Latest News | West Ham United Blog

Jack Collison injury boost

December 14, 2012 By Iron Bobby 1 Comment

West Ham have received a boost with the return to training of midfield player Jack Collison after a knee injury.

Collison, 24, is a Welsh international and has not played for Sam Allardyce’s Hammers’ this season after undergoing surgery on the troublesome knee this summer, however the academy product is now back in training and pushing for a place in the squad for the game against West Bromwich Albion.

This will come as a welcome boost to manager Sam Allardyce who lost Mo Diame to injury during the defeat to Liverpool and is already without Andy Carroll, Yossi Benayoun, Alou Diarra and George McCartney who picked up an injury in training this week.

Speaking to SkySports Jack Collison said:

It’s been frustrating, just because it has been my knee injured, everyone has jumped to the conclusion that I’m walking wounded and will never be the same again.

That’s not true. I’ve had surgery but I’ll be back as strong as ever and I’m desperate to play in the Prem again. It’s been a nightmare not being able to help the lads.

Collison has struggled with this knee problem big time and at 24 he has already missed more than a year of football for West Ham. He has likened his injury to the Ledley King situation where he will have to be monitored:

My knee will have to be managed to some extent but it won’t make me any less of a player, I want to play on for as long as I can. I met Ray Wilkins recently and he played into his 40s. He was such an inspiration.

Lets hope Jack can now get a good injury free run under his belt as we are short on central midfield players at present and he was looking a good prospect before the injuries started kicking in.

Iron Bobby – West Ham United Blog

Sam Allardyce is vital to West Ham’s future

December 13, 2012 By Stevo 1 Comment

When big Sam Allardyce turned up at the Boleyn ground, many a Hammer fan thought that he wasn’t the right man for the job and didn’t exactly see eye to eye with him. He was appointed as Irons boss in summer 2011 and many fans reacted with mixed feelings thinking that the big man would not adhere to the West Ham philosophy.

When Allardyce signed on the dotted line just over a year ago, even the Hammer owners David Gold and David Sullivan appeared skeptical about the signing and offered him just a two year deal.

Big Sam has just over 6 months left on his current contract and has done what had been expected of him. He got the Hammers back into top flight football although not be achieving automatic promotion. Both the board and the fans have warmed to him as he has surpassed all expectations.

A lot of fans however are still refusing to see the positivity he has enthused on the club. At the moment the irons are sitting pretty at eleventh place and have spent for the most part of this season in the good half of the table. We’ve had some terrific free signings in the shape of Diame and Jussi and with a bit of luck, we’ll be fighting for a place in Europe next season. Out of the three sides that were promoted, West Ham United have been by a long way the better of the three.

The outfit that Allardyce has created looks sharp and a shadow of its former self when it was under the control of Avram Grant. Under Grant, the side caved in all too easily and if it weren’t for Scotty Parker, they would have gone down to the Championship sooner.

If West Ham finish in the top ten this season, and it looks certainly on the cards, it would be an outstanding feat for Allardyce. He is comfortable at the club, he can spend money and above all, has the players respect.

The board need to thrash out a deal with Sam Allardyce now before it’s too late. Allardyce has a habit of being sacked from clubs that he has turned around only to find them fluctuating and being relegated when he’s gone. Let’s not let this happen to the Hammers. West Ham united need Sam Allardyce more than ever. He’s done an awesome job and deserves the board’s respect with a new contract.

Filed Under: Latest News Tagged With: allardyce vital, allardyce vital to hammers, sam allardyce news

Diame facing injury lay-off

December 10, 2012 By Iron Bobby 2 Comments

West Ham United’s monster of a midfield player MoMo Diame is facing an injury lay-off of up to 12 weeks according to manager Sam Allardyce.

Diame picked up the injury in the 3-2 loss against Liverpool at the weekend, with the midfield player again putting in an impressive shift with West Ham enjoying a 2-1 lead before he had to be substituted after pulling up clutching his hamstring.

The Senegal international has been excellent for West Ham this season, and after his game changing performance as a half time substitute in the 3-1 win over Chelsea, Diame continued that excellent form in the game against Liverpool and it was a true game changer when he went off as West Ham looked comfortable at the time and Diame was breaking up everything Liverpool could throw at us.

Medical tests and examinations need to run but Sam Allardyce was not confident of a quick return for Diame saying:

We will wait until it has settled down and then scan it, but it does not take a medical expert to know it is a serious hamstring tear when he falls and stopped the way he did.

I would expect, in medical terms, for it to be a grade 3 (injury) and that could be anything up to eight, 10 or 12 weeks.

Diame is about the start and build-up of most of the creative side of our game. That is what we have lost and what we will be missing for a number of weeks so we are going to have to be a bit more dogged and resilient.

Mo going off was obviously a blow to the creative side of our game. He was in front of every or most of the attacks we built so that was a blow.

It is disappointing to lose, but it is even more disappointing when your most creative player leaves the field with what looks like a serious injury on top of all the injuries we have got at the moment – so today has been obviously more disappointing because we have lost Mo as well as losing.

What a huge blow for us with the busy festive fixture coming up losing a player of Diame’s quality, the only good news is that Diame won’t be going anywhere in January as he will most likely still be injured so we will have him for the run in towards the end of the Premier League season.

On another note, Liverpool fans were celebrating at them game like they had just won the Champions League again and the buzz around the internet from their fans over the result shows we must be doing something right as a win over a promoted team is not usually something to shout so loudly about!

Iron Bobby – West Ham United Blog

Filed Under: Latest News Tagged With: Diame Injury Update

West Ham v Liverpool match preview

December 9, 2012 By Iron Bobby 1 Comment

West Ham United will play host to Liverpool today in the Premiership with The Hammers’ looking to continue their good start to the season with a victory over the Reds.

Sam Allardyce’s team currently sit in 10th place in the Premier League with a very healthy 22 points after 15 games, with a win over Liverpool today West Ham could climb as high as 6th place.

Only Arsenal have managed to walk away from The Boleyn ground this season with all 3 points as West Ham look to turn Upton Park into a fortress, last weekend Chelsea found out how difficult it can be to play West Ham when they have their tails up after being on the receiving end of a 3-1 drubbing.

The last time Liverpool played West Ham in East London it ended 3-1 to West Ham so lets hope we can get a similar result today.

West Ham News

Yossi Benayoun will be welcomed back into the West Ham squad today after missing out on the Chelsea game due to the conditions of his loan.

Andy Carroll will be missing due to a thigh injury which will keep him out for two months, however he would not have been able to play due to the face he is on loan from Liverpool. Ricardo Vaz Te, Alou Diarra and Jack Collison all remain sidelined through long term injuries.

Liverpool News

The main news which will please all West Ham fans is that Luis Suarez is out of the game due to suspension which leaves Liverpool without a recognized striker for today’s match.

Jonjo Shelvey could be pushed forward into a strikers position, while Steven Gerrard, Daniel Agger and Lucas Leiva will all return to the team after being rested for the mid-week Europa League match.

It should be a great game and I hope West Ham continue their good home form which results in another Irons victory!

Iron Bobby – West Ham United Blog

Filed Under: Latest News Tagged With: Match Preview, West Ham v Liverpool

Allardyce coy on Diame contract clause

December 7, 2012 By Iron Bobby 1 Comment

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce refused to reveal any details about Mo Diame’s release clause amid rumours and whispers that multiple Premier League clubs are interested in the monster of a midfield players signature.

Diame arrived at The Boleyn on a free transfer from Wigan Athletic during the summer and has been one of the signings of the seasons not just for West Ham but the Premier League.

When Big Sam brought him on as a half-time substitute against Chelsea he forced the Blues onto the back foot and inspired his fellow Hammers’ to a well deserved 3-1 victory over our London neighbours and capped off a great performance with West Ham’s second goal.

However buoyed by Diame’s excellent form there have been rumours galore that the claret and blue beast has an escape clause in his contract which would allow him to leave West Ham for a knockdown fee in the region of £7m.

Allardyce would not confirm whether or not this is the case before expressing his belief that scouts are monitoring the Senegal star and trying to drum up some business.

He said: “I can’t discuss personal contracts, obviously. But when people start playing consistently well scouts are always watching and agents get very busy.”

Let’s hope there is nothing to this rumour and we don’t have another Demba Ba situation where every man and his dog knows about his release clause which gives the fans clenched bum cheeks every transfer window!

Iron Bobby – West Ham United Blog

Filed Under: Latest News Tagged With: Diame Contract Clause, MoMo Diame