2012 – EPL

Both teams came to this game with patched up teams, but WHU’s was decimated. No McCartney or Demel at the back gave a rare start to James Tomkins at right back. Once again Gary O’Neill filled in the centre of midfield for Diame.

The game itself was lively, and both teams seemed to want to win, even if WHU warmed up and got ready like a pub team, all strolling around and no conversation or organisation. Something Sam might want to take a look at.

Then began the comedy act of the day Mr Antony Taylor. A great corner from Bains was met by Leon Osman for one nil Toffees. But was cancelled by the ref. I still dont know why, it was right in front of me, and I saw nothing untoward. However i’ll take it because that woke up WHU and Matt Taylor sent a great ball through for Carlton Cole, who is starting to look back to his best, who then shrugged of the defender to power in a great goal from just outside of the box.

By half time we were good for the one nil, but the Everton fans may disagree. If Jelavic could shoot it may of been different.

We came out for the second in good form again with Nolan and Taylor having chances to extend the lead, but by the hour mark we were starting to play the game out, but Everton were getting on top. They equalized with a header from Anichebe Then the comedy show started again. Ball goes past Cole. As he turns he puts his leg up. Bains goes for ball with head. Carlton cannot see Bains as he is turning. Carlton catches Bains. Red Card. WHAT !!!! Absolute joke.

As with the loss of Diame last week, things like this destabilize WHU easily . You could almost see the wheels rolling down Green Street as they came screaming off. Pienaar made it two, 10 minutes later with a scrambled goal involving Matt Taylor. Then the ref, realising this was partially his fault, sends off Darren Gibson for nothing to even it up. This raised a massive chant of “You’re not fit to referee” from the WHU fans !

So yet again we allow things out of our control to change our game. Once again we throw away a good lead. We have dropped six points in our last 2 home games. We could be battling for 7th with Chelsea, but we are in 12th, and starting the inevitable slide.

This is where teamwork come in. As i mentioned earlier, the team is looking disorganised, and not really a team. The pre match was shocking. I have never seen one like it. If there is an issue Sam needs to sort it in Jan, by moving some people out, because it wasn’t there last year. Last year we would of closed out both games. It wouldn’t of been pretty, but there you go.

Hopefully Sam can get CC’s red card rescinded as we are so short of players its getting silly (nice to see Jordan Spence get on yesterday, and Jack warming the bench). Apparently he wants some sort of exec action on the ref, but I think he may be wasting his time.

MOTM: James Collins was immense again. But one player played above the rest yesterday. His movement and vision was ahead of everyone. Unfortunately he wasn’t wearing claret and blue. Steven Pienaar.

West Bromwich Albion vs West Ham Utd 16/12/2012

Another TV game for the Hammers today, as we travel to West Brom for what will be a tough game against a team rejuvenated this season by their new manager, our old number 2, Steve Clarke. Both teams are due a win, and are beset by injury. Sam only has 6 subs because of injury. Diame being out is a massive lost for the visitors. But a back to form Carlton Cole could be a light at the end of the tunnel for WHU. This game has draw all over it, to be honest.

This will be a live blog, so probably a little disjointed in part.

O’Neill comes into the middle (as hinted in his twitter, last week), to replace Diame. Odd but probably better than Tomkins at this level, in this position. Liam Ridgewell is out for the Baggies, so no old boys scoring against us this week !

WBA started the game the livelier, with a couple of decent attacks early on. Mark Noble to his credit seemed to be on this wavelength and was stopping attacks and starting counters with aplomb. As long as he keeps his feet to himself, as he will be banned for the home game against Everton if he gets a yellow.

Just when WHU dont need it, Reid goes down after 9 mins, after getting a WBA player land on him during a WHU free kick. He gets up but is hobbling gingerly.

1st shot on target was after 15 when Peter Odemwingie hit a long ranger into the arms of Jussi. Joey O’Brien seems a little uncomfortable in the left back berth, if I’m honest.

On 27, Shane Long had a half chance go just wide of the post. That really is all there is to report on, its was all a bit dull. Matt Taylor tried to put Cole in with a header but hit the keeper instead. Then Joey O’Brien picked up a yellow for a very unnecessary challenge. Like i say uncomfortable.

First corner for WHU on 31. Reid is very unlucky to put the James Collins head back just over the bar.

On 35 CC springs clear and unleashes a thunderous shot , which is stopped, and just goes past the advancing Kevin Nolan.

After a minute of stoppage time, the refs blows for what was a very quiet first half for both teams. 0-0. Tight as. Sky reckon WHU on top, i don’t agree with that, but neither keeper has had to have a stormer. Did I say a draw at the beginning ?

The second half starts much like the first, with the Baggies on top, and getting a 6 yard chance in the first minute, and 4 corners back to back, including one that ended u with WBA hitting the bar. Great news if you have a spread on, not good if you support WHU.

Gary O’Neill goes really close after an edge of the box scramble, with a curling 20 yarder.

After this exciting start, nothing happens until CC wins an unlikely ball on 55, and instead of just passing back, tries some fancy flick up, which goes straight to a WBA player. Shocking. The next minute sees Taylor hit a poor shot across the goal.

On the hour mark, WBA hit an almost identical shot to Cole’s in the first half. Jussi Parries away, much to their dismay. On 65 Reid beats long to the ball, to stop the once WHU target opening his account.

Taylor gets fouled on what looked like a good attack for WHU. From the resulting free kick O’Brien goes close. Even though the game is scrappy, WHU seem to be slightly on top, slightly being the operative word.

Spoke too soon, the Baggies got right back into this game, and are getting all the corners again, including one cross that hits the bar. WHU are leading a charmed life here.

On the 75 minute, like clockwork, on comes Maiga. But not for Cole, for Jarvis. Sam obviously sees a game to be won here. Then another sub with 10 to go. Tomkins comes on for Demel. Semi straight swap. CC seems to get a bang in the mouth from the next corner. Personally i think he’s time wasting. There, i’ve said it.

On 82 Steve Clarke takes the draw as he brings off Shane Long. Meanwhile Kevin Nolan and Malumbu get carded for some handbags as the game heads towards in inevitable conclusion. On 85 Tomkins gets himself a card for a deliberate obstruction.

Today seemed to be a case of 2 teams who don’t really know how to break down organised teams, and don’t have that star quality to change a game. Maybe Diame could of provided that, we will never know. I think both teams are guilty of being able to raise their game against better opposition, but cannot do it when they are playing similar teams. However WHU did earn their point today, but the frailties of the depleted squad were obvious. Hopefully obvious to the board as well !

The draw was a fair result, and pushes WHU back into touching distance of the top half.

MOTM here was not an easy decision, but James Collins edged it for me. Noble played well, as did Reid and Cole, but Collins seemed to be exactly where you needed him every time. Winston for Sky. What do they know !

Did i say a draw ? The 30 points I picked up in my prediction league for a correct score says yes !

WHUFC vs Liverpool 09/12/2012 EPL

After last weeks amazing result against Chelsea, my return to the Boleyn after missing a couple of games, was full of promise. I was under the assumption that bearing in mind the form Liverpool found themselves in, we should be more than favourite to take all 3 points and cement our position in the top half of the table.

I should counter this with my record, which is following me into this season,of missing all the good games and witnessing the throwaways and boring old nil nils in the cold.

The cold was in attendance and the first 10 mins followed suit with Liverpool dominating the early exchanges. Hammers old boy Glen Johnson seemed to have a free reign down the Liverpool right. He capitalised on this in the 11th minute with an absolute cracker of a shot into the top corner to put the Scousers in the lead. A bit like last week against Chelsea, this seemed to wake West Ham up and the midfield of Nolan, Noble and Diame started to carve apart Gerrard, Lucas, and Allen. Diame again was dynamic in his running.

Demel seemed to be getting the better of Liverpool on the right and in an uncharacteristically forward move, had a shot hit Allen on the arm and WHU got a penalty. Noble stepped up and put it Reinas right to equalise. Then WHU really piled on the pressure and were rewarded (!), when Sir Steven Gerrard of Huyton headed a WHU corner into his own net, like Shearer in his pomp.

To be up at the break was probably a fair score even if the goals were from strange sources.

WHU started the second half with Demel off for McCartney, presumably to counter Johnson. This seemed to change nothing, as WHU were easily on top in the early exchanges. Carlton Cole was playing a blinder, accepting passes from everywhere and bringing people into play. Maybe all that time on the bench, has made him study the best parts of Carroll’s game.

With about 20 mins to go, disaster struck. Diame pulled up on another rampage down the right. His substitution was always going to affect WHU, but it also seemed to provide impetus to Liverpool, as the main WHU threat / blocker was leaving the field. Within 3 minutes Joe Cole (ex Hammer) pounced on a ball from Sterling to pull the Pool level.

They then pushed on and got the job done, as Shelvey and Collins got stuck in, and the ball came off Collins to make it 3-2 Liverpool. Turns out Shelvey was a WHU schoolboy as well. Great.

That was that.

Whether they deserved the win or not, I’m probably not the best to comment, but my opinion is no. They were all over the place at times, but fairs fair, they smelt blood and went for it.

So Diame then. Talk about the club shooting itself in the foot. He has a good game that makes the headlines (Chelsea), and all of a sudden our best secret is leaving for Liverpool, Newcastle or Arsenal. And the club are the only ones discussing it. Surely a simple no, would be better than bandying around contract details. This all might be mute though, as he might be out for 12 weeks , easily seeing out the transfer window (thanks to T-C for my ricket regarding the ACN). Apparently he came to WHU for the contract, so up it and get a resign, simples. Irrespective of Diame leaving we need more midfielders in Jan, as Tomkins cannot keep filling in, in this league.

In other news, another WHU old boy was in the headlines, as Rio got coined in the Manchester derby. Bearing in mind how slow he moves these days, you could of hit him with a fiver from 30 yards !

Todays MOTM, purely for taking his chance back in the first team, and having about the best game i’ve seen him have in over a year, was the cult hero of Upton Park, Carlton Cole. Talk about a confidence player, 2 weeks ago I wanted him out of East London ! Fickle football fan, me ?

PS We also this week, won some Olympic thing or other. More news on that in about 5 or 10 years when all the legal wranglings stop !

WHUFC vs Manchester City 03/11/2012 EPL

Having missed our great win against Southampton while i was in Vegas (post to follow), i travelled to Upton Park with slight trepidation, as i had also heard that we were extremely poor against Wigan.

Man City came to this game with a run of so so results and probably felt this would be a game where 3 points were a formality. This was backed up by team selection, with Mancini starting Tevez, Balotelli, and Edin Dzeko all up top. West Ham put out probably their best starting 11, with Benayoun and Jarvis starting. Collins got a bit of rough reception from the home crowd when announced. Tomkins wasn’t even on the bench, and O’Brien came in at right back.

The game started as you would imagine with City moving the ball around, West Ham picking up scraps. However my main fear hadn’t materialised as Silva wasn’t playing, and the City midfield was not as quick and agile as i expected.

West Ham played themselves into the game with Diame and Noble starting to take charge with some real blood and thunder tackles. Then the potential turning point occured. Kevin Nolan scored a goal from close range that was ruled for offside. Turns out the goal was ruled out wrongly. I haven’t seen the evidence myself but every report seems to back this up.

This shook up City however, and from then on for the first half WHU were on top ,with Benayoun hitting the Bar, and Carroll going close. City had their chances however, but most of them fell to Balotelli, who frankly was useless. This guy has all the talent in the world, but his laziness and refusal to go for any ball that isn’t already on his foot, would frustrate the hell out of me.

No changes for the second half from either team, and no change on the pitch, with City having a shade on possession but WHU keeping their hand in, and once again Carroll went close with a spectacular overhead kick. City didn’t get te chances they had in the first half, but the ones they did fall to Tevez, who knowing his place at Upton Park, did his best to miss !

West Ham battled on and some good subs by Sam to get Diame off before he was sent off, and a late sub of Collins to give Jordan Spence some game time worked. Collins to be fair had made some great blocks, and tackles and hopefully has redeemed some of the ill will of the WHU faithful.

The game ended 0-0 and it really was a point earned by WHU, and 2 lost by City. I’ll take that.

On leaving the ground, as usual we ended up with the away fans , and i heard some interesting comments. They thought we put 11 behind the ball, and this is what always happens to City on the road. What nonsense ! We had as many scoring opportunities as them and really gave them a game.

The more telling comment was from a young girl, who said that if it had been United rather than City, they would of got the win. This is because United are a team, and City are a group of talented players, who struggle to play as a team when the going gets tough. Witness their CL performances in the last 2 years. This is a trate of Mancini, see no further than his tenure at Inter. He needs to get rid of Balotelli pronto, and push Yaya Toure further up the pitch. Last time we played City at home they won 3-1 and he ran the whole game. Yesterday, he was deep and ineffectual. I would love to say this was due to WHU pressure, but i will admit it was more likely to Mancini’s team selection and tactics.

These City fans need to remember where they were 4 or 5 years ago, and not assume they already have a permanent seat at the top table of European football.

All in all, a good day to build confidence for the Hammers, and keeps us in the top 10.

MOTM. Reid and Collins were excellent, Noble and Diame threw themselves around. But for fitting straight back in and playing a full 90 with style and class, my award goes to Yossi Benayoun.

andy-carroll_g_2387826b — AC goes close with a speculative overhead kick.

WHU vs Arsenal EPL 06/10/2012

We come to our second London derby of the week, after our good win against QPR away on the Monday. Arsenal come to Upton Park of the back of a good win in the Champions League. That was not the first difference of the day. The ground was full and the atmosphere was fantastic.

Most WHU fans were optimistic about this game, as Arsenal have shown some weakness this season against the dead ball, and they are missing their talismanic striker Van Persie, following his exit to Old Trafford over the summer. Personally i was concerned they may end up starting Oxlade-Chamberlain and Walcott, and just kill us for pace.

Arsene helped me out by not starting either, but putting Podolski on the wing instead isn’t a bad replacement I suppose !

The game got off as expected with Arsenal piling in the pressure, with constant incisive passing. But as usual with Arsenal had no finishing quality (it was out on the wing as usual – this would frustrate me massively if I was a fan of our North London neighbours).

WHU’s forays into the opponents box were limited, but they weathered the storm at the beginning to fight back into the game. However it was still against the run of play, in the 21st minute, when Diame shrugged off Ramsey on the edge of their box, to absolutely rocket in the first goal of his Hammers career from an obtuse angle. Game on.

Then normal service resumed, but it looked like WHU would hold out the first half for a dream start. Andy Carroll was winning everything in the air, and as usual was bringing in other players. The improvement on Carlton Cole cannot be disputed now, and we need to do everything we can in January to hold onto the big Geordie.

Arsenal seemed to find space everywhere, especially on their left, and just before half time Poldolski got a cross in for Giroud to push home on the front post, to bring Arsenal level. Nolan went close to getting onto the end of cross to put us 2-1 up at the break, but just didn’t have the pace.

One all at half time, and although both teams were probably content, I’m sure Arsenal were the happier, having got back into the game at a crucial time.

The second half was more of the same, as the Arsenal pressure just got bigger and bigger. The space they find in the middle of the park is amazing, and WHU couldn’t close them down. However, WHU had some chances with Carroll coming close with a header going just past the post. At the 60 minutes mark Walcott came on, and didn’t look to clever to be honest. Until about 15 minutes later when Diame got robbed of the ball, Walcott got on the end of it with no one near him, and cooly slotted home to put the Gunners ahead. During that 15 Vaz Te halfheartedly got into a tangle with Mannone, and got rewarded with a dislocated shoulder. Also Demel, who was playing well, went off with knock to be replaced by Tompkins, who must be in for a shout for a next game, as we are losing defenders like Man U at the moment.

This put WHU into a bit of a spin, and the third looked imminent. But after 5 minutes we seemed to be making a fist of it again, with Nolan having a couple of chances that he didn’t finish. With 7 to go Carzola drilled in a 20 yrd screamer to end WHU’s chances of at least one point, and close the game out for Arsenal.

So we end up 1-3 to Arsenal, and we learn the the Premier League is still 2 or 3 leagues in one. We lost the game in the middle, as we spent most of our time chasing shadows, we were just not quick enough. Jarvis was also found wanting on the wing against Kieran Gibbs, as was Vaz Te when we swapped about. Whether this is fitness or awareness, will be down to BFS to sort out.

But its not all doom and gloom for the Hammers. Carroll was fantastic, and Reid played well again, as did Diame (although some final ball passing wouldn’t go amiss). Nolan’s fitness was found out again. Also, if Noble thinks he has an England chance, he needs to stop trying and failing to deliver Gerrardesque hollywood balls, and concentrate on what he is good at. Maybe he could hit the club shop and get a few season reviews from the Scott Parker era.

So not too disappointed overall, and after the international break we have Southampton at home, which should be 3 points for WHU on current form.

MOTM: Carroll for WHU, but overall Cazorla ran the game from start to finish, and got a good goal at the end.

arsenal — Cazorla with 3 WHU players. A familiar sight unfortunately !

QPR vs WHUFC 01/10/2012 EPL

QPRWHU — Who would of thought it? The R’s and the Hammers in the EPL !

After the humiliation against Wigan, Sam brought out the big gins for the visit to Loftus Road. Cole up top, Carroll on the bench, Diame reinstalled in the middle, and unsurprisingly no Tompkins in the back four. No point embarrassing yourself on the Telly.

Ex Hammer Zamora started for the R’s unlike the shafted Rob Green.

For two teams that play football, the game started quite ugly, and turned into a head tennis match. After 3 minutes RVT fot the ball on right, got through a challenge, and put a cross in for Nolan. Big Kev made a mess of the shot, straight onto Jarvis’ head, and into the net. Cheers, 0-1 to the Hammers.

After that, the next 15 were end to end with no end ! WHU seemed to be quite “agricultural” in the tackle, and luckily Mark Clattenburg was light on the yellows. On 19 minutes QPR had a free kick that put some panic into the West Ham box, and ended up with Jussi sparking out Winston Reid. Having had a concussion last season, and the fact he wasn’t moving a lot, they were a little concerned, and they subbed him off for Tompkins. Winston left on his feet, which hopefully is good news.

Once again CC seems to be getting penalised for no reason. Maybe Sam needs to have a chat with the refs, a la Mr Rogers at Liverpool. Noble seemed more settled, must be his new wallet balancing him out.

On 33 Joey O’Brien went off with an injury for McCartney. So, with about half an hour gone, we are two defenders down. What to do, eh? How about a goalmouth scramble, an excellent cross from Tompks, and a smart finish from Ricardo Vaz Te, for his first of the season. Happy birthday RVT!

With 5 to go, from a QPR free kick, Cisse gets a nice volley in only for Jussi to push over the bar. This was the first time he had really been called into action in the half. The weight he seems to have lost since he signed for WHU helped him him get up to it, I’m sure!

After 5 minutes of extra time, WHU go into the break 2 up, in a game that was really even to be fair. WHU pushed a little more and were harder in the tackle.

The second half started in West Ham’s favour, with Diame forcing a save from Cesar, and QPR seemingly all over the place.

After 55 minutes Mark highes made a double sub and brought on Adel Taarabt, who waited 70 seconds before rifling in a screamer into the top right hand corner. 1-2 to the Irons. Then the game livened up as you would expect, and WHU started to look concerned., picking up needless yellows, and running balls out for no reason. Jussi made a brilliant save from Granero, only then to get booked for time wasting.

On 67 Carlton Cole missed a stone wall sitter by putting wide, after Nolan picked up a loose pass, and put him through perfectly. Definitely a man not in form.His reward was also a yellow, along with Kevin Nolan who did no more than question the ref (this is the job of the captain, isn’t it ?). With the game going against us bit by bit (another save by Jussi, after a good long range shot by Cisse), BFS played the trump card and brought on Andy Carroll in lieu of CC for the last 20. The big question now was “Is he fit ?”. With 15 to go, Diakite (a second half sub) got his second yellow, and the R’s were down to 10. Once again the pendulum swung the way of WHU. QPR were tired and this didn’t help. Carroll made a nice knock down to RVT, whose strike pulled a fantastic tip on to the bar from Cesar. With 2 to go, Jussi made another good save from Zamora, to keep WHU ahead.

The extra time went up as 6 minutes, real Fergie time stuff, and QPR seemed back in the ascendancy. Howlett forced another Jussi save from distance. James Tompkins made it 8 yellows for West Ham. Just before the end, Carroll took a ball down, turned and got a shot off, and was unlucky to get a rebound. That was about the end of the match, and WHU recorded their first away win of the season, and went 7th in the league.

Not a lot to winge about tonight, but once again selection is odd. O’Brien in front of George Mac. Really ? Training must show things i’ve never seen. Noble seemed more content, with Nolan ,and Diame, moving well around him.

While we are blowing smoke up ourselves, lets stay grounded. We seem to play well against teams at our level, but we will struggle against anyone who wants to pass and move quickly (as proved by Taarabt). Cisse and Bobby Z were never going to set fire to the grass tonight. I said earlier in the season 10 points before Arsenal would do us well. We have 11, and our real season starts on Saturday. We might need to watch the discipline as well, with 8 yellow cards !

What was encouraging is that we seem to be getting more shots off, because we are playing further up the pitch. Andy Carroll’s return was unexpected and welcome.

The crowd must get a mention. Its so good to hear on old school London derby crowd, with both sides going for it.

MOTM: Noble played well, AC looked the part when he came on, but Jussi Jaaskelainen kept WHU in the game. Much to Rob Green’s disappointment, I’m sure.

WHU vs Sunderland 22/09/2012 – EPL

I said at the start of the season that we needed 10 points before the visit of Arsenal, and we started off the day being in line with that, and with a chance of going 3rd in the prem, as anyone who is any good was playing on the Sunday.

With that in mind i set off towards London with a confident feeling of another 1-0 win ,a la Villa. The journey to UP was a little disjointed as i got to the Pub in Forest Gate to be told i had missed the lads by 5 minutes, and they were on their way. Now i know they are old boys, but they do know their mobiles are not just for answering !

Anyway, a quick trip on the 58 later, and I arrive at the Theater of Mediocrity in time for a beer (which they had got me, despite having no idea where i was !) and kick off. The game started as these seem to , with a bit of feeling out from both sides. WHU seemed to be on top, but not too keen on pushing forwards. WHU seemed to be happy playing across the back without advancing and this is one thing that gets my goat. If you want to move it around down the pitch fine, but when it gets back to the anchor (in this case, Collins), then make sure that we are further up the pitch than when that phase starts. Anything else is a waste of time. Anyway, Collins seemed to be a little uncomfortable with this. So uncomfortable infact, he tried a hollywood ball out to Taylor, miss hit it, and gave is straight to Larrson, who then put in a beauty for Fletcher to get onto, nuts Collins and put the Black Cats one up. Arrrrgggg. This is the second time this season Collins has given away goals for no reason, and still he starts in front of Tompkins.

This put WHU on the back foot for some time, but with about 10 to go in the half we started to put the chances in with Vaz Te missing a sitter on the back post, while in the air. CC put a header just over, and the “athletic” Kevin Nolan forced a great save from Mignolet in the Mackem’s goal, with an overhead volley.

WHU go in at the break with a goal deficit, but seem to be capable, if they push on a bit. But there are too many loose balls from RVT and Noble needs to play further up the pitch.

The second half was a different story with WHU having all the game, but no clinical play near the Sunderland penalty box. CC was very quiet, and the crowd are getting on his back again. I have defended this guy to the end, but they now have a point, he is getting support from Nolan and RVT, but is not making the moves that a premier league striker needs too. Along with the fact that Bramble and O’Shea were playing well, meant he had to up his game.

The lack of incisive play was apparent to BFS as well, so he brought on Jarvis and Benayuon just before the 60 minute mark. This changed things massively. Jarvis forced Gardner into an early yellow, which gave him free reign for the rest of the game, and without the stats to hand, I would say he put in more crosses in 30 minutes than the rest of the team in the whole of the game.

With 90 gone and our pressure unrelenting it looked like just a bad day at the office, right up until another Jarvis cross led to some toing and froing, and ended up with Kevin Nolan getting on the end of a loose ball to equalize. Chicken dances all round, and a deserved point for the Hammers.

Martin O’Neill suggested his team should of won 3-0. I have no idea what game he is watching. Without his centre backs he would of got an hiding. No Idea what Sam said, but i imagine it was along the lines of hard fought, no easy games,etc, etc.

So what do we do now? Sam needs to start Jarvis. Why pay 11 mil for a player of that quality and put him on the bench. Hopefully we dont have another Baldock on our books. We are not Man City and every pound has to count.

RVT. I have suggested elsewhere, that this lad is not Premier League quality, and yesterday was more proof. He looks OK when he has space, but with quicker players closing him down, he was terrible. He doesn’t have the quick thinking a player of his undoubtable talent should have. Maybe a Jan exit back to the championship for a few mil will help everyone. Talking of slow thinkers, Mark Noble. He may be Hammer of the year, he may be a local boy, but he is not irreplaceable. He takes too long on the ball, and seems to always go sidewards and backwards. Now with Diame in the team, he should play deeper, but he’s almost a 5th defender. And his obsession with taking every free kick and corner is starting to grate, especially with Nolan, Taylor and Jarvis on the pitch ! Apparently he’s getting a new 5 year contract on Monday, but if someone comes in with silly money we should move him on.

CC needs to buck up. Obviously the Carroll situation has pissed him off, but come on Carlton, move about a bit. You were an international 2 years ago, where’s it all gone ?

SAM: Jarvis must start, no negotiation, he was the best crosser of a ball last season in the prem. Why bench him now? Also Collins need to be given a kick up the arse. Play Tomks in mid week, and if he does the business, then let him start against QPR next Monday.

So for MOTM, Reid and Diame were again solid and played really well, but for his support play, his attempts at goal and keeping our unbeaten home record this season, it has to be the newer, fitter, Kevin Nolan.

_63054361_nolan_reuters — Captain Chicken to the rescue.

England VS Ukraine WC Qualifier 11/09/2012

After the easy win last week, this game was always going to prove a little more tricky for Roy’s boys. The close 1 nil win against the hosts of the Euros showed that the Ukraines were no push over and England would need to be on their best.

Without their Talisman, Mr Shevchenko, Ukraine started a little cagey. With our untried midfield (Gerrard and Lampard, lol) we did too. Seriously, these guys have had nearly 10 years to get it right, and just fail every time. It has to be egos, but that has no place at this level, either they were both too far forward or too far back, normally back. How we think we can punish teams at home when both our central midfielders are in our half, i really dont know.

One other surprise was Mr Cleverly at no 10. Number 10 says to me, Maradona and Cryuff (Rooney ?), not someone who hasn’t yet scored for his club. This is not his fault, but when Sturridge was on the bench does suggest some odd thinking from the manager.

Defoe had a stunner disallowed after an alleged misdemeanor, and that was about it for England’s first half, outside of Cleverly missing two sitters. The Ukrainians, although equally as drab scored a sreamer just before half time to go in 1 up, thanks to Konoplyanka.

For the second half no subs were made and England carried on as usual with no one utilising Defoe and trying to play around the back. The Ukrainians just held up and moved it on (albeit to nothing). Cleverly was finally put out of his misery on the hour mark, and some small gains were made as Wellback started to run about a bit and cause trouble. Then Sturridge replaced the Ox (who was very inefficient) , and once again England stepped up. Wellbeck had already tried to claim one penalty when he got the second, and Lamps put away his 27th goal in 93 appearances for the national side.

Then with hardly any time left England press on for victory, until Mr Gerrard capped off a poor performance with a very mistimed tackle in no mans land to get a red and seal the game at 1-1.

So the honeymoon is over for Hodgson and the real work starts. He has had a favour with Gerrard being out for at least one game as he can make a new captain, and feel easier about dropping Gerrard if he feels the need. Who’s it to be?, probably Lampard, as the best of a bad bunch. Hart seems obvious but i’m never too sure about keepers being captains, but he has done it before at U-21 level.

Rooney is needed, if fit, and Wellbeck should step up as a starter. There is still a place for Defoe, but only as part of a two up top. This leaves Tom Cleverly. Just too old for the U-21, but definitely out of his depth in this company and especially near the front of the team. Also the Ox needs to to improve after blasting onto the scene.

In short Roy needs to hand out some hairdryers and get the team focused again. I feel he has spent the summer blowing smoke up them, to encourage a team rather than building one. Thats OK for one tournament, but we now have a campaign to manage.

San Marino next. No surely not. Stranger things have happened………………………………….

Obligatory Wembley Photo. Ukraine in Blue !

Moldova vs England 07/09/2012 WC Qualifier

England beat Moldova 5 -0 last Friday. This in itself is not a big deal (lets face it, it was against a team who didn’t even have names on their shirts, and none of those names had they had been there, were household).

England played well, and showed they had the talent to comfortably beat a weaker team. Great. There was one interesting event that seemed to be downplayed though, and that is my subject today.

Mr Steven Gerrard.

Stevie G has for the last 10 years been once of the best players in Europe, without a doubt. He scores consistently , and seems to be able to play anywhere in any system, much to the relief I imagine of his boyhood club Liverpool FC. This is a guy that single handedly (alleged) won the European Cup and FA cup for Liverpool. The FA cup win against West Ham being the only time a player for the opposition has really broke my heart, as he had no right to score “that” goal in a game we dominated. Anyway, move on.

In the lead up to the Euros, he was in and out of club and country teams with injury. In the Euros he was England’s best player, and a stand out leader. This season however, he looks a shadow of himself, and I’m wondering if we are now seeing a quick decline, a la Michael Owen, Ian Wright, etc. On Friday he came off at half time, and left Lampard on his own. A Lampard, who has won the European cup this year (as Captain), and didn’t play in the Euros through injury. Who also put his stamp all over the game, with and without the armband on.

For many years, people have said Gerrard and Lamps cannot play together. This is utter nonsense, they can, it just their egos cannot. For too many years Gerrard has been told he is better, because of his swashbuckling around in a red shirt. All those years of carrying a team are now showing, as they did last year on Jamie Carragher, and are also starting to show on Reina this year. Whereas Frank has just got on with his game of keeping Chelsea ticking along. Don’t forget, Mourinho wanted the two of them together at Chelsea, and he isn’t usually wrong.

“But Gerrard is England Captain!”, i hear you say. By default says I. Terry was too much of a liability to be captain, Ferdinand was too absent through injury, and for the Euros, so was Lampard. This left a lad who has experience of being a leader at the highest level. Not a bad shout at all. And so he played his heart out in the Euros knowing it was potentially his last chance. And now can make half a game, in a situation where he wasn’t stretched at all.

Now, Hodgson is in an situation, does he drop his captain, who in essence has done nothing wrong, for a guy who is about the same age, and the same may happen to him soon. Its a problem all round. The answer lays in the future, but there is no stand out candidate, except maybe Joe Hart, but goal keepers and armbands is a whole new debate ! I’m sure he would rather not drop him to save face with the captaincy, which has been a fiercely debated theme over the last couple of years, for one reason and another.

Watching Liverpool so far this season, its obvious that Shelby is being preferred, and Sterling and Joe Allen will soon be as well. These are average players who maybe taking over G’s place in the team. The lad is knackered, plain and simple.

So from world class to back of the class. Its a shame to see, but a reality. The key question is will he be around for the World Cup? Who knows ?

lamps and gerrard — Take this armband Frank, it’s slowing me down !

I’m off to the Ukraine game tomorrow, from which I might be able to spread some more light on the subject.

Swansea City VS WHUFC 25/08/2012 EPL

Last week, i blogged about us getting away with it, this week it showed.

The Swans trumped QPR 5-0 last week, and for successive weeks they gave successive WHU (past and present) goalkeepers a torrid time.

I watched the first half in the house, and listened to the second in the car, but i dont need to be there to comment on this game.

So the game. We started Collins again in defence and gave record signing Matt Jarvis Taylors berth on the left. RVT was dropped in favour of Tompkins who started in the middle of the park, to allow Nolan and Jarvis to support Cole.

We started off, OK at best, but soon the cracks started to show. But after 20 Jussi made an absolute howler, rediverting a cross under his body and into the goal. Nine minutes later, Collins passed back a ball so poor it has no home, and Michu ran onto it to put the Swans 2 up. We started to pick up a little, with some interesting corners, and Nolan came close just before half time.

Nothing changed on the second half, it was all one way traffic ,with Graham getting the third and final goal in the 69th minute.

So what went wrong.

1. Tompkins in the midfield. This was tried last year and was OK at best, as the opposition wasn’t good enough to exploit it. However Swans just moved around him, once they realised he’s not exactly Iniesta on the mobility front.

2 No Vaz Te, a negative move again. Against a team who love to push forward, surely a pacey winger with some skill should be playing. Ahhhh, Jarvis is already playing and you cannot have 2 on the pitch until it goes wrong. NO Sam wrong, wrong wrong. This was a game we were probably going to lose anyway, so why not go for it.

3. Poor old Carlton. Again left in no mans land, about 30m from any other Hammer player. Nolan drifted backwards, unless we had a corner or free kick, and if CC did hold it up, it took and age to get to him. I have moaned and moaned about BFS’s inability to play this lad properly, and its really starting to get to me. He needs support and balls on the deck, end of.

I really hope Tompks doesn’t piss off this week, but if he is going to misused every week, then you cannot blame him. Baldock did and fair play to him. Who’s next, Maynard ?

Personally , i think we had the tools to give the Swans a good game, but Sam made the mistakes, along with Collins and Jussi.

Bad day at the office? hope so………..

Soccer - npower Football Championship - West Ham United v Portsmouth - Upton Park — NO JAMES. SHIIIIITTTTT !

Heres a useless fact (lost hammers ?:)). The last three -including the current- coaching set up at Liverpool had ex Hammers personnel in. Steve Clarke, Kevin Keen and now Mike Marsh. And look how well they are doing !