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Carlton Cole sending off a disgrace

December 23, 2012 By Stevo 3 Comments

carlton cole gets his marching orders

It wasn’t exactly a crunch match and the Hammers could have even got one over the Toffies if it weren’t for the ref. I still can’t believe he made Carlton Cole walk after his tackle in which the Everton player got straight back up. It may have been better to stay down on the deck as it would have made for some great commentary but the Carlton Cole sending off was just farcical. It was like watching something from the Benny Hill show (those that can remember anyway). I was expecting clowns to run amok on the pitch or something!

Ok, so we lost in a very controversial game in which 2 red cards were dished out. One was a complete mistake and the other one was to say sorry to West Ham. The Everton side started off well and got into their groove early on with West Ham looking a bit out of sorts.

The Hammers received a wake up call when Leon Osman scored from 6 yards with a guided header from a corner, only to see it ruled off for a foul on the Jussi. From then on West Ham woke up and found first gear.

Both James Collins and Winston Reid were the Irons’ pillars of strength at the back and did a good job of preventing any unwanted Everton players from creeping into the box. Both sides tried to attack going in the break but it was West Ham with 14 minutes on the clock via Carlton Cole that managed to break the deadlock.

The second saw much of the same with West Ham starting out slowly like the first half. What I don’t understand is how a physically big side like West Ham United can let Everton’s Steven Pienaar and Leon Osman, who stand at  5ft 7in and 5ft 8in respectively get the better of them . No wonder David Moyes was all luvvy dovey after the match when he said:

“Leon Osman — if ever there was an England player, that was him out there today.
 He was top notch. He turned on the ball and dribbled past people. He and Steven were excellent but Osman was on a different level.
“Our football was magic today. Even in the first half. So much so that at half-time I couldn’t really think of much to change.
“All we were lacking were shots on target and goals scored. My players showed great character to come back the way they did because you need it to do so against one of Big Sam’s teams.”

With 2o minutes gone of the second half Everton warned the Hammers that they meant business with a goal by Victor Anichebe.  Steven Pienaar’s delicate cross from the left that found the head of Anichebe to flick it past a stranded Jaaskelainen from 6 yards out.

That should have been the writing on the wall but the Hammers took no note. To West Ham’s defense I would say that the Hammers were gradually getting into the game more and i thought they were likely to score the winner. That was until on the 67th minute when the ref saw red.

Cole sending off

Ref Anthony Taylor of Cheshire, to the amazement of the 35,000 crowd at the Boleyn, sent off Carlton Cole for a rash challenge. It was little more than a yellow card and a slap on the wrist for a “possible dangerous challenge”. That my friends, changed the course of the game completely and left Everton to run riot with their two super midgets.

Seven minutes after the Cole sending off, Osman cleverly spotted Pienaar advancing and cut the ball back for his team-mate to tap it in from six yards out and thus score the winner. To be fair to Fulham, if Carlton Cole had been on the pitch he wouldn’t have been anywhere near to stop either Osman nor Pienaar from slotting the ball home. So really the Carlton Cole sending off didn’t influence too much Everton’s winner.

West Ham could have equalised but messed up with chances from sub Maiga and captain Kevin Nolan going begging in the dying moments of the game. I expected Nolan to do more but it wasn’t happening for the skipper – a bad day at the horses I’m guessing.

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West Ham snatch a draw at The Hawthorns

December 16, 2012 By Stevo 1 Comment

It was a poor result but West Ham managed to come away with a point at their nil nil draw with West Brom at The Hawthorns today. Both teams failed to get on the scoreboard today and West Brom looked more the likely side to get away with a win.

It didn’t happen though and West Ham conserve their eleventh place in the league table. It’s been a few hard weeks for the Hammers and I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt. We have players out injured and the subs bench looked like it was full of reserves as a few of the players have never seen Premiership action before.

west brom v west ham united

West Brom were up for it after a run of three defeats in a row and James Morrison came ever so close in the second half after hitting the crossbar not once but twice!

There was also a stage where the Brummies were all over the Hammers like Russian Migs chasing an F14 that had just entered their airspace. There seemed to be no let up and I think snatching a point away at The Hawthorns suddenly looks like a good result. Steve Clarke’s boys are now in a healthy 6th position and West Ham stay at 11th. It’s the wrong side of the table but as Jussi pointed out “West Ham have injuries and have had a few weeks of playing strong opponents.”

But it was West Ham who threatened first with a header from Matt Taylor going over from a Carlton Cole cross. After the initial Hammer threat, it was the hosts who grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck and took control.

Surprisingly, it was West Ham who created the more viable chances of the game. Just before half time, Collins knocked the ball down for Winston Reid to volley over from just five yards out. Moments after, West Brom goalkeeper Boaz Myhill had to be on his toes as he parried a stinging shot by Carlton Cole. It was such a powerful shot, the keeper was lucky not to be blasted into the back of the net with the ball!

After the break the game went ballistic after a slow moving first half. Jaaskelainen had to save from Zoltan Gera and Morrison found the Hammers’ crossbar with a back heel volley from a corner kick.

Morrison found the crossbar again, this time on 74 minutes from a header coming from a corner from Brunt.

With 4 minutes of extra time to be added, the big forward Carlton Cole had one last chance to become a hero and seal the deal for the Hammers but the West Brom stopper Boaz Myhill had it covered.

The Hammers need to get out of the lower half of the table and although we’ve had some tough games recently along with some disappointing injury news, I’m sure the lads can produce the goods and pull us out and get us back in the better half of the table.

 

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Sam Allardyce is vital to West Ham’s future

December 13, 2012 By Stevo 1 Comment

west ham's sam allardyce

When big Sam Allardyce turned up at the Boleyn ground, many a Hammer fan thought that he wasn’t the right man for the job and didn’t exactly see eye to eye with him. He was appointed as Irons boss in summer 2011 and many fans reacted with mixed feelings thinking that the big man would not adhere to the West Ham philosophy.

When Allardyce signed on the dotted line just over a year ago, even the Hammer owners David Gold and David Sullivan appeared skeptical about the signing and offered him just a two year deal.

Big Sam has just over 6 months left on his current contract and has done what had been expected of him. He got the Hammers back into top flight football although not be achieving automatic promotion. Both the board and the fans have warmed to him as he has surpassed all expectations.

A lot of fans however are still refusing to see the positivity he has enthused on the club. At the moment the irons are sitting pretty at eleventh place and have spent for the most part of this season in the good half of the table. We’ve had some terrific free signings in the shape of Diame and Jussi and with a bit of luck, we’ll be fighting for a place in Europe next season. Out of the three sides that were promoted, West Ham United have been by a long way the better of the three.

The outfit that Allardyce has created looks sharp and a shadow of its former self when it was under the control of Avram Grant. Under Grant, the side caved in all too easily and if it weren’t for Scotty Parker, they would have gone down to the Championship sooner.

If West Ham finish in the top ten this season, and it looks certainly on the cards, it would be an outstanding feat for Allardyce. He is comfortable at the club, he can spend money and above all, has the players respect.

The board need to thrash out a deal with Sam Allardyce now before it’s too late. Allardyce has a habit of being sacked from clubs that he has turned around only to find them fluctuating and being relegated when he’s gone. Let’s not let this happen to the Hammers. West Ham united need Sam Allardyce more than ever. He’s done an awesome job and deserves the board’s respect with a new contract.

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Hammer old boys stick the boot in at the Boleyn

December 9, 2012 By Stevo 1 Comment

joe cole tones down the celebrations

It was a day that the Hammer old boys came back to haunt West Ham United this afternoon at the Boleyn ground. Liverpool’s goals amazingly came from ex Hammers Joe Cole, Glenn Johnson and Jonjo Shelvey.

Mark Noble scored from the penalty spot to cancel out Glen Johnson’s rocket and Steven Gerard stuck the ball in his own net to hand the Hammers a 2-1 lead.

Without Suarez on the pitch I thought the Hammers would trounce the Liverpool outfit and at one stage it did look on the cards. 14 minutes from time Joe Cole stunned his ex team with a nice goal and was a true lad about it as he didn’t celebrate too much. That made it 2 goals apiece and Liverpool started to grow with the belief they they could win this.

West Ham began to fall into the old habit of complacency and they got punished for it. Jonjo Shelvey found the back of the net after a tussle with Collins on the goal line and the ball flipped up high and over Jussi’s head. The ex Hammer had a bit of luck with that one and sealed the deal for the scousers.

West Ham were up for this one especially having beaten Chelsea the week before. Who would believe the Hammer old boys would be the ones to stick the boot in on their old side though? The first goal came from a Steve Gerard assist when he put the ball into the path of Johnson who duly fired it in giving the keeper no chance.

Liverpool nearly made it two but Raheem Sterling’s shot went wide of the mark. Little by little a stunned Hammers’ side slowly began to get into the rhythm of the match and try to cause some damage themselves but despite the Irons’ best efforts,  Carlton Cole found himself on his Jack Jones quite a lot with a lot of his team’s attacks breaking down.

Before the half time whistle both Shelvey and Gerard found themselves booked with a yellow card as West Ham gradually started to get a foothold on the game. A terrific shot by Mo Diame was blocked by the hand of Joe Allen and the ref pointed to the spot. Mark Noble stepped up and calmly converted.

Just before the break the Hammers went ahead  when a Jarvis cross was headed into his own net by Steven Gerrard. Going into half time leading by 2-1 was a good feeling.

After the break the Hammers defended pretty solidly and Liverpool didn’t cause too many problems. It was when Mo Diame went down with a hamstring problem that the game tipped in Liverpool’s favour. Allardyce sent on Tonks but then watched in disbelief as a Sterling pass split West Ham’s defence in two to provide Joe Cole with a solid chance that he duly converted.

The game was looking like a draw until Jonjo Shelvey appeared at the Hammers post with Collins. Shelvey prodded the ball and it went high over Jussi’s head giving him no chance. The Hammers were lucky to escape with a 3-2 scoreline as Shelvey’s heavy touch was cleared by the keeper. As the clock ticked down Shelvey was also denied a penalty after being brought down in the box.

Back to back home league victories for the Hammers was thus denied by the Hammer old boys.

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Hammers upset Rafa’s Chelsea fiesta

December 2, 2012 By Stevo 3 Comments

cole celebrates against the chelsea of rafa benitez

The Hammers “nailed” Chelsea yesterday afternoon and might have also “hammered” the final nail in our favourite Spanish waiter’s coffin by trouncing them by a very agreeable 3 goals to one.
I don’t think Rafa Benitez had too much to say after the match and I’m sure that big Sam Allardyce is not his glass of sangria at the moment especially as the two didn’t exactly see eye to eye when the Spaniard was in charge of Liverpool and Allardyce was Bolton’s boss.

Chelsea’s Juan Mata drew first blood on 13 minutes with a nice strike to beat Jussi and was assisted by none other than Torres. Torres left Winston Reid for dead and put an inch perfect cross to fellow compatriot Mata who rifled his shot past Jussi. Maybe Rafa thought it was the start of a Spanish style fiesta at Upton Park and who could have blamed him as Chelsea had a lot of the ball and showed great technique. West Ham were defending pretty solidly but were unable to turn things around in the first half.

After the break, the Hammers made 2 changes. Diame and Taylor came on for Tomkins and O’Neil. Chelsea got the game underway but West Ham United were quickly on the attack. Taylor started to play wide right and Mo Diame slotted into the midfield, with the welcome sight of Noble dropping to his usual anchor role.

On 63 minutes West Ham got the goal they were looking for. The irons attacked down the left with Nolan finding Jarvis, who was just onside. Jarvis’ cross hit Cahill on the head and looped high into the air. Carlton Cole managed to get the better of Ivanovic and nutted the ball into the bottom left-hand corner.

Carlton Cole did look like he was all over Ivanovic actually,  but as you know – “all’s fair in love and football”  🙂

With the game at one apiece, things started to look up for the Hammers, although with a quarter of an hour to go, Jaaskelainen threw the ball straight to Eden Hazard. The keeper was on the floor but the Belgian got too much on his shot and it cleared the crossbar. What a “let off ” as Hazard doesn’t usually screw up from that distance.

On 89 minutes and the game looking like a draw, Cole collected a pass onto his chest from Joey O’Brien. The big number 9 laid the ball off for Mo Diame, who found the time and space to pick his spot to perfection and rifle a low shot into the net from 16 yards out.

The Hammers took the lead and there was a smile on big Sam’s face. They say it’s not over till the fat lady sings and there was more to come. Late into extra time on 91 minutes, Maiga intercepted a clearance and a ridiculous faux pas from Ashley Cole and waited for the overlap of Matt Taylor. Maiga’s low first-time shot is palmed away by Chelski stopper Petr Cech and Maiga followed up to bury the ball in the net from ten yards.

To coin a phrase from Sebastian Vettel; “This is what I’m talking about”. The lads proved yesterday that they don’t have to rollover for the big guns. We put our chances away and the defense was pretty solid to boot. It was a great game and I’m still laughing, not at the result but Ashley Cole’s hairstyle. Suddenly Rafa Benitez looks like he’s on the way out before getting started. It’s no wonder the Blues’ fan dislike him! Come on you Hammers!

Attendance was a rather solid 35,000.

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