Junior Stanislas

Date of Birth : 26th November 1989 Place of Birth : Kidbrooke Signed : August 2008 Position : Forward Height : Weight : Appearances : 7 (2) Goals : 2 International Appearances : 0

KUMB: Things livened up a little on 20 minutes when Stanislas won a ball 20 yards out. His shot may have taken a deflection from a defender’s attempted block – the path of the ball through the air was certainly erratic – and came back off the corner of post and crossbar with Jones left to watch the ball with the resigned manner of one who has just missed a bus but is pretending that they didn’t want to catch that one anyway.... Stanislas embarked on a promising run down the left only to be halted by Wheater who appeared to bring the ball under control on the touchline with his hand, unfortunately on the blind side of both ref and lino. This was the nearest we had to controversy on a slow day. Ilunga then played the ball up to Cole whose headed lay-off into Stanislas’ path deserved better than the youngster’s “rush of blood” first-time effort which was screwed wide.... Stanislas then found Cole only for the striker to have his shot blocked. Cole’s shirt was being pulled at the time but, not being a diver by nature (yes you Torres) he elected to stay on his feet and try for the shot, something for which he is to be applauded. The resulting corner caused a bit of panic in the defence and led to another. The second corner was kept alive by Collison and some nice passing between Collison, Dyer and Neill fed Stanislas who shot from 20 yards out. The shot was accurate but Jones really ought to have done better as the shot crept in under his arm to send us 2-1 up just short of the hour. (Gordon Thrower)

The Times: Even O’Neil’s equalising goal, after Tuncay’s diagonal run, brought no momentum and seven minutes later the impressive Junior Stanislas restored West Ham United’s lead when his low drive slipped under the hands of Brad Jones. (Gary Jacob)

The Guardian: Junior Stanislas, a livewire amid the plod, clipped their crossbar from distance though that proved a temporary reprieve. (Dominic Fifield)

Hammer's Diary: Junior Stanislas improved as the game went on and by the end he was almost on a par with Boa Morte. The goal gave him some confidence, but I do wish he’d have the confidence to dribble and take defenders on. I wonder if it is wise to keep swapping wings. He’s clearly not comfortable on the left.

Sky Sports: Parity lasted eight minutes thanks to Stanislas. Jack Collison had retrieved a lost situation with his endeavour, then got the ball back and found Stanislas 25 yards out.

BBC Sport: It could have all been different, though, had Junior Stanislas made the most of two early chances for the Hammers. First the youngster burst through a staid Villa backline to leave himself with only Brad Friedel to beat, only for the keeper to deflect his effort wide, and then the midfielder was denied by a desperate saving tackle from Milner when clear in the box moments later.

Sky Sports: The Hammers opened brightly and Friedel prevented them taking the lead after two minutes. Noble threaded a pass into the path of the impressive Junior Stanislas and his darting run took him through the heart of the Villa defence but Friedel managed to deflect his shot just past the post.

Hammers Mad: Junior Stanislas went through by himself and it was only a brilliant save by Brad Friedel which prevented the Hammers taking a shock lead. Stanislas collected another astute pass only for James Milner to produce a timely tackle to prevent a shot on target.

BBC Sport: Junior Stanislas was a constant threat and Boa Morte's pace was also to the fore. And the pair combined for a wonderful Hammers goal just before the break which all began with some quick thinking from keeper Green and inevitably involved Di Michele. England international Green's smart throw found Boa Morte on the left and the full-back flicked the ball wide to Diego Tristan. The Spaniard turned the ball down the flank to Di Michele and the Italian did superbly to find Boa Morte, who had continued his run. The winger laid the ball across the six-yard box for Stanislas, who could not miss.

KUMB: Green then gathered a weak header from the resulting corner before releasing Boa-Morte with an intelligent throw. LBM tapped the ball on to Schnorbitz who played the ball along the line to DiMichele. DDM’s first-time flick was perfection as LBM beat Leadbetter to the ball before moving into the box. Then came the clever bit. Boa-Morte just gave himself a half second to allow Stanislas the opportunity to pull out round the back of the defenders, before playing the perfect square ball across the six yard box for Stanislas to score from close range. There’s something a bit special about seeing one of the lads who have come through from the academy scoring their first goal – those of us who were present at the Blackburn match last season when Sears bagged his first will remember the warm glow that accompanied the post-match walk to the pub. It’s a great feeling that Chelsea supporters are never going to know. I feel sorry for them really. (Gordon Thrower)

Hammers Mad: But just as a tedious opening period, notable only for the battle for midfield supremacy, looked set to end goalless, Stanislas slid the Hammers into an unlikely lead from six yards, after Luis Boa Morte rode David Bardsley's lunge before unselfishly squaring to the youngster.

The Sunday Mirror : But the buzz created around the stadium every time 19-year-old Stanislas got on the ball showed a new star has been born in the east end.The winger from Kidbrooke in south London was told he was starting his first game only a couple of hours before the kick-off and had to get straight on the phone to get his friends to the match on time. And after rounding off a superb West Ham counterattack for the first goal - Luis Boa Morte picked up the ball from keeper Robert Green and then got into the Sunderland box to cross for Stanislas after 43 minutes - he slid over to the stands to celebrate with his teenage pals. His perfect day was rounded off by going home and watching himself on Match Of The Day. Stanislas, who made his first team debut as a sub at West Brom a fortnight ago, said: "I was singing Bubbles as I waited in the tunnel with the rest of the team. "I wasn't really that nervous. I had some butterflies in my stomach but not any nerves. As soon as you step onto the pitch you have to be your own man, to play your own game, and to do what you are good at. "And it was a great feeling to score and hear the crowd cheering. I've been dreaming about if for years now so for me to start in the Premier League and score is amazing. I couldn't have asked for a better start." (Neil Mcleman)

Daily Telegraph: Ever since the club provided the beating heart of England's World Cup winners in 1966 their influence upon the national side has been profound, as the presence of such alumni as Frank Lampard and Rio Ferdinand in Fabio Capello's reckoning still testifies. After this emphatic dispatching of Sunderland, engineered by two players raised within 10 miles of Upton Park, the names of Junior Stanislas and James Tomkins can tentatively be added to that roster. For 12 months West Ham have been caricatured as the prime subjects of foreign meddling: the Icelandic ownership, the appointment of an Italian sporting director in Gianluca Nani, even the preference for Gianfranco Zola as manager above respectable domestic candidates. But Stanislas and Tomkins, who both scored their first senior goals, form a compelling counter-argument by virtue of their background, which could not be any more claret-and-blue had they been plucked straight from Green Street. Where Stanislas, at 19, is a product of Kidbrooke, just across the river from E13, Tomkins is Basildon born and bred. In short, West Ham hardly had to search far to find them, even if the tentacles of Nani's elaborate scouting network extends to obscure foreign outposts including Serie B club Brescia, from where the club brought Savio Nsereko, a tellingly unused substitute here. (Oliver Brown)

The Times: Junior Stanislas, 19, has been with West Ham since the age of 11. The attacking midfield player scored a hat-trick against Chelsea in a reserve-team game two weeks ago, made his first start for the senior side on Saturday and gave his team the lead.(Alyson Rudd)

The Guardian: Because of injuries West Ham were without their first-choice strikers and three of their regular midfield players. For nearly half the game they understandably lacked cohesion. One player, however, caused Sunderland problems from the outset: Junior Stanislas, a 19-year-old product of the Upton Park academy. Stanislas played nine games on loan at Southend earlier this season, scoring three times. Saturday was his first start in the Premier League and for Gianfranco Zola he was a revelation. "Junior has been a surprise," the West Ham manager admitted. "I knew about his technical skills but I didn't know about his mental strength." Youthful talents can be lauded too much too soon – witness the levelling off in form of another West Ham prodigy, Freddie Sears – but Stanislas is one to watch. (David Lacey)

Basildon Echo: Insomnia is not something Basildon-based West Ham defender James Tomkins suffered from before last weekend. But then it is not every weekend you make your Premier League debut at the age of 18 in front of nearly 40,000 screaming fans. That is exactly what the former Chalvedon School pupil did on Saturday, when he ran out for the Hammers at Everton. The prospect of playing for the club he supports for the first time left Tomkins lying awake at night - but the teenager was more than happy to suffer from a lack of sleep if it meant fulfilling his footballing dreams. "I hardly had any sleep over the weekend. I couldn't sleep the night before the game and I couldn't sleep at all the night after," he admitted. "I was thinking before that I could be playing and I had prepared as if I was, which is what I always do. "But when the manager named the team I was absolutely buzzing. "I was thinking This is what I have been playing for for so many years. This is what I live for'." With Matthew Upson injured and Jonathan Spector jet lagged after a midweek trip to the United States, Tomkins became the second Academy of Football graduate to make his debut in the space of a week. Seven days earlier, striker Freddie Sears hit the headlines by scoring against Blackburn Rovers at Upton Park. At Goodison Park, Tomkins almost repeated the trick, hitting the Everton crossbar with a fine header after just four minutes. "Mark Noble put in a great ball and I managed to get my head on it," he explained. "Obviously it all happened really quickly but I was just praying it would go in. When it hit the bar I just felt really frustrated because, after Freddie scored last week, I could just imagine what it would have been like if I'd scored on my debut." Four minutes later, Tomkins learned just how cruel a game football can be as Nigerian striker Yakubu held off the youngster before firing the home side ahead. But, like all good professionals, the defender - who will play for England Under-19s in a friendly against Russia in Milton Keynes tonight - learned from his mistake to produce a performance that grew in stature. "I learned a lot more about what he was going to do as the game went on," he said. "He was stronger than me so after the goal, when he rolled me, I didn't want to get too tight to him. "I have high expectations of myself. I just play to 110 per cent and play every game as if it's going to be my last." And it is Tomkins' temperament, as well as his tenacious tackling and composure in possession, that have the club's management raving about the young defender. (Basildon Echo, 26th March, 2008)

Sky Sports: The Hammers gave centre-back James Tomkins his first start, and it was something of a baptism of fire against the power of Yakubu - even if the England Under 19 international could have scored inside five minutes... It was Basildon-born Tomkins who almost made it a dream debut. He met Mark Noble's corner 12 yards out, and his looping header clattered against the bar. But three minutes later, after Anton Ferdinand had lost out in the air to Anichebe, Tomkins was equally at fault when he was out-muscled by Yakubu midway inside West Ham's half and the big Nigerian surged away and scored past Green. (Rob Parrish, 22nd March, 2008)

Daily Mirror: Hammers manager Alan Curbishley, who watched Dean Ashton head home a second-half equaliser, bravely decided to give youth its head in the continuing absence of so many of the big-name players he bought in the summer and it almost paid rich dividends. Tomkins looked yet another defender in the best traditions of West Ham, his early drubbing at the hands of Yakubu apart. And his decision to give 18-year-old Sears his head later in the game was an inspired one. The striker could have won the match after rousing the Hammers with his enthusiasm, and it looked for all the world like he had done everything right in the last minute, only for his shot to hit the post. "These kids deserve their chance," Curbs said. "I believe in them and I decided a couple of weeks ago that we were in no man's land and we had nothing to lose. They will not be fazed because they are so level-headed." (David Maddock, 24th March 2008)

The Times: Another week, another 18-year-old debutant: James Tomkins at centre back. He hit the bar with a header in the first five minutes, was at fault for Everton’s goal, then had a solid showing thereafter. (Tom Dart, 24th 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)