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For now, it appears Alan Pardew is content to be manager of Crystal Palace and not the England national team. With some of his players making significant contributions for their respective countries during the international break, he and the Eagles try to tighten the standings in the top half of the table Saturday against West Ham United at Selhurst Park.Following the departure of Sam Allardyce just 67 days into his tenure with the Three Lions, Pardews name was thrown about as a potential long-term candidate should interim boss and former Palace academy product Gareth Southgate falter in his four-match audition during World Cup qualifying.But with England taking four points from their two matches, all appears calm at St Georges Park -- aside from the usual hand-wringing with regards to their World Cup chances and Wayne Rooneys place in the side -- for now, so Pardew has one less distraction to worry about as he tries to keep Crystal Palace (3-2-2) among the leagues best.Palace may have been the one side who didnt want down time -- theyre unbeaten in their last five league matches (3-2-0) after opening with a pair of 1-0 defeats. They picked up a point at Goodison Park on Sept. 30 with a 1-1 draw on a goal by Christian Benteke, who then set a World Cup qualifying record by scoring for Belgium 8.1 seconds into their match to spark a 6-0 victory over Gibraltar on Monday.Benteke finished with three goals and has five in his last four contests for club and country, with his eight-minute stint as a sub versus Bosnia-Herzegovina on Oct. 7 his only barren spell in that span. Joe Ledley and keeper Wayne Hennessey helped Wales secure a pair of draws in their matches, Andros Townsend appeared off the bench for England against Slovenia but Bakary Sako may be a question mark after withdrawing from Malis squad due to injury prior to their qualifier against the Ivory Coast.While Pardew is seeking another fast eight-match start with Palace, West Ham United (1-1-5) are still trying to pinpoint a place to make a turnaround. The Hammers are in the relegation zone after their atrocious start, and their 17 goals shipped are a league-worst.There were, however, finally signs of life in London Stadium before the break as Dimitri Payets stellar individual effort secured a 1-1 draw against Middlesbrough on Oct. 1. The France international slalomed his way past and around six Boro defenders before beating Victor Valdes from inside the penalty area in the 57th minute to wipe out Cristhian Stuanis goal six minutes prior.Payet carried his strong form into World Cup qualifying, scoring for Les Bleus in their win over Bulgaria and setting up Paul Pogbas match-winner in a 1-0 victory over the Netherlands.But there was also bad news as promising young defender Sam Byram was forced off the pitch inside 10 minutes with what the teams official website labeled a significant hamstring injury and may be sidelined for a month. Aaron Cresswell has resumed practicing with the first team, but Andre Ayew and Andy Carroll continue to be sidelined for prolonged periods of time.Those absences have given Jonathan Calleri the chance to make a name for himself after scoring 39 goals for All Boys, Boca Juniors and Sao Paulo the last two seasons in South America.The style of play here is very different and it can take a few months to settle in, Calleri told West Hams official website. I remember it took a while for Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano to settle in and then they did really well.We all remember how (Tevez) saved the club from relegation and I hope I can achieve just a quarter of what he achieved here.Transitioning to their new London Stadium digs has been difficult, but West Hams road form has been far worse -- the Hammers have been outscored 9-4 in their three away matches this season and failed to lead any of those contests.West Ham took four of six points between the teams last season, including a 3-1 victory in the corresponding fixture. Manuel Lanzinis goal two minutes from time proved the winner before Payet added an insurance tally in stoppage time. Carl Jenkinson and Yohan Cabaye traded goals three minutes apart in the first half.The Hammers have taken points in four of their last five trips to Selhurst Park (2-2-1), but Palace have gone 3-4-2 in the last nine matches overall between the teams. 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For a team that started 5-0 but has gone 0-4 since and is constructed to play close games, Walshs inconsistency could no longer be tolerated.After he missed an extra point, had a field goal blocked and misplaced a kickoff in a loss to Detroit two weeks ago, the Vikings brought in six kickers for a tryout. They ultimately decided to give Walsh one more chance, but his miss just before halftime against the Redskins sealed his fate. Walsh was in the first year of a four-year, $13 million extension he signed last season , undoubtedly one reason why the Vikings stayed as patient as they could with him.The Vikings reached agreement on a contract with Kai Forbath to take Walshs place, two people with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because an official announcement has not been made. USA Today first reported the move to Forbath, who made 34 of 35 extra points and 10 of 15 field goals last season while kicking for Washington and New Orleans.With Forbath, punter/holder Jeff Locke and long snapper Kevin McDermott, all three of Minnesotas specialists will be UCLA products. The 29-year-old Forbath is 69 for 82 for 84.1 percent in his NFL career on field goals and 124 for 127 for 97.6 percent on extra points.Walsh was an erratic kicker at Georgia when Vikings special teams coordinator Mike Priefer started to scout him. The coach said Walsh had the best performance at the combine he had ever seen from a kicker leading up to the draft in 2012, and the Vikings selected him in the sixth round before releasing reliable veteran Ryan Longwell. After working on some tweaks to his approach with Priefer, Walsh set a Vikings rookkie record with 141 points and established an all-time NFL mark by going 10 for 10 from 50 yards or longer.ddddddddddddalsh bounced back to make an NFL-high 34 field goals last season, but he missed four extra points and shanked a 27-yard field goal in the closing seconds of Minnesotas 10-9 loss in the playoffs to Seattle. Despite Walshs public expressions of confidence in his ability since then, even after his rough game against the Lions, he clearly hasnt recovered yet mentally from the crushing miss against the Seahawks that left him sobbing in front of his cubicle in the locker room afterward.One of the few roles in sports without any gray area between success and failure, where sending the ball through the uprights is the only responsibility and the only outcome worth judging, being a kicker in the NFL can be a pressure cooker. At least in his interaction with reporters, Walsh has been more guarded and on edge than any other season with the Vikings.For the Vikings, the setbacks to a season that began with Super Bowl aspirations havent stopped. Neither have their aggressive attempts to stay on track, even if the move away from Walsh mightve come a little late. Walsh will still count more than $1 million against the teams salary cap in each of the next two years.They parted with two high draft picks, including their first-rounder in 2017, to bring in Sam Bradford after quarterback Teddy Bridgewater was lost to a massive injury. They took a flier on injury-waylaid former No. 1 overall draft pick Jake Long, who lasted four games before tearing an Achilles tendon and needing season-ending surgery. Offensive coordinator Norv Turner resigned two weeks ago amid philosophical differences about the scheme with Zimmer, even expressing belief in subsequent interviews that his removal from the strategical process could help the team get going.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL---AP Pro Football Writer Dave Campbell contributed to this report. ' ' '