Determination of West Ham Ladies rewarded with positive start says manager Mark Saunderson

West Ham Ladies manager Mark Saunderson is in confident mood after his side’s promising start to the season, racking up seven points in their first four games of the league campaign.

Saunderson, having been appointed the Hammers first team manager earlier this summer, has done much to stamp his own mark upon the club.

“I tend not to say too much to the team before the game as I believe that this is the time where the players will go through their own rituals to ensure that are physically & mentally ready for the game ahead,” he said.

Mikey Cartwright/Ponderosa Pix

“The majority of the information that the players require for the game will have been communicated in the squad briefing during the last training session and the players will have worked on this aspects during the session.

“I may reinforce some of information points from the briefing prior to the game but I tend to leave the squad to prepare themselves which usually involves some slightly dodgy music choices and ear shattering volume levels!”

Reflecting on preseason and the campaign so far, he continued: “I have been impressed by the way in which the squad has embraced the direction and objectives that the management team have set.
The squad and coaching staff undertook an off-season and pre-season schedule that focused on ensuring that each individual was at their optimum performance level going into the opening fixture.

“The coaching staff also focused on the detail and when combined with the squad’s work ethic and eagerness to learn, has resulted in the progress that we have collectively made. The pre-season friendly schedule was designed to pose different scenarios and questions to the squad whilst providing a platform to progressively improve team performance and the squad have overcome each challenge with confidence.

“The squad have over achieved the pre-season objectives set for them but without losing focus or drive on the task in hand.”

Last season, West Ham Ladies didn’t reach their full potential and failed in their bid to win the league title. Since taking the job, Saunderson is determined to improve the squad, identifying four key areas.

“The squad has focused on the four main areas of performance: technical, tactical, fitness and psychological,” he continued. “I have seen major improvements, both on individual and collective levels, in each of the elements. From a management perspective, we have refocused on the detail and brought in the right people to support the players both on and off the pitch whilst providing the right environment for the players to excel within.

“I also believe that we have captured players during the summer that have enhanced the playing squad in all areas whilst increasing the squad depth. I have also been impressed by the progress of players in the development squad and this is providing a valuable competitive element in training.
“I am expecting several players from the development squad to progress into the first team fold over the course of the season and strongly believe that we have the foundations of an extremely competitive team.”

Over the summer, women’s football has gone through a restructuring stage which has pitted West Ham up against several higher placed teams this season, but Saunderson thinks that their league opposition shouldn’t underestimate his team.

“Because of the league restructuring this season, we will be coming up against teams that believe that they have greater resources at their disposal then us, whether it be players or financial due to their involvement in the national league last year.

“For me, this has the added pressure of increasing expectations of players, managers and supporters alike whilst they will come up against teams who will naturally raise their game for these fixtures. I also believe that the league restructuring has also impacted upon player movement in our league as players are looking to secure moves to teams involved in the Super Leagues.

“I feel that we were sensible to secure the services of the majority of squad from last season from day one whilst conducting the majority of our transfer business early. We have introduced the right support functions for the squad in the background and when combined with the other factors, I am confident that we will be competitive this season.”

Earlier this month, Saunderson announced that Bex Merritt will take over as the club’s new first team captain from defender Rosey Sullivan, believing that Merritt can take his mind-set on onto the pitch.

He added: “Firstly, I have to recognise the performance of Rosey Sullivan whilst in the role of first team captain over the last few seasons.For someone of such a young age, she has displayed great leadership qualities and has represented the club in the true spirit of West Ham United.

“I did, however, feel that Rosey, whilst undertaking the role of captaincy and looking after other player interests, sometimes neglected her own to a certain extent and it was impacting upon her development as a player.The captaincy of any team should be used by the manager to be an extension of themselves upon the pitch.

“The captain should understand the playing philosophy, the game plan and the objectives of the team and be able to inspire those players around her to achieve these elements without distracting from their own individual performance.

“They should also shape and drive the team spirit, work ethic and mentality of the squad whilst embodying the spirit of the club and represent the club with the class that it deserves. Finally, they should be able to balance and enhance the unity of the playing squad by their leadership style regardless if the individual player is a senior player or a member of the junior teams.

“I considered several individuals over the course of preseason and took my time with the decision. Upon reflection, Becky Merritt demonstrated all of these elements and I am confident that she will excel in this role because of the support of not only the management team but the playing squad.”

West Ham Ladies take on Keynsham Town in the League Cup tomorrow. The game kicks off at 2pm at Thurrock FC. The postcode for the stadium is RM19 1YN.

West Ham Ladies awards 2012/2013 - as nominated by the girls

The West Ham Ladies finished their season last weekend with a defeat away at league
champions Reading. Shortly after the game, Blowing Bubbles caught up with Toni Anne Wayne, Hannah Gowland, Zoe Lipley- Hinton, Stacey Little, Becky Merritt, Lindsey Morgan and captain Rosey Sullivan to give their votes in six categories.At the bottom of each category, we have also decided who we think should win.

Goal of the Season

TAW: Hannah Gowland’s goal against Leeds in the FA Cup. It was a game of limited
chances and she took it well.

HG: For me it has to be the second goal we scored against Gillingham away. I scored it which I am proud about but that’s not why. It was such a great team goal. It all started from the goalkeeper, worked its way through all positions, before it was given to me to score.

ZLH: Becky Merritt’s goal against Brighton because it was just a lovely clean hit.

SL: This goal sticks in my mind for the way Kell picked the ball up and ran through the QPR defence before sliding the ball underneath the keeper. Unfortunately, Kell also went on to break her collarbone in this game.

BM: We were 2-1 down with minutes to play and Lindsey smashed a half volley to earn us a point.

LM: Even though we lost the game it was an unbelievable strike from outside the box.

RS: Katie Bottom’s goal against Reading last weekend.

The Blowing Bubbles Award for Ladies Goal of the Season goes to Becky Merritt for her goal against Brighton and Hove Albion Ladies.

Mikey Cartwright/Ponderosa Pix

Best Team Performance

TAW: Spurs away where we won 1-0. We played well as a team, everyone from front to back contributed to the win.

HG: Our FA Cup game against Leeds was our best team performance. We were 3-0 down at half time and after a decent talk in the changing room, we came out in the second half such a better team. We got two goals back and was [sic] unlucky not to get a third in the last few minutes. Our fighting spirit to get back at them, determination and team effort was great. We couldn’t have worked harder. If only we were like that first half.

ZLH:  Tottenham away. We just played really well as a team and played some great football.

SL:  Our home match against Brighton which we won 2-0. We always seem to struggle against Brighton and we never play well in both halves against anyone. So to beat Brighton (who had a very strong team this year) 2-0and play well in both the first
and second half was very pleasing for both players and
management.

BM: Our best team performance was when we beat Brighton at home 2-0. We were hungry for the win from the first whistle, everyone put their bodies on the line to prevent and score goals.

LM: For me it has to be Brighton at home. I scored the goal after 10 mins and it was just a brilliant team performance.

RS: For me, it has to be our 3-0 win over Tottenham.

The Blowing Bubbles Award for Best Ladies Performance of the Season goes to the performance against Brighton and Hove Albion at home.

Mikey Cartwright/Ponderosa Pix

Best Individual Performance

TAW: Becky Merritt against Brighton at home. High work rate, first touch was brilliant and she scored a screamer.

ZLH: Toni Anne Wayne against Millwall. She pulled off some amazing saves to keep us in that game.

SL: Hannah Gowland vs Witham. Although Witham are ranked way below us, nothing should be taken away from Hannah for scoring a hat trick in six minutes in this game. Hannah had only just joined West Ham Ladies so she had done well to fit in to the team and made her mark early on. She was a massive miss for us the rest of the season after she broke her ankle.

BM: Toni Anne Wayne against Millwall. She pulled off some incredible saves to help us gain a well-earned point from the league leaders at the time.

LM: She stepped up this season from the reserves and she made the right back position her own and away at Tottenham this year she was brilliant. She has improved her game and become a regular first team player.

RS: Stacey Little on so many occasions. She works so hard on the pitch and covers so much ground.

The Blowing Bubbles Award for Ladies Individual Performance of the Season goes to Toni Anne Wayne for her performance away at Millwall Ladies.

Mikey Cartwright/Ponderosa Pix

Best Goal Celebration

TAW: The team celebration after April Bowers’ goal against Spurs away.

HG: The best goal celebration for me would be after the second goal against Gillingham. After such a great team goal and great team effort, we all celebrated and come[sic] together to cheer and congratulate each other. It was nice.

ZLH: The celebration after April Bowers’ goal against Spurs. Before the game we said if we scored we would do the train celebration out of  [2001 film directed by Gurinder Chadha] Bend It Like Beckham.

SL: Tottenham away, April Bowers’ goal. We had actually been discussing this
before the game if we scored what our celebration would be.

BM: The team celebration after April Bowers’ goal against Spurs away.

LM: The team celebration after April Bowers’ goal against Spurs away.

RS: The best goal celebration was against Tottenham. The girls walked on their hands and knees in a row holding onto each others ankles. It was also a great result against Tottenham.

The Blowing Bubbles Award for Best Ladies Goal Celebration of the Season goes to the celebration of April Bowers' goal away at Tottenham Hotspur Ladies.

Mikey Cartwright/Ponderosa Pix

Funniest in Dressing Room

TAW: April Bowers because she says the most
stupid things.

HG: The funniest in the dressing room is difficult because we all crack jokes but if I had to pick someone it would be April Bowers. She is very random, always comes
out with weird sayings, sings and loves a boogie. Plus she brings sweets before a game
and calls them "badman" sweets.

ZLH: Stacey Little. She just comes out with the best little comments.

SL: I’d have to say April due to the fact that we’ll all be sitting there, music playing and she will burst into song or impress us with her dance moves all of a sudden.

BM: April Bowers because she pretty much reinvents the English language with her gangster spin!

LM: Danica Revell. She is funny without even knowing it. She can be so blonde.

RS: Funniest in the changing room is Stacey
Little. She is always coming out with funny comments or jokes that have the whole
team laughing. Very comical girl.

The Blowing Bubbles Award for Dressing Room Joker goes to April Bowers.

Mikey Cartwright/Ponderosa Pix

Team Diva

TAW: Stacey Little because if there is anything to moan about she will find it.

HG: The team diva is Rosey. She is always worrying about her hair and makeup.
Both have to be perfect and she never likes it going wrong especially when it rains. She loves the fake tan too.

ZLH: Kelley Blanchflower.

SL: Rosey Sullivan. That’s easy and I’m sure she will be everyone else’s choice too.
The moisturising to make sure the tan doesn’t peel, the panic when it starts raining that her hair is going to go knotty and mascara will run. Wouldn’t change our Rose though.

BM: Rosey Sullivan or Kelley Blanchflower. Pure TOWIE. You should see them if there is a photo and they were not given sufficient time to prepare.

LM: Kelley Blanchflower.

RS: I am the biggest diva (or so I have been told plenty of times) but if I'm not voting
for myself it would be Kelley Blanchflower. She's kind of similar to me with having our hair perfect, making sure we are pretty and smelling good before the game. She can also get the hump if things aren't going positively but guess that's the whole team.
We still love her.

The Blowing Bubbles Award for Biggest Diva goes to Rosey Sullivan.

Mikey Cartwright/Ponderosa Pix

West Ham Ladies focusing on next season after Brighton defeat

Defeat at the hands of Brighton and Hove Albion last weekend ended West Ham Ladies’ bid for promotion out of the FA Women’s Premier League Southern Division.

The 3-2 loss on the South coast unextended the Ladies’ winless streak to five games and left the Hammers 15 points away from league leaders Millwall Lionesses with only four games of the season left to play.

Speaking exclusively to Blowing Bubbles, captain Rosey Sullivan said there haven’t been many positives to take out of their recent run of games because the Ladies all prefer to be winning games.

Mikey Cartwright/Ponderosa Pix

But she added: “A positive could be that we have stuck as a team and have recognised what is happening to cause the results we have been getting.

“As a team we have spoken about our performance in front of goal because collectively we do not shoot enough. We also need more from our strikers. We can't win games if we are always defending and we need more goals.”

Asked if the Hammers have been unlucky not to win any of their last five games, the centre half continued: “I think we should have won them all. We certainly had opportunities but we just didn’t take them.

“Against QPR we did not play as a team and it was the worst team performance we have had.”

On Sunday, the Hammers travel to Colchester, who are sitting comfortably mid-table, for their next league clash.

Rosey continued: “We want to win all our games and we will continue to treat every game the same but as we are not favourites for promotion, the pressure has been taken off us.

“This should allow us to enjoy our football more and play with more freedom.”

She added: “We are now looking towards next season and we are focused on getting promotion next season. We are working hard to identify what has gone wrong this season and we want to make sure it doesn't happen again.”

The Ladies next home game is against Yeovil Town on April 28. It’s a 2pm kick off at Thurrock FC.

The second trial for the West Ham Ladies Academy will also be taking place on Wednesday May 29 from 3 to 5 pm and will be held at the West Ham Community Trust, Beckton.

Any current year 11 females interested in combining a college education with the professional football training lifestyle should register for the trial on www.scl-online.co.uk.

Centre back Danica Revells’s praise for new signings and captain Rosey Sullivan

The West Ham Ladies have had a fantastic start to 2013, comfortably beating London Corinthians away in the cup and Gillingham away in league.

The Ladies return to cup action this weekend at home to Witham Town where they hope to extend their unbeaten run in all competitions to five games.

Speaking exclusively to Blowing Bubbles, centre back Danica Revell has been delighted with how the side has started the year after a frustrating end to 2012 where the Ladies endured a run of cancelled games because of the weather.

Mikey Cartwright/Ponderosa Pix

She has also been pleased to see the Ladies’ new signings get the chance to show what they can offer the team.

Reflecting on the Ladies season, she said: “We have had games where we haven’t played up to the high standards we know we are capable of but most of the time we’ve done really well this season. We’ve got great team spirit.”

The return of striker Kelley Blanchflower has also pleased the centre half. Kelley broke her collarbone during the Ladies’ 2-0 win at QPR in September.

“Kel has been training really hard and was doing really well in training before she got back in the team,” Danica continued.
“I’m delighted to see her come back. It’s a huge boost for us because we will need her scoring goals to help with our push for promotion.”

She added: “We’re still very much in the fight for promotion and hopefully, fingers crossed, we will get it. If we keep putting in the hard effort and not let it slip, then we will be pushing for promotion right till the end of the season.”

Danica’s partnership with captain Rosey Sullivan has been the subject of huge praise from her teammates as have their individual performances.

“I have a great partnership with Rosey,” Danica said. “We’ve played together for a couple of years now and we also went to the academy at Leyton Orient.

“We know each other’s game, inside out and play the same way. We also get along really well, which I think has been key to some of our performances this season.”

Since joining the Hammers back in the summer of 2010, Danica feels her time with the club has been the best period of her career so far, highlighted by being named West Ham United Ladies ‘Young Player of the Year’ last season.

She concluded: “I feel that I am developing towards my full potential and have found my place within the team. I am thoroughly enjoying being part of the West Ham team. We all get on very well and although we train extremely hard, we also have a lot of laughs throughout training.”

Captain Rosey Sullivan's plea for West Ham Ladies to maintain unbeaten run

West Ham Ladies captain Rosey Sullivan has called on her teammates to pick up maximum points in their next two games and extend their unbeaten run in the league to six games.

The 20-year-old has been in impressive form of late and has formed a strong partnership with fellow centre half Danica Revell which has helped the Ladies pick up 10 points in their last four games.

The pairing looked particularly strong against Tottenham Hotspur Ladies’ pacy forwards earlier this month, keeping a clean sheet as the Hammers ran out 1-0 winners.

Mikey Cartwright/Ponderosa Pix

Rosey said: “It was a great win against Tottenham and a great team performance. I felt we really clicked as a team for the first time this season and I was, obviously, delighted with the clean sheet.

“I didn’t play in the last game against Tottenham in the league cup which we lost but I was told their wingers were brilliant that night and I thought we did well to keep them quiet.

“We’ve now got Lewes and Yeovil in the league which I think are both very winnable games for us. We will go into both these games pushing for all three points and we have to keep the same fighting attitude for ever y game.”

She added: “All games in this league are a battle and both Lewes and Yeovil are big sides and quite aggressive so I’m hoping we can get the ball down and play around them.”

This is Rosey’s first season as captain but admits it’s a role she loves and wants to keep for the rest of the season.

Referring to her partnership with Danica, she continued: “I think this is the third season we have played together now and I love having her next to me. We both went to the same academy - Leyton Orient Centre of Excellence – so we were taught to play the same way which has helped us to forge this partnership.

“I feel she does the same job as me and stops me from worrying because I know she’s got my back. She is the only centre back I’ve really enjoyed playing with because she is such a strong player and I think people like the way we play together.

Hopefully we can continue to play well together.”

The captain has also been impressed by the performances of goalkeeper Toni Anne Wayne this season.

She continued: “It’s great to play in front of Toni. She has been a big player for us so far this season, pulling off some great saves and she is always talking to me.

She added: “Her penalty save in the Tottenham game was brilliant. I was amazed she managed to get there because it was right in the corner and that save was really the difference between us getting three points and just one.”

West Ham Ladies are playing at home to Lewes in the FA Womens’ Premier League Southern Division on Sunday. The game kicks off at 2pm.

The Ladies play their home games at Thurrock FC, Ship Lane, Grays, Essex, RM19 1YN.