Allardyce Offers Still More Lame Excuses

Well, come the end of the day, the result wasn't as disastrous as it could have been, thanks to every other result going in our favour, including the draws. Hull Tigers are showing what we could be achieving with a half decent squad but, of course, we haven't got one.

So Allardyce has hit the excuse button yet again. Now there's a surprise! This time it's the injuries, the lack of recovery time and the fans that are to blame. The injuries that have deprived him of his "All the eggs in one basket" investment in Andy Carroll and that has left him without a single centre back.

Fair enough, some may argue, but others might question why we only have three centre backs at the club, meaning that one injury or suspension takes us down to the bare bones. Is that clever planning? Is that good management? It aint in my book!

And then there is the problem at the other end of the pitch, with no cover for Carroll until Carlton was reclaimed from the junk yard. So, I've asked it before and I will ask it again, why did Allardyce spend money on Downing when we obviously needed cover for other positions? Why aren't any of the journalists brave enough to ask that question on camera?

Once again we had three midfielders on the bench with two out injured and five on the pitch. But three centre back injuries cripple us, and one striker injury leaves us limp up front. And remember, if pushed, Tomkins and O'Brien can play in midfield as well! And personally I would rather see Rat on the left wing to Jarvis. So why, why, why was Downing bought?

So, to today's fiasco. West Brom must be pretty poor because we scored three goals, but if we are honest, they were the better team on the day and deserved to win. Our opening goal was polished route one, with Jussi's long kick headed on by Carlton and then played through deftly by Nolan to Joe Cole, whose shot beat Foster at the near post. It was well taken, but it was a keeper error.

Then came Tomkins' injury and it was only a matter of time before West Brom equalised. When Anelka did score, it was all so easy, with a pass between our make shift centre backs and a simple finish for the anti Semitic saluting Muslim. One was always likely to bring two, and so it was no surprise when a dozy Demel allowed a header to rebound off his body tamely, allowing Fatwa Anelka to bury another easy opportunity.

The second half then didn't go to script. Allardyce declined to go 4-4-2 and sent on Mogadon Maiga to win this must win game. Desperate times call for desperate measures! But Maiga nearly obliged, courtesy of a dozy linesman and an even dozier Foster. Mogadon was offside by half a yard and his shot deflected off of Nolan's hand before beating the former England keeper's Adrian like attempt to save.

And no sooner was it 2-2 than it was 3-2! A deep cross found Maiga leaping salmon like and heading back across goal to Nolan, who scissor kicked into the inviting net from 5 yards. A typical Nolan finish illustrating why, even now, Allardyce dare not drop him.

Could we hold on for 20 minutes? We couldn't even hold on for one minute! Demel stood off of Berahino who said thanks very much and buried the chance beautifully. 3-3 and with West Ham players looking shattered, it was time to pray that West Brom would not take their chances. And fortunately Berahino struck the post with a free kick stupidly and brutally conceded by Diame, who had been running on empty throughout the second half.

So the must win game was drawn and Allardyce blamed the fans, the injuries and tiredness. We are still alive but we are in deep deep trouble courtesy of the stupid decisions made in the summer.

Player ratings: Jussi 5; Demel 1, Tomkins 5, McCarthorse 5, Rat 6; Diame 4, Noble 5, Nolan 7, Joe Cole 6, Jarvis 1; Carlton 5 Subs O'Brien 4, Miaga 7, Collison 4