game for a cup match or two over the years. It would certainly
be sweet revenge after the recent 2-3 defeat at the LS.

Finally, the U-23s are hosting Villareal's B side, at Dagenham & Redbridge,
on the evening of 5 October 2017, in the PL International Cup. There are
likely to be a few first teamers around the fixture, especially those like
Antonio who lack match fitness due to injury absence. Season ticket holders
get in free, so why not go along and check it out. I am sure the U-23s will
appreciate the support, for what could be a challenging fixture after the
7-2 disaster in the last round.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Jose Fonte's has improved massively at West Ham since Southampton
catastrophe
by Scott Johnson
@greensthammers

West Ham's Jose Fonte had a disastrous time back at Southampton earlier this
season. However he has improved remarkably since then.

One of my pet hates about football players is when they refuse to adapt. You
see former speedy youngsters who now ageing wingers still think they have
the pace to beat their opponent down the line, and they just can't. It's
almost sad. Think Boa Morte at West Ham.

I thought the same for Jose Fonte during his return to Southampton in
August. He was outpaced for the first goal and out of position for the
second, and he reacted with a stupid pull which gave away a penalty. For me
I would have been happy to see him out of the team on a permanent basis. But
he turned around and improved.

Head Down, Hard Work

Since that game he has improved each time. He has worked hard to use the
ball well, and has looked far more solid behind the ball. I'm not saying
he's been perfect, but in keeping ahead of his decline he has improved
himself as a player.

Against Huddersfield, where the opponents rarely got forward, he used the
ball well and acted almost as a defensive midfielder. Against the stronger
West Brom he kept his position and only allowed the strikers in behind him
once or twice. As the games have progressed his ability to keep the game in
front of him has improved.

It's even got to the point where was named Man of the Match by Whoscored.com
in the match against Swansea. That again was an easier game on the defence,
but he is still fairing well. Hopefully by the next time we come up against
a top side we can concede less than three goals for the first time in a long
time? A fan can dream, anyway…

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Diafra Sakho continues love hate relationship with West Ham and fans
by Scott Johnson
@greensthammers

Diafra Sakho continues to write new chapters in his love/hate relationship
at West Ham.

When Sakho was signed for West Ham, I think most reactions were pretty
negative. Coming in from the French second division, he hardly looked like
the player to light up the Premier League. However in his first season he
found a strong partnership with Enner Valencia and looked to be one of the
best signings the David's had made.

But since then it's all been a bit topsy turvy. Sakho has gone through some
dry spells, spells on the bench and transfer shenanigans. Many are surprised
he's still at the club. However he is now getting some calls for Bilic to
start him. Where will this merry-go-round end up?

He loves me, he loves me not

Just over a month ago people were calling Diafra Sakho a bigger snake than
Payet. Given the Frenchman's return to Marseilles was one of the biggest
transfer fiasco's in the club's history that was pretty impressive. Although
that's what booking yourself a medical at another club in an attempt to
force a move will do.

But he is a goalscorer, and that will always get fans over. But anyone
calling for him to be more than a sub is losing their mind. Certainly not
yet anyway. If he's booking a medical at another club he's not going to be
loyal and in the right place a month later. Time and performance could
change that, but for now he's still got work to do.

Also, you have to look at the other players we have in his position. Right
now we have Carroll fit and Hernandez, one of the best poachers in modern
football ready and willing to play. Sakho doesn't get a look in when these
two are playing even slightly well. And as Chicharito is being moved around
in the side as well, slotting him up front should be a bigger priority.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
'That's a joke, right?' - West Ham fans fume after ticket allocation for
Spurs game revealed
The club have received a total of 4,800 tickets for the Carabao Cup game at
Wembley
Football London
BYROB GUEST
06:30, 4 OCT 2017

West Ham fans have hit out at the club's ticket allocation for the
fourth-round Carabao Cup tie against Spurs. Following the draw that was made
last month, there had been a lot of talk about the number of tickets that
the club would actually receive. Given Spurs are playing at Wembley this
season due to work on their new stadium, many believed the club would
receive a big allocation due to the national stadium's 90,000 capacity.
However, after talks between the clubs, the Hammers have received an
allocation of 4,800 tickets for the game against their rivals. Even though
the stadium can hold 90,000 fans, it has been decided that the capacity
should be capped at 50,835 for the game. It's fair to say the news hasn't
gone down well at all in east London. After the club announced the official
ticket allocation for the match, a number of supporters were quick to vent
their frustration over the news.
Many questioned the club's allocation, while a number of fans hit out at
co-owner David Gold who had predicted the Hammers would receive 12,000
tickets.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
CAN WE HAVE OUR BALL BACK PLEASE? - AND QUICKER!
By Tony Hanna 3 Oct 2017 at 08:00
WTID

Well I think that was actually a harder watch than the West Brom game? At
least at the Baggies we took control of the game and our passing was pretty
good. The direness of that game was manifested by the spoiling tactics of
the opposition and our inability to break them down. The game against
Swansea was a home match where again the away team looked in control of the
ball but, like us at West Brom, never really looked like breaking the home
team down? If you are on the side of the argument wanting Slav gone then the
ammunition has been resupplied with another display of misplaced passes, a
lack of cohesion and a team put out that hardly seemed to know each other.
If you are in the camp wanting Slav to stay for at least the rest of the
season then you can point to three points and another clean sheet with the
hope that a now fit again Lanzini will make a big difference? I must say
though, if Sakho had not scored that winner at the end, after that
performance I would have been surprised if our owners had not called time on
Slaven Bilic's reign. That very thing was going through my mind for most of
the second half until the goal. I doubt a draw alone would have tipped the
scales for the owners to push the button on Slav's time but the amount of
booing probably would have, together with the very audible dissatisfaction
from the crowd. There would have been plenty more boos had it finished 0-0
and for me, hypothetically, it could have been the last straw.

As for the booing I can put my hands up and say I have never booed a West
Ham team in my life. Never have and never will. If others want to that is
their business. However, for Slav to get booed for taking Chico off was an
overstretch. Chico had a very poor game despite being played in a two up top
with Carroll, a position many have been crying out for Slav to play. His
contribution was average at best and if his running to press defenders
matched his arm movement in gestures we all might be in a better place. Slav
was right to sub him and Sakho duly proved him right.

One of the current problems is that although I feel we do have a really
decent squad of players the team has just not gelled. Whilst we should be
happy that all our forwards are fit and healthy does Slav really know what
ones to play and in what formation? Does he really know how he is going to
play Lanzini now fit? Will he drop the captain? What does he do with Masuaku
now he has shown he deserves another chance? I just get the feeling that
once the glue is set and our manager finds the right combinations this side
is capable of much greater than what we are seeing now. Will that manager be
Slav though? For too long now there have been huge gaps between the players,
width wise and between the front and the back. It is no wonder we are being
forced to play the long ball so often. There is little compression on the
pitch which makes it impossible to keep possession for too long and
impossible for the players to press and hunt in packs when the opposition
has the ball. It is no wonder there is little cohesion in our play.

I have long been a fan of Masuaku. My very amicable run ins with Dan Coker
on the subject, who is a man I rarely disagree with, are legendary in our
own lunch boxes! Dan is a Cresswell fan but for me whilst I agree that he
may be a better defender, especially in a back four, Masuaku offers a deal
more on the ball and going forward as a wing back. Could it even be that
Masuaku be given a chance in front of Cresswell in a 4-4-2 formation? That
would mean dropping Arnautovic and would Slav do that? Or could it be that
Slav has earmarked the left side of a 4-4-2 for Lanzini? After all, he
played Payet there. In my opinion I think Lanzini should play centrally in a
3-5-2 for the majority of this season if he stays fit. That would then ask
the question of how do you fit Zabaleta and Antonio into the same side?
However, it is all very complicated and we will all have our own opinions on
player combinations and formations. Perhaps another plethora of injuries
will make the decisions a lot easier but I am sure none of us want that!
Talking of injuries and this was the second game running where Antonio has
played but was clearly not running freely? We have already seen James
Collins kept on at West Brom for the start of the second half when clearly
struggling before the break with an injury. From my observations I am sure
Andy Carroll was not right in the Huddersfield game as well. My
understanding is that he had to pass a fitness test prior to that game? I am
not sure who is making the final call on these players taking the field but
when we have the competition for places we have at present it makes little
sense risking further injury to players whose impacts on the game are
clearly being harnessed by carrying injuries?

Finally, one thing that does pain me watching West Ham play at our new
stadium is the lack of ball boys and their positioning. Watching the games
from home I have time to go make a cuppa when the ball goes out of play for
a throw. When the first ball went out of play against Swansea the nearest
player went to fetch the ball himself for around a twenty yard round trip as
it was going to be quicker than waiting for the ball boy. Why are there so
few of them? Why are they sitting down? Why are they sitting down so far
away from the pitch? Why do some of them look far from being athletic types
that can actually speed the retrieval up? Answers on a post card please!

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http://vyperz.blogspot.com

Daily WHUFC News - 4th October 2017

Cresswell keen to impress England boss Southgate
WHUFC.com

If everything goes to plan for England over the coming week, the Three Lions
will book their place at the 2018 FIFA World Cup finals. The Three Lions
host Slovenia and travel to Lithuania knowing one point from their final two
Group E qualifiers will book their passage to Russia. For Aaron Cresswell,
the fixtures – and training sessions before and in-between – present the
West Ham United left-back with another opportunity to impress Gareth
Southgate, with the target of securing his own spot at next summer's finals.
"I'm going away again and we've got a job to do and hopefully we can
qualify," said the No3, who has helped the Hammers keep clean sheets in
three of their last four Premier League matches. "We've only got to get one
point more and we'll have got the job done. "It would be nice to make my
competitive debut in one of the two remaining qualifiers and that's the
plan, but the main aim is to qualify and whoever plays, I'm sure we can do
that. "We've got two winnable games and, as I say, hopefully we can do that
and then look forward to the World Cup next year."

Cresswell joined up with England at St George's Park on Monday in a positive
frame of mind after helping the Hammers to a 1-0 Premier League win over
Swansea City on Saturday. "That was another thing I'd been saying before the
game, that there is nothing worse than going into an international break,
whether you are going away or staying back to train, than thinking about the
last game if you haven't won it," he confirmed. "To be fair, we had a bad
start to the season and we haven't been at our best, so I would have taken
the three points all day long. We know it wasn't pretty and wasn't good
enough, but three points were the main thing. "For us, moving forward,
especially with the international break and no games for two weeks, to get
the three points was massive and it was a great relief to see the goal go in
at the end."

Playing as part of a back four for the first time since the 3-0 defeat at
Newcastle United in August, Cresswell produced a solid display alongside
Jose Fonte, Winston Reid and Pablo Zabaleta, restricting Swansea to just one
shot on target and six goal attempts in the entire 90 minutes. "There
weren't many clear-cut chances and it was a strange game at times, but we've
been down in the relegation zone and I know there are 30-odd games left to
play, but for us to get the three points was massive, especially going into
a two-week break, to relieve that pressure on everyone for the foreseeable
future" he concluded.

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Wheeler: Team spirit is great ahead of Ladies' Swindon clash
WHUFC.com

Hannah Wheeler reveals how Nicki Minaj is keeping team spirit burning
brightly in the West Ham Ladies…

THERE will be a live Nicki Minaj concert at Rush Green on Sunday, when West
Ham United Ladies take on Swindon, according to Hannah Wheeler. There will
also be one the week after, at the contest against Queens Park Rangers, as
there has been for every match the Ladies have played so far this season.
That is because, according to the defender, teammates Chan Mackie and
Stephaney Bent are constantly singing the performer's songs on the touchline
– and their vocals aren't bad either! "It caught me by surprise," Wheeler
confessed: "I didn't expect that level of singing from either of them, which
actually made it even funnier. "Seriously, if anyone wants to see Nicki
Minaj live, they don't need to buy a ticket to one of her concerts. Just
come down to one of our games and listen to Chan and Steph!"

Wheeler's remarks about her teammates show the incredible team spirit
engulfing the West Ham Ladies this season. Although recent results have gone
against the side, the Ladies are still together and are still committed to
the project that the club has invested in. Wheeler admits that the opening
few weeks have been difficult but feels some of the results did not fully
reflect what actually happened on the pitch. She does, however, feel that
lessons need to be learned from that.
"It's been a challenging season so far," she admits: "But I feel as a team
we are improving. We played Cardiff on 27 August and for me that was our
best game of the season so far. We showed what we were about, put our stamp
on the game, worked for each other and enjoyed what we love doing the most –
playing football. "However, we have also seen some results not go our way,
despite our efforts perhaps deserving something from the match. But that is
football. A score doesn't always define a game, but we're learning quickly
that we need to take the chances that come our way."

Wheeler reckons she has had to develop her game significantly already this
campaign as expectations and standards at the West Ham Ladies continue to
rise.
That growth as a player has also yielded further confidence and a
willingness to take responsibility in the centre-back. Wheeler added:
"Personally I have had to improve on things in a short space of time.
Mentally I have had to go above and beyond to prove I have what it takes and
do the job effectively. "I feel also the way we are playing means I'm having
to grow as a player, become more confident and take more responsibility. "I
want to improve as a player and get as far in football as possible. It's got
to be both physically and mentally. It's about being smart and being able to
adapt."

West Ham United Ladies host Swindon Town at the Hammers' Rush Green Training
Ground this Sunday, kick-off 2pm
Admission is FREE for Season Ticket Holders, Claret Members and all
under-16s. Tickets for adults are priced at just £2 and car parking is free.

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5 reasons why West Ham United's defensive record has improved
WHUFC.com

West Ham United's Premier League season may be just seven games old, but it
can already be broken down into two distinct parts – August and September.
The first month of the season was, a Carabao Cup win at League Two side
Cheltenham Town aside, largely forgettable, as the Hammers conceded ten
goals in the process of losing their opening three Premier League matches.
The second was much-improved, with Premier League victories achieved over
Huddersfield Town and Swansea City, a point earned at West Bromwich Albion
and just three goals conceded – all of them in a 3-2 home defeat by
Tottenham Hotspur – in four top-flight matches.

Here, we look into the numbers behind West Ham's dramatic defensive
improvement and ask how and why Slaven Bilic's side have tightened things up
at the back…

1. Changing the formation

Bilic opted for a flat back four in the opening three Premier League games
of the season, all of which were played away from home, at Manchester
United, Southampton and Newcastle United. The Hammers employed a 4-2-3-1
formation at Old Trafford and St James' Park, and 4-3-3 at St Mary's
Stadium, but results were not good – 4-0, 3-2 and 3-0 defeats, to be
precise. West Ham conceded ten goals and 52 goal attempts in those three
matches, at an average of 17.33/game. Following the international break,
Bilic switched – the Swansea home game aside, when he opted for a 4-4-2
'double six' formation with two deep-lying central midfielders – to a
three-man defence, with full-backs filling the wide midfield positions in a
3-4-3 system. With more defenders on the pitch, West Ham immediately looked
more secure and the space afforded to opposition forwards dried up. The
result? Just three goals and 37 goal attempts conceded – an average of
9.25/game – in four matches.

2. Putting in the hard yards

Put in the simplest terms, West Ham's players have run further in their last
four matches than they did in the previous three. In the opening three games
of the Premier League season, the Hammers covered an average of
101.41km/game. In the four since, they have covered an average of
107.08km/game. That is 5,670 metres or 3.52 miles more than they did in the
opening three matches. Individually, too, all six Hammers defenders upped
their 'distance covered' numbers in the four games played in September. As
these stats show, Winston Reid, Jose Fonte, Pablo Zabaleta, Aaron Cresswell,
Angelo Ogbonna and James Collins all covered longer distances/game in
September than they did in August: 0:00

3. Players winning their individual battles

While football is a team sport, games are won not just by teamwork, but by
players winning their individual battles on the pitch. For defenders, that
means winning aerial battles and tackles, positioning themselves in the
right place to make interceptions and clear the ball from the danger zone.
That also means keeping the ball when in possession because, if the
opposition do not have it, they cannot score! With the above in mind,
consider the bullet points below and you can see why the Hammers improved
their defensive performance in September: James Collins (80 per cent)
Winston Reid (79.25 per cent) and Pablo Zabaleta (62.33 per cent)
particularly dominant in winning their individual aerial battles The same
six defenders are keeping the ball better, raising their overall
pass-completion percentage from 76.3 per cent in August to 77 per cent in
September Of the six, Fonte, Ogbonna and Zabaleta have all markedly improved
their individual completion percentages in recent weeks

4. The Fonte/Reid factor

Winston Reid and Jose Fonte did not spend a single minute on the pitch
together in West Ham's opening three Premier League matches. However, aside
from the final 16 minutes of the 3-2 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday
23 September, when Slaven Bilic changed formation in a bid to overturn a 3-1
deficit, the pair have been on the pitch for every second of the Hammers'
four top-flight fixtures in September. As part of a three-man central
defensive unit against Huddersfield and West Brom, and then as a pair for
the visit of Swansea City, the experienced duo have shored things up
considerably at the back. In the 344 minutes Reid and Fonte have shared a
pitch (not including added time), West Ham have conceded three goals – or
one goal every 114.66 minutes. In the 286 minutes Reid and Fonte were not on
the pitch together, West Ham conceded ten goals – or one goal every 28.6
minutes.

5. Keeping the opposition at arm's length

It stands to reason that, the further your opponents are from your goal when
they are in possession, the less likely they are to score against you. The
numbers prove that theory to be true, with the number of times West Ham's
opponents have brought the ball into their final third and penalty area both
much lower in September than the preceding month. In August, the Hammers
conceded an average of 58.66 final third entries, 37 penalty area entries
and 22.67 crosses/game.
With the opposition closer to West Ham's goal, they gave up 17.33 shots,
9.33 shots from inside the penalty area and 6.67 shots on target/game.
However, in September, all those figures had fallen significantly. West Ham
conceded just 37 final third entries, 23 penalty area entries and 17.75
crosses/game, leading to far fewer chances being created and taken by their
opponents. In four games last month, the Hammers allowed just an average of
9.25 shots, 3.5 shots from inside their penalty area and 2.5 shots on
target/game.

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Carabao Cup fourth round ticket details confirmed
WHUFC.com

West Ham United can confirm the Club's allocation and Standard Ticket prices
for the Carabao Cup fourth-round tie with Tottenham Hotspur.

Slaven Bilic's side head to Wembley Stadium on Wednesday 25 October for an
8pm kick-off, with the winners going through to the quarter-finals.

The Hammers have been allocated 4,800 Standard Tickets, priced from £20 for
Adults and £10 for Concessions.

Standard Tickets in Level 1 will be priced at £20 for Adults and £10 for
Over-65s and Under-18s, with Level 2 priced at £25 for Adults and £10 for
Over-65s and Under-18s.

Standard Tickets will go on sale to Season Ticket Holders with 15+ Points on
Monday 9 October at 3pm, followed by Season Ticket Holders with 14+, 13+
Points and so on.

In the unlikely event that any Standard Tickets remain, these will go on
sale to Claret Members on Tuesday 17 October at 11am.
Full sale dates can be found by clicking here.

Supporters should note that Level 5 at Wembley will not be open for the
fixture, capping the capacity for the London derby to 50,835.
West Ham fans should also note that Official Travel will not be in operation
to/from this fixture.

The Club is currently awaiting finalisation of Accessibility Ticket prices.
Once confirmed, these will be published here.

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TUESDAY'S NEWS ROUND UP: BOARD BACKING BILIC, LANZINI HAS BEEN MISSED,
HAMMERS CHASING BRAZILIAN?
AUTHOR: DAN CHAPMAN. PUBLISHED: 3 OCTOBER 2017 AT 1:02PM
TheWestHamWay.co.uk

Hello Everyone.

Apologies for not doing my round ups for a while, its just been a very busy
few months. However, I am back now and I can't wait to get these articles
going again. So here is what has been in the news today:

Slaven Bilic has been told that he has the full support of the West Ham
board until at least the end of the season. (Evening Standard)

I have to say, I think this is a poor decision from the board. I have been
one of Slav's biggest supporters during his time with us, but I just feel
that his time is now up. The performances on the pitch have not been good
enough, and Slaven's tactics have not been much better. I just feel like its
time to say goodbye, so that a new manager can come in with fresh ideas and
push us on to better things.

Pablo Zabaleta says that West Ham have missed Manuel Lanzini massively so
far this season. (Daily Star)

This is true. We have missed Lanzini greatly in the opening seven games of
the season. I do think that we will improve now that he is back, but that
remains to be seen whether we actually will. After all, the manager sets the
team up, and I have lost faith with the man in charge now, sadly.

Simone Zaza's father has lifted the lid on his sons miserable spell at West
Ham last season. (Daily Mail)

I feel sorry for Zaza. He had an awful spell with us, but I do feel that he
was misused by Slaven Bilic. I am not putting all the blame on Slav here,
but it is no coincidence that since leaving us he, Calleri and Feghouli have
all started scoring again. It makes you wonder.

West Ham have opened talks with Domingos Quina over a new contract, amid
reported interest from PSG. (Squawka)

I think we need to get him tied down quickly, before more teams come
calling. He is a talented kid, and the sooner this gets done, the better.

West Ham are interested in signing Brazilian midfielder Jesus. (Football
London)

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BILIC-THE STATS
AUTHOR: EXWHUEMPLOYEE. PUBLISHED: 2 OCTOBER 2017 AT 9:00PM
TheWestHamWay.co.uk
Written by Adam Leatherbarrow

This weekend we saw Sakho score a 90th minute winner against Swansea so that
means Slaven lives another day at the club, but win, lose or draw this
weekend should have been his last.

I am sick, tired and fed up of watching this club build up our hopes by
signing established players, to not be fully trained or coached by a so
called legend. Let's face it, Slaven is no West Ham legend he is a CULT
player who had a 14 month stay at the club. It's become apparent that the
low intensity training levels are affecting the players work rate during
matchdays and it comes across Slaven and his staff have lost the dressing
room with a number of players, most notably Diafra Sakho. DIAFRA scored the
goal and during his celebrations, took off his shirt and showed the world
his name… that goal wasn't for the club, that was a protest. He is our most
consistent striker in the team scoring 3 goals in total and this form has
earned him to be recalled to the Senegalese National Team… not bad for a
player who has started two cup games and some cameo premier league
appearances. But why isn't he starting in the premier league? I didn't agree
with his actions on transfer deadline day, but for the player to result to
actions that could affect his relationship with the fans surely indicates a
difference of opinion with Bilic… how ironic for a player who is backed by
the board, scores a winner to keep a man he doesn't like in a job.

Slaven Bilic has had enough time to turn things around and his win ratio
record is poor. As a player he has four cup honours (only in his native
country) and as a manager he has no honours, going by his tactics and
philosophy he is going about his career the wrong way by relying on
individual talent to keep him in a job. Payet was his trump card and Lanzini
is now, but when he hasn't got those cards his tactics are flawed.

Did you know that Slaven Bilic's career win ratio was 53.6% over 14 years…
His West Ham win ratio is 38.7%… he has dropped around 15% worth of wins in
his 2 and half year tenure at the club… that is simply not good enough,
regardless of the comparative leagues he has managed in, he has not won 65
fixtures being West Ham boss, that is just three games shy of as many games
Sam Allardyce won! Stats don't lie and stats prove he needs to go and we
need to employ someone BETTER.

The board need to act in sacking Slav NOW, not in December, not in march,
but they have to take action today. His contract runs out end of this season
so the compensation is around £3.5m plus the contracts of his staff and most
importantly the board need to get a world class manager in on a long term
deal. No manager of the highest calibre will accept a three year deal, the
board need to offer a seven year deal to allow that world class manager to
build from the current team. The club have a fantastic opportunity to get
Carlo Ancelotti in, he is a guy who has managed the best clubs in world and
most notably won trophies with those teams. He even built a legacy with
Parma to make them one of the best in Europe, managing Buffon, Cannavaro,
Crespo and even worked with former West Ham manager Zola. But it is his
8-year tenure at AC Milan and his short spell as Chelsea boss are the two
spells the board need to refer to, to make him the next West Ham boss. Also
he has just been released from his Bayern Munich contract so the board do
not have to spend the money to get him in.

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No fanfare for new Board member
KUMB.com
Filed: Tuesday, 3rd October 2017
By: Staff Writer

West Ham have defended their decision not to release a statement confirming
the sale of 10 per cent of the club to an American bussinesman. KUMB
revealed earlier this week that US-based J Albert Smith, a Founder of asset
management company GSO Capital Partners had purchased the shareholding
previously owned by representatives of Straumur.
And there was some surprise amongst fans when the club failed to announce
the change of ownership via their website - with the only reference to the
sale being tucked away on the website's 'Ownership' page. However when asked
why there was no information regarding the sale on West Ham's website, a
club spokesman rejected suggestions that the Board were attempting to
'hush-up' the change of ownership - insisting instead that the decision had
been taken out of respect to Mr Smith. "It's just an editorial decision,"
the spokesman told KUMB. "Our new 10 per cent owner doesn't desire a great
deal of fanfare." It is unclear at this stage whether Smith actively sought
to acquire a stake in West Ham, or if the shareholding is part of a larger
portfolio that included the West Ham shares. The price paid remains
undisclosed.

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I'm surprised he's here
KUMB.com
Filed: Tuesday, 3rd October 2017
By: Staff Writer

The only English-born footballer to play in the Mexican first division
admitted that he was "surprised" to see former Hammer Ravel Morrison join
Atlas. The 24-year-old former Hammer recently joined the North American
outift, for whom he has already featured on three occasions, on a
season-long loan from Lazio - much to the surprise of Antonio Pedroza, who
moved from England to Mexico with his parents when he was a child. "I am
surprised he moved here," Pedroza, who played for Crystal Palace, Chiapas
and Cruz Azul amongst others told the BBC. "He has had a few problems but
that is football - sometimes you need to make this kind of move to be happy
to play and get back to a top league in Europe. Morrison will easily be the
star player for the team, but he needs to be really fit because the league
is very technical - less physical than the Premier League - but the players
can run and run and run for the whole game. "He should be OK because he is
technical and cleverer than any other player on the pitch. Teams are not
stacked with talent. If you are really good you can shine but you have to
take the initiative and I think that is what Morrison should aim to do.
"Though I find it difficult to understand why he joined halfway through the
season."

Despite Pedroza's concerns, Morrison's agent Dan Wilson insisted that
Morrison's team had done their homework before agreeing to send the former
England Under 21 to Central America for the season. "Atlas wanted a
statement signing," he added. "They got in contact and showed their serious
intent from the start to do everything to complete the deal. "We did some
research on the league and saw some big-name players playing there from big
European clubs. West Ham's Enner Valencia and Juan Iturbe of Roma to name
but two. It was a very difficult decision as he had options in Europe. "It
is a difficult decision to move to a new country, let alone a new continent.
But the club made him feel very important, went beyond their means and the
most important factor is that the coach counts on him."

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Pablo Zabaleta EXCLUSIVE: 'Sole creator' Manuel Lanzini been missed, West
Ham must improve
PABLO ZABALETA feels Manuel Lanzini's injury problems have hurt West Ham
dearly at the start of the season.
By Jack Staplehurst / Published 3rd October 2017
Daily Star

The Hammers' star playmaker has had two spells on the sidelines since
pre-season due to knee trouble. And that has seen Slaven Bilic's side
struggle for goals, having scored seven in as many Premier League games. On
Saturday, Lanzini was reintroduced to first-team action from the bench after
the hour mark to a rapturous reception at the London Stadium. With West Ham
players and Bilic earning boos from supporters for another drab performance,
they needed a spark.
Despite not being fully fit, Lanzini played his part in setting up the late
winner against Swansea. Breaking from deep, the 24-year-old Argentinian took
West Ham forward before passing to Arthur Masuaku, whose low cross found
Diafra Sakho at the back post, which saw all three substitutes combine.
Zabaleta was critical of the team's play in general, though, and openly
admits creativity in the side comes down solely to compatriot Lanzini. "I
think what we are missing at some points in the game is that creativity that
you need to create chances, to keep the ball," Zabaleta told Starsport.
"Sometimes we play so quickly that we gave the ball away so this is
something we need to improve. "We've been missing Manu so far this season
and he's probably the only player we have to create [chances], and at least
to keep the ball a little bit more. "[He is] a player to play in the hole,
between the lines, and that was a big difference when Manu came on."
Lanzini has taken on the mantle Dimitri Payet previously held, although he
needs support from those around him. Marko Arnautovic's absence against
Swansea due to illness further highlighted West Ham's problems with
consistency. Injuries and suspensions have often cost them under Bilic, who
has not been able to name his first choice front four of Javier Hernandez,
Arnautovic, Lanzini and Michail Antonio yet. On Arnautovic's absence being
felt too, Zabaleta added: "This is what I am saying, that's why we need to
improve. "It's seems like for a few moments we can play good [football], but
for some moments in the game we just gave the ball away so cheaply. "We need
to be more consistent, we need to be a good team from the first minute to
the end. With the ball, without the ball, sometimes we were so sloppy in the
game and that is no good. "We lost Marko [on Friday] with a high fever, he
was sick and ill, [Pedro] Obiang out too. It seems like every time we have a
problem with some players we cannot keep everyone fit for a long period,
everyone being consistent. "That is probably the only problem I can see at
this moment." West Ham are expected to finally have Lanzini, as well as
Arnautovic, back in their first XI at Burnley after the international break.
That will no doubt delight Hernandez who has been starved of service since
arriving in east London. The summer signing had just one touch inside the
penalty area against Swansea before being hooked. Andy Carroll's
availability has seen Chicharito pushed out wide, but Bilic could opt to
bench his target man at Burnley.

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West Ham hero Diafra Sakho undermines fragile Slaven Bilic as French
journalist posts online video
HITC
Damien Lucas

West Ham United goal hero Diafra Sakho has undermined manager Slaven Bilic
with a video posted online. Sakho and Bilic have endured a fractious
relationship since the Croatian took over from Sam Allardyce in 2015. The
Senegal striker has spent much of that time injured but feels he has had a
lack of game time on the rare occasion he has been fit. Indeed in the summer
Sakho took matters into his own hands and tried to force through a deadline
day move to Ligue 1 side Rennes. But West Ham refused to budge and now he is
fit Sakho is starting to play a part in helping the Hammers move up the
table - and perhaps keep Bilic in a job - with his late winner against
Swansea City last time out a case in point. No sooner had Sakho scored that
goal than he was already undermining Bilic, though, with a video doing the
rounds online and social media. The video shows French journalist Claude
Atcheba speaking into the camera while sat in a car next to Sakho saying "So
this guy saved somebody's butt today."
The video is unprofessional in the extreme, disrespectful and entirely
unhelpful as it only serves to undermine a manager on the brink. It also
begs the question if Bilic is so well liked by the players then why would
Sakho do such a thing. With behaviour like this it looks likely the striker
will be on his way out of the club at the next opportunity in January.

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http://vyperz.blogspot.com

Daily WHUFC News - 3rd October 2017

Zabaleta: The subs had a great impact
WHUFC.com

Pablo Zabaleta hailed the depth of the West Ham United squad after all three
substitutes combined to give them maximum points against Swansea City on
Saturday. Diafra Sakho applied the finishing touch to score the only goal of
a game of few chances, after his fellow subs Manuel Lanzini and Arthur
Masuaku linked up to lay on the opportunity. Zabaleta admitted the Hammers
were not at their best, but had praise for the trio of subs who came on and
had a huge impact. "When you score at the end to win the game and get three
points, of course it's a great feeling," the No5 said. "I'm so happy and
pleased that we won the game, but it was not our best performance. We were
sloppy, especially in the first half. It was different when Manu came on. He
gave us more creativity, we kept possession better and that was good.
"Arthur is so fast, he has that pace going forward and he can cross. He did
it against Spurs, he did it on Saturday and I'm pleased for him. Also for
Sakho – it's not been the best start of the season for him and it's not easy
for everyone if you're not playing regularly, but's it's a long season and
on Saturday saw how important the subs can be. "That's why everyone has to
be ready. Even if you play ten minutes, you can have a huge role.
"That was the positive point for us – players came from the bench and had a
great impact on the game. We know we have a strong squad with big players
and I'm very pleased for them."

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Bilic: Rejuvenated Sakho, seeking improvement and a welcome break
WHUFC.com

Manager Slaven Bilic spoke to the daily newspapers following Saturday's 1-0
Premier League victory over Swansea City at London Stadium. The Croatian was
asked about a host of subjects, including Diafra Sakho's return to
goalscoring form and fitness, his side's performance levels and the effect
of the October international break.

Here is what he had to say...

'Balanced Sakho is doing his job'

Slaven Bilic says Diafra Sakho's return to full fitness has rejuvenated the
striker. The Senegal international missed virtually the whole of last season
after undergoing surgery for a long-standing back problem, but is now free
of pain and West Ham United are reaping the rewards. Sakho has been in
Bilic's matchday squad for all nine matches this season, featuring in eight
and scoring three goals, including Saturday's late match-winner against
Swansea City at London Stadium.
"Sakho, there have been stories about him in the transfer window and all
that, but he stayed and he's balanced his head here. He is training good and
that's why he is playing in most of the games, because he looks good and
sharp in training. That's why he came on, on Saturday, and he did his job.
That's why he's in my plans. "I spoke to him a couple of times but it's more
about him. His problem was that, the whole of last season, he was out and he
was injured and had problems and an operation. Now he feels fit and he is
training better and more regularly and, because he is training better, I am
using him and that is balancing his head.
"We didn't want to let him go. He had a couple of talks with the Chairman
and with me and it all helped, but it was mostly him, because if the person
doesn't want to do it, you can't make it good enough to play the game. It
was him who wanted to be here, for him and for us."

'It's time to up our performance levels'

Bilic says West Ham United's seven-point September has given his squad the
basis to kick on with improved performances after the international break.
The Hammers went into the last break a month ago without a Premier League
point, having conceded ten goals in defeats at Manchester United,
Southampton and Newcastle United. But September has been more fruitful, with
top-flight victories over Huddersfield Town and Swansea City at London
Stadium, a deserved point at West Bromwich Albion and a dominant Carabao Cup
third round win over Bolton Wanderers. While results have got markedly
better, the manager is demanding more, much more, when his players reconvene
for October fixtures with Burnley, Brighton & Hove Albion and Crystal
Palace. "Points-wise, since the last international break, which we went into
with zero points after three games and conceded against Manchester United,
Southampton and Newcastle, this is a big improvement. "In four games we have
seven points, three clean sheets, a good comeback against Spurs, which is
definitely much better, but I am the first one to say that we have to play
better and we have do to better. "I'm expecting now, with the players coming
back [for us to improve], and I know it sounds very shallow because you hear
it from managers on a weekly basis that they have lost confidence or don't
have confidence, but it is the truth and it happened to us on Saturday
because of the situation and importance of the game and everything. "We
didn't play good in the first half, apart from the first ten minutes – and
we always start good – and then as soon as you feel the opponent can hurt
you, can harm you, not with a goal but by keeping the ball, switching sides
or striking from 20 yards, you go 'Oh!' and you block and first half we were
quite poor. "Now, I'm expecting us to use this improvement, especially with
points and three clean sheets, to do much better, to play better, to
continue to gain points but also to produce better performances."

'International break will give us chance to get players fit'

When asked if he would rather his players were not disappearing to all
corners of the planet for international fixtures after picking up their
second Premier League win of the season, Slaven Bilic was in pragmatic mood.
Rather than trot out the old cliché about 'wishing we had another game
tomorrow', the manager pointed to the need to work on improving the fitness
of players who have either recently returned or are on the cusp of making
their comeback from injury absences. "I wouldn't say the break has come at
the wrong time. Some of the players have gone with their national teams and
the others can work on their fitness. "Manuel Lanzini has come back and
anyone who follows West Ham knows how important he is to us, so he can work
on his fitness also. Pedro Obiang and some other players will come back,
while Michail Antonio will use the time to improve his fitness. "It's good
to have a break now to sort it all out, to say 'OK guys, this was good, that
was good, this is what we need to improve', so it's not bad to have it."

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Supersub Masuaku: I want to give Slaven a selection headache
WHUFC.com

Arthur Masuaku is hoping his super substitute appearances against Tottenham
Hotspur and Swansea City lead to more playing time after the international
break.
The No23, who could make his DR Congo debut in Libya on Saturday, has
created goals after being introduced from the bench in each of his last two
Premier League games. And, with a growing clamour among supporters for him
to be handed a start at Burnley next time out, Masuaku hopes to give manager
Slaven Bilic a selection 'headache' ahead of the trip to Turf Moor. "I feel
good and, in my opinion, I just have to keep focused even when I am not
playing and try to do my best for the team," said the 23-year-old, who has
provided outstanding crosses for Cheikhou Kouyate and Diafra Sakho to score
for the Hammers. "That is working well for me at the moment. "I am happy to
keep working. In the last game [against Tottenham] I crossed and Cheikhou
scored and now I am even more happy because we won, as last week we didn't
manage that. "It is not frustrating not to start. The coach makes the
decisions and I have to give him a headache. I am still young."

Masuaku's only previous Premier League start this season came in the opening
weekend defeat at Manchester United, when he played as a left-back in a flat
back four. However, the former Olympiacos star impressed playing further up
the pitch against Spurs and Swansea, using his pace, dribbling and crossing
ability to get past his man on the outside and deliver quality balls into
the opposition penalty area. Those assists came on the back of another
outstanding attacking moment against Bolton Wanderers in the Carabao Cup
third round, when he scored with an unstoppable 25-yard shot to complete
West Ham's 3-0 victory. "I like to go forward because when I was younger I
played left wing, so for me my best position is left wing-back," he
confirmed, when asked to name his preferred position.

On Saturday, Masuaku's assist – from a left midfield position – saw him
combine with fellow substitutes Manuel Lanzini and Sakho, with all three
giving the Hammers a noticeable boost following their arrival on the London
Stadium pitch. "We were speaking about this before we came on," he said. "It
is good, we came on and we played a big part for the goal so everyone was
happy for us."

Having secured their second victory of the campaign, Masuaku says the
Hammers cannot afford to be complacent, but rather should look to improve
their level of performance in an October month that sees them face Burnley,
Brighton & Hove Albion and Crystal Palace. "It was good to win," he
observed. "It was a very tough game against a good team, but we have the
three points and this is the most important thing for us. "It was difficult,
as Swansea played very well, but I have to be honest, I don't think we
played well, in my opinion. We have to improve and work hard in training
starting from next week. "We have to be positive because I think we have a
good team and a great squad, so let us keep working to get higher up the
league."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Henry's late leveller secures first point for U18s
WHUFC.com

Korrey Henry's late equaliser secured a first U18 Premier League point of
the season against Norwich City.

The 17-year-old midfielder, who recently revealed that Michail Antonio has
been mentoring him this season, popped up with just moments remaining to
snatch a deserved 1-1 draw for his West Ham United side.

Henry, who has now scored three of the Hammers' five league goals this
season, levelled after Anthony Spyrou's 74th-minute goal appeared to have
put the Canaries on course for victory at Little Heath.

"I was at the game and, as has been the case in all our previous games bar
our defeat at Arsenal in August, we were in the game, controlled possession
but did not have a cutting edge," said Academy Director Terry Westley.

"It was a similar story on Saturday and when we went a goal down late on, it
felt like a case of 'here we go again' and that it was going to be another
one of those days, but we kept going and got the equaliser right at the end
through Korrey Henry, securing our first point of the season."

Westley was an interested spectator as Steve Potts' side showed admirable
fighting qualities to grab a point, particularly as the starting XI was
sprinkled with schoolboys playing alongside and against full-time scholars.

"It was encouraging to see U16 players like our right-back Sam Caiger and
centre-back Josh Okotcha complete the whole match and acquit themselves very
well against more experienced opponents," he confirmed. "It was also nice to
see Alfie Lewis continue his comeback from injury and Conor Coventry
controlling the midfield."

"With U18 football, you have to look past the result and consider what we
are trying to do, which is develop players.

"We have been very good with the ball this season, as we were again on
Saturday, and now it is about finding that cutting edge on the pitch which
we have been missing previously."

U18s: Matrevics, Caiger, R.Longelo, Wells (c), Okotcha, Henry, Ngakia
(Watson), Coventry, Constantinou (Hamilton), Lewis, Costa Da Rosa
(E.Longelo)

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
International Hammers: Who is playing where, who can reach Russia 2018 and
where can I watch?
WHUFC.com

The second international break of the 2017/18 season has arrived and West
Ham United players are heading off to represent their countries all over the
world.

There are plenty of 2018 FIFA World Cup places up for grabs, with the likes
of Joe Hart, Aaron Cresswell, Jose Fonte, Diafra Sakho and Cheikhou Kouyate
on the cusp of booking their place in Russia.

Here's all you need to know about the Hammers' international commitments
over the next fortnight...

Jose Fonte's Portugal are two wins away from booking their place at the 2018
FIFA World Cup
Which Hammers have been called-up for international duty?

A grand total of 20 West Ham United players have been called-up by their
respective nations, including eleven seniors and eight at age-group level.
They are...

Marko Arnautovic (Austria), Andre Ayew (Ghana), Chicharito (Mexico), Aaron
Cresswell and Joe Hart (England), Jose Fonte (Portugal), Sead Haksabanovic
(Montenegro), Cheikhou Kouyate and Diafra Sakho (Senegal), Arthur Masuaku
(DR Congo), Winston Reid (New Zealand), Robert Snodgrass (Scotland), Declan
Rice and Josh Cullen (Republic of Ireland U21), Martin Samuelsen (Norway
U21), Reece Oxford and Nathan Trott (England U20), Rihards Matrevics (Latvia
U19), Anthony Scully (Republic of Ireland U19) and Dan Kemp (England U19).

In addition, Edimilson Fernandes (Switzerland) and Domingos Quina (Portugal
U20) were both initially selected, but have since been forced to withdraw
through injury.

Joe Hart is one point away from a potential third FIFA World Cup finals
appearance
Who can qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup finals?

Chicharito's Mexico have already secured their place in Russia, and will
complete the CONCACAF Round 5 campaign unbeaten if they avoid defeat in
their final two qualifiers at home to Trinidad & Tobago and away to
Honduras.

Closer to home, Joe Hart, Aaron Cresswell and England need just a single
point from their final two 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers at home to
Slovenia or away in Lithuania to top European Group F.

Jose Fonte's Portugal also have their fate in their own hands in Group B,
knowing victories in Andorra and at home to Switzerland will seal their
passage.

In Africa, Diafra Sakho and Cheikhou Kouyate face an African qualifying
Group D fixture in the Cape Verde Islands, where they know a win could take
them top of the group, with just a home tie with bottom-of-the-table South
Africa to follow in November.

Sead Haksabanovic and Montenegro could qualify for their first-ever FIFA
World Cup finals
Where can I watch the Hammers on TV?

ITV, Sky Sports and BT Sport are the official broadcasters of 2018 FIFA
World Cup qualifiers in the UK, with ITV covering England games, Sky showing
the European matches and BT bringing viewers the African ties.

Starting in Europe, England's qualifier with Slovenia will be screened live
by ITV 1 on Thursday 5 October at 7.45pm - the same time Haksabanovic and
Montenegro host Denmark on the Sky Sports Red Button, and loanee Robert
Snodgrass and Scotland welcome Slovakia on Sky Sports Main Event/Football.

The Sky Sports Red Button will also host Arnautovic and Austria at home to
Serbia on Friday 6 October, and Fonte and Portugal's trip to Andorra the
following evening, with both ties kicking-off at 7.45pm.

Moving forward to Sunday, England's 5pm kick-off in Lithuania will be on ITV
1, while Montenegro's away game in Poland will be on the Sky Sports Red
Button, and Scotland's trip to Slovenia can be found on Sky Sports Main
Event/Football.

Finally, next Tuesday 10 October, Fonte's Portugal will hope to complete the
job at home to Switzerland, live on Sky Sports Main Event/Football.

What about the younger lads?

Aside from 18-year-old Sead Haksabanovic, whose Montenegro could secure
automatic qualification for the World Cup if they beat Denmark and Poland in
European Group E, eight other youngsters aged 20 or younger have been
called-up at various age-group levels.

Declan Rice and Bolton Wanderers loanee Josh Cullen are in the Republic of
Ireland U21 squad for home Group 5 ties with Martin Samuelsen's Norway – who
also host Germany in Drammen – and Israel in Dublin.

Nathan Trott and Reece Oxford, who is on loan at German club Borussia
Moenchengladbach, are in the England U20 squad for friendly matches with
Italy in Gorgonzola and at home to Czech Republic.

Sticking with the Young Lions, Daniel Kemp is in the England U19 squad for
friendlies in Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Finally, Anthony Scully's Republic of Ireland U19s host Azerbaijan, Cyprus
and Serbia in UEFA European Championship qualifiers in Waterford, while
Rihards Matrevics has been called-up by Latvia U19s for a training camp and
friendly matches in Riga.

Winston Reid and New Zealand are off to Japan for an international friendly
So, can you tell me the full story?

Of course! Here is a complete list of international fixtures potentially
involving West Ham United players - in chronological order. For simplicity,
all times are BST!

Wednesday 4 October 2017

Anthony Scully, Republic of Ireland U19 v Azerbaijan U19, UEFA European U19
Championship qualifying Group 7, Waterford, 4pm

Thursday 5 October 2017

Reece Oxford and Nathan Trott, Italy U20 v England U20, Friendly,
Gorgonzola, 4.50pm
Aaron Cresswell and Joe Hart, England v Slovenia, FIFA World Cup qualifying
Group F, Wembley Stadium, 7.45pm
Sead Haksabanovic, Montenegro v Denmark, FIFA World Cup qualifying Group E,
Podgorica, 7.45pm
Robert Snodgrass, Scotland v Slovakia, FIFA World Cup qualifying Group F,
Glasgow, 7.45pm
Declan Rice, Josh Cullen and Martin Samuelsen, Republic of Ireland U21 v
Norway U21, UEFA European U21 Championship qualifying Group 5, Dublin,
7.45pm

Friday 6 October 2017

Winston Reid, Japan v New Zealand, Friendly, Nagoya, 11.20am
Daniel Kemp, Czech Republic U19 v England U19, Friendly, SC Znojmo, 6pm
Marko Arnautovic, Austria v Serbia, FIFA World Cup qualifying Group D,
Vienna, 7.45pm

Saturday 7 October 2017

Chicharito, Mexico v Trinidad & Tobago, FIFA World Cup qualifying, San Luis
Potosi, 2.30am
Andre Ayew, Uganda v Ghana, FIFA World Cup qualifying Group E, Kampala, 6pm
Arthur Masuaku, Libya v DR Congo, FIFA World Cup qualifying Group A,
Monastir, 6pm
Cheikhou Kouyate and Diafra Sakho, Cape Verde Islands v Senegal, FIFA World
Cup qualifying Group D, Praia, 6.30pm
Anthony Scully, Republic of Ireland U19 v Cyprus U19, UEFA European U19
Championship qualifying Group 7, Waterford, 7pm
Jose Fonte, Andorra v Portugal, FIFA World Cup qualifying Group B, Andorra
la Vella, 7.45pm

Aaron Cresswell hopes to make his competitive debut for England
Sunday 8 October 2017

Aaron Cresswell and Joe Hart, Lithuania v England, FIFA World Cup qualifying
Group F, Vilnius, 5pm
Sead Haksabanovic, Poland v Montenegero, FIFA World Cup qualifying Group E,
Warsaw, 5pm
Robert Snodgrass, Slovenia v Scotland, FIFA World Cup qualifying Group F,
Glasgow, 5pm

Monday 9 October 2017

Declan Rice and Josh Cullen, Republic of Ireland U21 v Israel U21, UEFA
European U21 Championship qualifying Group 5, Dublin, 3.30pm
Daniel Kemp, Slovakia U19 v England U19, Friendly, NTC Senec, 6pm
Marko Arnautovic, Moldova v Austria, FIFA World Cup qualifying Group D,
Chisinau, 7.45pm

Tuesday 10 October 2017

Anthony Scully, Republic of Ireland U19 v Serbia U19, UEFA European U19
Championship qualifying Group 7, Waterford, 7pm
Reece Oxford and Nathan Trott, England U20 v Czech Republic U20, Friendly,
St George's Park, 2pm
Martin Samuelsen, Norway U21 v Germany U21, UEFA European U21 Championship
qualifying Group 5, Drammen, 7pm
Jose Fonte, Portugal v Switzerland, FIFA World Cup qualifying Group B,
Lisbon, 7.45pm
Chicharito, Honduras v Mexico, FIFA World Cup qualifying, San Pedro Sula,
Midnight

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
1966 World Cup win 'not even a distant memory' for the England heroes
suffering from dementia
JIM VAN WIJK
PHIL BARNETT
ES Sport

Sir Geoff Hurst fears his lifelong friend and World Cup-winning team-mate
Martin Peters would no longer recognise him or remember their achievements
in 1966.
Peters, who played alongside Hurst for England and West Ham, suffers from
Alzheimer's. Hurst scored three and Peters got the other in a 4-2 victory
over West Germany at Wembley 51 years ago which still remains the high point
in the history of the England national team. But Hurst knows there is little
chance of being able to enjoy moments reminiscing with his old friend about
the glory days under Sir Alf Ramsey and at Upton Park, or indeed of Peters
ever recovering from such a debilitating disease. "It is very, very
difficult, whether he would recognise me or know me," Hurst told Press
Association Sport when asked whether he or others had tried to maintain a
friendship with Peters. "We have discussed it with his wife and family, and
we have left it that we would not get involved, apart from my wife talking
to his wife, and I think she appreciates that, to have someone she can talk
to and discuss how Martin is. "It is heartbreaking for the people involved,
and almost impossible to understand how difficult it is for the families. It
is a disease which doesn't get better. "If you have a physical disease, or a
broken leg, you can recover from it and get better in time, with dementia it
only goes one way, albeit at different levels. "That is the awful thing
about it, because it is not going to get any better than it is today, in
fact it is going to deteriorate. "My wife Judith speaks closely with
Martin's wife, Kathy, almost daily. "It is not necessarily the person
themselves - who is not aware that they have dementia - it is the huge,
enormous effect which it has on the carer, the husband or wife, the family
members, which is all terribly difficult."
Ray Wilson and Nobby Stiles, who also played alongside Hurst and Peters in
the World Cup final, are suffering from forms of dementia too. Fighting the
disease is a cause close to Hurst's heart, and he has joined the Alzheimer's
Society Memory Walk campaign, which is aiming to help raise around £9million
to improve care, fund research and create lasting change for people affected
by dementia. The 75-year-old will open his local event, which is one of 34
walks planned across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, at Pittville Park
in Cheltenham on October 8. "(Dementia) is becoming one of the most serious
illnesses and it is increasing," Hurst said. "My involvement with the
players from my (1966 World Cup) squad who have got it is seeing how the
families deal with it all, and it is arguably one of the most debilitating
aliments families can face. "I grew up with some of them from when I was
just 16, so for me it was something which I really felt I had to get
involved in."
Last year marked the 50th anniversary of England's World Cup win, but the
likes of Peters and Stiles, the enforcer at the heart of Ramsey's side,
would now often struggle to recall their achievements. Hurst said: "It is
extremely sad, because a lot of your life is about memories of the past over
many years with your family and friends (and) that now is all clouded in
mystery. "Sadly for the players involved, (winning the World Cup) is not
even a distant memory."

Alzheimer's Society is urgently calling on people to unite against dementia
- register now at memorywalk.org.uk to find a walk

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Conflicting reports on Reece Oxford as West Ham academy chief claims he's
staying in Germany
The Hammers youngster is on loan at Borussia Monchengladbach for two seasons
Football London
BYSAM INKERSOLE
19:15, 2 OCT 2017

Confusion surrounds the future of West Ham youngster Reece Oxford and his
two-year loan deal with Borussia Monchengladbach with differing reports on
what is happening with the teenager. Reports emerged last week that the two
clubs had agreed to terminate the loan deal in December with Oxford yet to
make an appearance for the Bundesliga side and a source close to the player
revealing his disappointment at the decision. The Hammers youngster has yet
to play for his new employers but did make a couple of appearances in
pre-season friendlies for Gladbach, where he impressed. But now, Hammers
academy chief Terry Westley has told West Ham fansite Claret & Hugh that he
has no idea why Oxford would be leaving and the teenager has no intention of
going back to east London yet.
Westley said: "I have no idea where the story has come from but Gladbach
tell me they like him and were pleased with his performances in two friendly
games and like his attitude in training. There is certainly no suggestion of
him coming home unless they know something they haven't told me. "He has his
own apartment and is really enjoying that and his life in the country."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Jamie Redknapp points out key stats about Slaven Bilic, urges him to start
two West Ham players
HITC
Olly Dawes

West Ham United beat Swansea City 1-0 on Saturday afternoon. Pundit Jamie
Redknapp has told the Daily Mail that he thinks West Ham United boss Slaven
Bilic should hand starts to Arthur Masuaku and Diafra Sakho after the
international break. The Hammers needed a result when they took on Swansea
City on Saturday afternoon, having lost 3-2 at home to Tottenham Hotspur –
and it proved to be a stressful game for everybody associated with West Ham.
Whilst Bilic's men were in the ascendancy for much of the game, but couldn't
find the crucial goal as Andy Carroll hit the crossbar, leaving fans to
believe that a 0-0 draw was on the cards. However, Arthur Masuaku picked out
Diafra Sakho in injury, and the Senegalese forward snatched the winning goal
to give West Ham a last-gasp 1-0 victory in dramatic circumstances. Masuaku
and Sakho combining for the goal was somewhat ironic, given that their
introductions onto the pitch as substitutes were met with boos from
disgruntled West Ham fans, with the goal vindicating Slaven Bilic's
decision.
The result eases the pressure on Bilic, who has overseen four defeats in the
first seven games of the new Premier League season, leading to speculation
about his future at the London Stadium. Now, pundit Jamie Redknapp has told
the Daily Mail that the pressure on Bilic is baffling, as he has the best
points-per-game ratio of any West Ham boss, even better than Alan Curbishley
and Harry Redknapp. After suggesting that West Ham should stick with Bilic,
he urged the Hammers boss to start Masuaku and Sakho against Burnley after
the international break, praising both players for their impact against
Swansea. "You wouldn't know it from the pressure he has been under but
Slaven Bilic has the best points-per-game ratio of any West Ham manager in
the Premier League," said Redknapp. "His 1.37 points per game puts him ahead
of Alan Curbishley on 1.32 and my dad on 1.31. Despite a poor performance
against Swansea, Bilic deserves credit for changing the game by sending on
super subs Diafra Sakho and Arthur Masuaku." "They gave West Ham much more
energy and purpose in the final third and both should start at Burnley in
the club's first game after the international break," he added.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
STRIKER THREATENS JANUARY WALK-OUT IF LACK OF PLAYING TIME CONTINUESFeatured
Image
Date: 2nd October 2017 at 9:50pm
Written by: Forever Westham

Striker Diafra Sakho has dealt a huge blow to West Ham after insisting he
could still leave the club this January if isn't granted more playing time
by manager Slaven Bilic, reports the Daily Express. Sakho scored the only
goal as West Ham beat Swansea 1-0 at the London Stadium on Saturday, to take
his total to the season to three, making him the Hammers' joint top scorer
alongside Javier Hernandez. However, despite his impressive scoring record,
the Senegalese has featured irregularly for the Hammers so far this season
and while he remains focused on proving his worth, insists he could leave
the club in January if his game time doesn't pick up. "It's not easy to show
what I can do, or prove to the people what I can do on the pitch, when I
only play for 10 minutes." said the 27-year-old. "But I don't need to knock
on the manager's door – I showed what I can do, I have to force my way into
the team."

Sakho infamously tried to force a move away from the London Stadium to Ligue
1 side Rennes on deadline day this summer, but was denied a move by West Ham
owners David Gold and David Sullivan who insisted he stayed in East London
and was not for sale. "I was very close to leaving but now I'm here and I'm
enjoying the little time I've had on the pitch to prove myself. "In my head
I just want to enjoy being part of this team and we will see what happens in
January."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
YOU KNOW WHEN YOU'VE BEEN SAKHO'D - DIAFRA THROWS SLAV A LIFELINE
By HamburgHammer 2 Oct 2017 at 12:24
WTID

What a bloody relief! Saturday's game was not a game that will be kept in
your private collection and which you will watch with your grandchildren
talking about the good old days. It was a cagey affair pretty much from
start to finish and it was easy to see how Swansea up to that point had not
conceded an away goal all season.
Spurs failed to score against them and that should stop any serious bouts of
moaning on our part.

Yes, it was painful to watch, especially the first half. Yes, I would like
to see a bit more running, pressing the opposition more often and earlier
and a bit more creativity as well.
I would obviously love to see us dispatch opponents like Swansea in more
comfortable fashion, beating them to the tune of a 3:0 or 4:1, but that
would only happen if a) we were playing with more confidence and generally
more skill and panache all over the pitch and b) if Swansea made loads of
mistakes. They didn't. They were very very solid and extremly hard to break
down.

Special kudos therefore has to go out once more to Slaven Bilic. Once again
he didn't care about the crowd booing his substitutions. But just like
against Huddersfield the subs were spot on actually, Masuaku and Sakho
working in perfect harmony, combining masterfully, creating the kind of goal
which is worth winning any contest, even a frustratingly cagey/boring one
such as this.
Thousands of "fans" who left the premises early missed the goal of course
but probably beat the traffic into the bargain, but at the end of the day we
beat a well drilled and disciplined side to get a much needed win and give
Bilic some very welcome breathing space.

It can't be easy hearing a new likely replacement manager's name every week,
sometimes seeeing even several flavours of the week getting leaked on
selected social media platforms and blogs – and still trying to do your best
managing the team, with your contract running out at the end of the season.
I understand that Bilic gets criticised by the fans, he ain't immune to that
and he shouldn't be. At this point he isn't getting the best out of his
players and performances together with results need to improve, granted.

However, let us please not forget that he more likely than not firmly
expected Carvalho to arrive from Sporting. I have no doubt that the player
would have turned out to be the missing piece of the jigsaw for us, a guy
solidly linking defense and attack, making both better at the same time. If
you believe that money has been stashed away in our transfer funds for
January or next summer and that a new manager coming in would be able to
spend even 50 or 60 million (net spend), think again!

Our board are mediocre, spending mediocre amounts of money and we shouldn't
be surprised at all if another 11th or 10th placed league finish is pretty
much our ceiling again this season. If you reckon there is a manager out
there who can get our squad to finish in 7th place or higher, with the same
players, and who would be willing to sign for us, working under
Gold&Sullivan and a restrained budget, fair enough!
I'd like to hear his name and wish our board good luck with the interview,
trying to sell the next level dream to another poor sod willing to fall for
it.

It was interesting to read about American Albert "Tripp" Smith buying the
remaining 10% of the West Ham shares from the Icelandics. Apparently the
director of private equity giants Blackstone bought them shares purely as a
private investment rather than as a getting the foot in the door tactic
instigated by Blackstone, but it is still interesting insofar as apparently
Sullivan would have liked to buy those shares from the Icelandics himself,
yet the sellers thought otherwise.

Apparently Tripp Smith just likes football/soccer/West Ham and maybe he is
indeed merely after a personal financial roll of the dice with a bit of a
kick to it, pardon the pun!
But let's wait and see if Blackstone will remain on the outside looking in
for long or if there is maybe a bit more to it all.
Blackstone, if they were to come in at some point in future, don't sound
like a long term plan either of course.
They tend to buy or invest in companies, streamline their operations, make
them successful businesses in the marketplace and sell them on at a profit.
Maybe though they could bring the kind of financial muscle to help with the
purchase of the Olympic Stadium a few years down the road, who knows ?
Surely West Ham owning the OS, knocking on the door of Champions League
football would fetch a better selling price than West Ham renting the OS
finishing in 11th place.

Initially I smirked when reading the nickname of the guy, "Tripp". It's a
rather unfortunate moniker, innit ? It reminded me of the "Only Fools And
Horses" pilot episode in which Rodney was nervously asking Del Boy in the
pub if Trigger was named such because he was carrying a gun. Luckily enough
it was just down to him looking like a horse after all…maybe it's the same
with Tripp…;-))

I'd feel slightly more at ease if that geezer (who is now also a new
director at West Ham) was nicknamed "Smithy" or "Berty", but "Tripp" it is
and I hope his investment will turn out to be a decent trip(p) for everyone
bleeding claret and blue.

This season for me already feels like a done deal. Another midtable finish
with a few highs and plenty more lows and hiccups along the way. Bilic will
be allowed to run down his contract while every two weeks we will read on
certain blogs that there are another two or three must win games coming up
for Bilic to save his job (until the end of the season). I see no realistic
chance really for Bilic to earn himself another deal unfortunately. We will
then eventually stumble upon another guy, who will get lured to the club
with the promise of playing home games in a 66K seater stadium, complete
with stellar marquee signings and subsequent next level progression, more
likely though ending up having to make ends meet with a transfer kitty that
would make Watford blush with shame.

We will start a new circle, with the new guy leaving or running down his
contract as well after two or three seasons. I've said it before: There is
no long term strategy or discernible plan at West Ham. We are treading water
and the board are happy with that as long as we stay on the Premier League
gravy train and as long as there is a manager in office who can be thrown
under the bus at will, thereby conveniently diverting any potential blame
and anger away from the board to the poor sod in the dugout.
It is what it is of course. Listen to Bubbles and the words of our anthem
don't exactly scream "NEXT LEVEL! CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FOOTBALL!" at you, do
they ?

On a local level, Sunday was not much to write home about either, with a
much worse result though. A devastating, lackluster and gutless surrender
from the Cordi boys away to Rugenbergen. 1:5 is a scoreline that simply
should not happen, even on a bad day in this league. The game was being
played on a turnip field disguised as a football pitch, including flattened
molehills and small holes that were littered all over the patch, sorry,
pitch. I know, the opposition had to play on the exact same surface, but as
a home team surely they were very much used to the lay of the land in
contrast to Concordia.

Our goalkeeper tried to clear a dangerous backpass into touch, one minute
before halftime, but unfortunately a deflection from one of the turnips
resulted in the ball going into his own net. It was symptomatic of the kind
of game that was about to unfold in the second half. Well, you win some, you
lose some, but my team looked lost and disinterested out there, not good.

Luckily Concordia don't have long to wait to redeem themselves as there is a
cup game tomorrow afternoon, at home to Victoria Hamburg as it's a bank
holiday (Day of German Unity). For West Ham we need to endure another
international break yet again before we head off to Turf Moor, hopefully
putting in a better performance oop north to claim all three points. It only
takes another one or two wins now to put us right back on track. I hope we
see Hernandez and Sakho starting that game, with Carroll to come on, causing
some havoc among the Burnley defense for the final 30 minutes. Bilic of
course may see things differently.

But it's still Super Slav for me and I wish the man nothing but the best.
Hopefully the players give us a performance against Burnley to make the
manager smile and the fans proud, wherever they may be. COYI!!!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Change of Date for Checkatrade Fixture Against West Ham
Bristolrovers.co.uk

Rovers' Checkatrade Trophy tie against West Ham at the Mem will now take
place on Tuesday 31st October, kick-off 7:45pm. The fixture was scheduled to
take place on Tuesday 24th October but has now been rearranged due to West
Ham's involvement in the Fourth Round of the Carabao Cup. So far Rovers have
played just the one game in this season's Checkatrade Trophy, registering a
5-1 victory at Wycombe Wanderers earlier in September.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
More Bolton woe for Cullen & Burke as West Ham duo benched for loss to Aston
Villa
The on-loan Hammers pair have found life at the Championship club tough this
season
Football London
BYSAM INKERSOLE
15:15, 2 OCT 2017

Reece Burke and Josh Cullen found themselves benched once again for Bolton
at the weekend as they were beaten by Aston Villa as the Trotters continued
their worst start to a season in 115 years. The West Ham duo joined the
Championship whipping boys on loan for six months back in August, with them
both leaving the Hammers pre-season training camp in Germany at the time to
complete their moves to Bolton. But, like with Reece Oxford and his loan
switch to Borussia Monchengladbach, it is not working out for either Cullen
or Burke as they have been sat on the bench for the past couple of games and
not getting any time on the pitch. The duo - particularly Cullen after his
brilliant spell at Bradford City - arrived at the club with burgeoning
reputations but were both called out by Trotters boss Phil Parkinson for
"trying too hard" to impress amid criticism from fans and now, they aren't
even being given the chance to try.
Speaking about the pair, Parkinson said recently: "Reece has made a couple
of decision-making errors I have never seen him do before, and it's just
that bit of pressure, Josh is the same but we have been asking him to do a
man's job and covering a lot of ground in the centre of the midfield. At
times he hasn't had much help."
With the Hammers keen to see the pair develop during their spells away,
seeing them not getting any game time off the bench for the past two games
will surely be a concern for Slaven Blilic and also for Terry Westley, who
could be utilising them in West Ham's PL2/U23 squad in division one of the
structure. In the same game this past weekend though, another Hammers loanee
in Robert Snodgrass continued his impressive form for Steve Bruce's
rejuventated Villa, with the Scotsman earning rave reviews for his
contribution.

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West Ham ace Diafra Sakho fires Slaven Bilic shot: I could quit in January
if I don't play
DIAFRA SAKHO says he could still quit West Ham in January if he does not get
more playing time.
By PAUL BROWN
PUBLISHED: 00:00, Mon, Oct 2, 2017 | UPDATED: 00:08, Mon, Oct 2, 2017
Express.co.uk

Sakho came off the bench to score a last-gasp winner for the Hammers to ease
the pressure on under-fire manager Slaven Bilic. But despite coming in from
the cold after his failed attempt to force a move to Rennes on deadline day,
the Senegal striker admits his future is still in doubt. Sakho is out of
contract at the end of the season and has been challenged to earn a new deal
by Bilic after being forgiven for going AWOL. But the 27-year-old said:
"It's not easy to show what I can do, or prove to the people what I can do
on the pitch, when I only play for 10 minutes. "But I don't need to knock on
the manager's door – I showed what I can do, I have to force my way into the
team. "I was very close to leaving but now I'm here and I'm enjoying the
little time I've had on the pitch to prove myself. "In my head I just want
to enjoy being part of this team and we will see what happens in January."
Sakho wanted to leave so badly he flew to France for a medical with Rennes
before returning on deadline day desperate to force through the move. But
his day ended in farce when he decided to stop at the races, where his
agent's horse was running, before club officials refused to meet him. Some
of Sakho's Hammers team-mates were watching the events unfold on live TV,
but Pablo Zabaleta insists all has since been forgiven. "It has not been the
best start of the season for him, after those problems at the beginning of
the season when he went to France, then came back and he has been injured
too," said Zabaleta. "Personally, I always try to understand players'
situations. But what happened, only Diafra knows. "If you staying here, just
give everything you can for this club because you can't believe how
important you are. You are a great player. Swansea goalkeeper Lukas
Fabianski needed lengthy treatment after getting clattered by Andy Carroll
but said: "I'm pretty stiff after the collision but I guess that's all part
of the game when you play against him. I know what to expect.

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West Ham's surprise match-winner Diafra Sakho back in Slaven Bilic's plans:
'we did not want to let him go'
Telegraph.co.uk
Sam Dean, london stadium
1 OCTOBER 2017 • 10:30PM

At 3.20pm on the final day of September, Sakho sat on the West Ham bench at
the London Stadium. From there, he would have heard the boos of the home
fans as his toiling team-mates found the going hard against an obdurate
Swansea. Those jeers intensified when Sakho was introduced to the fray in
favour of Javier Hernandez, but they soon turned to cheers when the striker
became the surprise match-winner in the final minute. It made for quite the
turnaround, and also provided vindication for his manager Slaven Bilic.
Firstly for the substitution and secondly for refusing to let Sakho depart
for Rennes in the summer. Asked how close Sakho was to leaving the club,
Bilic joked that the 27-year-old was "on the horse" but said "we did not
want to let him go". After an injury-plagued campaign last year, Sakho is
now firmly back in his manager's plans. "There have been stories about him,
in the transfer window and all that," said Bilic. "He stayed and balanced
his head here. "He is fitter, he is training better, he is sharper, he is
quicker. You can see that he is injury-free and he is doing well in
training."

Sakho's intervention relieves some of the pressure on Bilic after a
difficult start to the season, but West Ham's total lack of creativity on
their own patch will remain a major concern. Bilic has essentially been
under pressure for a year. That is largely due to soulless performances like
this, at West Ham's grand new home. Rafael Benitez has been linked with the
West Ham job, while there were even reports that Carlo Ancelotti could be
tempted by a move to east London. "It does not affect me," Bilic said. "If
it affected me I would be dead by now. It is not about the last few days, it
is almost a year now. Do I enjoy this situation? No. But does it affect me?
No, I am trying to do my job."

The international break will allow players such as Manuel Lanzini and
Michail Antonio, neither of whom were fully fit yesterday, to work on
getting back into top condition. West Ham now have a welcoming run of
fixtures, but BIlic knows they must improve. "I am the first one to say we
have to play better and we can be better," he said. For Swansea, their
struggles continue in front of goal. Paul Clement paired Tammy Abraham with
Wilfried Bony in attack, but neither posed a serious threat. Swansea have
scored just three goals all season. "They are not playing to their
potential," said Clement of his attackers. On Abraham, the 19-year-old
striker on loan from Chelsea who has scored plenty of goals in the
Championship and at junior international levels, Clement said: "This is the
biggest step for him. "In the Championship [for Bristol City], he scored a
really good amount of goals. But this is the Premier League. The difference
is big. Now he has to work towards closing the gap. "He is not the only one
out there. Everyone needs to raise their standard."

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Blackstone Exec Tripp Smith Buys 10% Stake In West Ham United
Published October 2, 2017
SpotsBusinessDaily.com

West Ham United has become the latest Premier League club to gain investment
from the U.S. after a senior Blackstone exec acquired a 10% holding in the
east London team, according to Ahmed & Massoudi of the FINANCIAL TIMES.
Tripp Smith, a senior managing director of Blackstone and co-founder of
asset management group GSO Capital Partners, has become a minority owner of
the club, according to three people familiar with the deal. West Ham
"remains under the control of its largest shareholders," British
entrepreneurs David Sullivan and David Gold. Smith acquired the 10% stake
from CB Holding, an Icelandic group that gained the holding after the
collapse of Iceland's Stramur Investment Bank in '09, according to a source.
Smith has become a director of West Ham United's parent company, according
to documents filed in Companies House on Friday, while the Icelandic
director, Daniel Svanstrom, "left the group." The price paid by Smith for
his stake "remains unclear." West Ham and Blackstone declined to comment
(FT, 9/29). In London, Jack Rosser reported though fans would be
"understandably excited" by the appointment of Smith, who bought the 10%
stake using his own funds, the 52-year-old has "no ambition to increase his
share or take a majority." Furthermore, due to a clause in the London
Stadium lease agreement, Sullivan "cannot sell to another buyer within the
next four years" (EVENING STANDARD, 9/30).

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Reece Oxford "massively disappointed" to cut loan deal away from West Ham
short
The teenager hasn't made much of an impact in his short stay in Germany
Football London
BYSAM INKERSOLE
06:30, 2 OCT 2017

Reece Oxford is said to be "massively disappointed" at the decision between
West Ham and Borussia Monchengladbach to cut short his loan stay with barely
a quarter of it finished. The 18-year-old defender joined the German side on
a two-year loan deal this summer but has yet to play a single minute of
competitive football in Gladbach. football.london understands the two sides
have agreed to terminate the loan deal in December of this year and Oxford
will return to London.
It follows on from another disastrous loan spell at Reading in the
Championship last season, where Oxford managed just 201 minutes of action in
six months.
The Sun reports they were told by a confidant of Oxford: "Reece hoped the
move to Germany would work out better than it has, but it's time to come
back.
"Monchengladbach play a certain way and had a system in place before they
signed Reece, and for some reason he has not fitted into what they are
doing. "If he's not going to feature after they were hammered 6-1, then when
will he?" Oxford burst on to the scene at the start of the 2015/16 season
when he lined up for the Hammers in their 2-0 win at Arsenal on the opening
day of the Slaven Bilic era at West Ham but the past 18 months have seen his
chances limited and also, his stock tumble despite signing a long-term deal
in east London when he turned 18.

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West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic is safe after last-minute win at home
to Swansea City... but for how long?
West Ham's winner vs Swansea shows the players still dig deep for their boss
Diafra Sakho's late goal may have saved the job of Hammers boss Slaven Bilic
With tales of dressing room strife running rife, this will have encouraged
Bilic
By Sami Mokbel for the Daily Mail
PUBLISHED: 22:30, 1 October 2017 | UPDATED: 22:54, 1 October 2017

It was the perfect opportunity for West Ham's players to show Slaven Bilic
had lost the dressing room. To chuck it in, paving the way for a new
manager. Defeat by Swansea would have had grave consequences for the Hammers
boss. Instead, Bilic watched his team dig in, with substitute Diafra Sakho's
last-minute goal clinching victory. It was probably a job-saving victory. As
is often the case when a manager is on the brink, tales of Bilic losing the
faith of his players are rife. On this evidence, the Croat need not worry
too much. Swansea have never kept a clean sheet away at West Ham, conceding
75 goals in 32 games. West Ham were not great. Did they deserve three
points? Probably not - but when your job is on the line, you find out
whether the players are with you. On Saturday, Bilic got the answer he
wanted. 'You can talk about the quality of our performance, but we won the
game because we didn't give up,' said Bilic. 'We didn't raise the quality of
our game unbelievably but if I am on the pitch and I don't care, it was the
perfect situation not to care, to say OK, but we didn't. We forced that
goal. 'I didn't see any ill-discipline in the camp. On the contrary, I felt
we wanted to do it all together. Are they doing it for the manager or
themselves? At the end of the day, it's not important. 'We are
professionals. What matters is that they want to do it. What is behind that,
do they do it for themselves, their families or for the manager, it's not
that important.'
You get the impression, however, that Bilic knows there may be dissenters.
Javier Hernandez's stroppy face after being substituted for eventual
match-winner Sakho in the 68th minute was a picture. So, too, was Sakho's
decision to charge instantly back down the tunnel, stopping briefly to hand
his shirt to a lucky supporter, instead of milking the euphoria of his
last-gasp winner. There is unrest in the stands, too. West Ham were booed
off at half-time and Bilic was booed for his decision to replace Hernandez
with Sakho. This result will keep him safe for now. One defeat from the last
five games is an improvement after a poor start to the season.

Defeats by Burnley and Brighton after the international break, though, would
put Bilic back in trouble. His contract expires at the end of the season and
sources have indicated the likelihood of Bilic landing an extension is
'non-existent'. One point from a possible 12 doesn't make positive reading
for Swansea's Paul Clement, either. Getting loanee Tammy Abraham firing
would help his cause. Two Premier League goals from six starts represents a
promising start to the 19-year-old's top-flight career after just two
substitute league appearances for parent club Chelsea. Clement has vowed to
stick by the England Under 21 forward, saying: 'He needs a coach that is
patient. I know what it's like and I know what the Premier League is about.
'When you are playing week in, week out against strong defenders, who play
for their national team, the step up is big. Now he has to work on closing
that gap.'

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Slaven Bilic mutes the mutiny at the last but West Ham's battlers need a
plan
The manager praised his side's refusal to give up against Swansea but
fraying tempers in the stands suggest fans' favourite is using up the last
of his goodwill
Jacob Steinberg
Sunday 1 October 2017 22.30 BST
The Guardian

Midway through the first half, Slaven Bilic switched his wingers. Michail
Antonio went left, André Ayew went right. It was a sure sign that Bilic's
tactics were malfunctioning.

In theory it made sense for West Ham United to start in a 4-4-2 system,
which plays to the strengths of both Andy Carroll and Javier Hernández, for
the first time this season. Yet a plan that looks good on paper will never
work if players are confused by their instructions and in practice West
Ham's ponderous approach rarely stretched Swansea City. There was no flow,
no rhythm, and the disgruntled atmosphere at the London Stadium grew to a
mutinous pitch when Diafra Sakho replaced the ineffective Hernández in the
78th minute.

A dire game was drifting towards a goalless draw and for the first time
there was a sense of the narrative shifting against Bilic, whose hold over a
hitherto adoring public seemed to be slipping, belatedly allowing the board
to contemplate sacking the Croat without having to worry about a supporter
backlash. Hernández furiously shook his head on the bench and the crowd
sympathised with the £16m striker's incandescence at having made way instead
of Carroll.

Yet a prominent theme during the past 12 months has been West Ham's knack of
grinding out an ugly win just when Bilic is thought to be on the brink. It
happened on several occasions last season and the pattern continued when
Sakho, who tried to engineer a move to Rennes in the summer, vindicated
Bilic's unpopular decision by converting a cross from his fellow substitute
Arthur Masuaku in the 90th minute.

There was a similar vibe when West Ham responded to losing their first three
games by earning an unconvincing victory against Huddersfield Town last
month and there is a temptation to conclude that winning while playing
poorly is proof that a decent team will break out once confidence comes
flowing back. It is partly this sense of longing that has protected Bilic,
an intelligent and charismatic man who speaks articulately and wears his
heart on his sleeve.

He is hard to dislike, which explains the desire to see him do well. Other
teams in West Ham's position might have downed tools in an attempt to force
their manager out, but Bilic's players continue to fight for him, masking
the lack of any discernible style of play by demonstrating their battling
qualities.

"I see that they want to do it," Bilic said. "After the first three games,
when we were on zero points, I didn't see no discipline in the camp. On the
contrary, I felt that we wanted to do it all together. Are they doing it for
the manager or themselves? At the end of the day, it's not important.

"You can talk about the quality of our performance today but we won the game
because we didn't give up. We didn't raise unbelievably the quality of our
game in the second half, but if I am on the pitch and I don't care, it was
the perfect situation not to care. But we didn't. We forced that goal."

The problem is that the longer this persists, the more Bilic will come
across as a motivational cheerleader rather than a tactical mastermind. That
might be enough to keep West Ham out of the relegation zone but it is not a
solid foundation for success.

Having risen to 15th after picking up seven points from four games, West Ham
have an opportunity to build after the international break. "Now I'm
expecting for us to do much better," Bilic said.

He is safe for now, but ultimately this was the kind of uneven performance
that shows why his long-term future is less certain. Unless Bilic can snap
them out of the wearying cycle of constantly needing a scrappy win to ward
off a major crisis, West Ham will have few compelling reasons to extend his
contract at the end of the season.

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