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Chicharito leaves it with the boss

Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 17, 2018 in News, Whispers

Chicharito is ready to help grab three points from Bournemouth tomorrow (Sat) but declares : “We need to adapt.”

The 30 year old explained to www.whufc.com: “I know fans would like immediate success and we are doing everything we can. It’s in our own hands.

We need to adapt, like with the new players coming in, and to the new system that the manager wants us to play. Hopefully, against Bournemouth, we can show progress and we can take the three points.”

 

“I hope to be involved. I hope to be on the pitch so I can help my teammates.

“Like I always say, that’s the manager’s decision. I will always try to do my best and keep training hard. I will keep improving and keep getting fitter, so I can help the team as best as I can.”

Chicharito added: “The West Ham fans are great. I’m desperate to play in front of them again and we have a big, big chance to take three points against a very good team.

“Bournemouth got a very good result in their last game and it will be tough, but it will be nice to be back in London Stadium and hopefully we can take the win.”

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The weekend prediction game starts here

Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 17, 2018 in News, Whispers

Mark Lawrenson has found some easy reasons to avoid tipping the Irons for a win against Bournemouth tomorrow (Saturday).

He bases his prediction on last weeks performance at Liverpool declaring: “I was at Anfield on Sunday  and they (West Ham)  were far too open.

New Hammers boss Manuel Pellegrini has bought a lot of attacking players and probably wants to play in a way that gives his side’s fans something to get excited about.

But if they are going to keep leaving the back door open like that all season, they are going to be in trouble.

If Pellegrini had set up in 4-5-1 and sat deep, I would have understood, but Liverpool carved them open almost at will – and the scoreline could have been a lot worse.

Bournemouth are not a team I consider to be one of the strongest on the road, but they always pick up some decent away points and I quite fancy them to get something here.”

Lawro’s prediction: 1-1

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Hammers in new bid to settle stadium ‘claret’ dispute

Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 17, 2018 in News, Whispers

West Ham are willing to pay up to £380,000 to change the pitch surround at London Stadium to claret.

The BBC website has this morning picked up the story CandH originated earlier in the week and has neatly summed up the issues at stake.

So for those playing catch up on the irritating activities or lack of them by owners E20 here they are in a nutshell as reported by the BBC.

The Irons are in dispute over the issue with landlords, the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC), and have taken legal action.

The London Legacy Development Corporation has been ordered to pay to change the covers, although the Hammers would consider taking on that cost – if changed to their main club colour of claret.

It is understood the corporation would prefer not to use claret and is interested in the “sponsorship potential” of the carpeted area.

While a West Ham source has indicated they would pay £380,000, other estimates have suggested the work could be carried out for closer to half that amount.

West Ham, famous for their claret and blue colours, insist their plan would save taxpayers’ money at the venue.

Currently we pay £2.5m a year to use the stadium as part of a 99-year lease (but it needs to be remembered we only use it for 25 days and it’s the owners job to make it profitable over the other 340!)

The club and the corporation were in dispute over who should pay to make the stadium more supporter friendly, and a mutually agreed legal expert has ruled in West Ham’s favour.

This means the LLDC must pay for:

  • Work to replace the material around the pitch perimeter
  • The installation of pumps to allow the sale of draught beer at all bars
  • Hospitality staff who work in the corporate boxes at the stadium
  • Ensuring all televisions at the ground are allowed to show live sport – West Ham paid for the licence but the London Stadium had adverts on some screens

The expert said the perimeter material was of poor quality and the green colour should be changed because of the difficulty in seeing where the playing surface ends and the pitch surround starts.

An LLDC spokesperson said: “We are complying with all of the decisions made through the expert determination process, including supplying a pitch surround in contrasting colour, and continue to discuss the solutions with West Ham United.

“We have begun the procurement process for the new pitch surround, which will be in place within the next few weeks.

“We are not going to comment on private negotiations. However, we wish to protect our commercial rights, which involve securing the best deal for all our assets such as the sponsorship potential of the pitch surround.”

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Pitch surround colour doesn’t matter but the principle does

Posted by Sean Whetstone on August 17, 2018 in Blogs, Sean's Blogs, Whispers
The latest disagreement between West Ham and stadium owners E20 has been aired in yesterday’s papers and with the Times, London Standard, Sun, BBC, Sky Sports and the Daily Star each giving it column inches and coverage.

Personally, I am not bothered whether the pitch surround is Blue, Claret, Green or Yellow with pink spots on it. The real disappointment is it has shown again how unreasonable E20 are being and how broken their relationship is with West Ham.

Their behaviour is akin to a spoilt child who has not got their own way and is now sulking.  I am sure their lawyers promised them a good chance of winning of the expert determination but that’s what the legal profession do! A lawyer will always say it is fifty/fifty. They were wrong and West Ham won the legal process on every point they contested.

Now is the time to be gracious and admit they were wrong and move on to build constructive dialogue and relationship with West Ham. Unfortunately, it doesn’t often work like that in the civil service in a culture where blame is rarely admitted and mistakes are swept under the carpet.
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Wimbledon tickets unlikely to go on sale

Posted by Sean Whetstone on August 17, 2018 in News, Whispers

West Ham are likely to get an away allocation of less than 500 tickets for the away game against AFC Wimbledon in the League cup in late August.

The EFL rules say that a minimum of 10% of  the available tickets must be made available to the away club. In the case of the Chelsea owned Kingsmeadow stadium that would be just 485 tickets for the cup game in Kingston, Surrey.

Liverpool visited Kingsmeadow in 2015 and were allocated 825 tickets in the FA Cup third round as the Premier League outfit beat them 2-1 thanks to two Steve Gerard goals.

However, FA Cup rules allow for an away allocation of up to 15% of the home stadium which is subject to the local Safety Advisory Group (SAG) agreeing to that ticket allocation number.

Demand for tickets will be high among the Wimbledon fans so West Ham are likely to be awarded less than 500 tickets and with over 500 West Ham away season ticket holders no tickets are likely to be sold to West Ham season ticket holders with priority points.

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Video: West Ham v Bournemouth Press Conference

Posted by Sean Whetstone on August 16, 2018 in News, Whispers

Manuel Pellegrini told reporters at the pre-match press conference that he has no new injury worries saying “The same three players with injuries are Andy Carroll, Reid and Lanzini. All the other players are OK.”

On the Liverpool defeat he said:“I was very disappointed about the result, I don’t think it was a result that we deserved. We played against a better team, a solid team who in this moment is more than our team but we expect maybe to play a little bit better especially in the chances we created.”

On West Ham fans he said  “Every fan demands the best of their team. I know the fans of West Ham but they always support their team, sometimes they have less patience but I think that all the fans are demanding for good results of their squad.

I hope that some will arrive especially this first game at home because three points for us are very important for continuing to work with being calm so I don’t think we are going to have any problems with the fans.”

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Hammers to face Wimbledon

Posted by Sean Whetstone on August 16, 2018 in News, Whispers

West Ham have been drawn to face AFC Wimbledon in the second round of the Carabao Cup.

Thursday evening’s draw sends the Hammers to the Cherry Red Records Stadium, in Kingston, Surrey to take on the League One side in the week commencing 27 August.

Wimbledon defeated Portsmouth 2-1 in their first-round tie, with Joe Pigott and Anton Walkes scoring late on to turn the tie around.

The game will be played on Tuesday 28th or Wednesday 19th August at Kingsmeadow (known as the Cherry Red Records Stadium for sponsorship purposes). The Chelsea owned stadium is used for the home matches of AFC Wimbledon and Chelsea Women. Until 2017 it was the home of Kingstonian. It has a capacity of 4,850 with 2,265 seats.

AFC Wimbledon is a fan-owned club which plays in League One. The club was founded by former Wimbledon F.C. supporters in 2002 after the Football Association allowed that club to relocate to Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire, 56 miles (90 km) north of Wimbledon.

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Pellegrini insists there can be no home sickness

Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 16, 2018 in News, Whispers

Manuel Pellegrini believes the Hammers squad has the “personality” to go for the three points against Bournemouth on Saturday.

Speaking at his pre-match presser he said: “ Away, you may have to defend more but at home you must be aware of counter attacks but try to create options against the team who come to defend. At home, I think the team has the personality to go for the three points from the beginning.

“Bournemouth are a very good team also. I hope we will have the personality we need to start well and win the first game at home.

“I saw a lot of games of Bournemouth from last season, especially this week, and they have the same manager and style of play from when I was at Manchester City. They have a lot of the same players as well and they are a good team who will always try to play.

“We must try to recover the ball as soon as we can and not to lose possession. We have a team in Bournemouth who don’t come to defend away, they have good players and good strikers and we must work as a balanced team.”

The manager also spoke of the changes he is trying to introduce adding: “For me the most difficult thing is to try and change our mentality. Last season, normally they were trying to play near our box and counter attack fast and we are trying to change the area of the pitch we have the most amount of minutes and this change of mentality is always difficult.

“We need to play everyone in the Premier League. If you start against Liverpool, of course you want to win but three points are very difficult. But at home, you must try to add three points. It’s not good to start with two defeats so they are three very important points.

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Hammer may not be allowed to leave on loan

Posted by Sean Whetstone on August 16, 2018 in News, Whispers

Josh Cullen says he is open to the idea of going out on loan but may be required to remain at West Ham to fulfill the eight player homegrown rule.

Cullen told the London Standard earlier this week “It’s not that I’ve decided totally whether I am staying or going; at the minute I’m here, just taking each day as it comes and trying to impress the manager.

“First and foremost I want to be playing for West Ham, but if the manager says to me ‘there’s the right loan there’ then I’ll go and get some games up until January, come back and look at it then.

However, West Ham need to submit a 25 man squad to the Premier League by 3rd September and Cullen could be required to the fulfill one of the eight home grown player rule who are over 21.

Cresswell, Carroll, Fredericks, Noble, Wilshere and Antonio are all home grown but two extra players are required so Makasi and Cullen are the two most likely candidates to fill the void.

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Bournemouth hints from Pellegrini

Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 16, 2018 in News, Whispers

Manuel Pellegrini has plenty of options as he ponders his team selection for the Bournemouth game on Saturday.

The manager – speaking in his pre-match presser – gave little away but maybe indicated that it’s unlikely either Carlos Sanchez or Lucas Perez would be involved.

He said: ““I can’t tell you now [if Perez and Sanchez will be involved]. Carlos arrived just last week on the last day [of the transfer deadline] and has had just a week with us, and Lucas Perez similar. We will see if they are good to go onto the bench, but I cannot say at this moment.”

He added: “Every week is important in this moment, when you bring in so many players and have so many changes.

“We will try to win as many games as possible, starting with Bournemouth now, and we won’t be changing our final target. We have a solid team .”

“We have nine new players and every week that you have you are working with them to try and improve. When you build up a squad, you know you need to let players go out also. Young players like [Toni] Martinez knew this from the beginning and they were going to go on loan.

“The squad we have now is our squad for the season; I don’t think we are going to have any more going out at this moment.

“We have brought in good players; players like Felipe Anderson who are creative players. Lucas Perez, Felipe, Yarmolenko, they are creative players and they will bring a lot to our team.

“Felipe is a good player. Before we bought him, we saw a lot of games he played. He’s a fast player, a mix between a winger and midfielder.”

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