Collins:”It feels like a defeat”
Our Welsh centre-back James Collins has revealed that Saturdays 2-2 draw to the Black Cats felt like our sixth defeat in seven matches. We looked set for the three points on Wearside, before a late Fabio Borini leveller ensured that we left the Stadium of Light without the lion’s share of the points. The “Ginger Pele” was speaking in a post-match interview with WHUFC.com and had this to say:
“It feels like a defeat. To score two away goals, it should be enough. We didn’t defend either goal as well as we should have done”.
Collins has been praised for the passion he has shown in recent weeks and he scored the second of our goals against David Moyes’ men on Saturday, with a well placed, glancing header from a Robert Snodgrass corner. The 33-year-old veteran has endured limited game time this season, but with long term injuries to Winston Reid and Angelo Ogbonna , the fan favourite is set to play a key part in our tough Premier League run in.
Brady reveals Lukaku rejection
Our vice-chairwoman Karren Brady has revealed how Everton striker Romelu Lukaku has rejected a move to us a number of times in recent years. “Footballs most powerful woman” said in her newspaper column in the Sun “We have twice tried to buy him, but he wants to play Champions League Football- and quickly”. The Belgian international currently leads the race for the Premier League golden boot with 24 goals and has scored in his last nine games against us as we prepare to face the Blue Boys of Merseyside on Saturday. The prolific 23-year-old is being linked with £80 million move away from the Toffees in the summer, so many a Hammers fan could only imagine where we would be if we had managed to sign the former Chelsea star.
Bilic laughs off temper rumours
Our Croatian boss has Slaven Bilic has confirmed recent rumours of his angry dressing room antics by turning them into a joke. The fiery boss responded to recent rumours that he had smashed a dressing room table during a rant in the midst of our recent seven-game winless run. Bilic was asked about the
revelations in a recent press conference before our trip to Sunderland and he responded with “I’ve had moments yes. We have had to make a few trips to IKEA”. It isn’t the first time in our frustrating season that the Croat has got into a little bit of hot water due to his temperament, Bilic was fined by the FA for throwing a microphone following West Brom’s late equaliser against us at the London Stadium back February. You can say what you want about the 48-year-old, but one thing is for sure, you can’t fault his pure passion for West Ham which is why most fans adore him.
Transfer gossip: Hammers hunt Premier League duo
It has been rumoured this week in The Mirror that we are eyeing a summer move for Manchester City centre-back and Captain Vincent Kompany. The Belgian international has spent most of the season out with injury but scored in just his third game back against Southampton at St Mary’s on Saturday. Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola reportedly wants to offload the 31-year-old in the summer due to his vast injury record, so could the tall defensive powerhouse be the solution to our defensive woes next season? It has also been reported this week in The Mirror that we are interested in a summer deal for sought after Swansea midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson. The Icelandic international played a major role in the underdogs amazing Euro 2016 campaign, which saw them beat England in the round of 16. Slaven Bilic is reportedly lining up the 27-year-old as a summer replacement for Dimitri Payet after Robert Snodgrass has failed to perform as a January replacement for the French star. Sigurdsson has been a shining light in a fairly dismal season for the Swans so far which has seen them left 18th with relegation looming, which would make it easier for us to poach the creative midfielder. So could the set piece maestro be lighting up the London Stadium with his unique style and finesse next season?
OTD-2009
On this day in 2009 we shared the points with Aston Villa at Villa Park on our way to narrowly missing out on European Football under Gianfranco Zola in the 2008/09 season. Emile Heskey opened the scoring for Villa early on before a late Diego Tristan leveller rescued a point for us in the Midlands. Tristan would only appear 14 times in a West Ham shirt, scoring three goals during the course of the 2008/09 season, where we would go on to finish 9th in the League.