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Alan 11:58 Mon Dec 8
Monday newspapers (includes West Ham)

Paper Talk

Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere will be out until at least March after having an ankle operation.
Derby boss Steve McClaren will raid his old club for FC Twente for star striker Luc Castaignos.
Liverpool target Martin Odegaard, the 15-year old Norway international, will meet Bayern Munich and Ajax before deciding which club to join.
Sunderland striker Connor Wickham will put pen to paper on a new four-and-a-half-year deal at the Stadium of Light this week.
Crystal Palace forward Marouane Chamakh says that the Eagles will face a huge battle to keep in-form wide man Yannick Bolasie at Selhurst Park in the January transfer window.
Despite guiding West Ham United up to third place in the Premier League, manager Sam Allardyce is still in the dark over a new contract at Upton Park.
Newcastle United are eyeing a January swoop for Chelsea's veteran backup goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer.

Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero has told friends he will be out of action for a month after suffering knee ligament damage in the 1-0 win over Everton.
Under-pressure Leicester City manager Nigel Pearson says he is determined to remain in charge of the bottom-of-the-table Foxes despite the club having now gone 10 games without a win after a 2-1 loss at Aston Villa on Sunday.
Former Newcastle United midfielder Nolberto Solano wants to prove himself as a manager in English or Scottish football, and the Peruvian has targeted vacancies at Motherwell and Hartlepool United.

Arsenal look like beating arch-rivals Manchester United to the signature of Exeter City starlet Ethan Ampadu when the transfer window reopens for business next month.

Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino is demanding a new spine for his team in January, and the club's board want to make it happen. Pochettino wants a new centre-back, central midfielder and centre-forward. Napoli's Spain international Raul Albiol and Southampton duo Morgan Schneiderlin and Jay Rodriguez are Spurs' top targets.
Steve Clarke is in the frame to become the new No 2 at Aston Villa following Roy Keane's departure.
Chelsea's Patrick Bamford will extend his loan at Middlesbrough.
Hull midfielder Stephen Quinn is set to be awarded a new two-year contract.
Sunderland manager Gustavo Poyet still wants to bring out-of-favour Liverpool forward Fabio Borini to the Stadium of Light next month after missing out on the Italian last summer.

Richard Dunne has called on Roy Hodgson to pick his QPR team-mate Rob Green for England.
James Milner says Manchester City can salvage their Champions League campaign even without Sergio Aguero.
Spurs are set to move for Celtic defender Virgil Van Dijk, although the 23-year-old is also wanted by Arsenal, Manchester City, Newcastle, Southampton and Swansea.

Manchester City will have to wait a further 48 hours before learning the full extent of the knee injury picked up by key striker Sergio Aguero in the Premier League against Everton on Saturday.






BBC

TRANSFER GOSSIP

Tottenham are targeting Southampton's 25-year-old France midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin, team-mate Jay Rodriguez, 25, and Napoli's Spain centre-back Raul Albiol, 29, as they look to bolster the squad in January. (Daily Mirror)

Spurs are also set to move for Celtic defender Virgil Van Dijk, although the 23-year-old is also wanted by Arsenal, Manchester City, Newcastle, Southampton and Swansea. (Daily Express)

Leicester City have had a £7m bid rejected for Croatia striker Andrej Kramaric, 23, who is also wanted by Chelsea and Tottenham. (Daily Express)

Sunderland head coach Gus Poyet remains keen on signing Liverpool's out-of-favour Italian forward Fabio Borini, 23, in January. (Daily Mirror)

Newcastle boss Alan Pardew wants to sign Chelsea's third-choice goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer on an emergency loan. (Sun - subscription required)

QPR boss Harry Redknapp hopes to bring in some Major League Soccer players on loan in January with LA Galaxy's Robbie Keane, 34, top of his list. (Setanta)

Arsenal are set to beat Manchester United to Exeter City's 14-year-old academy player Ethan Ampadu. (Daily Star)

OTHER GOSSIP

Arsenal had hoped 22-year-old midfielder Jack Wilshere would be back from an ankle injury in late January, but they will receive a setback with the news he will now be out until March. (Sun - subscription required)

West Brom goalkeeper Ben Foster says the club's players are "battling" to keep manager Alan Irvine, who has come under pressure after one point from the last five games, in his job. (Daily Star)

Southampton boss Ronald Koeman will face Manchester United counterpart Louis Van Gaal when their teams meet on Monday and the fixture will see the resumption of a feud between the two Dutchmen. (Telegraph)

Switzerland is set to bring in a new law which would allow them to prosecute those guilty of corruption, including members of world football's governing body Fifa whose headquarters are based in the country. (Times - subscription required)

Former Newcastle United midfielder Nolberto Solano, 39, wants to prove himself as a manager in English or Scottish football, and the Peruvian has targeted vacancies at Motherwell and Hartlepool United. (Daily Mail)

Manchester City will win the title if they keep getting referees as benevolent as Andre Marriner, says former Premier League official Graham Poll. (Daily Mail)

Crystal Palace winger Yannick Bolasie, 25, says his "360 and a flick" piece of skill in the 0-0 draw with Tottenham was inspired by Ronaldinho. (Daily Mirror)

Andy Carroll insists there is no reason why West Ham cannot be competing in Europe next year, after his two goals in the 3-1 win over Swansea lifted them to third in the Premier League to continue their impressive start to the season. (Talksport)

Manchester City are hopeful Sergio Aguero will be out for no longer than a month after their 19-goal top scorer suffered suspected knee ligament damage in the 1-0 victory over Everton. The 26-year-old will discover the extent of the injury in the next couple of days after scans. (Guardian)

BEST OF SOCIAL MEDIA

And then there were two. Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker feels it is down to a straight fight between Lionel Messi, 27, and Cristiano Ronaldo, 29, for the Ballon d'Or. He tweeted : "A hat-trick for Messi. A hat-trick for Ronaldo. No goals for Neuer. The Ballon d'Or is a 2 horse race."

Hatem Ben Arfa has not had the happiest of loan spells at the KC Stadium, but the 27-year-old Newcastle midfielder has used Instagram to deny a rift with Hull manager Steve Bruce. (In French)

AND FINALLY

Arsenal supporters booed manager Arsene Wenger as he boarded a train at Stoke following his side's 3-2 defeat at the Britannia Stadium. (Guardian)

Stoke striker Peter Crouch, 33, celebrated scoring in the 3-2 win over Wenger's side by crowd-surfing at a Kasabian concert. (NME)






Guardian Rumour Mill

Daniel Harris

Though the intrusion of “philosophy” into football is a relatively modern phenomenon, there is a single abstract concept that underpins both the game, and life itself: “The Tottenham Way”. Its existential nuances and intricacies have baffled even the most lucid of Kantians, but at its root lies the ability to believe in the unbelievable and the non-existent.

Mauricio Pochettino is showing himself to be an appropriate custodian of the tradition; this December, he would like to sign Southampton’s Morgan Schneiderlin and Jay Rodriguez, and also Raúl Albiol of Napoli. Southampton and Napoli lie fourth in their respective leagues; Tottenham are 10th.

But that is not all. Pochettino also likes the look of the Celtic centre-back Virgil van Dijk, a man he feels will fit the club’s epic credo. In the summer, Spurs’ £8m bid for the “Dutch-man,” was rejected, so now, Paul Mitchell, their new head of R&A – that’s recruitment and analysis, stupid – is keen to return with an improved offer.

In order to finance this, Pochettino will be given £20m, plus that which can be generated from the sales of players he does not want because he does not think they are any use: Emmanuel Adebayor, Jan Vertonghen, Aaron Lennon and Mousa Dembélé. Lord Sugar’s search for his business partner … goes on.

Also in London, Harry Redknapp would like to use the January transfer window to bring in a raft of mainly unspecified Major League Soccer players – in the most unwheeler-undealer method imaginable, of course. The MLS does not reconvene until March, so its players often visit Europe to maintain their sharpness, and Redknapp has mentioned a particular interest in Robbie Keane - who, should the move eventuate, will be fingered as having supported the club since childhood by wags; many.

Elsewhere, Leicester City have offered £7m for the HNK Rijeka striker, Andrej Kramaric, who remains strangely uncompelled by the prospect of playing for charmaholic Nigel Pearson and his bottom of the league cavaliers. And, should the player fancy the respective thrills of either interminable loan moves, or moral superiority, existential actualisation and preordained failure, there is also reputed interest from Chelsea and Spurs to consider.

Further north, Gus Poyet, the Sunderland coach, would like to sign Fabio Borini from Liverpool. Borini joined the football club in 2012, at the pleasure of its teacher Brendan Rodgers - and on the august advice of his international team-mate, Dr Mario Balotelli. Costing £10.5m, he has contributed 13 starts and two goals, most recently omitted from this weekend’s game between the clubs despite injuries to Balotelli and Daniel Sturridge - a decision Rodgers refused to explain. All agreed that this was deeply gnomic, that life isn’t fair, and that it was their own time they were wasting.

Talking of Rodgers, rumours abound that should things at Anfield fail to improve, he will be replaced in his job by André Villas-Boas – who was sacked by Spurs just 11 months ago, after his Tottenham side were hammered by Rodgers’ Liverpool. But there remain reservations about the move, most particularly as regards the ability of the cosmos to absorb the narrative fall-out.

And finally for today, Arsenal and Manchester United are battling for the signature of Ethan Ampadu, Exeter City’s young star. Ampadu is 14 years old.







Mail

West Ham 3-1 Swansea: Andy Carroll returns to form as two towering headers and Diafra Sakho's rocket beat 10-man City

West Ham moved up to third in the Premier League table after 3-1 home win over 10-man Swansea City
The visitors went in front when Wilfried Bony fired home Jefferson Montero's cut-back after 19 minutes
The Hammers levelled when Carroll headed home Carl Jenkinson's cross four minutes before half-time
England striker Carroll then put West Ham ahead with another towering header midway through second-half
Swansea were reduced to 10 men when goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski saw red for impeding Diafra Sakho
And Sakho lashed home goal No 3 in the closing minutes after running onto Carroll's header

By Matt Barlow

The unbearable frustration of Andy Carroll’s time at West Ham is perhaps best summed up by the red card in this fixture last season when, no sooner was he fit than he was suspended, a victim of Chico Flores’ acting prowess.

That campaign was doomed to never get going, for Carroll. He came back, scored a couple, missed the World Cup and was injured again.

There have been times when this season has threatened to go the same way and then there was on Sunday when Carroll lit the claret-and-blue touch-paper with his first goals of the season, two quite brilliant headers, to propel his team into the top three.


Andy Carroll celebrates with James Tomkins after heading in West Ham's second goal midway through the second half


Carroll rose majestically above the Swansea defence to send the ball looping towards the net and put his team in front


The England striker, who has spent most of the year sidelined through injury, jumped for joy after putting his team in front


Carroll ran over to celebrate with his manager Sam Allardyce after scoring his second of the afternoon


Fabianski ran from his goal and impeded Sakho as he raced past Ashley Williams towards goal. Sakho stayed on his feet and struck the post with his shot from a tight angle. Referee Chris Foy pulled play back and showed Fabianski a straight red card


The reverse angle showed how Fabianski clearly impeded Sakho as he flew towards goal


Diafra Sakho smashed home West Ham's third goal with just a couple of minutes remaining as victory was sealed


Sakho reveals a t-shirt whilst celebrating his 87th-minute goal to secure West Ham's win over Swansea

Little wonder he reacted with such exhilaration after his second, sprinting to embrace Sam Allardyce’s backroom team as a gesture of thanks to the medics who helped him through the months of injury gloom.

Carroll wiped out Wilfried Bony’s opener with a giant leap and a trademark flex of the neck muscles and a flick of the ponytail in response to a cross by Carl Jenkinson, and won the game with another nostalgia-inducing climb to convert Stewart Downing’s corner, 23 minutes from time.

Not since Duncan Ferguson has the elite level of English football seen anyone attack the aerial ball quite like Carroll and it was a thrill to see him once again dominating airspace, terrorising centre-halves Ashley Williams and Kyle Bartley with his physical presence.

Allardyce drooled on about the lost art of heading the ball. Roy Hodgson will watch with interest over the winter months. It is more than two years since his last England cap.

Diafra Sakho, back from injury, added West Ham’s third, his eighth in 10 games since signing from Metz in August, but not before he had been involved in Lukasz Fabianski’s sending off, which left the visitors a man short for the final 20 minutes.

Fabianski dashed from his penalty box after Sakho had evaded Williams in pursuit of a pass from Carroll. Garry Monk later claimed it was handball as he nudged it past the ‘keeper but Sakho stumbled, but the striker kept his feet and shot from a tight angle.

The ball hit a post, but referee Chris Foy had already blown his whistle for a free-kick to the home team and showed Fabianski a red card. Fourth official Mike Dean told Allardyce that Sakho’s effort would have been ruled out had it gone in.



Andy Carroll celebrates after heading West Ham level four minutes before half-time. It was the striker's first league goal in 878 minutes


Carroll soars at the back post to head Carl Jenkinson's deep cross back across Lukasz Fabianski and into the net for 1-1


Swansea players Leon Britton, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Jefferson Montero, Wayne Routledge and Ki Sung-yeung celebrate Bony's strike

Monk vowed to appeal the decision. He wanted to know how it could be judged a clear goal-scoring opportunity if he didn’t score. Regardless, the damage was done, even if the visitors rallied briefly before going under.

Sakho, returning from injury as a half-time sub, was a menace on the break against 10 men. He escaped Williams again to pick up a pass by Alex Song and hit the other post before he finally grabbed the third, in the 87th minute, set up by Carroll’s pass.

It glossed the score-line nicely on a fabulous day for West Ham. They have won three in a row, they are third for the first time in 15 years, Carroll is fit, Sakho cannot stop scoring and they are have the look of a strong and solid squad, capable of converting this burst of form into a memorable season.

Two on-loan players also impressed: Arsenal’s Jenkinson rampaging forward from right-back and Barcelona’s Alex Song dominating the ball in central areas of the pitch.




Leon Britton attempts to set Swansea on another attack during Sunday's Premier League contest at the Boleyn Ground


Swansea's Jordi Amat feels the force of an Andy Carroll tackle from behind as both teams tried to impose themselves in the first-half


West Ham's Kevin Nolan slides in to clear the ball from Swansea's Ki Sung-Yueng during the first half

Song’s vision and passing was excellent, almost good enough to forgive his infuriating habit of throwing up his hands in dismay whenever a team-mate failed to read his thoughts or produce a finish to match his pass.

The pair linked up for Carroll’s equaliser after Swansea had taken a 19th minute lead, a slick counter-attack led by Gylfi Sigurdsson and Jefferson Montero into the space behind Jenkinson and converted by Bony.

Once the Ivorian applied a firm side-footer to Montero’s cross and there was never any doubt where it would end up. It was his seventh goal in nine Premier League games.

His game oozed such swagger and confidence that it was a shock when he missed the target from 20 yards, a few minutes later, when Cheikhou Kouyate had been dispossessed, deep inside his own half.

Carroll’s self-esteem has not been fuelled by a similar glut of goals since his permanent £15million move from Liverpool. It has been a difficult time, blighted by injuries, but he led the line well yesterday and dominated in the air from the start.

When Jenkinson crossed from the right and Carroll dropped away from the centre-halves to climb high above Angel Rangel to direct a text-book centre-forward’s header back across goal, into the opposite top corner.

It was his first of the season and his first at Upon Park since March 2013, when he was on loan from Liverpool.

Bony rattled the bar on the break with a ferocious drive, but Carroll appeared unmarked at a corner to head West Ham into the lead. Monk fumed about his team’s defending and that fact they had failed to reach their usual levels, but Carroll can have that sort of effect on defenders, when he is fit and in the groove.


Wilfried Bony gets a firm grip on Alex Song as West Ham's Cameroonian midfielder tries to reach the ball in front of him


West Ham striker Andy Carroll chases Swansea's Leon Britton for the ball during the first-half


Winston Reid of West Ham clears the ball under pressure from Swansea striker Wilfried Bony during the opening minutes of the game


Supporters queue for a pre-match burger at one of the food stalls around Upton Park


DISTANCE COVERED STATS

MINS PLD KM MILES

West Ham United 105.7 65.7

Kevin Nolan 90 10,8 6.7

Stewart Downing 90 10.6 6.6

Cheikho Kouyate 90 10.2 6.3


Swansea City 104.5 64.9

Gylfi Sigurdsson 90 12.0 7.5

Wayne Routledge 90 10.8 6.7

Ki Sung-Yueng 90 10.7 6.6



MATCH FACTS

West Ham United (4-1-2-1-2): Adrian 6; Jenkinson 7 (O’Brien 79), Tomkins 6, Reid 6, Cresswell 6.5; Song 6.5; Kouyate 6 (Collins 86), Nolan 5.5; Downing 6; Carroll 8, Valencia 6 (Sakho 46, 7.5)

Substitutes not used: Jaaskelainen, Amalfitano, Cole, Zarate

Manager: Sam Allardyce 7

Scorers: Carroll 41, 66; Sahko 87


Swansea City (4-2-3-1): Fabianski 5; Rangel 4.5 (Dyer 85), Bartley 5, Williams 5.5, Richards 6; Ki 6, Britton 6 (Tremmel 70); Routledge 6, Sigurdsson 6.5, Montero 6.5 (Gomis 75); Bony 7

Substitutes not used: Amat, Tiendalli, Carroll, Shelvey

Manager: Garry Monk 6

Scorer: Bony 19

Booked: Routledge

Sent off: Fabianski


Referee: Chris Foy 6

Attendance: 34,125

Man of the Match: Andy Carroll





Alex Song will not rule out staying at West Ham but manager Sam Allardyce must wait until end of this season to find out

Alex Song could stay at West Ham beyond his season-long loan
Sources close to the midfielder say he is 'very happy' at Upton Park
He joined West Ham from Barcelona in August until the end of this season
Song's contract with the La Liga giants runs out this coming summer
The 27-year-old remains a target of Champions League clubs

By Kieran Gill for MailOnline

Alex Song is refusing to rule out staying at West Ham beyond the end of the season.

Sources close to the midfielder on a season-long loan from Barcelona say he is ‘very happy’ at the East London club and has settled quickly at Upton Park, where he is a firm fan favourite.

The 27-year-old is expected to be the target of a number of Champions League clubs, but Song is enjoying his time at West Ham and there remains ‘a chance’ he could stay for longer.


Song put in a top performance for West Ham as they won 3-1 against Premier League opposition Swansea


Song fends off Swansea's Wilfried Bony and shows strength to keep the ball during West Ham's win

Sam Allardyce is hopeful he can persuade Song to stay but has to wait until the end of the season to find out.

The Cameroon international wants Champions League football next year but would prefer to remain in England instead of returning to Spain, where he struggled to hold down a regular place under Barcelona manager Luis Enrique.

West Ham currently sit third in the Barclays Premier League after beating Swansea City 3-1 on Sunday, with Song proving a key player in the heart of Allardyce's team again.

The former Arsenal star was hailed by his manager after recovering from a knee injury to help beat 10-man Swansea for their third consecutive win, though striker Andy Carroll stole the headlines with two goals before Diafra Sakho scored the third.

The Hammers are currently in their highest Premier League position since September 1999, and are keen to keep Song with his Barcelona contract expiring this summer.

Song became West Ham's eighth summer signing after being linked with moves to Liverpool, Napoli and Galatasaray, following the arrivals of Mauro Zarate, Cheikhou Kouyate, Enner Valencia, Diafra Sakho, Carl Jenkinson, Aaron Cresswell and Diego Poyet.


ALEX SONG LEAGUE PROFILE

2004-2006: Bastia (32 lg apps, 0 gls)

2005-2006: Arsenal (loan) (5, 0)

2006-2012: Arsenal (138, 7)

2007-2007: Charlton (12, 0)

2012-NOW: Barcelona (39, 1)

2014-NOW: West Ham (loan) (9, 0)

2005-NOW: Cameroon (47, 0)






Guardian

Andy Carroll’s double-header display takes West Ham beyond Swansea City

Amy Lawrence at Upton Park

Andy Carroll’s elation was unbridled. It all came tumbling out the moment his second battering ram of a header careered into the net. He ran like a man possessed all the way back to the halfway line, where Sam Allardyce was pumping his fist and wore a look of pure satisfaction.

West Ham won this battle of the surprise packages and needed the character to come from a goal behind to do so. If their renaissance this season seems to owe much to being liberated in attack, now Allardyce has the luxury of some fascinating choices at his disposal. Carroll, Diafra Sakho and Enner Valencia give him tantalising options.

They skipped back into the top four in the Premier League, maintaining their momentum despite a false start. It had not looked so promising when West Ham got caught by a precision Swansea break in the 19th minute.

The damage was created down the left as Jefferson Montero raced upfield and exchanged passes beautifully with Gylfi Sigurdsson. The Ecuadorian trickster measured his pass to Wilfried Bony, who opened up his body to guide the ball unerringly into the far corner of the goal.

Bony, who had been on Allardyce’s radar some years ago (he plumped for Carroll instead) continues to stake his claim as perhaps the best striker outside the Premier League’s super-rich. Just after the half-hour he bludgeoned the ball with astonishing power, having tamed it with neat control, but on this occasion his effort swerved wide.

Swansea looked in the mood to be patient and wait for moments to flick into a higher gear. Montero was at the heart of it again as his pacy driving run opened the space for Sigurdsson to let fly. Adrián beat the ball away.

Late in the first half West Ham began to apply some pressure of their own. Aaron Cresswell saw a header gathered by Lukasz Fabianski and, when the visitors did briefly lose their composure – their two centre-backs, Ashley Williams and Kyle Bartley, got in a muddle – Kevin Nolan’s shot ricocheted away.

Allardyce’s team persevered and were rewarded when Carl Jenkinson’s cross was delivered with whip and accuracy and Carroll did what he does best. A header thumped with power and direction arced over everyone in the box and into the far corner of the net.

For all the speed and verve that has been a hallmark of West Ham’s progressive season, this was an old-fashioned goal with the signature of an old-fashioned player. It meant a lot to Carroll, who had not savoured that scoring feeling in the Premier League since March.

Back came Swansea – Bony’s thunderous drive smacked the crossbar – but a couple of intense minutes midway through the second half transformed the balance of the game. Leon Britton experienced the full force of the Carroll heading machine, when he attempted to stop another effort from the big man. No chance. Frankly he was brave getting in the way of it. Carroll’s header from Stuart Downing’s corner gave West Ham the lead.

Allardyce said: “Movement in the box is what it is all about, the heading in the box only comes after the movement is right and that happened with his goals. He is unstoppable when he gets that space.”

Two minutes later West Ham were buoyant and Carroll’s pearl of a ball to Sakho invited all sorts of trouble for Swansea as Fabianski rushed out to collide with the striker. Garry Monk, Swansea’s manager, was angered because Sakho used his arm to control the ball but that did not excuse Fabianski’s rush of blood five yards outside his area. The referee, Chris Foy, sent off the Polish goalkeeper.

Swansea will consider an appeal. “He knocks the ball past the keeper with his hand before Fabianski makes contact,” Monk said. “Realistically it’s a handball and free-kick to us. It was not a clear goalscoring opportunity.” Allardyce disagreed, having spoken to the fourth official, Mike Dean. “He said it was a red card for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity, all day long.”

It was clear, though, that Monk’s bigger disappointment was that his team made mistakes and were not at their sharpest. Sakho was full of thrills throughout the second half. He struck the woodwork and then sealed the game with a wonderful strike that dipped wickedly and was hit with a ferocity that took the breath away. The assist? Carroll of course.

Man of the match Andy Carroll (West Ham United)





Telegraph

Andy Carroll at the double as hosts move up to third

West Ham vs Swansea City, Premier League - Striker scores first goals since March while visitors end match with 10 men after Lukasz Fabianski sending off

By Jonathan Liew, Upton Park

West Ham United have risen to their highest Premier League position since 1999, which seems strangely fitting when you consider how they did it.

There was an arrestingly last­century quality to this victory against a well-meaning but essentially extraneous Swansea City side, bombed into submission by a little old-fashioned brawn and the formidable forehead of Andy Carroll. Sometimes the old tactics really are the best.

Carroll scored two goals, and in your mind’s eye you can probably already picture them: the hopeful cross, the earth-shattering leap, the whipping ponytail, the ball smacking into the top corner of the net like a lump of granite launched from a medieval siege catapult. Sometimes there is great beauty in brute force.

There is probably a debate to be had over whether this necessarily represents progress.

West Ham have, after all, spent most of the autumn playing delightful, fluid football under Sam Allardyce, yet the return of Carroll has seen a restoration of the old ways.

Stewart Downing, so pivotal in midfield this season, has once more been demoted to the role of chief-Carroll-cross-provider, like a classically trained English actor forced to take a part in a Hollywood blockbuster as Steven Seagal’s butler. But that debate can probably wait. West Ham are third, and although they were abetted by the controversial sending-off of the Swansea goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, few teams can match the east London club’s consistency or confidence at the moment.

Carroll will naturally grab the headlines – it is Christmas, after all – but this was a game also transformed by the introduction of Diafra Sakho at the break. Sakho is one of those players who simply refuses to admit when the ball is lost. His attitude brings to mind Liam Neeson in the film Taken: he will hunt the ball down, he will find it, and then he will kill it. His late goal, an emphatic finish, was just reward.

Such was West Ham’s dominance that it took 18 minutes for Swansea to cobble together even the fragments of a passing move. And yet with perfect efficiency, it led to a goal. It was a conveyor belt of quality, every player doing what he does best: Gylfi Sigurdsson with the measured through ball, Jefferson Montero with the bolt to the byline, Wilfried Bony opening his stance and pushing the ball past goalkeeper Adrián.

The stadium fell silent. It was the first time West Ham had trailed at home since August.

So West Ham pressed in search of an equaliser, and more often than not this involved attempting to locate the head of Carroll. Having an aerial predator like Carroll in your side is a bit like keeping an emergency bar of Fruit and Nut in your drawer: as much as you tell yourself it is a last resort, you end up resorting to it much sooner than you think.

In the age of tiki-taka, it is easy to get sneery about this sort of thing. But heading is as much a skill as passing or shooting, and when you have someone as deadly as Carroll it can be just as potent a weapon.

“It’s got lost in the game somewhat,” Allardyce said. “People don’t seem to talk about the technical ability you need to meet a ball in the air at the right time, and guide it into the right place.”

The irony is that Carroll also did a lot of good work with his feet, but when Carl Jenkinson swung in a high cross just before half-time nobody was in any doubt which part of ­Carroll he was seeking. Carroll came in like a bearded wrecking ball, burying it into the top corner, celebrating with his arms out like an aeroplane. It was his first goal since March.

With a quarter of the match remaining, Carroll laid the decisive blow. This time the ball came from the left: a Downing corner. Again Carroll soared, about 14 yards out. Poor Leon Britton, 5ft 5in and one of the worst headers in football, tried to head it off the line, and succeeded only in deflecting the ball into his own net. You could probably have done a better job.

One minute later, Carroll volleyed forward a long ball from his own half. Fabianski came, realised his error immediately, and as Sakho reached the ball could only barge into him. (Tellingly, it was Sakho who stayed on his feet and Fabianski who ended up on the ground.)

Sakho’s shot hit the post from a tight angle, but referee Chris Foy brought play back for the foul, failing to spot that Sakho used his arm to control the ball.

Should Fabianski have been sent off for denying a goalscoring opportunity that Sakho enjoyed anyway? The laws of the game refer only to the offence of “denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity”. Evidently Foy reasoned that Fabianski’s intervention downgraded Sakho’s goalscoring opportunity from obvious to abstruse. Who can say?

Either way, with three minutes remaining in the match Sakho put the matter beyond doubt.

Again it was pure Carroll-ball, the striker this time flicking his header into the path of Sakho. The substitute keeper Gerhard Tremmel barely saw it; once more, West Ham had risen to the challenge.







Telegraph

West Ham United forward Diafro Sakho provides a new dimension to Sam Allardyce's high flyers
Forward has increased West Ham’s attacking options and contributed to their rise

By Alan Smith

Diafro Sakho did not start the game on Sunday. But he certainly finished it with a thumping drive that finally put an end to Swansea City’s resistance. If the West Ham United fans needed any reminding after the forward had missed the previous three games, the strike joyfully reiterated the resounding success of a modestly priced signing from France’s second tier.

Handing Metz £3.5 million instantly gave Sam Allardyce a striker full of goal threat, a striker who has needed no time at all to settle in the Premier League. You cannot say that of many foreign imports. Come to that, you cannot say it of many players in general. In fact, only one other person – step forward Micky Quinn – has managed to notch in his first six Premier League starts.

The goals, what is more, have satisfyingly come in a variety of ways. Some through sheer pace, some through quick reactions and some from a head that does not shy away from a ball flying into a crowded penalty box. That has got to please Allardyce, in charge of a team with two raiding full-backs entrusted with swinging in enticing crosses.

Though Andy Carroll profited from that expert service here, Allardyce will feel much happier that he no longer depends so heavily on an expensive centre-forward with a poor injury record. Sakho’s stunning impact, together with that of Enner Valencia, has seen to that. The added options are more than a little responsible for West Ham’s lofty third-place position in the table this morning.

Before we go on with the praise, though, it is worth adding some perspective. These are still early days. The Senegal international has got to make sure he doesn’t simply become a flash in the pan, someone defenders suss out after having a good look. It has, after all, happened plenty of times before when the initial rush of adrenaline fades to leave a less potent player.

For the moment, however, no such signs can be detected. Appearing for the second half in place of a rusty Valencia, himself only just back from injury, Sakho took to the task with his usual vigour. Apart from his goal, the 24-year-old front runner played a major part in Lukas Fabianski’s dismissal. Racing on to Carroll’s pass, the speed merchant eased the wrong side of Ashley Williams before colliding with the on-rushing goalkeeper. In the process, he accidentally nudged the ball forward with his left arm. But riding the challenge that saw Fabianski sent off, he kept his balance to latch on to the loose ball before hitting the far post from a tight angle.

If that was a controversial moment, Sakho’s quick-witted response to Carroll’s headed flick was pure class. Swerving between two defenders, he carried the ball forward before smashing it over the head of Gerhard Tremmel. No hesitation. No doubt. His manager wildly celebrated on the sideline like few others do.

No wonder. It was further vindication of Allardyce’s summer transfer dealings, nearly all of which have proved spectacularly shrewd. You can understand why he now dreads the prospect of losing Sakho in January to the Africa Cup of Nations, particularly in light of a recent incident.

Allardyce was furious at the treatment his investment received from Senegal’s medical team last month. Back and neck injuries were mysteriously picked up but none were evidently caused by training or playing. As a safeguard, Allardyce is considering sending his own physio along to the finals to look after the player.

Until then, though, West Ham can call on a player his manager originally planned to dip in and out of the team in a debut season used mostly as a learning experience. In the event, Sakho, by surpassing all expectations, might have actually helped to save his boss’s job seeing as Allardyce admitted before this game that he would have been out of the door if the first 10 games of this season had followed a similar pattern to the last. They certainly haven’t. And for that Sakho deserves quite a bit of praise.




London24

West Ham are the new Atletico Madrid

By Kwame Boakye

West Ham are starting to remind me of Atletico Madrid.

The current champions of Spain last season went toe-to-toe with arguably the two biggest juggernauts of the global game and came out on top; with a mixture of stylish football, direct play and a dollop of energy and aggression, all the trademarks that this current West Ham team are exhibiting.

Now I’m not suggesting that this West Ham team are going to pip Chelsea and Man City to claim the Premier League title, however I am suggesting that finishing in the top four is starting to become an increasingly realistic target.

Spurs and Liverpool; two sides traditionally in the scrap for the coveted top four positions just plain and simply aren’t good enough to maintain a challenge, they don’t have the quality. (Amazing considering they’ve blown over 200 million between them recently).

Arsenal? Well they’re always there come the season’s end, but there can be no guarantees, especially in a season which isn’t seemingly following any particular script.

The victory over Swansea that took us to third in the league, showcased how West Ham have evolved; time and time again this season we’ve fallen behind and whilst in the previous campaigns in many cases that was it, game over, this West Ham side keep going, they have the quality to open up any side in the league. When we go a goal down now we know we have that oh so precious commodity of goals in our locker; and we’ve done it time and time again this season, the character in the side is beyond measure.

Whilst the likes of Spurs and Liverpool have literally spent hundreds of millions on average players, West Ham have spent a fraction and yet acquired real quality. The powers that be and Big Sam should be commended time and time again for their astute business during the summer because as the Lilywhites and Kopites have so emphatically proved; it’s easily to spend money on dross.

Sam Allardyce deserves endless credit for this revolution. At the start of the season he was the favourite for the sack and now he’s surely the leading contender for manager of the season. We’re unrecognisable from the side that lost 2-1 to Fulham on new year’s day and now he’s surely set for a new contract and who knows maybe even ‘Big Sam’s claret and blue army’ will soon be echoing around the Boleyn Ground.

Sunderland (A) and Leicester (H) next up, now under normal circumstances especially at this time of year they’d be labelled ‘six-pointers’, however they’re key games that we must take at least four points from in order to maintain our top four challenge. (It feels so good and yet so surreal typing those words) as after we take on the struggling duo, it’ll be Chelsea and Arsenal back to back, however on this form do we need to fear our Capital rivals? Is defeat against them really inevitable?

This season thus far has surpassed even the most optimistic of supporters, everyone is still waiting for our bubble to burst and everyone is still waiting for the status quo of Liverpool, Spurs, Everton and Arsenal to come charging up the table and prove we’re just a flash in the pan. It hasn’t happened yet and I’m not convinced it’s going to happen at all.




C&H

Song deal at “50/50″



West Ham’s chiefs are ready to do everything in their power to bring Alex Song to the club on a permanent deal at the end of the season!

The on-loan Barcelona player returned from injury with a strong performance against Swansea which sent the people who matter home singing his praises.

At this moment they rate their chances of landing him on a permanent deal at around 50/50 and fear privately they may be providing the player with a “handy shop window.”

Song and his wife Olivia (pictured above) love London and should he stay in the Premier League it is certain he will ply his trade in the capital.

A source told us: ” The couple of them absolutely love it in capital. Liverpool has been mentioned but frankly I don’t think he would go there for more money.

“An awful lot will depend on where we finish up this season and we would love to keep him. There are only a couple of London clubs that can probably take him – us and Arsenal because he has made it clear he won’t go Spurs.

“There’s always the danger that we are supplying a shop window but there’s nothing to be done about that and we will be doing our very best at the end of the season to bring him here – it’s 50/50.”




C&H

…and now for the bad news

At the end of a near perfect day there was grim news for Sam Allardyce after Carl Jenkinson hobbled off in the 79th minute.

And afterwards the manager confirmed that the right back again has a hamstring injury which is the continuing story of the player’s season.

Looking bleakly into the middle distance the manager simply confirmed: “It’s a hamstring.”

The on-loan Arsenal right back was first hit with the same injury in pre-season and was forced to pull out of England under-21 duty against Croatia in October.

Now the player looks certain to miss part of the Christmas programme depending on the severity of the injury which will be checked out over the next couple of days.

Monk~koknee 7:46 Tue Dec 9
Re: Monday newspapers (includes West Ham)

Side effect's sign maybe the same as Trigger's broom.

misterRon 6:11 Tue Dec 9
Re: Monday newspapers (includes West Ham)

Thanks.

Nice work side effect!

side effect 6:08 Mon Dec 8
Re: Monday newspapers (includes West Ham)

I hand painted that favourite burger bar over 20 years ago and its still up there.

Claret Badger 4:52 Mon Dec 8
Re: Monday newspapers (includes West Ham)

thanks alan

FruityBoots. 4:39 Mon Dec 8
Re: Monday newspapers (includes West Ham)

And Alex Song wears old skool boots too, the bloke just gets better and better!!

Wham1966 3:02 Mon Dec 8
Re: Monday newspapers (includes West Ham)

Thank you Alan

chim chim cha boo 2:40 Mon Dec 8
Re: Monday newspapers (includes West Ham)

I can't remember the last time I enjoyed reading about us so much.

Thanks Alan.

ted fenton 2:15 Mon Dec 8
Re: Monday newspapers (includes West Ham)

Thanks Alan 12:08 Mon Dec 8

Alan 1:42 Mon Dec 8
Re: Monday newspapers (includes West Ham)

Jenkinson bad news added

norwaytips 1:29 Mon Dec 8
Re: Monday newspapers (includes West Ham)

Thanks Alan

Ricky Bobby 1:16 Mon Dec 8
Re: Monday newspapers (includes West Ham)

Thanks Alan

Thanks Alan 12:55 Mon Dec 8
Re: Monday newspapers (includes West Ham)

Thanks added

Alan 12:48 Mon Dec 8
Re: Monday newspapers (includes West Ham)

Song article added

Monk~koknee 12:08 Mon Dec 8
Re: Monday newspapers (includes West Ham)

Quiet news day then?

Thanks Alan

Thanks Alan 12:08 Mon Dec 8
Re: Monday newspapers (includes West Ham)

Sxboy_66 12:01 Mon Dec 8

Sxboy_66 12:01 Mon Dec 8
Re: Monday newspapers (includes West Ham)

Thanks Alan