Match Report

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Just back from Upton Park thru the hellish weather that seems to descend everytime we play there. Im writing with steam billowing up off me to the ceiling....Living only 20 mins from West Ham I just HAD to get a ticket which landed in my hand 15 mins before kick off- i only had to ask about 100 people.

Got a great position just behind+right of the goal. Highlights of the 1st half included a Given save, getting his fingers to a dead cert goal top corner. Tremendous. They had a few other great chances and could quite easily have got a goal first half, Kanute getting free(offside mind you)and blasting over the bar, another header bouncing over. As usual we had plenty of possesion but didnt make it count- no width as usual, a scrappy affair in a windy midfield(not in the baked beans sense).

Acuna looks good. A couple of errors but in general very comfortable on the ball and some very nice passing. Short, stocky and brownish would be the best physical description. He had 2 opportunities 2nd half, running towards the defence on a break, could have thumped it but instead opted for a neat pass to the wings- he shoudve gone for it. Considering its his first premiership game, a definite thumbs up.

Lee was out of this world in central defence. Lost his man once or twice, dribbled dangerously round our box a few times but in general was outstanding and reminded me of Gullit playing sweeper at Reading with some of his passing.

Lua Lua did some nice things but at times was over selfish- he had not too bad a game but the potential is easy to see.On a few occasions he skipped past 2 players, made space but nothing came of it- his fault or noone making themselves available , its hard to say. Cordone did quite well too when he came on as sub.

Dyer was rubbish. Like a lost little boy without confidence im afraid. His free role is only going to work with wing backs IMHO. Shearer was OK, heading just over in first half and bustling past 2 defenders 2nd half to shoot across goal, just going wide of the post- he had a superb opportunity to tee up Solano who was free in front of goal- the pass was too strong and Solano only got an average shot in...saved. Goma did well, Hughes was wasted at right back but did the job OK. Griffin OK. Speed OK/below average.

Basically not a great game. We had better possesion, they had beeter goal scoring opportunities. After their goal we layed siege in their 1/3 and got a few nice crosses+corners in but we just couldnt get on the end of them. Great craic amonst the crowd- good reception when Hislop came out to our side 2nd half, followed by "dodgy keepa, dodgy keepa"- he laughed and clapped. Pearce responded to shouts of "psycho"with applause+ gave his West HAm shirt to a very young geordie at the end....nice touch espec considering the weather.

P.S. time for wing backs, Domi+Solano.

-- Anonymous, October 28, 2000

Answers

Thanks for the report Spud. Not a great game, but perhaps not quite so bad as it sounded on the webcast. Lovely little snippets about Hislop and Pearce! (:o)

-- Anonymous, October 28, 2000

Don't mind if I nick that report(4 mi w / site) do you Spud?

Saves me having to watch MOTD

-- Anonymous, October 28, 2000


Go for it Rik.

Interesting to hear Redknapp saying how good a team we are and that we "played well" today.

-- Anonymous, October 28, 2000


I hope West Ham get relegated this year so we don't have to play them next year! I hate this fixture.

As usual, the Toon Army were spectacular. All I could hear on tv, even after WHam scored. Well done all of you! Not sure what it will take to get a win. Towards the end even Bobby looked like it was taken gargantuan effort to force himself to watch.

Still, we weren't as crap as we were 2 yrs ago, or in the second half last year. Especially considering the rather thrown together side. Got a bit worried late in the 2nd half when Goma looked like he was limping slighly after a challenge. We certainly can't lose another defender! I don't think anyone had a particularly horrid game. Things just didn't seem to gel.

Acuna does look very promising. And an new addition to the Dodgy Hair Club. Is this a South American thing? ;-))

Good morning otherwise, though I had to laugh when I walked in the pub to be greeted with WHam supporters predicting a high scoring game and Toon supporters boasting 3-1 or 3-2 to us. Feeling a bit Dougal-ish ;-), I just took my drink and slid into the corner with my gut feeling that we were gonna lose and it would be a miserable game. At least the game was relatively entertaining, just a miserable result, but what I expected so I don't know why I'm still cranky about it.

I'll just go babble off and finish my laundry now.

-- Anonymous, October 28, 2000


Your saying that Dyer was rubbish? In Norwegian papers he is rated as Newcastle's best player with 8 out of 10. Have they got it all wrong?

-- Anonymous, October 28, 2000


I watched it on Sky this morning and agree mostly with what Spud said. In the first half especially everytime Dyer, Solano and Lua Lua got the ball we lost possession. Dyer picked up in the second half but his general performance was dire. Lua Lua neds to pass, you could count on one finger how many times he passed to a b&w shirt and Solanos crossing was woeful. I think that our two best crosses are Cordone and Shearer! Cordone did well when he came on.

Also Acuna looks good but he got caught out a few times due to the pace of the game, he'll pick it up I'm sure and looks a very good acquisition. I did think Shearer had a better game than he'd had recently though.

-- Anonymous, October 29, 2000


Thoroughly appalling day apart from the Toon army. I hate Upton Park. Instead of "you're just a small club in London", we should have been singing "You're just a shit part of Essex". Our performance was not that bad and we should have had a draw at least. The worst of it is, you can normally identify what our problems are but today, it was just a little something missing that defies description. Maybe it's that we have played together so rarely that we don't know each other's game (ie. loads of new players in the mix). The trouble now is that we have three games where we will have our work out to get points.

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2000

Class day out. Got spat upon by WHam supporters and the bloke 2 rows in front of me had a dart thrown at him. Can't wait to go back next season...

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2000

NOT A HAPPY MAN!

I've just watched the game on MotD (er, I typed this on Saturday night), and Good Ol' Aunty showed lots of shots of a very p1$$ed off looking YBR. He really looked out of sorts with the world. In the post-match interview, he said "we can't bleat" about the situation. In a way, perhaps he was right when he said that we only need to get a goal in front and we'll start winning. I have to say tho', experience hasn't shown this over the past few seasons!

As for the game, I thought Shearer's comments were spot on. He reckoned we deserved a draw, and on the balance of play, and shots, we probably did. However, he was as guilty as the next man, when he chose to shoot from a very narrow angle, only to see the ball slide past the far post. If only he had noticed (or indeed had a call) Dyer unmarked in the area, it could have been different.

YBR tried yet another formation, bringing in Clarence Acuna into the centre of a 3/5 man midfield with Solano as right WB and Griffin as left WB. LKD and Speed made up the others. This released Rob Lee, who played as a sweeper - I bet nobody had that in the teampick! Didn't you spot that in training Steph? Up front, Lua x2 got his first start, replacing Don Corleone.

With the current state of our defence (or rather lack of them), it seems strange that Laurent Charvet was making his debut today for City, while Psycho Pearce was probably WHAM's best defender. If only. From the little shown, Griffin looked out of sorts. I felt he gave his man too much space. I prefer him out on the right reather than the left. Nobby did a decent job, but he isn't a full/wingback. Centre of defence also seemed a bit generous with space, especially Lee who was in no-man's and for the goal - maybe they were unsure of how to play with a sweeper.

In the end, I doubt if anybody was surprised at the result - it's nearly 3 years since we last won in Lahndaan. With so many teams to play in the capital, this is something we really must put to bed. Whether it is bad luck, bad play or simply the heebee jeebees, I don't know. Apart from Orient, this is the first game in the Smerk this season. We have plenty of opportunities to put it right. I think a trip doon soof by The Screach is caaled fer!

-- Anonymous, October 31, 2000


Sue/Doug,

If there's one set of fans that are true 'scum of the earth' types, it's West Ham fans. Sting probably told you the crap we had to endure last year getting back onto the tube, but i ended up sharing a house with a West Ham for most of last year.

Racist, bigoted, thick. And from Cornwall.

: o ((

-- Anonymous, October 31, 2000



Hopefully they'll get relegated so we won't have to go there again!

-- Anonymous, November 01, 2000

HI all , Just got a tic to write about a funny day out at Upton Park . The day started for me at 10.00 am with a call to wor Gav who was due to meet me and a couple of lads for a few pre-match bevvies up the Smerk . A garbled mesage on the phone from aforementioned and it became apparent that the 11.00 meet was but a myth ... an hour later and the myth became total raelity , as Mr Gavin Herron declared that he was UNFIT for popular consumption , due to the fact in his own words ' had been throwing his ring up all morning and was incapable of moving from the bedroom ! ' Who would have thought our own man of true grit from sunny Washington couldnt make the match .. it ahppens folks , maybe Mr Herron is over the hill ? Who knows ? So a call to another friend and i shifted the ticket , and met up with the lads at the Hamilton Hall .. ram jammed with black and white , and a splatterring of arse and 'ammers fans . The tube journey from Liverpool St was a curious one .. the first tube terminating at Whitechapel , at 2.30 on a match day .. why ? why? why ? The usual squeeze at Upton park station , then welcome to New Delhi .. i tell you this area really has lost its old identity , eastern clothes shops , chicken shops and grocers abound , and the good ole cockney knee's up seemed a far cry away ! As has been for the past four visits to the 'appy ammers , the rain came down in stairrods and i was happy to see the stadium .. mind what a carsey it is . the quesues underneath the stand to actually get up to the seats were very long and we came out of the tunnel to see the lads emerging at our end and kicking towards the north bank .. i found my seat on the divide line between both sets of supporters , which you can imagine was not the friendliest of places to be ; - ( Tawk Engwish yaw Jawdy mankey , etc ... impressions of monkeys as we sang Toon Toon , the whole lot .. at one point some ignorant cockney twat shouting ' what have you won anyway ' got a terse reply from meself ' 4 league titles and 6 fa cups ' shouldve shut up him up , and my reply ' why like what have you won ?' .... answer , oh how i loved .. ' The wawld cap mayte , we wan the wawld cap ' ... cue Geordie hilarity .. to be honest the banter was friendly enough and the stewards not too heavy handed , but as always at West Ham a knife edge atmosphere ... the game is well covered here .. my two penneth .. Joe Cole had two good chances in the first half that were given to him by sloppy marking and closing down , screams of ' youll never play for England ' i feel could be wrongly placed . How the hell young Lampard bounced his header over ill never know , but Shay wouldve been stranded . Goma looked strong , but Griffin weak , Lee a rock , Hughes a full back ?? Acuna looks very very good , believe me youll like this lad .. blood and thunder , great header of the ball , likes to play forward , likes to move forward , and why his goal in the second half wasnt allowed ill never know .. still thems the breaks . Dyer and particulaly Solano were disinterested .. i wouldve had Solano off at half time , he was sh1te .. second to the challenge , poor crossing bad vision .. he's not on his game at all . Lua Lua , well its been said , honeymoon over now buckle down young ' un , and learn how to head the bliddy thing . Speed looked tired and needs a rest . Cordone looked geat when he came on Lua Lua style . Given could nad should have been in a better position for the goal . All in all a few bright spots , but a hell of a lot still not right . The journey back hoem was as usual as eventful .. i avoided the torrents of cockney abuse like last year and headed up through Nrew Delhi for 4 or 5 pints .. we met a few of West Hams finest on the way back and had a dead canny caht , about how Spurs and Chelsea couldnt fill the end we were in , and that of all the clubs that come to West Ham , Noocarsel had the best support , nice touch ... the evening deteriorated after that , and i ended up in West London at 1 am wandering why and how the hell id got there .. but at least i was out of bed at 10am the next morning ... which as it happens is where Mr Herron still was ! One final point of note was the usual Toon support for ex players , but a new figure of hate for me .. Davor Suker , time wasting , whingeing , diving , spoiling , dirty B'stard .. croatian footballers have failed to endear me so far :-(

-- Anonymous, November 01, 2000

String writes: So a call to another friend and i shifted the ticket,

wasn't my bliddy number he rang though.......Heaton lads stick together my arse! ;0)

-- Anonymous, November 01, 2000


What he fails to mention is that I had to finish his drink the previous night in Mash and also finish his drinks in Sandersons after he'd hit the wall and autopiloted outta there without even a goodbye..... ;)

As for his accusation then I have to confess that I did for the first time I can ever remember miss a match because of a hangover.....

-- Anonymous, November 01, 2000


Pewer Gav. Hope you're feeling betta matey!

-- Anonymous, November 01, 2000


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