West Ham Utd 4 Portsmouth 3 (10/09/11)

Relive every moment of every first team game since the beginning of the 2005/06 season. Our archive of matchday threads originally posted in the General Discussion Forum.

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Re: West Ham Utd v Portsmouth: match thread

Post by Smonnie »

There's an irony in the fact that last season, TPP was defending Avram Grant to the hilt when he was clearly doing a sh*t job, but attacking last season's top scoring English Premier League midfielder for being average so far this season...
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Re: West Ham Utd v Portsmouth: match thread

Post by prophet:marginal »

Smonnie wrote:There's an irony in the fact that last season, TPP was defending Avram Grant to the hilt when he was clearly doing a sh*t job, but attacking last season's top scoring English Premier League midfielder for being average so far this season...
Would you say he's already shown the best he's got to offer?
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Re: West Ham Utd v Portsmouth: match thread

Post by Aceface »

Hayden wrote: We are sure it wasn't Faubert, it was Lansbury.
My bad. My eyesight's clearly as poor as Cotterill's
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Re: West Ham Utd v Portsmouth: match thread

Post by Smonnie »

prophet:marginal wrote:
Would you say he's already shown the best he's got to offer?
Smonnie wrote: ...Nolan will also be working on his fitness...

...I think he'll grow in to the team as much as the team grows around him, and will look better as the season progresses...

...average so far this season...
No, I don't think I would :lol:
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Re: West Ham Utd v Portsmouth: match thread

Post by claret parrot »

Johnny Byrne's Boots wrote:As Portsmouth's primary tactic was to just kick us off the park, I'm glad Sam didn't bring on Baldock. Had he done so, we'd be on here bemoaning the 'Curse of West Ham' as we awaited news on why he was stretchered off.
That's a good point JBB and one I'd not considered in my bewilderment at the substitution. It probably wouldn't have come to that but he's sure to have got lumps kicked out of him.

I'm a big fan of James Tomkins and he looks nailed on for POTM according to our poll. My vote was for Robert Green though and I've seen nothing recently to cause me to doubt my high evaluation of him. I'm just so relieved we managed to hang on to him and Carlton.

I was also relieved and delighted with the result yesterday and I don't want to appear negative but with Greeno making regular excellent stops, Tomkins immense at the back alongside a very impressive Winston Reid, McCartney looking solid and no nonsense. and O'Brien clearly no mug either, it leaves me wondering just HTF we seem to be shipping so many goals? :think:
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Re: West Ham Utd v Portsmouth: match thread

Post by PrawnSandwich »

prophet:marginal wrote: Would you say he's already shown the best he's got to offer?
Pinky?
It's been downhill since his 'sold for £1' schtick.
:lol:
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Re: West Ham Utd v Portsmouth: match thread

Post by smuts »

Cheers for the pressers.

Cotteril really comes across as a plum doesnt he?
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Re: West Ham Utd v Portsmouth: match thread

Post by the pink palermo »

Smonnie wrote:There's an irony in the fact that last season, TPP was defending Avram Grant to the hilt when he was clearly doing a sh*t job, but attacking last season's top scoring English Premier League midfielder for being average so far this season...
I'm not alone in pointing out he looks a little larger than he ought , I've mentioned in a few threads specific instances where he , and others, have failed to cover enough ground to stop us being over run at the back .

My principle concern is his lack of adaptability determines the entire shape of the side - effectively blocking other players being suitable for selection .To my eyes he is neither close enough to Carlton to act as the second striker , or mobile enough to help the midfield .

In essence by making him skipper, Sam has decided to build the team around him , and I don't think he's quite good enough for that sort of accolade .At the moment , we're riding high - bags of goals , and could be sat on maximum points with a touch of luck , but what will we do when things get tougher ?

Six weeks ago the Manager was talking about keeping clean sheets and the importance of defensive discipline .Not heard him mention it for a while now...............

I'm not saying it's all Nolans fault - far from it , but better teams will exploit our soft underbelly on the break , and having Nolan as second striker may not be enough to unlock a few defences .

I'd say I'm making observations rather than launching an attack . :thup:
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Re: West Ham Utd v Portsmouth: match thread

Post by dapablo »

the pink palermo wrote:but better teams will exploit our soft underbelly on the break , and having Nolan as second striker may not be enough to unlock a few defences .
Shouldn't need to worry so much then PP, your posts in general emphasise the negative more and more though sir.
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Re: West Ham Utd v Portsmouth: match thread

Post by the pink palermo »

dapablo wrote: Shouldn't need to worry so much then PP, your posts in general emphasise the negative more and more though sir.
I'm aware of that .

And it's not being done deliberately - it's more my concern at what I am watching .Little things like when we are 4-2 up , a man to the good and we lack the mental resilience to play keep ball due to the crowd getting restless .Fifteen passes around the back , and then because we aren't switched on , aren't working hard enough , we launch it forward, and lose possession .Shortly before he was sent off Piquionne did the right thing , taking the ball to the corner to run down the clock ......he gets the bird , so decides to please the crowd , we lose possession .

We switched off against Cardiff and it cost us, same against Leeds , and yesterday , well I don't think we played that well at times , and we did well to pick up all 3 points .On another day , we may not have been so fortunate .

I've been criticised for suggesting we will return as Champions with 100 points , but the reality is , and why I am concerned is 89 points may not be enough for a top 2 finish .

Such are the margins between success and failure .We're doing well at the moment , but we conceded three goals at home yesterday .

So much for teams visiting the Boleyn and parking the bus.........
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Re: West Ham Utd v Portsmouth: match thread

Post by dapablo »

the pink palermo wrote:So much for teams visiting the Boleyn and parking the bus.........
We're deemed vulnerable "get into em" at the moment, for obvious, a few more victories (touch wood) and our opponents approach will change though.
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Re: West Ham Utd v Portsmouth: match thread

Post by kthammer »

I agree we still have a defensive problem - still not defending as a team, especially when attacked down the flanks, but one of yesterdays goalsmagainst us was a bizarre fluke deflection, one was a silly very late penalty, only one was a case of us being exposed defensively.
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Re: West Ham Utd v Portsmouth: match thread

Post by Hockley Hammer »

Portsmouth played far better than I expected them to, if it hadn't been for two great saves by Green the first half could have been very different. That is what I am enjoying about this season so far - anything is possible.

I'll admit I'm not watching as much of the other championship games on tv as I could do - it's making the live games much more interesting.

I looked at the premier league table this morning, the top three could be twenty points clear by Christmas at the rate they have started.

If we apply ourselves correctly I think we could walk this league, but if we don't I think we could have some nasty surprises along the way.
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Re: West Ham Utd v Portsmouth: match thread

Post by M*A*R*C »

I understand The Pink Palermo's point and I don't think he's being negative.

Nolan is doing a great job as a captain, and his goal at Donny was of enormous worth.

But purely as a player, I think Noble, Collison and now Lansbury may be just a tad ahead of him at the moment.

So many are crying out for 4-4-2, but I don't think we can bring Nolan in a four man midfield at the moment, but we can't drop him because he's the captain, and without him we may well of got kicked off the park yesterday.

It seems we are playing 4-5-1 to accomodate him.
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Re: West Ham Utd v Portsmouth: match thread

Post by bobo »

Noble & Nolan need to hold there position more & why people are pointing the finger at Nolan for leaving gaps it is Noble that is being asked to play the holding midfield role. Noble has talent but his positioning on & off the ball is awful at times.

I have said it many a times but he needs to be given a DVD on Danny Murphy as this is the exact player he could become & at a much earlier stage. I'm not saying drop Noble but him & Nolan both have little pace & with Lansbury playing off the striker now they need to keep there shape more.

I would like to see Collison play that Carrick role as he is mobile, quick, good eye for a pass & has good awerness. He played that kind of role for Wales Vs England & looked solid to me.
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Re: West Ham Utd v Portsmouth: match thread

Post by BillUp »

I'm aware of that .

And it's not being done deliberately - it's more my concern at what I am watching .Little things like when we are 4-2 up , a man to the good and we lack the mental resilience to play keep ball due to the crowd getting restless .Fifteen passes around the back , and then because we aren't switched on , aren't working hard enough , we launch it forward, and lose possession .Shortly before he was sent off Piquionne did the right thing , taking the ball to the corner to run down the clock ......he gets the bird , so decides to please the crowd , we lose possession .

We switched off against Cardiff and it cost us, same against Leeds , and yesterday , well I don't think we played that well at times , and we did well to pick up all 3 points .On another day , we may not have been so fortunate .

I've been criticised for suggesting we will return as Champions with 100 points , but the reality is , and why I am concerned is 89 points may not be enough for a top 2 finish .

Such are the margins between success and failure .We're doing well at the moment , but we conceded three goals at home yesterday .

So much for teams visiting the Boleyn and parking the bus.........
I agree with this entirely and its the way I see it as well.

I said about a week ago, we will see where Brighton are after 46 games. I have changed my opinion somewhat. They are getting the clean sheets home and away. Southampton look a very good side. There are some very good sides in the top 6. We can score goals like fun, but we concede for fun as well. It is very early days though :)

I do believe Sam will get the defence shored up, its just how long this will take, and will it be too late for an automatic promotion spot? I think Faye is going to be a very important player when he's fit. October is also a massive month for us. I'm really excited about October. We can gauge how good we really are?
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Re: West Ham Utd v Portsmouth: match thread

Post by AJ »

After Noble's penalty was he not putting a finger to his lips? what was that all about? Thought players did that when the crowd was giving them a hard time :|
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Re: West Ham Utd v Portsmouth: match thread

Post by Doc H Ball »

AJ wrote:After Noble's penalty was he not putting a finger to his lips? what was that all about? Thought players did that when the crowd was giving them a hard time :|
He blew a kiss to his family/friends who have a box in the Rio near to the BMU. Don't think it was anything else.
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Re: West Ham Utd v Portsmouth: match thread

Post by Cuenca 'ammer »

Well it's nice to see that on the telly and in person it looks the same Nolan that I see. Lacks mobility. Isn't close enough to Cole. At times Over Chuffed was the same isolated character that we saw for the past 3 seasons. And how we get steamrolled in the middle of the park when we play 5 and other teams play 4 I have no clue.

Oh and Cotterill comes over as a complete twat. I wondered how many times in the transcript he repeated himself. And Lawrence should have gotten a straight red so there shouldn't have been even a hint of a first yellow given correctly or not (in fact they got away with a few dubious tackles imho) bitter mate ? Came across as that to me. They played well no doubt. As good as us at times, better even at others. But not exactly if any of our goals were debatable, and the pen ?? What about the one a few years ago against Upson ?
Tough call no doubt, some might say "soft" but his hands weren't down by his side either. You get them given for and against you. Another time everyone is screaming for handballs not given. Fwiw the ref was completely crap. For both teams, but to say that some of the bookings shouldn't have been what about the one on Noble, almost a straight arm !!!! Another day that might have been a red.
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Re: West Ham Utd v Portsmouth: match thread

Post by Rode one wrong »

M*A*R*C wrote:I understand The Pink Palermo's point and I don't think he's being negative.

Nolan is doing a great job as a captain, and his goal at Donny was of enormous worth.

But purely as a player, I think Noble, Collison and now Lansbury may be just a tad ahead of him at the moment.

So many are crying out for 4-4-2, but I don't think we can bring Nolan in a four man midfield at the moment, but we can't drop him because he's the captain, and without him we may well of got kicked off the park yesterday.

It seems we are playing 4-5-1 to accomodate him.
Good point. And so far, for whatever reason, it has on the most part been very entertaining. Perhaps the formation is not so important as the way you interpret it and in our case the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
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