147man
04 Jan 2005, 04:58 AM
I went to the Rotherham game on the 28th and witnessed the worst West Ham display it has ever been my misfortune to be subjected to. They were playing route one stuff, looking to use their superior height, I still don't know why their first goal was disallowed and they had a reasonable shout for a penalty. One of our penalties was dubious, all in all a pathetic display. As we came away from the game I told anyone who would listen exactly what Pardews post match report would be, "I was pleased with our second half performance, the guys showed a lot of determination to come back...", etc, etc all of which masks the fact that we deserved to lose and should never have gone 2-0 down.
So on to Ipswich - Top of the table, never lost at home, the only team in the whole of the football league to score in every single match. Because I didn't go we turned in a stunning performance to break both of those records and start to stamp our authority on thisw division.
So on to Sheffield United at home - I was there and witnessed the second worst performance ever!
We were totally outplayed and deserved to lose - My take on proceedings:
Bywater - Some good shot stopping, not nearly enough conversation with the defenders did, however, keep telling Harewood to go left for his long balls! His kicking is not nearly good enough.
Repka - Was up for it (as other correspondents have noted) and played with a lot of commitment, in short a typical Repka display, not the best player you'll ever see but far from the worst.
Zamora - Woeful, didn't show any commitment and was beaten to every ball, if he did get it he would very quickly lose it having fumbled.
Etherington - Always the wrong side of the defender, gave himself another man to beat - which he never did, I was left wondering whether he knew he was going and hence didn't want to get injured!
Harewood - Our stand-out player, he fought hard, ran hard, and tried more than anyone else in a C&B shirt, some of his skillfull touches and flicks had them reeling but with Zamora as a partner this was never going to result in anything.
Mackay - Warnock had worked out well how to play us, he made sure that the extra man in our team was Mackay, when Mackay got the ball he would hesitate.... and then hesitate.... and then play a 25 yard pass to a Blades player, defensively he wasn't terrible he just didn't know what to do with the ball when he had it.
The crowd were calling for Pardews head (even more vociferously than they had at Rotherham), I'm really not sure that that's the answer - Yes of course he must accept some of the blame but its the players who are not performing.
So on to Ipswich - Top of the table, never lost at home, the only team in the whole of the football league to score in every single match. Because I didn't go we turned in a stunning performance to break both of those records and start to stamp our authority on thisw division.
So on to Sheffield United at home - I was there and witnessed the second worst performance ever!
We were totally outplayed and deserved to lose - My take on proceedings:
Bywater - Some good shot stopping, not nearly enough conversation with the defenders did, however, keep telling Harewood to go left for his long balls! His kicking is not nearly good enough.
Repka - Was up for it (as other correspondents have noted) and played with a lot of commitment, in short a typical Repka display, not the best player you'll ever see but far from the worst.
Zamora - Woeful, didn't show any commitment and was beaten to every ball, if he did get it he would very quickly lose it having fumbled.
Etherington - Always the wrong side of the defender, gave himself another man to beat - which he never did, I was left wondering whether he knew he was going and hence didn't want to get injured!
Harewood - Our stand-out player, he fought hard, ran hard, and tried more than anyone else in a C&B shirt, some of his skillfull touches and flicks had them reeling but with Zamora as a partner this was never going to result in anything.
Mackay - Warnock had worked out well how to play us, he made sure that the extra man in our team was Mackay, when Mackay got the ball he would hesitate.... and then hesitate.... and then play a 25 yard pass to a Blades player, defensively he wasn't terrible he just didn't know what to do with the ball when he had it.
The crowd were calling for Pardews head (even more vociferously than they had at Rotherham), I'm really not sure that that's the answer - Yes of course he must accept some of the blame but its the players who are not performing.