Welcome to part one of our exclusive question and answer session with Alan Pardew, in which the Hammers boss replies to your emails.
We had a tremendous response to the feature, and picked a
selection of your questions for Pards to answer. All supporters who
submitted a question have been entered into a prize draw for a
personally signed Hammers shirt - with the winner to be announced
next week, when we publish part two of the Q&A feature...
Last season, at the end of March, everything suddenly
clicked for the team and the effect has carried through in a big
way to this season. What happened to cause that?
Geoff Chamberlain
The answer to that is a theory that I have about any workplace in
every walk of life. I knew we were doing the right things,
recruiting the right people, and that our work on the training
field was of the highest order. It just needed a tipping point, and
that tipping point probably came down to selection at the end of
the day - Jimmy Walker coming in as goalkeeper, Elliott Ward coming
into the defence alongside Anton Ferdinand. All of those things
combined - not one more important than the other - for us to turn
the corner and go on that run, which we are still on to be honest.
Can you really ascribe the low incidence of injuries in the
squad this year to the fitness programme in place?
Michael S Barber
In our Head of Technical Support, Niall Clark - who I call 'The
Professor' - I believe we have the best person in the game for
conditioning players, and also for the recovery and maintenance of
players when it comes to injuries. My recruitment policy is to sign
players who don't have bad injury records, and the combination
of those factors is the reason we have looked so fit and suffered
very few problems with injuries this season.
We also happen to have a very good physiotherapist, Steve Allen,
who joined the Club last summer, and don't underestimate the
impact he has had on the players.
It's all about creating a workplace that enables everyone to
thrive. We have a very strong spirit among the players and the
staff, with an aim to produce our very best every week, and to do
that we need to have our best players fit and performing well.
Elliott Ward and Mark Noble were sent out on loan this
season, will they be real contenders for the first team next
season?
Les McMillan
At the moment, only Elliott Ward has made the kind of impression
that warranted him coming back here and receiving a chance in the
first team. Unfortunately, things didn't go too well up at
Bolton for him, but he has definitely got a big chance in the
future. In the case of Mark, he has had his problems with injuries
this season but, if he wants to get in the first team here, then I
need to hear some big reports of his performances at Hull City.
We've sent a number of young players out to lower league clubs
this season in order for them to gain more experience. Tony Stokes
is at Rushden and doing well, Chris Cohen has been playing
regularly for Yeovil, and I'm a great believer that they will
learn more playing first team football elsewhere than they will in
the reserves here.
That has always been my policy and will be for as long as I am here
- the young players will go out on loan and, hopefully, when they
come back to me they will have made an impression.
How much involvement do you have in the progress and
development of our Youth Academy players?
Brad Carroll
I think I've already gone on record in saying that I try not to
interfere with that part of the Club. Because of the tradition and
the success our youth academy has enjoyed, I don't think it is
necessary for me to be involved.
I haven't interfered with anything that Tony Carr and his staff
are doing, other than a couple of little things that I've
wanted to introduce throughout all levels of the playing staff - in
terms of sports science and that kind of thing. Tony has taken that
on board and I gain my interest and experience of that department
from him.
If I have an opinion about a young player, I share it with Tony,
but it's his advice that usually I steer with, and that is
still working very, very well. I can report that we've got some
fantastic talent coming through, and it's obviously in good
hands.
What factors do you feel have influenced what, from the outside,
appears to be the best team spirit the club has had for many years?
Jamie Walker
I think it stems from people you surround yourself with. I surround
myself with strong characters, winners and people who I like to
think have good, sensible morals. I include all my staff and
players in that, and if I don't see it in an individual, then I
get rid of that person.
I don't like people who drain my time and energy. If you've
seen the Harry Potter films, we use the term 'dementors' -
people who can draw the life out of you in terms of your energy. So
we eradicate the dementors, encourage the positive people, and that
spreads around to create the team spirit we have here.
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Are you aware of the size of the transfer budget you will recieve
in the summer?
Ricky Taylor
I don't think anyone will be surprised to know that the
acquisition of Dean Ashton in January was partly funded by using
some of next year's money, so we haven't got a massive pot
for the summer as things stand at the moment.
However, we will have sufficient funds to improve the squad, and
just one or two additions could make all the difference to this
team. The nucleus of the squad is young, and they are all secured
under long-term contracts. They are all hungry and determined to
win a trophy, and we are going to be under good shape in the next
couple of years if my additions can add to the team. For any
manager, at any club, the most important job is recruiting.
With our Premiership future safe this year, what do you
honestly think we will be a worthwhile goal to aim for next season?
Nilsson Jones
I'm not going to even talk about next season, simply because
the chance for us is here and now. There is a chance to finish in a
UEFA Cup spot via the league, obviously the chance of a trophy with
the FA Cup, and we are determined to give it our best shot at both
goals.
From where I am sitting right now, I think it will be a blow to us
if we don't achieve one of those goals, and I will treat it as
a big disappointment. We've already hit one goal this season -
to stay in the Premiership. Now we have a chance of glory. In your
career and in your life, you have to grasp your opportunity when it
comes along, and that is why we are not thinking about next season
yet.
If we were to qualify for the UEFA Cup, do you see there
being a problem with the current squad coping with the extra
demands of playing in another cup competition?
Danny Blanchette
That is a consideration for myself, and something that we will
obviously discuss in the summer should the situation arise. Maybe
we will have to add two or three more squad players to cover that
scenario.
What is important, though, is the progression of the first team,
and getting into the UEFA Cup would ensure that players are drawn
towards us. We are a successful club, with good young players, and
that makes it easier to recruit top players who want to play in
Europe.
What do you believe the current squad of players need to add to
their game to make us contenders in the top six of the Premiership?
Mark Johnson
I want our team to be full of pace, to have high energy, to play
football faster than anyone else, and to constantly be on the front
foot, forcing the opposition into errors and leading to
opportunities for us to score goals. And my vision is also to have
a little bit more control, especially away from home, in terms of
possession.
So there are two scenarios really. One, to increase and improve
what we are doing right now and, two, which we haven't quite
mastered yet, is to have the experience to take the sting out of
games and control possession, especially against the top clubs.
This year, we have had wins against, in my view, two of the top
four clubs in the country - Arsenal and Bolton. If you look at some
clubs who have been in the Premiership for longer than us, they
haven't got any wins against the top sides, so we have already
made some big strides in that sense.
We have a potentially a great young side, capable of winning
things. How do you intend to keep them together?
Tom Putnam
Well, all of our young players are secured on long-term contracts
and, on our part, we look at the squad and feel that there is real
potential here. We like to think that, if they stay together, there
will be trophies and European football on offer for them.
If one of our young players made it very clear he was adamant that
he wanted to leave, then I've got to say I think it will be
difficult for me, but I'm hoping to create such an environment
here that they don't want to go.
That is what people misinterpret I think. Players have wanted to go
in the past, perhaps because there has been a lack of ambition, a
lack of success, but if they can see the opposite of that here now,
they won't want to go anywhere.
That's what the challenge is - trying to build the belief and
confidence before they start to think that we aren't going to
win anything and want to go elsewhere. At the moment, they are all
happy learning their trade here and, hopefully, we can win a trophy
soon to increase their desire to stay here even further.
*Look out for part two of our exclusive Q&A session with Pards, coming next week on whufc.com