Big Sam Preview on Ipswich Tonight

Big Sam on Ipswich

Sam Allardyce on why a striker is top of his transfer-window wish list and why his team must stay focused

 31.01.2012

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Sam Allardyce pre-match press conference ahead of Tuesday evening’s game with Ipswich Town was a chance for journalists to get the manager’s thoughts on the npower Championship match but also, of course, the latest on possible transfers into the club.

Why are you looking at bringing a striker in?

SA: Having analysed it, we’ve had so many good chances, even against Nottingham Forest we had easy chances that we missed and in some cases did not hit the target. Perhaps the players are getting a little anxious about it, perhaps I moan too much but we all know that we’ve got to do better in that area. If we do better in that area then we’ll start scoring freely. That’ll take a lot of pressure off us as we go into the final stages of a game or the final stages of the season. We all know the anxiety the last few minutes of a game brings up if you’re 1-0 up and the anxiety will now only increase as the games get fewer and fewer. If you’re in control of the game and you punish the opposition then it genuinely takes the anxiety out of everybody.

Are you looking overseas at players?

SA: On the back of our search in this country, the ability for us to find a player that we wanted was rejected constantly, particularly how early we bid and how much money we bid. Unlike most windows, the money hasn’t talked like it normally has. There’s no doubt that sometimes clubs try to squeeze more out of us, while there are some clubs that don’t want to sell to us in the first place if we’re in their division. You just have to live with that and move on. As far as Carlos Tevez is concerned that is not an option for us. I don’t think we’ve got the OK from Manchester City.

Are you looking to get another striker?

SA: I’m trying to get another striker but I thought we were going to get our players early in the window and the only one we managed was George John on loan. Every other option has come and gone and there are all sorts of reasons why they haven’t. During those negotiations, things can happen like agents fees get too big or wages get escalated beyond belief so there are many reasons why a deal breaks down but you must always have a sensible value in your head. You must always protect the fact that the finances at West Ham are extremely delicate in terms of where it lies at the moment. You want to get better players but if it’s too expensive you have to say ‘No’.

You are now top of the npower Championship. Is it a case that you’re now looking over your shoulder?

SA: When you’re in my position the worst thing you can hear is ‘You’re nearly there’. You’re never up until is mathematically certain. Once it is then you can start celebrating. With 19 games still to go there are a massive amount of points still available and you’ve got to gather as many as you can. If you’re good enough as my team was at Notts County [when they were promoted] then you can win it with eight games to go.

Is there still a weight of expectation on the players at the club?

SA: I think they still feel it as the pressure is constant for us. In our group of players there’s only Kevin Nolan at Newcastle that has experienced the need to consistently be winning games week-in, week-out and the pressure that brings. It’s a big ask. You go to bed and you wake up with it. If you can relieve that then that is my job as a manager and you have to try and make the players relax a little bit more. If they’re thinking about it too much it becomes a burden for them rather than a pleasure – pressure should be a pleasure not a burden.

 

 

Source: WHUFC

 

Millwall on Sky: confirmed

Filed: Tuesday, 31st January 2012
By: Staff Writer

West Ham United’s nPower Championship clash with Millwall FC is being broadcast live by Sky – as exclusively revealed by KUMB.com.

KUMB.com revealed yesterday that Sky Sports would be broadcasting the game – which kicks off at 12:30pm this coming Saturday (4th February) – live from the Boleyn Ground.

This has now been confirmed by the Lions on their website.

A brief notice posted on millwallfc.com this morning stated: “We have just been advised by the Football League that, at late notice, Sky TV have decided to broadcast the West Ham v Millwall npower Championship fixture at Upton Park live on Saturday.”

The news is yet to be confirmed by whufc.com.

Source: KUMB

* Full announcement: http://www.millwallfc.co.uk/…00.html

 

Hammers Ladies draw cup opener

Posted on Tuesday, 31st January 2012 by Jenny Kerwood

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West Ham Ladies opened their FA Women’s Premier League Cup Campaign with a 1-1 away draw at Colchester United Ladies on Sunday.

Tracey Duxbury gave the Hammers the lead mid-way through the first half but West Ham’s league rivals hit back with a converted penalty late into the second period.

Elsewhere in the Hammers group cup holders Barnet Ladies beat Tottenham Hotspur Ladies 3-0 to go top whilst Watford Ladies didn’t play yesterday but make up the five-team group stage. West Ham face each team once over the next few months in an effort to qualify for the knock-out stages of the competition.

Next up for the Ladies is a FA Cup third round away trip to Derby County Ladies next Sunday.

 

Busy day beckoning at West Ham

Messrs David Gold and Sullivan better be prepared for gigantic phone bills and a huge trail of legal paper-work as wheeler dealer Sam Allardyce comes into his own on transfer deadline day and bursts into action like a starving puma ready to pounce on some unsuspecting soul.

His targets for the day are headlined with Manchester United contract rebel Ravel Morrison after the clubs agreed a fee, rising up to £1 million, with Ravel, not knowing whether he is toffee or orange crème flavoured, still deliberating on a new offer from Manchester United.

This will be a huge coup for West Ham who would beat Bolton, Roma and Newcastle to the signature of the teenager who has suffered more disciplinary problems than Dennis the Menace at Old Trafford and whilst his promising talent is unquestioned, he remains desperate for first team football after only making three senior appearances at Old Trafford.

Those hearty fellows at Manchester United have been kind enough to grant West Ham the chance to talk with the 18 year old attacker rather than risk his tribunal based fee upon contract expiration in the summer. Reports that West Ham will offer Morrison the £30,000 a week he was demanding in Manchester however, a wide of the mark.

Second on the list is Barnsley’s Ricardo Vaz Te is also looking to be on his way to Upton Park after the two clubs agreed a fee with the striker’s contract due to expire in the summer, now where have we heard that kind of thing before?

Big Sam will know what he is getting with the Portuguese Vaz Te after working with him in his Bolton days and he has lit up the Championship so far this season with 10 goals. Barnsley have seen the sense in cashing in on him now and the deal, believed to be in the region of £1.5 million, has been agreed and Vaz Te is scheduled at Upton Park for a medical.

This striker splurge has come after Allardyce managed to capture Genoa’s Ze Eduardo and the 24 year old Brazilian jetted into London for his medical on Monday to give West Ham’s attacking line-up more power than an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie. However, Allardyce could not quite manage a deal with Rangers for Nikica Jelavic after being priced out by Everton.

@AdamGray1250

 

Maynard in Hammers talks

Striker wanted at Upton Park

By Graeme Bailey –

Nicky Maynard: Wanted by West Ham

Sky Sports understands that West Ham United have opened talks with Bristol City over Nicky Maynard.

The 25-year-old has been the subject of interest from a host of clubs this month after City confirmed they wanted to sell him.

Maynard is out of contract in the summer and can therefore leave Ashton Gate for nothing at the end of the season.

With that in mind, the Robins are keen to cash in on him, but it remains to be seen if he will agree to any deal.

Wigan saw a deal fall through, whilst Wolves and West Ham were also strongly linked and now the Hammers are trying to seal a deadline day move.

West Ham have already agreed deals for Ricardo Vaz Te and Ze Eduardo, but whether they would push through more than two striker deals remains to be seen.

 

Hammers in talks with Vaz Te

Last Updated: Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:19

Barnsley have given West Ham permission to approach striker Ricardo Vaz Te.

The Tykes had turned down one “derisory offer” from the Hammers for Vaz Te, but it would appear the two clubs have now agreed a fee for the 25-year-old, who is reported to be undergoing a medical at Upton Park.

Vaz Te, who spent seven years at Bolton from 2003-2010, joined Barnsley on a free transfer in the summer following his release from Hibernian, signing a one-year deal at Oakwell.

The Portuguese has hit in top form for Keith Hill’s side this season, scoring 12 goals in 24 appearances and West Ham manager Sam Allardyce has made no secret of his desire to boost his strikeforce.

 

Jelavic West ham en de davids

Zie net dat West ham 5.5 miljoen + Piq voor Jelavic. Vind je het gek dat ze nee zeggen. Het word tijd dat de Davids is hun portomonee gaan trekken, Zeker met het vooruitzicht van promotie. Of denken ze nou echt dat ze met dit team in de premier league kunnen blijven, Nou ik denk van niet wat ik weet het wel zeker.

Zou het al knap vinden als we zonder echte versterkingen gaan promoveren. Keer op keer zien we dat we gewoon een  selectie hebben met te weinig diepte. En keer op keer zien we dat spelers uit positie worden gespeeld. Kijk maar naar Collison op de flank, Hetzelfde geld voor Baldock.

Sam heeft er gewoon meer slagkracht bij nodig. Carevv was een leuke voetballer was ook zeer blij dat ie kwam, maar de koek is gewoon op bij meneer. Als je het mij vraagt kunnen ze hem beter wegsturen want nu vreet ie alleen maar salaris. Verkopen zal bijna niet gaan want hij is gewoon niet goed genoeg meer, Hetzelfde geld voor Piq,  Alleen schijnt daar nog intresse voor te zijn (god mag weten waarom).

En dan nog iets, Ik snap niet echt waarom ze Jelavic willen halen, Tuurlijk hij scoort veel maar dat is in schotland. Der is al vaak genoeg bewezen dat spitsen die in schotland veel scoren dat meestal niet doen in engeland. Al zal ie vast van waarde zijn in de Championship maar in PL zet ik me vraagtekens er bij. Dus kortom is ie dat geld waard.

Ik vind beter dat ze voor Rhodes en Snodgrass kunnen gaan. En dan nog eenmiddevelder  er bij kunnen halen. Die gast van Palace ofzo ik ben ff ze naam kwijt. Dat zijn jonge spelers die nog jaren meekunnen. lijkt mij altijd een betere investering dan Jelavic.

Coyi!!!!!!!

 

Door Hilco Dijns

 

Julien feeling good

Julien Faubert is enjoying a successful season at the Boleyn Ground

 28.01.2012

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Julien Faubert has been through his fair share of ups and downs since arriving at West Ham United, but he now he firmly believes that both he and the club are in the ascent once more.

Faubert’s has experienced a top-ten finish in the Premier League, a long-term injury lay off, a loan move to Real Madrid and relegation to the npower Championship during his five years at the club since arriving from FC Girondins de Bordeaux. Now the France international is happy to be playing and having some consistency both on the pitch and off it under the tutorship of Sam Allardyce.

“I’m happy and my confidence is coming back as I’m playing a lot of games,” Faubert said. “I like the manager, the assistants and the atmosphere inside the club now. It is different now and is better than last season.

“There is more respect, more work and that is why things are going well. We are all pulling in the same way and I feel very good this season.”

With West Ham having no game this weekend, the break from playing gives Faubert and his team-mates the chance to put in extra preparation ahead of the tricky-looking trip to Ipswich Town on Tuesday night. The Hammers will be hoping to further cement their position at the top of the table with a win, although Faubert knows that being on top of the pile may bring its own challenges.

“We are top of the table and we are winning games. We don’t score too many goals but I think we are solid at the back. Southampton have made a mistake and now we are first on our own. It is in our hands now if we keep going like this; winning games away and being strong at home.

“We’re pleased we’re up there. Even from the start of the season everyone wanted to beat us because we came from the Premier League and have Premier League players.

“Every game the other team seem to play the game of their lives against us but really it is just about us. We can have pressure but we are professional and we have to deal with it. It is good for us and good for the club but it is not the end of the season so we can’t celebrate anything and we need to keep working hard.”

The right-sided midfielder, who is also equally as comfortable at right-back, has played in 24 of West Ham’s 27 Championship games this season and is flourishing under Big Sam. After not featuring as much last season, Faubert is a big fan of the new mangers’ straight-talking approach.

“It’s different because I played one full season with Zola that was good but this is one of my best. I play right-midfield or right-back but I don’t mind as I can play both positions. I’m happy to play because the atmosphere is really good and the way we play is proper football so it is one of my best seasons.

“I am happy here now so it is different to last season and my mentality is different because I think I had a good talk with the manger. He is a straight-talking guy and so am I and we talked man-to-man so it is good.”

Faubert’s determination and effort have won him many admirers among the Boleyn crowd this season – any strong tackle or darting run is often greeted by a chorus of ‘Julien’ – and Faubert was quick to praise the support of the Hammers faithful.

“It is good for me to have the fans’ backing because I play for myself but also for the fans as well because they are part of the club. We have to give our best for them as they have paid for their ticket. We are in the Championship now but they have stayed with us and are behind us and push us on.

“Sometimes I hear them singing my name but you can’t do anything about it on the pitch. It helps me to go forward, push and win the battle. It is good for my confidence.”

 

Ernie Gregory: Footballer who served West Ham for half a century

There can hardly be any footballer, from any era, who gave more loyal service to one club than did Ernie Gregory to West Ham United. As a big, dominant, charismatic goalkeeper he was a linchpin of the Upton Park side for a dozen seasons in the middle years of the 20th century, a reassuring and often inspirational influence as the Hammers won the Second Division title in 1958.

Later he served West Ham as a coach, offering sage guidance to fine keepers such as Phil Parkes and Mervyn Day, and even after his 1987 retirement brought an end to his remarkable 51-year official tenure at the club, he was a regular visitor at the Chadwell Heath training ground, keeping an eye on the new generation of young keepers and delivering typically shrewd scouting assessments.

Though necessarily athletic, Gregory wasn’t an overtly spectacular performer; rather he specialised in canny positioning and safe, unshowy handling. He was unfailingly courageous, too, in an era when referees offered goalkeepers scant protection from fearsomely brawny centre-forwards, the likes of Trevor Ford, Derek Dooley and Nat Lofthouse, who seemed to bounce off him like lightweights when they encountered his muscular frame.

As a boy Gregory was a promising boxer, and on the football field he was a defender, but one day his goalkeeper brother Bob broke his leg and Ernie took his place between the sticks. Thereafter he progressed to the West Ham Boys side, for whom he was playing in the English Schools Trophy final in 1936 when he was spotted by the Hammers manager Charlie Paynter.

He was approached, too, by Arsenal and Sunderland, but he was an east Londoner to his boots and never contemplated joining anyone but West Ham, which he did that year. While still unpaid he helped local amateurs Leytonstone to win the Isthmian League title in 1938, then turned professional with the Hammers in 1939.

Aged only 18 at the outbreak of the Second World War, Gregory served in the Essex Regiment, also finding time to make half a century of appearances for the Hammers in unofficial emergency competition. Having lost the first half of his twenties to the conflict, he made his senior debut in a 4-1 Second Division victory over Plymouth Argyle in December 1946, and by season’s end he was the club’s first-choice goalkeeper, a position he retained, injuries permitting, until 1959.

For much of that period West Ham, managed from 1950 onwards byTed Fenton, were a moderate Second Division side, despite the presencein their rearguard of such luminaries as Malcolm Allison, Noel Cantwelland John Bond, and they owedplenty to Gregory’s heroics for keeping them buoyant.

There was no shortage of observers, especially in the East End, who maintained that he should be rewardedby full caps. But he was unable to oust such formidable rivals as Manchester City’s Frank Swift, Bert Williamsof Wolves and the Birmingham City man Gil Merrick, though he was granted one outing for England ‘B’, against France in 1952.

In 1957-58, during which he entered his 37th year, Gregory was still at the top of his game as the Hammers lifted their divisional title, and he remained a major force as Fenton’s side performed wonders by finishing sixth in the First Division. However, that spring he lost his place to the talented young Irishman Noel Dwyer and he made the last of his 406 senior appearances in a 2-1 home defeat by Leeds United in September 1959.

At that point, extraordinarily, Gregory was less than halfway through his tenure with the Hammers, whom he served as a coach for the next 28 years, through the managerial regimes of Ron Greenwood and John Lyall, helping with the development of, for example, the club’s trio of World Cup heroes, Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters. He offered experience, continuity and wisdom to wave after wave of Upton Park hopefuls, while setting a peerless example of integrity and simple dignity – and, frequently, entertaining them with his infectious brand of humour. He was summed up admirably by one of his star pupils, the England goalkeeper Phil Parkes, who described his mentor as the greatest servant West Ham have ever had.

Ernest Gregory, footballer and coach: born Stratford, London 10 November 1921; played for West Ham United 1946-60; married (wife deceased, and one daughter, deceased); died 21 January 2012.

 

Source:The Independent

 

The Big Interview

Source:whufc

James Tomkins is looking to the future after signing a new long-term contract with West Ham United

 25.01.2012

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James Tomkins enjoyed a fantastic weekend.

The 22-year-old signed a new long-term contract with West Ham United until 2016 before celebrating his 100th game for the Hammers in a 2-1 victory over Nottingham Forest that took the Hammers top of the npower Championship table.

The popular No5 spoke to West Ham TV about Saturday’s win, the team’s ability to adapt to new formations, signing his new deal, his West Ham career highlights and hopes of representing Team GB at the 2012 Olympic Games.

Was the result against Nottingham Forest more important than the performance?

“At the end of the day, it’s all about the three points in this league. Sometimes it can be a lot harder than we want it to be and Saturday was another example of that. We’ve come home with the three points and we’re top of the league, which is all we wanted.”

Is it difficult to adapt to different formations?

“Not really. I think we’re adapting quite well to any changes. We’ve got good enough and experienced enough players to deal with it. Even on Saturday, we changed it at half-time and all adapted to it. We’re winning games and that’s the main thing.”

Were you concerned with the number of chances you conceded to Nottingham Forest on Saturday?

“They created more chances than we would have liked but I suppose it is all about convertingthem and they didn’t. We got sloppy a few times and it’s important that we don’t under-estimate this league and get punished.”

Did the first penalty come at an important time just before half-time?

“It came at a great time for us. We weren’t playing too well and they would have been happy with 0-0 at half-time. Thankfully the decision went our way because sometimes they don’t and we made the most of it.”

You must be really pleased with your own individual form?

“Yes, I feel confident and I feel like I’m growing in every game and gaining good experience playing in this league, physically and mentally. I’m enjoying my football at the minute. As long as we keep winning games, I think I’ll keep developing and getting better as a player, which is what I want.”

You have signed a new contract. Was there ever any doubt about you staying with West Ham United?

“There was no doubt. I have been committed to this club for many years. I’ve been here since I was eight have always shown commitment. The main thing is I want to gain promotion and that’s the main task I’ve set myself this year. There was no way I was going to go elsewhere. It’s nice to put the speculation to bed now and I can concentrate on the rest of the season.”

Saturday was your 100th West Ham United appearance. Which games have been the highlights?

“It’s hard to put my finger on them but I’ll always remember my first game at Everton in March 2008 and my first goal against Sunderland in April 2009. They were highlights, as was going top of the league for the first time in my 100 games. I’ve made 100 but hopefully there are many more to come.”

Does going top of the table for the first time on Saturday add or reduce the pressure?

“That’s a good question. Everyone wants to beat us in the league because we know we’re favourites to go up, but I thrive on that pressure and I think all the other lads do. We’re just delighted to be up there and will just take each game as it comes.”

Why have we struggled to score goals from open play recently?

“It’s hard to put your finger on it, really. It’s not a major problem at the minute because Nobes is putting away his penalties. I’m sure it’ll come but we’re scoring the penalties that are winning us games.”

Would you like to represent Team GB at London 2012 now you have been named in the provisional squad?

“I think it would be brilliant. If we get promoted this year, which we’re all confident we can do, and this came at the end of the season then that would be a bonus. The important thing is to keep doing well for my club because then the call-up might come. If I keep playing well for West Ham United, then who knows?”