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  • Payet Mystery Deepens Will He Or Won't He?

    nevillenixon's picture
    Submitted by nevillenixon on Sun, 15/05/2016 - 09:07

    As has been widely reported, Dimitri Payet did not train with the rest of the squad yesterday and did not join them on the coach for the visit to Stoke City, there has been no official confirmation that the Hammers talisman will not be playing but it looks increasingly as if that is the case. Top joint scorer Payet was substituted towards the end of the 3-2 victory over European rivals Manchester United, and apparently has a 'niggle', however it is unlikely that a small injury would prevent the mercurial french man from at least featuring at some point in the match. West Ham United coped without Payet when he was last injured, albeit with a raft of draws rather than victories, however we were informed early this morning that Payet may well still make the trip to Stoke and that his absence was due to the fact that one of his sons was unwell and that he had needed to be at home to help out. Of course Payet's presence would greatly enhance Hammers chances of making a Europa slot automatically, but if he is unable to play then it will be a situation that the squad have to cope with or risk being labeled a 'one trick pony' club especially with European Knights beckoning. Manuel Lanzini, who has been playing a much deeper role of late, will have to step up to the plate to fill the gulf of creativity left by Payet's absence if that is what eventually transpires. Mikael Antonio could play as a proper all out winger and James Tomkins could fill the right back berth.
    A positive result from the Stoke City match is absolutely vital if Hammers are to maintain the European competition aspirations that our sponsors have marked them up for VISIT THE FULL WEBSITE HERE, otherwise it will be a case of just hoping that other teams fail to pick up points, this would be an entirely unsatisfactory conclusion to a season that has shown so much promise. Time for Slaven Billic to garner his men, and help see them over the line! - Ed

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  • Hammers Escape Euro Sanction But Still Might Miss Out!

    nevillenixon's picture
    Submitted by nevillenixon on Sat, 14/05/2016 - 09:46

    The European football governing body UEFA have confirmed that West Ham United will escape sanction following the ugly scenes outside the Boleyn Ground ahead of the club's final ever game. The disturbances, that included visitor's Manchester United coach being pelted with bottles, were not the direct responsibility of the club according to a UEFA spokesperson. However had the disturbances occurred within the ground then a competition ban could and would have been sanctioned. There is of course the slight matter of an away fixture against Mark Hughes' Stoke City side, no shrinking violets by anyone's imagination, a win would guarantee a Europa League place, but anything else could open a can of worms, with both Liverpool and Southampton hot in pursuit. The situation with regards to Liverpool is the most daunting in that If they have to qualify for Europe through the league, there is a scenario that could have both clubs level on points, goal difference and goals scored, if that was the case a play off would be necessary, and the prospect of European Knights at the Olympic Stadium will have to be put on the back burner.
    West Ham would have to lose 1-0 at Stoke City AND Liverpool beat West Brom 2-1; or the Hammers lose 2-1 while it finished 3-2 to the away side at The Hawthorns, our sponsor partners feel we are in with a good shout
    VISIT THE FULL WEBSITE HERE. In addition, seventh placed Southampton would have to be denied a win against visitors Crystal Palace, those scorelines would leave West Ham and Liverpool level after 38 matches of a season lasting nine months. If they were tied, a play off would only be needed if their finishing spot is in a Europa League position, and Sevilla were to win next week's final in Basel. A Premier League spokesperson confirmed an extra game could take place, although the likelihood is small, League rules state: "If at the end of the season either the league champions or the clubs to be relegated or the question of qualification for other competitions cannot be determined because two or more clubs are equal on points, goal difference and goals scored, the clubs concerned shall play off one or more deciding league matches on neutral grounds, the format, venue and timing of which shall be determined by the board."
    The situation would be farcical, but previous experiences of the FA's 'judgement' won't really fill fans with much hope, their motto seeming to be: "where there is a will, there is a way to stick our oar in". - Ed

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  • Reece oxford

    mcbikeman's picture
    Submitted by mcbikeman on Sat, 14/05/2016 - 08:25

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    We have all seen this lad play and you can clearly see how talented he is....not one to make comparisons but Rio Ferdinand in my mind is the last player we produced at a level that all the big guns were drooling over. So now with all these big clubs again circling we are in talks over a new contract with him....currently on seven grand a week(not bad for a 17yr old)reports mention that progress yet to be made....now I am not going to say what kind of deal should be offered that is down to the club but given this boys talent and age we have to be holding onto him....yes he is developing but just like rashford at manure you can clearly see the ability that makes both these players stand out from the "GOOD" players at either club....if we want to be considered a big club with ambitions to go further then as much as the headline grabbing 20/30 million pound players we are trying to sign we have a duty to secure the special players we unearth and develop because if we don't then we will always be chasing our tails in the transfer market paying big money for players with half the talent of this boy...mangala/de michelis/otamendi spring to mind now there is a scary thought...so I hope we can get a deal done for Reece as he clearly is someone we need to keep

  • sunday sunday

    mcbikeman's picture
    Submitted by mcbikeman on Thu, 12/05/2016 - 14:30

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    live on the box and a win guarantees Europa league football how confident are we? because we will have to win as Southampton have a gimme with palace despite anything pards might say there minds will be set on the cup final.so stoke with nothing to play for should be easy? mmm doubt that...they have some very good players and its there last home game of the season so I think it'll be a draw and that will not be enough.

  • groundshare

    mcbikeman's picture
    Submitted by mcbikeman on Thu, 12/05/2016 - 14:22

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    chelski have held talks with the LLDC about moving into the OS for 3years after being quoted £60million to use Wembley hopefully this is a ruse to get the F.A to drop there price but I have a feeling if not chelski we will end up sharing the ground and will be powerless to stop it.

  • Van GALL

    asheshammer's picture
    Submitted by asheshammer on Thu, 12/05/2016 - 02:04

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    he said, "the only threat by West Ham United was from set pieces". Now I really wish we had put away 3 or 4 of those golden chances in the first half.

  • Pond Life Do Their Best To Ruin Night ,Chairman Statement

    nevillenixon's picture
    Submitted by nevillenixon on Wed, 11/05/2016 - 12:41

    David Sullivan co-owner and main share holder of West Ham United has had to issue a statement on behalf of the club following the unsavoury events and images that preceded what was supposed to be, and finally was a wonderful night of football and celebration. Mr Sullivan's statement on the club's official site www.whufc.com in response to the events is as follows: "If we were to have scripted how our final game at the Boleyn would have played out, it wouldn't have been much different to last night's match. The West Ham family then all celebrated our legends and former players together in what was a truly fitting ceremony to say goodbye to our home of 112 years."Sadly, the actions of very small minority of people outside the ground prior to kick-off risks overshadowing those celebrations. I want to be clear - their behaviour was completely unacceptable and does not represent our Club or our values. "When I was asked about the incident prior to yesterday's game, I was unaware of the damage that had occurred to the Manchester United team bus. I want to apologise to Manchester United for that damage and assure them that we will be doing all we can to track down those responsible and ban them for life. "This morning I have already tasked my senior team to work with the police to identify them as their behaviour belongs in the past and not in a future that promises so much for our great Club." "I truly hope that in due course we will look back on what happened in the stadium rather than what happened outside and remember our farewell to the Boleyn for all the right reasons."
    There have been conspiracy theory stories on social media that the supporters that attacked the Manchester United coach weren't even Hammers supporters but were Tottenham or Millwall fans wanting to 'spoil the party', however the truth is more than likely to be that a few tanked up 'pond life' fans, operating on an amoeba level of intelligence, thought that they might influence the result in their team's favour by conducting a spontaneous assault! The reason we use the term spontaneous is because, for some reason, similarly to when they played Tottenham recently, Manchester United chose to arrive late at the Boleyn despite being fully aware of the congestion their coach would face. This is not in any way meant to condone the actions of a mindless few, but the situation was served up on a plate to them. Fortunately with the amount of CCTV footage taken, both overt and covert, identifying and bringing the culprits to account should be possible. Life bans have been promised for those who participated, if indeed they were West Ham fans, whether they were intent on causing disorder or if is was a spur of the moment thing is irrelevant, because there are those who DO have an agenda against West Ham United, particularly those who will not let the Olympic Stadium anchor tenant deal go away. Those people seeking to besmirch West Ham will have a feeding frenzy in the next few days, and the club's International image will have been tarnished, but hopefully when the dust settles, the last night at the Boleyn will be remembered for a cracking game of football played in an electrifying atmosphere that will be hard to re-create, or will it? Next season awaits, but there is the matter of the final game against Stoke City coming up this Sunday, 3 points guarantees European football and with Liverpool and Southampton finishing strongly only 3 points will do unless they both slip up, which is entirely unlikely. - Ed

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  • If You Are Not One Of Us You Won't Understand (part deux)

    plaistow-man's picture
    Submitted by plaistow-man on Wed, 11/05/2016 - 11:55

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    The Final Farewell, The Last Hurrah..... 10th May 2016 ..... 36 years to the day West Ham United (then a 2nd Division side) triumphed over Arsenal to secure our last major domestic trophy. That memory all those years ago will be firmly etched in the memory of countless fans and some 250,000 fans after welcomed their all conquering heroes home. Fast forward 36 years and we had some 60,000+ supporters ready to bid a tearful farewell to a stadium that has been "home" for 112 years. The first match at the "Grand old girl" was v Millwall in the old Southern League and a resounding 3-0 win, 112 years later the final match saw a much closer encounter but a classic good old fashioned tie resulting in a 3-2 home victory that will long stay in the memory. The Boleyns 2,398th goal for the Hammers indeed the last goal ever to be scored at the Boleyn by ironically a defender .. yes Winston Reid ! I say ironically because surely West Ham Uniteds favourite son must be the mercurial Bobby Moore rated among his peers (Pele, Beckenbaur et al) as the greatest defender of all time. James Tomkins another Academy product made a cameo and how fitting that "local lad" Canning Town born Mark Noble another Academy product not only captained the side with aplomb with a coolness in his urgency was named sponsors Man of the Match. The celebrations went long into the night and a highly charged an emotional night though sadly there were incidents that earlier had threatened the mar the big day. With pubs licensed for all day opening some did not need a second invitation to "lap up" the atmosphere along with a copious amount of alcohol. The Manchester United team bus which should have been at the ground at 4pm was pelted by over emotional (and largely drunk) groups many of whom will purport to be "West Ham fans" this tinges the occasion with sadness as has pictures that are spreading across social media of seats being ripped out and signs torn down by some over zealous "souvenier hunters" ! The club has already issued 3 lifetime bans for incidents on the club concourse on Saturday and it looks like many more to follow. I doubt that many will have season tickets for the OS but those that do will become those that did. As a lifelong Hammer I have travelled the length of the country to watch West Ham whenever I can and one of those occasions it was a big thanks to ANTKB for that managing to get me a ticket when we beat Tottenham at home our last home game in the 2013/14 season, I have enjoyed the company of ANTKB and Ollie , Aycliffe, Roberto, JayK, Darvers, Tim and many others sharing a few sensible sherberts along the way. I have seen my heroes witnessed performances which would make "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" an understatement. I will still visit the area it is still deep in my heart "home".
    While the media will no doubt cast a critical eye and comment over last nights ugly the very least is that the players turned in a performance that was a worthy of a last hurrah, a performance of pride, determination and passion. An audience that refused to stay silent even at 1-2! A support that roared as one, cheered as one and finally when it all sank in .... cried as one.
    Though I tried I could not obtain a ticket and certainly was not prepared the pay in excess of a months wages to do so.
    I watched instead on my lap top not quite the same ... my chance of a final goodbye never came this season but I will always remember my first and my two sons first games at the Boleyn, I still have the programmes from those games (well my boys have theirs) my friends and those I met along that journey I hope can all gather together at some point ... the banter, the laughs and lifting of spirits (not just the alcoholic kind) will long live on. A new generation will enter the OS and that will be for them "home" and will rely upon the memories of parents, grand parents etc about where we once lived. The club was here before me and thankfully for the David's and Karren as well as the team they lead the club will survive long after I have gone. The journey continues it's just the destination that's changed. I watched , I shed a tear but I am very proud none the less that the board and players paid homage to an institution that has played a part in so many lives. Thank you for your indulgence.

  • Confirmed West Ham United v Manchester United Team Sheets

    nevillenixon's picture
    Submitted by nevillenixon on Tue, 10/05/2016 - 18:51

    West Ham Utd: Randolph, Antonio, Reid, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Noble, Kouyate, Sakho, Lanzini, Payet, Carroll.
    Subs: Spiegel, Tomkins, Valencia, Obiang, Collins, Moses, Emenike.
    Manchester Utd: De Gea, Valencia, Smalling, Blind, Rojo, Herrera, Schneiderlin, Rooney, Mata, Rashford, Martial.
    Subs: Romero, Borthwick-Jackson, Jones, Carrick, Lingard, Januzaj, Memphis.

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