Not nearly good enough. Absolutely diabolical if i had to be perfectly honest with you ,with few players covering themselves in glory. The odd exception being Abdoulaye Faye, ably assisted by James Tomkins. Faye was absolutely immense, a real Rock of Gibraltar figure in defence, here, there and everywhere. A real leader in the team. James Tomkins has also come on in leaps and bounds, giving assured cultured performances at the back for the club. Joey O Brien and McCartney had steady, but unspectacular games at the back
The problem is the midfield, unbalanced and devoid of any creativity. Slow side way passes going anywhere but forward, invariably ending with the ball is being hoofed up field by either by O’Brien, McCartney, Taylor or Faye. The team’s favorite means of attack was Faye hoofing the ball high into the penalty area like a rugby fly half hoisting up and unders. It's not just Nolan who lets the side down with his lack of effort, but Matty Taylor adds to the problem as he has no pace and can't beat his man. Time and time again when Taylor was closed down all he had to offer was to hoof the ball down the line.
If you haven't got someone creative pulling the strings in midfield, you need wingers with pace who can beat their man, its not rocket science. Bringing on Collison who is so bereft of confidence and a lump of lard in Carew who was plucked out of the wilderness, was beyond belief. Samuel Allardyce tenure as manager of West Ham United Football Club reminds one of the musicians aboard the Titanic who played on while the ship was sinking. Well the good ship West Ham United is sinking fast and I’m afraid if we don't beat Burnley, David Gold and David Sullivan have a huge decision to make with promotion a perquisite this season. I’m not one who believes in sacking a manager but I believe that even Allardyce's biggest supporters will accept that football is a results driven industry and at the moment, Allardyce is clinging onto his job
The baffling thing about it all, is the signing of Lansbury and Morrison. Allardyce is well aware that the team has lacked a playmaker in the middle of the park. Yet he refuses to play them. Allardyce has no excuses for the dire football and poor results. The owners have backed him to the hilt and more. It is becoming more apparent that they we're a tad hasty in removing Gianfranco Zola. I have no doubt if Zola had been backed like Allardyce has, we would have walked the league and entertained the crowd. Sure I accept he had a poor second season, but so did Ferguson and Moyes when they first started out.
Allardyce reckons that if he had Rickie Lambert he would have walked the league. I’m afraid I disagree. Not when the ball is hoofed up to you for ninety minutes, or when you have to collect the ball from amongst a sardine packed midfield and have to virtually drive the ball forward like a rugby forward. Both Maynard and Baldock are snatching at chances in sheer frustration, yes they have lost confidence, Who can blame them? When they have to look skywards for ninety minutes, looking for the ball.
You need to give Baldock and Maynard playing time together. give them an extended run in the team. Get the ball on the deck! Give Lansbury the freedom to pull the strings in the middle of the park and trust him to do so! Instead of bringing on a lump of lard in Carew from the bench, bring on a special talent like Morrison for the last 15-20 mins. Frank MaCavenie summed it up perfectly at half time when talking to the crowd "Be positive "he said. Let the boys express themselves and the home ground hoodoo will be a thing of the past. It’s never too late to change, although as far as promotion is concerned we are in the last chance saloon.
It was not just the performance that was flat last night but the Boleyn Ground Patrons were flat, extremely flat. But that will all changes when supporters are given something to be positive about! There was some mindless booing, but pockets of the crowd tried to lift the team, saying that, when you witness football of such dire quality week in and week out, even the most enthusiastic of supporter's enthusiasm starts to wane. It’s not mutiny at the Boleyn Ground yet but that’s not far away, we had pockets of supporters singing "We want Di Canio "lose to Burnley and it will sound like a crusade. Still, not all the supporters at the Boleyn Ground lost their humour. When we went 1-0 up. Their were choruses of "We're winning 1-0 at home it shows you how shit you are ".
A young lad from Sydney Australia was watching his first ever game at the Boleyn Ground with his Grandpa. At the end of the game Grandpa laments about the quality of the performance to his Grandson. Trying to be positive the lad says "At least I heard Bubbles in the flesh!" Grandpa replies never forget the most important line :"Just like your dreams they fade and die". Well our promotion dreams haven't died yet, but they are most certainly hanging by a thread. Despite public backing of the manager I’m sure the chairman let the manager know in more ways than one its simply not good enough and so they should after the backing they put into the manager. To be in the position we are and playing the type of football we are is simply not acceptable. We are more than a football club, we’re a way of life !COYI'S !
