Up The Hammers – Latest West Ham United FC News

Brendan Rodgers’ tinkering is harming Liverpool, Manchester United may have bigger problems than David de Gea leaving and clubs queue up for Danny Ings In Manchester United’s 1-1 draw in the final home match of the season on Sunday Old Trafford might have bade farewell to David de Gea, Robin van Persie and Radamel Falcao as each player’s future at the club is unclear. While De Gea seems more and more certain to depart for Real…

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• Former England midfielder is open to permanent Villa move • Cleverley will be out of contract at the end of the season • Aston Villa take step toward safety with confident display against West Ham Looking and sounding like a man enjoying his football again, Tom Cleverley has given the clearest indication yet that he could join Aston Villa on a permanent basis in the summer, by saying that the Midlands club …

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The Villans edged closer to survival after beating West Ham 1-0 in their previous fixture, but the former Tottenham head coach is taking nothing for granted

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The Tim Sherwood effect continues to transform Aston Villa’s fortunes and Tom Cleverley has benefitted as much as anyone in recent weeks. After failing to get a goal in his first 31 appearances for Villa and struggling to make much of an impact under Paul Lambert earlier in the season, Cleverley scored for the third match in succession to secure a crucial victory and lift Tim Sherwood’s side four points clear of the relegation zone. Available on…

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The on-loan Manchester United midfielder found the net after good work from youngster Jack Grealish as Tim Sherwood’s men eased their relegation fears

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So it’s no secret that we tend to struggle at Aston Villa, and there’s not much to suggest we can make it

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We never have much luck at Villa Park, and Villa’s recent revival under Tim Sherwood has everything pointing to yet another disappointing

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Another home game, another win – that will be the minimum requirement for Tim Sherwood’s Villa, who are only two points above the drop zone, despite beating Everton at Villa Park last Saturday. Gabriel Agbonlahor returns from injury but will start on the bench against a West Ham side who have a chance to qualify for Europe via the fair play table. What a test for Reece Burke, the 18-year-old …

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Prime minister faces mockery after making football slip-up before an audience in south London In football parlance, with which David Cameron may or may not be conversant, it was an astonishing own goal. Sports stars, fellow politicians and football fans around the country reacted with amused disbelief on Saturday as the prime minister appeared to forget his long-running claim to be an Aston Villa fan and postured as a West Ham United supporter. The clubs…

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David Cameron appears to have suffered from a’ brain fade’ on Saturday, mistaking his ‘beloved’ Aston Villa football club for West Ham United. During his speech about black and ethnic minority communities in Britain, Cameron says, ‘you can support Man Utd, the West Indies and Team GB all at the same time – of course I’d rather you supported West Ham. ‘The only similarity between the two Premier League sides is that they

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Before the Premier League’s six-figure salaries, retiring footballers had to start again, with little experience off the pitch. From a detective to a former convict, ex-players talk about their second life The Knowledge archive (2005): retired footballers’ strangest jobs Then: winger with Middlesbrough, Blackburn Rovers, Southampton and England, Premier League winner with Blackburn in 1995. Now: qualified solicitor and prospective law lecturer, Ribble Valley, Lancashire. Continue reading…

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We round up our favourite pictures from Saturday’s and Sunday’s matches in the English top flight and FA Cup semi-finals. Continue reading…

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Latest news and scores from Saturday’s big 3pm kick-offs Email tom.davies@theguardian.com or tweet @tomdaviesE17 with your thoughts Scoreboard: All the latest scores at home and across Europe Swansea City v Everton – live! Follow Nick Miller’s OBO report All the latest league tables 2.21pm BST So anyway, the Grand National: From a football fans’ perspective, it’s a source of profound frustration that the National no longer takes place – at least in part – during half…

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Only Chelsea can stop Chelsea, Manchester City dropping points at Crystal Palace would not be a shock, and what reception will Raheem Sterling get at Arsenal? West Brom and QPR lost their managers around a month apart, with the surreal Alan Irvine experiment being cut short just after Christmas, and Harry Redknapp’s seemingly inevitable resignation following an unsuccessful January transfer window. Obviously the circumstances were slightly different and Rangers were in a much more …

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The combined total from all 20 clubs from the 2013/14 season stands at £190 million – nearly four times greater than the previous record

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Arsenal will need to be on Song, Swansea must not be so narrow-minded in midfield against Liverpool and time Rafael got his chance for Manchester United The injuries are starting to bite again for Arsenal. Mikel Arteta, Mathieu Debuchy , Mathieu Flamini and Abou Diaby are all long-term absentees; Aaron Ramsey has only just returned; Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s hamstring went against Manchester United ; the similarly hamstrung Gabriel Paulista is …

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Sherwood might be the man for a quick fix, Swansea need to retrieve their mojo and a win over Arsenal would give substance to the Pardew revolution The cross came over. It seemed to hang in the air for an eternity. There, a chance, a brilliant opportunity to break a goalless cycle that had become crippling. The FA Cup was both an opportunity for Aston Villa to inject some life into a stagnant campaign and to achieve …

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Arsenal’s home form is comforting for fans, the all-Championship clash provided the greatest entertainment and Liverpool’s resurgence is well under way A sequence of nine consecutive wins, manufactured by scoring 23 goals and conceding three, have turned the Emirates into a source of home comfort for Arsenal. They continued their confident run by swatting aside the challenge from up-and-coming Middlesbrough in the FA Cup and Arsène Wenger sees that as an important foundation for…

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We round up our favourite pictures from this weekend’s FA Cup action Continue reading…

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Mourinho is on collision course with the FA again, United’s attack needs sharpening up, Spurs given a reality check and the value of a good reserve keeper Should Branislav Ivanovic be charged with violent conduct? José Mourinho, inevitably, says no. Yet Mourinho gives the impression that if one of his players were caught stealing flowers from a graveside he would excuse them on the grounds they were taking them to be watered. Ivanovic lost his control and there is…

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Liverpool have questions to answer in defence, Chelsea have selection issues against Manchester City and could Villa trouble Arsenal? Unless Thergothon , the pioneers of Finnish funeral metal, are about to head out on a resurrection tour, you’ll be hard pressed to find a gloomier band of brooders in England this weekend than the fans of the team who fail to win Saturday’s early kick-off. Hull City are in the grip of an ominous despondency, with the regime unpopular, the…

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Both Man City and Swansea are missing Wilfried Bony, Charlie Austin needs help at QPR and Jermain Defoe gives Sunderland hope The Dozen: our pick of the weekend’s best Premier League photos With Manchester City failing to score at home for the first time since August during the 2-0 defeat by Arsenal , the signing of Wilfried Bony begins to look even more to the point. The frustration for Manuel Pellegrini must be that while Bony is perhaps…

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Louis van Gaal struggles for fluidity, Muhamed Besic gives Everton hope, Alan Pardew praises fans and Leicester’s patience with Nigel Pearson is rewarded “The struggle for fluidity” may sound like a PhD thesis but is actually the quality that continues to elude Louis van Gaal’s Manchester United, as was again illustrated in the disjointed fashion they went down 1-0 to Southampton on Sunday. For this 21st outing of each team’s Premier …

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We round up our favourite pictures from the latest round of matches in the English top flight Continue reading…

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Latest updates from the 3pm kick-offs Email niall.mcveigh.casual@theguardian.com . Tweet @niallmcveigh Follow Southampton v Chelsea here Get all the latest live scores here 1.06pm GMT Niall will be here shortly with all the team news and build up before the 3pm matches in the Premier League. In the meantime, here’s the latest injury news. Continue reading…

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What team will Brendan Rodgers put out, Newcastle are in flux, Arsenal’s mental block and is this the end for Alan Irvine? There’s good news and bad news. The good news is that this section won’t be another thing about Steven Gerrard’s place in the Liverpool team. The bad news is that, well, it will be a little bit about Steven Gerrard’s place in the Liverpool team. Even with a squad laden…

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