There Is A Cancer In Our Club

Another day, another defeat, this time with the reserves rolling over against Tottenham. Of course, reading Alex Dyer's drivel on the OS, you would struggle to know that Tottenham's kids had rubbed our collective noses in the dirt in a 5-2 hammering.

Tottenham played Jenas, Rose and Bostock, so it was no wonder they thumped us apparently. In fact, Dyer says we only lost because Tottenham "completed their passes or crosses and hit the target with their shots in the final third" more consistently than we did. In other words, they outplayed us as the 5-2 scoreline suggests. The problem is, Tottenham had 10 or 11 first team "reserves" not playing in the game. We struggled to name a substitute's bench against Liverpool and are relying on the likes of Lee, Payne, Edgar, Montano and Abdulla to come through over the next 2 to 3 seasons.

But Dyer, like Zola, saw merit in the boys' "attitude" which he couldn't fault. What a shame that we were lacking in technical ability and quality! Funny, I didn't know that the Academy of Football was based on attitude and effort over flair and technical skill!

From top to bottom, our club stinks at the moment. I don't include Sullivan and Gold in that, although the stench they give off in time may drown out anything we have smelt so far. The problem is the lack of backbone, the lack of honesty and the lack of leadership evident whenever a West Ham team takes the field of play. It doesn't matter if we lose, nobody is ever directly criticised! Of course it may be going on behind closed doors. The withdrawal of Stanislas at half time was a very public slap down for the kid, but the message generally seems to be, "If you run around for 90 minutes, that's ok". Win? Tacky business winning! Play good football? Asking an awful lot! Get into the opposition penalty box? Be fair, it was Anfield!

I am fed up with hearing the excuses for Zola. Since Christmas we have played well just thrice, away to Everton and Villa and at home to Birmingham. Yes we thumped Hull but they were piss poor and ended up with nine players! Yes we beat Sunderland but by no stretch of the imagination did we play well. We were dreadful against Bolton (home and away), Burnley, Wolves, Arsenal and Liverpool. We were poor against Spurs, Stoke, Portsmouth, Man Utd, Blackburn and Chelsea. That isn't unlucky, that is a TERRIBLE record and it is down to rank bad management: poor team selection, poor tactics and poor motivation. We are not a good team but we are not as bad as we look each time we take to the pitch. Zola reckons he sees something on the training pitch; so why don't we see it in a game?

The excuses have run out. Zola is a dead man walking. I just wish he had walked back in August, or had at least threatened to do so when he learned of the proposed sale of Collins. He proved himself a doormat by allowing that to happen and we have never recovered. Zola has got everything wrong and we are where we are, on the brink of relegation, because of his weakness and ineptitude. There is a cancer in our club and it needs to be cut out. Zola must go.