West Ham 1 Tottenham 2; Why West Ham lost.

Let's start with Cole. Yes the backpass was dreadful, yes he should hang his head in shame (which he did!), yes it brought Tottenham back into the game...but so what? The goal he scored came out of nothing and was absolutely brilliant. The one cancels out the other so Cole's goal and mistake are irrelevant.

So let's move on to Spector. I will say here and now that I called it. Check the site history and you will see a post entitled Spector v Lennon, ouch. And so it proved. The depressing thing is that Spector was done on his stronger foot. Fair enough if Lennon had skinned him and crossed for somebody to score but, actually, Lennon turned inside onto Spector's right foot and the Wank still missed the tackle. But so what? That isn't what ultimately cost us the game, I wish it was! Lennon did very well and anyway individual errors happen, you lose games sometimes because of cock ups. We are all human. And that mistake apart, defensively, Spector coped well. And Faubert was largely excellent!

So if it wasn't Cole and it wasn't Spector, why did we lose the game? Was Green at fault for not getting a stronger hand on Lennon's shot? No. Was Cole at fault for not slotting home the first half chance? No. He was offside as the pass was played and he met it too close to Cudocini anyway. What about Collison for three bad choices when he had options? No, he is a kid and you can't expect young players to take the right option, the fact he got into a position to make the wrong choices in the first place is commendable. Then Stanislas? No. The kid did well for his age and was unlucky not to chalk up an assist.

So why? Why did we lose the game? How about Clattenbung then? No, he was sensible and could have sent off Parker if too quick to revert to yellow cards for "committed" tackles. The penalty claim was never a penalty; in fact Jimenez should have been booked.

So why? Why did we lose the game? Are Tottenham a better team? Yes. Is that why? No. They didn't look that much better on the day and only won because of our key frailty.

So why? Why did we lose? Was it Fanno entering into a pact with the Devil, did England's Ashes's victory open the door for a Tottenham victory? Maybe, but I am an agnostic so I doubt it.

So why? Why did we lose the game? Was it 'Arry the Albatross? Was it God's vengeance for slaying the Redknapp Saviour? Possibly but then you have to believe in a rational universe. I'm just back from the States so that is impossible.

So why? Why did we lose the game? Lack of effort? No. Lack of ability no? Poor tactics? No. So why, why?

Easy. We have one forward and a forward at that who scores great goals but isn't a great goal scorer. We lost today because Zola had to be happy with a point at 1-1 and sent on Kovac to cement the draw, because he knew he had no alternatives to win the game. Look at our bench and you can see why we lost it. And of course Dyer who, surprise surprise, was not fit for battle.

So why did we lose the game? Not because of Hines or Nouble but because Duxbury, Nani, the Board and Zola have cocked up so badly that two kids are our only offensive alternatives. Who was excellent today? Upson and Collins but if the powers to be had had their way, Collins would now be a Stoke player. That is a problem!

I warn you now, as I have been warning for two months now, unless we sign two forwards before the window closes, we will struggle. Sort it Duxbury. Sort it Nani. Sort it Zola. Because if we don't, we will only survive because of the weaknesses of others!

Performance Ratings:

Green 7; Faubert 8; Spector 6; Upson 8; Collins 8; Parker 7; Noble 6, Collison 6; Stanislas 6; Jimenez 6; Cole 7.

Duxbury 1, Nani 1, The Board 0

One last prediction: This Tottenham team will be in the running for the title and WILL finish in the top 4.