Credit where credit is due, this is a new West Ham United. I know the opposition are soft but with West Ham that doesn't matter. On a cold November night north of the Watford Gap, we would normally be favourites to lose against a team of blind amputees; but one chance in the first half apart, Miserableborough hardly had a sniff. This wasn't lucky like at Coventry nor was it ugly like at Brighton, this was controlled, slick, clinical and ultra professional. This was the performance of a team that believes in itself - and we haven't been able to say that for a long, long time now!
Faubert played well. Taylor played well. Noble played well. Diop nearly finished off a wonderful move that featured well over ten passes. Demel had a good debut. Tomkins looked good. McCartney was efficient. Faye was Faye. Unfussy and effective. Green was good. Freddie the Fly Tipper scored, and so did Carlton, rounding the keeper before doing so. O'Brien came on and did well. And Nolan played.
Some will be disappointed that Southampton won but, in a strange way, that result suited us too. The gap is substantial and the teams below must be turning their minds to securing a play off pace. Had Southampton stumbled, Hull and Leeds and Leicester would have sniffed a chance. But looking at the table tonight they will feel daunted.
And better still, Cardiff made it through to the semifinal of the League Cup. Good on them, Speed would be proud, but it isn't going to help them to stay focused on the league is it?
Well done to Doctor Evil, even if he has sold our soul, along with his own, to the Devil!
Somehow I knew one of your two predictions would come true HF. I am so relieved we didn't lose 3-0.
ReplyDeleteAs for Big Sam, well, he must be doing something right... It may not be pretty but we are exactly where we would wish to be in terms of points almost half-way through the season.
Another superb night for West Ham Sav!
ReplyDeleteI love the fact that cole is rolling. Yes it's championship but still nice to see the guy back on point.
ReplyDelete"It's wet, it's cold, it's late November, it's a long way North so....... the clever money is on Middlesborough to win by three clear goals!"
ReplyDeleteHmmm.... astonishing, intuitive foresight that!?.... NOT!
Incidentally...I hate to keep appearing pedantic... but there's only ONE 'o' in Middlesbrough man!!
Typically, you missed out the last line, "My money is on a 3-0 defeat or a 2-0 victory!" Not a bad call! You could have had 8-1 plus for both results showing a nice little profit!
ReplyDeleteYou are right about the correct spelling of Miserableborough however! Why do they call themselves Boro?
Theo Saurus oh how I love your work. It's so good to see your contributions. Welcome TGGC, you are a breath of fresh air.
ReplyDeleteCome on you bastard, what have you done with him, and how did you get control of HF's blog??
ReplyDelete2235, praising yourself again, you sad, sad, sad little man.
ReplyDeleteLOL You see Andy, happy to praise when it is appropriate!
Even on a night like this where we have picked up good points at one of our main rivals you can't avoid a dig at Allardyce can you? Sold his and our soul to the devil? Give it a rest. He's done well for us- admit it and give him a break. We're organised and winning games - be happy like proper fans are.
ReplyDeleteYour main problem (you have several btw) is that once you've made your mind up, you're like a broken record- you don't change your mind (eg- Allardyce, Parker's performances for Spurs, etc) and it just makes you sound like a stubborn know nothing muppet. So like the rest of us have to, admit you get things wrong sometimes. It's liberating HF!
Well done West Ham! Well done Allardyce! COYI!
I didn't get it wrong, I predicted 2-0! And I think you will find that I praise Allardyce in this article, you just choose to make an issue out of the last line.
ReplyDeleteAllardyce OUT and who are you to tell me I'm not a proper fan for that bollocks to you I love West Ham and I don't like Allardyce never have never will
ReplyDeleteMy opinion and possibly HF's opinion as well now if you can explain how that makes me "not a proper fan" I'd love to hear the reasoning
CARLTON GOAL!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteDean with an "e" what's that all about? doesn't it actually mean that you're really a Deanne?
ReplyDeleteNot heard of Deane Smalley then? Thin knowledge of football you have there!
ReplyDeletekevin in manchester writes..
ReplyDeleteseven away wins- 18 goals for;5 against.ASTONISHING! I can't ever remember a west ham side, second flight or not, that has been as resilient and organised as this one.
Last month I said we needed to emulate Newcastle this time last year and win six on the bounce-OK we spliced the run with a draw - let's hope we don't follow it with a rash of draws like they did.
On paper, given the way we are playing, only Birmingham looks tricky out of our next five- here's hoping
22:51 - 22:53 - 22:55 - that's a coincidence or same person perhaps?
ReplyDeleteDeane,
ReplyDeleteI mean that fans are generally happy when their team win. I am. Aren't you? Would you have rather have lost tonight so that HF and you could carp on about Allardyce again?
I had big reservations when Allardyce arrived but he's doing a good job- we stand a good chance of getting out of this league. The football hasn't been great, but it's been getting better and the results are slowly building confidence. We're moving in the right direction and have to give the manager credit fr his part in that. Or are we going to begrudge what he's done, and hope it all goes wrong so we can bring in yet another manager to moan about.
Two things:
ReplyDelete1) Out of interest, did you watch the game? And if so, where?
2) Middlesbrough were unbeaten at home until today, I wouldn't call that soft.
What a great night. Didn't get a very clear view of Cole's finish from where we were standing, but looked cool headed and clinical - would love to see it - anyone know where I might see it online maybe?
ReplyDeleteI thought Piquionne did well on his own up front, justifying his start. Faubert's a new man under Allardyce; fast, coming inside and getting into some real dangerous positions, but I'd love to see him be more confident in front of goal. The substitutions were well timed, as we were tiring. Cole was lively when he came on, and changed the game. His run which led to their goalie handling outside the box, prompted a deafening chorus of bubbles, and there was clearly going to be one winner from that point on.
I think you're a little harsh on Nolan. Sure he's not the fastest player, but he's smart, scores goals and, as a captain, a vast improvement on Upson.
Finally, I reckon special praise is due for Tomkins, who did very well even after he was clattered into.
John J, Ripon
How many home games had they won? 3 from 9! The whole division is soft!
ReplyDeleteJust back from the game Fanno and what an enjoyable night at the Riverside it was and I can’t remember too many of them apart from Parkers late winner a few seasons back. Now you know how much I rate Tomkins but he was very shaky in the first half but was top notch in the 2nd. It was a well deserved victory and we played some nice stuff at times especially in the first half though there were a few occasions when we passed back instead of getting a cross in. Standout players for me were Taylor, Faye and my MOTM was Kevin Nolan.
ReplyDeleteGood to hear Rev, your son must be delighted! No school tomorrow either I would guess?
ReplyDeleteJohn J, switch on the BBC! Showing our goals after the League Cup warm up!
Kevin, it is truly amazing!
ReplyDeleteYes no school for him but work for me lol and it has been a long day but a very good one!
ReplyDeleteWe were at Hull the other week and I can’t remember the last time we saw 2 consecutive away wins and no goals conceded.
Throw a sicky mate. In a state of shock!
ReplyDeletejust got back from the game, it was a cold wet, tuesday night up north and we didn't just win but we won well, the first 10 minutes we played them off the park, noble was passing it about for fun, which led to doubling up on the left and piqy scoring the all important opening goal, they got back into the game a bit but second half they never came at us until the last 5 minutes and we caught them on the break, nice finish by cole. demel had a solid debut and with diop in the team it was like land of the giants, nice to see matty taylor back aswel, his set pieces will be key in the next few month, ive just about got the use of my fingers back, bloody cold in boro
ReplyDeleteGood on yer Daz.
ReplyDeleteUp the Irons!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, watched the goals again on BBCi player. Piquionne's goal looked even better on the telly, and Cole was cool indeed.
ReplyDeleteJohn J
The WH highlights are here at 55 mins:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0186c0d/The_League_Cup_Show_2011_2012_29_11_2011/
23:22 - 16 games unbeaten at home isn't soft.... if anything is soft it's your head.
ReplyDeleteIt is if all the visiting teams are soft too! Anyway, just three home wins out of nine is soft, regardless of the opposition!
ReplyDeleteIf I didn't know better I'd say it was the menopause - mmmmwwwwaaahhhaaaahhhaaaaa!
ReplyDeleteIt's Europe’s most competitive second division.....
ReplyDelete