West Ham 1 Wolves 3 - Zola Must Go

Please don't expect a match report. A Chelsea supporter (decent guy) tried to talk to me about the game on the way back on the tube and I was honestly struggling to hold back the tears - his wife realised and gave me that look that kind hearted females give to sad looking puppies. Over the 94 minutes of the match I moved through hope to fear to despair to complete and utter incomprehension. I honestly have no idea who played the pass for Franco's goal, by that stage I was in a total daze, utterly dumbfounded by what I had witnessed.

We weren't poor tonight, we were utterly and completely abysmal. That was the worst I have ever seen us play. There was no shape, no skill, no vision and, most seriously of all, no passion. Not on the pitch anyway. I think I am right in saying that we didn't pick up a single yellow card. In a crucial relegation BATTLE where we were fighting for our Premiership lives, nobody in Claret and Blue was sufficiently pumped up to take out a Wolves player, even when we were two or three goals down and facing utter humiliation. Can you imagine Bonds or Dicks or Repka surrendering so tamely as that shower tonight? The crowd turned on the players at 3-0 and chanted "You're not fit to wear the shirt" and whilst I did not join in, I could not condemn them. With the score at 3-0 I actually saw Diamanti SMILING!

The only player who looked up for the game was Franco. He may be slow, but at least he put in a shift after he came on as a sub and he thoroughly deserved his goal. As for the rest, well what can you say? Surely everybody now understands that the fault lies with Zola?

Tactically, we were inept again tonight. Typically, Zola went with the defensive midfield formation of Kovac, Parker and Behrami, none of whom offer any form of threat in the final third. Kovac did what Kovac does - pass sideways and backwards. Parker did was Parker does - turn in circles and run up blind allies. And Behrami did was Behrami does - chase around the park like a dog after a stick. Meanwhile Diamanti did was Diamanti does - flit in and out of the game and fail utterly in his defensive duties. Until somebody plays Diamanti in the hole, we will never see the best of him. Come half time, Zola made the change he should have made before kick off, sending on Stanislas but, surprise, surprise, he played him on the wrong flank again. Diamanti and Stanislas proceeded to cut inside into a congested midfield every time they received the ball and Wolves said, "Thanks very much, this is exactly what we expected."

Zola, meanwhile, cut a pathetic and forlorn figure on the touchline. Remember Roeder standing on the touchline with his arms folded whilst the world collapsed around him? Remember McClaren under his brolly as Croatia took us apart? Well Zola had his hands in his pockets but looked equally as impotent tonight. He wasn't giving directions to his players, he was simply standing there, utterly and completely bemused and out of his depth. The guy is killing us. He is taking us down. If anybody defends him after this showing then they need their heads testing.

As I left the ground I heard in my head the final stanza of Eliot's "The Hollow Men":

This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.