Big Sam on: Crystal Palace
WHUFC.com
Hammers manager Sam Allardyce has spoken to the press ahead of the Crystal Palace game
21.08.2014
West Ham United boss Sam Allardyce faced the press on Thursday morning ahead of Saturday's game at Crystal Palace. The gaffer fielded questions on the managerial situation at Crystal Palace, his side's ability in front of goal and the need to bring in a centre half to cover for injuries and suspensions.
Morning Sam. First of all you might have expected to see Malky Mackay in the opposition dugout on Saturday. What's your take on what's been going on over there at Crystal Palace?
SA: "I just think they need to appoint whoever they think is the right man as quickly as possible. I think Keith [Millen], judging by the performance at Arsenal, has them in good standing. He's done it before and has been with them all pre-season so that's fine. It might not be beyond the chairman of Crystal Palace to let him have a go, you've seen that happen before if [the caretaker] gets a couple of results. "It's a difficult situation to be in at the start of a season if you lose your manager, but it's something you have to face and the players have to do the job. They're professionals and they want guidance from the manager, that's very important, but I think for a short period of time they can do and use what they got during pre-season to go and get results. "You just have to look at the way they played against Arsenal - they were thoroughly professional and in many ways were very unfortunate to lose the game away from home at the Emirates, which is a big result for anybody, whether they have a manager or not. They are always very difficult to break down - we found that last year when they beat us 1-0 twice, both goals from set pieces. We expect them to be difficult to break down again on Saturday and very dangerous on the break."
You spoke after the game last week about the failure to take your chances against Spurs. Does that emphasise the search for a striker?
SA: "We've done that search and they're here. The problem is that they're not quite ready yet but we will use them if and when we can. Now Sakho has arrived as well as Enner [Valencia], they're moving along with their fitness on a daily basis and will certainly be used as quickly as possible. If not against Crystal Palace, they'll certainly be used against Sheffield United in the Capital One Cup and hopefully they can hit the ground running. "There's no search for any more strikers from our point of view. My problem and my difficulty is more at the other end. We don't have James Collins because he's suspended and we may not have James Tomkins because of injury, and that leaves a massive hole for us in the central defensive position where we only have Winston Reid. That's my biggest concern moving into the Crystal Palace game."
In terms of that cover at the back, are you looking at making signings?
SA: "We're looking at players who are able to play in that position from throughout Europe."
Looking at Palace's game against Arsenal last week, what can you take from that?
SA: "I think they have some better players than they did last year, but they very much stick to the same type of structural organisation. It was difficult to beat them last year and it'll be just as difficult with the players they've brought in. "The new players have lots of Premier League experience and from that point of view we'll have a tough job. There's still lots of excitement around the ground there, in the second season in the Premier League, and the players know their positions and know what the job is. At the start of last season they found it difficult to cope with the league, but Tony Pulis came in and structured it accordingly. "It'll be a tight game, I think. Don't think there'll be many goals in it, but hopefully it'll be as entertaining as it possibly can be."
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Six of the best - Crystal Palace
WHUFc.com
A look back at six memorable West Ham United wins against Crystal Palace
21.08.2014
The Hammers make the short trip to Selhurst Park to take on Crystal Palace on Saturday as they look to bounce back from defeat in their season opener.
Here, whufc.com takes a look back at six memorable wins over the south Londoners.
West Ham United 3-0 Crystal Palace
Division One
1 October 2003
The Hammers most recent win over Crystal Palace came nearly eleven years ago when they recorded a comfortable win at the Boleyn Ground.
The high-flying home side moved up to third in the table thanks to a goal from Jermain Defoe and two from Neil Mellor.
The Eagles would have the last laugh however as they beat the Hammers 1-0 in the end of season play-off final and secured promotion to the Premier League.
West Ham United 4-1 Crystal Palace
Premier League
3 December 1997
A thumping win over the Eagles earned West Ham their sixth straight home win and moved them into the top half.
Four players got on the score sheet for the home side with David Unsworth, John Hartson, Eyal Berkovic and Steve Lomas all netting in the win.
Palace would go onto finish rock bottom of the table whilst West Ham enjoyed an eighth place finish.
Crystal Palace 2-3 West Ham United
First Division
17 September 1991
The Hammers last away victory over Crystal Palace came in the 1991/92 season as West Ham picked up only their second victory of the season.
Mitchell Thomas, Mike Small and Trevor Morley scored the goals to seal a precious three points in the visitors' battle against relegation.
It would prove fruitless though as towards the end of the season a 2-0 home defeat to the Eagles helped relegate the Hammers.
Crystal Palace 1-3 West Ham United
First Division
24 March 1973
West Ham were in the midst of a nine-match unbeaten run when they recorded a comfortable away win over doomed Palace.
The Hammers had beaten the Eagles 4-0 earlier in the season with Bryan Robson again netting in this win.
Ted MacDougall and Trevor Brooking, who netted twice in the aforementioned win, both scored a goal apiece to secure a good victory.
West Ham United 4-0 Crystal Palace
First Division
28 October 1972
West Ham maintained their unbeaten home record with a convincing win over the visiting Crystal Palace.
A double from Trevor Brooking and one each for Bryan Robson and John McDowell did the damage as the Hammers strolled to success.
West Ham would go onto finish sixth whilst Palace were relegated after finishing in 21st place.
Crystal Palace 0-3 West Ham United
First Division
30 October 1971
West Ham made it ten games unbeaten in all competitions with a resounding win in front of over 40,000 fans at Selhurst Park.
Clyde Best, Ade Coker and Billy Bonds chipped in with the goals as the Hammers moved up to ninth place in the table.
By the end of the season Crystal Palace had avoided relegation by four points whilst West Ham were comfortable in 14th place.
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See the U21s for free on Friday
WHUFc.com
Season Ticket Holders can gain free admission to the Dev Squad's game v Southampton
21.08.2014
Season Ticket Holders can watch the Development Squad take on Southampton at the Boleyn Ground for free this Friday. The U21s face their first home Barclays U21 Premier League game of the campaign, with kick-off at 7pm. Admission is free for Season Ticket Holders, otherwise Adult Tickets are available on the door for £3 and Concessions £1. The Boleyn Ground Store will also be open until 7pm. Skipper Dan Potts is looking forward to the game: "It's always good to have another game quickly after a defeat and we have one against Southampton at the Boleyn Ground on Friday. "We'll be going all out to get the win in that one and hopefully there'll be a good crowd in to watch it. "It's always nice to play in front of a decent crowd and it's a great experience to play there because, at the end of the day, that's where we want to be regularly. "Even the build up to the game, being around the place and the changing rooms is part of it,"
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A Spence force
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 21st August 2014
By: Staff Writer
Jordan Spence has signed a one-year contract with MK Dons. The 24-year-old full-back was released by West Ham at the end of last season after spending almost a decade at the Boleyn Ground, since when he has been on trial with the likes of Blackburn Rovers. However the former England under 21 international finally secured a 12-month deal - with an option for an extra year - with the League One club this week and is available for his new club's league clash with Coventry this weekend. "I spent nine years at West Ham so this was a big decision for me," Spence told mkdons.com. "I've definitely made the right one. I'm determined to do all I can for MK Dons."
No stranger to Stadium MK, Spence made 31 appearances for the club whilst on loan from West Ham last season and hopes to resurrect his career at a club with which he is already familiar. "It feels great to be back, I'm really, really happy to be here," he added. "I've said many times how much I enjoyed my spells here last season, so I'm looking forward to pulling on the Dons shirt once again. "
Dons manager Karl Robinson was equally pleased at landing his man, adding: "I'm estastic to be able to bring Jordan back to the Club. He was a little bit out of our reach at first – I know there was interest from Championship clubs but for whatever reason nothing materialised. "He will push the two centre-halves and the full-backs because he's a natural right-back anyway. He provides us with great strength in depth and hopefully we can build on that."
Spence made his debut for West Ham in the final game of the 2009/10 season as an 88th-minute substitute against Manchester City. The following season he made two starts under Avram Grant - the first of which came in the 3-2 defeat at Wigan that condemned West Ham to the drop and the second a week later in the final home game of the season against Sunderland. In his final season at the club, Spence enjoyed a run of seven games under Sam Allardyce including four further starts. However his appearance at Old Trafford in the 1-0 FA Cup third round defeat in January 2013 was to prove to be his last for West Ham.
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West Ham eye Madrid defender
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 21st August 2014
By: Staff Writer
West Ham are investigating the possibility of signing Athletico Madrid defender Toby Alderweireld on loan. The 25-year-old Belgian international joined the Champions League finalists a year ago this month in a €7million switch from Ajax but featured in just 12 La Liga matches last season. West Ham have approached Los Colchoneros with view to taking Alderweireld, who also starred for his country in the recent World Cup Finals, on loan for the rst of the season.
However Madrid are thought to be keen to recoup the €7million they paid for the centre half last summer. Sam Allardyce revealed earlier today that he was keen to tie down an additional central defender ahead of the close of the transfer window. And landing Alderweireld would certainly be seen as something of a coup for the Hammers, who could face a challenge from neighbours Arsenal - who have also been linked with the Belgian - for the player's signature.
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Big Sam takes it on the chin
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 21st August 2014
By: Staff Writer
And the forehead, the cheeks and the top of his head.... Sam Allardyce showed what a good sport he was today when undertaking the Ice Bucket challenge, a craze that has swept across the UK in recent weeks. Nominated by Ravel Morrison yesterday, Allardyce had 24 hours in which to undergo the challenge or pay a forfeit by means of a charitable donation. And Big Sam naturally had to have a big bucket - or dustbin in this case as you can see from the footage below - for the task, as handled expertly by Carlton Cole and Ravel Morrison.
Like Allardyce, who subsequently nominated assistant manager Neil McDonald and Jack Sullivan, Carlton Cole - who was also nominated by Ravel Morrison - received the dustbin treatment this morning. Poor Carlton was left so shocked by the experience that he was unable to name any nominees...
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Allardyce: defender a priority
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 21st August 2014
By: Staff Writer
Sam Allardyce admitted this morning that he hopes to bring in one additional defender before the transfer window closes little more than a week from now.
Allardyce, who went into the season with only three established centre halfs in James Collins, James Tomkins and Winston Reid has since lost Collins to suspension and Tomkins to injury (hamstring). And speaking to the press at this morning's pre-match press conference, the Hammers boss admitted that his priority between now and the close of the summer transfer window is the acquisition of an additional central defender. "We don't have James Collins because he's suspended and we may not have James Tomkins because of injury," he said. "That leaves a massive hole for us in the central defensive position where we only have Winston Reid. "That's my biggest concern moving into the Crystal Palace game. We're looking at players who are able to play in that position from throughout Europe."
Having added Enner Valencia, Diafra Sakho and Mauro Zarate to his first team squad this summer, Allardyce is now well-stocked in attack - even without Andy Carroll, who is expected to remain sidelined until November. And despite being less than full match-fit, Allardyce insisted that he expects the new boys to be utilised at some point during the next week. "The problem is that they're not quite ready yet but we will use them if and when we can," he said. "Now Sakho has arrived as well as Enner, they're moving along with their fitness on a daily basis and will certainly be used as quickly as possible. "If not against Crystal Palace, they'll certainly be used against Sheffield United in the Capital One Cup and hopefully they can hit the ground running. But there's no search for any more strikers from our point of view."
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And now Dicksy takes a dousing
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 21st August 2014
By: Staff Writer
West Ham United Ladies manager Julian Dicks has joined a long list of celebrities to take the Ice Bucket Challenge. KUMB revealed yesterday how Ravel Morrison undertook the challenge before nominating team mate Carlton Cole and manager Sam Allardyce to follow him. And this morning the Hammers legend looked visibly shocked - well it was a bit chilly, after all - when self-dousing, before naming former team mates Tony Cottee and Frank McAvennie as his two nominees.
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WEST HAM ALLEGEDLY OFFERED THE SERVICES OF LEONARDO PAVOLETTI!
By S J Chandos 21 Aug 2014 at 16:30
West Ham Till I Die
The number of strikers that West Ham have been linked with this summer, well it has to be a new record, even by our club's previous standards! And yesterday there was a report in the Sports Mail making the list just that bit longer. It alleges that Italian Serie A club, Sassuolo have offered West Ham the services of their striker, Leonardo Pavoletti. It is unclear from the report whether that offer is in the form of a loan move or a permanent deal.
Pavoletti is obviously not one of the better known Serie A strikers. In fact, he spent nearly the whole of 2013-14 on loan to Varese in Serie B, where he scored 24 goals in 33 matches to help them escape relegation. Prior to that in 2012-13, again in Serie B, Pavoletti scored 11 goals in 35 matches to help Sassuolo gain promotion to Serie A. So, basically he is a Serie B striker, with no substantive goal scoring record in the top tier. Indeed, his Serie A track record amounts to turning out for Sassuolo in the first two fixtures of last season, before departing to Varese. As such, why would Sassuolo, or anyone else for that matter, conclude that Pavoletti would be suitable for the English Premier League and West Ham eager to take up the offer of his services?
It seems that West Ham's 'issues' up front have become known 'far and wide.' And this has resulted in clubs, and agents, chancing their arm and offering all sorts of players. Some likely decent and others unexceptional. I do not know which category Pavoletti falls in to because I have never seen him play. I suppose he could be a star in-the-making, although one has to ask if that was the case why would Sassuolo not want to retain him? We have taken a calculated risk on Sakho making the grade, based upon his goal scoring record in the 2nd tier of French football and an assessment of his potential to develop in to a PL striker. I very much doubt that the club would want to take a bigger risk on another unproven striker like Pavoletti.
So, I think it will probably be a case of thanks, but no thanks Sassuolo! Unless, the terms of the proposed loan are so good that there is nothing to be lost by going for it. Time will tell, as always!
However, from Sam Allardyce's last public statements, it appears that there will be no more attacking reinforcements and the priority for signings is now in defence. Which of course, is bound to make the club management happy, as that appears to very much be their comfort zone. So, speculation about Pavoletti or any other striker signing, for that matter, could very well be wide of the mark?
And the latest on defensive augmentation? Well, there are the ongoing rumours about negotiations with Man City's Micah Richards on a loan move. While, the very latest speculation, courtsey of kumb, is that we may have an active interest in Athletico Madrid's Belgian central defender, Toby Alderweireld, who starred in the summer World Cup Finals and is considered a fine prospect. It would be something of a coup for the Hammers to landed him in all honesty, but it will most likely cost the club c.£6m to do so. However, with Winston Reid's long-term future at the club looking increasingly in doubt, perhaps that is the type of quality acquisition that we should target, rather than focus on a lesser, stop gap signing.
SJ. Chandos
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WHERE IS ELLIOT'S SQUAD NUMBER?
By Sean Whetstone 21 Aug 2014 at 08:39
West Ham Till I Die
22 squad numbers have been allocated so far to West Ham players but one notable name absence is Elliot Lee. The Academy striker scored 9 goals in the Development squad pre-fixture fixtures which was two more than the whole of the first team in their pre season campaign. He was rewarded with a first team bench spot in the final pre season friendly and came on to setup the goal which fellow Academy youngster Reece Burke scored late in the game but he is yet to receive a first team squad number.
Lee scored three doubles, his first brace came against Havant and WaterlooVille on the 15th July earning the U21's a 2-1 win, this was quickly followed 5 days later by another brace during a 4-2 win over RCD Espanyol. Just 9 days later he netted two again against Braintree to win the game 2-0 He completed his pre season with a hat trick against Woking in a match I attended and he was by far the best man on the pitch to enable the youngsters to win 3-2. In contrast I witnessed a unconfident awkward Maiga relegated to the development squad warm up at Woking, he missed shot after shot against 16 year old keeper Sam Howes. His team mates were laughing at him and it must be humiliating for him to sit on the bench to watch Lee bang in the goals while he remained an un-used sub at £30,000 per week.
I understand Sam Allardyce believes players need to earn their squad numbers, my question is what has the boy got to do more to earn his? Diego Poyet who has been bought in mainly as a development squad player this season and he immediately was given the number 23 without seemingly earning his spurs.
All Premier League clubs must submit a squad of up to 25 players, by 5pm on Monday, September 1st. 20 squad numbers already allocated to players over 21 and two allocated to players under 21 (Morrison and Poyet), the 23rd number is about to allocated to Diafra Sakho subject to his international clearance.
Each 25-man Premier League squad must include at least eight 'home-grown' players. The 'home-grown' players do not have to be English. According to the Premier League: "A home grown player is defined as one who, irrespective of his nationality or age, has been registered with any club affiliated to the Football Association or the Welsh Football Association for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons or 36 months prior to his 21st birthday (or the end of the season during which he turns 21)."
West Ham have the luxury of 14 of their current 22 man named squad being classed under this home grown rule. Nolan, Poyet, Cresswell, O'Brien, Collins, Carroll Tomkins, Jarvis, Downing, Morrison, Noble, Jenkinson, Vaz. Te and Cole are all classed as home grown talent.
In addition to the 25-man named squad, clubs can use an unlimited number of players aged 21 or under.
This means the likes of Reece Burke (17), Josh Cullen (18) Elliot Lee and Diego Poyet (19) plus Danny Potts, Blair Turgott, Matthias Fanimo (all 20) and Ravel Morrison (21) but under 21 on 1st January) can be included in the squad without taking up a place a valuable place in the squad of 25.
What harm can it do to give the promising under 21's a first team squad number?
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Sunderland boss Gus Poyet explains why he let son sign for West Ham
HITC
Freddie Shires
Gus Poyet has revealed he had the option to bring his son Diego Poyet to Sunderland this summer but had serious reservations about how the move might be perceived. Sunderland manager Gus Poyet has revealed why he did not attempt to sign his son Diego Poyet this summer, having seen the midfielder move from Charlton Athletic to West Ham United last month. Rumours linking the 19-year-old with a move to the north east immediately surfaced upon Poyet's appointment in October, with his announcement in June that he would not be renewing his Charlton contract further fuelling speculation. The Black Cats boss admitted that the option to sign the former England under-17 international was there, but the friction he believed it would have caused in the dressing room made him decide against it. 'There was a family issue,' The Mirror quoted the Uruguayan as saying. 'I would love to coach him, but at the same time it would be unfair on him. 'Do you think the players on the bench would accept it if I'm playing my son?' Having signed a four-year deal with the Hammers, the younger Poyet made 20 appearances for Charlton last season after becoming a regular in the side from February onwards, with his impressive performances seeing him win the club's Player of the Year award. Recently in the news after old tweets criticising teammates Andy Carroll and Stewart Downing surfaced, the highly-rated youngster also attracted the interest of Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea this summer, and looks set to for a bright Premier League future.
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Carlos Tevez will be at West Ham's Capital One Cup match... in his thousands!
By NIK SIMON
PUBLISHED: 20:37, 21 August 2014 | UPDATED: 20:37, 21 August 2014
Daily Mail
Upton Park will be filled with thousands of Carlos Tevez masks when West Ham take on Sheffield United in their Capital One Cup tie on Tuesday. Tevez scored some crucial goals during his time in east London, including the winner against Manchester United on the final day of the 2006/07 season to save the Hammers from relegation. West Ham supporters had to watch their side average just 1.05 goals per game last season, but now they can rekindle the spirit of Tevez by wearing a cardboard cut-out of their favourite Argentine striker. While West Ham fans would welcome back the South American with open arms, manager Sam Allardyce has no plans to sign attacking reinforcements after Saturday's 1-0 defeat to Tottenham. 'There's no search for any more strikers from my point of view, the difficulty is at the other end,' he said. 'We're without James Collins because of suspension and we could be without James Tomkins because of injury.'
'We're looking at players who are able to play in that position [centre back] throughout Europe.'
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Hammers prepare new Reid talks
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 21, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & hugh
West Ham intend re-opening negotiations with Winston Reid on his new contract once the transfer window has closed. Manager Sam Allardyce and co owner David Sullivan are keen to tie the player down to a new four year deal but are waiting to see how things play out in the final days of the window with Arsenal reportedly watching developments. Rumours started emerging this evening that the New Zealander had rejected a new offer from the club but ClaretandHugh has learned there has been no further contact between the two sides. Speaking exclusively to this site a week ago co chairman David Sullivan revealed the club had made Reid a "fantastic offer" and commented: "Ask him if he's going to accept."
However, tonight a source told us: "There has been no contact on the issue since the club's last offer. "At the moment the manager and chairman have their hands full chasing one or two more signings. "But once the window is closed they will get down to some hard talking with the player again."
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Irons hatch Kouyate cover plan
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 21, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
West Ham are highly unlikely to have secured a new loan signing to cover at central defence before the weekend game at Palace. Th Irons have been linked with Micah Richards this week but a source told ClaretandHugh: "Unless we are very lucky we don't expect to have someone in for the weekend." However, Sam Allardyce morning concerns that could have "a huge hole" at the back are unfounded. A training ground source made it clear the situation was covered and that hopefully James Tomkins would be fit for first team duty. He said: "He will probably face a late fitness test but has been improving all week. "However, should he not be available then we have Cheikou Kouyate who can play in that role. "However, we definitely want to bring in another central defender before the end of the transfer window."
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Maiga update on Metz talks
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 21, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
West Ham have confirmed to ClaretandHugh that they are talking to Metz about the possibility of Modibo Maiga joining the club on a season long loan. Negotiations are at an early stage and we have been told that the Irons will know more within the next 72 hours. The news emerged out of France this morning that Maiga was the subject of talks but it has now been confirmed by a highly placed Hammers insider. However, the Irons will still be paying the lion's share of the player's wages if he makes the move. We have been told that Metz are only prepared to pay 20 per cent of Maiga's salary believed to be in the region of £30k a week. ClaretandHugh was told: "We are talking but that's about the size of the situation. We'll know more in the next 72 hours."
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Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger 'weighs up move for West Ham defender Winston Reid'
Aug 22, 2014 03:08 By Chris Richards
The 26-year-old is out of contract at the end of the season and is said to be interesting Gunners boss Arsene Wenger
The Mirror
Arsenal are reportedly weighing up a move for West Ham's Winston Reid. The 26-year-old defender is out of contract at the end of this season and, according to The Times, he is being monitored by the Gunners.# As of yet, however, Arsene Wenger has not made an official approach for the player, the paper reports.
The New Zealand international joined the Hammers in 2010 and signed a new two-year contract in April 2013. To date, he has played 94 times for the Upton Park club.
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Daily WHUFC News - 21st August 2014
The Big Interview - Ricardo Vaz Te
WHUFc.com
Ricardo Vaz Te says the Hammers are in confident mood ahead of Saturday's
trip to Selhurst Park
19.08.2014
Ricardo Vaz Te believes there is plenty of reason for optimism ahead of West
Ham United's Barclays Premier League meeting with Crystal Palace on
Saturday.
Adamant that the Hammers should count themselves unlucky to have left the
Boleyn Ground empty handed following last weekend's defeat by Tottenham
Hotspur, the Hammers No12 is hopeful that the Club's fortunes in front of
goal will turn at Selhurst Park.
The 27-year-old was one of many to try and fail to beat Hugo Lloris last
time out and expects to get sharper each and every time he takes to the
field going forward.
It's a few days since the Tottenham game and everyone's had some time to
digest it. What are your thoughts now?
RVT: "We're OK now, we're all professionals here. Obviously we were
disappointed to lose but we pick ourselves up and go again. I think it's the
manner in which we lost that's very disappointing. After Tottenham went a
man down we had control of the game, we had a few good chances, myself
especially, and I was very disappointed.
"But it was the first game and I thought we performed well, so I think we
can take many positives from the game. Everybody seems alright, the spirit
is OK, the mood is OK, we're fine."
A lot has been said of debutants Cheikhou Kouyate, Aaron Cresswell and Enner
Valencia. What did you make of their first outings at the Boleyn Ground?
RVT: "Enner obviously hasn't really played with the team, that was his first
game. But Cheikh and Aaron, I think they look like they belong to the team.
They look like they've been here for ages, to be honest. All pre-season it
looked that way, so they've adapted really well, which is very pleasing.
Because you always have that kind of concern if they're going to adapt
straight away, but they seem very comfortable.
"Actually, I think Aaron and Cheikh were our best players. Hopefully they
can keep that form, they can grow from it and just be better and better.
Enner will hopefully come in slowly as well and show the same result. I
think it's all down to the lads, because they're so welcoming, everybody is
so friendly. It's nice to come into a dressing room like that and I think
that makes it easier for the new lads."
Was it good to be back in front of a packed house at the Boleyn Ground?
RVT: "It was frenetic, I've never actually seen it that way. I've been at
the Club now for three years, but I thought wow, this is where you want to
be, this is where you want to play. So we were all very excited and it was
just such a shame that we couldn't get the three points."
You spoke of the positives from Saturday. Do you think if you're able to
replicate that performance that you can get a result at Palace?
RVT: "Of course. Obviously our aim is really high this season compared to
last, but I think the fans could see the difference. I think we were the
best team, I think it's fair to say we were the better team. Tottenham were
very lucky to come away with the result, I think they'd have taken a draw,
to actually go and win it was something else for them. Like I said, it was
very positive, we played some good stuff, we created opportunities, good
opportunities and we just failed to take them."
Palace are currently without a manager, is that something that could benefit
West Ham, if there's uncertainty among the players?
RVT: "It's always tough, but you never know how they're going to react to
it. I saw the game against Arsenal and they look like a decent side. It
didn't look it had affected them at all, but obviously it will have some
effect, but to what extent I don't know.
"We're going to go there with confidence, obviously we know we can get a
result there, it's going to be tough, of course it's going to be tough, but
we believe in ourselves. I think we're a very good side and we've got plenty
of players here capable of making the difference."
You've had a good pre-season, you've been in good form and obviously you
started the first game. How do you feel at the moment?
RVT: "I feel good, I feel like there is another gear coming up, which is
good. I'm just getting sharper and sharper, but you only get sharper with
the games.
"Last year was very unfortunate. If memory serves, I started five games and
my fifth one was at Swansea, where I dislocated my shoulder. By then I'd
scored four goals out of four starts. So it was very disappointing, because
I felt I had it in me to go a long way, to keep that form. But never mind, I
pick myself up and go again. "This season I just want to be consistent.
Only by staying fit can I improve, can I grow and I think I can improve
more, especially from Saturday. There are so many positives to take and
there's so much room for improvement, definitely."
The Club have been busy in the transfer market, seven summer signings. Some
are in the attacking positions where you play, so does that add more
pressure or is that a good thing as far as you're concerned?
RVT: "Definitely, it makes you raise your standard, but it's definitely a
pressure. Some people can handle it, some people can't. We're professionals,
so hopefully we can all handle it. I look forward to it, I love pressure, I
love that. Jarvo [Matt Jarvis] was in great form before his injury, Stewie
[Stewart Downing] is in great form, so hopefully Matt will come back and put
that bit extra pressure on us, so we can all raise our standards. It's
definitely a good thing."
Looking further ahead, what would success be for West Ham this season?
RVT: "I think success now, without getting ahead of ourselves, is to finish
top ten, comfortably. Not scrapping for it, just to have a good season, a
stable season, especially coming back from last season, when things were
uncertain. "Just a clean season, because we're moving to the new Stadium in
two years, so you want to be consistent, so that when you move there, you
can attract very good players to the Club to make the Club even better. I
think that will be a very good season for West Ham United to finish top ten
and we can build again."
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Big Sam's bucket challenge
KUMB.com
Filed: Wednesday, 20th August 2014
By: Staff Writer
Ravel Morrison took the Ice Bucket Challenge earlier today - before
nominating manager Sam Allardyce as the next participant. West Ham's young
midfielder appeared on Instagram this afternoon taking the challenge, before
nominating four people to follow him - including West Ham United's Carlton
Cole and manager Sam Allardyce.
The Ice Bucket Challenge is an American initiative whereby participants are
challenged to accept a full bucket of ice-cold water over their head. Once
nominated by previous participants, those either unable or unwilling to
follow suite within a 24-hour period are requested to make a charitable
donation.
It now remains to be seen whether Big Sam will comply with Morrison's
nomination; were he to do so he'd follow in the footsteps of famous names
such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Microsoft mogul Bill Gates and pop star Miley
Cyrus, all of whom have been swept up in the viral challenge which has swept
across Europe this summer.
The Ice Bucket Challenge was until recently popularised by non-profit
organisation The ALS Association, who campaign to spread awareness about Lou
Gehrig's disease - aka ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) - predominantly
in North America.
This summer the challenge has been adopted in Europe and the UK, with
charitable concerns such as The Motor Neurone Disease Association and
Macmillan Cancer Support benefiting from the campaign.
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Valeri Bojinov reportedly due to talk to West Ham about Premier League
return
Last Updated: 20/08/14 9:17am
SSN
Former Manchester City striker Valeri Bojinov has been allowed to travel to
England amid reports he will hold talks with West Ham United. The Bulgaria
international is currently playing for Levski Sofia in his homeland, but has
a clause in his contract which allows him to leave the club on a free
transfer.
He was left out of Sunday's game against Botev Plovdiv and reports have
claimed that he is now discussing a move to West Ham. Levski sporting
director Georgi Ivanov told Bulgarian National Radio: "We had to let him go
because we have an agreement. I allowed him to travel to England because I
am contractually required to do so. "But he remains a Levski player until
he signs with another team."
West Ham manager Sam Allardyce is in the market for a new striker after
losing Andy Carroll for around four months due to an ankle injury. Bojinov
previously spent three years at City after joining from Fiorentina in 2007,
but his time at the Etihad Stadium was wrecked by knee and Achilles
injuries.
The 28-year-old made just 12 appearances for City, with his only goal for
the club coming against Tottenham Hotspur in 2009. He has subsequently
played for the likes of Parma, Sporting Lisbon and Vicenza before linking up
with Levski earlier this year.
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NEXT UP: CRYSTAL PALACE
By Tony Hanna 20 Aug 2014 at 20:19
West Ham Till I Die
The first match of the season against Spurs will be reviewed with mixed
emotions amongst West Ham fans. On the positive side we played some nice
football at times and the energy and enthusiasm was there to see on the
pitch and the crowd responded, generating a good atmosphere around the
Boleyn. The promising debuts of Kayoute and Cresswell have already been well
documented and discussed and the general view is that we have secured a
couple of very good additions to the squad. The downsides were obviously the
loss itself to our arch rivals and our inability technically and tactically
to score the goal that would have almost certainly put the game to bed
before our last minute heartache. I blame myself for Noble's penalty miss. I
always close my eyes for West Ham penalties but have become so confident in
recent times that I decided to watch the one against Spurs. Sorry Mark!
So this weekend we have a chance to put things right in our second London
derby of the week against Crystal Palace. As a newly promoted team to the
Premier League last season, Palace's first thirteen games only secured seven
points and they looked doomed even before Christmas. The Tony Pulis
revolution that followed actually saw them go on and finish eleventh and
some five points ahead of the Hammers. The football World never ceases to
amaze but it again threw up a bombshell when Pulis and Palace parted company
just two days before the new season started last week. My heart goes out to
those who backed Sam in the sack race as they did not even get a run for
their money. Most pundits had Palace safe in their pre-season tips and many
were sent running to make changes, if they could, as the bookies prices
tumbled on their relegation probabilities.
The transfer window has not seen too many new faces arrive at Selhurst Park.
Martin Kelly from Liverpool and Brede Hangeland from Fulham have been
brought in to bolster the defence and Fraizer Campbell arrived from Cardiff
City. Another amazing football fact is that both Kelly and Campbell each
have an England cap to their name. What is not so surprising is that both do
not have two!
Despite the turmoil, Crystal Palace put in a valiant effort on the weekend
away to Arsenal. Taking the lead from a Hangeland header from a corner they
finally succumbed to injury time goals at the end of both halves to go down
2-1. It was a typical Palace performance. Hard to break down, score from a
set piece and put in an effort that was full of heart and desire. Pretty
much what Sam wants from our boys to be honest. At the time of writing the
dogs are barking that Malky Mackay is the man to take over from Tony Pulis.
The bad news for us is that the "new manager always wins his first game"
scenario looms large if the appointment is made this week. James Collins
suspension from his red card against Spurs, together with a lingering injury
to James Tomkins have caused concern as to who will partner Winston Reid at
the heart of the defence. Perhaps a phone call to "relegation Roger" will
help mirror last seasons embarrassing phone call to Carlton? Palace will
also be without the suspended Jason Puncheon.
Our recent history against Crystal Palace is not good. They did a 1-0 double
over us last season and we have failed to beat them in the past six meetings
including the play off final back in 2004. You have to go back to 2003 for
the last time we beat them and indeed back to 1991 for the last time we beat
them away. One advantage that Palace do have in their home games is their
brilliant crowd support. They break the trend where so many Premier League
home grounds are practically sterile nowadays and the noisy vocals of the
Palace supporters are the envy of many. Our own excellent away support
should ensure a great match day atmosphere in what may already be termed by
some as a vital six pointer. COYI.
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TODAY'S TRANSFER GOSSIP
By Iain Dale 20 Aug 2014 at 12:34
West Ham Till I Die
Iron Views reckons talks are advanced with Manchester City's Micah Richards
for a season long loan. When he broke into the Citeh first team he looked
the real deal and soon played for England. Perhaps we can get his career
back on track. He can play in central defence or as a right back. I'd be
really excited by his signing.
There are strong rumours that former Manchester City striker Valeri Bojinov
may be on his way to Upton Park on a few transfer from Levski Sofia. He has
been very injury prone in recent seasons, but had a good goals to games
ratio last season. Personally I can't see the logic of this one and doubt it
will actually happen.
Claret & Hugh reckons James Tomkins will be fit for Saturday
According to the Daily Mail West Ham have asked about taking Corinthians
striker Paolo Guerrero on loan with a view to a permanent deal
The Mail and Mirror allege the Hammers have also revived interest in Boca
Juniors left-back Emanuel Insua, 23.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
LET ME TAKE YOU DOWN, COS I'M GOING TO... VELEZ SARSFIELD
By Iain Dale 20 Aug 2014 at 08:06
West Ham Till I Die
Guest Post by Neil Clack
"He's 'Loco', I'm tellin' ya… a real fruit-cake… But fantastic player…
really skilful… a bit selfish… well, very selfish actually, ha,ha, but all
the best strikers are, aren't they?"
Where better to get an opinion on the Hammers' new striker than from those
who watched him play in Argentina last season, where he topped the
goalscoring charts of the 'final' league tournament with 13 goal in 19
matches, so, as I'm out here for a few weeks, I thought I'd investigate.
It's saturday evening and current champions Velez Sarsfield have just won
2-0 at home to 'El Arse' (the nickname affectionately, and quite innocently,
given to Arsenal de Sarandi by both fans and the Argentina press alike).
Velez is a family club, one of the best run in Buenos Aires, and the old
couple serving behind the bar in the Supporters' club know the Zarate family
well. Mauro is the youngest of four brothers, all professional footballers
(Roland played briefly played for Real Madrid during the Galacticos period,
as well as Velez and a host of other clubs), and their father, from Chile
originally, was also a well-known professional footballer for Independiente.
"Of the four of them, Mauro is the most talented", reckons Aunt Evelyn, "but
he's also the craziest!" That ties in with the view of journalist and club
historian Eduardo who describes Mauro as "temperamental", and a "spontaneous
player", who can "conjure up magic", but who is also "very up and down".
"I think that's what happened at Lazio", says Eduardo, "He did well there in
the beginning, but then, by all accounts, went right off the boil. I think
he needs to be loved, to feel wanted". When I mention that Mauro didn't play
today against Tottenham, Eduardo shakes his head, "I can't see him lasting
long there then", he says, "to be honest, I don't know why he's at West Ham.
He should be playing for a Champions League team, in my opinion".
Crazy? Moody? Spontaneous? Does that sound familiar to Hammers fans? And in
another of those 'only at West Ham' anecdotes, we now have two players in
our history who have returned the Nazi salute to the fascist Ultras amongst
the Lazio fans. However, whereas, Di Canio tried to explain it away by
giving an impromptu history lesson on how it is not a Nazi salute, but the
Roman salute that Hitler stole from them, Zarate's representatives simply
claimed naivety, explaining that Zarate didn't even know who Hitler and
Mussolini were. As ludicrous as that may sound, the education system in the
provinces of Buenos Aires, where Zarate grew up, isn't the best, and unlike
ourselves, kids in Argentina aren't brought up on a stable television diet
of World War 2 films and Dad's Army repeats, it's is actually feasible that
he really didn't know his dictators…
But enough of all that. Tactically, it's difficult to see where Zarate fits
into Allardyce's system. At Velez last season, Zarate formed a striking
partnership with Lucas Pratto, in the classic Argentine version of the 4-4-2
formation (4-3-1-2, the difference being that a playmaker, with few
defensive duties, plays behind the 2 strikers – the other 3 midfileders have
more defensive roles and play fairly central). Zarate is probably used to
more elaboration in the build-up, while he moves laterally across the final
3rd, timing his runs and waiting for the killer pass to run onto. It's
difficult to see which players at West Ham will be capable of delivering
that all important 'defence-splitting' pass, and he won't be used to playing
with wingers, so it will be interesting to see what he makes of players like
Downing and Jarvis, with their crosses, and the diagonal balls from the full
backs, and Sam's famous PBEs (Penalty Box Entries), all of which will be a
new way of playing for Zarate.
If the idea is to partner Zarate with Andy Carroll (or Carlton Cole when
Carroll's out), then there could be a worrying precedent in the way that
Carroll and Luis Suarez failed to gel at Liverpool? Of course, it's unfair
to compare Zarate with one of the best players in the world, but they do
both come from the same Rio Platense footballing background.
Despite Carroll wishing to stay at Liverpool two seasons ago, manager
Brendan Rogers was adamant he should leave. I read a tactical article about
Liverpool by Jonathon Northcroft in the Times last April and this bit caught
my eye: "Rogers has filtered out the slow movers – ditching Joe Cole and
Andy Carroll early in his reign and sidelining Lucas and Jose Enrique
lately. His training involves 'exercises built around the speed of the
ball'.
Without Carroll, who got in Suarez's way by operating in the same areas that
the Uruguayan likes to move in, and without Downing too, which allowed
Suarez to also pull out wide and attack from the left, Suarez reaped havoc
on opposition defences, who never knew from which which part of the pitch,
and from which angle, he was going to run at them, and in Daniel Sturridge,
Suarez found an equally mobile and flexible strike-partner, on his
wavelength. Pratto, Zarate's strike-partner at Velez, was a lot more
Sturridge than Andy Carroll/Carlton Cole in style of play.
In fact, logic says it can't work. You can't just graft a South American
ball player onto Sam's system and expect it to morph into flowing carpet
football with all the players understanding one other.
Or can you?
By all accounts Zarate did well in his brief spell (4 months) at Birmingham,
and Alex McLeish is an even bigger PBE-merchant than Allardyce! (although
Zarate's efforts weren't enough to prevent Brum from being relegated that
season it should be added).
The tactical theory says it can't work, but my heart really wants it to, so
thinking positive, could it be that the idea is so mad and illogical that
maybe, just maybe, it could be a stroke of genius?
Beatles fans will tell you that Strawberry Fields is actually two, quite
different, John Lennon songs. He was struggling to finish both of them
before he hit upon the idea of just joining them together. Paul McCartney,
and the 5th Beatle, producer George Martin, did their best to persuade
Lennon that it was a bad idea that wouldn't work. Martin, trained in
classical music theory, even took Lennon aside to explain how the two songs
were in a different key and had different tempos, but Lennon, drunk and
stoned, insisted, "I can hear it in my head – why can't you just slow and
speed up the recordings and splice them together". In the end, Martin and
McCartney did that, just to appease Lennon and shut him up, to show him how
it wouldn't work. The result, to their astonishment, was one of the most
emblematic, some would say most beautiful, songs of the era.
Which nicely leads me to the end. In Argentina, the crowds on the high
standing terraces make a lot of noise, often reworking the lyrics of well
known songs. For example, Culture Club's 'Karma Chameleon', and Bonnie
Tyler's 'It's a Heartache' have been reworked into popular terrace chants,
and Velez fans, to the melody of Strawberry Fields sometimes sing,
"na,na,na,na,naaaarrr …. na,na,na,na,naaaaaarrr… Velez Sarsfield, Velez
Sarsfield forever…
If it all works out well for both Zarate and Sam Allardyce at West Ham, if
they are both at West Ham in six months time, with the club halfway up the
league, then David Sullivan is a genius, the footballing equivalent of John
Lennon.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Richards/Irons update
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 20, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
West Ham's hopes of signing Manchester City's Micha Richards have been
described as no better than fifty/fifty by ClaretandHugh sources. We broke
the news yesterday (Tues) the Hammers were involved in talks with City but
that there were several hurdles to overcome. We were told, his club are
anxious about letting him out on an extended loan in the final year of his
contract. And this afternoon our source explained: "Talks have been going on
and there has been a lot of reportage on the issue but although we are
talking, we are no closer to an outcome. "The player is on around £70k a
week and there is no real willingness to do a wage sharing scheme. There's
also the problem that to let him out on loan could decrease his value. "Some
media outlets are claiming that a deal is close but it doesn't look that way
from where West Ham are sitting. We will try to thrash something out but
nobody's holding their breath. "And with James Tomkins looking likely to be
available for the weekend there's no massive urgency attached to doing a
deal quickly."
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Ravel nominates Big Sam for Ice bucket challenge
Posted by Sean Whetstone on August 20, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
Ravel Morrison posted a video of himself this afternoon completing the ALS
Ice bucket challenge and laid down the challenge to Sam Allardyce, Carlton
Cole and two of his mates to do the same within the next 48 hours. Morrison
completed the challenge after being nominated by Arsenal striker Chupa
Akpom.
The challenge has gone viral on the Internet with Oprah, Justin Bieber,
Britney Spears, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Lady Gaga, Charlie Sheen and
George Bush all taking part in the challenge, which sees a bucket of ice
water dumped over participants' heads. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
is the umbrella term used in the US to describe what we in the UK call Motor
Neurone Disease.
A motor neuron is a nerve cell that makes voluntary muscle movements. MND is
a disease in which these cells stop working properly. Motor neurone disease
(MND) affects a person's ability to move voluntarily. MND stops people
eating, walking and talking, for example, but doesn't stop them from
thinking or feeling, effectively leaving sufferers 'locked in' to their
bodies. There is no known cure at the moment.
When asked whether Sam and Carlton will accept the challenge a source close
to club said 'watch this space!'
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Bojinov for Irons – THE TRUTH
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 20, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
Reports that former Manchester City and Fiorentina striker Valeri Bojinov is
discussing a free transfer to West Ham are more than a little premature.
National newspaper reports that the Levski Sofia striker is on his way to
the club broke over the last few days with the news last night that he was
now in London.
However, ClaretandHugh has learned that the 28 year old is simply being
given a trial at this stage and that talks on a deal have not been held.
Levski sporting director Georgi Ivanov fueled the belief that a deal was in
prospect when he told Bulgarian national radio: 'We had to let him go
because we have an agreement. I allowed him to travel to England because I
am contractually required to do so." However, a well placed Hammers source
told ClaretandHugh exclusively: "One or two media outlets appear to have got
a little bit ahead of themselves. "It's far too early to tell whether we
will be offering him any kind of deal – we are just giving him a trial. "
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Hammers Wage bill is near maximum limit
Posted by Sean Whetstone on August 20, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
Sources close to West Ham have revealed to ClaretandHugh that the players
annual wage bill has reached £57m this summer leaving just £1m in wages
before this season's Premier League Financial Fair Play limit is reached.
West Ham are unlikely to have increased retail or commercial income last
season after a bumper season before so £58m is likely to be the upper limit
this season to comply within the rules.
The release of Joe Cole, Jack Collison, Alou Diarra and George McCartney
released around £7m off the wage bill while the end of loans for Roger
Johnson, Pablo Armero, Antonio Nocerino and Marco Borriello is thought to
have released the equivalent of another £3m off the wage bill.
The seven new Hammers signings have added a combined weekly wage including
employers national insurance of around £244,000 adding over £12.4m to wage
bill.
Although the Financial Fair Play limit was £54m last season West Ham
actually had more than £61m available after Commercial revenue rose from
£7.9m to £13.9m and retail sales were up from £4.8m to £6m in our first
season back in the Premier League. Under Premier League FFP rules this extra
commercial revenue gave the club another £7.2m to spend last season if they
wanted to.
The remaining £1m this season could be used as £19k per week or £38k per
week as part of a six month loan, any outbound players sold would also
release further wages from the wage limit.
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WHUFc.com
Ricardo Vaz Te says the Hammers are in confident mood ahead of Saturday's
trip to Selhurst Park
19.08.2014
Ricardo Vaz Te believes there is plenty of reason for optimism ahead of West
Ham United's Barclays Premier League meeting with Crystal Palace on
Saturday.
Adamant that the Hammers should count themselves unlucky to have left the
Boleyn Ground empty handed following last weekend's defeat by Tottenham
Hotspur, the Hammers No12 is hopeful that the Club's fortunes in front of
goal will turn at Selhurst Park.
The 27-year-old was one of many to try and fail to beat Hugo Lloris last
time out and expects to get sharper each and every time he takes to the
field going forward.
It's a few days since the Tottenham game and everyone's had some time to
digest it. What are your thoughts now?
RVT: "We're OK now, we're all professionals here. Obviously we were
disappointed to lose but we pick ourselves up and go again. I think it's the
manner in which we lost that's very disappointing. After Tottenham went a
man down we had control of the game, we had a few good chances, myself
especially, and I was very disappointed.
"But it was the first game and I thought we performed well, so I think we
can take many positives from the game. Everybody seems alright, the spirit
is OK, the mood is OK, we're fine."
A lot has been said of debutants Cheikhou Kouyate, Aaron Cresswell and Enner
Valencia. What did you make of their first outings at the Boleyn Ground?
RVT: "Enner obviously hasn't really played with the team, that was his first
game. But Cheikh and Aaron, I think they look like they belong to the team.
They look like they've been here for ages, to be honest. All pre-season it
looked that way, so they've adapted really well, which is very pleasing.
Because you always have that kind of concern if they're going to adapt
straight away, but they seem very comfortable.
"Actually, I think Aaron and Cheikh were our best players. Hopefully they
can keep that form, they can grow from it and just be better and better.
Enner will hopefully come in slowly as well and show the same result. I
think it's all down to the lads, because they're so welcoming, everybody is
so friendly. It's nice to come into a dressing room like that and I think
that makes it easier for the new lads."
Was it good to be back in front of a packed house at the Boleyn Ground?
RVT: "It was frenetic, I've never actually seen it that way. I've been at
the Club now for three years, but I thought wow, this is where you want to
be, this is where you want to play. So we were all very excited and it was
just such a shame that we couldn't get the three points."
You spoke of the positives from Saturday. Do you think if you're able to
replicate that performance that you can get a result at Palace?
RVT: "Of course. Obviously our aim is really high this season compared to
last, but I think the fans could see the difference. I think we were the
best team, I think it's fair to say we were the better team. Tottenham were
very lucky to come away with the result, I think they'd have taken a draw,
to actually go and win it was something else for them. Like I said, it was
very positive, we played some good stuff, we created opportunities, good
opportunities and we just failed to take them."
Palace are currently without a manager, is that something that could benefit
West Ham, if there's uncertainty among the players?
RVT: "It's always tough, but you never know how they're going to react to
it. I saw the game against Arsenal and they look like a decent side. It
didn't look it had affected them at all, but obviously it will have some
effect, but to what extent I don't know.
"We're going to go there with confidence, obviously we know we can get a
result there, it's going to be tough, of course it's going to be tough, but
we believe in ourselves. I think we're a very good side and we've got plenty
of players here capable of making the difference."
You've had a good pre-season, you've been in good form and obviously you
started the first game. How do you feel at the moment?
RVT: "I feel good, I feel like there is another gear coming up, which is
good. I'm just getting sharper and sharper, but you only get sharper with
the games.
"Last year was very unfortunate. If memory serves, I started five games and
my fifth one was at Swansea, where I dislocated my shoulder. By then I'd
scored four goals out of four starts. So it was very disappointing, because
I felt I had it in me to go a long way, to keep that form. But never mind, I
pick myself up and go again. "This season I just want to be consistent.
Only by staying fit can I improve, can I grow and I think I can improve
more, especially from Saturday. There are so many positives to take and
there's so much room for improvement, definitely."
The Club have been busy in the transfer market, seven summer signings. Some
are in the attacking positions where you play, so does that add more
pressure or is that a good thing as far as you're concerned?
RVT: "Definitely, it makes you raise your standard, but it's definitely a
pressure. Some people can handle it, some people can't. We're professionals,
so hopefully we can all handle it. I look forward to it, I love pressure, I
love that. Jarvo [Matt Jarvis] was in great form before his injury, Stewie
[Stewart Downing] is in great form, so hopefully Matt will come back and put
that bit extra pressure on us, so we can all raise our standards. It's
definitely a good thing."
Looking further ahead, what would success be for West Ham this season?
RVT: "I think success now, without getting ahead of ourselves, is to finish
top ten, comfortably. Not scrapping for it, just to have a good season, a
stable season, especially coming back from last season, when things were
uncertain. "Just a clean season, because we're moving to the new Stadium in
two years, so you want to be consistent, so that when you move there, you
can attract very good players to the Club to make the Club even better. I
think that will be a very good season for West Ham United to finish top ten
and we can build again."
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Big Sam's bucket challenge
KUMB.com
Filed: Wednesday, 20th August 2014
By: Staff Writer
Ravel Morrison took the Ice Bucket Challenge earlier today - before
nominating manager Sam Allardyce as the next participant. West Ham's young
midfielder appeared on Instagram this afternoon taking the challenge, before
nominating four people to follow him - including West Ham United's Carlton
Cole and manager Sam Allardyce.
The Ice Bucket Challenge is an American initiative whereby participants are
challenged to accept a full bucket of ice-cold water over their head. Once
nominated by previous participants, those either unable or unwilling to
follow suite within a 24-hour period are requested to make a charitable
donation.
It now remains to be seen whether Big Sam will comply with Morrison's
nomination; were he to do so he'd follow in the footsteps of famous names
such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Microsoft mogul Bill Gates and pop star Miley
Cyrus, all of whom have been swept up in the viral challenge which has swept
across Europe this summer.
The Ice Bucket Challenge was until recently popularised by non-profit
organisation The ALS Association, who campaign to spread awareness about Lou
Gehrig's disease - aka ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) - predominantly
in North America.
This summer the challenge has been adopted in Europe and the UK, with
charitable concerns such as The Motor Neurone Disease Association and
Macmillan Cancer Support benefiting from the campaign.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Valeri Bojinov reportedly due to talk to West Ham about Premier League
return
Last Updated: 20/08/14 9:17am
SSN
Former Manchester City striker Valeri Bojinov has been allowed to travel to
England amid reports he will hold talks with West Ham United. The Bulgaria
international is currently playing for Levski Sofia in his homeland, but has
a clause in his contract which allows him to leave the club on a free
transfer.
He was left out of Sunday's game against Botev Plovdiv and reports have
claimed that he is now discussing a move to West Ham. Levski sporting
director Georgi Ivanov told Bulgarian National Radio: "We had to let him go
because we have an agreement. I allowed him to travel to England because I
am contractually required to do so. "But he remains a Levski player until
he signs with another team."
West Ham manager Sam Allardyce is in the market for a new striker after
losing Andy Carroll for around four months due to an ankle injury. Bojinov
previously spent three years at City after joining from Fiorentina in 2007,
but his time at the Etihad Stadium was wrecked by knee and Achilles
injuries.
The 28-year-old made just 12 appearances for City, with his only goal for
the club coming against Tottenham Hotspur in 2009. He has subsequently
played for the likes of Parma, Sporting Lisbon and Vicenza before linking up
with Levski earlier this year.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
NEXT UP: CRYSTAL PALACE
By Tony Hanna 20 Aug 2014 at 20:19
West Ham Till I Die
The first match of the season against Spurs will be reviewed with mixed
emotions amongst West Ham fans. On the positive side we played some nice
football at times and the energy and enthusiasm was there to see on the
pitch and the crowd responded, generating a good atmosphere around the
Boleyn. The promising debuts of Kayoute and Cresswell have already been well
documented and discussed and the general view is that we have secured a
couple of very good additions to the squad. The downsides were obviously the
loss itself to our arch rivals and our inability technically and tactically
to score the goal that would have almost certainly put the game to bed
before our last minute heartache. I blame myself for Noble's penalty miss. I
always close my eyes for West Ham penalties but have become so confident in
recent times that I decided to watch the one against Spurs. Sorry Mark!
So this weekend we have a chance to put things right in our second London
derby of the week against Crystal Palace. As a newly promoted team to the
Premier League last season, Palace's first thirteen games only secured seven
points and they looked doomed even before Christmas. The Tony Pulis
revolution that followed actually saw them go on and finish eleventh and
some five points ahead of the Hammers. The football World never ceases to
amaze but it again threw up a bombshell when Pulis and Palace parted company
just two days before the new season started last week. My heart goes out to
those who backed Sam in the sack race as they did not even get a run for
their money. Most pundits had Palace safe in their pre-season tips and many
were sent running to make changes, if they could, as the bookies prices
tumbled on their relegation probabilities.
The transfer window has not seen too many new faces arrive at Selhurst Park.
Martin Kelly from Liverpool and Brede Hangeland from Fulham have been
brought in to bolster the defence and Fraizer Campbell arrived from Cardiff
City. Another amazing football fact is that both Kelly and Campbell each
have an England cap to their name. What is not so surprising is that both do
not have two!
Despite the turmoil, Crystal Palace put in a valiant effort on the weekend
away to Arsenal. Taking the lead from a Hangeland header from a corner they
finally succumbed to injury time goals at the end of both halves to go down
2-1. It was a typical Palace performance. Hard to break down, score from a
set piece and put in an effort that was full of heart and desire. Pretty
much what Sam wants from our boys to be honest. At the time of writing the
dogs are barking that Malky Mackay is the man to take over from Tony Pulis.
The bad news for us is that the "new manager always wins his first game"
scenario looms large if the appointment is made this week. James Collins
suspension from his red card against Spurs, together with a lingering injury
to James Tomkins have caused concern as to who will partner Winston Reid at
the heart of the defence. Perhaps a phone call to "relegation Roger" will
help mirror last seasons embarrassing phone call to Carlton? Palace will
also be without the suspended Jason Puncheon.
Our recent history against Crystal Palace is not good. They did a 1-0 double
over us last season and we have failed to beat them in the past six meetings
including the play off final back in 2004. You have to go back to 2003 for
the last time we beat them and indeed back to 1991 for the last time we beat
them away. One advantage that Palace do have in their home games is their
brilliant crowd support. They break the trend where so many Premier League
home grounds are practically sterile nowadays and the noisy vocals of the
Palace supporters are the envy of many. Our own excellent away support
should ensure a great match day atmosphere in what may already be termed by
some as a vital six pointer. COYI.
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TODAY'S TRANSFER GOSSIP
By Iain Dale 20 Aug 2014 at 12:34
West Ham Till I Die
Iron Views reckons talks are advanced with Manchester City's Micah Richards
for a season long loan. When he broke into the Citeh first team he looked
the real deal and soon played for England. Perhaps we can get his career
back on track. He can play in central defence or as a right back. I'd be
really excited by his signing.
There are strong rumours that former Manchester City striker Valeri Bojinov
may be on his way to Upton Park on a few transfer from Levski Sofia. He has
been very injury prone in recent seasons, but had a good goals to games
ratio last season. Personally I can't see the logic of this one and doubt it
will actually happen.
Claret & Hugh reckons James Tomkins will be fit for Saturday
According to the Daily Mail West Ham have asked about taking Corinthians
striker Paolo Guerrero on loan with a view to a permanent deal
The Mail and Mirror allege the Hammers have also revived interest in Boca
Juniors left-back Emanuel Insua, 23.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
LET ME TAKE YOU DOWN, COS I'M GOING TO... VELEZ SARSFIELD
By Iain Dale 20 Aug 2014 at 08:06
West Ham Till I Die
Guest Post by Neil Clack
"He's 'Loco', I'm tellin' ya… a real fruit-cake… But fantastic player…
really skilful… a bit selfish… well, very selfish actually, ha,ha, but all
the best strikers are, aren't they?"
Where better to get an opinion on the Hammers' new striker than from those
who watched him play in Argentina last season, where he topped the
goalscoring charts of the 'final' league tournament with 13 goal in 19
matches, so, as I'm out here for a few weeks, I thought I'd investigate.
It's saturday evening and current champions Velez Sarsfield have just won
2-0 at home to 'El Arse' (the nickname affectionately, and quite innocently,
given to Arsenal de Sarandi by both fans and the Argentina press alike).
Velez is a family club, one of the best run in Buenos Aires, and the old
couple serving behind the bar in the Supporters' club know the Zarate family
well. Mauro is the youngest of four brothers, all professional footballers
(Roland played briefly played for Real Madrid during the Galacticos period,
as well as Velez and a host of other clubs), and their father, from Chile
originally, was also a well-known professional footballer for Independiente.
"Of the four of them, Mauro is the most talented", reckons Aunt Evelyn, "but
he's also the craziest!" That ties in with the view of journalist and club
historian Eduardo who describes Mauro as "temperamental", and a "spontaneous
player", who can "conjure up magic", but who is also "very up and down".
"I think that's what happened at Lazio", says Eduardo, "He did well there in
the beginning, but then, by all accounts, went right off the boil. I think
he needs to be loved, to feel wanted". When I mention that Mauro didn't play
today against Tottenham, Eduardo shakes his head, "I can't see him lasting
long there then", he says, "to be honest, I don't know why he's at West Ham.
He should be playing for a Champions League team, in my opinion".
Crazy? Moody? Spontaneous? Does that sound familiar to Hammers fans? And in
another of those 'only at West Ham' anecdotes, we now have two players in
our history who have returned the Nazi salute to the fascist Ultras amongst
the Lazio fans. However, whereas, Di Canio tried to explain it away by
giving an impromptu history lesson on how it is not a Nazi salute, but the
Roman salute that Hitler stole from them, Zarate's representatives simply
claimed naivety, explaining that Zarate didn't even know who Hitler and
Mussolini were. As ludicrous as that may sound, the education system in the
provinces of Buenos Aires, where Zarate grew up, isn't the best, and unlike
ourselves, kids in Argentina aren't brought up on a stable television diet
of World War 2 films and Dad's Army repeats, it's is actually feasible that
he really didn't know his dictators…
But enough of all that. Tactically, it's difficult to see where Zarate fits
into Allardyce's system. At Velez last season, Zarate formed a striking
partnership with Lucas Pratto, in the classic Argentine version of the 4-4-2
formation (4-3-1-2, the difference being that a playmaker, with few
defensive duties, plays behind the 2 strikers – the other 3 midfileders have
more defensive roles and play fairly central). Zarate is probably used to
more elaboration in the build-up, while he moves laterally across the final
3rd, timing his runs and waiting for the killer pass to run onto. It's
difficult to see which players at West Ham will be capable of delivering
that all important 'defence-splitting' pass, and he won't be used to playing
with wingers, so it will be interesting to see what he makes of players like
Downing and Jarvis, with their crosses, and the diagonal balls from the full
backs, and Sam's famous PBEs (Penalty Box Entries), all of which will be a
new way of playing for Zarate.
If the idea is to partner Zarate with Andy Carroll (or Carlton Cole when
Carroll's out), then there could be a worrying precedent in the way that
Carroll and Luis Suarez failed to gel at Liverpool? Of course, it's unfair
to compare Zarate with one of the best players in the world, but they do
both come from the same Rio Platense footballing background.
Despite Carroll wishing to stay at Liverpool two seasons ago, manager
Brendan Rogers was adamant he should leave. I read a tactical article about
Liverpool by Jonathon Northcroft in the Times last April and this bit caught
my eye: "Rogers has filtered out the slow movers – ditching Joe Cole and
Andy Carroll early in his reign and sidelining Lucas and Jose Enrique
lately. His training involves 'exercises built around the speed of the
ball'.
Without Carroll, who got in Suarez's way by operating in the same areas that
the Uruguayan likes to move in, and without Downing too, which allowed
Suarez to also pull out wide and attack from the left, Suarez reaped havoc
on opposition defences, who never knew from which which part of the pitch,
and from which angle, he was going to run at them, and in Daniel Sturridge,
Suarez found an equally mobile and flexible strike-partner, on his
wavelength. Pratto, Zarate's strike-partner at Velez, was a lot more
Sturridge than Andy Carroll/Carlton Cole in style of play.
In fact, logic says it can't work. You can't just graft a South American
ball player onto Sam's system and expect it to morph into flowing carpet
football with all the players understanding one other.
Or can you?
By all accounts Zarate did well in his brief spell (4 months) at Birmingham,
and Alex McLeish is an even bigger PBE-merchant than Allardyce! (although
Zarate's efforts weren't enough to prevent Brum from being relegated that
season it should be added).
The tactical theory says it can't work, but my heart really wants it to, so
thinking positive, could it be that the idea is so mad and illogical that
maybe, just maybe, it could be a stroke of genius?
Beatles fans will tell you that Strawberry Fields is actually two, quite
different, John Lennon songs. He was struggling to finish both of them
before he hit upon the idea of just joining them together. Paul McCartney,
and the 5th Beatle, producer George Martin, did their best to persuade
Lennon that it was a bad idea that wouldn't work. Martin, trained in
classical music theory, even took Lennon aside to explain how the two songs
were in a different key and had different tempos, but Lennon, drunk and
stoned, insisted, "I can hear it in my head – why can't you just slow and
speed up the recordings and splice them together". In the end, Martin and
McCartney did that, just to appease Lennon and shut him up, to show him how
it wouldn't work. The result, to their astonishment, was one of the most
emblematic, some would say most beautiful, songs of the era.
Which nicely leads me to the end. In Argentina, the crowds on the high
standing terraces make a lot of noise, often reworking the lyrics of well
known songs. For example, Culture Club's 'Karma Chameleon', and Bonnie
Tyler's 'It's a Heartache' have been reworked into popular terrace chants,
and Velez fans, to the melody of Strawberry Fields sometimes sing,
"na,na,na,na,naaaarrr …. na,na,na,na,naaaaaarrr… Velez Sarsfield, Velez
Sarsfield forever…
If it all works out well for both Zarate and Sam Allardyce at West Ham, if
they are both at West Ham in six months time, with the club halfway up the
league, then David Sullivan is a genius, the footballing equivalent of John
Lennon.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Richards/Irons update
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 20, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
West Ham's hopes of signing Manchester City's Micha Richards have been
described as no better than fifty/fifty by ClaretandHugh sources. We broke
the news yesterday (Tues) the Hammers were involved in talks with City but
that there were several hurdles to overcome. We were told, his club are
anxious about letting him out on an extended loan in the final year of his
contract. And this afternoon our source explained: "Talks have been going on
and there has been a lot of reportage on the issue but although we are
talking, we are no closer to an outcome. "The player is on around £70k a
week and there is no real willingness to do a wage sharing scheme. There's
also the problem that to let him out on loan could decrease his value. "Some
media outlets are claiming that a deal is close but it doesn't look that way
from where West Ham are sitting. We will try to thrash something out but
nobody's holding their breath. "And with James Tomkins looking likely to be
available for the weekend there's no massive urgency attached to doing a
deal quickly."
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Ravel nominates Big Sam for Ice bucket challenge
Posted by Sean Whetstone on August 20, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
Ravel Morrison posted a video of himself this afternoon completing the ALS
Ice bucket challenge and laid down the challenge to Sam Allardyce, Carlton
Cole and two of his mates to do the same within the next 48 hours. Morrison
completed the challenge after being nominated by Arsenal striker Chupa
Akpom.
The challenge has gone viral on the Internet with Oprah, Justin Bieber,
Britney Spears, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Lady Gaga, Charlie Sheen and
George Bush all taking part in the challenge, which sees a bucket of ice
water dumped over participants' heads. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
is the umbrella term used in the US to describe what we in the UK call Motor
Neurone Disease.
A motor neuron is a nerve cell that makes voluntary muscle movements. MND is
a disease in which these cells stop working properly. Motor neurone disease
(MND) affects a person's ability to move voluntarily. MND stops people
eating, walking and talking, for example, but doesn't stop them from
thinking or feeling, effectively leaving sufferers 'locked in' to their
bodies. There is no known cure at the moment.
When asked whether Sam and Carlton will accept the challenge a source close
to club said 'watch this space!'
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Bojinov for Irons – THE TRUTH
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 20, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
Reports that former Manchester City and Fiorentina striker Valeri Bojinov is
discussing a free transfer to West Ham are more than a little premature.
National newspaper reports that the Levski Sofia striker is on his way to
the club broke over the last few days with the news last night that he was
now in London.
However, ClaretandHugh has learned that the 28 year old is simply being
given a trial at this stage and that talks on a deal have not been held.
Levski sporting director Georgi Ivanov fueled the belief that a deal was in
prospect when he told Bulgarian national radio: 'We had to let him go
because we have an agreement. I allowed him to travel to England because I
am contractually required to do so." However, a well placed Hammers source
told ClaretandHugh exclusively: "One or two media outlets appear to have got
a little bit ahead of themselves. "It's far too early to tell whether we
will be offering him any kind of deal – we are just giving him a trial. "
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Hammers Wage bill is near maximum limit
Posted by Sean Whetstone on August 20, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
Sources close to West Ham have revealed to ClaretandHugh that the players
annual wage bill has reached £57m this summer leaving just £1m in wages
before this season's Premier League Financial Fair Play limit is reached.
West Ham are unlikely to have increased retail or commercial income last
season after a bumper season before so £58m is likely to be the upper limit
this season to comply within the rules.
The release of Joe Cole, Jack Collison, Alou Diarra and George McCartney
released around £7m off the wage bill while the end of loans for Roger
Johnson, Pablo Armero, Antonio Nocerino and Marco Borriello is thought to
have released the equivalent of another £3m off the wage bill.
The seven new Hammers signings have added a combined weekly wage including
employers national insurance of around £244,000 adding over £12.4m to wage
bill.
Although the Financial Fair Play limit was £54m last season West Ham
actually had more than £61m available after Commercial revenue rose from
£7.9m to £13.9m and retail sales were up from £4.8m to £6m in our first
season back in the Premier League. Under Premier League FFP rules this extra
commercial revenue gave the club another £7.2m to spend last season if they
wanted to.
The remaining £1m this season could be used as £19k per week or £38k per
week as part of a six month loan, any outbound players sold would also
release further wages from the wage limit.
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Wednesday, August 20
Daily WHUFC News - 20th August 2014
Potts looks for quick response
WHUFc.com
Dan Potts wants the Development Squad to bounce back against Southampton on
Friday
19.08.2014
Dan Potts is looking to bounce back from defeat in the Development Squad's
Barclays U21 Premier League opener as swiftly as possible. The young Hammers
have an opportunity to put things right quickly, with Southampton visiting
the Boleyn Ground for a 7pm kick-off on Friday. Potts, who skippered the
side in their 2-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur on Monday, says that is just
what they need to get over their disappointment. He explained: "It's always
good to have another game quickly after a defeat and we have one against
Southampton at the Boleyn Ground on Friday. "We'll be going all out to get
the win in that one and hopefully there'll be a good crowd in to watch it.
"It's always nice to play in front of a decent crowd and it's a great
experience to play there because, at the end of the day, that's where we
want to be regularly. "Even the build up to the game, being around the place
and the changing rooms is part of it,"
Despite going down to defeat at Spurs, when goals from Daniel Akindayini and
Cristian Ceballos meant Kieran Bywater's free-kick counted for little, Potts
felt his side could leave with some plus points. He added: "There were
positives to take, although the overriding disappointment is not coming away
with the win we wanted. "It was an even game throughout. We went in at
half-time, discussed what we wanted to do and tried to put the plan into
practice. I thought it worked well off the ball. "We just needed to take a
bit more care when we got the ball and be a bit more clinical in the final
third. The chances were there, but we couldn't get the ball in the back of
the net."
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Vaz Te glad to be back
WHUFc.com
Ricardo Vaz Te is pleased to be back in the fold after an injury plagued
2013/14
19.08.2014
Ricardo Vaz Te was delighted to make his first Barclays Premier League start
on Saturday since dislocating his shoulder last October, but disappointed
his comeback ended in defeat to Tottenham Hotspur. The winger played 68
minutes of the Hammers' season opener, linking up promisingly with Aaron
Cresswell down the left hand side and he is hoping to feature in that
partnership on a more regular basis. He explained: "I've been working with
Aaron in training down the left and we've had the whole pre-season, which
has helped a lot. "I haven't had much chance to play with him, but obviously
I've seen him every day in training. We spoke before the game and made sure
we kept communicating throughout it. "He's a terrific player and that
obviously helps [with linking up] a lot."
Vaz Te was as surprised as anyone to see Mark Noble miss the Hammers' first
half penalty but is sure he and the team will bounce back swiftly. He added:
"We all felt he'd score, because you know Nobes - five out of five he'll
score. For him to miss is very, very rare but it happens in the game.
"Messi, Cristiano [Ronaldo] miss, but we should have reacted anyway. We
created enough chances, but we needed to take them."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
MOTD PUNDIT CRITICISES 'HARD TO WATCH' FOOTBALL!
By S J Chandos 19 Aug 2014 at 20:27
West Ham Till I Die
There were interesting reports in last Sunday's newspapers, quoting TV
pundit Alan Shearer in criticising the style of play/entertainment value of
Newcastle Utd last season. The former Toon and England centre-forward,
apparently condemned last season's fayre as 'hard work' to watch. In fact,
he claimed that it was so boring that he found it hard to give away free
tickets to his pals! Moreover, urging Alan Pardew to turn Newcastle Utd in
the 'great entertainers,' Shearer states:
We had a dreadful back half of the season and it was hard work watching it.
This season I am hoping that we can produce a brand of football that can
excite the fans. I would love it if we were going to be in the top four.
Realistically, it is not going to happen. So, we have to look at other ways
to entertain. I hope we can go out and produce a brand of football that will
excite 50,000 supporters.'
West Ham fans will be bemused by these reported comments, considering the
way in which Mr Shearer, commenting last season on MoTD, dismissed the
concerns of Hammers fans about the poor style of footbal, under Sam
Allardyce, and the way it contravened the club's most cherished traditions.
So, we must ask: why is it ok for Hammers fans to endure 'hard to watch'
football, but not Newcastle Utd supporters? Why must Toon fans be
entertained, but not Hammers fans? What on earth is the essential
difference? Alan Pardew got the results to guarantee Premier League safety
for Newcastle Utd, according to Mr Shearer (talking about the Hammers on
MoTD) that is the crucial thing. So, why is he not satisfied?
Does Mr Shearer think that one set of standards should apply to his club and
another to ours? It would certainly seem so!
SJ. Chandos.
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WILL THE CLUB PROCEED WITH THE SIGNING OF MORGAN AMALFITANO?
By S J Chandos 19 Aug 2014 at 12:30
West Ham Till I Die
There have been long running reports that West Ham are setting up a £2m
(free transfer in some accounts) deal for Marsailles Morgan Amalfitano.
There have even been more recent reports that Amalfitano has had a training
ground bust up with the Marsailles Head Coach and is demanding a PL move,
with West Ham Utd his alleged preferred destination. So, it could well be
that a bargain deal could be struck for the, highly skilled, 29 year old
French international before the close of the summer transfer window.
However, there are suggestions in some quarters that the need for emergency
centre back cover, in view of Collins' suspension and the injury absence of
Tomkins, might financially scupper the Amalfitano deal. Is that correct?
The dominant rationale has been that we had sufficioent centre back
provision in Collins, Reid and Tomkins; especially, with Kouyate able to
provide cover and young Reece Burke coming through the ranks. Unfortunately,
the early double absence of Collins and Tomkins has re-opened the question
whether that arrangement is sufficient? Particularly with an understandable
reluctance to re-deploy the dynamic and effective Kouyate from his primary
midfield role. Consequently, there is talk of the club seeking an emergency
loan deal for another centre-back. And it has been suggested that this move,
based upon financial/FFFP considerations, may scupper the move for
Amalfitano.
I certainly hope that is not the case, because Amalfitano could be the final
peice in the restructure of our forward line. He is a potentially match
winning forward, with the ability to play wide or as an attacking
midfielder. As such, Amalfitano could inject additional play-making
creativity in the final third and provide us with options, particularly in
terms of increased competition for Jarvis and Downing. Last season, on loan
at WBA, he scored 4 goals in 28 appearances and it is fair to say that,
although not a prolific goal scorer, he is very much a scorer of spectacular
goals. However, his greatest contribution in a WBA shirt was as their
principle creative force, he carved out 45 clear scoring chances in those 28
games, far more than any of his fellow forwards. That, allied to his skill
and technique identifies him as a potentially key signing.
Some will say that we are already carving out plenty of chances, rather the
lack lies with their conversion. But with Zarate, Valencia and Sakho due to
be introduced up front, plus Carroll's eventual return and the emergence of
Elliott Lee, we can be hopeful that situation will soon be rectified.
Nevertheless, a PL squad can never have enough creativity and selection
options. And on that basis, I hope that the board manage to secure the move.
If necessary, the club should look to urgently off-load Vaz Te or Maiga to
free up the resources to ensure the deal can happen. With Lee ready to
challenge for a starting place, do we really need Vaz Te? While the
situation with Maiga is well documented and the exit for the player is long
over due.
Morgan Amalfitano could be an absolute revelation at West Ham Utd. Lets hope
that he gets the chance to prove it!
SJ. Chandos.
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West Ham eyeing Pablo Guerrero and Emanuel Insua in another South American
raid
Aug 19, 2014 14:54 By James Nursey
The 30-year-old striker would come in from Corinthians while the
highly-rated full back currently plies his trade for Boca Juniors
The Mirror
West Ham co-owner David Sullivan is trying to bring more South American
talent to Upton Park. The former Birmingham supremo likes to take a gamble
on talent from overseas. This season he splashed out on Argentine striker
Mauro Zarate and last season he brought over Wellington Paulista on loan.
Now Sullivan has asked Corinthians to take their Peruvian striker Pablo
Guerrero, 30, on loan with a view to a permanent deal. And Sullivan is also
trying to do the same with Boca Juniors for highly-rated full-back Emanuel
Insua. Sullivan's initial overtures have been rejected but he could return
with a cash offer
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West Ham and Chelsea transfer target Antonio Rudiger to spark fresh Monaco
bid
Aug 15, 2014 22:30 By Darren Lewis
The wealthy French outfit are set to go back in for the 21-year-old
Stuttgart and Germany defender having already had a £12million offer
rejected
The Mirror
Monaco are determined to land highly-rated West Ham target Antonio Rudiger.
Chelsea are also among a number of high-profile Premier League clubs to have
shown an interest in the 21-year-old defender. But the French outfit have
already had a £12million bid rejected and intend to make another to keep the
rising star out of the clutches of the Premier League. The Hammers, who made
a bid of up to £8m for the centre-back earlier this summer, have fallen
behind in the race for Rudiger's services and have given up on landing the
player. Regarded as one of the brightest young defensive talents in Europe,
Rudiger has already been capped by world champions Germany this year. His
club, Stuttgart, maintain he is not for sale as he still has three years
left to run on his contract. Earlier this week, Stuttgart's director of
sport said: "[Manager] Armin Veh and I both agree that we want to Antonio
Rudiger leave under any circumstances. We need sporting quality and he has
it."
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West Ham in advanced talks with Micah Richards
By Liam Spencer on August 19, 2014 in Transfer News
Ironviews.com
The very reputable @ExWHUemployee is reporting that talks with Micah
Richards are at an advanced stage ahead of a loan deal. The Manchester City
defender is capable of playing at right back or in central defence, and
would prove a welcome addition given the injuries to Carl Jenkinson and
James Tomkins.
Still only 26, Richards has seen his career blighted by injury, but a move
to West Ham could lead to a new lease of life for the England international.
The East London Club have reportedly been talking to the defender for days,
so a move could be closer to completion than expected.
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Valeri Bojinov in London to discuss terms of free transfer to West Ham as
former Manchester City striker lines up Premier League return
Valeri Bojinov missed Levski Sofia's last game to travel to England to
discuss terms of free transfer to West Ham
By SIMON JONES FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 17:37, 19 August 2014 | UPDATED: 17:47, 19 August 2014
Daily Mail
Former Manchester City and Fiorentina striker Valeri Bojinov is in London to
discuss terms of a free transfer to West Ham from Levski Sofia. Bojinov
missed his side's 2-1 win over Botev Plovdiv on August 17 because of a
clause in the striker's contract, Levski sporting director Georgi Ivanov
confirmed. 'We had to let him go because we have an agreement. I allowed him
to travel to England because I am contractually required to do so. But he
remains a Levski player until he signs with another team,' Ivanov told
Bulgarian National Radio.
VALERI BOJINOV LEAGUE FACT FILE
Born: Bulgaria, Feb 15 1986 (age 28)
2002-2005: Lecce (65 lg apps, 16 goals)
2005-2007: Fiorentina (36, 8)
2006-2007: Juventus (loan) (18, 5)
2007-2010: Manchester City (11, 1)
2009-2010: Parma (loan) (30, 8)
2010-2011: Parma (31, 3)
2011-2013: Sporting CP (8, 2)
2012-2012: Lecce (loan) (10, 1)
2012-2012: Verona (loan) (13, 1)
2013-2013: Vicenza (loan) (18, 4)
2014-2014: Levski Sofia (14, 6)
Bojinov spent the second half of last season at Levski in an attempt to get
a once-promising career, derailed by injuries and distractions off the
pitch, back on track. His emergence as a promising teenager at Italian side
Lecce in 2002, where he made his senior debut a month short of his 16th
birthday, drew glowing reviews and comparisons to another teenage sensation
– England's Wayne Rooney, then at Everton.
Bojinov got his big move aged only 18 in 2005, when he moved to Fiorentina,
where he scored eight goals in 36 appearances. He also spent some time on
loan at Juventus – then relegated to the Serie B following the Calciopoli
match-fixing scandal – before securing a move to Manchester City in 2007.
His career in England was derailed by two major injuries – first to his knee
ligaments in August 2007 and then an Achilles injury a year later. All in
all, he played only 11 matches for City and scored one goal before being
loaned to Parma, a move made permanent in the summer of 2010. The striker
never appeared to recover from his injuries and played mostly as a
substitute at Parma, moving to Sporting Lisbon a year later, where he failed
to stake a claim as a starter as well. Only six months into his tenure with
Sporting, he was banned from the club after taking, and missing, a potential
match-winning spot kick deep into added time in a cup game – wrestling the
ball from the designated penalty taker – sparking a furious reaction among
the coaching staff and the club's fans. After several loan spells with
Italian clubs, Bojinov came to Bulgaria but has been underwhelming at
Levski, as the club finished fifth in the league last season.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
A new rivalry
KUMB.com
Filed: Tuesday, 19th August 2014
By: Paul Turner
There can be discord and ill feeling between sets of fans. Perceived slights
and insults can fester and over the course of time become bigger and more
disproportionate then the original incident or initial intent.
There can be events that cloud judgement and objectiveness like the reported
incidents in Germany between Newcastle United and West Ham United fans where
the event takes on a narrative and life of its own that become embellished
and twisted to fit an agenda.
There are also the unreported acts on an individual basis be it for example
an act of aggression, drunkenness or foul temper that can lead to a loss of
reputation and resentment is cast upon the club or fan base in general. Over
time opinions and thoughts and experiences of events that become deep seated
and entrenched can be passed down to the next generation of supporters who
were not original witnesses to the initial event but carry on the memory
regardless.
Rivalries that date back decades and centuries are continuations of the ill
feeling generated by historical events, be it football teams born from
opposing dockyards or clubs moving to new locations where established teams
exists as examples. These kinds of rivalries can also stem from multiple
historical social issues between different areas or groups on an economic
basis which have been in place for what seems like forever making the
rivalry seem inherent.
Dating back to the kingdoms of Wessex and Mercie or even further back to the
time of the dinosaurs with cave men and women, the reasoning as to how a
feud begins might be difficult to pin point and is usually not for one
particular, clear cut reason but a perception and interpretation of a view
point historically taken by someone else and then passed on.
West Ham United by their location and history has rivalries with other
London based clubs. There are also clubs which seem to elicit general
dislike or derision from the Hammers faithful but not necessarily a direct
rivalry like you would consider some of the other London based clubs. Within
these particular parameters, where does Sheffield United fit?
There is no prolonged history or record of noticeable events between the two
clubs to speak of leading up to the events of the 2006/07 season so the
events themselves of that fateful season are the trigger for the current ill
feeling. The in's and outs have been reported here on KUMB and on many other
websites ranging from threats of lawsuits from players who managed to
engineer big money moves regardless to a lead football writer arguing that
one player made all the difference to West Ham United winning a match or the
transfer of Steve Kabba.
There are many facts and events that transpired or were recorded that I
could go into in relation to the whole Carlos Tevez situation but that would
be re-treading old ground. What is not old ground is the upcoming match
between West Ham United and Sheffield United at the Boleyn Ground in the
Capital One Cup second round.
In terms of how you would define the rivalry between our two clubs, from a
West Ham United perspective the majority view seems to be one of loathing
towards Sheffield United for what happened during events and afterwards
rather then your more traditional geographical or social rivalry.
That does not take away from the strength of feeling or any of the issues at
hand. This is the first meeting between the two sides since Sheffield
United's relegation from the Premier League and the emotion is naturally
going to be heightened due to this fact as the two sets of fans converge on
the Boleyn.
Much will be written on forums and spoken about on phone-in shows and on
social media but ultimately the events that took place occurred between the
two clubs, not directly between the two sets of supporters. The strength of
emotion will be on display for all to see (if indeed the match is chosen for
TV coverage, by a much wider audience) but this should never overstep the
mark into disorder.
There is perceived right and wrong on both sides of the debate with claim
and counter claim but it serves no one any good turning this second round
match in the Capital One Cup into something more then a football match.
What happens after the match though? Regardless of who wins will that
resentment always be there until the next meeting on the football pitch?
Well the way things stand and from reading social media and forum posts on
both sides there is a majority view that this feeling is here to stay.
Always to be held in higher regard then other matches the two sides may play
in a regular season.
For future generations that will support either West Ham United or Sheffield
United, they will have the experiences and stories behind "the Carlos Tevez
Affair" told and thus the baton will be passed on to carry on the rivalry
when the two sides renew acquaintances in future matches.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
New-born Rav "pain free and on fire"
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 19, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
Ravel Morrison finally looks to be sorting himself out under the gentle
guidance of Teddy Sheringham. The 21 year old midfielder may be facing a
court case in Manchester on August 28 but there is no sign that it's having
a negative effect his attitude to training – quite the opposite. Indeed the
player is the first one in and the last one away from the training ground.
Indeed, yesterday he was still working with attacking coach Sheri an hour
after everybody else had gone home.
A source told ClaretandHugh: "There are two factors that have changed
things. "He's on fire in training because he's pain free for the first time
in three years. All the pain has gone from his groin and his running and
turning is brilliant. "Teddy Sheringham loves working with him and goes on
for as long as Rav wants to. "He has also cleared a lot of people out of his
life and is living more or less on his own …and loving it. "He really does
seem to be getting it at last and he's happy with his own company…something
we never thought we'd see. "There's the court case to deal with of course
but once that is our of the way I think West Ham will have the player on
their hands they know they have always had."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Keeper returns to West Ham
Posted by Sean Whetstone on August 19, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
Crawley Town chief executive Michael Dunford says he has no plans to bring
goalkeeper Raphael Spiegel back from West Ham on loan. Spiegel's one-month
loan spell with Crawley ended yesterday and he has returned to the Hammers.
Dunford said "Raphael has gone back, we wish him well but West Ham want him
to be playing regularly so we can't offer that" The 21-year-old Switzerland
Under-21 international joined the Hammers in 2012 but is yet to make his
first team debut. Spiegel began his career at Grasshopper Club Zurich,
featuring 41 times for their second team and had loan spells at FC Wil 1900
and SC Bruhl SG. He signed with West Ham on a three-year deal in summer 2012
and has featured regularly in the under-21 side over the last two seasons.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Big night for on-fire Moncur
Posted by Sean Whetstone on August 19, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
Loanee George Moncur will be looking to make it 3 goals in 3 games tonight
when he starts for Colchester United against Notts City in the League 1
match at 7.45pm. Moncur who turned 21 on Monday scored the only Colchester
goal on Saturday after he opened the scoring on nine minutes. That was his
second goal of the season after scoring on his debut against Oldham
Athletic which ended 2-2. Colchester eventually lost their second league
game of the season 2-1 to Bristol City. Moncur also received Colchester
United's Man of the Match award for the second league game running by the
Colchester fans where he is already a favourite. Belated Birthday wishes
to George and keep up the good work scoring on loan tonight.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
City ace back on the Irons radar
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 19, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
West Ham have again cast their eyes in the direction of Manchester City's
Micah Richards as they look for a new defender. Despite being a natural
right back, Richards can slot into a central defensive role quite
comfortably and would be a great addition given James Collins' suspension
and James Tomkins hamstring injury. And ClaretandHugh can reveal that the
Hammers have been in touch with Manchester City in the hope they can sort
out a loan deal for the player.
However, Richards – who is in the last year of his City deal – is currently
earning around £70k a week and the Irons will need to organise a wage
sharing deal if it is to happen. Much will depend on the outcome of James
Tomkins with hopes rising today his hamstring injury may not be as bad as at
first feared. Richards, however is seen as a great addition and could be
brought in on a three or six month deal which will suit the Hammers wages
position. A source told ClaretandHugh exclusively: "The problem from City's
point of view is that if they loan him it will be difficult for them to get
a fee for him given he's in the last year of his deal "We do not think City
will subsidise his wage, but we have asked and there have been talks."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Hammers summer investment could hit £90m
Posted by Sean Whetstone on August 19, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
The true cost of the Hammers' summer transfer dealings could reach as high
as £90 million over the next five years. West Ham are believed to have paid
about £24.5m in fees this transfer window but that amount could rise to
nearly £37m based on certain conditions such as appearances and performance
related targets. Add to this a massive £43m wage bill over the next four to
five years plus £6m in NI Employers contribution for the seven new signings.
It is thought agents fees will add another £4m to the bill bringing the
total investment as high as £90 million! Mauro Zarate joined from Velez
Sarsfield on a free transfer after he bought out his own contract. He is
believed to be earning £40k per week which would £8.3m in wages over his 4
year contract. Aaron Creswell is believed to have cost an initial fee of
£3.75m which could rise to a maximum £7m based on certain conditions. He
signed a five year contract around £25k per week which would cost £6.5m in
wages over 5 years. Carl Jenkinson has joined from Arsenal on season long
loan and is thought to earn £32k per week which could work out £1.6m in
wages. Cheikhou Kouyate joined from Anderlecht for a fee close to £8m. He
signed a 4 year contract and is believed to earn around £35k per week which
would equate to £7.2m in wages over 4 years, Difara Sakho signed from Metz
for initial fee £2.5m possibly rising to £6.5m based on certain conditions.
It is believed to be earning £15k per week plus £5k per appearance. Over his
4 year contract that could cost £4.1m in wages. Enner Valencia signed from
Pachuca for initial fee believed to be £9.5m possibly rising up to £14m on
certain conditions being met. He is believed to be getting £45k per week
which would work out at £11.7m in wages over his 5 year contract. Finally
Diego Poyet is believed to joined as a free agent although a £700,000 fee
was paid to Charlton as compensation. He signed a 4 year contract believed
to worth £17k per week or £3.5m in wages over 4 years,
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
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WHUFc.com
Dan Potts wants the Development Squad to bounce back against Southampton on
Friday
19.08.2014
Dan Potts is looking to bounce back from defeat in the Development Squad's
Barclays U21 Premier League opener as swiftly as possible. The young Hammers
have an opportunity to put things right quickly, with Southampton visiting
the Boleyn Ground for a 7pm kick-off on Friday. Potts, who skippered the
side in their 2-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur on Monday, says that is just
what they need to get over their disappointment. He explained: "It's always
good to have another game quickly after a defeat and we have one against
Southampton at the Boleyn Ground on Friday. "We'll be going all out to get
the win in that one and hopefully there'll be a good crowd in to watch it.
"It's always nice to play in front of a decent crowd and it's a great
experience to play there because, at the end of the day, that's where we
want to be regularly. "Even the build up to the game, being around the place
and the changing rooms is part of it,"
Despite going down to defeat at Spurs, when goals from Daniel Akindayini and
Cristian Ceballos meant Kieran Bywater's free-kick counted for little, Potts
felt his side could leave with some plus points. He added: "There were
positives to take, although the overriding disappointment is not coming away
with the win we wanted. "It was an even game throughout. We went in at
half-time, discussed what we wanted to do and tried to put the plan into
practice. I thought it worked well off the ball. "We just needed to take a
bit more care when we got the ball and be a bit more clinical in the final
third. The chances were there, but we couldn't get the ball in the back of
the net."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Vaz Te glad to be back
WHUFc.com
Ricardo Vaz Te is pleased to be back in the fold after an injury plagued
2013/14
19.08.2014
Ricardo Vaz Te was delighted to make his first Barclays Premier League start
on Saturday since dislocating his shoulder last October, but disappointed
his comeback ended in defeat to Tottenham Hotspur. The winger played 68
minutes of the Hammers' season opener, linking up promisingly with Aaron
Cresswell down the left hand side and he is hoping to feature in that
partnership on a more regular basis. He explained: "I've been working with
Aaron in training down the left and we've had the whole pre-season, which
has helped a lot. "I haven't had much chance to play with him, but obviously
I've seen him every day in training. We spoke before the game and made sure
we kept communicating throughout it. "He's a terrific player and that
obviously helps [with linking up] a lot."
Vaz Te was as surprised as anyone to see Mark Noble miss the Hammers' first
half penalty but is sure he and the team will bounce back swiftly. He added:
"We all felt he'd score, because you know Nobes - five out of five he'll
score. For him to miss is very, very rare but it happens in the game.
"Messi, Cristiano [Ronaldo] miss, but we should have reacted anyway. We
created enough chances, but we needed to take them."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
MOTD PUNDIT CRITICISES 'HARD TO WATCH' FOOTBALL!
By S J Chandos 19 Aug 2014 at 20:27
West Ham Till I Die
There were interesting reports in last Sunday's newspapers, quoting TV
pundit Alan Shearer in criticising the style of play/entertainment value of
Newcastle Utd last season. The former Toon and England centre-forward,
apparently condemned last season's fayre as 'hard work' to watch. In fact,
he claimed that it was so boring that he found it hard to give away free
tickets to his pals! Moreover, urging Alan Pardew to turn Newcastle Utd in
the 'great entertainers,' Shearer states:
We had a dreadful back half of the season and it was hard work watching it.
This season I am hoping that we can produce a brand of football that can
excite the fans. I would love it if we were going to be in the top four.
Realistically, it is not going to happen. So, we have to look at other ways
to entertain. I hope we can go out and produce a brand of football that will
excite 50,000 supporters.'
West Ham fans will be bemused by these reported comments, considering the
way in which Mr Shearer, commenting last season on MoTD, dismissed the
concerns of Hammers fans about the poor style of footbal, under Sam
Allardyce, and the way it contravened the club's most cherished traditions.
So, we must ask: why is it ok for Hammers fans to endure 'hard to watch'
football, but not Newcastle Utd supporters? Why must Toon fans be
entertained, but not Hammers fans? What on earth is the essential
difference? Alan Pardew got the results to guarantee Premier League safety
for Newcastle Utd, according to Mr Shearer (talking about the Hammers on
MoTD) that is the crucial thing. So, why is he not satisfied?
Does Mr Shearer think that one set of standards should apply to his club and
another to ours? It would certainly seem so!
SJ. Chandos.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
WILL THE CLUB PROCEED WITH THE SIGNING OF MORGAN AMALFITANO?
By S J Chandos 19 Aug 2014 at 12:30
West Ham Till I Die
There have been long running reports that West Ham are setting up a £2m
(free transfer in some accounts) deal for Marsailles Morgan Amalfitano.
There have even been more recent reports that Amalfitano has had a training
ground bust up with the Marsailles Head Coach and is demanding a PL move,
with West Ham Utd his alleged preferred destination. So, it could well be
that a bargain deal could be struck for the, highly skilled, 29 year old
French international before the close of the summer transfer window.
However, there are suggestions in some quarters that the need for emergency
centre back cover, in view of Collins' suspension and the injury absence of
Tomkins, might financially scupper the Amalfitano deal. Is that correct?
The dominant rationale has been that we had sufficioent centre back
provision in Collins, Reid and Tomkins; especially, with Kouyate able to
provide cover and young Reece Burke coming through the ranks. Unfortunately,
the early double absence of Collins and Tomkins has re-opened the question
whether that arrangement is sufficient? Particularly with an understandable
reluctance to re-deploy the dynamic and effective Kouyate from his primary
midfield role. Consequently, there is talk of the club seeking an emergency
loan deal for another centre-back. And it has been suggested that this move,
based upon financial/FFFP considerations, may scupper the move for
Amalfitano.
I certainly hope that is not the case, because Amalfitano could be the final
peice in the restructure of our forward line. He is a potentially match
winning forward, with the ability to play wide or as an attacking
midfielder. As such, Amalfitano could inject additional play-making
creativity in the final third and provide us with options, particularly in
terms of increased competition for Jarvis and Downing. Last season, on loan
at WBA, he scored 4 goals in 28 appearances and it is fair to say that,
although not a prolific goal scorer, he is very much a scorer of spectacular
goals. However, his greatest contribution in a WBA shirt was as their
principle creative force, he carved out 45 clear scoring chances in those 28
games, far more than any of his fellow forwards. That, allied to his skill
and technique identifies him as a potentially key signing.
Some will say that we are already carving out plenty of chances, rather the
lack lies with their conversion. But with Zarate, Valencia and Sakho due to
be introduced up front, plus Carroll's eventual return and the emergence of
Elliott Lee, we can be hopeful that situation will soon be rectified.
Nevertheless, a PL squad can never have enough creativity and selection
options. And on that basis, I hope that the board manage to secure the move.
If necessary, the club should look to urgently off-load Vaz Te or Maiga to
free up the resources to ensure the deal can happen. With Lee ready to
challenge for a starting place, do we really need Vaz Te? While the
situation with Maiga is well documented and the exit for the player is long
over due.
Morgan Amalfitano could be an absolute revelation at West Ham Utd. Lets hope
that he gets the chance to prove it!
SJ. Chandos.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham eyeing Pablo Guerrero and Emanuel Insua in another South American
raid
Aug 19, 2014 14:54 By James Nursey
The 30-year-old striker would come in from Corinthians while the
highly-rated full back currently plies his trade for Boca Juniors
The Mirror
West Ham co-owner David Sullivan is trying to bring more South American
talent to Upton Park. The former Birmingham supremo likes to take a gamble
on talent from overseas. This season he splashed out on Argentine striker
Mauro Zarate and last season he brought over Wellington Paulista on loan.
Now Sullivan has asked Corinthians to take their Peruvian striker Pablo
Guerrero, 30, on loan with a view to a permanent deal. And Sullivan is also
trying to do the same with Boca Juniors for highly-rated full-back Emanuel
Insua. Sullivan's initial overtures have been rejected but he could return
with a cash offer
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham and Chelsea transfer target Antonio Rudiger to spark fresh Monaco
bid
Aug 15, 2014 22:30 By Darren Lewis
The wealthy French outfit are set to go back in for the 21-year-old
Stuttgart and Germany defender having already had a £12million offer
rejected
The Mirror
Monaco are determined to land highly-rated West Ham target Antonio Rudiger.
Chelsea are also among a number of high-profile Premier League clubs to have
shown an interest in the 21-year-old defender. But the French outfit have
already had a £12million bid rejected and intend to make another to keep the
rising star out of the clutches of the Premier League. The Hammers, who made
a bid of up to £8m for the centre-back earlier this summer, have fallen
behind in the race for Rudiger's services and have given up on landing the
player. Regarded as one of the brightest young defensive talents in Europe,
Rudiger has already been capped by world champions Germany this year. His
club, Stuttgart, maintain he is not for sale as he still has three years
left to run on his contract. Earlier this week, Stuttgart's director of
sport said: "[Manager] Armin Veh and I both agree that we want to Antonio
Rudiger leave under any circumstances. We need sporting quality and he has
it."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham in advanced talks with Micah Richards
By Liam Spencer on August 19, 2014 in Transfer News
Ironviews.com
The very reputable @ExWHUemployee is reporting that talks with Micah
Richards are at an advanced stage ahead of a loan deal. The Manchester City
defender is capable of playing at right back or in central defence, and
would prove a welcome addition given the injuries to Carl Jenkinson and
James Tomkins.
Still only 26, Richards has seen his career blighted by injury, but a move
to West Ham could lead to a new lease of life for the England international.
The East London Club have reportedly been talking to the defender for days,
so a move could be closer to completion than expected.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Valeri Bojinov in London to discuss terms of free transfer to West Ham as
former Manchester City striker lines up Premier League return
Valeri Bojinov missed Levski Sofia's last game to travel to England to
discuss terms of free transfer to West Ham
By SIMON JONES FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 17:37, 19 August 2014 | UPDATED: 17:47, 19 August 2014
Daily Mail
Former Manchester City and Fiorentina striker Valeri Bojinov is in London to
discuss terms of a free transfer to West Ham from Levski Sofia. Bojinov
missed his side's 2-1 win over Botev Plovdiv on August 17 because of a
clause in the striker's contract, Levski sporting director Georgi Ivanov
confirmed. 'We had to let him go because we have an agreement. I allowed him
to travel to England because I am contractually required to do so. But he
remains a Levski player until he signs with another team,' Ivanov told
Bulgarian National Radio.
VALERI BOJINOV LEAGUE FACT FILE
Born: Bulgaria, Feb 15 1986 (age 28)
2002-2005: Lecce (65 lg apps, 16 goals)
2005-2007: Fiorentina (36, 8)
2006-2007: Juventus (loan) (18, 5)
2007-2010: Manchester City (11, 1)
2009-2010: Parma (loan) (30, 8)
2010-2011: Parma (31, 3)
2011-2013: Sporting CP (8, 2)
2012-2012: Lecce (loan) (10, 1)
2012-2012: Verona (loan) (13, 1)
2013-2013: Vicenza (loan) (18, 4)
2014-2014: Levski Sofia (14, 6)
Bojinov spent the second half of last season at Levski in an attempt to get
a once-promising career, derailed by injuries and distractions off the
pitch, back on track. His emergence as a promising teenager at Italian side
Lecce in 2002, where he made his senior debut a month short of his 16th
birthday, drew glowing reviews and comparisons to another teenage sensation
– England's Wayne Rooney, then at Everton.
Bojinov got his big move aged only 18 in 2005, when he moved to Fiorentina,
where he scored eight goals in 36 appearances. He also spent some time on
loan at Juventus – then relegated to the Serie B following the Calciopoli
match-fixing scandal – before securing a move to Manchester City in 2007.
His career in England was derailed by two major injuries – first to his knee
ligaments in August 2007 and then an Achilles injury a year later. All in
all, he played only 11 matches for City and scored one goal before being
loaned to Parma, a move made permanent in the summer of 2010. The striker
never appeared to recover from his injuries and played mostly as a
substitute at Parma, moving to Sporting Lisbon a year later, where he failed
to stake a claim as a starter as well. Only six months into his tenure with
Sporting, he was banned from the club after taking, and missing, a potential
match-winning spot kick deep into added time in a cup game – wrestling the
ball from the designated penalty taker – sparking a furious reaction among
the coaching staff and the club's fans. After several loan spells with
Italian clubs, Bojinov came to Bulgaria but has been underwhelming at
Levski, as the club finished fifth in the league last season.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
A new rivalry
KUMB.com
Filed: Tuesday, 19th August 2014
By: Paul Turner
There can be discord and ill feeling between sets of fans. Perceived slights
and insults can fester and over the course of time become bigger and more
disproportionate then the original incident or initial intent.
There can be events that cloud judgement and objectiveness like the reported
incidents in Germany between Newcastle United and West Ham United fans where
the event takes on a narrative and life of its own that become embellished
and twisted to fit an agenda.
There are also the unreported acts on an individual basis be it for example
an act of aggression, drunkenness or foul temper that can lead to a loss of
reputation and resentment is cast upon the club or fan base in general. Over
time opinions and thoughts and experiences of events that become deep seated
and entrenched can be passed down to the next generation of supporters who
were not original witnesses to the initial event but carry on the memory
regardless.
Rivalries that date back decades and centuries are continuations of the ill
feeling generated by historical events, be it football teams born from
opposing dockyards or clubs moving to new locations where established teams
exists as examples. These kinds of rivalries can also stem from multiple
historical social issues between different areas or groups on an economic
basis which have been in place for what seems like forever making the
rivalry seem inherent.
Dating back to the kingdoms of Wessex and Mercie or even further back to the
time of the dinosaurs with cave men and women, the reasoning as to how a
feud begins might be difficult to pin point and is usually not for one
particular, clear cut reason but a perception and interpretation of a view
point historically taken by someone else and then passed on.
West Ham United by their location and history has rivalries with other
London based clubs. There are also clubs which seem to elicit general
dislike or derision from the Hammers faithful but not necessarily a direct
rivalry like you would consider some of the other London based clubs. Within
these particular parameters, where does Sheffield United fit?
There is no prolonged history or record of noticeable events between the two
clubs to speak of leading up to the events of the 2006/07 season so the
events themselves of that fateful season are the trigger for the current ill
feeling. The in's and outs have been reported here on KUMB and on many other
websites ranging from threats of lawsuits from players who managed to
engineer big money moves regardless to a lead football writer arguing that
one player made all the difference to West Ham United winning a match or the
transfer of Steve Kabba.
There are many facts and events that transpired or were recorded that I
could go into in relation to the whole Carlos Tevez situation but that would
be re-treading old ground. What is not old ground is the upcoming match
between West Ham United and Sheffield United at the Boleyn Ground in the
Capital One Cup second round.
In terms of how you would define the rivalry between our two clubs, from a
West Ham United perspective the majority view seems to be one of loathing
towards Sheffield United for what happened during events and afterwards
rather then your more traditional geographical or social rivalry.
That does not take away from the strength of feeling or any of the issues at
hand. This is the first meeting between the two sides since Sheffield
United's relegation from the Premier League and the emotion is naturally
going to be heightened due to this fact as the two sets of fans converge on
the Boleyn.
Much will be written on forums and spoken about on phone-in shows and on
social media but ultimately the events that took place occurred between the
two clubs, not directly between the two sets of supporters. The strength of
emotion will be on display for all to see (if indeed the match is chosen for
TV coverage, by a much wider audience) but this should never overstep the
mark into disorder.
There is perceived right and wrong on both sides of the debate with claim
and counter claim but it serves no one any good turning this second round
match in the Capital One Cup into something more then a football match.
What happens after the match though? Regardless of who wins will that
resentment always be there until the next meeting on the football pitch?
Well the way things stand and from reading social media and forum posts on
both sides there is a majority view that this feeling is here to stay.
Always to be held in higher regard then other matches the two sides may play
in a regular season.
For future generations that will support either West Ham United or Sheffield
United, they will have the experiences and stories behind "the Carlos Tevez
Affair" told and thus the baton will be passed on to carry on the rivalry
when the two sides renew acquaintances in future matches.
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New-born Rav "pain free and on fire"
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 19, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
Ravel Morrison finally looks to be sorting himself out under the gentle
guidance of Teddy Sheringham. The 21 year old midfielder may be facing a
court case in Manchester on August 28 but there is no sign that it's having
a negative effect his attitude to training – quite the opposite. Indeed the
player is the first one in and the last one away from the training ground.
Indeed, yesterday he was still working with attacking coach Sheri an hour
after everybody else had gone home.
A source told ClaretandHugh: "There are two factors that have changed
things. "He's on fire in training because he's pain free for the first time
in three years. All the pain has gone from his groin and his running and
turning is brilliant. "Teddy Sheringham loves working with him and goes on
for as long as Rav wants to. "He has also cleared a lot of people out of his
life and is living more or less on his own …and loving it. "He really does
seem to be getting it at last and he's happy with his own company…something
we never thought we'd see. "There's the court case to deal with of course
but once that is our of the way I think West Ham will have the player on
their hands they know they have always had."
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Keeper returns to West Ham
Posted by Sean Whetstone on August 19, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
Crawley Town chief executive Michael Dunford says he has no plans to bring
goalkeeper Raphael Spiegel back from West Ham on loan. Spiegel's one-month
loan spell with Crawley ended yesterday and he has returned to the Hammers.
Dunford said "Raphael has gone back, we wish him well but West Ham want him
to be playing regularly so we can't offer that" The 21-year-old Switzerland
Under-21 international joined the Hammers in 2012 but is yet to make his
first team debut. Spiegel began his career at Grasshopper Club Zurich,
featuring 41 times for their second team and had loan spells at FC Wil 1900
and SC Bruhl SG. He signed with West Ham on a three-year deal in summer 2012
and has featured regularly in the under-21 side over the last two seasons.
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Big night for on-fire Moncur
Posted by Sean Whetstone on August 19, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
Loanee George Moncur will be looking to make it 3 goals in 3 games tonight
when he starts for Colchester United against Notts City in the League 1
match at 7.45pm. Moncur who turned 21 on Monday scored the only Colchester
goal on Saturday after he opened the scoring on nine minutes. That was his
second goal of the season after scoring on his debut against Oldham
Athletic which ended 2-2. Colchester eventually lost their second league
game of the season 2-1 to Bristol City. Moncur also received Colchester
United's Man of the Match award for the second league game running by the
Colchester fans where he is already a favourite. Belated Birthday wishes
to George and keep up the good work scoring on loan tonight.
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City ace back on the Irons radar
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 19, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
West Ham have again cast their eyes in the direction of Manchester City's
Micah Richards as they look for a new defender. Despite being a natural
right back, Richards can slot into a central defensive role quite
comfortably and would be a great addition given James Collins' suspension
and James Tomkins hamstring injury. And ClaretandHugh can reveal that the
Hammers have been in touch with Manchester City in the hope they can sort
out a loan deal for the player.
However, Richards – who is in the last year of his City deal – is currently
earning around £70k a week and the Irons will need to organise a wage
sharing deal if it is to happen. Much will depend on the outcome of James
Tomkins with hopes rising today his hamstring injury may not be as bad as at
first feared. Richards, however is seen as a great addition and could be
brought in on a three or six month deal which will suit the Hammers wages
position. A source told ClaretandHugh exclusively: "The problem from City's
point of view is that if they loan him it will be difficult for them to get
a fee for him given he's in the last year of his deal "We do not think City
will subsidise his wage, but we have asked and there have been talks."
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Hammers summer investment could hit £90m
Posted by Sean Whetstone on August 19, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
The true cost of the Hammers' summer transfer dealings could reach as high
as £90 million over the next five years. West Ham are believed to have paid
about £24.5m in fees this transfer window but that amount could rise to
nearly £37m based on certain conditions such as appearances and performance
related targets. Add to this a massive £43m wage bill over the next four to
five years plus £6m in NI Employers contribution for the seven new signings.
It is thought agents fees will add another £4m to the bill bringing the
total investment as high as £90 million! Mauro Zarate joined from Velez
Sarsfield on a free transfer after he bought out his own contract. He is
believed to be earning £40k per week which would £8.3m in wages over his 4
year contract. Aaron Creswell is believed to have cost an initial fee of
£3.75m which could rise to a maximum £7m based on certain conditions. He
signed a five year contract around £25k per week which would cost £6.5m in
wages over 5 years. Carl Jenkinson has joined from Arsenal on season long
loan and is thought to earn £32k per week which could work out £1.6m in
wages. Cheikhou Kouyate joined from Anderlecht for a fee close to £8m. He
signed a 4 year contract and is believed to earn around £35k per week which
would equate to £7.2m in wages over 4 years, Difara Sakho signed from Metz
for initial fee £2.5m possibly rising to £6.5m based on certain conditions.
It is believed to be earning £15k per week plus £5k per appearance. Over his
4 year contract that could cost £4.1m in wages. Enner Valencia signed from
Pachuca for initial fee believed to be £9.5m possibly rising up to £14m on
certain conditions being met. He is believed to be getting £45k per week
which would work out at £11.7m in wages over his 5 year contract. Finally
Diego Poyet is believed to joined as a free agent although a £700,000 fee
was paid to Charlton as compensation. He signed a 4 year contract believed
to worth £17k per week or £3.5m in wages over 4 years,
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Tuesday, August 19
Daily WHUFC News - 15th-19th August 2014
Haycock rues small margins
WHUFC.com
Development Squad coach Nick Haycock felt the Hammers were not far away from victory against Spurs
18.08.2014
Development Squad coach Nick Haycock was left to rue the 'small margins' of football going against his side after they lost out to Tottenham Hotspur in their Barclays U21 Premier League opener on Monday night. The Hammers showed good mental fortitude to get back in the contest after Daniel Akindayini gave the hosts a first half lead. Kieran Bywater's free-kick gave West Ham the platform to try and win it themselves, but it was Spurs who took the points through Cristian Ceballos' 74th minute winner and Haycock felt his side could have been more clinical. He explained: "I thought it was a good advert for Under-21s football - there was a healthy crowd in and the game had a real good tempo to it. "I'm disappointed with the result because I thought it could have gone either way. There were moments when they could have asserted their authority and there were moments when we got back in the game. "We did excellently to get back in the game and then we had a couple of chances to go 2-1 up, so it might have been a different story. "I was pleased with the attitude of the players, but I thought we could have controlled the game a little better at 1-1. "We stepped on to them well, which was the instruction we gave at half-time, to not let the centre backs have too much controlled possession. "We created countless good areas, it was just that final pass, cross or finish that was missing. It was small margins and we don't want to keep going into the dressing room talking about small margins. "The clinical finishes Tottenham showed on Monday is the difference at any level. That's where we've been found out a little tonight."
Kieran Bywater finished as the Under-18s' top goalscorer with 18 to his name last term, and Haycock says he can aim high having made the step-up this season. He added: "Kieran has done well, he's gone back to the central midfield role he played for many seasons at the younger age groups. "He can score from there as well. He has got good delivery from set pieces, and if it is a cross to the far post it's a great area to put it in. "Shooting towards the far post means it has got a chance of going straight in as it did, or someone can get a touch."
The Hammers have a swift opportunity to put things right when they host Southampton at the Boleyn Ground on Friday evening and Haycock is looking forward to seeing how his team responds. He concluded: "I said in the dressing room that when you're in the league programme you haven't got time to be sombre about a defeat because it's about how we react. "We'll watch the clips back from the game, see the good things and bad things that we did, we'll recover with the sports science department and then we'll be back on the training field to get ready for the Southampton game."
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Reid - The new boys did well
WHUFC.com
Debutants Aaron Cresswell, Cheikhou Kouyate and Enner Valencia impressed Winston Reid
18.08.2014
Winston Reid was impressed with the contributions of debutants Aaron Cresswell, Cheikhou Kouyate and Enner Valencia as West Ham United got their 2014/15 Barclays Premier League campaign underway against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday. The Hammers came up just short on the day, losing out to Eric Dier's injury time goal, but Reid took heart from the performance, not least from the new boys. Cresswell played the 90 minutes at left-back, while Kouyate found himself alongside Reid in the heart of defence for the final 27 minutes following James Collins' dismissal for collecting two yellow cards. With Enner Valencia also making his bow from the bench, Reid believes all three - and fellow new arrivals Mauro Zarate, Diafra Sakho, Carl Jenkinson and Diego Poyet - will have plenty to offer. "There were some good positives out there," he said. "The new boys did well, Aaron [Cresswell] and Cheikhou [Kouyate] from the start and Enner [Valencia] came on as well. "For the new boys it's nice to get them on the pitch early and there's still a couple of boys sitting on the bench and ready to go. The squad is looking strong and I'm sure everybody is going to be pushing for the next game to try and improve. "Cheikhou showed his versatility by moving back to centre half at the end, and I think I'm going to need to learn some French if that's going to happen again! "He did well on Saturday and you can see why he was brought to the Club."
Reflecting on Saturday's result, Reid felt the Hammers deserved more than they got. "It was cruel," he added. "That's football - we try and do our best, but unfortunately they've scored a goal at the end and that's it. "There were positives to take from the performance, the boys did pretty well out there. We couldn't get the ball in the back of the net ourselves and unfortunately they've done that. "The main lesson is to make sure we make the most of when we're on top. It was a disappointing game, it wouldn't go in and that's it."
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Squad numbers confirmed
WHUFC.com
West Ham United can confirm the Club's squad numbers for the 2014/15 season
15.08.2014
West Ham United can confirm the Club's squad numbers for the 2014/15 season. The Hammers' seven new signings have all been allocated their numbers, while a number of first-team squad members have also opted to take fresh numbers. The No1 shirt will again be vacant, with Winston Reid sticking with No2. Aaron Cresswell is the first of the new boys to feature, with the left-back taking the traditional No3 shirt.
Captain Kevin Nolan is No4, James Tomkins No5 and Matt Jarvis No7, while a second recent arrival, Senegal midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate, will wear No8.
Andy Caroll is No9, Argentine forward Mauro Zarate will wear No10, while England winger Stewart Downing has moved to No11 for the new campaign.
Wembley hero Ricardo Vaz Te is No12, goalkeeper Adrian sticks with his lucky No13 and Ravel Morrison becomes the second senior player to move, taking No14.
New boy Diafra Sakho has been allocated the No15, with Hammer of the Year Mark Noble keeping his cherished No16 shirt and Joey O'Brien remaining No17.
Loanee Carl Jenkinson takes No18, with James Collins, Guy Demel, Mohamed Diame and Jussi Jaaskelainen sticking with Nos19, 20, 21 and 22 respectively.
A sixth summer signing, midfielder Diego Poyet, takes the No23 shirt vacated by Downing, with Carlton Cole sticking with his No24.
Ecuador FIFA World Cup star Enner Valencia will wear No31, with youngsters Reece Burke and Dan Potts taking Nos32 and 33.
Of course, the No6 shirt was retired in honour of the late Bobby Moore OBE in August 2008, while the No38 was retired in memory of the late Dylan Tombides in April this year.
These squad numbers will be used in the Barclays Premier League and both domestic cup competitions.
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Sakho ready to fight for the cause
WHUFC.com
New signing Diafra Sakho plans to bring goals and a great deal more besides to the Boleyn Ground
15.08.2014
Summer signing number seven Diafra Sakho feels his five years spent with FC Metz were the perfect grounding for the challenge that awaits in the Barclays Premier League with West Ham United. Playing a pivotal part in back-to-back promotions, the 24-year-old weighed in with 39 league goals across the two campaigns and is now desperate to prove his pedigree in England. Just how soon he will first feature remains to be seen, but having long dreamt of this moment, Sakho is itching to make his mark in Claret and Blue. "I'm confident, that's for sure," he told West Ham TV. "This move has been two years in the making. English football is an altogether different story, but I'm going to try to slog it out to score goals here for West Ham as well. "I prepared for this all of last season with Metz and following that I think I'm ready. Beyond that, it's not for me to decide, but we'll see what the manager decides to do with me in the coming weeks. "I spoke to Sam last Friday. We discussed a little bit his philosophy on the game and what he expects of his players. I am going to give my all to fight for the Club until the end."
The addition of Sakho completes West Ham's triumvirate of Senegal internationals, with Mohamed Diame and Cheikhou Kouyate already among the Hammers' ranks. As he explores his new Club and gets to grips with the language, the 6' striker is glad of the familiar faces. "To have them by my side will give me an added incentive and, like them, I'm going to try to give my all for the Club," he confirmed. "In the last few weeks I've begun to discover more about the Club. I've not yet finished learning and I'll be taking English lessons too. That way it will become easier for me to express myself."
Indeed, Sakho will certainly need to to master the language if he is to see out his four-year deal and he already hopes that his east London stay will last long into West Ham's tenure at the former Olympic Stadium. "It's a project that inspires everyone," he added. "We've already spoken about it and I also hope to be here for the duration."
As for the fans, Sakho's appeal was a simple one, namely to keep doing what they've done so well for so long. He concluded: "Continue to support us as you've always done and we, for our part, will continue to give everything out on the pitch."
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Hammers undone by Spurs' late show
WHUFC.com
Eric Dier's stoppage-time strike condemns the Hammers to an opening-day defeat at the Boleyn Ground
16.08.2014
West Ham United 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur stole all three points at the Boleyn Ground on Saturday, as Spurs debutant Eric Dier popped up in the third minute of stoppage time to consign West Ham United to defeat on the opening day of the Barclays Premier League. With the game seemingly headed for a goalless draw, Dier raced onto Harry Kane's through ball before rounding Adrian and slotting into the unguarded net. Mark Noble had earlier passed up the Hammers' best chance after half an hour, firing his spot-kick wide of the post in the wake of Kyle Naughton's dismissal for handball. But Sam Allardyce's men were unable to keep their full complement either, as James Collins saw red in the 63rd minute for a second bookable offence.
In a pulsating affair, the impressive Cheikhou Kouyate was quickly in the thick of it, bursting through a flimsy challenge and sliding in Carlton Cole. West Ham's No24 shrugged off Younes Kaboul and when his square ball ricocheted back to his feet, he side-footed over from 18 yards. At the other end, Christian Eriksen was orchestrating the Spurs attack, looking for Emmanuel Adebayor, but only finding the head of Winston Reid. But it was midway through the first half that West Ham really began to make their presence felt and a flurry of chances followed. First up, Ricardo Vaz Te was unable to adjust his feet quickly enough to volley Noble's corner goalward and instead miscued back across the face.
And it was the Portuguese forward who got his head to Downing's centre, but this time Vaz Te's effort slid just past the far post. Cole then dragged an effort right across the face, forcing Danny Rose into some last-ditch defending, with Downing poised to convert. Kouyate was next to go close, as he latched on to another teasing Downing cross, only to see his glancing header go a yard wide of Hugo Lloris' right-hand upright. As it turned out, those missed chances were merely the precursor to the main event. Noble's corner was flicked on by Reid, with Nolan's snapshot effort on the turn cannoning into the arms of Naughton. Though a presumably unsighted Chris Foy was unmoved, his assistant on the far side awarded the spot-kick, prompting the referee to give Naughton his marching orders. As ever, Noble took responsibility, but despite sending Lloris the wrong way, rolled his effort wide of the left-hand post, his first miss from 12 yards since 2009.
Now a man to the good, the Hammers continued to push for the opener, with the lively Aaron Cresswell picking out Cole, whose latest effort was blocked behind. The resulting corner fell kindly to Vaz Te at the far stick, who smashed an effort right back from where it had come, but beyond the upright. Spurs, meanwhile, having adopted a 4-4-1, still posed a significant threat, with an Aaron Lennon strike fizzing narrowly over Adrian's crossbar. But West Ham should have gone in front after 42 minutes, when Vaz Te headed Joey O'Brien's centre into the ground and the grateful arms of Lloris.
Downing engineered the Hammers' first chance of note following the restart, forcing Lloris into action with a left-footed drive from 20 yards. The French stopper might have gathered, but could only parry and then had to be on his toes to tip the ball away from the feet of Noble. And the visitors had an opportunity of their own on the hour, when Rose burst clear down the left and though his cut-back was behind Adebayor, it looked destined for Lennon, but for the excellent intervention of Cresswell. Minutes later and West Ham's numerical advantage was scrubbed out. Already cautioned for a tug on Erik Lamela, Collins was adjudged to have illegally stopped Adebayor in his tracks, with Foy wasting no time in producing a second yellow card.
Unsurprisingly, the balance of power shifted. With 70 on the clock, substitute Andros Townsend twice went close in a matter of seconds. He firstly saw a long-range drive tipped over by Adrian, before his menacing angled effort was deflected beyond the far post. With the game becoming stretched, Kouyate got the better of Kaboul and set Noble away, with Lloris diving low to his right to foil West Ham's No16. Hammers new boy Enner Valencia was introduced late on, but it was Downing who went agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock. Collecting Nolan's astute flick, the West Ham winger was brilliantly foiled by Lloris from eight yards, with Etienne Capoue completing the clearance.
Though Nabil Bentaleb saw his late drive palmed away to safety, there was still time for a dramatic conclusion, as unlikely hero Dier danced through to end Tottenham's Hammers hoodoo.
West Ham United: Adrian, O'Brien (Demel 62), Reid, Collins, Cresswell, Nolan (c), Noble, Kouyate, Downing, Vaz Te (Diame 68), Cole (Valencia 81)
Subs: Jaaskelainen, Zarate, Poyet, Burke
Booked: Collins, Kouyate
Sent off: Collins
Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Rose, Kaboul (c), Lennon (Townsend), Adebayor (Kane 83), Lamela (Holtby 61), Dier, Naughton, Eriksen, Capoue, Bentaleb
Subs: Friedel, Soldado, Dawson, Davies
Goal: Dier 93
Sent off: Naughton
Referee: Chris Foy
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'We paid the ultimate price'
WHUFC.com
Sam Allardyce was left frustrated after his West Ham United side suffered a cruel late opening-day defeat
16.08.2014
Sam Allardyce was left shattered after his West Ham United team conceded a last-gasp goal to lose 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur. The Hammers looked on course to start the 2014/15 Barclays Premier League season with a point from an eventful game at the Boleyn Ground, only for a host of missed chances - including Mark Noble's first unsuccessful penalty in five years - to cost them dear. Both sides had a man sent-off - Kyle Naughton for the handball that led to Noble's missed 30th-minute spot-kick and James Collins for two bookable offences on 63 minutes - before Spurs debutant Eric Dier popped up three minutes into added time to collect Harry Kane's pass, round Adrian and silence the Claret and Blue Army.
Afterwards, Big Sam spoke to West Ham TV, admitting his frustration at his players' inability to put the ball in the back of the net.
Sam, what did you make of the game?
SA: "The length of time it went on, watching the game from sat upstairs or down on the touchline, you know that this game will sometimes bite you when you don't finish off the opposition when you've created so many chances. "We paid the ultimate price in the last minute because we didn't secure the victory well before Tottenham got their goal. When Tottenham did get their goal, it was with their last chance and probably their only clear-cut chance in the whole game.
"You've got to be two goals up because then we could have got away with it and still taken the three points. But because we've not scored the penalty, because we've had 20 attempts at goal and haven't scored and because we allowed the opposition to equal it up to ten against ten, they were the three most important factors in why we have lost this game. "It's a real shame based on the overall game and the efforts the players have given."
We had 18 shots on goal, but only four on target - was that our major issue?
SA: "Yes, that was the problem - 20-odd shots on goal but only four or five on target. Tottenham didn't have very many on target either, but in terms of ratio they have had about eight and scored one goal at the death. "It was strange that their centre-half playing right-back rounded the keeper and put it in, because you wouldn't expect a centre-back to be capable of that, but he was. "Like I said, the real problem was that we missed too many chances when it was 11v11 and we missed too many chances when it was 11v10 and missed too many chances when it was 10v10 - that's a real shame on today's performance against a side which has spent hundreds and hundreds of millions of pounds."
Were you ever tempted to change the system and put a second striker on when it was 11v10?
SA: "No, not really because we had got players who were needing to come off and players who had problems and couldn't make that change. Why make that change when you've had 20 attempts at goal? "We've had 20 attempts at goal and enough balls in the box and chances, whether we played 4-3-3, 3-5-2 or 4-6-0, we couldn't have done any better apart from being clinical and putting the ball in the back of the net. That was against a Tottenham, too.
"It wasn't just when it was 11v10, but it was before that at 11v11, when we got into the game after ten minutes. Like I said, it's a real shame we lost, but we have only ourselves to blame. "Again, the key area is that we must start scoring goals. We have to score more goals this year than last year and this is a massive indicator as to why, because we would have won three points had we been a bit more clinical."
What did you make of the performances of the new boys, Cheikhou Kouyate, Aaron Cresswell and Enner Valencia?
SA: "They are young and they've got the energy and skill. For me, Cheikh was the man of the match. He did everything a midfielder has to do and more. He outshone any of Tottenham's midfield players by a long mile. He went into centre-half when we needed him after Ginge got sent-off and he did well.
"Aaron did fine. Performance-wise, there were no problems at all, but result-wise is the ultimate so we're all very disappointed."
What is Diafra Sakho going to bring to the squad?
SA: "He is a real powerhouse. He is about 5'11 - a little bit taller than Enner - and he has got a lot of pace. He scored 20 goals last year in the Second Division in France and he got Metz into the First Division. "There is a risk factor there, because he hasn't played at this level yet, so I don't want to rely on him too much, too soon, if I can help it. The same with Enner, who has really only had eight or ten days of training and hasn't played in a game for us at all. We put him on for ten minutes to get a little feel and he did OK. "It was just that final crushing blow that has left us all so disappointed, but it shouldn't cloud the way we played. We've played very, very well and sadly for the man who is West Ham through and through and has never missed a penalty in the three years I've been here, the rest of the lads should have made sure his penalty miss didn't matter. Sadly, we didn't."
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Noble vows to put miss behind him
WHUFC.com
Mark Noble says he will not shy away from penalty duty after his spot kick woe on Saturday
18.08.2014
Mark Noble has promised to get over his penalty miss against Tottenham Hotspur by burying the next one that comes along. The Hammer of the Year has an enviable record from the spot, converting 12 times from 12 yards in the last three seasons, but he rolled wide of the mark on Saturday after sending Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris the wrong way. He has bounced back in the past after missing spot kicks against Hull City and Chelsea and intends to do so again when West Ham United win their next penalty. "I remember missing one against Chelsea, which cost us a point. Frank Lampard came up to me afterwards and said make sure you take the next one and smash it in the back of the net," he explained. "I'll never forget those words and hopefully I'll be doing that again. "I've always said to myself there will be a day when I do miss one. It's heart-aching to miss one against Spurs, but for sure I'll be stepping up for the next one we have. "I knew where I was going with this one, I was going to whip it high in that corner, but I saw Lloris going and I just thought to go safe. "It went wrong from there and it's obviously disappointing, but hopefully we don't get too down because it was a positive performance."
The Hammers' display gave Noble plenty of plus points as he looked to forget his error and he believes it bodes well for the campaign ahead. "We were stung on Saturday and it's a harsh, harsh lesson to be learned for us," he added. "At the end of the day, we lost the game and I hate losing but the positives we can take from the game are major. "We know that if we play like that we're going to win more than we lose. To lose in the last minute is devastating, but as much as we didn't get the result we know we got the performance. "The new boys all performed well. Aaron [Cresswell] and Cheikhou [Kouyate] started the game and I thought they were both brilliant. "With Cheikhou and Kev [Kevin Nolan] in there, it gives me the licence to get forward a bit more and I really enjoyed the game, apart from the penalty."
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Kouyate: 'I can still do better'
WHUFC.com
Cheikhou Kouyate insists he has more to give following Saturday's all-action display against Spurs
17.08.2014
Cheikhou Kouyate has told West Ham United supporters they can expect even more from him in the coming weeks, after impressing in Saturday's 1-0 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur at the Boleyn Ground. On his Hammers debut, the imposing Senegal midfielder wasted little time in throwing his weight around, showing all the dynamism, determination and skill that endeared him to fans of former club RSC Anderlecht. Kouyate, however, feels some way off his best just now and admits there is still plenty of work to be done on the training pitch. "I think I can still do better," he told West Ham TV. "I'm not yet at 100 per cent, so I'll be doing even more work. Now that the league's begun, I've got to work hard in training to find my rhythm. "As soon as I'm at 100 per cent I'll really be able to give more than I was able to on Saturday. Not bad, I know, but I'm certain that I can do better still."
As for Saturday's last-gasp loss, the 24-year-old admitted Eric Dier's winner was a bitter pill to swallow, particularly after watching many a West Ham chance come and go. But Kouyate has no plans to dwell on the negatives and is already contemplating making amends at Crystal Palace this weekend. He continued: "We're disappointed, as on the whole we deserved more than this defeat. We fully deserved to win but that's how football is, particularly if you don't score. We feel we had more [of the game] and had more chances. They had one chance and stuck it away. At the moment that hurts. "The manager was frustrated, he was angry, because to lose a game in that manner shouldn't happen. But what's done is done, now we have to concentrate on the next one and try to take the points that we've lost on Saturday."
Meanwhile, the mild-mannered midfielder was taken aback by the famous Boleyn Ground atmosphere on Saturday, not least when he first emerged from the tunnel prior to kick-off."The atmosphere was fantastic," he confirmed. "From the moment that I stepped out onto the pitch I had goosebumps. The atmosphere was really phenomenal and the supporters were amazing. They give us the desire to succeed and to give more for the team."
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Mediawatch - 17 August
WHUFC.com
Our daily look at West Ham United in the news
17.08.2014
Sunday's match reports from the season opening 1-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur lead on the fact that West Ham missed a real opportunity to make a flying start to the campaign. The Observer talk of the spurned chances, but the Independent carries quotes from manager Sam Allardyce saying he was encouraged by his team's display. Carlton Cole told Sky Sports that defeat was harsh on the Hammers, while the Evening Standard, and London 24 has further coverage of the manager's post-match press conference.
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Cresswell bemoans missed chances
WHUFC.com
Summer signing Aaron Cresswell believes the Hammers were hard done by against Spurs
16.08.2014
West Ham United debutant Aaron Cresswell felt the Hammers would likely have been comfortable victors against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, had they struck the first blow at the Boleyn Ground. Making his first appearance in the Barclays Premier League, the 24-year-old looked at home in the Hammers' back-four, one that was ultimately breached by Eric Dier in the dying seconds. While he was in no mood for personal accolades, Cresswell was voted Man of the Match by sponsor Blueprint Properties and understandably proud to have made his top-flight bow. "I had all my family here and it was a proud moment for me personally," he told West Ham TV. "But it's not about me, it's about the team and getting the three points. It's not personal, it's not about individual performances. The first thing you look at is the result and we didn't get that on Saturday, so I'm very disappointed."
In a tight affair, the first goal was always going to be all-important and Cresswell insists the Hammers should have made more of the chances that fell their way before the interval. He continued: "We had a good few chances in the first half and we had the better chances. We just needed to take one to go on and win the game. Unfortunately, in the end we got punished. We were always on the front foot in the first half and obviously when they went down to ten men, up until James Collins' sending off, we were the team to looking to score. But when we lost James it was anyone's game, it was an open game on a big pitch.
"It's a massive blow. We just needed that one goal to kick us on and I think we'd have went on to win two, or three-nil maybe. But it wasn't to be."
Looking ahead to next weekend's trip to Crystal Palace, Cresswell hopes the Hammers can learn the lessons from Saturday's loss and approach it with optimism. "We'll sit down, go over it, see what we can take out of the game and where we could have gone on to win it," he explained. "It's just about taking the positives into the next game and looking forward to it."
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Under-18s start in style
WHUFC.com
The Academy began their season in the perfect manner, defeating West Bromwich Albion 3-1
16.08.2014
West Ham United's Under-18s got their season off to a flyer by defeating West Bromwich Albion 3-1 on Saturday afternoon. Djair Parfitt-Williams, Grady Diangana and Manny Onariase were all on target to ensue Steve Potts' men would make a winning start to the Barclays Under-18 Premier League season.
They only had to wait three minutes before taking the lead, as Parfitt-Williams turned home a Diangana corner to make it 1-0. The Baggies had a chance to level eleven minutes later from a corner of their own, but Tim Brown saved the header comfortably. With 31 minutes on the clock, Diangana followed up to notch after Jordan Brown's shot was saved and the Hammers were in a strong position. Their grip on the game intensified six minutes after the interval when another set play proved profitable. Onariase was the man who made his presence felt, finishing from Diangana's free-kick delivery. Jordan Brown went close to making it four 15 minutes from the end, cutting in from the flank and shooting wide from the edge of the box. The hosts had the final word, pulling one back 13 minutes from time, but it had no impact on the result as the Hammers made the journey home from the Midlands with all three points.
West Ham United: T.Brown, Pike, Knoyle (c), Sylvestri, Akinola, Onariase, Amoo, Diangana, J.Brown, Parfitt-Williams, Sheriff
Subs:Parsons, Bailey, Browne, Adebayo, Linley
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U21s begin season at Spurs
WHUFC.com
Nick Haycock's Development Squad kick-off the 2014/15 Barclays U21 Premier League season on Monday
17.08.2014
Nick Haycock's Development Squad kick-off the 2014/15 Barclays U21 Premier League season at Tottenham Hotspur on Monday. West Ham United's young professionals make the relatively short trip up the A1 to Stevenage FC's Lamex Stadium, where a number of them featured in a first-team pre-season match in July. Monday's 7pm kick-off will give the likes of Elliot Lee, Dan Potts, Josh Cullen and Matthias Fanimo the opportunity to build on their own pre-season experiences, which saw the trio appear at home and abroad for Sam Allardyce's seniors. They will join Kieran Sadlier, Kieran Bywater and a host of other promising youngsters as the Hammers seek to build on a pre-season which has seen them travel to Germany and the Netherlands and win a four-team tournament at Cambridge United. "It will be a good game and it will be interesting to see how we go," said Haycock. "Spurs play in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday, so it will also be interesting to see what sort of players they use, but they have a big squad of seniors and young pros. "You can only control yourselves and hopefully we will have a few of the lads who have been with the first team in pre-season and will be available to play for us, so that they will be ready for the first team if and when required. "We've always had good young players at the Club and we've seen that in recent years. Those who have been with the first team in pre-season know they've got to come back to the U21s and show what they've learned and put in good performances. If they do that, it keeps them in the manager's mind for forthcoming games."
Haycock has been happy with the Development Squad's preparations for the new season, despite seeing them lose 5-0 in their final pre-season match at PSV in Eindhoven last week. "It's been a productive and positive time. We had a look at the analysis and it shows all the good things we have done in the pre-season, although the scoreline against PSV didn't show that. The stats that we have gone through - penalty area entries, shots, pass completion and possession - and we were the better team in all the categories. "We had 58 per cent of the ball in the second half, which is a very high percentage against a top European side like PSV. Obviously we had a few players missing, so the boys shouldn't be downbeat about their performance. It was just little margins and mistakes, which is a good indicator that they can't make them at this level. "We are going to go up against some powerhouses who spend a lot of money on their Academy systems, so it's going to be a tough ask for this season. It's one we are excited about and feel we can be competitive in every game. "The boys are going to be up against the best Academies in the country and it will be good for their development to see how they fare."
With the likes of Lee, Burke and Potts impressing at first-team level, Haycock is excited about the prospect of seeing them continue to develop in the Barclays U21 Premier League. Burke scored the winner in the Marathonbet Cup win over UC Sampdoria earlier this month, converting Lee's pass, while Potts has been consistently impressive over the last few weeks as he looks to cement a first-team squad place. "I was smiling because against Sampdoria Reece scored from Elliot's pass and, moments before that, Pottsy was up there in the box and having a shot too!" Haycock continued. "There will have been many people smiling when they saw that game because a lot of them have invested time and hard work in their development through the system. Everybody has had a part to play in that. "It was a pleasing thing for their families too and they will be delighted for them. It was fully deserved because they are a credit to the Club."
Kick-off at the Lamex Stadium is at 7pm, with tickets available on the night.
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Mediawatch - 18 August
WHUFC.com
Our daily look at the West Ham United stories making the news
18.08.2014
Monday's Sun (£) reports that the manager has said it will take a little time for the work he and attacking coach Teddy Sheringham are doing on the training field to have an impact. Meanwhile, the manager emphasised in this Daily Mail article the need for the Hammers to make a good start this season. He points to the start of 14 points from the first eight games two years ago acting as the launchpad for a fine campaign.
In the Telegraph, Big Sam commented that he didn't want Mark Noble to shoulder any of the blame for Saturday's defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.
Stewart Downing has said in the Daily Star that he believes the Hammers will finish in the top half if they continue to play as they did against Tottenham.
Meanwhile, Sky Sports say that Morgan Amalfitano, who spent last season on loan at West Brom from Marseille, is keen on a move to the Hammers.
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Manager on Monday
WHUFC.com
Sam Allardyce believes his players can make amends for a missed three points on Saturday
17.08.2014
Sam Allardyce was keen not to apportion any of the blame for Saturday's last-minute loss to Tottenham Hotspur on Hammer of the Year Mark Noble. The Academy graduate and normally-reliable penalty taker missed his first spot kick of Allardyce's reign when he dragged his effort from 12 yards wide on 28 minutes. Although the miss did end up proving costly with Eric Dier netting a last-minute winner for the visitors, Big Sam thought his side should have spared Noble's blushes by taking one of the many changes that followed. "I think if we'd scored the penalty we win the game," Big Sam said. "I don't think there's much doubt about that. In the end I would want the rest of the players to forgive Mark and not lie on him as a heavy burden as he doesn't deserve it as his penalty taking in the three years I've been here has been supreme. "We've got to forgive him for missing the odd one and the rest of the lads should have made up for that and when Nobes came in they should have smacked him on the back of the head and said don't worry about it we've got you out of jail as we should have won. "The Premier League will punish if you don't finish your chances and they punished us on Saturday."
Despite the disappointing end to what was an enthralling contest, Big Sam felt there were plenty of positives to be taken. Much of the talk among the media afterwards centred on the impressive debuts of Aaron Cresswell and Cheikhou Kouyate and the brief late cameo of Enner Valencia, which pointed to more exciting times to come. "When everyone is fit our squad runs at the same level as most teams around our level. We will have about 23 players and we can have 25 only so if they all get fit and we don't get as many injuries then we will be OK. We have players who are not quite ready to play as well like Valencia and [new signing Diafra] Sakho. "They have to feel their way into the Premier League so further down the line when they had the experience and the injured players come back, we will be much better in strength in depth. I think the team played exceptionally well on Saturday and should have won the game but they let it slip. "We will be working with them on the training pitch, but it is not going to be a magic potion overnight or wave a magic wand. It is about time and about talking to them and telling them about the areas of calm that you might need and positions you can get into to improve what you can already do and do better."
Looking ahead, a Premier League trip to Crystal Palace and a home match with Southampton a week later sandwich a Capital One Cup tie with Sheffield United, and the manager talked up the importance of ensuring his side chalk up some early points on the board. "Everything is the start. Everything is then a trigger to the whole season and whereabouts you are going to lay and finish. The perfect example is our first two seasons in the Premier League, where we acquired 14 points in the first eight games but only eight points from the first eight last season and we saw that last season was a struggle. "Our life is about results and it doesn't matter how well we play or compete against the opposition, the end game is winning and we haven't won so people will be disappointed.
"Nobody will be more disappointed than me or the players as we all knew we were in a great position to start the season off with a very good three points against a team that was meant to finish in the top four this season. In terms of creating changes, could we have done any more? I don't think so."
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Allardyce on... Tottenham
KUMB.com
Filed: Saturday, 16th August 2014
By: Staff Writer
A disappointed - yet not entirely dejected - Big Sam saw enough today to believe his West Ham will fare well this season. Read his entire post-match press conference exclusively here...
Sam: you must be wondering how you didn't get a least a point out of that game?
There's three big factors today that caused us to lose this game. We create chances but haven't been clinical enough to finish them off. Then poor old Mark Noble, for the first time since I've been here - over three years - misses a penalty. Then allowing ourselves to go down to 10 v 10.
Whichever stage of the game we were at, whether it was 11 v 11, 11 v 10 or 10 v 10 we had enough chances to win this game and didn't take the chances when we created them. We paid the ultimate price on the end, which is what this league is all about. It punishes you and it punished us to the nth degree today in the last minute, sadly.
I can't complain about the performance and I can't complain about the football we played. I can't complain about how many time we opened up and create chances against Tottenham - but I can complain about the fact that we didn't finish well enough, didn't finish clinically enough and were very naive in allowing ourselves to go down to 10 v 10.
Do you think the referee was trying to even things up a bit?
I don't think so. I think it's harsh but I think that's what they're instructed to do. I don't think he's got any choice because he'll get a ticking off from his bosses when he goes back to wherever he goes for his assessment. I don't agree with it, but it's what they have to do because it's what they're told to do - and in that case, I can't complain about it.
But, if you're at risk of getting sent off don't let the lad get past you. We'd been doing that all season and I can't complain about that too much, not from the referee. It was our fault, not the referee's today.
Was the result more disappointing because of the performance from players like Cresswell and Kouyate?
Kouyate was Man of the Match for me. He's a terrific young man who's only going to get better. Aaron's feeling his way into the Premier League as well having come from the Championship. [Considering] the injury to James Tomkins and all the players who are out, I thought it was a fantastic performance by the players today. I thought they played very, very well.
I listened to the Tottenham lad who scored the goal saying we played direct football, so he must have been at a different match to the one we played or saw today. We outplayed and out-created Tottenham Hotspur who are supposed to be finishing in the top four, but didn't finish them off.
So where we had delight last year - and perhaps sometimes not playing as well as we did today yet beating them three times - today we played brilliantly and haven't got anything.
You were the bookies' favourite to go first but Tony Pulis beat you...
Well Tony didn't get sacked, did he - he walked out.
But do you think they're going to come down after this defeat and say "alright..."
Who? The owners? If they're going to do it after one game they might as well have done it at the end of last season. Why wait until now? Why go through the summer we have and crate what we've tried to create and buy the players we have under my stewardship and then do it after one game?
At the end of the day we haven't deserved to lose, we've played very well. We've got a lot of players who'll come back and make us stronger when they're fit. On that performance today I'm very confident our season's going to be a good one.
Will James Tomkins be available for next weekend?
He has a hamstring and of course, that's disappointing. Our bench was really thin today on the basis of experienced players in the Premier League because of our injuries. Him adding to that concerned me a bit in terms of tactical substitutions today. The substitutions - apart from the last one - were forced upon me by injuries in the end and the sending off.
As I said, I've got nothing to complains about, given how the lads applied themselves today. They all know they really should have won it but they haven't put the chances in the back of the net like they should have. We can't get too downhearted but we've got to keep the level of performance up and we've got to be clinical.
Are you still looking to make a move in the transfer market?
Maybe. Maybe, if there's a nice player who becomes available and we think he's going to contribute to the first team in a big way. Then yes, that might be possible.
The Chairmen said over the summer they want to see more attacking football...
They saw it today.
Do you think you've proved that today with the performance? And would you have put on another striker if you had more fit?
When you've had 20 attempts at goal and the opposition have hardly had any, why do you need another striker on? It doesn't matter what system you play; Manchester United played two strikers today up front and they lost 2-1 at home to Swansea.
It's not about the systems. I suppose having another goalscorer is the critical point; finding another goalscorer for us is a critical matter - and he must play. That's a definite now. Like I said, 20 attempts at goal, chances created but not enough quality, so we need to find somebody who's got quality better than we already have to help us along the way and score the goals we need to.
Will DIafra Sakho be ready for next week?
Possibly yes, because he's done all of his pre-season at Metz.
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Poccetino on... West Ham Utd
KUMB.com
Filed: Sunday, 17th August 2014
By: Staff Writer
Speaking at a Premier League post-match presser entirely in English for the first time since arriving in the UK, new Spurs boss Mauricio Poccetino described his 'delight' at securing an opening day victory. His full conference exclusively here...
Mauricio: how pleased are you to start with a victory?
I'm very, very pleased for my players because of their effort and I'm pleased for the supporters because of their unbelievable support.
Did you worry when the penalty was awarded?
No, not worried - this situation happens sometimes. I think the red card was unfair but more importantly we never gave up, we kept calm and we believed in our skill. I believe in my team so we kept our offensive player, we re-organised our system and set-up and carried on. This is football and I'm very happy to get the three points today.
Why do you think it was unfair, the red card?
It was unfair for me because the ball was missing the target.
Even if it was on target do you think it's unfair for a player to be punished in that way?
No - I said the sending off was unfair; the penalty was always a penalty.
What will that victory do for the team and for Eric [Dier], who scored his first goal in England? Does he score like that in training?
[laughs] No, because he doesn't play as a centre forward! I'm very pleased for him; it was his debut and like the whole team, he gave a great performance. But this is our philosophy; believe always for 90/95 minutes in the game. This is our philosophy, to always try to win every game.
Is he a player you've been aware of and following for a long time?
Yes, always.
He's very young, do you think he's going to be a regular for you in the first team?
Yes, he's still young but he showed in the game today and against Schalke last week that he's in great form. He has quality and potential but he's still young so we have to give him the opportunity to play, but also be careful. But today I think he was the hero!
Can I be clear on that point: was he a player you wanted to sign or one of the players the club had already...
Tottenham signed Eric Dyer.
[Asst] They're asking did you want him as well?
[laughs] I am the head coach, no?
What I'm asking is was he coming to Spurs anyway or was he specifically someone you asked for?
We always decide together with the Chairman Daniel [Levy]. Before I signed my contract we talked about potential signings and Eric Dier was one on the list.
What about Andros Townsend when he came on? He really seemed to change the game for you.
Yes - but not only Eric and Andros, for me all the players are important. It's true that Andros has very good quality and is a great player but we need to manage it as we have a lot of games. It's possible that we use different players because we have quality and quantity here which is important for us.
Will that be one of your biggest challenges? Having to keep some big players on the bench and keeping everybody happy?
Yes, we always try to keep everyone happy. It's true that it's difficult to manage 25 players but we have a lot of games ahead and they'll all be important players for us.
Do you think you were fortunate today?
No, because when you believe and have a plan... In football sometimes, something happens that is difficult to manage but [it's important that] the team believes. After the sending off we kept our offensive player, we were unchanged. We said it's important to keep the result, but the opening goal was the most important thing.
I think we have a very important relationship with our supporters, because they helped us get the three points.
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Nobes: I scuffed it
KUMB.com
Filed: Monday, 18th August 2014
By: Staff Writer
Mark Noble has admitted that he mis-hit his missed penalty against Tottenham at the weekend. The reigning KUMB.com Player of the Year blew the opportunity to give West Ham what would have been a priceless lead against ten-men Tottenham on Saturday before the Hammers went on to lose the game in injury time thank to Eric Dier's 93rd-minute strike. Even though there has been no criticism whatsoever of Noble, who prior to Saturday had gone more than five years without missing from 12 yards, the midfielder was determined to apologise for his error - blaming himself for changing his mind about where to place his kick at the last minute. "I knew where I was going with this one," he told whufc.com. "I was going to whip it high in that corner, but I saw Lloris going and I just thought to go safe. It went wrong from there and it's obviously disappointing, but hopefully we don't get too down because it was a positive performance. "I don't think I have ever missed the target," he added. "I've had a couple saved, but never missed completely and that is a criminal offence. I scuffed it a little, to be honest. Everything went right in my mind, I knew exactly what I was going to do, but I just didn't connect with it right and that is the price you pay."
Despite having missed against Tottenham - his first failure to convert from 12 yards since a Petr Cech save earned Chelsea a 1-0 win at the Boleyn Ground back in April 2009 - Noble insists that he'll be ready to take the next penalty West Ham are awarded. "I remember missing one against Chelsea, which cost us a point. Frank Lampard came up to me afterwards and said 'make sure you take the next one and smash it in the back of the net'. I'll never forget those words and hopefully I'll be doing that again. "I've always said to myself there will be a day when I do miss one; it's heartbreaking to miss one against Spurs, but I'll be stepping up for the next one we have."
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Allardyce on Board: 'we've had our differences'
KUMB.com
Filed: Friday, 15th August 2014
By: Staff Writer
Sam Allardyce's relationship with his employers has often appeared to be fractious - something that even the manager himself admitted today. Writing in his weekly column for the Standard on the eve of tomorrow's opening fixture of the 2014/15 campaign - when neighbours Tottenham visit the Boleyn Ground attempting to avoid a fourth consecutive defeat against West Ham - Big Sam confessed that his relationship with David Sullivan and David Gold had often ran into difficulties. "As for my relationship with our two chairmen, we've had our differences, there's no doubt about that," he wrote. "For me and them, though, the disagreements come to a conclusion, a decision is made whatever it may be and we all wake up the next day and get on with it. "We discuss things, we agree or disagree, a decision is made and we move on — finished. Whether I agree with the decision or whether they do, we have to be decisive. We keep the communication lines open and remind ourselves we're not in this for different reasons — we're all working for the benefit of West Ham. "We're all trying to make West Ham better, to help the team produce better results and become a greater force in the Premier League."
That oft-perceived divide between the manager and his employers has appeared wider than ever this summer with David Sullivan having seemingly taken a greater interest in the club's transfer policy. New signing such as Enner Valencia and Mauro Zarate have the co-owner's influence stamped all over them, such is his penchant for signing a South American.
However regardless of the terms upon which they arrived at West Ham, Allardyce's job now is to mould those players - seven new signings, in all, following the arrival of Diafra Sakho yesterday - into a squad capable of troubling the upper half of the Premier League. And it's a challenge he continues to relish as he enters his 23rd season in management.
"I've learned a lot and I'm still learning. The day you think you know everything will be the day you should pack up," he surmised. "You do feel a difference with every successive season and the longer you're at one club, the more comfortable you become because you've had enough time to build.
"Whether you have loads of money or not so much, if you spend it wisely over five years you will end up with players who understand how you want to play and the position in which you find yourself. We're in year three now. We've picked all our players, we've recruited younger players with longevity, in contrast to the short-termism which rules football.
"A lot of our established players have valuable experience of the Premier League now. They've learned to cope with it physically and, more importantly, mentally and that will hold them in good stead in the months to come."
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Morgan Amalfitano keen on move to West Ham
Last Updated: 17/08/14 7:26pm
SSN
Sky Sports understands unsettled Marseille midfielder Morgan Amalfitano is desperate to secure a move to West Ham. The 29-year-old reportedly had a training ground bust-up with Marseille coach Marcelo Bielsa and is keen to exit the club. And Amalfitano is prepared to go on strike to ensure he returns to the Premier League with the Hammers before the closure of the transfer window at the end of this month. Amalfitano, who has one international cap for France, was on loan in England with West Brom last season. During his time at The Hawthorns, Amalfitano scored four goals in 28 appearances for Albion. Amalfitano started his career in France with Sedan and spent three years at Lorient before moving to Marseille in 2011.
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West Ham defender Aaron Cresswell admits to frustration on his debut
Last Updated: 17/08/14 3:33pm
SSN
West Ham defender Aaron Cresswell conceded his competitive debut for the club against Tottenham was a frustrating experience. Cresswell, who arrived at the Boleyn Ground this summer from Ipswich, suffered a disappointing start to his Premier League career when Eric Dier - another debutant - scored a late goal to give Tottenham a 1-0 victory. But the 24-year-old produced an impressive performance and provided a glimpse of the form that earned him a place in the Professional Footballers' Association Championship Team of the Year last season. And Cresswell is keen to put the setback behind him as West Ham prepare for another all-London clash against Crystal Palace next weekend. "I had all my family here and it was a proud moment for me personally," he said.
"But it's not about me, it's about the team and getting the three points. It's not personal, it's not about individual performances. "The first thing you look at is the result and we didn't get that on Saturday, so I'm very disappointed. "We'll sit down, go over it, see what we can take out of the game and where we could have gone on to win it. "It's just about taking the positives into the next game and looking forward to it."
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Sam Allardyce not fearful of sack after West Ham defeat
Last Updated: 16/08/14 9:05pm
SSN
Sam Allardyce has every faith West Ham's board will not make him the first managerial casualty of the new Premier League campaign. Allardyce defended his attempts to rejuvenate the Hammers' attacking style despite slipping to a frustrating 1-0 home defeat to Tottenham on Saturday. Debutant Eric Dier pounced in the 90th minute to hand new boss Mauricio Pochettino victory in his first competitive Spurs outing at Upton Park. Allardyce avoided the sack last term, but West Ham's owners ordered him to produce slicker attacking football with Teddy Sheringham joining the coaching staff. The former Bolton boss asserted his Upton Park control despite his side wasting a host of chances, rejecting any fears of the sack. "If they're going to do it after one game, they might as well have done it at the end of last season," said Allardyce in his post-match press conference, after West Ham spurned a host of half chances. "Why wait until now? Why do the whole pre-season we've done, create what we've tried to create and buy what we've tried to buy under my stewardship and then do it after one game?"
Mark Noble's missed penalty summed up a galling afternoon for Allardyce, who praised his side's attacking intent but was left to lament limp finishing. Tottenham's Kyle Naughton was sent off for the handball that led to Noble's penalty miss, while West Ham had defender James Collins dismissed after the break. Hugo Lloris saved superbly from Stewart Downing in the closing stages before Dier's late sucker punch. "I truly believe had it stayed 11 v 10, we would have eventually broken Tottenham's resilient defence down," Allardyce told Sky Sports. "I thought we played some excellent football. Their goal coming right in the last minute was a bitter blow to us."
On the missed penalty, he said: "Mark waits to see where the keeper goes, but what he hasn't done is catch it as well as he normally does. "In the three to four years I've been here, it's the first one he's missed. Had he scored the penalty, I don't think we'd have lost. "And when the golden chance pops up for us (for Downing), after all the one we missed before… although I suppose you have to give Lloris some credit, for what a good save it was." Allardyce conceded he remains in the market for a clinical, natural goalscorer. "At the end of the day, we haven't deserved to lose, we've played very, very well," said the Hammers boss. "We've got a lot of players that will come back and make us stronger when they are fit and on that performance today I'm very confident our season's going to be a good one. "We saw it today (more attacking football). "When you've had 20 attempts on goal like we've had today, why do you need another striker? "I suppose finding another goalscorer for us is the critical point, and he must play, that's a definite now. "Like I said today, 20 attempts at goal created, not enough quality, so we need to find somebody who has got that quality better than we've already got to help us along the way in scoring the goals we need."
Allardyce admitted Collins was "naive" to be dismissed for a second yellow card, fearing a defensive shortage if James Tomkins fails to beat his hamstring problem. "We were very naive allowing ourselves to go down to 10 against 10," he said. "I think it's harsh, but I think that's what referees are instructed to do.
"I don't think he's got any choice because he might get the ticking off from his bosses. "I don't agree with it, but it's what they have to do, because it's what they're told to do, so in that case I can't complain about it. "Like I say to the lads, if you're in risk of getting sent off, don't let the lad go past you. "It's more our fault than the referee's today. There are injuries, and Tomkins adding to that was not obviously helpful." West Ham return to action next Saturday, with another London derby away at Crystal Palace.
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MORE TO COME FROM 'DYNAMO' KOUYATE!
By S J Chandos 18 Aug 2014 at 12:30
West Ham Till I Die
There was almost universal acknowledgement of the quality and effectiveness of Cheikhou Kouyate's dynamic midfield display on Saturday. He ran the midfield, breaking up Spurs attacks, drove the side forward and exhibited good technical skills as well. Yet, the Sengelese international has stated, in a post-match interview on the club's offical website, that he is not even 100% fitness wise and there is more to come from him! Kouyate maintains that he will work harder in training, get his fitness levels up to maximum and make an even bigger impact in future matches.
It is really great to see a West Ham player with that type of whole hearted commitment and professionalism. Kouyate obviously sets high standards for himself and in what he endeavours to achieve for the team. It is just the type of winning mentality that West Ham need. If Saturday's fanastic, all action, performance was delivered on c.90% match fitness, I look forward to seeing what he is capable of at full fitness! It was also notable Mark Noble looked far more effective playing along side him, which is a big bonus. The two of them can form a great partnership this season, with Poyet providing cover and competition for a starting place. Add an in-form Diame and Nolan, plus the guile of Morrison and Zarate, to the mix and we could potentially have the best midfield unit that we have had for some considerable time
Can Cheikhou Kouyate really be West Ham's answer to Patrick Vieria? Naturally, it is early days, but on current evidence there appears to be every possibility.
SJ. Chandos.
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SPURS WERE VERY LUCKY TO WIN - BUT THEY SHOULD BE CONCERNED AT THE DOMINANT TREND!
By S J Chandos 18 Aug 2014 at 08:00
West Ham Till I Die
Spurs were very lucky to win! There, I have stated a fact that the majority of sports pages and non-Hammers websites have hitherto failed to admit. West Ham outplayed their north London rivals for the vast majority of the match, carving out and missing numerous opportunities. In comparison, Spurs rarely threatened and, apart from two saves and the winning goal, Adrian had very little to do. I say this honestly, and without any partisan malice, but if I was a Spurs fan I would be very concerned at the ease with which West Ham dominated Saturday's game (whether 11 vs 11, 11 vs 10 or 10 vs 10). I would also have some serious misgivings that this is the fourth match in a row that West Ham have dominated them on the field of play. Yes, Spurs were very lucky, and stole the points against the run of play, but on another day they would have been on the end of a heavy defeat. West Ham should have been 3-0 up at half-time, our domination was that comprehensive. Spurs fans may not like reading the truth, but that is exactly what it is!
I have to agree with those who argue that Sam Allardyce should have gone on the offensive when Spurs went down to 10 men. The situation was was crying out for Valencia or Zarate to be introduced from the bench. I assume that it was match fitness that restricted Valencia to 10-15 mins, in which case he should have brought on Zarate. Indeed, I feel that Zarate would have brought another dimension to our forward play and made a crucial difference. I just hope that Saturday was not early evidence of Zarate being frozen out and semi-permanently benched. Because if that is the case, it would be totally counter-productive for the team. It would also be very foolish to do that to a player who the owners obviously see as an important part of the solution to last season's attacking/goal scoring problems.
I could not hide my disappointment at learning of the West Ham forward line on Saturday. I accepted that Carlton Cole was very likely to be selected, but I also expected Downing and Zarate to play alongside him. It genuinely surprise to me when Vaz Te's selection was confirmed. He had an especially unimpressive pre-season and has never looked as convincing playing wide right, in a 4-3-3, in comparison with his former central striking role. However, the extra element of dis-belief was that Vaz Te was deployed on the left (and Downing on the right) in an inverted wide role. Now, Downing certainly has the capability to play on either flank, but is Vaz Te in all honesty the best choice to play on the left? Surely Zarate would have been a far better choice to play there? Assuming that Nolan was an automatic selection in the attacking midfield role (why would I think that?), then that would have left Zarate free to play on the left. But apparently not. And I think that the non-selection of Zarate, compounded by a failure to introduce him from the bench at the appropriate juncture, was a key factor in not turning our domination in to a win.
For me, Kouyate was the man of the match. He was a really powerful force on the pitch and continually broke up the Spurs attacks and drove us forward. This guy is a serious footballer of a type that we have been missing. I maintained prior to his signing that he would be a major acquisition for us and that is definitely the way that it is shaping up. Cresswell was also highly impressive, not only defensively, but in supporting the attack down the left. All things being equal, the early signs are Cresswell can develop in to an excellent Premier League left-back. And I am really looking forward to seeing him form a full-back pairing with Carl Jenkinson. In addition, Mark Noble had a fine game (apart from the penalty miss) and clearly benefited from having a player of Kouyate's class and power partnering him in central midfield. While, Downing really upped his game and looked the class act that we all know him to be at his best. We really do need the likes of Downing, Jarvis and Diame to improve on last season's performances and maximise their impact. Downing made a good start, in that respect, on Saturday and so did Diame, who helped tighten our grip on midfield when he was introduced. Finally, Valencia must also get a mention 'in despatches' for his promising 2nd half substitutes appearance. When he came on he looked very dangerous, with great pace, skill on the ball and a promising physicality and combativeness. He is going to be another quality addition and, potentially, the 15-20 goals a season striker that we so desperately need.
I would also like to give a brief mention to Adrian, who pulled off a couple of excellent saves, in a match where he was not unduly extended. Ideally, I would have liked to have seen us sign a good quality keeper to provide increased competition. Someone like Fraser Forster, from Celtic, would have been ideal. But, transfer budgets are finite and the club has obviously decided to stick with Adrian, Jussi and young Speigel. If so, it is vital that Adrian performs to the level required on a consistent basis. And, although he had one or two dodgy moments in pre-season, it has to be said that he looked solid on Saturday and inspired the type of confidence that we want to see from our custodian. Lets hope that Adrian continues in that manner for the rest of the season.
On the issue of playing style, it has to be said that there was no 'route one' approach on evidence. The team passed the ball well and, Downing in particular, delivered some great balls in to the Spurs box. And they most definitely were not of the 'hoof' (up and under variety), but intelligently delivered in to dangerous areas. We got off to a bit of a slow start in the first 10 minutes, but after that we achieved a good level of fluidity and expansive play. I also thought the match had a high entertainment value. So, it looks like we are making some early progress on playing style/entertainment and can hopefully look forward to that trend continuing.
There were, however, some issues exhbited in defence and up front that need to be urgently addressed. Firstly, we need to ensure that sloppy mistakes are cut out in defence. We must try to replicate the defensive solidarity and organisation achieved for much of the last campaign. If Tomkins is not fit for the Palace match, it will be interesting see how Sam Allardyce re-organises the defence. It may be necessary play Kouyate at centre half. While an understandable move, it would be a pity to lose his power and drive in midfield. Secondly, we must start converting our chances. Otherwise, we are going to continue to struggle to finish off teams. In order to augment our ability to do that, we need to select Zarate and Valencia; and hope that Nolan (assuming that he is selected) hits a run of goal scoring form.
Finally, I will be particularly interested to see the approach that we adopt for away fixtures this season. I suppose, as a general rule, we are likely to be defensively orientated against the top four teams and more open when playing away to the lower and middle order PL clubs. My hope is that we can develop a swift and efficient counter-attacking game this season on our travels. We now have the players to do it, all we need to do is set up right tactically and deploy them.
SJ. Chandos.
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NEWS ROUND-UP
By Iain Dale 17 Aug 2014 at 21:17
West Ham Till I Die
Jack Collison is training with Ipswich after QPR decided not to offer him a contract. I can't believe he hasn't got fixed up yet
Sky Sports say Morgan Amalfitano is desperate to sign for West Ham after a bustup with the coach at Marseilles.
According to Squawka Mark Noble was by far West Ham's best oplayer yesterday. They write: "Noble finished the match with a Squawka Performance Score of 64, which was nearly 30 points better than the next highest performance score for West Ham. He completed 89% of his passes as he controlled the midfield and dictating the tempo of the match and he will be keen to build on his figure of three chances created."
Iron Views report on a mystery new striker who's appeared on the club website.
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Football fan who invaded West Ham pitch and took free kick arrested
Aug 16, 2014 20:09 By Ben Burrows
The over-zealous fan ran the length of Upton Park before stealing the set piece from under Christian Eriksen's nose much to the delight of social media
The Mirror
The football fan who ran on the pitch and took a free kick during West Ham vs Tottenham has been arrested. The over-eager supporter ran some 70 yards before booting the ball towards the Hammers goal in a bizarre incident on Saturday afternoon. His shot was saved by West Ham's goalkeeper Adrian while the pitch invader was chased by a steward amid cheers from the crowd. The incident provoked amusement on social media too, with Gary Lineker saying the effort was better than Spurs star Christian Eriksen's free kick once play had resumed. He wrote on Twitter: "A fan runs on the pitch at Upton Park and takes the free kick. Made a better fist of it than Eriksen." Tonight Scotland Yard said a 22-year-old man from Kent had been arrested for suspected pitch invasion.
He is currently in custody at an east London police station, a spokesman added.
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Hammers hunt is on
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 18, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
West Ham are making quick-fire moves to find a central defender! The club have a defensive crisis on their hands after the first game of the season which demands they try to get a player in for the weekend game at Palace. With James Collins unavailable after being sent off against Spurs at the weekend and James Tomkins sidelined with a niggling problem, Sam Allardyce already has problems. He could move midfielder powerhouse Cheikou Kouyate into the back four e but such was his performance against the north Londoners in midfield that would be an option he doesn't want to take. A source told ClaretandHugh: "The hunt is on for a central defender either on a permanent or loan basis. "Losing James Collins at the weekend and having James on the sidelines we have a problem we must deal with quickly."
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Sam Allardyce desperate to sign a new centre-back
Evening Standard
KEN DYER
Published: 18 August 2014 Updated: 13:22, 18 August 2014
West Ham are trying to sign a centre‑half to solve a crisis in defence. The club have problems just one game into the season, following the last-minute 1-0 defeat to Tottenham. With James Tomkins nursing a hamstring injury and Wales international James Collins facing a one-match suspension following his red card on Saturday, Sam Allardyce is effectively down to one recognised central defender — Winston Reid — for next weekend's derby at Crystal Palace.
West Ham were hoping that the £3.5million signing of striker Diafra Sakho from French club Metz would complete their spending but they will now have to dip into the market again. The match against Spurs hinged on a first-half penalty miss from West Ham midfielder Mark Noble, the first spot-kick he has failed to convert in 10 attempts. "I knew there would be a day when I would miss one," he said. "But that's life and it's not the end of the world. "I was going to go high and whip it in the corner but I saw [Hugo] Lloris move and I just thought I would go safe. Obviously it went wrong from there. But I will definitely take the next one — one hundred per cent. "It is a harsh lesson learned and I hope the lads and the fans don't get too down because it was a positive performance."
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Hacked Hammer – an explanation
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 18, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
An eagle-eyed ClaretandHugh reader may have come up with the explanation as to why Greek striker Errikos Drampis may have been 'hacked' into the West Ham squad list. The striker's name caused much confusion when it was spotted in the Irons squad list. But top club officials last night told this site that they appear to have fallen victim to a hacking scam as we have no player of that name in our squad. The question is: Why?" Now it seems CandH follower Greg Richards via his twitter handle @Made_of-Iron may have come up with the answer. He tweeted: "I think someone is having a laugh at our expense. His name is an anagram of 'Despair and Smirk.' Good advice for us Hammers fans."
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Gold: Valencia is the man!
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 17, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
West Ham's bosses are convinced they have a "far better squad" than last season at that Enner Valencia will prove to be the icing on the cake. That the team should be without their marquee signing and Andy Carroll for the opening game – bar a fleeting appearence from the Ecuador international near the end – was unfortunate. But co chairman David Gold told ClaretandHugh he is convinced the striker will make a huge difference to the side. He said: "Don't expect to see an all action player who is running all over the place all the time. This is a player who conserves energy to produce electric pace which can l cause massive problems to any Premier League defence. "He can play through the middle or wide and with him and Andy Carroll in the team we can be a serious, serious force. In the meantime he will be a real handful on his own account."
Gold has regularly maintained the likes of Mauro Zarate, Ravel Morrison and Valencia give the manager plenty of options and game plans. He said: "We believe we have a squad that can play to various systems. We believe we have a winning squad and one that can entertain – that's what we are looking for this season."
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West Ham pitch invader gloats: "My mates think I'm a legend and 10-year ban wouldn't bother me"
Aug 18, 2014 14:08 By Mirror Football
Jordan Dunn, 22, sprinted on to the Upton Park pitch during Saturday's clash with Tottenham and was subsequently arrested before being charged
The Mirror
The football fan who invaded the pitch and took a free-kick during a Premier League game gloated about the prank today. Jordan Dunn had downed eight pints before he sprinted 80 yards across the pitch at Upton Park to hoof the ball as West Ham played Spurs on Saturday. The 22-year-old hotel receptionist managed to kick the ball before being bundled to the ground by stewards and arrested. Dunn, a West Ham fan, spent the night in a police cell before he was charged and bailed under the Football Offences Act. He said he planned to plead guilty to the offence at Thames Magistrates' Court on September 1 where he faces a fine of up to £5000 and a 10-year ban. But Dunn, of Dover, Kent, said: "I know it was a mistake, but it was definitely worth it. "My phone hasn't stopped going off and even Gary Lineker tweeted about it. My mates think I'm a legend. "I could be looking at a 10-year-ban and even a £5000 fine. The ban wouldn't bother me whatsoever but obviously the money would. "My mum's not too happy, but she had a little laugh about it." Right-footed Dunn, who plays for Dover Elms Vale, said he was forced to shoot with his left foot to avoid breaking his stride. His shot was saved by West Ham's Spanish goalkeeper Adrian.
He added: "I thought no one else was shooting, so I might as well. "I think I ran about 80 yards. I don't remember looking at any players - I only had my eyes on the ball. "If I had used my right I probably would have fallen over. It wasn't a bad strike though. "I just wish I'd used the outside of my right foot and buried it bottom corner."
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Irons decision on Amalfitano
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 18, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
West Ham are set to drop their interest in Marseilles midfielder Morgan Amalfitano as they go in pursuit of a central defender. Amalfitano has been on the Irons radar for some time although the club has worried about given the player's inconsistent season on loan at West Brom last term. The 29 year old has been reportedly desperate for a move to Upton Park after an alleged training ground row with coach Marcelo Bielsa this weekend. Sources in France insist the he is desperate for a move back to the Premier League at the Boleyn but ClaretandHugh has learned the club has all but brought its interest to an end. A source told us: "With the injury to James Tomkins, and James Collins suspended, we need a defender, probably on loan, desperately and that's where our efforts are concentrated. "We are also looking at other areas of the team we need to strengthen and in Ravel Morrison we have a player of the Amalfitano type."
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25 man squad limit explained
Posted by Sean Whetstone on August 18, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
All Premier League clubs must submit a squad of up to 25 players, by 5pm on Monday, September 1st. With 22 squad numbers already allocated and the 23rd about to allocated to Diafra Sakho, the big question will be who will fill the remaining places? Each 25-man Premier League squad must include at least eight 'home-grown' players. The 'home-grown' players do not have to be English. According to the Premier League: "A home grown player is defined as one who, irrespective of his nationality or age, has been registered with any club affiliated to the Football Association or the Welsh Football Association for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons or 36 months prior to his 21st birthday (or the end of the season during which he turns 21)." West Ham have the luxury of over half their current 22 man squad being classed under this home grown rule. Nolan, Poyet, Cresswell, O'Brien, Collins Tomkins, Jarvis, Downing, Morrison, Noble, Jenkinson, and Cole are all classed as home grown talent. In addition to the 25-man named squad, clubs can use an unlimited number of players aged 21 or under. In practice this means Reece Burke (17), Josh Cullen (18) Elliot Lee and Diego Poyet (19) plus Danny Potts, Blair Turgott, Matthias Fanimo (all 20) can be included in the squad without taking up a place in the squad of 25.
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West Ham United youngster George Moncur scored his second goal in as many games on loan at Colchester United on Saturday
6:33pm Monday 18th August 2014 in News
East London and West Essex Guardian Series
West Ham United midfielder George Moncur made it two goals in as many games as a Colchester United player on Saturday but could not prevent the U's losing 2-1 at Bristol City. The 21-year-old, who is on a six-month loan deal at the Colchester Community Stadium, netted after just nine minutes to hand the Essex side the lead at Ashton Gate, before two second-half goals from Aaron Wilbraham secured victory for the Robins. Elsewhere, fellow Hammers loanee, goalkeeper Raphael Spiegel, was an unused substitute during Crawley Town's 1-0 home win against Swindon Town, with manager John Gregory opting to play veteran Brian Jensen instead. New Crawley signing Izale McLeod scored his third goal in as many games to hand the Red Devils victory in League One.
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WHUFC.com
Development Squad coach Nick Haycock felt the Hammers were not far away from victory against Spurs
18.08.2014
Development Squad coach Nick Haycock was left to rue the 'small margins' of football going against his side after they lost out to Tottenham Hotspur in their Barclays U21 Premier League opener on Monday night. The Hammers showed good mental fortitude to get back in the contest after Daniel Akindayini gave the hosts a first half lead. Kieran Bywater's free-kick gave West Ham the platform to try and win it themselves, but it was Spurs who took the points through Cristian Ceballos' 74th minute winner and Haycock felt his side could have been more clinical. He explained: "I thought it was a good advert for Under-21s football - there was a healthy crowd in and the game had a real good tempo to it. "I'm disappointed with the result because I thought it could have gone either way. There were moments when they could have asserted their authority and there were moments when we got back in the game. "We did excellently to get back in the game and then we had a couple of chances to go 2-1 up, so it might have been a different story. "I was pleased with the attitude of the players, but I thought we could have controlled the game a little better at 1-1. "We stepped on to them well, which was the instruction we gave at half-time, to not let the centre backs have too much controlled possession. "We created countless good areas, it was just that final pass, cross or finish that was missing. It was small margins and we don't want to keep going into the dressing room talking about small margins. "The clinical finishes Tottenham showed on Monday is the difference at any level. That's where we've been found out a little tonight."
Kieran Bywater finished as the Under-18s' top goalscorer with 18 to his name last term, and Haycock says he can aim high having made the step-up this season. He added: "Kieran has done well, he's gone back to the central midfield role he played for many seasons at the younger age groups. "He can score from there as well. He has got good delivery from set pieces, and if it is a cross to the far post it's a great area to put it in. "Shooting towards the far post means it has got a chance of going straight in as it did, or someone can get a touch."
The Hammers have a swift opportunity to put things right when they host Southampton at the Boleyn Ground on Friday evening and Haycock is looking forward to seeing how his team responds. He concluded: "I said in the dressing room that when you're in the league programme you haven't got time to be sombre about a defeat because it's about how we react. "We'll watch the clips back from the game, see the good things and bad things that we did, we'll recover with the sports science department and then we'll be back on the training field to get ready for the Southampton game."
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Reid - The new boys did well
WHUFC.com
Debutants Aaron Cresswell, Cheikhou Kouyate and Enner Valencia impressed Winston Reid
18.08.2014
Winston Reid was impressed with the contributions of debutants Aaron Cresswell, Cheikhou Kouyate and Enner Valencia as West Ham United got their 2014/15 Barclays Premier League campaign underway against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday. The Hammers came up just short on the day, losing out to Eric Dier's injury time goal, but Reid took heart from the performance, not least from the new boys. Cresswell played the 90 minutes at left-back, while Kouyate found himself alongside Reid in the heart of defence for the final 27 minutes following James Collins' dismissal for collecting two yellow cards. With Enner Valencia also making his bow from the bench, Reid believes all three - and fellow new arrivals Mauro Zarate, Diafra Sakho, Carl Jenkinson and Diego Poyet - will have plenty to offer. "There were some good positives out there," he said. "The new boys did well, Aaron [Cresswell] and Cheikhou [Kouyate] from the start and Enner [Valencia] came on as well. "For the new boys it's nice to get them on the pitch early and there's still a couple of boys sitting on the bench and ready to go. The squad is looking strong and I'm sure everybody is going to be pushing for the next game to try and improve. "Cheikhou showed his versatility by moving back to centre half at the end, and I think I'm going to need to learn some French if that's going to happen again! "He did well on Saturday and you can see why he was brought to the Club."
Reflecting on Saturday's result, Reid felt the Hammers deserved more than they got. "It was cruel," he added. "That's football - we try and do our best, but unfortunately they've scored a goal at the end and that's it. "There were positives to take from the performance, the boys did pretty well out there. We couldn't get the ball in the back of the net ourselves and unfortunately they've done that. "The main lesson is to make sure we make the most of when we're on top. It was a disappointing game, it wouldn't go in and that's it."
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Squad numbers confirmed
WHUFC.com
West Ham United can confirm the Club's squad numbers for the 2014/15 season
15.08.2014
West Ham United can confirm the Club's squad numbers for the 2014/15 season. The Hammers' seven new signings have all been allocated their numbers, while a number of first-team squad members have also opted to take fresh numbers. The No1 shirt will again be vacant, with Winston Reid sticking with No2. Aaron Cresswell is the first of the new boys to feature, with the left-back taking the traditional No3 shirt.
Captain Kevin Nolan is No4, James Tomkins No5 and Matt Jarvis No7, while a second recent arrival, Senegal midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate, will wear No8.
Andy Caroll is No9, Argentine forward Mauro Zarate will wear No10, while England winger Stewart Downing has moved to No11 for the new campaign.
Wembley hero Ricardo Vaz Te is No12, goalkeeper Adrian sticks with his lucky No13 and Ravel Morrison becomes the second senior player to move, taking No14.
New boy Diafra Sakho has been allocated the No15, with Hammer of the Year Mark Noble keeping his cherished No16 shirt and Joey O'Brien remaining No17.
Loanee Carl Jenkinson takes No18, with James Collins, Guy Demel, Mohamed Diame and Jussi Jaaskelainen sticking with Nos19, 20, 21 and 22 respectively.
A sixth summer signing, midfielder Diego Poyet, takes the No23 shirt vacated by Downing, with Carlton Cole sticking with his No24.
Ecuador FIFA World Cup star Enner Valencia will wear No31, with youngsters Reece Burke and Dan Potts taking Nos32 and 33.
Of course, the No6 shirt was retired in honour of the late Bobby Moore OBE in August 2008, while the No38 was retired in memory of the late Dylan Tombides in April this year.
These squad numbers will be used in the Barclays Premier League and both domestic cup competitions.
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Sakho ready to fight for the cause
WHUFC.com
New signing Diafra Sakho plans to bring goals and a great deal more besides to the Boleyn Ground
15.08.2014
Summer signing number seven Diafra Sakho feels his five years spent with FC Metz were the perfect grounding for the challenge that awaits in the Barclays Premier League with West Ham United. Playing a pivotal part in back-to-back promotions, the 24-year-old weighed in with 39 league goals across the two campaigns and is now desperate to prove his pedigree in England. Just how soon he will first feature remains to be seen, but having long dreamt of this moment, Sakho is itching to make his mark in Claret and Blue. "I'm confident, that's for sure," he told West Ham TV. "This move has been two years in the making. English football is an altogether different story, but I'm going to try to slog it out to score goals here for West Ham as well. "I prepared for this all of last season with Metz and following that I think I'm ready. Beyond that, it's not for me to decide, but we'll see what the manager decides to do with me in the coming weeks. "I spoke to Sam last Friday. We discussed a little bit his philosophy on the game and what he expects of his players. I am going to give my all to fight for the Club until the end."
The addition of Sakho completes West Ham's triumvirate of Senegal internationals, with Mohamed Diame and Cheikhou Kouyate already among the Hammers' ranks. As he explores his new Club and gets to grips with the language, the 6' striker is glad of the familiar faces. "To have them by my side will give me an added incentive and, like them, I'm going to try to give my all for the Club," he confirmed. "In the last few weeks I've begun to discover more about the Club. I've not yet finished learning and I'll be taking English lessons too. That way it will become easier for me to express myself."
Indeed, Sakho will certainly need to to master the language if he is to see out his four-year deal and he already hopes that his east London stay will last long into West Ham's tenure at the former Olympic Stadium. "It's a project that inspires everyone," he added. "We've already spoken about it and I also hope to be here for the duration."
As for the fans, Sakho's appeal was a simple one, namely to keep doing what they've done so well for so long. He concluded: "Continue to support us as you've always done and we, for our part, will continue to give everything out on the pitch."
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Hammers undone by Spurs' late show
WHUFC.com
Eric Dier's stoppage-time strike condemns the Hammers to an opening-day defeat at the Boleyn Ground
16.08.2014
West Ham United 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur stole all three points at the Boleyn Ground on Saturday, as Spurs debutant Eric Dier popped up in the third minute of stoppage time to consign West Ham United to defeat on the opening day of the Barclays Premier League. With the game seemingly headed for a goalless draw, Dier raced onto Harry Kane's through ball before rounding Adrian and slotting into the unguarded net. Mark Noble had earlier passed up the Hammers' best chance after half an hour, firing his spot-kick wide of the post in the wake of Kyle Naughton's dismissal for handball. But Sam Allardyce's men were unable to keep their full complement either, as James Collins saw red in the 63rd minute for a second bookable offence.
In a pulsating affair, the impressive Cheikhou Kouyate was quickly in the thick of it, bursting through a flimsy challenge and sliding in Carlton Cole. West Ham's No24 shrugged off Younes Kaboul and when his square ball ricocheted back to his feet, he side-footed over from 18 yards. At the other end, Christian Eriksen was orchestrating the Spurs attack, looking for Emmanuel Adebayor, but only finding the head of Winston Reid. But it was midway through the first half that West Ham really began to make their presence felt and a flurry of chances followed. First up, Ricardo Vaz Te was unable to adjust his feet quickly enough to volley Noble's corner goalward and instead miscued back across the face.
And it was the Portuguese forward who got his head to Downing's centre, but this time Vaz Te's effort slid just past the far post. Cole then dragged an effort right across the face, forcing Danny Rose into some last-ditch defending, with Downing poised to convert. Kouyate was next to go close, as he latched on to another teasing Downing cross, only to see his glancing header go a yard wide of Hugo Lloris' right-hand upright. As it turned out, those missed chances were merely the precursor to the main event. Noble's corner was flicked on by Reid, with Nolan's snapshot effort on the turn cannoning into the arms of Naughton. Though a presumably unsighted Chris Foy was unmoved, his assistant on the far side awarded the spot-kick, prompting the referee to give Naughton his marching orders. As ever, Noble took responsibility, but despite sending Lloris the wrong way, rolled his effort wide of the left-hand post, his first miss from 12 yards since 2009.
Now a man to the good, the Hammers continued to push for the opener, with the lively Aaron Cresswell picking out Cole, whose latest effort was blocked behind. The resulting corner fell kindly to Vaz Te at the far stick, who smashed an effort right back from where it had come, but beyond the upright. Spurs, meanwhile, having adopted a 4-4-1, still posed a significant threat, with an Aaron Lennon strike fizzing narrowly over Adrian's crossbar. But West Ham should have gone in front after 42 minutes, when Vaz Te headed Joey O'Brien's centre into the ground and the grateful arms of Lloris.
Downing engineered the Hammers' first chance of note following the restart, forcing Lloris into action with a left-footed drive from 20 yards. The French stopper might have gathered, but could only parry and then had to be on his toes to tip the ball away from the feet of Noble. And the visitors had an opportunity of their own on the hour, when Rose burst clear down the left and though his cut-back was behind Adebayor, it looked destined for Lennon, but for the excellent intervention of Cresswell. Minutes later and West Ham's numerical advantage was scrubbed out. Already cautioned for a tug on Erik Lamela, Collins was adjudged to have illegally stopped Adebayor in his tracks, with Foy wasting no time in producing a second yellow card.
Unsurprisingly, the balance of power shifted. With 70 on the clock, substitute Andros Townsend twice went close in a matter of seconds. He firstly saw a long-range drive tipped over by Adrian, before his menacing angled effort was deflected beyond the far post. With the game becoming stretched, Kouyate got the better of Kaboul and set Noble away, with Lloris diving low to his right to foil West Ham's No16. Hammers new boy Enner Valencia was introduced late on, but it was Downing who went agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock. Collecting Nolan's astute flick, the West Ham winger was brilliantly foiled by Lloris from eight yards, with Etienne Capoue completing the clearance.
Though Nabil Bentaleb saw his late drive palmed away to safety, there was still time for a dramatic conclusion, as unlikely hero Dier danced through to end Tottenham's Hammers hoodoo.
West Ham United: Adrian, O'Brien (Demel 62), Reid, Collins, Cresswell, Nolan (c), Noble, Kouyate, Downing, Vaz Te (Diame 68), Cole (Valencia 81)
Subs: Jaaskelainen, Zarate, Poyet, Burke
Booked: Collins, Kouyate
Sent off: Collins
Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Rose, Kaboul (c), Lennon (Townsend), Adebayor (Kane 83), Lamela (Holtby 61), Dier, Naughton, Eriksen, Capoue, Bentaleb
Subs: Friedel, Soldado, Dawson, Davies
Goal: Dier 93
Sent off: Naughton
Referee: Chris Foy
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'We paid the ultimate price'
WHUFC.com
Sam Allardyce was left frustrated after his West Ham United side suffered a cruel late opening-day defeat
16.08.2014
Sam Allardyce was left shattered after his West Ham United team conceded a last-gasp goal to lose 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur. The Hammers looked on course to start the 2014/15 Barclays Premier League season with a point from an eventful game at the Boleyn Ground, only for a host of missed chances - including Mark Noble's first unsuccessful penalty in five years - to cost them dear. Both sides had a man sent-off - Kyle Naughton for the handball that led to Noble's missed 30th-minute spot-kick and James Collins for two bookable offences on 63 minutes - before Spurs debutant Eric Dier popped up three minutes into added time to collect Harry Kane's pass, round Adrian and silence the Claret and Blue Army.
Afterwards, Big Sam spoke to West Ham TV, admitting his frustration at his players' inability to put the ball in the back of the net.
Sam, what did you make of the game?
SA: "The length of time it went on, watching the game from sat upstairs or down on the touchline, you know that this game will sometimes bite you when you don't finish off the opposition when you've created so many chances. "We paid the ultimate price in the last minute because we didn't secure the victory well before Tottenham got their goal. When Tottenham did get their goal, it was with their last chance and probably their only clear-cut chance in the whole game.
"You've got to be two goals up because then we could have got away with it and still taken the three points. But because we've not scored the penalty, because we've had 20 attempts at goal and haven't scored and because we allowed the opposition to equal it up to ten against ten, they were the three most important factors in why we have lost this game. "It's a real shame based on the overall game and the efforts the players have given."
We had 18 shots on goal, but only four on target - was that our major issue?
SA: "Yes, that was the problem - 20-odd shots on goal but only four or five on target. Tottenham didn't have very many on target either, but in terms of ratio they have had about eight and scored one goal at the death. "It was strange that their centre-half playing right-back rounded the keeper and put it in, because you wouldn't expect a centre-back to be capable of that, but he was. "Like I said, the real problem was that we missed too many chances when it was 11v11 and we missed too many chances when it was 11v10 and missed too many chances when it was 10v10 - that's a real shame on today's performance against a side which has spent hundreds and hundreds of millions of pounds."
Were you ever tempted to change the system and put a second striker on when it was 11v10?
SA: "No, not really because we had got players who were needing to come off and players who had problems and couldn't make that change. Why make that change when you've had 20 attempts at goal? "We've had 20 attempts at goal and enough balls in the box and chances, whether we played 4-3-3, 3-5-2 or 4-6-0, we couldn't have done any better apart from being clinical and putting the ball in the back of the net. That was against a Tottenham, too.
"It wasn't just when it was 11v10, but it was before that at 11v11, when we got into the game after ten minutes. Like I said, it's a real shame we lost, but we have only ourselves to blame. "Again, the key area is that we must start scoring goals. We have to score more goals this year than last year and this is a massive indicator as to why, because we would have won three points had we been a bit more clinical."
What did you make of the performances of the new boys, Cheikhou Kouyate, Aaron Cresswell and Enner Valencia?
SA: "They are young and they've got the energy and skill. For me, Cheikh was the man of the match. He did everything a midfielder has to do and more. He outshone any of Tottenham's midfield players by a long mile. He went into centre-half when we needed him after Ginge got sent-off and he did well.
"Aaron did fine. Performance-wise, there were no problems at all, but result-wise is the ultimate so we're all very disappointed."
What is Diafra Sakho going to bring to the squad?
SA: "He is a real powerhouse. He is about 5'11 - a little bit taller than Enner - and he has got a lot of pace. He scored 20 goals last year in the Second Division in France and he got Metz into the First Division. "There is a risk factor there, because he hasn't played at this level yet, so I don't want to rely on him too much, too soon, if I can help it. The same with Enner, who has really only had eight or ten days of training and hasn't played in a game for us at all. We put him on for ten minutes to get a little feel and he did OK. "It was just that final crushing blow that has left us all so disappointed, but it shouldn't cloud the way we played. We've played very, very well and sadly for the man who is West Ham through and through and has never missed a penalty in the three years I've been here, the rest of the lads should have made sure his penalty miss didn't matter. Sadly, we didn't."
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Noble vows to put miss behind him
WHUFC.com
Mark Noble says he will not shy away from penalty duty after his spot kick woe on Saturday
18.08.2014
Mark Noble has promised to get over his penalty miss against Tottenham Hotspur by burying the next one that comes along. The Hammer of the Year has an enviable record from the spot, converting 12 times from 12 yards in the last three seasons, but he rolled wide of the mark on Saturday after sending Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris the wrong way. He has bounced back in the past after missing spot kicks against Hull City and Chelsea and intends to do so again when West Ham United win their next penalty. "I remember missing one against Chelsea, which cost us a point. Frank Lampard came up to me afterwards and said make sure you take the next one and smash it in the back of the net," he explained. "I'll never forget those words and hopefully I'll be doing that again. "I've always said to myself there will be a day when I do miss one. It's heart-aching to miss one against Spurs, but for sure I'll be stepping up for the next one we have. "I knew where I was going with this one, I was going to whip it high in that corner, but I saw Lloris going and I just thought to go safe. "It went wrong from there and it's obviously disappointing, but hopefully we don't get too down because it was a positive performance."
The Hammers' display gave Noble plenty of plus points as he looked to forget his error and he believes it bodes well for the campaign ahead. "We were stung on Saturday and it's a harsh, harsh lesson to be learned for us," he added. "At the end of the day, we lost the game and I hate losing but the positives we can take from the game are major. "We know that if we play like that we're going to win more than we lose. To lose in the last minute is devastating, but as much as we didn't get the result we know we got the performance. "The new boys all performed well. Aaron [Cresswell] and Cheikhou [Kouyate] started the game and I thought they were both brilliant. "With Cheikhou and Kev [Kevin Nolan] in there, it gives me the licence to get forward a bit more and I really enjoyed the game, apart from the penalty."
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Kouyate: 'I can still do better'
WHUFC.com
Cheikhou Kouyate insists he has more to give following Saturday's all-action display against Spurs
17.08.2014
Cheikhou Kouyate has told West Ham United supporters they can expect even more from him in the coming weeks, after impressing in Saturday's 1-0 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur at the Boleyn Ground. On his Hammers debut, the imposing Senegal midfielder wasted little time in throwing his weight around, showing all the dynamism, determination and skill that endeared him to fans of former club RSC Anderlecht. Kouyate, however, feels some way off his best just now and admits there is still plenty of work to be done on the training pitch. "I think I can still do better," he told West Ham TV. "I'm not yet at 100 per cent, so I'll be doing even more work. Now that the league's begun, I've got to work hard in training to find my rhythm. "As soon as I'm at 100 per cent I'll really be able to give more than I was able to on Saturday. Not bad, I know, but I'm certain that I can do better still."
As for Saturday's last-gasp loss, the 24-year-old admitted Eric Dier's winner was a bitter pill to swallow, particularly after watching many a West Ham chance come and go. But Kouyate has no plans to dwell on the negatives and is already contemplating making amends at Crystal Palace this weekend. He continued: "We're disappointed, as on the whole we deserved more than this defeat. We fully deserved to win but that's how football is, particularly if you don't score. We feel we had more [of the game] and had more chances. They had one chance and stuck it away. At the moment that hurts. "The manager was frustrated, he was angry, because to lose a game in that manner shouldn't happen. But what's done is done, now we have to concentrate on the next one and try to take the points that we've lost on Saturday."
Meanwhile, the mild-mannered midfielder was taken aback by the famous Boleyn Ground atmosphere on Saturday, not least when he first emerged from the tunnel prior to kick-off."The atmosphere was fantastic," he confirmed. "From the moment that I stepped out onto the pitch I had goosebumps. The atmosphere was really phenomenal and the supporters were amazing. They give us the desire to succeed and to give more for the team."
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Mediawatch - 17 August
WHUFC.com
Our daily look at West Ham United in the news
17.08.2014
Sunday's match reports from the season opening 1-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur lead on the fact that West Ham missed a real opportunity to make a flying start to the campaign. The Observer talk of the spurned chances, but the Independent carries quotes from manager Sam Allardyce saying he was encouraged by his team's display. Carlton Cole told Sky Sports that defeat was harsh on the Hammers, while the Evening Standard, and London 24 has further coverage of the manager's post-match press conference.
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Cresswell bemoans missed chances
WHUFC.com
Summer signing Aaron Cresswell believes the Hammers were hard done by against Spurs
16.08.2014
West Ham United debutant Aaron Cresswell felt the Hammers would likely have been comfortable victors against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, had they struck the first blow at the Boleyn Ground. Making his first appearance in the Barclays Premier League, the 24-year-old looked at home in the Hammers' back-four, one that was ultimately breached by Eric Dier in the dying seconds. While he was in no mood for personal accolades, Cresswell was voted Man of the Match by sponsor Blueprint Properties and understandably proud to have made his top-flight bow. "I had all my family here and it was a proud moment for me personally," he told West Ham TV. "But it's not about me, it's about the team and getting the three points. It's not personal, it's not about individual performances. The first thing you look at is the result and we didn't get that on Saturday, so I'm very disappointed."
In a tight affair, the first goal was always going to be all-important and Cresswell insists the Hammers should have made more of the chances that fell their way before the interval. He continued: "We had a good few chances in the first half and we had the better chances. We just needed to take one to go on and win the game. Unfortunately, in the end we got punished. We were always on the front foot in the first half and obviously when they went down to ten men, up until James Collins' sending off, we were the team to looking to score. But when we lost James it was anyone's game, it was an open game on a big pitch.
"It's a massive blow. We just needed that one goal to kick us on and I think we'd have went on to win two, or three-nil maybe. But it wasn't to be."
Looking ahead to next weekend's trip to Crystal Palace, Cresswell hopes the Hammers can learn the lessons from Saturday's loss and approach it with optimism. "We'll sit down, go over it, see what we can take out of the game and where we could have gone on to win it," he explained. "It's just about taking the positives into the next game and looking forward to it."
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Under-18s start in style
WHUFC.com
The Academy began their season in the perfect manner, defeating West Bromwich Albion 3-1
16.08.2014
West Ham United's Under-18s got their season off to a flyer by defeating West Bromwich Albion 3-1 on Saturday afternoon. Djair Parfitt-Williams, Grady Diangana and Manny Onariase were all on target to ensue Steve Potts' men would make a winning start to the Barclays Under-18 Premier League season.
They only had to wait three minutes before taking the lead, as Parfitt-Williams turned home a Diangana corner to make it 1-0. The Baggies had a chance to level eleven minutes later from a corner of their own, but Tim Brown saved the header comfortably. With 31 minutes on the clock, Diangana followed up to notch after Jordan Brown's shot was saved and the Hammers were in a strong position. Their grip on the game intensified six minutes after the interval when another set play proved profitable. Onariase was the man who made his presence felt, finishing from Diangana's free-kick delivery. Jordan Brown went close to making it four 15 minutes from the end, cutting in from the flank and shooting wide from the edge of the box. The hosts had the final word, pulling one back 13 minutes from time, but it had no impact on the result as the Hammers made the journey home from the Midlands with all three points.
West Ham United: T.Brown, Pike, Knoyle (c), Sylvestri, Akinola, Onariase, Amoo, Diangana, J.Brown, Parfitt-Williams, Sheriff
Subs:Parsons, Bailey, Browne, Adebayo, Linley
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U21s begin season at Spurs
WHUFC.com
Nick Haycock's Development Squad kick-off the 2014/15 Barclays U21 Premier League season on Monday
17.08.2014
Nick Haycock's Development Squad kick-off the 2014/15 Barclays U21 Premier League season at Tottenham Hotspur on Monday. West Ham United's young professionals make the relatively short trip up the A1 to Stevenage FC's Lamex Stadium, where a number of them featured in a first-team pre-season match in July. Monday's 7pm kick-off will give the likes of Elliot Lee, Dan Potts, Josh Cullen and Matthias Fanimo the opportunity to build on their own pre-season experiences, which saw the trio appear at home and abroad for Sam Allardyce's seniors. They will join Kieran Sadlier, Kieran Bywater and a host of other promising youngsters as the Hammers seek to build on a pre-season which has seen them travel to Germany and the Netherlands and win a four-team tournament at Cambridge United. "It will be a good game and it will be interesting to see how we go," said Haycock. "Spurs play in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday, so it will also be interesting to see what sort of players they use, but they have a big squad of seniors and young pros. "You can only control yourselves and hopefully we will have a few of the lads who have been with the first team in pre-season and will be available to play for us, so that they will be ready for the first team if and when required. "We've always had good young players at the Club and we've seen that in recent years. Those who have been with the first team in pre-season know they've got to come back to the U21s and show what they've learned and put in good performances. If they do that, it keeps them in the manager's mind for forthcoming games."
Haycock has been happy with the Development Squad's preparations for the new season, despite seeing them lose 5-0 in their final pre-season match at PSV in Eindhoven last week. "It's been a productive and positive time. We had a look at the analysis and it shows all the good things we have done in the pre-season, although the scoreline against PSV didn't show that. The stats that we have gone through - penalty area entries, shots, pass completion and possession - and we were the better team in all the categories. "We had 58 per cent of the ball in the second half, which is a very high percentage against a top European side like PSV. Obviously we had a few players missing, so the boys shouldn't be downbeat about their performance. It was just little margins and mistakes, which is a good indicator that they can't make them at this level. "We are going to go up against some powerhouses who spend a lot of money on their Academy systems, so it's going to be a tough ask for this season. It's one we are excited about and feel we can be competitive in every game. "The boys are going to be up against the best Academies in the country and it will be good for their development to see how they fare."
With the likes of Lee, Burke and Potts impressing at first-team level, Haycock is excited about the prospect of seeing them continue to develop in the Barclays U21 Premier League. Burke scored the winner in the Marathonbet Cup win over UC Sampdoria earlier this month, converting Lee's pass, while Potts has been consistently impressive over the last few weeks as he looks to cement a first-team squad place. "I was smiling because against Sampdoria Reece scored from Elliot's pass and, moments before that, Pottsy was up there in the box and having a shot too!" Haycock continued. "There will have been many people smiling when they saw that game because a lot of them have invested time and hard work in their development through the system. Everybody has had a part to play in that. "It was a pleasing thing for their families too and they will be delighted for them. It was fully deserved because they are a credit to the Club."
Kick-off at the Lamex Stadium is at 7pm, with tickets available on the night.
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Mediawatch - 18 August
WHUFC.com
Our daily look at the West Ham United stories making the news
18.08.2014
Monday's Sun (£) reports that the manager has said it will take a little time for the work he and attacking coach Teddy Sheringham are doing on the training field to have an impact. Meanwhile, the manager emphasised in this Daily Mail article the need for the Hammers to make a good start this season. He points to the start of 14 points from the first eight games two years ago acting as the launchpad for a fine campaign.
In the Telegraph, Big Sam commented that he didn't want Mark Noble to shoulder any of the blame for Saturday's defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.
Stewart Downing has said in the Daily Star that he believes the Hammers will finish in the top half if they continue to play as they did against Tottenham.
Meanwhile, Sky Sports say that Morgan Amalfitano, who spent last season on loan at West Brom from Marseille, is keen on a move to the Hammers.
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Manager on Monday
WHUFC.com
Sam Allardyce believes his players can make amends for a missed three points on Saturday
17.08.2014
Sam Allardyce was keen not to apportion any of the blame for Saturday's last-minute loss to Tottenham Hotspur on Hammer of the Year Mark Noble. The Academy graduate and normally-reliable penalty taker missed his first spot kick of Allardyce's reign when he dragged his effort from 12 yards wide on 28 minutes. Although the miss did end up proving costly with Eric Dier netting a last-minute winner for the visitors, Big Sam thought his side should have spared Noble's blushes by taking one of the many changes that followed. "I think if we'd scored the penalty we win the game," Big Sam said. "I don't think there's much doubt about that. In the end I would want the rest of the players to forgive Mark and not lie on him as a heavy burden as he doesn't deserve it as his penalty taking in the three years I've been here has been supreme. "We've got to forgive him for missing the odd one and the rest of the lads should have made up for that and when Nobes came in they should have smacked him on the back of the head and said don't worry about it we've got you out of jail as we should have won. "The Premier League will punish if you don't finish your chances and they punished us on Saturday."
Despite the disappointing end to what was an enthralling contest, Big Sam felt there were plenty of positives to be taken. Much of the talk among the media afterwards centred on the impressive debuts of Aaron Cresswell and Cheikhou Kouyate and the brief late cameo of Enner Valencia, which pointed to more exciting times to come. "When everyone is fit our squad runs at the same level as most teams around our level. We will have about 23 players and we can have 25 only so if they all get fit and we don't get as many injuries then we will be OK. We have players who are not quite ready to play as well like Valencia and [new signing Diafra] Sakho. "They have to feel their way into the Premier League so further down the line when they had the experience and the injured players come back, we will be much better in strength in depth. I think the team played exceptionally well on Saturday and should have won the game but they let it slip. "We will be working with them on the training pitch, but it is not going to be a magic potion overnight or wave a magic wand. It is about time and about talking to them and telling them about the areas of calm that you might need and positions you can get into to improve what you can already do and do better."
Looking ahead, a Premier League trip to Crystal Palace and a home match with Southampton a week later sandwich a Capital One Cup tie with Sheffield United, and the manager talked up the importance of ensuring his side chalk up some early points on the board. "Everything is the start. Everything is then a trigger to the whole season and whereabouts you are going to lay and finish. The perfect example is our first two seasons in the Premier League, where we acquired 14 points in the first eight games but only eight points from the first eight last season and we saw that last season was a struggle. "Our life is about results and it doesn't matter how well we play or compete against the opposition, the end game is winning and we haven't won so people will be disappointed.
"Nobody will be more disappointed than me or the players as we all knew we were in a great position to start the season off with a very good three points against a team that was meant to finish in the top four this season. In terms of creating changes, could we have done any more? I don't think so."
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Allardyce on... Tottenham
KUMB.com
Filed: Saturday, 16th August 2014
By: Staff Writer
A disappointed - yet not entirely dejected - Big Sam saw enough today to believe his West Ham will fare well this season. Read his entire post-match press conference exclusively here...
Sam: you must be wondering how you didn't get a least a point out of that game?
There's three big factors today that caused us to lose this game. We create chances but haven't been clinical enough to finish them off. Then poor old Mark Noble, for the first time since I've been here - over three years - misses a penalty. Then allowing ourselves to go down to 10 v 10.
Whichever stage of the game we were at, whether it was 11 v 11, 11 v 10 or 10 v 10 we had enough chances to win this game and didn't take the chances when we created them. We paid the ultimate price on the end, which is what this league is all about. It punishes you and it punished us to the nth degree today in the last minute, sadly.
I can't complain about the performance and I can't complain about the football we played. I can't complain about how many time we opened up and create chances against Tottenham - but I can complain about the fact that we didn't finish well enough, didn't finish clinically enough and were very naive in allowing ourselves to go down to 10 v 10.
Do you think the referee was trying to even things up a bit?
I don't think so. I think it's harsh but I think that's what they're instructed to do. I don't think he's got any choice because he'll get a ticking off from his bosses when he goes back to wherever he goes for his assessment. I don't agree with it, but it's what they have to do because it's what they're told to do - and in that case, I can't complain about it.
But, if you're at risk of getting sent off don't let the lad get past you. We'd been doing that all season and I can't complain about that too much, not from the referee. It was our fault, not the referee's today.
Was the result more disappointing because of the performance from players like Cresswell and Kouyate?
Kouyate was Man of the Match for me. He's a terrific young man who's only going to get better. Aaron's feeling his way into the Premier League as well having come from the Championship. [Considering] the injury to James Tomkins and all the players who are out, I thought it was a fantastic performance by the players today. I thought they played very, very well.
I listened to the Tottenham lad who scored the goal saying we played direct football, so he must have been at a different match to the one we played or saw today. We outplayed and out-created Tottenham Hotspur who are supposed to be finishing in the top four, but didn't finish them off.
So where we had delight last year - and perhaps sometimes not playing as well as we did today yet beating them three times - today we played brilliantly and haven't got anything.
You were the bookies' favourite to go first but Tony Pulis beat you...
Well Tony didn't get sacked, did he - he walked out.
But do you think they're going to come down after this defeat and say "alright..."
Who? The owners? If they're going to do it after one game they might as well have done it at the end of last season. Why wait until now? Why go through the summer we have and crate what we've tried to create and buy the players we have under my stewardship and then do it after one game?
At the end of the day we haven't deserved to lose, we've played very well. We've got a lot of players who'll come back and make us stronger when they're fit. On that performance today I'm very confident our season's going to be a good one.
Will James Tomkins be available for next weekend?
He has a hamstring and of course, that's disappointing. Our bench was really thin today on the basis of experienced players in the Premier League because of our injuries. Him adding to that concerned me a bit in terms of tactical substitutions today. The substitutions - apart from the last one - were forced upon me by injuries in the end and the sending off.
As I said, I've got nothing to complains about, given how the lads applied themselves today. They all know they really should have won it but they haven't put the chances in the back of the net like they should have. We can't get too downhearted but we've got to keep the level of performance up and we've got to be clinical.
Are you still looking to make a move in the transfer market?
Maybe. Maybe, if there's a nice player who becomes available and we think he's going to contribute to the first team in a big way. Then yes, that might be possible.
The Chairmen said over the summer they want to see more attacking football...
They saw it today.
Do you think you've proved that today with the performance? And would you have put on another striker if you had more fit?
When you've had 20 attempts at goal and the opposition have hardly had any, why do you need another striker on? It doesn't matter what system you play; Manchester United played two strikers today up front and they lost 2-1 at home to Swansea.
It's not about the systems. I suppose having another goalscorer is the critical point; finding another goalscorer for us is a critical matter - and he must play. That's a definite now. Like I said, 20 attempts at goal, chances created but not enough quality, so we need to find somebody who's got quality better than we already have to help us along the way and score the goals we need to.
Will DIafra Sakho be ready for next week?
Possibly yes, because he's done all of his pre-season at Metz.
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Poccetino on... West Ham Utd
KUMB.com
Filed: Sunday, 17th August 2014
By: Staff Writer
Speaking at a Premier League post-match presser entirely in English for the first time since arriving in the UK, new Spurs boss Mauricio Poccetino described his 'delight' at securing an opening day victory. His full conference exclusively here...
Mauricio: how pleased are you to start with a victory?
I'm very, very pleased for my players because of their effort and I'm pleased for the supporters because of their unbelievable support.
Did you worry when the penalty was awarded?
No, not worried - this situation happens sometimes. I think the red card was unfair but more importantly we never gave up, we kept calm and we believed in our skill. I believe in my team so we kept our offensive player, we re-organised our system and set-up and carried on. This is football and I'm very happy to get the three points today.
Why do you think it was unfair, the red card?
It was unfair for me because the ball was missing the target.
Even if it was on target do you think it's unfair for a player to be punished in that way?
No - I said the sending off was unfair; the penalty was always a penalty.
What will that victory do for the team and for Eric [Dier], who scored his first goal in England? Does he score like that in training?
[laughs] No, because he doesn't play as a centre forward! I'm very pleased for him; it was his debut and like the whole team, he gave a great performance. But this is our philosophy; believe always for 90/95 minutes in the game. This is our philosophy, to always try to win every game.
Is he a player you've been aware of and following for a long time?
Yes, always.
He's very young, do you think he's going to be a regular for you in the first team?
Yes, he's still young but he showed in the game today and against Schalke last week that he's in great form. He has quality and potential but he's still young so we have to give him the opportunity to play, but also be careful. But today I think he was the hero!
Can I be clear on that point: was he a player you wanted to sign or one of the players the club had already...
Tottenham signed Eric Dyer.
[Asst] They're asking did you want him as well?
[laughs] I am the head coach, no?
What I'm asking is was he coming to Spurs anyway or was he specifically someone you asked for?
We always decide together with the Chairman Daniel [Levy]. Before I signed my contract we talked about potential signings and Eric Dier was one on the list.
What about Andros Townsend when he came on? He really seemed to change the game for you.
Yes - but not only Eric and Andros, for me all the players are important. It's true that Andros has very good quality and is a great player but we need to manage it as we have a lot of games. It's possible that we use different players because we have quality and quantity here which is important for us.
Will that be one of your biggest challenges? Having to keep some big players on the bench and keeping everybody happy?
Yes, we always try to keep everyone happy. It's true that it's difficult to manage 25 players but we have a lot of games ahead and they'll all be important players for us.
Do you think you were fortunate today?
No, because when you believe and have a plan... In football sometimes, something happens that is difficult to manage but [it's important that] the team believes. After the sending off we kept our offensive player, we were unchanged. We said it's important to keep the result, but the opening goal was the most important thing.
I think we have a very important relationship with our supporters, because they helped us get the three points.
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Nobes: I scuffed it
KUMB.com
Filed: Monday, 18th August 2014
By: Staff Writer
Mark Noble has admitted that he mis-hit his missed penalty against Tottenham at the weekend. The reigning KUMB.com Player of the Year blew the opportunity to give West Ham what would have been a priceless lead against ten-men Tottenham on Saturday before the Hammers went on to lose the game in injury time thank to Eric Dier's 93rd-minute strike. Even though there has been no criticism whatsoever of Noble, who prior to Saturday had gone more than five years without missing from 12 yards, the midfielder was determined to apologise for his error - blaming himself for changing his mind about where to place his kick at the last minute. "I knew where I was going with this one," he told whufc.com. "I was going to whip it high in that corner, but I saw Lloris going and I just thought to go safe. It went wrong from there and it's obviously disappointing, but hopefully we don't get too down because it was a positive performance. "I don't think I have ever missed the target," he added. "I've had a couple saved, but never missed completely and that is a criminal offence. I scuffed it a little, to be honest. Everything went right in my mind, I knew exactly what I was going to do, but I just didn't connect with it right and that is the price you pay."
Despite having missed against Tottenham - his first failure to convert from 12 yards since a Petr Cech save earned Chelsea a 1-0 win at the Boleyn Ground back in April 2009 - Noble insists that he'll be ready to take the next penalty West Ham are awarded. "I remember missing one against Chelsea, which cost us a point. Frank Lampard came up to me afterwards and said 'make sure you take the next one and smash it in the back of the net'. I'll never forget those words and hopefully I'll be doing that again. "I've always said to myself there will be a day when I do miss one; it's heartbreaking to miss one against Spurs, but I'll be stepping up for the next one we have."
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Allardyce on Board: 'we've had our differences'
KUMB.com
Filed: Friday, 15th August 2014
By: Staff Writer
Sam Allardyce's relationship with his employers has often appeared to be fractious - something that even the manager himself admitted today. Writing in his weekly column for the Standard on the eve of tomorrow's opening fixture of the 2014/15 campaign - when neighbours Tottenham visit the Boleyn Ground attempting to avoid a fourth consecutive defeat against West Ham - Big Sam confessed that his relationship with David Sullivan and David Gold had often ran into difficulties. "As for my relationship with our two chairmen, we've had our differences, there's no doubt about that," he wrote. "For me and them, though, the disagreements come to a conclusion, a decision is made whatever it may be and we all wake up the next day and get on with it. "We discuss things, we agree or disagree, a decision is made and we move on — finished. Whether I agree with the decision or whether they do, we have to be decisive. We keep the communication lines open and remind ourselves we're not in this for different reasons — we're all working for the benefit of West Ham. "We're all trying to make West Ham better, to help the team produce better results and become a greater force in the Premier League."
That oft-perceived divide between the manager and his employers has appeared wider than ever this summer with David Sullivan having seemingly taken a greater interest in the club's transfer policy. New signing such as Enner Valencia and Mauro Zarate have the co-owner's influence stamped all over them, such is his penchant for signing a South American.
However regardless of the terms upon which they arrived at West Ham, Allardyce's job now is to mould those players - seven new signings, in all, following the arrival of Diafra Sakho yesterday - into a squad capable of troubling the upper half of the Premier League. And it's a challenge he continues to relish as he enters his 23rd season in management.
"I've learned a lot and I'm still learning. The day you think you know everything will be the day you should pack up," he surmised. "You do feel a difference with every successive season and the longer you're at one club, the more comfortable you become because you've had enough time to build.
"Whether you have loads of money or not so much, if you spend it wisely over five years you will end up with players who understand how you want to play and the position in which you find yourself. We're in year three now. We've picked all our players, we've recruited younger players with longevity, in contrast to the short-termism which rules football.
"A lot of our established players have valuable experience of the Premier League now. They've learned to cope with it physically and, more importantly, mentally and that will hold them in good stead in the months to come."
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Morgan Amalfitano keen on move to West Ham
Last Updated: 17/08/14 7:26pm
SSN
Sky Sports understands unsettled Marseille midfielder Morgan Amalfitano is desperate to secure a move to West Ham. The 29-year-old reportedly had a training ground bust-up with Marseille coach Marcelo Bielsa and is keen to exit the club. And Amalfitano is prepared to go on strike to ensure he returns to the Premier League with the Hammers before the closure of the transfer window at the end of this month. Amalfitano, who has one international cap for France, was on loan in England with West Brom last season. During his time at The Hawthorns, Amalfitano scored four goals in 28 appearances for Albion. Amalfitano started his career in France with Sedan and spent three years at Lorient before moving to Marseille in 2011.
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West Ham defender Aaron Cresswell admits to frustration on his debut
Last Updated: 17/08/14 3:33pm
SSN
West Ham defender Aaron Cresswell conceded his competitive debut for the club against Tottenham was a frustrating experience. Cresswell, who arrived at the Boleyn Ground this summer from Ipswich, suffered a disappointing start to his Premier League career when Eric Dier - another debutant - scored a late goal to give Tottenham a 1-0 victory. But the 24-year-old produced an impressive performance and provided a glimpse of the form that earned him a place in the Professional Footballers' Association Championship Team of the Year last season. And Cresswell is keen to put the setback behind him as West Ham prepare for another all-London clash against Crystal Palace next weekend. "I had all my family here and it was a proud moment for me personally," he said.
"But it's not about me, it's about the team and getting the three points. It's not personal, it's not about individual performances. "The first thing you look at is the result and we didn't get that on Saturday, so I'm very disappointed. "We'll sit down, go over it, see what we can take out of the game and where we could have gone on to win it. "It's just about taking the positives into the next game and looking forward to it."
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Sam Allardyce not fearful of sack after West Ham defeat
Last Updated: 16/08/14 9:05pm
SSN
Sam Allardyce has every faith West Ham's board will not make him the first managerial casualty of the new Premier League campaign. Allardyce defended his attempts to rejuvenate the Hammers' attacking style despite slipping to a frustrating 1-0 home defeat to Tottenham on Saturday. Debutant Eric Dier pounced in the 90th minute to hand new boss Mauricio Pochettino victory in his first competitive Spurs outing at Upton Park. Allardyce avoided the sack last term, but West Ham's owners ordered him to produce slicker attacking football with Teddy Sheringham joining the coaching staff. The former Bolton boss asserted his Upton Park control despite his side wasting a host of chances, rejecting any fears of the sack. "If they're going to do it after one game, they might as well have done it at the end of last season," said Allardyce in his post-match press conference, after West Ham spurned a host of half chances. "Why wait until now? Why do the whole pre-season we've done, create what we've tried to create and buy what we've tried to buy under my stewardship and then do it after one game?"
Mark Noble's missed penalty summed up a galling afternoon for Allardyce, who praised his side's attacking intent but was left to lament limp finishing. Tottenham's Kyle Naughton was sent off for the handball that led to Noble's penalty miss, while West Ham had defender James Collins dismissed after the break. Hugo Lloris saved superbly from Stewart Downing in the closing stages before Dier's late sucker punch. "I truly believe had it stayed 11 v 10, we would have eventually broken Tottenham's resilient defence down," Allardyce told Sky Sports. "I thought we played some excellent football. Their goal coming right in the last minute was a bitter blow to us."
On the missed penalty, he said: "Mark waits to see where the keeper goes, but what he hasn't done is catch it as well as he normally does. "In the three to four years I've been here, it's the first one he's missed. Had he scored the penalty, I don't think we'd have lost. "And when the golden chance pops up for us (for Downing), after all the one we missed before… although I suppose you have to give Lloris some credit, for what a good save it was." Allardyce conceded he remains in the market for a clinical, natural goalscorer. "At the end of the day, we haven't deserved to lose, we've played very, very well," said the Hammers boss. "We've got a lot of players that will come back and make us stronger when they are fit and on that performance today I'm very confident our season's going to be a good one. "We saw it today (more attacking football). "When you've had 20 attempts on goal like we've had today, why do you need another striker? "I suppose finding another goalscorer for us is the critical point, and he must play, that's a definite now. "Like I said today, 20 attempts at goal created, not enough quality, so we need to find somebody who has got that quality better than we've already got to help us along the way in scoring the goals we need."
Allardyce admitted Collins was "naive" to be dismissed for a second yellow card, fearing a defensive shortage if James Tomkins fails to beat his hamstring problem. "We were very naive allowing ourselves to go down to 10 against 10," he said. "I think it's harsh, but I think that's what referees are instructed to do.
"I don't think he's got any choice because he might get the ticking off from his bosses. "I don't agree with it, but it's what they have to do, because it's what they're told to do, so in that case I can't complain about it. "Like I say to the lads, if you're in risk of getting sent off, don't let the lad go past you. "It's more our fault than the referee's today. There are injuries, and Tomkins adding to that was not obviously helpful." West Ham return to action next Saturday, with another London derby away at Crystal Palace.
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MORE TO COME FROM 'DYNAMO' KOUYATE!
By S J Chandos 18 Aug 2014 at 12:30
West Ham Till I Die
There was almost universal acknowledgement of the quality and effectiveness of Cheikhou Kouyate's dynamic midfield display on Saturday. He ran the midfield, breaking up Spurs attacks, drove the side forward and exhibited good technical skills as well. Yet, the Sengelese international has stated, in a post-match interview on the club's offical website, that he is not even 100% fitness wise and there is more to come from him! Kouyate maintains that he will work harder in training, get his fitness levels up to maximum and make an even bigger impact in future matches.
It is really great to see a West Ham player with that type of whole hearted commitment and professionalism. Kouyate obviously sets high standards for himself and in what he endeavours to achieve for the team. It is just the type of winning mentality that West Ham need. If Saturday's fanastic, all action, performance was delivered on c.90% match fitness, I look forward to seeing what he is capable of at full fitness! It was also notable Mark Noble looked far more effective playing along side him, which is a big bonus. The two of them can form a great partnership this season, with Poyet providing cover and competition for a starting place. Add an in-form Diame and Nolan, plus the guile of Morrison and Zarate, to the mix and we could potentially have the best midfield unit that we have had for some considerable time
Can Cheikhou Kouyate really be West Ham's answer to Patrick Vieria? Naturally, it is early days, but on current evidence there appears to be every possibility.
SJ. Chandos.
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SPURS WERE VERY LUCKY TO WIN - BUT THEY SHOULD BE CONCERNED AT THE DOMINANT TREND!
By S J Chandos 18 Aug 2014 at 08:00
West Ham Till I Die
Spurs were very lucky to win! There, I have stated a fact that the majority of sports pages and non-Hammers websites have hitherto failed to admit. West Ham outplayed their north London rivals for the vast majority of the match, carving out and missing numerous opportunities. In comparison, Spurs rarely threatened and, apart from two saves and the winning goal, Adrian had very little to do. I say this honestly, and without any partisan malice, but if I was a Spurs fan I would be very concerned at the ease with which West Ham dominated Saturday's game (whether 11 vs 11, 11 vs 10 or 10 vs 10). I would also have some serious misgivings that this is the fourth match in a row that West Ham have dominated them on the field of play. Yes, Spurs were very lucky, and stole the points against the run of play, but on another day they would have been on the end of a heavy defeat. West Ham should have been 3-0 up at half-time, our domination was that comprehensive. Spurs fans may not like reading the truth, but that is exactly what it is!
I have to agree with those who argue that Sam Allardyce should have gone on the offensive when Spurs went down to 10 men. The situation was was crying out for Valencia or Zarate to be introduced from the bench. I assume that it was match fitness that restricted Valencia to 10-15 mins, in which case he should have brought on Zarate. Indeed, I feel that Zarate would have brought another dimension to our forward play and made a crucial difference. I just hope that Saturday was not early evidence of Zarate being frozen out and semi-permanently benched. Because if that is the case, it would be totally counter-productive for the team. It would also be very foolish to do that to a player who the owners obviously see as an important part of the solution to last season's attacking/goal scoring problems.
I could not hide my disappointment at learning of the West Ham forward line on Saturday. I accepted that Carlton Cole was very likely to be selected, but I also expected Downing and Zarate to play alongside him. It genuinely surprise to me when Vaz Te's selection was confirmed. He had an especially unimpressive pre-season and has never looked as convincing playing wide right, in a 4-3-3, in comparison with his former central striking role. However, the extra element of dis-belief was that Vaz Te was deployed on the left (and Downing on the right) in an inverted wide role. Now, Downing certainly has the capability to play on either flank, but is Vaz Te in all honesty the best choice to play on the left? Surely Zarate would have been a far better choice to play there? Assuming that Nolan was an automatic selection in the attacking midfield role (why would I think that?), then that would have left Zarate free to play on the left. But apparently not. And I think that the non-selection of Zarate, compounded by a failure to introduce him from the bench at the appropriate juncture, was a key factor in not turning our domination in to a win.
For me, Kouyate was the man of the match. He was a really powerful force on the pitch and continually broke up the Spurs attacks and drove us forward. This guy is a serious footballer of a type that we have been missing. I maintained prior to his signing that he would be a major acquisition for us and that is definitely the way that it is shaping up. Cresswell was also highly impressive, not only defensively, but in supporting the attack down the left. All things being equal, the early signs are Cresswell can develop in to an excellent Premier League left-back. And I am really looking forward to seeing him form a full-back pairing with Carl Jenkinson. In addition, Mark Noble had a fine game (apart from the penalty miss) and clearly benefited from having a player of Kouyate's class and power partnering him in central midfield. While, Downing really upped his game and looked the class act that we all know him to be at his best. We really do need the likes of Downing, Jarvis and Diame to improve on last season's performances and maximise their impact. Downing made a good start, in that respect, on Saturday and so did Diame, who helped tighten our grip on midfield when he was introduced. Finally, Valencia must also get a mention 'in despatches' for his promising 2nd half substitutes appearance. When he came on he looked very dangerous, with great pace, skill on the ball and a promising physicality and combativeness. He is going to be another quality addition and, potentially, the 15-20 goals a season striker that we so desperately need.
I would also like to give a brief mention to Adrian, who pulled off a couple of excellent saves, in a match where he was not unduly extended. Ideally, I would have liked to have seen us sign a good quality keeper to provide increased competition. Someone like Fraser Forster, from Celtic, would have been ideal. But, transfer budgets are finite and the club has obviously decided to stick with Adrian, Jussi and young Speigel. If so, it is vital that Adrian performs to the level required on a consistent basis. And, although he had one or two dodgy moments in pre-season, it has to be said that he looked solid on Saturday and inspired the type of confidence that we want to see from our custodian. Lets hope that Adrian continues in that manner for the rest of the season.
On the issue of playing style, it has to be said that there was no 'route one' approach on evidence. The team passed the ball well and, Downing in particular, delivered some great balls in to the Spurs box. And they most definitely were not of the 'hoof' (up and under variety), but intelligently delivered in to dangerous areas. We got off to a bit of a slow start in the first 10 minutes, but after that we achieved a good level of fluidity and expansive play. I also thought the match had a high entertainment value. So, it looks like we are making some early progress on playing style/entertainment and can hopefully look forward to that trend continuing.
There were, however, some issues exhbited in defence and up front that need to be urgently addressed. Firstly, we need to ensure that sloppy mistakes are cut out in defence. We must try to replicate the defensive solidarity and organisation achieved for much of the last campaign. If Tomkins is not fit for the Palace match, it will be interesting see how Sam Allardyce re-organises the defence. It may be necessary play Kouyate at centre half. While an understandable move, it would be a pity to lose his power and drive in midfield. Secondly, we must start converting our chances. Otherwise, we are going to continue to struggle to finish off teams. In order to augment our ability to do that, we need to select Zarate and Valencia; and hope that Nolan (assuming that he is selected) hits a run of goal scoring form.
Finally, I will be particularly interested to see the approach that we adopt for away fixtures this season. I suppose, as a general rule, we are likely to be defensively orientated against the top four teams and more open when playing away to the lower and middle order PL clubs. My hope is that we can develop a swift and efficient counter-attacking game this season on our travels. We now have the players to do it, all we need to do is set up right tactically and deploy them.
SJ. Chandos.
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NEWS ROUND-UP
By Iain Dale 17 Aug 2014 at 21:17
West Ham Till I Die
Jack Collison is training with Ipswich after QPR decided not to offer him a contract. I can't believe he hasn't got fixed up yet
Sky Sports say Morgan Amalfitano is desperate to sign for West Ham after a bustup with the coach at Marseilles.
According to Squawka Mark Noble was by far West Ham's best oplayer yesterday. They write: "Noble finished the match with a Squawka Performance Score of 64, which was nearly 30 points better than the next highest performance score for West Ham. He completed 89% of his passes as he controlled the midfield and dictating the tempo of the match and he will be keen to build on his figure of three chances created."
Iron Views report on a mystery new striker who's appeared on the club website.
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Football fan who invaded West Ham pitch and took free kick arrested
Aug 16, 2014 20:09 By Ben Burrows
The over-zealous fan ran the length of Upton Park before stealing the set piece from under Christian Eriksen's nose much to the delight of social media
The Mirror
The football fan who ran on the pitch and took a free kick during West Ham vs Tottenham has been arrested. The over-eager supporter ran some 70 yards before booting the ball towards the Hammers goal in a bizarre incident on Saturday afternoon. His shot was saved by West Ham's goalkeeper Adrian while the pitch invader was chased by a steward amid cheers from the crowd. The incident provoked amusement on social media too, with Gary Lineker saying the effort was better than Spurs star Christian Eriksen's free kick once play had resumed. He wrote on Twitter: "A fan runs on the pitch at Upton Park and takes the free kick. Made a better fist of it than Eriksen." Tonight Scotland Yard said a 22-year-old man from Kent had been arrested for suspected pitch invasion.
He is currently in custody at an east London police station, a spokesman added.
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Hammers hunt is on
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 18, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
West Ham are making quick-fire moves to find a central defender! The club have a defensive crisis on their hands after the first game of the season which demands they try to get a player in for the weekend game at Palace. With James Collins unavailable after being sent off against Spurs at the weekend and James Tomkins sidelined with a niggling problem, Sam Allardyce already has problems. He could move midfielder powerhouse Cheikou Kouyate into the back four e but such was his performance against the north Londoners in midfield that would be an option he doesn't want to take. A source told ClaretandHugh: "The hunt is on for a central defender either on a permanent or loan basis. "Losing James Collins at the weekend and having James on the sidelines we have a problem we must deal with quickly."
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Sam Allardyce desperate to sign a new centre-back
Evening Standard
KEN DYER
Published: 18 August 2014 Updated: 13:22, 18 August 2014
West Ham are trying to sign a centre‑half to solve a crisis in defence. The club have problems just one game into the season, following the last-minute 1-0 defeat to Tottenham. With James Tomkins nursing a hamstring injury and Wales international James Collins facing a one-match suspension following his red card on Saturday, Sam Allardyce is effectively down to one recognised central defender — Winston Reid — for next weekend's derby at Crystal Palace.
West Ham were hoping that the £3.5million signing of striker Diafra Sakho from French club Metz would complete their spending but they will now have to dip into the market again. The match against Spurs hinged on a first-half penalty miss from West Ham midfielder Mark Noble, the first spot-kick he has failed to convert in 10 attempts. "I knew there would be a day when I would miss one," he said. "But that's life and it's not the end of the world. "I was going to go high and whip it in the corner but I saw [Hugo] Lloris move and I just thought I would go safe. Obviously it went wrong from there. But I will definitely take the next one — one hundred per cent. "It is a harsh lesson learned and I hope the lads and the fans don't get too down because it was a positive performance."
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Hacked Hammer – an explanation
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 18, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
An eagle-eyed ClaretandHugh reader may have come up with the explanation as to why Greek striker Errikos Drampis may have been 'hacked' into the West Ham squad list. The striker's name caused much confusion when it was spotted in the Irons squad list. But top club officials last night told this site that they appear to have fallen victim to a hacking scam as we have no player of that name in our squad. The question is: Why?" Now it seems CandH follower Greg Richards via his twitter handle @Made_of-Iron may have come up with the answer. He tweeted: "I think someone is having a laugh at our expense. His name is an anagram of 'Despair and Smirk.' Good advice for us Hammers fans."
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Gold: Valencia is the man!
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 17, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
West Ham's bosses are convinced they have a "far better squad" than last season at that Enner Valencia will prove to be the icing on the cake. That the team should be without their marquee signing and Andy Carroll for the opening game – bar a fleeting appearence from the Ecuador international near the end – was unfortunate. But co chairman David Gold told ClaretandHugh he is convinced the striker will make a huge difference to the side. He said: "Don't expect to see an all action player who is running all over the place all the time. This is a player who conserves energy to produce electric pace which can l cause massive problems to any Premier League defence. "He can play through the middle or wide and with him and Andy Carroll in the team we can be a serious, serious force. In the meantime he will be a real handful on his own account."
Gold has regularly maintained the likes of Mauro Zarate, Ravel Morrison and Valencia give the manager plenty of options and game plans. He said: "We believe we have a squad that can play to various systems. We believe we have a winning squad and one that can entertain – that's what we are looking for this season."
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West Ham pitch invader gloats: "My mates think I'm a legend and 10-year ban wouldn't bother me"
Aug 18, 2014 14:08 By Mirror Football
Jordan Dunn, 22, sprinted on to the Upton Park pitch during Saturday's clash with Tottenham and was subsequently arrested before being charged
The Mirror
The football fan who invaded the pitch and took a free-kick during a Premier League game gloated about the prank today. Jordan Dunn had downed eight pints before he sprinted 80 yards across the pitch at Upton Park to hoof the ball as West Ham played Spurs on Saturday. The 22-year-old hotel receptionist managed to kick the ball before being bundled to the ground by stewards and arrested. Dunn, a West Ham fan, spent the night in a police cell before he was charged and bailed under the Football Offences Act. He said he planned to plead guilty to the offence at Thames Magistrates' Court on September 1 where he faces a fine of up to £5000 and a 10-year ban. But Dunn, of Dover, Kent, said: "I know it was a mistake, but it was definitely worth it. "My phone hasn't stopped going off and even Gary Lineker tweeted about it. My mates think I'm a legend. "I could be looking at a 10-year-ban and even a £5000 fine. The ban wouldn't bother me whatsoever but obviously the money would. "My mum's not too happy, but she had a little laugh about it." Right-footed Dunn, who plays for Dover Elms Vale, said he was forced to shoot with his left foot to avoid breaking his stride. His shot was saved by West Ham's Spanish goalkeeper Adrian.
He added: "I thought no one else was shooting, so I might as well. "I think I ran about 80 yards. I don't remember looking at any players - I only had my eyes on the ball. "If I had used my right I probably would have fallen over. It wasn't a bad strike though. "I just wish I'd used the outside of my right foot and buried it bottom corner."
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Irons decision on Amalfitano
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 18, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
West Ham are set to drop their interest in Marseilles midfielder Morgan Amalfitano as they go in pursuit of a central defender. Amalfitano has been on the Irons radar for some time although the club has worried about given the player's inconsistent season on loan at West Brom last term. The 29 year old has been reportedly desperate for a move to Upton Park after an alleged training ground row with coach Marcelo Bielsa this weekend. Sources in France insist the he is desperate for a move back to the Premier League at the Boleyn but ClaretandHugh has learned the club has all but brought its interest to an end. A source told us: "With the injury to James Tomkins, and James Collins suspended, we need a defender, probably on loan, desperately and that's where our efforts are concentrated. "We are also looking at other areas of the team we need to strengthen and in Ravel Morrison we have a player of the Amalfitano type."
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25 man squad limit explained
Posted by Sean Whetstone on August 18, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
All Premier League clubs must submit a squad of up to 25 players, by 5pm on Monday, September 1st. With 22 squad numbers already allocated and the 23rd about to allocated to Diafra Sakho, the big question will be who will fill the remaining places? Each 25-man Premier League squad must include at least eight 'home-grown' players. The 'home-grown' players do not have to be English. According to the Premier League: "A home grown player is defined as one who, irrespective of his nationality or age, has been registered with any club affiliated to the Football Association or the Welsh Football Association for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons or 36 months prior to his 21st birthday (or the end of the season during which he turns 21)." West Ham have the luxury of over half their current 22 man squad being classed under this home grown rule. Nolan, Poyet, Cresswell, O'Brien, Collins Tomkins, Jarvis, Downing, Morrison, Noble, Jenkinson, and Cole are all classed as home grown talent. In addition to the 25-man named squad, clubs can use an unlimited number of players aged 21 or under. In practice this means Reece Burke (17), Josh Cullen (18) Elliot Lee and Diego Poyet (19) plus Danny Potts, Blair Turgott, Matthias Fanimo (all 20) can be included in the squad without taking up a place in the squad of 25.
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West Ham United youngster George Moncur scored his second goal in as many games on loan at Colchester United on Saturday
6:33pm Monday 18th August 2014 in News
East London and West Essex Guardian Series
West Ham United midfielder George Moncur made it two goals in as many games as a Colchester United player on Saturday but could not prevent the U's losing 2-1 at Bristol City. The 21-year-old, who is on a six-month loan deal at the Colchester Community Stadium, netted after just nine minutes to hand the Essex side the lead at Ashton Gate, before two second-half goals from Aaron Wilbraham secured victory for the Robins. Elsewhere, fellow Hammers loanee, goalkeeper Raphael Spiegel, was an unused substitute during Crawley Town's 1-0 home win against Swindon Town, with manager John Gregory opting to play veteran Brian Jensen instead. New Crawley signing Izale McLeod scored his third goal in as many games to hand the Red Devils victory in League One.
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