West Ham United v Leicester City: All you need to know
WHUFC.com
David Moyes's first home match as West Ham United manager comes on Friday as
the Hammers welcome Leicester City to London Stadium.
Read on for all the information you need about this fixture, including team
news, quotes, and match history.
Where and when?
West Ham United v Leicester City will be played at London Stadium on Friday
24 November, with kick-off set for 8pm.
How to follow:
West Ham's clash with Leicester City will be live on Sky Sports across their
Premier League and Main Event channels.
Initial build up will begin on the Premier League channel at 7pm while Main
Event will start broadcasting at 7.30pm.
Live match updates will be provided through the official West Ham Twitter
account.
You can also follow the game live via our Matchday Blog on whufc.com.
You can also follow the match on our official Instagram, Facebook and
Snapchat channels.
Live audio coverage will also be provided by BBC Radio 5 Live.
Meet the opposition:
0:25
Team news:
David Moyes is yet to offer an update on his squad ahead of Friday's match.
The West Ham United manager's press-conference on Thursday afternoon will
likely provide insight as to which players are available.
Fans will look for updates on Marko Arnautovic, who came off last week
against Watford, and James Collins, who has been back in training after a
lengthy lay-off.
Team news for both the Hammers and Leicester City will be updated as soon as
the respective managers speak to the media.
Match Officials:
Referee: Martin Atkinson
Assistant Referees: Peter Kirkup & Constantine Hatzidakis
Fourth Official: Jonathan Moss
Last Five Meetings:
0:44
What they Say:
"We have to work hard for the next game and forget about the last one
because what happened, happened."
Pedro Obiang
How to get there:
There are four train stations that supporters are recommended to utilise to
reach London Stadium: Stratford Station, Stratford International, Hackney
Wick and Pudding Mill Lane.
By Underground
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Lanzini hails 'incredible' West Ham United supporters
WHUFC.com
Manuel Lanzini has hailed the "incredible" support of the West Ham United
fans ahead of Friday's Premier League contest with Leicester City. The Irons
return to action with the weekend's early fixture as David Moyes prepares
for his first match at London Stadium as West Ham manager, against the
Foxes. Over 50,000 loyal West Ham fans will pack into the Stadium to cheer
on the home side versus Leicester City, and Lanzini has said the players are
fully appreciative of the support they receive. The Argentinian maestro
promised the fans that the team is working hard to escape the relegation
zone and want to put smiles on their faces – starting against Leicester.
"The West Ham fans are incredible," Lanzini said. "They support us wherever
we go and they always cheer us on, even if things aren't going our way. "We
will give our absolute all to turn this around. As players, we are the first
people to be angry about our current situation. Where we are at the moment
is no good for anyone and none of us are happy. It's always a wonderful
feeling when you're making the fans happy. "The fans are a huge part of the
game. We try to do our best for ourselves and our families to get results,
but especially for the people and the fans that support us. We thank them
for their support."
Following the defeat at Watford captain Mark Noble confessed that the
confidence at West Ham was suffering slightly, a sentiment that Lanzini has
echoed. However, the No10 insists the hard work the team is putting in will
lead to positive results. He added: "At the moment the combination of our
performances and league position means our confidence is not at 100 per
cent. I think we need to keep things simple in the way we play in order to
increase our confidence.
"I have full belief in this team. We have some very good players here and
we're all working hard to implement the manager's ideas and to pick up more
points."
The 24-year-old also offered an insight into training under Moyes, who is
now in his third week in charge of the Hammers. Lanzini believes he and his
teammates are close to reaching what the West Ham boss is looking for in his
players. "We've been working on our intensity in games, and our link-up
play," Lanzini revealed. "We're trying to develop our game and his game all
together and I hope we can succeed. We're not far away from that. "It's down
to our intelligence as players in terms of being able to put into practice
what the coach wants from us. We are taking on his ideas and putting them
into practice, in terms of the intensity, and I think we are doing well."
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Hammers kick-off Stonewall Rainbow Laces campaign
WHUFC.com
West Ham United will kick-off the Stonewall Rainbow Laces campaign at
Friday's Premier League fixture with Leicester City at London Stadium. The
Hammers will be the first of the 92 Premier League and EFL clubs to support
the week-long initiative, which campaign to make football everyone's game,
with national teams, leading clubs, professional players, fans and
grassroots players from across football showing their support for LGBT
people in sport. The London Stadium adorned with a rainbow-branded ball
plinth, pitch flags, handshake and timing boards, while Mark Noble will wear
a rainbow-coloured captain's armband. Joint-Chairman David Sullivan says
West Ham are determined to ensure London Stadium remains a place where all
supporters can enjoy football in comfortable surroundings.
"We are proud to kick-off Stonewall's Rainbow Laces Week tonight and support
a cause that is very important to everyone at West Ham United," said Mr
Sullivan.
"We have an excellent relationship with our fantastic Pride of Irons
supporters' club, who help us ensure LGBT fans feel completely welcome at
London Stadium. I am sure every one of you will show your support this
evening."
Those sentiments were echoed by manager David Moyes. "We are proud to be
kicking-off Stonewall's Rainbow Laces Week this evening, which will be
helping promote a strong message across sport over the next seven days,"
said Moyes. "Football is a game for everyone, and I am sure you will all
agree it is important that absolutely nobody feels unwelcome when watching
or playing sport."
Jim Dolan is co-chairman of West Ham United's LGBT supporters' club Pride of
Irons and believes the Hammers are leading the way when it comes to creating
an inclusive environment, not only at London Stadium, but throughout the
Club. "West Ham is a Club that supports all of its fans and isn't just about
ticking boxes. Since the creation of Pride of Irons, the Club have been in
full support from sending Hammerhead to the London Pride Parade to asking us
to come in to the Club to provide training to Supporter Liaison Officers
around LGBT issues. "And for anyone who thinks we're isolating ourselves as
a group, that's not the case. Around a quarter of our members are straight
and all are invited to join. We want to create a supportive environment for
LGBT fans and their families which can only be achieved with acceptance and
support from every fan in the stands."
To find out more about the campaign and buy your own pair of Rainbow Laces
click here, then tweet a picture of you wearing them and tag @StonewallUK
and #RainbowLaces to show your support.
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Rainbow Laces: A message from Pride of Irons
WHUF.com
Pride of Irons co-chairman Jim Dolan says West Ham United are working
tirelessly to make LGBT supporters feel welcome at London Stadium...
Tonight's match marks the launch of the Stonewall Rainbow Laces campaign.
Initially created by an online betting site, the campaign has been adopted
by the LGBT charity Stonewall in partnership with the Premier League. But
what's it all about? What's it for? Simply, it is to highlight awareness of
LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) fans in football and to
highlight problems around homophobia – highlighted this season with the
promotion of Brighton & Hove Albion, who have notoriously received historic
homophobic abuse. Added to that, it's 2017 and we still don't have an out
footballer in the Premier League. Now we know they're there. We've had at
least two play for us. The first – although briefly – was Justin Fashanu,
who later tragically took his own life. More recently, Der Hammer – Thomas
Hitzlsperger – who chose to come out only just after retiring from the game.
There have also been several reports of gay players having discussions with
footballing authorities around what will happen should they come out.
So why aren't players able to? After all, in this day and age you'd think it
wasn't a big deal, right? LGBT people have all the same rights as everyone
else, so what's the problem? Players need to know that they have support in
the stands and LGBT fans need that support too. Although initiatives like
Rainbow Laces are good annual gestures, there's more to it than waving a
rainbow flag once a year. Acceptance in the stands is not the same as taking
part in a single event which some could say is a box-ticking exercise.
Fortunately, West Ham United is a Club that supports all of its fans and
isn't just about ticking boxes. Since the creation of Pride of Irons (West
Ham's official LGBT+ fan group) the club has been in full support, from
sending Hammerhead to the London Pride Parade to asking us to come in to the
club to provide training to SLOs (Supporter Liaison Officers) around LGBT
issues. And for anyone who thinks we're isolating ourselves as a group,
that's not the case. Around a quarter of our members are straight and all
are invited to join. We want to create a supportive environment for LGBT
fans and their families, which can only be achieved with acceptance and
support from every fan in the stands. One day we won't be talking about
Rainbow Laces and Pride of Irons won't exist, because homophobia will be
seen by the footballing community to be as abhorrent as racism is by most
today. But until that day, please join us and let your fellow fans know that
they are welcome, whatever their sexuality, gender, colour, race or level of
ability. Because we are all West Ham together.
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Hammers will go back to basics tonight - Cottee
WHUFC.com
West Ham United legend Tony Cottee believes West Ham United manager David
Moyes will go 'back to basics' in his first home game in charge. The Hammers
host Leicester City at London Stadium on Friday evening and Cottee, who also
played for the Foxes during his illustrious career, has called for unity
among the Claret and Blue Army.
Writing in the Official Programme, Cottee hopes his boyhood club will secure
the victory that will kick-start their 2017/18 Premier League season under
the Friday night lights...
Since arriving at the Club, David Moyes has spoken on a few occasions about
the imbalance in his squad. He said last week that he has four players who
all want to play on the left side in attack, while injuries and illness left
him light in certain areas last week. Much has also been made of the stats
showing that we are at the bottom for distance covered and other physical
levels, but the only statistic that really matters is the fact that we are
in the bottom three. It is obvious that we are not doing things as well as
we should be, both individually and as a team. The manager obviously
understands the position we are in but he can't make changes to personnel
until January, and we have ten games before then, so he needs to find a
solution that can grind out some results.
I think it is really a case of going back to basics, particularly in
defensive areas, and quickly finding a system and formation that the players
are happy and comfortable with. Make no mistake, we have some talented
players, but they are low on confidence at the moment, and the manager's job
is to lift that in any way he can. David is right in that it starts with
hard work on the training pitch.
The international break meant that he didn't get a chance to work with all
his players until just a couple of days before the Watford game, and I'm
sure he will have gained a lot more from training this week, with everyone
together and focused on what is needed this evening. This is a very good
counter-attacking Leicester team, it's how they won the Premier League, and
they still have a large percentage of that side at the club. I watched them
against Stoke a couple of weeks ago and you know what you are going to get.
They are very dangerous on the break and we have to be aware of that. We
can't afford to throw men forward gung-ho or play too high a line, because
one hoof forward and suddenly Jamie Vardy is away on goal. I'm sure David
and the players will have worked hard this week on what is required, and I
genuinely think we will be far better prepared to face Leicester than we
were to face Watford. The start to the game is going to be very important
and, as always, both players and supporters have a big role to play in that
sense. If the players begin with passion, high tempo and intensity, the
crowd will respond accordingly. Let's all hope this is the start of our
turnaround this season.
*Tony Cottee played 336 games for West Ham United between 1983 and 1996,
scoring 146 goals, and was voted Hammer of the Year in 1986
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Brady warns: We're not quitters
KUMB.com
Filed: Friday, 24th November 2017
By: Staff Writer
Vice-chair Karren Brady has reacted to calls for her to resign by announcing
"we are not quitters". Brady, who has been charged with overseeing the
botched move to Stratford used her column in a tabloid newspaper today to
warn fans that she and her employers, David Sullivan and David Gold, were
going nowhere. "At West Ham, none of us ever begin a season preparing
ourselves for a tough one," she wrote. "We all start the season brimming
with optimism, excited for what might lie ahead and the good times it may
bring. "We are all guilty of that and that's why it hurts us all so much to
be in the position we currently find ourselves. But that is when West Ham
supporters are historically at their best — and that is when David Sullivan,
David Gold and I are at our best. "We are not quitters and we are here to
honour our commitment and cement the long-term future of West Ham United FC.
We are here to see the children who became season-ticket holders last year,
grow up and bring their children to watch their first match at London
Stadium."
Brady also insisted that, despite claims to the contrary, she cared deeply
about the club - the running of which, she added, had required great
personal "sacrifice" from the two chairmen. "A quarter of a century in
football has ensured my chairmen, David Gold and David Sullivan, and I have
developed a thick skin for criticism," she added. "I have seen a lot of
people this week say we don't care and that couldn't be any further from the
truth. "David Sullivan and David Gold have given eight years of blood, sweat
and tears to help West Ham escape a very perilous situation upon our
arrival, make the club financially sustainable and realise an ambitious
stadium move, all of which have come with great challenges and sacrifice."
And in response to those who called for her dismissal last weekend at
Watford, she added: "For those who made their feelings known as loudly as
possible at Watford last week, we understand the frustration, we hear your
complaints and we really do care. "However, for 90 minutes tonight let's
all pull in the same direction and be West Ham. United."
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David Gold and David Sullivan will not quit West Ham, says Karren Brady
By Nick Lustig
Last Updated: 24/11/17 9:55am
SSN
Karren Brady insists West Ham co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold have
no intention of quitting the club, despite a certain section of fans calling
for them to sell following the Hammers' poor start to the season. West Ham
currently sit 18th in the Premier League, having won only two of their
opening 12 matches and tasted defeat in David Moyes' first match in charge
away at Watford last Sunday. Moyes subsequently called for West Ham to come
together as a club after fans protested against Gold and Sullivan's
ownership during the 2-0 loss at Vicarage Road, with a 'Sack The Board'
banner visible in the away end. Ahead of the Friday Night Football clash
against Leicester at London Stadium - live on Sky Sports Main Event &
Premier League HD - Brady insists she, Gold and Sullivan have no intention
of selling and are determined to turn the club's fortunes around. "We all
start the season brimming with optimism, excited for what might lie ahead
and the good times it may bring," Brady told The Sun. "We are all guilty of
that and that's why it hurts us all so much to be in the position we
currently find ourselves.
"But that is when West Ham supporters are historically at their best - and
that is when David Sullivan, David Gold and I are at our best. "We are not
quitters and we are here to honour our commitment and cement the long-term
future of West Ham United FC. "We are here to see the children who became
season-ticket holders last year, grow up and bring their children to watch
their first match at London Stadium. "But just one message for those who
made their feelings known as loudly as possible at Watford last week ... "We
understand the frustration, we hear your complaints and we really do care.
However, for 90 minutes tonight let's all pull in the same direction and be
West Ham United."
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David Moyes defends West Ham's Andy Carroll over aerial challenges
"We are in a country which wants to rule out simulation. But he stays up and
is hit by two people and gets zero protection"
Last Updated: 23/11/17 11:22pm
SSN
David Moyes has issued a staunch defence of Andy Carroll, arguing that the
West Ham striker warrants better treatment from referees over aerial
challenges.
Carroll has been involved in a series of incidents this season which have
raised debate over how he uses his arms to battle for possession but Moyes
believes there is no malicious intent from the 28-year-old. The former
Newcastle and Liverpool frontman was sent off against Burnley in October for
two yellow cards in quick succession following aerial battles and caught
Watford's Marvin Zeegelaar with his forearm last Sunday. "I think it's
becoming ridiculous," Moyes, who has argued that Carroll is often the
victim, said: "A couple of times people climbed over Andy and fouled him.
And all it was was, 'No that's OK, if it's Andy it's fine for that to go
on'. "Just before he was booked, he was scythed by two people. If it been
anyone else they would have gone down and taken a free-kick. Andy didn't.
"We are in a country which wants to rule out simulation. But he stays up and
is hit by two people and gets zero protection. "Every time Andy plays is
everyone going to say, 'That's a foul'? If they do then we've got to say now
that if you're six foot four you'd better go to basketball and stop being a
centre-forward. "I'm telling you, you can only jump with your arms for
leverage. It's my specialist subject. I was a centre-half. I needed to use
my arms for protection. If we are now saying you can't use your arms for
leverage then that isn't in the rules of football." Moyes has confirmed
Carroll will continue to lead the West Ham attack on Friday Night Football,
live on Sky Sports Premier League, despite an indifferent display during the
side's 2-0 defeat against Watford at Vicarage Road. The former Everton and
Manchester United manager has also admitted he will not shy away from making
his players aware if they are not reaching the heights he expects from them.
"I think players need to be told," he added. "I've told the players here, if
you're not doing it, I'm going to tell you. "I did also tell them that when
I stop shouting, you know you've got a problem. If I stop shouting at you,
you know I've given up on you."
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MATCH PREVIEW: WEST HAM V LEICESTER
By Dan Coker 24 Nov 2017 at 12:00
WTID
Blast from the past
New Year's Eve 1977 – Wings were number one with their double A-side
Christmas number one 'Mull of Kintyre/Girls' School', Star Wars was in UK
cinemas and, on the day which saw Bruce Forsyth step down as presenter of
The Generation Game after six years, the Hammers defeated the Foxes at Upton
Park in front of 25,355 spectators.
John McDowell (pictured) fired in a rasping drive for his only goal of the
season to give the Irons the lead. Derek Hales, sent clear by a Trevor
Brooking pass, made it two with his fifth goal in ten games to give the
hosts a 2-0 half-time lead.
David 'Psycho' Cross then scored his first ever goal in claret and blue,
getting on the end of Brooking's cross to score the first of his 97 goals
for West Ham United. The Hammers were 3-0 up but, typically for West Ham,
the game was not over – Steve Kember scored a freak goal from a cross which
looped over Bobby Ferguson to pull one back for the visitors. Scottish
goalkeeper Ferguson, playing in his first league game for 20 months, then
made a super save from a dipping shot by Roger Davies. Steve Sims added
another for Leicester with a looping header from a corner but the Hammers
held out to claim a 3-2 win and end 1977 on a happy note.
My video below shows all the goals from this game as well as Ferguson's save
and an interview with the former Hammers goalkeeper.
West Ham would go on to be relegated in a 1977/78 campaign that saw them
finish third from bottom, in 20th place, just one point behind QPR. Bryan
'Pop' Robson would be the Irons' top goalscorer with 11 goals in 41 matches
in 1977/78. Brooking was voted the Hammer of the Year and, for the only time
since 1961, there was no runner-up. The Foxes finished ten points behind the
Hammers, rooted to the bottom of the First Division table. Nottingham Forest
won the league and Ipswich won the FA Cup.
West Ham United: Bobby Ferguson, John McDowell, Billy Bonds, Tommy Taylor,
Frank Lampard, Alan Devonshire, Alan Curbishley, Trevor Brooking, Bryan
'Pop' Robson, Derek Hales, David Cross.
Leicester City: Mark Wallington, Tommy Williams (Steve Earle), Dave Webb,
Steve Sims, Dennis Rofe, Steve Kember, Jon Sammels, Eddie Kelly, George
Armstrong, Roger Davies, Billy Hughes.
Club Connections
Players who have represented both the Hammers and the Foxes include:
Goalkeepers: George Hebden, Colin Mackleworth.
Defenders: Gary Charles, Chris Powell, Dickie Pudan, Rufus Brevett, Paul
Konchesky, Dai Jones, Matthew Upson, Clive Clarke, Billy Oakes, Fred Milnes,
John Paintsil.
Midfielders: Andy Impey, Shaun Newton, Nolberto Solano, Franz Carr, Sid
Bishop.
Strikers: David Connolly, Albert Carnelly, Mike Newell, Brian Deane, Keith
Robson, David Speedie, Bertie Lyon, Paul Kitson, Norman Proctor, Les
Ferdinand, David Kelly, Tony Cottee, Jimmy Quinn.
Frank O'Farrell and Jimmy Bloomfield have played for the Hammers and managed
the Foxes.
Today's focus is on another who played for West Ham United and managed
Leicester City. Martin Allen was born in Reading on the 14th August 1965 and
started his professional career at QPR in 1984. Martin was born into the
famous footballing Allen family – the son of Dennis Allen (who played for
Reading, Charlton and Bournemouth), the nephew of Les and cousin of Paul,
Bradley and Clive. He played in the 1986 League Cup Final during his time at
Loftus Road before joining Lou Macari's West Ham United in the summer of
1989 for a fee of £670,000. He scored on his Hammers debut in a 3-2 home win
over Plymouth on 26th August 1989 and bagged another in his next appearance
at Upton Park in a 1-1 draw against Swindon. Allen scored an impressive 11
goals in 48 appearances in his first season with the club and also picked up
a red card in a League Cup quarter-final against Derby – it was Allen's
strike against Wimbledon that had booked the Hammers' place in the last
eight. He had gained a reputation as a midfielder with an eye for goal – his
combative nature in the middle of the park also lived up to his nickname,
'Mad Dog'.
Billy Bonds had taken over from Lou Macari midway through the 1989/90
campaign – Allen's goal at Middlesbrough had given Bonzo his first win as
Hammer manager. 1990/91 would see Allen spend more time as a substitute than
the previous season – he made 46 appearances but 12 of these were from the
bench. He scored five goals in this promotion-winning campaign – four came
in October 1990 with two in a League Cup second round second leg 2-2 draw at
Stoke and another double in a 2-1 home win over Charlton. His final goal of
the season was in the reverse match at Selhurst Park, Charlton's temporary
home, in a 1-1 draw.
The fateful First Division campaign of 1991/92 saw Allen spend a
considerable amount of time on the sidelines with an Achilles injury – he
scored two goals from 24 matches, both against Sunderland in a 3-2 FA Cup
fifth round replay defeat at Upton Park on 26th February 1992. Allen was a
key member of the 1992/93 promotion-winning side though, playing 44 matches
as he teamed up with new signing Peter Butler in midfield – the pair
provided a tough-tackling, no-nonsense approach which allowed wingers Kevin
Keen and Mark Robson to create for free-scoring Trevor Morley and Clive
Allen, Martin's cousin who had joined from Chelsea towards the end of the
previous campaign. 'Mad Dog' scored four goals – September strikes in a 2-1
home win over Watford and 3-1 triumph at Peterborough were followed by a
goal in a 6-0 smashing of Sunderland at Upton Park and another in a 4-0 home
victory over Brentford.
1993/94 saw 'Mad Dog' stamp his paws on the Premier League – he scored ten
goals in 34 matches. Most of his game time in the early months of the season
came from the bench and he only registered one goal before Christmas, in a
2-0 League Cup second round second leg win at Chesterfield. He won his place
back in January 1994 and scored three goals in as many matches – against
Watford in a 2-1 home win in the FA Cup third round, at Aston Villa in a 3-1
defeat and in a 3-3 home draw with Norwich – he kept his place in midfield
for the rest of the season as the Hammers consolidated their top-flight
status. A flurry of goals between March and May saw Allen bag six goals in
nine matches, including a delightful lofted effort over David James in a 2-1
home defeat to Liverpool and typical long-range efforts in a 2-1 home defeat
to Blackburn and 2-0 win at Arsenal. Although Ken Monkou did score an own
goal later in the 3-3 draw with Southampton on 7th May 1994, 'Mad Dog' holds
the distinction of being the last West Ham player to score in front of the
terraced North Bank having struck earlier in the second half of the game.
1994/95 saw Harry Redknapp take up the managerial reigns – Allen scored
twice in 33 appearances that season, in a 2-1 win at Chelsea and 2-0 home
win over Southampton, both in October 1994. Allen's final goal in claret and
blue came in a 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest on 26th August 1995. His last
appearance for the club was four days later in a 1-1 draw with Tottenham at
Upton Park. After the death of his father Dennis, who used to watch Martin
from the West Stand at Upton Park, Allen decided it was too emotional to
play at Upton Park and left the club for Portsmouth in August 1995. He had
made 232 appearances for the club, scoring 35 goals. 33 of Mad Dog's 35
goals can be seen in my video below.
After two years at Fratton Park, Allen moved to Southend where he ended his
playing career in 1998. He began his managerial career as assistant to Alan
Pardew at his hometown club Readingand managed Barnet, Brentford and MK Dons
before getting the Leicester job in May 2007. Due to a strained relationship
with chairman Milan Mandaric, mainly revolving around player transfers,
Allen was only in charge for four games before leaving the club on 29th
August 2007. He won two, drew one and lost one of his matches with the
Foxes.
Now 52, Allen has since managed Cheltenham, Barnet (on three further
occasions), Notts County, Gillingham and Eastleigh.
Referee
The referee on Friday will be Martin Atkinson, who most recently refereed
our last Friday night match – the 3-0 home defeat to Brighton. He was also
in charge of our 4-0 opening weekend defeat at Manchester United on 13th
August. 2017/18 is Atkinson's 13th as a Premier League referee. Since West
Ham United achieved promotion back to the top flight in 2012 Atkinson has
refereed 19 of our league matches, officiating in nine wins for the Hammers,
two draws and eight defeats.
Atkinson also refereed the Hammers' FA Cup quarter-final at Old Trafford in
March 2016, when he turned down appeals for a penalty after Marcos Rojo
appeared to have tripped Dimitri Payet and failed to spot Bastian
Schweinstieger's block on Darren Randolph as Man Utd equalised late on. He
refereed last September's 4-2 home defeat to Watford and October's 1-0 win
at Crystal Palace, when he controversially sent off Aaron Cresswell for two
very harsh yellow cards in quick succession. His previous Hammers
appointments this calendar year were our 3-1 win at Middlesbrough in January
and our 3-0 defeat to Arsenal in April.
Possible line-ups
West Ham United have lost only three of their last 30 home matches against
Leicester stretching back to 1967, with 21 victories and 6 draws against the
Foxes in that time. David Moyes will be without Chicharito, Sam Byram, James
Collins, Jose Fonte and Michail Antonio. Marko Arnautovoic and Andre Ayew
are both available. Andy Carroll has gone 12 hours and 49 minutes without a
goal – spanning 10 games – since scoring against Hull on 1st April.
Leicester City manager Claude Puel will be without Robert Huth and Matty
James. Leicester failed to register an attempt on target in a Premier League
game for the first time in 13 months against Manchester City last weekend.
The Foxes could record three successive away victories in this fixture for
the first time. They had only won one of their 28 league visits to east
London prior to back-to-back victories in the past two seasons.
Possible West Ham United XI: Hart; Zabaleta, Reid, Ogbonna, Cresswell;
Kouyate, Noble, Obiang; Ayew, Lanzini; Carroll.
Possible Leicester City XI: Schmeichel; Simpson, Maguire, Morgan, Fuchs;
Iborra, Ndidi; Mahrez, Albrighton, Gray; Vardy.
Enjoy the game – Come On You Irons!
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Crystal Palace set to battle relegation-scrap rivals West Ham over transfer
of Harry Arter from Bournemouth
David Moyes wants the midfielder for the looming fight against the drop —
and so does counterpart Roy Hodgson
The Mirror
ByDarren Lewis
22:30, 23 NOV 2017
Crystal Palace are now rivalling West Ham's interest in Harry Arter. We
revealed a fortnight ago that the Hammers' new manager David Moyes is keen
on Bournemouth's Republic of Ireland international as he searches for more
mobility and bite in midfield. Rock-bottom Palace are in a similar position
to their 18th-placed London neighbours, with Roy Hodgson looking to freshen
up the squad he inherited from the sacked Frank de Boer in September when
the winter transfer window opens. Arter, 27, signed an improved four-year
contract in June – but a number of clubs are ready to test his commitment to
Bournemouth. Plucked from non-League Woking, Arter was among a core of Eddie
Howe signings central to the Cherries' sensational rise through all four
divisions to the Premier League since 2010.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
David Moyes hoping to unite West Ham fans after supporters chant against
Hammers board
ANDY SIMS
ES Sport
David Moyes is desperate to give West Ham's supporters something to shout
about other than their anti-board chants. The Hammers fans vented their
anger at joint-chairmen David Sullivan and David Gold, and vice-chair Karren
Brady, during the 2-0 defeat at Watford last Sunday. They remain unhappy
about the move from Upton Park to the former Olympic Stadium as well as some
dire displays which have left West Ham in the relegation zone. New boss
Moyes will oversee his first game at the London Stadium when they host
Leicester on Friday night, and he hopes a decent performance will get the
fans back on side. "I've been there a couple of times this week and it's
brilliant," he said. "We are going to be there for the next 100 years. "When
teams move to stadiums it can be difficult - it wasn't that easy for Arsenal
at the Emirates - but we need to get used to winning there. "We need to give
the supporters something to shout about and something that looks half
decent, and then they will support us. "I want everyone to be together. I am
not aware of the problems before I came, I was a bit surprised when I heard
(the board criticism). "I want them behind us to give us a chance of
winning."
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http://vyperz.blogspot.com
Friday, November 24
Daily WHUFC News - 24th November 2017
Moyes: Unity, togetherness, home advantage, young players and the same old
Leicester City
WHUFC.com
David Moyes sat down with the media on Thursday afternoon ahead of his first
home match in charge of West Ham United.
The Hammers host Leicester City at London Stadium on Friday evening anxious
to end a run of five Premier League matches without a win – a record which
has seen them drop into the bottom three and led to Moyes' appointment a
little over a fortnight ago. The new manager was asked what his team need to
do to improve their fortunes, about his excitement ahead of his first home
game and for his view on Friday's visitors. Here is what he had to say…
Unity and togetherness will be key to our success
I want everybody to be together and be united and help each other along, not
just at London Stadium on Friday evening, but for the remainder of the
season. West Ham have always been a very vocal support. I can vouch for that
over the years and years I've been coming, I was always looking to get away
from Upton Park after the game because we knew it was going to be tough. We
want them to be supportive of the team. We have knowledgeable supporters and
they've seen a lot of good stuff down the years here and they want their
team to play well. What we've got to do is build it [togetherness] and make
sure we are all together and make sure that whatever happens and whatever is
said is affecting us all and not just one.
London Stadium is brilliant and we need to make it our fortress
I've been down a couple of times in the week and was there a year ago as
manager of Sunderland. It's a brilliant stadium and don't let anybody tell
you any different. It's going to be the stadium we play in for the next 100
years. I watched the game against Chelsea last year and it was one of the
best atmospheres I heard in the Premier League last season, if I'm honest,
so it's possible. What we need to do is give the supporters something to
shout about because if we give them something to shout about that's
half-decent then I think they will support us wherever. I think West Ham
supporters will support their team, no matter what stadium they're playing
in.
Youngsters will get their opportunities at the right time
I've always wanted to introduce young players, especially when I think it's
right, as I showed during my time at Everton. Declan Rice has already been
in the side for a few games this season. The bigger problem for Toni
Martinez is that he has competition in front of him from other centre
forwards – Andre Ayew, Diafra Sakho, obviously Andy Carroll as well can do
that roll – so that's his biggest thing. Young Domingos Quina has been
training with us and he was on the bench as well. We're a bit short of
midfield players, so the openings can come for young players due to injuries
or suspensions or just not having players in those positions.
Leicester City – new manager, same playing style
I've watched a couple of Leicester City games as we're playing them and the
structure hasn't really changed even from Claudio Ranieri's time, to be
honest. They've got some outstanding players and their style of play really
fits their team and their club. I've got to say I think the new manager
Claude Puel has introduced one or two different things I've seen, I think,
and overall you'll see the Leicester City most people recognise from the way
they played a few years ago.
Because of their speed and their aggressiveness, I have to think about the
opposition, particularly with where we are in the league When you're at the
top, you think about your own team completely, but when you're in the
position we're in, we have to think about what the opposition could do to
hurt us. We also have to think about what we can do to hurt the opposition
so there's a balance. We obviously know what Leicester's threats are but we
need to give Leicester problems as well by how we play and what we do, so
it's a tight balance and we hope to be able to do both.
Mahrez and Vardy remain the Foxes' biggest threat
Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy were arguably Leicester City's most-important
players when they won the Premier League title two seasons ago and that
remains the case now. While Vardy still plays on the last man and uses his
pace to run in behind, Mahrez now, possibly playing as a No10, gives them a
different way of playing with a more technical player in that position,
rather than a Shinji Okazaki, for example who would give them the energy and
the legs. I don't know if he will play wide or as a No10, but in one of the
games they played he was in that position and gave them a bit more craft in
the middle of the pitch. As for Vardy, his wife is in the jungle on I'm a
Celebrity… and I wouldn't mind Jamie being in the jungle instead, if I could
do a swap deal!
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West Ham United statement: Boxing Day fixtures
WHUFC.com
Contrary to reports, West Ham United have not requested that the Club's
Boxing Day Premier League fixture be played away from London Stadium. A West
Ham United spokesperson said: "There is categorically no agreement in place
that means West Ham United have to play Boxing Day fixtures away from home.
"It is not uncommon for emergency services or other stakeholders to make
requests to the Premier League to avoid certain fixture dates. "However,
these requests will not always be granted by the Premier League and we fully
expect to play at London Stadium on Boxing Day in future seasons."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Team News: Arnautovic and Ayew available for Leicester match
WHUFC.com
David Moyes has confirmed that Marko Arnautovic and Andre Ayew will be
available for West Ham United's match with Leicester City, but the Irons
will still be without Chicharito and Michail Antonio. The Hammers take on
the Foxes in the Premier League on Friday evening in Moyes's first match at
London Stadium in charge of West Ham United. The manager's squad will be
boosted by the availability of two attacking players in Arnautovic and Ayew.
The No7 was substituted in the second half of last weekend's match with
Watford with a suspected arm injury, but Arnautovic's knock was not as
serious as first feared and he will be able to play against Leicester. Ayew
meanwhile missed Moyes's first match due to illness, but the Ghanaian has
recovered in time to return to consideration for Friday's game "It [Marko
Arnautovic's injury] looked really serious when he came off," Moyes admitted
to his press conference. "It was bad. The first stop was broken arm and then
broken thumb. Thankfully there's no breaks. "It was badly swollen – it was a
bit like a boxer's hand when we saw it the next day. But he's fine. He has
trained with a good plaster on it. He's okay. "Andre Ayew was out with
illness. His wasn't so bad but he has taken a couple of days to find his
feet after. He's back in amongst us too which is good."
Michail Antonio has also returned to full training this week after suffering
an injury which kept the forward out of the Liverpool and Watford matches.
The 27-year-old, like James Collins, is on the road back to fitness after
his set-back but Moyes has indicated that neither will be risked versus
Leicester City, with the manager keeping one eye on a busy festive fixture
list. Moyes added: "Michail Antonio is back among the group but I think he
looks short of fitness and match practice. He won't be included in the squad
for the game but we need him back for the coming weeks. "James Collins has
been back training. He came out of training for one day due to a little
tweak. We are feeding him in and bringing him out, but we're trying to get
him back because we've got so many games and a really busy schedule coming
up. "Rushing James Collins and Michail Antonio back, I don't necessarily
think is the right thing to do at the moment. Because of the heavy period
coming up I'm going to need them in the coming weeks and months."
Moyes also offered updates on Chicharito, who is expected to return to
running next week, as well as Sam Byram – who has been out of action after
suffering an injury in training at the start of the month. "It would be get
to some of the other boys back, like Sam Byram. It would be good to get them
back. "Javier Hernandez will hopefully start some running and join in from
next week. We are hopeful for him from next week."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
'Sore loser' Antonio eager to help Hammers return to winning ways
WHUFC.com
'Sore loser' Michail Antonio is desperate to return to action and help West
Ham United get back to winning ways. The winger has missed the Hammers' last
two Premier League matches with a hamstring injury, but is now back in full
training and hopes to make his first appearance under David Moyes against
Leicester City on Friday evening. Antonio admits watching his teammates lose
out to Liverpool and Watford was difficult and vowed to do everything he can
to help Moyes record his maiden win as West Ham manager at London Stadium.
"My missus calls me a 'sore loser' and I'm definitely someone who is
competitive and wants to win games, so hopefully we can turn things around
and turn these 'Ls' into 'Ws'," he said, with typical bullishness.
"Leicester have picked things up lately and they are doing all right but,
for me, it's one of those things where we have a better squad and have got
better players and on Friday it should be a win for us."
Antonio's unique blend of strength and speed will undoubtedly add something
different to Moyes' squad, should he be declared fit for Friday's game, and
the No30 revealed the manager has spoken to him about his role going
forward. The player himself is desperate to prove his worth, not only to
Moyes but to everyone associated with the Club, after being criticised for
his role in Crystal Palace's last-gasp equaliser at Selhurst Park on his
last appearance in Claret and Blue. "I'm feeling good, to be honest. I had a
little bit of a tweak to my hamstring, but I've been training for a couple
of days now and it's feeling good and hopefully I'll be available for the
game on Friday. "With the wingers that we have in the squad, I believe I
bring a different aspect to the game as I stay wide and have pace and power,
and I also like to get crosses into the box as often as I can and as early
as possible. I am different, so it depends what sort of aspect the gaffer is
going for and we'll see what the team is on Friday. "Obviously I missed the
first week of training under the new manager, which was frustrating, but I
spoke to him and he told me what he expects from me and what he wants from
me. "I've now had a couple of days of training with him and his coaches and
the sessions were good and sharp, so hopefully we can take that sharpness
into the game against Leicester."
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Powell: We can turn over another big team
WHUFC.com
West Ham United U23 midfielder Joe Powell is confident his side will be a
match for Arsenal when the sides contest a London derby on Friday in Premier
League 2.
Terry Westley's side take on the Gunners an hour earlier than first team's
match with Leicester City at London Stadium, at Borehamwood FC's Meadow
Park.
And after victories over both Manchester City, Manchester United and
Tottenham Hotspur so far this season, as well as a draw with Chelsea, Powell
believes the Hammers will be more than a handful for Arsenal. He said:
"Coming out of the the game on Tuesday [against Benfica], although we took a
two-goal defeat, it didn't quite feel like that because we were actually the
better team having the young players out that we did. "We go into Friday
with a very positive attitude and knowing that we have done well in the
league this season. We'll look to get three points. Joe Powell"We've turned
over the biggest teams in the league this season already – Manchester City,
Manchester United – and got a good draw against Chelsea. "We've shown that
we can be a force against the big teams in this division and nobody should
be doubting that we can do it again on Friday."
Powell played at left-back in Tuesday's Premier League International Cup
fixture with Benfica, a position he has started in a number of times this
season. The natural winger has also found himself in central midfield and
although he admitted attacking is his main focus, he is happy to play
wherever the manager needs him. "Everyone wants to play in their favoured
position but sometimes you have a got to do a job and when you do it well,
of course it can become very enjoyable as well," he continued. "I've played
central midfield too, and that's somewhere I like playing because I can get
on the ball plenty and try to make this happen through the middle of the
park. "Left-back, you have to show a different side of your game, and as
well getting forward and being positive you have to defend hard, stay
switched on at all times and be strong on your opponent. I do enjoy it, but
not quite as much as my preferred position!"
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham United v Leicester City
FRI 24 NOV 2017
PREMIER LEAGUE
20:00
Venue: London Stadium
BBC.co.uk
TEAM NEWS
West Ham manager David Moyes remains without injured trio Javier Hernandez,
Michail Antonio and James Collins for his first home game in charge. Andre
Ayew has recovered from illness and Marko Arnautovic is available as a
nasty-looking injury against Watford turned out to be only a swollen thumb.
Leicester manager Claude Puel has no fresh injury worries and has suggested
he will keep changes to a minimum. Defender Robert Huth and midfielder Matty
James remain sidelined.
MOTD COMMENTATOR'S NOTES
Simon Brotherton: "There can't be many managers who have to stand on the
touchline listening to cries of 'sack the board', 'you're not fit to wear
the shirt' and 'you destroyed our club', while watching their first match in
charge end in ignominious defeat. "But that was the background to David
Moyes' hostile baptism at Vicarage Road last Sunday. Judging by his
post-match comments, the fans aren't the only ones hoping for more from the
players. "The reaction on and off the field at the London Stadium will be
interesting, with Leicester providing the opposition for Moyes' first home
game. "The Foxes didn't manage a single shot on target last week against
Manchester City but are unbeaten in their last four away matches."
Twitter: @SimonBrotherton
WHAT THE MANAGERS SAY
West Ham manager David Moyes: "We need to give the supporters something to
shout about and something that looks half decent, and then they will support
us.
"I want everyone to be together. I am not aware of the problems before I
came, I was a bit surprised when I heard (chanting against the board). "I
want them behind us to give us a chance of winning."
Leicester City manager Claude Puel: "I have a good feeling with the players;
they listen, they work hard on the pitch and I feel their ambition. "We will
see in the next games, with a good adaption and rotation, to see them
approach it with a positive attitude."
LAWRO'S PREDICTION
Even a draw against Leicester would be something to build on and I think the
most important thing for David Moyes in his first home game in charge is
that they do not lose.
Prediction: 1-1
MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head
West Ham are on a six-match winless streak against Leicester in all
competitions, losing five of them.
The Foxes could record three successive away victories in this fixture for
the first time. They had only won one of their 28 league visits to West Ham
prior to back-to-back victories in the past two seasons.
West Ham United
Nine points after 12 games represents West Ham's second worst start to a
Premier League season. They had eight points in the 2010-11 relegation
campaign.
They could lose three successive Premier League home games for the first
time since August 2015 when they still played at the Boleyn Ground.
David Moyes has failed to win any of his 10 Premier League home fixtures in
2017 (D4, L6). The record for most home games in a calendar year without a
victory is 11, set by Mick McCarthy 12 years ago.
West Ham have the division's worst defensive record, with 25 goals conceded
- their joint most at this stage of a Premier League season. They have let
in 89 league goals in 50 games since the start of last season.
The Hammers covered 114.5km against Watford on Sunday, their highest figure
of the season. However, they still trail every other team in the division
bar Manchester United, and they have made the fewest sprints.
They have conceded 12 of their 25 Premier League goals after the hour mark.
West Ham have scored just 11 league goals so far this season from 126
attempts.
Andy Carroll has gone 12 hours and 49 minutes without a goal - spanning 10
games - since scoring against Hull on 1 April.
Leicester City
The Foxes have gone four away matches without defeat in the league, although
their only win came at Swansea.
They failed to register an attempt on target in a Premier League game for
the first time in 13 months against Manchester City last weekend.
Jamie Vardy has scored two goals and provided two assists in his last four
Premier League appearances against West Ham.
SAM's verdict
Most probable score: 1-1 Probability of draw: 28%
Probability of home win: 38% Probability of away win: 34%
SAM (Sports Analytics Machine) is a super-computer created by @ProfIanMcHale
at the University of Liverpool that is used to predict the outcome of
football matches.
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New supporter pressure group launches
KUMb.com
Filed: Thursday, 23rd November 2017
By: Staff Writer
Lifelong Hammers Andy Swallow and Micky Morgan took to social media this
lunchtime in order to deliver an impassioned call for unity from West Ham
supporters.
The hour-long broadcast was published on the 'Real West Ham Fans' Facebook
group, a new initiative that was set up yesterday in order to hold the
club's Board, who have been heavily criticised for their perceived
mismanagement of the club since leaving Upton Park, to account.
Swallow, 57, confirmed that he will be meeting the club in due course in
order to push the new group's agenda. He also denied reports that the club
have cancelled a previously-arranged meeting.
Whilst yet to be determined, the new body's schedule will centre upon
improving the fans' experience at the Olympic Stadium and making the Board
more accountable, following increasing discontent from the fanbase regarding
the manner in which the club is being run.
Additionally, the process will almost certainly involve a planned protest -
with both the Chelsea (9 December) or Arsenal (13 December) home games
mooted as potential dates. However this Friday's televised clash with
Leicester is seen as too soon to rally and organise effectively.
"We're going to demonstrate and take action until we're listened to,"
Swallow told the hundreds of West Ham fans who tuned in to today's live
broadcast. "We've had enough.
"We're looking for suggestions what to do and the best way to do it in order
to maximise it but also ensure limited damage to the football team itself as
they're our priority. We're aiming to make the stadium feel like home - and
to get a piece of our club back."
You may view the entire broadcast on the Real West Ham Fans Facebook group.
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Boxing Day cancelled as Stratford can't cope
KUMb.com
Filed: Thursday, 23rd November 2017
By: Staff Writer
West Ham United specifically requested that they play away from home this
coming Boxing Day in order to placate the owners of Westfield, according to
new revelations.
The Telegraph's Sam Wallace writes that West Ham made the request on the
basis that Stratford station would not be able to cope with a 50,000
football crowd in addition to the extra shoppers expected during the
Christmas period. This has since been confirmed by the Premier League.
It is the second successive season that West Ham have asked to play away
from home on Boxing Day. Last season United were sent to Swansea, whilst a
trip to Bournemouth this year will provide its own logistical nightmares for
Hammers hoping to see the game.
The revelation follows a request from the club earlier this year that the
club's opening four games of the season - three in the Premier League and
one in the Carabao Cup - be played away from home as a result of last
summer's World Athletics Championship event.
A club spokesman told the Telegraph: ""It is not uncommon for emergency
services or other stakeholders to make requests to the Premier League to
avoid certain fixture dates, however these requests will not always be
granted by the Premier League and we fully expect to play at London Stadium
on Boxing Day in future seasons."
Back in August, vice-chair Karren Brady insisted that West Ham fixtures
would always take precedence over any other events in Stratford. "When we
signed the contract in 2013 we were aware that the IAFF was going to
happen," she said, in reference to last summer's games.
"It's a once-in-a-lifetime situation and it's the only time our games won't
take precedence." West Ham currently sit 18th in the Premier League, having
accrued just nine points from their opening 12 fixtures.
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E20 on the rocks
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 23rd November 2017
By: Staff Writer
Members of the London Assembley have demanded to see accounts relating to
the company that runs the Olympic Stadium, after rumours that they were
about to be wound up emerged.
E20 Stadium LLP was formed in July 2012 as an partnership between Newham
Council and the LLDC (London Legacy Development Corporation). However
rumours that the company is about to go uner led the Assembly to demand
answers in a meeting held earlier this week.
"This company spends vast amounts of public money and we know it is in
financial difficulty," said committee chairman Gareth Bacon. "But we have
been prevented from seeing the accounts of E20 Stadium LLP. Why?
"The assembly needs this information immediately so we can assess whether
[Sadiq Khan] is making the right decisions when it comes to the London
Stadium and Olympic legacy. The assembly needs to do its job of scrutinising
the issues that matter to London, unhindered."
Earlier this month the LLDC confirmed that it had no plans to cancel West
Ham's 99-year lease of the stadium, depite referrring to the agreement as
"onerous".
"We have a concession agreement with West Ham," LLDC Chief Executive David
Goldstone told the assembly. "Those contracts are onerous, we make a loss -
but we are working to fix it so the losses are dramatically less."
Meanwhile E20 have been given a fortnight in which to provide copies of
their latest, up-to-date accounts, whilst an LLDC spokesman confirmed that a
review - ordered recently by Mayor Khan and being prepared by accountancy
firm Moore Stephens - was forthcoming.
"LLDC and Newham Council are working closely with E20, the London Stadium's
owners, to address the long-standing financial challenges in the best
interests of the residents of Newham and Londoners," they said.
"A decision about the future of E20 and the stadium will be made by the
Mayor alongside the publication of the Moore Stephens review."
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Still no details for Tottenham trip
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 23rd November 2017
By: Staff Writer
Tottenham have written an apology to supporters for the delay in providing
ticketing information regarding West Ham United's trip to Wembley on Sunday,
31 December.
With little more than a month to go until the game takes place, ticket
details for the match have still not been released by the North London club
- who blamed "complicated circumstances" (without qualifying exactly what
those circumstances are) for the ensuing delay.
"We fully understand that for those loyal and committed fans anticipating
attending, this delay is inconvenient as we are already beyond the normal
deadline for the confirmations you deserve," read a statment on behalf of
SPurs and the Premier League.
"Staging matches requires many elements to be put in place, primarily to
ensure that you can all enjoy them safely and can get to and from grounds in
reasonable time.
"Given the complicated circumstances we are asking for a little more time to
work through solutions acceptable to those with the ultimate responsibility
for ensuring this match is played and enjoyed safely. We thank you for your
understanding."
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West Ham v Leicester preview: David Moyes' first home game on Friday Night
Football
Last Updated: 23/11/17 6:35pm
SSN
David Moyes presides over his first home game as West Ham manager when
Leicester City visit on Friday Night Football, live on Sky Sports Premier
League. The Hammers fans vented their anger at joint-chairmen David Sullivan
and David Gold, and vice-chair Karren Brady, during the 2-0 defeat at
Watford last Sunday.
Following some poor displays, which have left West Ham in the relegation
zone, Moyes hopes a decent performance will get the fans back on side. He
said: "I want everyone to be together. I am not aware of the problems before
I came, I was a bit surprised when I heard (the board criticism). "I want
them behind us to give us a chance of winning. But I'm looking for better
quality play, I'm looking for more opportunities albeit I don't think we're
going to get many better than the last game but we just need to improve our
all-round play really. Leicester manager Claude Puel believes the spirit
within his camp bodes well for the future as he prepares his team for a trip
to east London. "I have a good feeling with the players, they listen, they
work hard on the pitch and I feel their ambition," Puel told a press
conference. "We will see in the next games, with a good adaption and
rotation, to see them approach it with a positive attitude."
Team news
West Ham will still be without Mexico striker Javier Hernandez, winger
Michail Antonio and defender James Collins through injury. But forward Andre
Ayew is fit after illness ruled him out at Vicarage Road and Marko
Arnautovic has made what appears to be a remarkable recovery from the horror
injury he seemed to suffer against the Hornets. The Austria international
was left writing on the pitch in agony and left the field after lengthy
treatment on what turned out to be a sore thumb.
Leicester boss Puel has no fresh injury worries, but continues to be without
Robert Huth. The defender is yet to play this season as he continues to
battle a knee injury while Matty James is also sidelined with an Achilles
problem. Puel suggested he is unlikely to rotate his squad following last
weekend's defeat to Manchester City as he looks ahead to making changes
during the Christmas period instead.
Opta stats
West Ham are winless in their last five Premier League meetings with
Leicester, drawing one and losing four since a 2-0 home win in December
2014. Leicester have won their last two away league games against West Ham,
having won just one of their previous 28 in east London (W1 D6 L21). They've
never won three consecutively at the Hammers before. Having won their
previous two home Premier League matches on a Friday, West Ham lost their
last such match 0-3 against Brighton last month. Leicester City are yet to
win a Premier League game on a Friday (W0 D1 L3), though their four previous
matches have seen both sides score each time, producing a total of 15 goals
(3.8 per game).
Merson's prediction
Massive game, and I'm going for Leicester. I think this is a nightmare game
for West Ham. Firstly, they're not playing well, and Leicester are a
counter-attacking team. West Ham have to have a go, and I'm not sure about
what David Moyes said about the players after the defeat at Watford. He
criticised some of them for their performances; you say that to the players
in the dressing room, don't come out and say it on your first day! The
players won't be happy with that, no way.
If I were a player, I'd be thinking: 'Come on, tell us in the dressing room,
don't blame us in public.' I know it was the players' fault, but there's a
way of doing it. That was poor in my opinion.
PAUL PREDICTS: 1-3 (22/1 with Sky Bet)
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David Moyes wants 'better quality play' from West Ham
By Richard Cooke
Last Updated: 23/11/17 3:27pm
SSN
West Ham manager David Moyes says he is looking for more quality on the
pitch and has reitarated the need for togetherness ahead of his first home
game against Leicester. West Ham manager David Moyes says he wants to see
more quality on the pitch. Moyes first match in charge ended in a 2-0 defeat
at Watford on Sunday and he is looking to put things right in his first home
game against Leicester on Friday live on Sky Sports. The result left West
Ham in the bottom three with just two wins from 12 games and Moyes was
disappointed with the standard of football from his team. He said: "I think
their attitude and their application wasn't in question for me against
Watford, far from it, we could show that wasn't the case, so I think that's
the first thing we need to say. "But I'm looking for better quality play,
I'm looking for more opportunities albeit I don't think we're going to get
many better than the last game but we just need to improve our all round
play really. West Ham's travelling support made their feelings known during
and after the game, but Moyes wants them to get behind the team on Friday
night. He added: "I want everybody to be together and be united and help
each other along. I'm not aware of any problems before I came, I wasn't made
aware of anything. I was a little bit surprised when I heard it [the abuse
at Watford] I've got to say. I want them behind us, I want to give the team
every chance of winning. "West Ham have always been a really vocal support,
I can vouch for that over the years. For years and years I came and you're
always looking forward to getting away from Upton Park after the game
because you knew it was going to be tough so we want them to be supportive
of the team. "They are knowledgeable supporters, they've seen a lot of good
stuff going on over the years here and they will be wanting the team to play
well. "What we've got to do is build it [togetherness], make sure within the
team we build it. I've said many times you've got to be all together and
make sure whatever happens and whatever is said outside is affecting us all,
not just one".
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
SUPPORTING WEST HAM-SUPPORTING MOYES
By Blind Hammer 23 Nov 2017 at 08:00
WTID
Blind Hammer looks at avoiding relegation and argues against protest.
Tomorrow night's game against Leicester will be a test not just for David
Moyes and the team but also the fans. By now Moyes will realised the huge
size of the task confronting him. Our display demonstrated a disjointed and
ineffectual effort against a depleted Watford shorn of many first team
regulars. Despite this Silva's men produced a confident display of verve and
attacking football which West Ham can only dream of. Those who argued for
the hiring of Silva over the summer will feel vindicated.
Yet there is no point in now dwelling on what might have been, in actual
fact, we need managerial speculation now like we need a hole in the head.
What we do need to manage is expectation. I wrote last week that Moyes'
capacity to transform our squad's fitness was fancifully overblown. Large
numbers of our squad, absent during the international break, would have
barely met Moyes, in Winston Read's case, returning only hours before
travelling to Watford. , Upcoming fixture congestion will [[[provide no
opportunity for any boot camp style fitness program. Expecting Moyes to wave
an immediate fitness magic wand was unrealistic. The club videos advertising
new training intensity looks like unfortunate spin now.
We need to face some unpalatable facts. For some weeks it has been clear
that we are in for a relegation fight. Too many points have been conceded
against average or poor teams. Games will get no easier in the weeks ahead.
We have consistently demonstrated that we have the worst defence in the
premiership. An average team with the worst defence will always struggle. We
are in for a rocky ride.
Things are already turning ugly with some of our fans. The stupidity of some
of Carroll's play against Watford was immediately exceeded by the stupidity
of fans who abuse him outside the ground. This is entirely
counterproductive. In this period of adversity with a team struggling for
confidence players will need not abuse but support like they has rarely
needed it before.
There will be no easy games. An expectation to roll over teams like Watford,
Brighton, Stoke, and Bournemouth West Bromwich should not currently exist.
Lashing out at the team, manager and even the Board because we have a team
bereft of confidence is a luxury we cannot afford.
Moyes was not a popular appointment and the chances are that he has
inherited a squad which will give him negative results. It is likely that
any honeymoon period will be brief and dissent will emerge. But for people
to react with an "I told you so" will not help, Moyes is the Manager until
the end of the season and no fan protest will or indeed even should change
this. Multiple managerial sacking rarely helps any club.
Equally futile is lashing out at our Board. We cannot afford the luxury of
petulant Stadium protests. We all tend to look for blame but this is
currently an indulgence.
We have been here before. The protest against the huge own goal of the Bond
scheme in 1991 was objectively entirely justified. Nevertheless however
justified the protest was it still resulted in a toxic atmosphere which
Billy Bonds, our manager at the time, was convinced was the cause of our
relegation.
I do not want to see history repeat itself. It seems some would almost
welcome relegation if it gave them a stick to beat the Board with and punish
them for moving to what they repeatedly call the "Athletics Bowl in a
desperate attempt to create a "feel bad" atmosphere. There should be no
satisfaction in seeing West Ham fail. Constant whining about how the Board
allegedly "promised the next level" is pointless now. We have to become more
positive if West Ham is ever to thrive again. Opposition fans love watching
our current disunity. Upton Park is no more, we can either engage in
perennial but futile whingeing about the past or we can try to move on a
support the club.
Having said that, I will now make my own constructive Board criticism. The
fact is that they also have to considerably up their game. The announcement
following Moyes' appointment was clumsy at best. They are far too fond of
getting excuses in early. They seem to have been taking lessons from the
Boris Johnston School of Diplomacy. Sullivan's "shooting from the hip"
description of Moyes as a "gamble" was crass in the extreme. His subsequent
description of Moyes as not the best but only "the "best available" also
damns him with faint praise. Sullivan is the boss at West Ham so he has the
right to speak his mind. However despite Boris's example a political leader
is normally media coached to avoid making these sorts of gaffs. , Sullivan
desperately needs similar support. The problem is who, at West Ham, will be
able to tell him he needs this? Will the brave PR person please stand up?
So we must positively support Moyes and the club as a whole in the difficult
weeks ahead. From top to bottom, from Board to fans, we must embrace Moyes
as a legitimate Manager and try to build confidence in our team.
Once upon a time West Ham used to be famous for supporting our team in
adversity. Players remember fans support much more when things are going
badly rather than when they are going well. From tomorrow night's game
against Leicester I have committed myself to supporting the team through our
current adversity. I will not leave early no matter what the score. I will
not boo, no matter what. I will try to encourage and do my tiny bit to
improve the love and support the team can feel. In return I expect the team
to try their best. This use to be the West Ham Mojo. If we are to prove that
there are three teams worse than us we need to rediscover it fast.
COYI
David Griffith
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
WEST HAM'S DAVID MOYES PREVIEWS LEICESTER GAME
The Mirror
New boss David Moyes showed his West Ham players he means business — by
reading Andy Carroll the riot act after his first game in charge. Manager
Moyes stunned witnesses by "hammering" star striker Carroll over his display
in Sunday's 2-0 defeat at Watford. The England international was taken off
in the 65th minute, immediately after the Hornets' second goal. He was
walking a tightrope after being booked for a foul on Richarlison, having
escaped punishment for catching defender Marvin Zegelaar with a stray elbow
just six seconds into the match. However, it was his overall performance
rather than just his ill-discipline – in his first league start for five
weeks following a red card at Burnley – that angered Moyes. The Scot is
understood to have told Carroll in no uncertain terms in Vicarage Road's
away dressing room that his display was not up to scratch and he needed to
liven up. Moyes, who has vowed to get tough with West Ham's players, hasn't
held back in publicising his expectations of the squad he's inherited from
the sacked Slaven Bilic. He underlined that in his treatment of Carroll, and
sent out a warning to the rest of his squad in the process. Though Moyes
didn't begin his reign with the result he wanted at Watford, he is
understood to have made a positive impression since taking charge. His
straight-talking communication style and hard work have gone down well with
many of the players, along with the intensity and hands-on approach he has
brought to training sessions. Moyes' displeasure was clear after the Watford
defeat, when he said diplomatically that "there were some players with big
reputations who disappointed me a little bit" having singled out Carroll
behind closed doors. And his criticism of West Ham's one-time £15m record
signing will increase the scrutiny on the striker in Friday's home game
against Leicester. He was taunted with chants of "You're not fit to wear the
shirt" when hooked on Sunday — having angered sections of the fan-base after
what proved to be Bilic's final game, a 4-1 loss to Liverpool, by telling
them they "really should be staying until the end" of matches.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
http://vyperz.blogspot.com
Leicester City
WHUFC.com
David Moyes sat down with the media on Thursday afternoon ahead of his first
home match in charge of West Ham United.
The Hammers host Leicester City at London Stadium on Friday evening anxious
to end a run of five Premier League matches without a win – a record which
has seen them drop into the bottom three and led to Moyes' appointment a
little over a fortnight ago. The new manager was asked what his team need to
do to improve their fortunes, about his excitement ahead of his first home
game and for his view on Friday's visitors. Here is what he had to say…
Unity and togetherness will be key to our success
I want everybody to be together and be united and help each other along, not
just at London Stadium on Friday evening, but for the remainder of the
season. West Ham have always been a very vocal support. I can vouch for that
over the years and years I've been coming, I was always looking to get away
from Upton Park after the game because we knew it was going to be tough. We
want them to be supportive of the team. We have knowledgeable supporters and
they've seen a lot of good stuff down the years here and they want their
team to play well. What we've got to do is build it [togetherness] and make
sure we are all together and make sure that whatever happens and whatever is
said is affecting us all and not just one.
London Stadium is brilliant and we need to make it our fortress
I've been down a couple of times in the week and was there a year ago as
manager of Sunderland. It's a brilliant stadium and don't let anybody tell
you any different. It's going to be the stadium we play in for the next 100
years. I watched the game against Chelsea last year and it was one of the
best atmospheres I heard in the Premier League last season, if I'm honest,
so it's possible. What we need to do is give the supporters something to
shout about because if we give them something to shout about that's
half-decent then I think they will support us wherever. I think West Ham
supporters will support their team, no matter what stadium they're playing
in.
Youngsters will get their opportunities at the right time
I've always wanted to introduce young players, especially when I think it's
right, as I showed during my time at Everton. Declan Rice has already been
in the side for a few games this season. The bigger problem for Toni
Martinez is that he has competition in front of him from other centre
forwards – Andre Ayew, Diafra Sakho, obviously Andy Carroll as well can do
that roll – so that's his biggest thing. Young Domingos Quina has been
training with us and he was on the bench as well. We're a bit short of
midfield players, so the openings can come for young players due to injuries
or suspensions or just not having players in those positions.
Leicester City – new manager, same playing style
I've watched a couple of Leicester City games as we're playing them and the
structure hasn't really changed even from Claudio Ranieri's time, to be
honest. They've got some outstanding players and their style of play really
fits their team and their club. I've got to say I think the new manager
Claude Puel has introduced one or two different things I've seen, I think,
and overall you'll see the Leicester City most people recognise from the way
they played a few years ago.
Because of their speed and their aggressiveness, I have to think about the
opposition, particularly with where we are in the league When you're at the
top, you think about your own team completely, but when you're in the
position we're in, we have to think about what the opposition could do to
hurt us. We also have to think about what we can do to hurt the opposition
so there's a balance. We obviously know what Leicester's threats are but we
need to give Leicester problems as well by how we play and what we do, so
it's a tight balance and we hope to be able to do both.
Mahrez and Vardy remain the Foxes' biggest threat
Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy were arguably Leicester City's most-important
players when they won the Premier League title two seasons ago and that
remains the case now. While Vardy still plays on the last man and uses his
pace to run in behind, Mahrez now, possibly playing as a No10, gives them a
different way of playing with a more technical player in that position,
rather than a Shinji Okazaki, for example who would give them the energy and
the legs. I don't know if he will play wide or as a No10, but in one of the
games they played he was in that position and gave them a bit more craft in
the middle of the pitch. As for Vardy, his wife is in the jungle on I'm a
Celebrity… and I wouldn't mind Jamie being in the jungle instead, if I could
do a swap deal!
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham United statement: Boxing Day fixtures
WHUFC.com
Contrary to reports, West Ham United have not requested that the Club's
Boxing Day Premier League fixture be played away from London Stadium. A West
Ham United spokesperson said: "There is categorically no agreement in place
that means West Ham United have to play Boxing Day fixtures away from home.
"It is not uncommon for emergency services or other stakeholders to make
requests to the Premier League to avoid certain fixture dates. "However,
these requests will not always be granted by the Premier League and we fully
expect to play at London Stadium on Boxing Day in future seasons."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Team News: Arnautovic and Ayew available for Leicester match
WHUFC.com
David Moyes has confirmed that Marko Arnautovic and Andre Ayew will be
available for West Ham United's match with Leicester City, but the Irons
will still be without Chicharito and Michail Antonio. The Hammers take on
the Foxes in the Premier League on Friday evening in Moyes's first match at
London Stadium in charge of West Ham United. The manager's squad will be
boosted by the availability of two attacking players in Arnautovic and Ayew.
The No7 was substituted in the second half of last weekend's match with
Watford with a suspected arm injury, but Arnautovic's knock was not as
serious as first feared and he will be able to play against Leicester. Ayew
meanwhile missed Moyes's first match due to illness, but the Ghanaian has
recovered in time to return to consideration for Friday's game "It [Marko
Arnautovic's injury] looked really serious when he came off," Moyes admitted
to his press conference. "It was bad. The first stop was broken arm and then
broken thumb. Thankfully there's no breaks. "It was badly swollen – it was a
bit like a boxer's hand when we saw it the next day. But he's fine. He has
trained with a good plaster on it. He's okay. "Andre Ayew was out with
illness. His wasn't so bad but he has taken a couple of days to find his
feet after. He's back in amongst us too which is good."
Michail Antonio has also returned to full training this week after suffering
an injury which kept the forward out of the Liverpool and Watford matches.
The 27-year-old, like James Collins, is on the road back to fitness after
his set-back but Moyes has indicated that neither will be risked versus
Leicester City, with the manager keeping one eye on a busy festive fixture
list. Moyes added: "Michail Antonio is back among the group but I think he
looks short of fitness and match practice. He won't be included in the squad
for the game but we need him back for the coming weeks. "James Collins has
been back training. He came out of training for one day due to a little
tweak. We are feeding him in and bringing him out, but we're trying to get
him back because we've got so many games and a really busy schedule coming
up. "Rushing James Collins and Michail Antonio back, I don't necessarily
think is the right thing to do at the moment. Because of the heavy period
coming up I'm going to need them in the coming weeks and months."
Moyes also offered updates on Chicharito, who is expected to return to
running next week, as well as Sam Byram – who has been out of action after
suffering an injury in training at the start of the month. "It would be get
to some of the other boys back, like Sam Byram. It would be good to get them
back. "Javier Hernandez will hopefully start some running and join in from
next week. We are hopeful for him from next week."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
'Sore loser' Antonio eager to help Hammers return to winning ways
WHUFC.com
'Sore loser' Michail Antonio is desperate to return to action and help West
Ham United get back to winning ways. The winger has missed the Hammers' last
two Premier League matches with a hamstring injury, but is now back in full
training and hopes to make his first appearance under David Moyes against
Leicester City on Friday evening. Antonio admits watching his teammates lose
out to Liverpool and Watford was difficult and vowed to do everything he can
to help Moyes record his maiden win as West Ham manager at London Stadium.
"My missus calls me a 'sore loser' and I'm definitely someone who is
competitive and wants to win games, so hopefully we can turn things around
and turn these 'Ls' into 'Ws'," he said, with typical bullishness.
"Leicester have picked things up lately and they are doing all right but,
for me, it's one of those things where we have a better squad and have got
better players and on Friday it should be a win for us."
Antonio's unique blend of strength and speed will undoubtedly add something
different to Moyes' squad, should he be declared fit for Friday's game, and
the No30 revealed the manager has spoken to him about his role going
forward. The player himself is desperate to prove his worth, not only to
Moyes but to everyone associated with the Club, after being criticised for
his role in Crystal Palace's last-gasp equaliser at Selhurst Park on his
last appearance in Claret and Blue. "I'm feeling good, to be honest. I had a
little bit of a tweak to my hamstring, but I've been training for a couple
of days now and it's feeling good and hopefully I'll be available for the
game on Friday. "With the wingers that we have in the squad, I believe I
bring a different aspect to the game as I stay wide and have pace and power,
and I also like to get crosses into the box as often as I can and as early
as possible. I am different, so it depends what sort of aspect the gaffer is
going for and we'll see what the team is on Friday. "Obviously I missed the
first week of training under the new manager, which was frustrating, but I
spoke to him and he told me what he expects from me and what he wants from
me. "I've now had a couple of days of training with him and his coaches and
the sessions were good and sharp, so hopefully we can take that sharpness
into the game against Leicester."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Powell: We can turn over another big team
WHUFC.com
West Ham United U23 midfielder Joe Powell is confident his side will be a
match for Arsenal when the sides contest a London derby on Friday in Premier
League 2.
Terry Westley's side take on the Gunners an hour earlier than first team's
match with Leicester City at London Stadium, at Borehamwood FC's Meadow
Park.
And after victories over both Manchester City, Manchester United and
Tottenham Hotspur so far this season, as well as a draw with Chelsea, Powell
believes the Hammers will be more than a handful for Arsenal. He said:
"Coming out of the the game on Tuesday [against Benfica], although we took a
two-goal defeat, it didn't quite feel like that because we were actually the
better team having the young players out that we did. "We go into Friday
with a very positive attitude and knowing that we have done well in the
league this season. We'll look to get three points. Joe Powell"We've turned
over the biggest teams in the league this season already – Manchester City,
Manchester United – and got a good draw against Chelsea. "We've shown that
we can be a force against the big teams in this division and nobody should
be doubting that we can do it again on Friday."
Powell played at left-back in Tuesday's Premier League International Cup
fixture with Benfica, a position he has started in a number of times this
season. The natural winger has also found himself in central midfield and
although he admitted attacking is his main focus, he is happy to play
wherever the manager needs him. "Everyone wants to play in their favoured
position but sometimes you have a got to do a job and when you do it well,
of course it can become very enjoyable as well," he continued. "I've played
central midfield too, and that's somewhere I like playing because I can get
on the ball plenty and try to make this happen through the middle of the
park. "Left-back, you have to show a different side of your game, and as
well getting forward and being positive you have to defend hard, stay
switched on at all times and be strong on your opponent. I do enjoy it, but
not quite as much as my preferred position!"
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham United v Leicester City
FRI 24 NOV 2017
PREMIER LEAGUE
20:00
Venue: London Stadium
BBC.co.uk
TEAM NEWS
West Ham manager David Moyes remains without injured trio Javier Hernandez,
Michail Antonio and James Collins for his first home game in charge. Andre
Ayew has recovered from illness and Marko Arnautovic is available as a
nasty-looking injury against Watford turned out to be only a swollen thumb.
Leicester manager Claude Puel has no fresh injury worries and has suggested
he will keep changes to a minimum. Defender Robert Huth and midfielder Matty
James remain sidelined.
MOTD COMMENTATOR'S NOTES
Simon Brotherton: "There can't be many managers who have to stand on the
touchline listening to cries of 'sack the board', 'you're not fit to wear
the shirt' and 'you destroyed our club', while watching their first match in
charge end in ignominious defeat. "But that was the background to David
Moyes' hostile baptism at Vicarage Road last Sunday. Judging by his
post-match comments, the fans aren't the only ones hoping for more from the
players. "The reaction on and off the field at the London Stadium will be
interesting, with Leicester providing the opposition for Moyes' first home
game. "The Foxes didn't manage a single shot on target last week against
Manchester City but are unbeaten in their last four away matches."
Twitter: @SimonBrotherton
WHAT THE MANAGERS SAY
West Ham manager David Moyes: "We need to give the supporters something to
shout about and something that looks half decent, and then they will support
us.
"I want everyone to be together. I am not aware of the problems before I
came, I was a bit surprised when I heard (chanting against the board). "I
want them behind us to give us a chance of winning."
Leicester City manager Claude Puel: "I have a good feeling with the players;
they listen, they work hard on the pitch and I feel their ambition. "We will
see in the next games, with a good adaption and rotation, to see them
approach it with a positive attitude."
LAWRO'S PREDICTION
Even a draw against Leicester would be something to build on and I think the
most important thing for David Moyes in his first home game in charge is
that they do not lose.
Prediction: 1-1
MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head
West Ham are on a six-match winless streak against Leicester in all
competitions, losing five of them.
The Foxes could record three successive away victories in this fixture for
the first time. They had only won one of their 28 league visits to West Ham
prior to back-to-back victories in the past two seasons.
West Ham United
Nine points after 12 games represents West Ham's second worst start to a
Premier League season. They had eight points in the 2010-11 relegation
campaign.
They could lose three successive Premier League home games for the first
time since August 2015 when they still played at the Boleyn Ground.
David Moyes has failed to win any of his 10 Premier League home fixtures in
2017 (D4, L6). The record for most home games in a calendar year without a
victory is 11, set by Mick McCarthy 12 years ago.
West Ham have the division's worst defensive record, with 25 goals conceded
- their joint most at this stage of a Premier League season. They have let
in 89 league goals in 50 games since the start of last season.
The Hammers covered 114.5km against Watford on Sunday, their highest figure
of the season. However, they still trail every other team in the division
bar Manchester United, and they have made the fewest sprints.
They have conceded 12 of their 25 Premier League goals after the hour mark.
West Ham have scored just 11 league goals so far this season from 126
attempts.
Andy Carroll has gone 12 hours and 49 minutes without a goal - spanning 10
games - since scoring against Hull on 1 April.
Leicester City
The Foxes have gone four away matches without defeat in the league, although
their only win came at Swansea.
They failed to register an attempt on target in a Premier League game for
the first time in 13 months against Manchester City last weekend.
Jamie Vardy has scored two goals and provided two assists in his last four
Premier League appearances against West Ham.
SAM's verdict
Most probable score: 1-1 Probability of draw: 28%
Probability of home win: 38% Probability of away win: 34%
SAM (Sports Analytics Machine) is a super-computer created by @ProfIanMcHale
at the University of Liverpool that is used to predict the outcome of
football matches.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
New supporter pressure group launches
KUMb.com
Filed: Thursday, 23rd November 2017
By: Staff Writer
Lifelong Hammers Andy Swallow and Micky Morgan took to social media this
lunchtime in order to deliver an impassioned call for unity from West Ham
supporters.
The hour-long broadcast was published on the 'Real West Ham Fans' Facebook
group, a new initiative that was set up yesterday in order to hold the
club's Board, who have been heavily criticised for their perceived
mismanagement of the club since leaving Upton Park, to account.
Swallow, 57, confirmed that he will be meeting the club in due course in
order to push the new group's agenda. He also denied reports that the club
have cancelled a previously-arranged meeting.
Whilst yet to be determined, the new body's schedule will centre upon
improving the fans' experience at the Olympic Stadium and making the Board
more accountable, following increasing discontent from the fanbase regarding
the manner in which the club is being run.
Additionally, the process will almost certainly involve a planned protest -
with both the Chelsea (9 December) or Arsenal (13 December) home games
mooted as potential dates. However this Friday's televised clash with
Leicester is seen as too soon to rally and organise effectively.
"We're going to demonstrate and take action until we're listened to,"
Swallow told the hundreds of West Ham fans who tuned in to today's live
broadcast. "We've had enough.
"We're looking for suggestions what to do and the best way to do it in order
to maximise it but also ensure limited damage to the football team itself as
they're our priority. We're aiming to make the stadium feel like home - and
to get a piece of our club back."
You may view the entire broadcast on the Real West Ham Fans Facebook group.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Boxing Day cancelled as Stratford can't cope
KUMb.com
Filed: Thursday, 23rd November 2017
By: Staff Writer
West Ham United specifically requested that they play away from home this
coming Boxing Day in order to placate the owners of Westfield, according to
new revelations.
The Telegraph's Sam Wallace writes that West Ham made the request on the
basis that Stratford station would not be able to cope with a 50,000
football crowd in addition to the extra shoppers expected during the
Christmas period. This has since been confirmed by the Premier League.
It is the second successive season that West Ham have asked to play away
from home on Boxing Day. Last season United were sent to Swansea, whilst a
trip to Bournemouth this year will provide its own logistical nightmares for
Hammers hoping to see the game.
The revelation follows a request from the club earlier this year that the
club's opening four games of the season - three in the Premier League and
one in the Carabao Cup - be played away from home as a result of last
summer's World Athletics Championship event.
A club spokesman told the Telegraph: ""It is not uncommon for emergency
services or other stakeholders to make requests to the Premier League to
avoid certain fixture dates, however these requests will not always be
granted by the Premier League and we fully expect to play at London Stadium
on Boxing Day in future seasons."
Back in August, vice-chair Karren Brady insisted that West Ham fixtures
would always take precedence over any other events in Stratford. "When we
signed the contract in 2013 we were aware that the IAFF was going to
happen," she said, in reference to last summer's games.
"It's a once-in-a-lifetime situation and it's the only time our games won't
take precedence." West Ham currently sit 18th in the Premier League, having
accrued just nine points from their opening 12 fixtures.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
E20 on the rocks
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 23rd November 2017
By: Staff Writer
Members of the London Assembley have demanded to see accounts relating to
the company that runs the Olympic Stadium, after rumours that they were
about to be wound up emerged.
E20 Stadium LLP was formed in July 2012 as an partnership between Newham
Council and the LLDC (London Legacy Development Corporation). However
rumours that the company is about to go uner led the Assembly to demand
answers in a meeting held earlier this week.
"This company spends vast amounts of public money and we know it is in
financial difficulty," said committee chairman Gareth Bacon. "But we have
been prevented from seeing the accounts of E20 Stadium LLP. Why?
"The assembly needs this information immediately so we can assess whether
[Sadiq Khan] is making the right decisions when it comes to the London
Stadium and Olympic legacy. The assembly needs to do its job of scrutinising
the issues that matter to London, unhindered."
Earlier this month the LLDC confirmed that it had no plans to cancel West
Ham's 99-year lease of the stadium, depite referrring to the agreement as
"onerous".
"We have a concession agreement with West Ham," LLDC Chief Executive David
Goldstone told the assembly. "Those contracts are onerous, we make a loss -
but we are working to fix it so the losses are dramatically less."
Meanwhile E20 have been given a fortnight in which to provide copies of
their latest, up-to-date accounts, whilst an LLDC spokesman confirmed that a
review - ordered recently by Mayor Khan and being prepared by accountancy
firm Moore Stephens - was forthcoming.
"LLDC and Newham Council are working closely with E20, the London Stadium's
owners, to address the long-standing financial challenges in the best
interests of the residents of Newham and Londoners," they said.
"A decision about the future of E20 and the stadium will be made by the
Mayor alongside the publication of the Moore Stephens review."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Still no details for Tottenham trip
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 23rd November 2017
By: Staff Writer
Tottenham have written an apology to supporters for the delay in providing
ticketing information regarding West Ham United's trip to Wembley on Sunday,
31 December.
With little more than a month to go until the game takes place, ticket
details for the match have still not been released by the North London club
- who blamed "complicated circumstances" (without qualifying exactly what
those circumstances are) for the ensuing delay.
"We fully understand that for those loyal and committed fans anticipating
attending, this delay is inconvenient as we are already beyond the normal
deadline for the confirmations you deserve," read a statment on behalf of
SPurs and the Premier League.
"Staging matches requires many elements to be put in place, primarily to
ensure that you can all enjoy them safely and can get to and from grounds in
reasonable time.
"Given the complicated circumstances we are asking for a little more time to
work through solutions acceptable to those with the ultimate responsibility
for ensuring this match is played and enjoyed safely. We thank you for your
understanding."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham v Leicester preview: David Moyes' first home game on Friday Night
Football
Last Updated: 23/11/17 6:35pm
SSN
David Moyes presides over his first home game as West Ham manager when
Leicester City visit on Friday Night Football, live on Sky Sports Premier
League. The Hammers fans vented their anger at joint-chairmen David Sullivan
and David Gold, and vice-chair Karren Brady, during the 2-0 defeat at
Watford last Sunday.
Following some poor displays, which have left West Ham in the relegation
zone, Moyes hopes a decent performance will get the fans back on side. He
said: "I want everyone to be together. I am not aware of the problems before
I came, I was a bit surprised when I heard (the board criticism). "I want
them behind us to give us a chance of winning. But I'm looking for better
quality play, I'm looking for more opportunities albeit I don't think we're
going to get many better than the last game but we just need to improve our
all-round play really. Leicester manager Claude Puel believes the spirit
within his camp bodes well for the future as he prepares his team for a trip
to east London. "I have a good feeling with the players, they listen, they
work hard on the pitch and I feel their ambition," Puel told a press
conference. "We will see in the next games, with a good adaption and
rotation, to see them approach it with a positive attitude."
Team news
West Ham will still be without Mexico striker Javier Hernandez, winger
Michail Antonio and defender James Collins through injury. But forward Andre
Ayew is fit after illness ruled him out at Vicarage Road and Marko
Arnautovic has made what appears to be a remarkable recovery from the horror
injury he seemed to suffer against the Hornets. The Austria international
was left writing on the pitch in agony and left the field after lengthy
treatment on what turned out to be a sore thumb.
Leicester boss Puel has no fresh injury worries, but continues to be without
Robert Huth. The defender is yet to play this season as he continues to
battle a knee injury while Matty James is also sidelined with an Achilles
problem. Puel suggested he is unlikely to rotate his squad following last
weekend's defeat to Manchester City as he looks ahead to making changes
during the Christmas period instead.
Opta stats
West Ham are winless in their last five Premier League meetings with
Leicester, drawing one and losing four since a 2-0 home win in December
2014. Leicester have won their last two away league games against West Ham,
having won just one of their previous 28 in east London (W1 D6 L21). They've
never won three consecutively at the Hammers before. Having won their
previous two home Premier League matches on a Friday, West Ham lost their
last such match 0-3 against Brighton last month. Leicester City are yet to
win a Premier League game on a Friday (W0 D1 L3), though their four previous
matches have seen both sides score each time, producing a total of 15 goals
(3.8 per game).
Merson's prediction
Massive game, and I'm going for Leicester. I think this is a nightmare game
for West Ham. Firstly, they're not playing well, and Leicester are a
counter-attacking team. West Ham have to have a go, and I'm not sure about
what David Moyes said about the players after the defeat at Watford. He
criticised some of them for their performances; you say that to the players
in the dressing room, don't come out and say it on your first day! The
players won't be happy with that, no way.
If I were a player, I'd be thinking: 'Come on, tell us in the dressing room,
don't blame us in public.' I know it was the players' fault, but there's a
way of doing it. That was poor in my opinion.
PAUL PREDICTS: 1-3 (22/1 with Sky Bet)
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
David Moyes wants 'better quality play' from West Ham
By Richard Cooke
Last Updated: 23/11/17 3:27pm
SSN
West Ham manager David Moyes says he is looking for more quality on the
pitch and has reitarated the need for togetherness ahead of his first home
game against Leicester. West Ham manager David Moyes says he wants to see
more quality on the pitch. Moyes first match in charge ended in a 2-0 defeat
at Watford on Sunday and he is looking to put things right in his first home
game against Leicester on Friday live on Sky Sports. The result left West
Ham in the bottom three with just two wins from 12 games and Moyes was
disappointed with the standard of football from his team. He said: "I think
their attitude and their application wasn't in question for me against
Watford, far from it, we could show that wasn't the case, so I think that's
the first thing we need to say. "But I'm looking for better quality play,
I'm looking for more opportunities albeit I don't think we're going to get
many better than the last game but we just need to improve our all round
play really. West Ham's travelling support made their feelings known during
and after the game, but Moyes wants them to get behind the team on Friday
night. He added: "I want everybody to be together and be united and help
each other along. I'm not aware of any problems before I came, I wasn't made
aware of anything. I was a little bit surprised when I heard it [the abuse
at Watford] I've got to say. I want them behind us, I want to give the team
every chance of winning. "West Ham have always been a really vocal support,
I can vouch for that over the years. For years and years I came and you're
always looking forward to getting away from Upton Park after the game
because you knew it was going to be tough so we want them to be supportive
of the team. "They are knowledgeable supporters, they've seen a lot of good
stuff going on over the years here and they will be wanting the team to play
well. "What we've got to do is build it [togetherness], make sure within the
team we build it. I've said many times you've got to be all together and
make sure whatever happens and whatever is said outside is affecting us all,
not just one".
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
SUPPORTING WEST HAM-SUPPORTING MOYES
By Blind Hammer 23 Nov 2017 at 08:00
WTID
Blind Hammer looks at avoiding relegation and argues against protest.
Tomorrow night's game against Leicester will be a test not just for David
Moyes and the team but also the fans. By now Moyes will realised the huge
size of the task confronting him. Our display demonstrated a disjointed and
ineffectual effort against a depleted Watford shorn of many first team
regulars. Despite this Silva's men produced a confident display of verve and
attacking football which West Ham can only dream of. Those who argued for
the hiring of Silva over the summer will feel vindicated.
Yet there is no point in now dwelling on what might have been, in actual
fact, we need managerial speculation now like we need a hole in the head.
What we do need to manage is expectation. I wrote last week that Moyes'
capacity to transform our squad's fitness was fancifully overblown. Large
numbers of our squad, absent during the international break, would have
barely met Moyes, in Winston Read's case, returning only hours before
travelling to Watford. , Upcoming fixture congestion will [[[provide no
opportunity for any boot camp style fitness program. Expecting Moyes to wave
an immediate fitness magic wand was unrealistic. The club videos advertising
new training intensity looks like unfortunate spin now.
We need to face some unpalatable facts. For some weeks it has been clear
that we are in for a relegation fight. Too many points have been conceded
against average or poor teams. Games will get no easier in the weeks ahead.
We have consistently demonstrated that we have the worst defence in the
premiership. An average team with the worst defence will always struggle. We
are in for a rocky ride.
Things are already turning ugly with some of our fans. The stupidity of some
of Carroll's play against Watford was immediately exceeded by the stupidity
of fans who abuse him outside the ground. This is entirely
counterproductive. In this period of adversity with a team struggling for
confidence players will need not abuse but support like they has rarely
needed it before.
There will be no easy games. An expectation to roll over teams like Watford,
Brighton, Stoke, and Bournemouth West Bromwich should not currently exist.
Lashing out at the team, manager and even the Board because we have a team
bereft of confidence is a luxury we cannot afford.
Moyes was not a popular appointment and the chances are that he has
inherited a squad which will give him negative results. It is likely that
any honeymoon period will be brief and dissent will emerge. But for people
to react with an "I told you so" will not help, Moyes is the Manager until
the end of the season and no fan protest will or indeed even should change
this. Multiple managerial sacking rarely helps any club.
Equally futile is lashing out at our Board. We cannot afford the luxury of
petulant Stadium protests. We all tend to look for blame but this is
currently an indulgence.
We have been here before. The protest against the huge own goal of the Bond
scheme in 1991 was objectively entirely justified. Nevertheless however
justified the protest was it still resulted in a toxic atmosphere which
Billy Bonds, our manager at the time, was convinced was the cause of our
relegation.
I do not want to see history repeat itself. It seems some would almost
welcome relegation if it gave them a stick to beat the Board with and punish
them for moving to what they repeatedly call the "Athletics Bowl in a
desperate attempt to create a "feel bad" atmosphere. There should be no
satisfaction in seeing West Ham fail. Constant whining about how the Board
allegedly "promised the next level" is pointless now. We have to become more
positive if West Ham is ever to thrive again. Opposition fans love watching
our current disunity. Upton Park is no more, we can either engage in
perennial but futile whingeing about the past or we can try to move on a
support the club.
Having said that, I will now make my own constructive Board criticism. The
fact is that they also have to considerably up their game. The announcement
following Moyes' appointment was clumsy at best. They are far too fond of
getting excuses in early. They seem to have been taking lessons from the
Boris Johnston School of Diplomacy. Sullivan's "shooting from the hip"
description of Moyes as a "gamble" was crass in the extreme. His subsequent
description of Moyes as not the best but only "the "best available" also
damns him with faint praise. Sullivan is the boss at West Ham so he has the
right to speak his mind. However despite Boris's example a political leader
is normally media coached to avoid making these sorts of gaffs. , Sullivan
desperately needs similar support. The problem is who, at West Ham, will be
able to tell him he needs this? Will the brave PR person please stand up?
So we must positively support Moyes and the club as a whole in the difficult
weeks ahead. From top to bottom, from Board to fans, we must embrace Moyes
as a legitimate Manager and try to build confidence in our team.
Once upon a time West Ham used to be famous for supporting our team in
adversity. Players remember fans support much more when things are going
badly rather than when they are going well. From tomorrow night's game
against Leicester I have committed myself to supporting the team through our
current adversity. I will not leave early no matter what the score. I will
not boo, no matter what. I will try to encourage and do my tiny bit to
improve the love and support the team can feel. In return I expect the team
to try their best. This use to be the West Ham Mojo. If we are to prove that
there are three teams worse than us we need to rediscover it fast.
COYI
David Griffith
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
WEST HAM'S DAVID MOYES PREVIEWS LEICESTER GAME
The Mirror
New boss David Moyes showed his West Ham players he means business — by
reading Andy Carroll the riot act after his first game in charge. Manager
Moyes stunned witnesses by "hammering" star striker Carroll over his display
in Sunday's 2-0 defeat at Watford. The England international was taken off
in the 65th minute, immediately after the Hornets' second goal. He was
walking a tightrope after being booked for a foul on Richarlison, having
escaped punishment for catching defender Marvin Zegelaar with a stray elbow
just six seconds into the match. However, it was his overall performance
rather than just his ill-discipline – in his first league start for five
weeks following a red card at Burnley – that angered Moyes. The Scot is
understood to have told Carroll in no uncertain terms in Vicarage Road's
away dressing room that his display was not up to scratch and he needed to
liven up. Moyes, who has vowed to get tough with West Ham's players, hasn't
held back in publicising his expectations of the squad he's inherited from
the sacked Slaven Bilic. He underlined that in his treatment of Carroll, and
sent out a warning to the rest of his squad in the process. Though Moyes
didn't begin his reign with the result he wanted at Watford, he is
understood to have made a positive impression since taking charge. His
straight-talking communication style and hard work have gone down well with
many of the players, along with the intensity and hands-on approach he has
brought to training sessions. Moyes' displeasure was clear after the Watford
defeat, when he said diplomatically that "there were some players with big
reputations who disappointed me a little bit" having singled out Carroll
behind closed doors. And his criticism of West Ham's one-time £15m record
signing will increase the scrutiny on the striker in Friday's home game
against Leicester. He was taunted with chants of "You're not fit to wear the
shirt" when hooked on Sunday — having angered sections of the fan-base after
what proved to be Bilic's final game, a 4-1 loss to Liverpool, by telling
them they "really should be staying until the end" of matches.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
http://vyperz.blogspot.com
Thursday, November 23
Daily WHUFC News - 23rd November 2017
Hammers' 15-year-old stars impress for U23s
WHUFC.com
When West Ham United U23s took on Benfica in the Premier League
International Cup on Tuesday, there were a number of stars on show all over
the pitch at Billericay Town's AGP Arena. However it was two 15-year-olds –
Josh Okotcha and Will Greenidge – who manager Terry Westley singled out as
having impressed as they made their debuts at U23 level. Full-back Greenidge
stepped up from U16 level to play for the U18s earlier this season and his
progress went one step further when he started at right-back against the
Portuguese outfit. The story was similar for Okotcha – who is 16 next month
– and the centre-back looked solid against a number of experienced Benfica
forwards. Greenidge's night ultimately ended in disappointment as he was
replaced due to an Achilles injury, but Westley praised the pair for the way
they dealt with the challenge. "If you're going to play Josh and Will in an
U23 game, they have clearly done well at U16 and U18 level this season,"
said the Academy Director. "They have been the two standouts. We were short
defensively and it meant they got the opportunity. "And it was a chance for
them. You get a chance to show people what you can do. I was so disappointed
for Will because he started so well. He looked very accomplished on the
ball, had a good awareness of where he needed to be defensively and he grew
into the game. "He took a nasty Achilles injury which has been accessed
today and it could be a while before he's ready to come back."
Benfica forward Alan Junior Oliveira – 24-years-old – scored both goals in
the 2-0 victory for the visitors in the Hammers' final match in the
competition. And Westley recognised the difficulty of the contest Okotcha,
playing alongside U18 skipper Ben Wells, faced. "For Josh, it was a real
challenge and you have to concentrate all the game. You make errors at U16
and U18 level which you might get away with, but at our level and the next
level up with the first team, you get punished. "He knows he could have done
better for the first goal but overall, playing that level of competition and
surviving and doing well shows you have much he's come on. "We spoke at the
end to the players about coming out of the game in credit and those two
certainly did that. "If you looked at the game in general, we all came out
in the positive rather than the negative on Tuesday."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Scully delighted with Benfica game-time
WHUF.com
Anthony Scully was delighted to complete his first 90 minutes of the season
when West Ham United's U23s hosted Benfica on Tuesday night. The Hammers
were beaten 2-0 by their Portuguese opponents on a blustery evening in
Billericay, though they went into the game knowing their fate was sealed and
they could no longer progress past the group stages of the Premier League
International Cup. And as a result, Terry Westley fielded a very young side,
containing two U16 players, and the Hammers held their own against an
experienced Benfica outfit whose first half goals won them the match.
Republic of Ireland U19 international Scully had started just one match
previously this campaign before Tuesday, and he complemented his second
start by remaining on the pitch until the full time whistle at the AGP
Arena, something he was extremely happy to do. "It was my first 90 minutes
since last season, so it was great to start and it was a massive positive
for me to do the 90," the midfielder, who has come off the bench five times
in Premier League 2 this season, said after the clash. "Obviously every
player always wants to play, but you have to understand that you're not
always going to get that opportunity and you have to keep working hard. "At
this age and not being able to play for the youth team, you have got to work
as hard as possible to force your way into the U23 squad. But you've always
got to respect the manager's decision."
The tie against Benfica was the Hammers' third in the International Cup,
after previous defeats to first London rivals Tottenham Hotspur and then
Spanish side Villarreal. And Scully believes though the U23s, who have
fielded young starting XIs in all three games, have not picked up the
results in the competition, they are better off for the experience. "It's
been good playing sides from different countries in this competition," he
contined. "I'm a bit more used to it as I get to at international level with
Ireland, but you can see the different ways different countries and clubs
from there play. "We obviously got that Spanish test against Villarreal and
then a Portuguese side tonight. It's great to get a variation of teams to
play at this level; it's good for our development. "We did well tonight,
considering we had two U16s in Will [Greenidge] and Josh [Okotcha] starting.
They both did brilliant, stepping up and playing at this level. "We were
told this was Benfica's best team possible as they were out to qualify for
the next stage, so that lads have done brilliant regardless of the result.
We must be proud of the way we've played."
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Watford 2-0 West Ham (And Other Ramblings)
KUMB.com
Filed: Tuesday, 21st November 2017
By: HeadHammerShark
Let's not fuck about. We're in desperate straits.
I'd love to tell you that I saw the green shoots of recovery in this game,
but in reality it was the same show we've all been watching for two years,
with merely a different conductor. And, by the way, it didn't take David
Moyes long to look like an extra from Full Metal Jacket did it?
I. What. How. Jesus H CHRIST
So let's examine the anatomy of this relegation battle, because that is
where we are right now, irrespective of the pie in the sky nonsense that is
being spouted by the club. What are the key areas we need to address?
***
Refusing to accept we are in a relegation battle
In 2010/11 we were relegated bottom of the league having allowed Avram Grant
to manage the team all season because of *spins wheel* . At this exact point
of the season our records can be compared thusly:
2010/11
Played: 12
Goal Difference: -11
Points: 8
Position: Bottom
2017/18
Played: 12
Goal Difference: -14
Points: 9
Position: 18th
It should be noted that with their current record this year's team would be
bottom of the 2010/11 league as well. They are only presently being saved
from that fate by the fact Swansea and Crystal Palace are so bad.
So, by any definition of the term we are knee deep in shit, and yet the team
and hierarchy are parading around with the familiar overconfidence that we
have all come to know and love. "Look at our attacking options" they say,
"That squad is way too good to be down there" I hear, and even as that
misplaced bluster floats out into the ether, we continue to lose games like
this.
For shitty 2-0 defeats at Watford are the building blocks of relegation. It
happens, we deserved to lose, Watford were the better side and we move on,
but the problem with that is one then looks up in February and such defeats
are scattered everywhere throughout the season.
We have managed just three away draws so far this campaign, and when you
play your home games at an abandoned nuclear bunker you don't get much home
comfort. I'm really beginning to think that Karren should have put "Too Good
To Go Down" on the new club badge, given I hear that said an awful lot more
about West Ham than I ever hear the phrase "London".
***
Civil War
Ah yes, the third rail of West Ham politics. The board. The fans. The
players. The bloggers. The flags. The stewards. The poisonous atmosphere
that hangs over the club like our own private ozone layer. As soon as we
fell behind yesterday the "Sack The Board" chants started up closely
followed by "You're Not Fit To Wear The Shirt". I'd heard something similar
at Spurs when we went 2-0 down, and other more regular away followers may be
able to pinpoint earlier instances too.
I will defend to the death the rights of football fans to protest about
their club. I despise the patronising "well what do they expect, they should
be grateful" media types who parachute into clubs for brief moments, shake
hands with the owners and then disappear again like weekend tourists. The
prime difference between the fans at the game yesterday and those talking
heads is that the former have paid to be there. Both literally and
emotionally. So if West Brom fans want to be entertained for their entrance
fee then they are entitled to say so, and if West Ham fans want to
understand exactly why we gave up our ground to actually get worse on the
pitch then that is also perfectly reasonable.
"But Zabaleta used to be good for City so how could he be bad for us?"
But I will also say this - such division never ends well for us. I was there
for the Bond Scheme and the anti-Cearns protests and all it does is transmit
a "get the fuck out of Dodge" vibe to the players on the pitch. It leads to
fearful, nervy performances like we saw yesterday where a team bereft of
confidence look petrified to get on the ball, and eliminates any synergy
between the crowd and the team. And ultimately all any of us want is for the
team to do well.
For those who were at Spurs you will know what I mean when I say that there
was a sense of inevitability to that comeback once the first went in. The
fans abandoned their pursuit of the Board and instead turned to the team and
a force of millions couldn't have stopped us. I'm not suggesting it's as
straightforward as everybody going all Harry Potter and thinking positive
thoughts to make bad things go away, but I'm also certain that history tells
us the team cannot win while there is an open war between fans and the
Board.
So, as we go into Leicester at home on Friday the risk is that we let in a
an early goal again, Jamie Vardy gloats again, and suddenly all that vitriol
is on display once more. All of which might serve to make us feel a little
better in the very short term, but with every game that we flush down the
drain and with every point we let slip away, we stumble a foot closer to the
trapdoor. And the ultimate sad truth is that if we go back down, the future
makes for very grim reading.
Now before anyone accuses me of being a stooge for the Board, let me say
this. I'm not saying don't protest, I'm simply saying that protesting while
the team is playing is just about the most self defeating thing we can do. I
take a back step to nobody in holding up a spotlight to the failings of our
Board, but whatever you are thinking about the value of getting your message
across while we lose on the pitch, I'm here to tell you it isn't worth it.
Inevitably what happens is that the message loses direction and starts going
toward those on the pitch, and if you think we're getting out of trouble as
sixty thousand of us slaughter Andy Carroll for 90 minutes then I don't know
what planet you're on.
So how do we protest? Well, there are quite a lot of ways. First among them
has to be to join the West Ham Independent Supporters Association (WHUISA).
It is a minimal cost of £3 that is charged not to make money, but to cover
running costs and to give leverage to the group, and takes you all of about
two minutes.
Giving them numbers gives them credibility as they engage with the club, and
the WHUISA board are all West Ham lifers with the best interests of the club
at hand. If you don't like the cherrypicked nature of the SAB or the
Bloggers Meetings then join up and demand that the club engage with your
elected representatives.
At this point I cannot understand why any West Ham fan would not have joined
WHUISA. I hear those who say that they think it's pointless, but the group
are already building links with the club and have succeeded in getting a
platform with them too. From little acorns and all that, but you only need
to look at the success of ISA's at places like Spurs to see what a force for
good they can be. Don't sit outside the tent pissing in - sign up now. An
ISA representing fifty thousand fans is a hell of a lot more credible than
one representing a few hundred.
Secondly, those other meetings that are run by Karren Brady are also
platforms to air views. I know that Graeme Howlett of KUMB and Geo Mackie of
Hammers Chat have attended past meetings and will willingly put forward
questions on behalf of their readers. Engage, contribute, participate -
standing in the away end and calling Karren Brady a tranny really isn't the
Wildean contribution to this debate that you think it is.
And on that very point - don't make the attacks personal. I really struggle
to understand how Brady gets the same abuse as the Chairmen. She didn't
choose to move the club, they did, and she has no involvement in on the
field matters. Every time someone calls her a slag or a bint or a dyke or
any other misogynistic, homophobic term, I tune out and ascribe it to the
fact that lots of men don't like women. When you resort to attacking her
gender, you're really showing you have nothing at all to say.
Equally, let's refrain from going to peoples houses and hanging up flags,
especially when there are young families inside. It's a nonsense.
Sacking Karren Brady will definitely sort out our defence
If you must protest, and I'm not denying there are plenty of reasons to do
so, then do it after games, or boycott the clubs commercial activities or do
everything you can to get the media to acknowledge the depths of feeling,
but ultimately I would suggest steering clear of anything that harms the
team. To put it bluntly, we've got a better chance of winning on Friday with
the Spurs atmosphere than we have with the one from yesterday. If we
splinter now - we are done for.
***
Incompetence
So, yeah, digging out the Board while the team flail away on the pitch isn't
all that helpful but it sure is deserved.
The frustrating thing that continues to drive me to despair about our Board
is how they seem so impervious to outside forces. Having moved the club to
the London Stadium they still seem to want to be judged as if we are at
Upton Park, and scrabbling around for a few spare pennies from the Sky
table. It is as though the clock stopped for them the moment they took over
in 2010 and football has remained static ever since. So while English clubs
have established a financial dominance over European clubs due to our TV
deal, West Ham have shied away from dealing with overseas teams and instead
tethered ourselves to the English market where everybody else gets the same
bloody income and we have no advantage. That way Robert Snodgrass lies.
The best thing we could do would be to buy a right load of old shit in
January
Similarly, while other clubs look to scoop up promising young managers and
snaffle their prime years, we instead look backwards to the distant past. I
don't necessarily know if Moyes is a busted flush but he was last good about
five years ago, which coincidentally is a rough match to where David
Sullivan seems to think we currently are. From the transfer policy to the
youth setup to the recruitment process to the interaction with fans -
everything is retrograde.
And people are swift to mock David Gold and his tweet about Champions League
football but, to my mind, it's the only sensible thing they've ever said. It
is, after all, the one time they've actually shown a scintilla of the
ambition needed to match moving to that stadium.
It was perhaps fitting that this game was against Watford, who seem to be a
maelstrom of chaos but are actually a progressively modern organisation with
a far better idea about where managers should fit into the structure of a
football club than we do. So while Marco Silva is one of those young,
progressive managers he is also fairly disposable within the Watford way of
working. They have acknowledged that managers have a short shelf life and
that asking them to spend all the clubs money is a short cut to having
exasperated replacements on the touchline bemoaning the lack of pace in the
team they have inherited.
By contrast, we seemingly put the manager at the epicentre of everything.
Truthfully, our transfer policy is opaque so it's impossible to know who is
buying the players - a massive problem in itself - but if rumours are to be
believed, then this is a Bilic team. But Bilic doesn't work here any more so
what fucking use was it to give him £40m to spend ten weeks ago when this
risk was always there? And watching this painfully slow team play in exactly
the same manner as they did under Bilic, just highlights even more the
lunacy of not having a proper Director of Football in place.
When we moved from Upton Park, we were stepping up a level. A London club
with fifty thousand season ticket holders, plenty of money, a playing staff
good enough to have made the Champions League the season before. And what
did we change off the pitch to match our newer, broader ambitions? Nothing.
We persisted with the same structure and set up, meaning that our Director
of Football was the man who led Birmingham to being a yo-yo club. That's it.
That's his sole qualification for the job. I have said it repeatedly but it
must be said again now - David Sullivan would not get the role he currently
has at any other Premier League club, just as I cannot envisage any other
top flight outfit employing David Moyes.
For a club so desperate to break into the Champions League, we seem
remarkably reluctant to employ any people who've actually done it.
Consider this. When Sullivan took over in 2010, the following clubs were in
the Championship or lower - Brighton, Huddersfield, Newcastle, Swansea,
Leicester, Bournemouth, Southampton, West Brom, Palace and Watford. Burnley
were also four months from relegation.
So in the intervening seven years these clubs have all had to climb to the
Premier League. We had an advantage over all of them at that point, simply
by virtue of our loftier position. And yet, what has happened in that time
is that smaller clubs have been forced to become smarter to bridge the gap
to the monied elite. And while the smaller teams have got more intelligent,
those larger beasts who have refused to adapt - helloooo Aston Villa - have
fallen by the wayside. And once those smaller teams get here, and start
making proper money, then they start to outperform us because they simply
have better people making crucial decisions for them.
So, look, we may go down this year or we may not, but until we show some
desire to drag ourselves kicking and screaming out of the 1970's and into
the modern world of professional football - where the chairman sits in the
Director's Box and stays out of the managers office, and where we have
proper scouts and not agents - we are always going to start every season on
the back foot. The panic hiring of Moyes simply reflects the tearing up of
yet another plan drawn up on the hoof, when the sad reality is that they
should have been planning every aspect of the stadium move from the day they
won the contract. But they weren't, and they didn't and this current mess is
what you get when amateurs mix it with professionals.
***
Bad luck
So with all of that whinging out of the way, I can honestly say that this
was a very strange game to watch. I don't think any West Ham fan would dare
suggest that we we deserved to win, but if you worship at the altar of xG
then you would have to at least acknowledge that we really did create some
outstanding chances. The Caley Graphics model below displays that rather
nicely, and doesn't even adjust for the fact that the second Watford goal
should have been ruled out for handball.
Cheikhou Kouyate was deployed in an advanced role and had the kind of
movement one usually associates with a bee trying to get out through a
closed window. And yet for all that wasted energy, he had two glorious
chances. The first produced a wonder save from Heurelho Gomes and the second
was skied into that poisonous ozone layer like he was wearing a pair of
flippers.
In between Marko Arnautovic forced an incredible double save from Gomes, and
when it's not your day you may as well give up and go home. Sadly, the
Austrian didn't and instead broke his thumb and David Moyes is about to find
out that every Christmas West Ham get a nightmare run of fixtures and every
Christmas West Ham get a nightmare run of injuries and as such I'm already
counting down until we hear his first "I've never known anything like it".
But while we may have been a bit unlucky with our finishing there was
precious little else to get excited about. What was most disappointing was
that our tactical setup looked pretty much identical to that under Bilic,
which rather begged the question of why we bothered to make a change. Andy
Carroll was still isolated up front, displaying the temperament of an irate
toddler denied his lunchtime Calipo, and should have been sent off before
half time. Behind him we essentially deployed a flat midfield five, wasting
Lanzini on the left and even then, didn't manage to offer up any more cover
for the defence than usual.
So the team ran the furthest they had all season, and Arnautovic sprinted
about a bit and it still didn't make any difference because Watford still
scored twice down his right side and running about a lot in and of itself,
is actually fairly meaningless. Players need to be running with a purpose,
to press or to harry or to get back from attacking positions into a tight
defensive shape. I can't say that I noticed any of that - it just looked
like the same thing I've been watching for months.
But that said, we are probably due a bit of luck. A sending off or a penalty
or a deflected goal or just something to cling on to. Because although all
football fans collect examples of misfortune like coins in a purse, I feel
like we've been on a bit of a tough run lately and when I think back to
those relegation seasons of years past I can't help but think that there was
quite a bit of ill fortune along the way.
***
Confidence
Which brings me, mercifully, to the end. And I want to talk a bit about
confidence because it's so hard to define but it's so clearly important, and
we are a team demonstrably lacking in it. When assessing football games it's
wise to remember it's a game played by humans. They behave weirdly and are
affected by different things of which we know nothing.
Who among us knows which player is suffering with injury or is playing in
fear of losing his place in this team and then maybe his World Cup place?
None of us knows who is an alcoholic or going through a divorce. I've made
all these points before, but this is simply to reinforce that there is an
awful lot going on that we don't see. Andy Carroll named his new born son
Wolf Nine during the week, so it's safe to say that he probably has a lot on
his plate just now like maybe a visit from social services, and he played
like it.
But confidence springs from lots of different places. Self confidence is one
element, obviously, but there is confidence in your team mates too, or your
manager, or the recruitment team who will provide you with some help in
January, or in your home stadium where you simply know you will pick up
points. And yet, as I lay all of that out in black and white it's pretty
easy to see why our players might be on the floor right now.
So many of them are out of form, playing for a manager they probably don't
trust a great deal given his chequered history and knowing that there isn't
any help coming in January because there never ever is under Sullivan, and
playing at a stadium they all hate. That's the worst combination I've seen
since some monster decided to put pineapple on pizza.
Confidence can also come from believing in your team structure or tactics,
or knowing that you are a fit team who can outrun any opposition. And I'm
drawing a blank again.
So for all the running that Moyes may have them doing, it's worth noting
that fitter is not faster. And while there may be a lot of work getting done
on defensive shape, that isn't going to make our midfield suddenly creative.
And for all those four managers on the bench, if you just play 4-5-1 and get
no service to your striker and your goalkeeper can't save anything low to
his left, then it's hard to see change there either.
Which brings me rather neatly back to where I started. I think us fans have
a part to play here. Things are pretty desperate and it feels like it might
get worse before it gets better. Plenty of you tell me that these columns
are too negative and that's fine but your negativity is my reality. And I
would call upon all fans to pull together now and forget that other shit.
The team needs us. West Ham needs you. We need an atmosphere to pull the
team up on Friday night and not force them back into their shells.
I want a change in structure at West Ham but it's not going to happen now,
and the most pressing matter we all face is beating Leicester. And if you
don't do it for me, well, do it for poor little Wolf Nine.
Please note that the opinions expressed in this article are those of the
author and do not necessarily represent the views of, nor should be
attributed to, KUMB.com.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Leicester manager Claude Puel wary of West Ham reaction
By Christopher Heal
Last Updated: 22/11/17 6:30pm
SSN
Leicester City boss Claude Puel says his team need to "be careful" when they
face West Ham United on Friday night, Live on Sky Sports. The Hammers lost
their first game under David Moyes last Sunday when they were beaten 2-0 by
Watford, but Puel believes West Ham will produce a response. "Their fans
want a reaction so we have to be careful," said Puel. "We know this team and
they will want to show their qualities at home. "When a new manager arrives,
there is always a possibility for different players to show their qualities
and try and win their place. "It will be a strong game against them and we
have to keep our focus because it will be a crucial game for us. "I know him
[Moyes] from last season with Sunderland. After our game, I wish success for
him and for his team. Just not on Friday!"
Leicester travel to the London Stadium following a 2-0 defeat at home to
league leaders Manchester City last weekend, which was the Foxes' first loss
in six matches. Puel took charge of the club at the end of October and says
he is enjoying his start at the King Power Stadium following four points
from his first three games. "My first week at Leicester was very important
to me, he added. "It was a good feeling and that is with the fans also. Our
fans, in any game are super and create a great atmosphere. "The chairman is
the first fan of his team and the most important thing is having a good
feeling with the whole team."
Despite Robert Huth and Matty James being unavailable, Leicester do not have
any other major injury concerns ahead of Friday's game but Puel is unsure if
he will rotate his squad despite talking about their busy schedule. Puel
said: "It will be important to examine rotation. But for the moment, we have
some days to recover and we will see after the game. "If we have just two or
three days [to recover], it will be important to make some rotation. "We may
gradually look at some different players. It will be a normal thing for me,
sometimes we will have tiredness and some injuries."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
http://vyperz.blogspot.com
WHUFC.com
When West Ham United U23s took on Benfica in the Premier League
International Cup on Tuesday, there were a number of stars on show all over
the pitch at Billericay Town's AGP Arena. However it was two 15-year-olds –
Josh Okotcha and Will Greenidge – who manager Terry Westley singled out as
having impressed as they made their debuts at U23 level. Full-back Greenidge
stepped up from U16 level to play for the U18s earlier this season and his
progress went one step further when he started at right-back against the
Portuguese outfit. The story was similar for Okotcha – who is 16 next month
– and the centre-back looked solid against a number of experienced Benfica
forwards. Greenidge's night ultimately ended in disappointment as he was
replaced due to an Achilles injury, but Westley praised the pair for the way
they dealt with the challenge. "If you're going to play Josh and Will in an
U23 game, they have clearly done well at U16 and U18 level this season,"
said the Academy Director. "They have been the two standouts. We were short
defensively and it meant they got the opportunity. "And it was a chance for
them. You get a chance to show people what you can do. I was so disappointed
for Will because he started so well. He looked very accomplished on the
ball, had a good awareness of where he needed to be defensively and he grew
into the game. "He took a nasty Achilles injury which has been accessed
today and it could be a while before he's ready to come back."
Benfica forward Alan Junior Oliveira – 24-years-old – scored both goals in
the 2-0 victory for the visitors in the Hammers' final match in the
competition. And Westley recognised the difficulty of the contest Okotcha,
playing alongside U18 skipper Ben Wells, faced. "For Josh, it was a real
challenge and you have to concentrate all the game. You make errors at U16
and U18 level which you might get away with, but at our level and the next
level up with the first team, you get punished. "He knows he could have done
better for the first goal but overall, playing that level of competition and
surviving and doing well shows you have much he's come on. "We spoke at the
end to the players about coming out of the game in credit and those two
certainly did that. "If you looked at the game in general, we all came out
in the positive rather than the negative on Tuesday."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Scully delighted with Benfica game-time
WHUF.com
Anthony Scully was delighted to complete his first 90 minutes of the season
when West Ham United's U23s hosted Benfica on Tuesday night. The Hammers
were beaten 2-0 by their Portuguese opponents on a blustery evening in
Billericay, though they went into the game knowing their fate was sealed and
they could no longer progress past the group stages of the Premier League
International Cup. And as a result, Terry Westley fielded a very young side,
containing two U16 players, and the Hammers held their own against an
experienced Benfica outfit whose first half goals won them the match.
Republic of Ireland U19 international Scully had started just one match
previously this campaign before Tuesday, and he complemented his second
start by remaining on the pitch until the full time whistle at the AGP
Arena, something he was extremely happy to do. "It was my first 90 minutes
since last season, so it was great to start and it was a massive positive
for me to do the 90," the midfielder, who has come off the bench five times
in Premier League 2 this season, said after the clash. "Obviously every
player always wants to play, but you have to understand that you're not
always going to get that opportunity and you have to keep working hard. "At
this age and not being able to play for the youth team, you have got to work
as hard as possible to force your way into the U23 squad. But you've always
got to respect the manager's decision."
The tie against Benfica was the Hammers' third in the International Cup,
after previous defeats to first London rivals Tottenham Hotspur and then
Spanish side Villarreal. And Scully believes though the U23s, who have
fielded young starting XIs in all three games, have not picked up the
results in the competition, they are better off for the experience. "It's
been good playing sides from different countries in this competition," he
contined. "I'm a bit more used to it as I get to at international level with
Ireland, but you can see the different ways different countries and clubs
from there play. "We obviously got that Spanish test against Villarreal and
then a Portuguese side tonight. It's great to get a variation of teams to
play at this level; it's good for our development. "We did well tonight,
considering we had two U16s in Will [Greenidge] and Josh [Okotcha] starting.
They both did brilliant, stepping up and playing at this level. "We were
told this was Benfica's best team possible as they were out to qualify for
the next stage, so that lads have done brilliant regardless of the result.
We must be proud of the way we've played."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Watford 2-0 West Ham (And Other Ramblings)
KUMB.com
Filed: Tuesday, 21st November 2017
By: HeadHammerShark
Let's not fuck about. We're in desperate straits.
I'd love to tell you that I saw the green shoots of recovery in this game,
but in reality it was the same show we've all been watching for two years,
with merely a different conductor. And, by the way, it didn't take David
Moyes long to look like an extra from Full Metal Jacket did it?
I. What. How. Jesus H CHRIST
So let's examine the anatomy of this relegation battle, because that is
where we are right now, irrespective of the pie in the sky nonsense that is
being spouted by the club. What are the key areas we need to address?
***
Refusing to accept we are in a relegation battle
In 2010/11 we were relegated bottom of the league having allowed Avram Grant
to manage the team all season because of *spins wheel* . At this exact point
of the season our records can be compared thusly:
2010/11
Played: 12
Goal Difference: -11
Points: 8
Position: Bottom
2017/18
Played: 12
Goal Difference: -14
Points: 9
Position: 18th
It should be noted that with their current record this year's team would be
bottom of the 2010/11 league as well. They are only presently being saved
from that fate by the fact Swansea and Crystal Palace are so bad.
So, by any definition of the term we are knee deep in shit, and yet the team
and hierarchy are parading around with the familiar overconfidence that we
have all come to know and love. "Look at our attacking options" they say,
"That squad is way too good to be down there" I hear, and even as that
misplaced bluster floats out into the ether, we continue to lose games like
this.
For shitty 2-0 defeats at Watford are the building blocks of relegation. It
happens, we deserved to lose, Watford were the better side and we move on,
but the problem with that is one then looks up in February and such defeats
are scattered everywhere throughout the season.
We have managed just three away draws so far this campaign, and when you
play your home games at an abandoned nuclear bunker you don't get much home
comfort. I'm really beginning to think that Karren should have put "Too Good
To Go Down" on the new club badge, given I hear that said an awful lot more
about West Ham than I ever hear the phrase "London".
***
Civil War
Ah yes, the third rail of West Ham politics. The board. The fans. The
players. The bloggers. The flags. The stewards. The poisonous atmosphere
that hangs over the club like our own private ozone layer. As soon as we
fell behind yesterday the "Sack The Board" chants started up closely
followed by "You're Not Fit To Wear The Shirt". I'd heard something similar
at Spurs when we went 2-0 down, and other more regular away followers may be
able to pinpoint earlier instances too.
I will defend to the death the rights of football fans to protest about
their club. I despise the patronising "well what do they expect, they should
be grateful" media types who parachute into clubs for brief moments, shake
hands with the owners and then disappear again like weekend tourists. The
prime difference between the fans at the game yesterday and those talking
heads is that the former have paid to be there. Both literally and
emotionally. So if West Brom fans want to be entertained for their entrance
fee then they are entitled to say so, and if West Ham fans want to
understand exactly why we gave up our ground to actually get worse on the
pitch then that is also perfectly reasonable.
"But Zabaleta used to be good for City so how could he be bad for us?"
But I will also say this - such division never ends well for us. I was there
for the Bond Scheme and the anti-Cearns protests and all it does is transmit
a "get the fuck out of Dodge" vibe to the players on the pitch. It leads to
fearful, nervy performances like we saw yesterday where a team bereft of
confidence look petrified to get on the ball, and eliminates any synergy
between the crowd and the team. And ultimately all any of us want is for the
team to do well.
For those who were at Spurs you will know what I mean when I say that there
was a sense of inevitability to that comeback once the first went in. The
fans abandoned their pursuit of the Board and instead turned to the team and
a force of millions couldn't have stopped us. I'm not suggesting it's as
straightforward as everybody going all Harry Potter and thinking positive
thoughts to make bad things go away, but I'm also certain that history tells
us the team cannot win while there is an open war between fans and the
Board.
So, as we go into Leicester at home on Friday the risk is that we let in a
an early goal again, Jamie Vardy gloats again, and suddenly all that vitriol
is on display once more. All of which might serve to make us feel a little
better in the very short term, but with every game that we flush down the
drain and with every point we let slip away, we stumble a foot closer to the
trapdoor. And the ultimate sad truth is that if we go back down, the future
makes for very grim reading.
Now before anyone accuses me of being a stooge for the Board, let me say
this. I'm not saying don't protest, I'm simply saying that protesting while
the team is playing is just about the most self defeating thing we can do. I
take a back step to nobody in holding up a spotlight to the failings of our
Board, but whatever you are thinking about the value of getting your message
across while we lose on the pitch, I'm here to tell you it isn't worth it.
Inevitably what happens is that the message loses direction and starts going
toward those on the pitch, and if you think we're getting out of trouble as
sixty thousand of us slaughter Andy Carroll for 90 minutes then I don't know
what planet you're on.
So how do we protest? Well, there are quite a lot of ways. First among them
has to be to join the West Ham Independent Supporters Association (WHUISA).
It is a minimal cost of £3 that is charged not to make money, but to cover
running costs and to give leverage to the group, and takes you all of about
two minutes.
Giving them numbers gives them credibility as they engage with the club, and
the WHUISA board are all West Ham lifers with the best interests of the club
at hand. If you don't like the cherrypicked nature of the SAB or the
Bloggers Meetings then join up and demand that the club engage with your
elected representatives.
At this point I cannot understand why any West Ham fan would not have joined
WHUISA. I hear those who say that they think it's pointless, but the group
are already building links with the club and have succeeded in getting a
platform with them too. From little acorns and all that, but you only need
to look at the success of ISA's at places like Spurs to see what a force for
good they can be. Don't sit outside the tent pissing in - sign up now. An
ISA representing fifty thousand fans is a hell of a lot more credible than
one representing a few hundred.
Secondly, those other meetings that are run by Karren Brady are also
platforms to air views. I know that Graeme Howlett of KUMB and Geo Mackie of
Hammers Chat have attended past meetings and will willingly put forward
questions on behalf of their readers. Engage, contribute, participate -
standing in the away end and calling Karren Brady a tranny really isn't the
Wildean contribution to this debate that you think it is.
And on that very point - don't make the attacks personal. I really struggle
to understand how Brady gets the same abuse as the Chairmen. She didn't
choose to move the club, they did, and she has no involvement in on the
field matters. Every time someone calls her a slag or a bint or a dyke or
any other misogynistic, homophobic term, I tune out and ascribe it to the
fact that lots of men don't like women. When you resort to attacking her
gender, you're really showing you have nothing at all to say.
Equally, let's refrain from going to peoples houses and hanging up flags,
especially when there are young families inside. It's a nonsense.
Sacking Karren Brady will definitely sort out our defence
If you must protest, and I'm not denying there are plenty of reasons to do
so, then do it after games, or boycott the clubs commercial activities or do
everything you can to get the media to acknowledge the depths of feeling,
but ultimately I would suggest steering clear of anything that harms the
team. To put it bluntly, we've got a better chance of winning on Friday with
the Spurs atmosphere than we have with the one from yesterday. If we
splinter now - we are done for.
***
Incompetence
So, yeah, digging out the Board while the team flail away on the pitch isn't
all that helpful but it sure is deserved.
The frustrating thing that continues to drive me to despair about our Board
is how they seem so impervious to outside forces. Having moved the club to
the London Stadium they still seem to want to be judged as if we are at
Upton Park, and scrabbling around for a few spare pennies from the Sky
table. It is as though the clock stopped for them the moment they took over
in 2010 and football has remained static ever since. So while English clubs
have established a financial dominance over European clubs due to our TV
deal, West Ham have shied away from dealing with overseas teams and instead
tethered ourselves to the English market where everybody else gets the same
bloody income and we have no advantage. That way Robert Snodgrass lies.
The best thing we could do would be to buy a right load of old shit in
January
Similarly, while other clubs look to scoop up promising young managers and
snaffle their prime years, we instead look backwards to the distant past. I
don't necessarily know if Moyes is a busted flush but he was last good about
five years ago, which coincidentally is a rough match to where David
Sullivan seems to think we currently are. From the transfer policy to the
youth setup to the recruitment process to the interaction with fans -
everything is retrograde.
And people are swift to mock David Gold and his tweet about Champions League
football but, to my mind, it's the only sensible thing they've ever said. It
is, after all, the one time they've actually shown a scintilla of the
ambition needed to match moving to that stadium.
It was perhaps fitting that this game was against Watford, who seem to be a
maelstrom of chaos but are actually a progressively modern organisation with
a far better idea about where managers should fit into the structure of a
football club than we do. So while Marco Silva is one of those young,
progressive managers he is also fairly disposable within the Watford way of
working. They have acknowledged that managers have a short shelf life and
that asking them to spend all the clubs money is a short cut to having
exasperated replacements on the touchline bemoaning the lack of pace in the
team they have inherited.
By contrast, we seemingly put the manager at the epicentre of everything.
Truthfully, our transfer policy is opaque so it's impossible to know who is
buying the players - a massive problem in itself - but if rumours are to be
believed, then this is a Bilic team. But Bilic doesn't work here any more so
what fucking use was it to give him £40m to spend ten weeks ago when this
risk was always there? And watching this painfully slow team play in exactly
the same manner as they did under Bilic, just highlights even more the
lunacy of not having a proper Director of Football in place.
When we moved from Upton Park, we were stepping up a level. A London club
with fifty thousand season ticket holders, plenty of money, a playing staff
good enough to have made the Champions League the season before. And what
did we change off the pitch to match our newer, broader ambitions? Nothing.
We persisted with the same structure and set up, meaning that our Director
of Football was the man who led Birmingham to being a yo-yo club. That's it.
That's his sole qualification for the job. I have said it repeatedly but it
must be said again now - David Sullivan would not get the role he currently
has at any other Premier League club, just as I cannot envisage any other
top flight outfit employing David Moyes.
For a club so desperate to break into the Champions League, we seem
remarkably reluctant to employ any people who've actually done it.
Consider this. When Sullivan took over in 2010, the following clubs were in
the Championship or lower - Brighton, Huddersfield, Newcastle, Swansea,
Leicester, Bournemouth, Southampton, West Brom, Palace and Watford. Burnley
were also four months from relegation.
So in the intervening seven years these clubs have all had to climb to the
Premier League. We had an advantage over all of them at that point, simply
by virtue of our loftier position. And yet, what has happened in that time
is that smaller clubs have been forced to become smarter to bridge the gap
to the monied elite. And while the smaller teams have got more intelligent,
those larger beasts who have refused to adapt - helloooo Aston Villa - have
fallen by the wayside. And once those smaller teams get here, and start
making proper money, then they start to outperform us because they simply
have better people making crucial decisions for them.
So, look, we may go down this year or we may not, but until we show some
desire to drag ourselves kicking and screaming out of the 1970's and into
the modern world of professional football - where the chairman sits in the
Director's Box and stays out of the managers office, and where we have
proper scouts and not agents - we are always going to start every season on
the back foot. The panic hiring of Moyes simply reflects the tearing up of
yet another plan drawn up on the hoof, when the sad reality is that they
should have been planning every aspect of the stadium move from the day they
won the contract. But they weren't, and they didn't and this current mess is
what you get when amateurs mix it with professionals.
***
Bad luck
So with all of that whinging out of the way, I can honestly say that this
was a very strange game to watch. I don't think any West Ham fan would dare
suggest that we we deserved to win, but if you worship at the altar of xG
then you would have to at least acknowledge that we really did create some
outstanding chances. The Caley Graphics model below displays that rather
nicely, and doesn't even adjust for the fact that the second Watford goal
should have been ruled out for handball.
Cheikhou Kouyate was deployed in an advanced role and had the kind of
movement one usually associates with a bee trying to get out through a
closed window. And yet for all that wasted energy, he had two glorious
chances. The first produced a wonder save from Heurelho Gomes and the second
was skied into that poisonous ozone layer like he was wearing a pair of
flippers.
In between Marko Arnautovic forced an incredible double save from Gomes, and
when it's not your day you may as well give up and go home. Sadly, the
Austrian didn't and instead broke his thumb and David Moyes is about to find
out that every Christmas West Ham get a nightmare run of fixtures and every
Christmas West Ham get a nightmare run of injuries and as such I'm already
counting down until we hear his first "I've never known anything like it".
But while we may have been a bit unlucky with our finishing there was
precious little else to get excited about. What was most disappointing was
that our tactical setup looked pretty much identical to that under Bilic,
which rather begged the question of why we bothered to make a change. Andy
Carroll was still isolated up front, displaying the temperament of an irate
toddler denied his lunchtime Calipo, and should have been sent off before
half time. Behind him we essentially deployed a flat midfield five, wasting
Lanzini on the left and even then, didn't manage to offer up any more cover
for the defence than usual.
So the team ran the furthest they had all season, and Arnautovic sprinted
about a bit and it still didn't make any difference because Watford still
scored twice down his right side and running about a lot in and of itself,
is actually fairly meaningless. Players need to be running with a purpose,
to press or to harry or to get back from attacking positions into a tight
defensive shape. I can't say that I noticed any of that - it just looked
like the same thing I've been watching for months.
But that said, we are probably due a bit of luck. A sending off or a penalty
or a deflected goal or just something to cling on to. Because although all
football fans collect examples of misfortune like coins in a purse, I feel
like we've been on a bit of a tough run lately and when I think back to
those relegation seasons of years past I can't help but think that there was
quite a bit of ill fortune along the way.
***
Confidence
Which brings me, mercifully, to the end. And I want to talk a bit about
confidence because it's so hard to define but it's so clearly important, and
we are a team demonstrably lacking in it. When assessing football games it's
wise to remember it's a game played by humans. They behave weirdly and are
affected by different things of which we know nothing.
Who among us knows which player is suffering with injury or is playing in
fear of losing his place in this team and then maybe his World Cup place?
None of us knows who is an alcoholic or going through a divorce. I've made
all these points before, but this is simply to reinforce that there is an
awful lot going on that we don't see. Andy Carroll named his new born son
Wolf Nine during the week, so it's safe to say that he probably has a lot on
his plate just now like maybe a visit from social services, and he played
like it.
But confidence springs from lots of different places. Self confidence is one
element, obviously, but there is confidence in your team mates too, or your
manager, or the recruitment team who will provide you with some help in
January, or in your home stadium where you simply know you will pick up
points. And yet, as I lay all of that out in black and white it's pretty
easy to see why our players might be on the floor right now.
So many of them are out of form, playing for a manager they probably don't
trust a great deal given his chequered history and knowing that there isn't
any help coming in January because there never ever is under Sullivan, and
playing at a stadium they all hate. That's the worst combination I've seen
since some monster decided to put pineapple on pizza.
Confidence can also come from believing in your team structure or tactics,
or knowing that you are a fit team who can outrun any opposition. And I'm
drawing a blank again.
So for all the running that Moyes may have them doing, it's worth noting
that fitter is not faster. And while there may be a lot of work getting done
on defensive shape, that isn't going to make our midfield suddenly creative.
And for all those four managers on the bench, if you just play 4-5-1 and get
no service to your striker and your goalkeeper can't save anything low to
his left, then it's hard to see change there either.
Which brings me rather neatly back to where I started. I think us fans have
a part to play here. Things are pretty desperate and it feels like it might
get worse before it gets better. Plenty of you tell me that these columns
are too negative and that's fine but your negativity is my reality. And I
would call upon all fans to pull together now and forget that other shit.
The team needs us. West Ham needs you. We need an atmosphere to pull the
team up on Friday night and not force them back into their shells.
I want a change in structure at West Ham but it's not going to happen now,
and the most pressing matter we all face is beating Leicester. And if you
don't do it for me, well, do it for poor little Wolf Nine.
Please note that the opinions expressed in this article are those of the
author and do not necessarily represent the views of, nor should be
attributed to, KUMB.com.
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Leicester manager Claude Puel wary of West Ham reaction
By Christopher Heal
Last Updated: 22/11/17 6:30pm
SSN
Leicester City boss Claude Puel says his team need to "be careful" when they
face West Ham United on Friday night, Live on Sky Sports. The Hammers lost
their first game under David Moyes last Sunday when they were beaten 2-0 by
Watford, but Puel believes West Ham will produce a response. "Their fans
want a reaction so we have to be careful," said Puel. "We know this team and
they will want to show their qualities at home. "When a new manager arrives,
there is always a possibility for different players to show their qualities
and try and win their place. "It will be a strong game against them and we
have to keep our focus because it will be a crucial game for us. "I know him
[Moyes] from last season with Sunderland. After our game, I wish success for
him and for his team. Just not on Friday!"
Leicester travel to the London Stadium following a 2-0 defeat at home to
league leaders Manchester City last weekend, which was the Foxes' first loss
in six matches. Puel took charge of the club at the end of October and says
he is enjoying his start at the King Power Stadium following four points
from his first three games. "My first week at Leicester was very important
to me, he added. "It was a good feeling and that is with the fans also. Our
fans, in any game are super and create a great atmosphere. "The chairman is
the first fan of his team and the most important thing is having a good
feeling with the whole team."
Despite Robert Huth and Matty James being unavailable, Leicester do not have
any other major injury concerns ahead of Friday's game but Puel is unsure if
he will rotate his squad despite talking about their busy schedule. Puel
said: "It will be important to examine rotation. But for the moment, we have
some days to recover and we will see after the game. "If we have just two or
three days [to recover], it will be important to make some rotation. "We may
gradually look at some different players. It will be a normal thing for me,
sometimes we will have tiredness and some injuries."
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