I suppose tonight came down to little bits of skill and luck - the luck was ours - Faye's header which happened to go in the right direction. Mind you, he deserved it, he was our only consistently good player. The skill was theirs - they only showed it twice but it was enough - Webster's amazing reflex save from Tomkins and their goal, which couldn't have been hit sweeter.
The substitutions told a tale, too - Boro's subs dynamised the team and led to the equaliser. Our subs - well, can you think of any Hammers players more off-form than Carew and Collison? Carew looked like a middle-aged bloke playing on the beach with teenagers - his legs kept getting in the way and he was way too slow. Collison looked nervy and totally lacking in composure. Boro's subs, meanwhile, kept coming in scary waves, and then they got the goal they deserved.
Something's gotta change, Sam!
In the first 20' were were all over them - what the hell's going on?
Soccernet gamecast gives the idea that Doncaster are fighting back... Please, no! And is Nolan the only Hammers player who can shoot straight?
(Contd) So, no 'apprenticeship' period, it was just straight into the pressure of 'Must score NOW'. I know it's their job, but sporting form isn't just something you can switch off and on. So - I think the three newbies will come good - especially Baldock - but it might not be in time to ensure us auto-promotion, though...
Sounded like it must have been pretty frustrating to be watching. How we need someone like Demba Ba, Bellamy or Tevez - someone who doesn't even need to think about it, they just whack the ball into the net. Even Ilan had that poacher's skill, I'm not sure Sullivan was right to get rid of him. I know that Cole famously has a confidence problem, and it looks like he's sunk in that at the moment, but I think that the new boys have got the same problem - they've been drafted in with the expectation that they've got to start scoring straight away, and the longer it takes them to get into a scoring rhythm, the more it plays on their nerves, which doesn't help at all when you're in front of goal with the ball at your feet. I wonder, does anyone have any stats about Lambert? He's scoring for fun at the moment, but I bet there was a time when he was having a lean goalscoring period. We only notice him now when he's come good. Problem is, when Baldock, Maynard and Vaz Te were drafted in, none of our regular strikers were scoring regularly, so the youngsters couldn't feel their way into the team, supported by the goals of their seniors.
Boffin on the bench! Sam must be feeling optimistic. I like this selection a lot, hope Baldock gets 30 minutes and puts at least one in. COYI!!!
I just read 'Piquionne scores 30 yard screamer' - I must be still asleep. But it seems that Piq has finally woken up, the sod.
Quite a few people have been slagging off Vaz Te and Maynard - give them a chance, they're still fitting into the side. Collison still worries me - he went from very good to awful today from one minute to the next (though I suppose that means he's improving - against Palace he was just awful). And we also learnt that there's no point in playing punt the long ball without at least Cole up there to aim for. As I said on the match thread, Macca's goal was one that Maradona would've been proud of (tho' I think he just used up a whole career of goal-scoring luck). Good result, very good defending especially in the second half, Faye MOTM, as we all seem to agree. I'm confident we can grind out results like this to get auto-promotion. What keeps me awake in the dead of night is the possible loss of 6 points from the Portsmouth matches. When is the curse of Warnock going to end?
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