At half time I wrote, "Gabbidon needs to put his chin on Davies' elbow early in the second half to get the bastard sent off". Instead Upson got his head on the thug's boot and he headed the ball into his own net as part of the bargain! Of course, Davies shouldn't have been on the pitch by that stage!
Elmander scores two - that says it all! Has Elmander scored two in his whole Bolton career up to now? After a hugely impressive first half, as I warned in the half time report, it all went "tits up" big time! The Bolton goals were so typical. Knock down for Davies to run on to, Green in no man's land, Upson heading past his own keeper. Simple Elmander header from a Lee cross from the Bolton right for the second. Scramble in the box following Davies challenging for the ball in the air, ball falls to Elmander, who buries the chance for the third. Three Bolton sucker punches and we are flat on the canvass and counted out!
Nobody was particularly at fault for any of the goals, it was just general ineptitude at the back. Gabbidon was done in the air for both the first and the second, Ilunga was too slow to close Lee for the second and had the last scrambled touch before Elmander scored the third. Upson, of course, has to take responsibility for heading home the opener. Green didn't make an error as such but how many saves did he make, and he still conceded three goals!
Second half, after that stupidly soft own goal, the team went to pieces. We lost cohesion, we lost shape, we lost heart. It didn't help that we were down to 10 men for a few minutes as they tried to patch up Upson. That meant Bolton kept the initiative and pushed us onto the back foot at the very time we needed to go at them.
All the positives were in the first half so if we want to read the good news, look at the half time report. Second half, Parker got himself booked for a stupid foul from behind and won a very soft penalty which Noble converted. If only he had stepped forward for the one in the first half, everything could have been different!
Bottom of the table and the next two Prem games are against Manchester United and Chelsea. It looks like it is going to be a long winter!
Player ratings: Green 6; Faubert 5, Gabbidon 4, Upson 5, Ilunga 4; Barerra 7, Noble 5, Parker 6, Dyer 6; Piquionne 7 Cole 3 Subs: McCarthy 4, Reid 4
I think thats slightly harsh. There first was a foul and should never of been given, it was obvious. There 3rd,well davies had is elbow stuck in gabbidons throat, nobody is gonna defend that unless they are a dirty fqcker themself like vidic. I thinm we played ok, but only ok, room for improvement but much better than under zola
ReplyDeleteAppyAmmer
It wasn't a foul. Davies was fully entitled to go for the ball, Upson just put his nose in the way. It was at knee height for goodness sake!
ReplyDeletethink fair ratings i dont blame grant for that second half performance but we need a solid center back and has anyone ever thought of playing diamanti in his actual position as a striker and barerra is looking like one of the buys of year if he carrys that on and dyer made it through 70 mins but all in all have to buy a defender
ReplyDeletegot to disagree with that it was a foul Davies kicked Upson in face no contact with the and that meant rather than head the ball the ball hit Upson and went in doesn't matter that Davies went for the ball he missed like he often does and committed a foul he also fouled Gabbidon and palmed the ball to Almander for the 3rd and our penalty was given for a blatant shove on Parker nothing soft about it at all Kevin Davies is a thugs and shouldn't be on a football pitch he's very devious but still seems to get extreme leniency from referees and before you say no I would not like to see him in a West Ham shirt he has no place in the modern game
ReplyDeleteDid that absolutely incredible CM scotty Parker not rescue you??
ReplyDeleteOh dear - wonder why his astonishing £15m + talents at over 30 didn't save the day in the mould of best or hoddle?
cheers dean you saw that as i did then. I agree with alot of what hf says but on this time i think he is wrong. Totally agreed about davies and he sooner he retires the better
ReplyDeleteAppyAmmer
Mark Noble 5??!?!
ReplyDeleteScott Parker 6??!?!
Did you watch the game? Scott Parker didn't try, his worst game by far in a West Ham shirt. While Mark Noble played really well, his passing and tackling were spot on today. As for your ratings on Gabbidon and Upson.
I don't know why your bizarre match ratings still surprise me
Dan, I did watch the game yes. First half, I would have given Parker 8 and Noble 6, second half neither functioned effectively. The ratings are based on both.
ReplyDeleteWhat is wrong with the Gabbidon and Upson ratings? Neither had a lot to do first half but what they did, they did well. Unfortunately, Upson then gave Bolton the lead after Gabbidon was done in the air by Elmander. Gabbidon was also supposed to be marking Elmander for the second. So, do you think the ratings are too high or too low?
Second half was shocking. Our second panalty was a clear shove on parker and i thought the ref was spot on for awarding it.
ReplyDeleteHowever, i agree with HF on the first goal. It should definitely have stood. True, Upson took a boot to the face but if his face is at knee height this is always going to be a danger.
We cannot continue this habbit of falling to pieces as soon as we conceed 1 goal. Hopefully we will raise our game against Manure and Chelski and take at least a point from one of those. If Fulham can...