Freddie Sears

Date of Birth : 27th November 1989 Place of Birth : Hornchurch Signed : July 2007 Position : Striker Height : Weight : Appearances: 5 Goals : 1 International Appearances :

KB: KUMB; HM Hammers Mad; ST Sunday Times; SE Sunday Express; SM Sunday Mirror; OB Observer;
DM Daily Mirror; GU Guardian; TM Times; HD Hammers Diary; SK Sky; DE Daily Express

Sky Sports: West Ham's young striker, Freddie Sears, making his first start for the club, continued to give Leacock a difficult time with several clever runs into the penalty area. West Ham should have done better when Sears and Ljungberg combined neatly in the 33rd minute but the Swede's final ball to the youngster was far from the quality expected. Derby had a scare moments later when veteran defender Stubbs required lengthy treatment on a leg injury before being allowed to carry on. In the 37th minute, Zamora had a second goal ruled out for offside after the West Ham striker had managed to elude the Derby defence. But it required an acrobatic save from Robert Green in the 38th minute to preserve West Ham's lead. A cross from the left by David Jones was head goalwards by Robbie Savage only for Green to tip the ball over the crossbar.

KUMB: With 73 minutes on the clock came the first substitution with Sears going off to be replaced by Cole. This prompted chants of “you don’t know what you’re doing.” This seemed a tad unfair to me under the circumstances. Sears had struggled to make much of an impact and was clearly tiring. On the other hand Zamora’s touch had been poor throughout and my own preference would normally be for a little and large combination up front so I wouldn’t have been too surprised to see Zamora being the one to go. Either way the front pairing needed freshening up so the change had merit. The move paid dividends within a few minutes. In one of the few examples of decent football of the game, Noble played a lovely return pass inside the full-back to Ljungberg whose cross across goal was turned into the roof of the net from close range by Cole. A couple of minutes after the goal Solano came on to replace Faubert. Solano got a few interesting looking crosses in over the remaining ten minutes or so but at the end it was the visitors who had a couple of chances to equalise, a Savage free header going harmlessly over as the three minutes of stoppage time started. At this point Boa Morte replaced Ljungberg to a chorus of boos. Now I understand the principle that states you have a right to boo a player because you’ve shelled out your hard-earned to watch a match but booing someone before they’ve actually stepped onto the pitch seems stupid to me... On the bright side, Tomkins continued to show promise which, given the number of defenders we have on the treatment table, is no bad thing. (Gordon Thrower, 21st April 2008)

Sunday Mirror: Upton Park has become the byword this year for impatient fans and yesterday they booed off Alan Curbishley and his players - even though they'd won. The Hammers boss had already had a chorus of "you don't know what you're doing" when he took off 18-year-old striker Freddie Sears with 17 minutes left. And even though his replacement Carlton Cole hit the winning goal less than 200 seconds after coming on to prove the West Ham manager did know what he was doing it didn't spare Curbishley from more stick off the fans. "I'm disappointed by the crowd's reaction to be honest," admitted a bewildered Curbishley. "I know it's the trend. Last week I heard Gary Megson getting the same chants from Bolton fans and he's just won two games on the trot. I can't remember a time when one of my teams has been booed off for winning before but I'm sure it must have happened. I understand that if this crowd isn't happy they will let you know. It's happened to previous managers and it will happen to whoever comes after me. The flipside is if you can start winning games and playing some decent football they will be just as ferocious in their support.We saw that last season. But I just don't know why they don't recognise the depth of the problems we've had with injuries, and how well we've done to have got the results that we have." (Ralph Ellis, 20th April 2008)

KUMB: Teenage striker Fred Sears was the width of a post away from being a Hammers hero for the second Saturday in succession at Goodison Park this afternoon. The 18-year-old, thrust into the game five minutes into the second half raced through in the final minute of the match with just goalkeeper Tim Howard to beat in order to emulate his match-winning antics against Blackburn last weekend. The youngster kept his cool and picked his spot - but could do nothing but watch as his deft flick agonisingly rebounded against the post and away to safety to preserve a point for the home side that had looked under threat for much of the second half. (Graeme Howlett, 23rd March, 2008)

The Times: Against Blackburn Rovers on his debut the previous week, Freddie Sears came off the bench to score the winner. On Saturday, he came off the bench and hit the inside of the post in the 89th minute. He invigorated West Ham, outplayed in the first half and behind to Yakubu Ayegbeni’s goal but dominant in the second period and buoyed by Dean Ashton’s sharp headed equaliser. Three factors helped Sears: he replaced the irrelevant Luis Boa Morte; he faced Phil Jagielka, the hapless centre back; and his partner up front was Ashton, who produced a performance of strength and subtlety reminiscent of the displays that earned him an England call-up before injuries retarded his progress. (Tom Dart, 24th March 2008)

Sunday Times: Freddie Sears almost made himself a West Ham hero for the second time in a week, firing a shot past Tim Howard, the Everton goalkeeper, in the closing moments only to see the ball come back off the post... Ashton, however, supplied the game’s defining moment, for it was transformed when he scored his towering equaliser. Lucas Neill was given time on the right to measure a terrific cross towards Ashton, who outjumped Phil Jagielka and directed his header to Howard’s left. The goalkeeper got a glove to the ball but only knocked it against the inside of the post and across the line. Suddenly, the visitors believed they could steal a win, especially when Rob Green proved resistant to Everton’s efforts to grab a second goal. On the break, the Hammers fought tenaciously and Howard had to race off his line to save from Sears, who scored on his debut last weekend at Upton Park, before the youngster beat the Everton keeper in the dying moments, only to hit the post. “We’re disappointed not to have won the game in the end,” said Alan Curbishley, the West Ham manager. “Young James Tomkins (like Sears, a homegrown 18-year-old and an England Under19 international) went for the header when the ball came to Yakubu (for the opening goal), he missed it and that rattled him. But he got better and stronger after that and so did the team.” Ironically, Tomkins almost made a dream start on his debut. Mark Noble’s corner was delivered perfectly for him to direct a solid header, alas, against the crossbar. (Brian Doogan, 23rd March 2008)

The Guardian: As exhaustion set in, West Ham's reserves of energy - indeed, their reserves with energy - prevailed. And it was the men from mid-table, their weekly injury bulletin notwithstanding, who boasted options, the most intriguing of them lending a futuristic look to their side. While Everton's focus on the short term is undiluted, West Ham can take a broader view. "I've got to have one hand on trying to win Premier League matches and another on the future of the club," said the manager, Alan Curbishley. That entailed the introduction of the 18-year-old James Tomkins for his debut. The central defender soon struck the bar and then erred for Everton's goal - "Yakubu rolled him," said Curbishley - before the Nigerian finished forcefully. Yet after an eventful but chastening opening, Tomkins recovered admirably. He forms part of a youthful collective in an East End union that finds favour with its customers. "I came down to breakfast and three of them were sitting round the table, [Jack] Collison, Freddie Sears and James Tomkins," Curbishley said. "Then [Mark] Noble came down and he was like the shop steward because he's a year older than them; I thought he was taking their subs." The apprentices are being schooled in the way of things at Upton Park and one has already shown a propensity to strike. Sears, their match-winner against Blackburn nine days ago, rolled a shot against a post during a sparkling cameo. There is an endearingly old-fashioned element to West Ham's faith in youth, mirrored in their support. "Mark Noble's is the biggest-selling shirt in the club shop because he's home-grown," said Curbishley. "It's as simple as that." Given Noble's intelligent repertoire of an inside-forward's skills, sheer locality should not be the sole reason for the midfielder's popularity with the fans. In the company of such ingenus, Dean Ashton approaches veteran status. The 24-year-old's equaliser, headed in emphatically from Lucas Neill's cross, was almost overshadowed as Sears displayed pace and promise in equal measure. Noble, seemingly inspired, whistled a late long-range shot over the bar. Adventurousness can be infectious but, as Everton know, anxiety is equally contagious. (Richard Jolly, 24th March 2008)

BBC Sport: The visitors had a great chance to end their hoodoo but Pedersen fired wildly over after finding himself free, eight yards out. He and his team were left to rue the miss when club-prodigy Sears, who had been on for about five minutes, met Ashton's square ball and fired in a shot that Friedel could only push back into the path of the grateful striker. His celebration was almost as good as the youngster crossed his arms to symbolise the Hammers' badge. (Saj Chowdhury, 15th March, 2008)

Hammers Mad: But with ten minutes remaining, it was Curbishley's double introduction of Mark Noble and Sears that was destined to have the more dramatic impact. Indeed, within just five frenetic minutes of his arrival, supporting super sub Sears entered East End legend, when he raced onto Ashton's clever back-heel and unleashed a low shot that Friedel could only palm skywards. And with the Rovers keeper groping the Upton Park turf, the diving teenager hurled himself at the looping ball to give West Ham victory with a dream debut goal.

Sunday Times: Freddie Sears, an 18-year-old home-grown striker, came off the bench to record the most glorious debut for West Ham, scoring the winning goal to bring to an end a sorry sequence of heavy defeats. The England Under-19 international was cheered to the rafters at the end of a week in which he signed a new deal, but his storybook contribution might not have mattered had Dean Ashton not performed such a pivotal role.

Daily Mirror: Sears, who has scored 25 goals in 24 reserve and youth team games this season, made the Premier League look easy.... Nobody does home-grown heroes like West Ham, and Geoff Hurst and Trevor Brooking were at Upton Park to witness the latest. Hammers fans have become accustomed over the years to seeing the young jewels sold off to balance the books. But boss Alan Curbishley, who scored in his second game for West Ham back in 1975 after arriving at the ground on the bus, insisted times have changed. "I understand players have left here in the past but I think perhaps it was a different situation then," he said. "Last summer was the first time for a while that we have invested as opposed to letting players leave. It was a shift in policy. Suddenly, players weren't going out to pay for the players coming in. Since I've been here that hasn't been a threat and every indication I have is that we want to push forward." (Neil Mcleman, 17th March, 2008)

The Times: He’s only just started training with us, but he’s been scoring goals in the youth team and reserves,” Noble, the 20-year-old midfield player, said. “I hope he keeps his feet on the floor and keeps working hard. The future’s bright – we have just got to nurture him. His greatest asset is his goalscoring ability. He shoots from anywhere. Even with a half-chance he will shoot. I told him, ‘I’ve been exactly where you are now, mate, go out and enjoy it. Celebrate with your family or do whatever you do. But come ready for work on Monday.” Anton Ferdinand said: “He is special. Even though it was his first game, there were no nerves. I’ve always said when home-grown players come on the pitch it lifts the crowd. He’s a grounded lad, born and bred in this area, and he has a lot to offer this club. I know what it is like to come through here. There is a lot of pressure on youngsters because everybody expects them to be a lot better than they actually might be.” (Tom Dart, 17th March, 2008).