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Kevin Nolan rescues Hammers with late goal against Sunderland

September 22, 2012 By Stevo 1 Comment

steven fletcher scores for sunderland

 

Hammers in-form captain Kevin Nolan came to his team’s rescue with a late equalizer to keep the dream alive and kicking in the Premier League.

We’ve taken just a point but it could so easily have been 3 points lost if you look at it from another angle. It was Sunderland’s in-form striker Steven Fletcher who did the damage in the first half with a powerful shot that beat the claret and blue keeper Jaaskelainen.

Fletcher hit the target after just 9 minutes of play with a left-footed shot across Jaaskelainen’s goal from the left hand side and was assisted by a cross from Sebastian Larsson.

The Hammers rose up and put pressure on Sunderland and nearly had a goal out of it when a Kevin Nolan volley was majestically saved by their keeper Simon Mignolet.

On 12 minutes a fine header from West Ham defender James Collins went wide after a Vaz Té cross following a corner kick. The Hammers had and missed more chances in the first half and on 23 minutes both mark Noble and Kevin Nolan had shots blocked. Almost straight after Vaz Té had a chance of a header that went begging after a cross from Matthew Taylor. On 25 minutes Mohamed Diamé missed a chance from an assist from the captain. His right-footed shot just went wide of the post.

Nearing the half hour mark it was Sunderland’s turn to miss with a shot from James McClean that went wide after an assist by Steven Fletcher following a quick break.

On 34 minutes a Carlton Cole header went too high over the bar after a cross from Mohamed Diamé . Then it was Nolan in the mix again with a shot from close range that failed to find the marker after a headed pass from front man Carlton Cole.

In the dying stages of the first half the Hammers were all over Sunderland like a rash. First, a right footed shot from the centre of the box was saved by Simon Mignolet, then a header from Carlton Cole who was assisted by  Joey O’Brien was also stopped.

The second half got underway and the Hammers kept up the pressure. On 57 minutes West Ham made two substitutions: Yossi for Vaz Té and Matthew Jarvis for Matthew Taylor.

Craig Gardner of Sunderland was shown the yellow for a nasty little foul on 60 minutes and the Hammers win a free-kick. Then it was Sunderland’s turn to sub; David Vaughan replaces Sebastian Larsson then on 71 minutes they brought on Fraizer Campbell for Stéphane Sessegnon.

The Irons were playing well but running out of options fast and sunderland looked like they had this one in the bag. On 77 minutes Sam Allardyce brought on Modibo Maiga to replace Carlton Cole. Winston Reid  also picked up a yellow for a nasty foul on David Vaughan.

With the clock ticking away Modibo Maiga’s header from the centre of the box misses to the left. He was assisted by Mark Noble with a cross following a set piece.

With time now critical the Hammers’ keeper Jussi Jääskeläinen gets shown the yellow card and Sunderland use their final sub by bringing on David Meyler for Fraizer Campbell who suffered an injury.

It was like watching last season’s final at Wembley, it was too much and someone had to step up to the plate! the one to do it was West Ham’s captain fantastic Kevin Nolan! Modibo Maiga headed the ball into the path of Nolan who shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner and gave the Sunderland keeper no chance.

A close call for the Hammers with 6 minutes of extra time being played, too.

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Sullivan dips into own pocket for Carroll

September 21, 2012 By Stevo 1 Comment

david sullivan and david gold

West Ham boss David Sullivan has revealed that he and co owner David Gold are financing the Andy Carroll deal out of their own pockets.

Sullivan had this to say:

“We are financing everything out of our own money,” Sullivan told the Daily Mail. “Had we not put money in this year we could not have bought a player. Because there is not sufficient money to pay the debt. I cannot give confidential details of contracts but for the period of time Andy will be with us it’s as expensive a player as we have ever signed.

“But our manager thought he was the most important player we could sign this summer and that is why we pursued him. Unfortunately he got this hamstring injury. But that’s just bad luck.

Sullivan also praised his signing for the enormous impact he had on the Fulham game where the Hammers won by a comfortable 3 goals to nil. He also went on to praise West Ham’s captain, Kevin Nolan:

“Kevin Nolan was a very bold and pleasing signing. We signed the captain of Newcastle when he had just scored 12 goals in the Premier League and convinced him to come to the Championship. He was expensive but he’s the most fantastic captain, the most wonderful influence in the dressing room. And he’s scored two goals in three games.

What do you think about David Sullivan dipping into his probably industrial-sized pockets for Carroll?  I’m just glad it was Andy Carroll he dipped in for as Grant Holt might have been a howler 😉 Just kidding Grant!

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Norwich City vs West Ham match report

September 15, 2012 By Stevo Leave a Comment

It was the Hammers’ turn to take on Chris Hughton’s Norwich City and it ended up in a nil nil draw. Not a bad result for the Hammers’ mind as a point away is always a good point – shame there were no goals in the mix, though.

Chris Hughton will be waking up on sunday morning with a worried face for sure as he will be reflecting on the fact that the boys from Carrow Road have failed to win a match in four outings.

Even more worrying for Chris Hughton will be that Grant Holt failed to make any impact on the game whatsoever. Hammers fans will remember Holt as one of the possible signings for the club in the summer. Norwich City still have to face some big guns in their next four matches, too. Newcastle, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal are their next fixtures and if Norwich are going to survive in top flight football, they are going to have to win some of these games.

Holt was even taken off in the second half and that to me spells trouble. Hughton will want to sort these problems out early on in the season if they are to stand the pace of the hectic premier League.

Chris Hughton spoke after the game about his team’s display as well as Grant Holt:

“The positive is that we haven’t lost in three games and we haven’t lost at Carrow Road. I don’t see any lack of hunger in Grant. He has still got the same desire and commitment. The fact he hasn’t scored will be a disappointment for him because he’s a striker.”

Meanwhile, Hammers boss Sam Allardyce was more positive about his team’s display:

“Three clean sheets in four games is a great base to build on”.

It was a pretty dour match and so coming away with a point can’t be all that bad, can it? West Ham are a difficult team to beat and Norwich City had trouble running at the boys from Upton Park. And with Grant Holt not exactly in tip top condition for his team, West Ham had no trouble taking him out of the match.

Match Stats
Norwich City (4-4-2): Ruddy; Martin, Barnett, Bassong, Garrido; Snodgrass, Howson, Johnson, Surman; Holt (Kane 72), Jackson (Morison 64).
Subs: Rudd (g), Turner, Hoolahan, Fox, Tierney.

West Ham United (4-3-3): Jaaskelainen; Demel, Reid, Collins, O’Brien; Noble, Diame, Nolan; Vaz Te (Benayoun 86), Cole (Maiga 57), Taylor (Jarvis 57).
Subs: Henderson (g), McCartney, Tomkins, Diarra.
Booked: Collins.
Referee: C Foy

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Carlton Cole ready to fight for his first team place

September 12, 2012 By Stevo Leave a Comment

It looks like there’s a duel of two big men on the horizon. Carlton Cole is ready to fight newcomer Andy Carroll for a first team place and cole is up for the challenge. With Cole sitting on the bench to make way for Carroll in the 3-0 thrashing of Fulham, the West Ham front man knows what he has to contend with.

cole and carroll

Unfortunately, Carroll picked up a hamstring injury in the game against Martin Jol’s men and that could sideline him for up to 6 weeks. That meant bad news for Roy Hodgson too, who looked like he could have done with the big man yesterday against the Ukraine in which we drew 1-1 after many chances being squandered in the first half by England. This also opens the door to Carlton Cole who most likely will be back in action on Saturday against Norwich City.

Carlton Cole had this to say:

“Every year, you have to have people challenging for places because it is healthy for the club”.
“I’m a guy who believes in that and you could get complacent if you know you are going to play week in, week out”.
“It’s better to always be on your toes and I welcome a challenge like Andy. He is one of the best target men around in the Premier League and it’s just going to reinvigorate me to be a better player”.

Speaking about the return of Yossi Benayoun, Cole had this to say:

“Yossi is a brilliant character and a great player as well — we all know that. He has finally come home and he’s back where I believe he belongs”.
“I played for a season with him before he went off to Liverpool but he was really influential around the players and the team”.
“I was sad to see him leave so now he’s back, I’m really happy”.

So it looks like it’s game on between the two big guns – Carroll and Cole. With Andy Carroll’s fine performance against the Cottagers, Carlton Cole must feel like he has it all to do. He must prove to Big Sam that he’s the man for the job otherwise Carroll will be given the first team place. I think it would also be interesting to see both guys on the same pitch to see how they fare together – two big blokes up front – wouldn’t be bad would it?

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Hammers on song with a 3 nil win over Fulham

September 2, 2012 By Stevo 1 Comment

andy carroll debut for hammers

I’m sure Hammers fans everywhere were singing to the tune of I’m forever blowing bubbles after their win yesterday against Martin Jol’s Fulham. It was meant to be a tough match especially after West Ham have not got out of the starting blocks as quickly as we have liked.

And Andy Carroll, our latest signing on loan from liverpool, set up two of the 3 goals that left Fulham reeling and licking their wounds. The first goal came with just a minute on the clock when Carroll laid off a nice header for Vaz Té to tee-up captain Nolan to poke the first one in – nice.

Then it was Winston Reid’s turn to score by putting away a free header on 29 minutes. It was the perfect start to a match and Carroll was dominating the Cottagers defence and running wild. Just before half time, Carroll also had a hand in Matt Taylor’s strike to make it 3 nothing and making it back to back home wins for the irons!

The big man hobbled off at 68 minutes to a well deserved standing ovation from the West Ham crowd with a hamstring problem which looks like causing Roy Hodgson problems for the next few England games against Moldova and Ukraine.

Andy Carroll had lifted the Hammers and the match was put to bed effectively in the first half with the home side running riot. The big guy has an arial presence that is sublime and Big Sam has provided his side with a player that can provide a platform for the likes of  Matt Taylor, Mohamed Diame and Ricardo Vaz Te so they can run at defences and cause upsets.

Fulham had little response to the first goal from Nolan and things just got worse for them. With Carroll’s arial ability and Ricardo Vaz Te’s ability to run at his opponents, a cracking game of football was always on the cards and the crowd were loving it.

Fulham boys Damien Duff and Steve Sidwell had a few long range shots that were easily dealt with but they posed no serious threat to a West Ham that was growing in confidence.

Defensive errors from Fulham

Martin Jol lamented Fulham’s inability to deal with Carroll’s superb arial ability:

“If you are 5ft 8ins or 5ft 10ins tall maybe you have got a problem but we should have coped with it.

“Every game you see him, in the European Championships, you see he is good in the air, he is probably the best in the Premier League but I still feel there are a few answers for that but we couldn’t cope with that.

“The only positive for today was to see Dimitar Berbatov again and to see his class and quality, I have missed it.

All in all, Fulham had slightly more ball possession than the Hammers but it really didn’t matter. If you can’t put the ball away then something’s amiss, isn’t it? I’ll give you the example of the excellent Barcelona – what’s the point in achieving 68% ball possession when the other team wins – something’s not quite right. Don’t get me wrong, Barca is still the best team in the world but their continuous passing around and trying to wear opponents out is wearing a little thin for me. How about you?

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