WHUFC.com
Gianfranco Zola was a happy man after watching his side secure a creditable
draw at Aston Villa
17.01.2010
Gianfranco Zola has spoken of his delight at the way West Ham United
performed in the goalless draw at Aston Villa ahead of a key run of fixtures
for the club. The West Ham manager saw some resolute defending and some
superb goalkeeping from Robert Green keep the high-flying Villans at bay.
Green made several outstanding saves including a vital injury stop at the
feet of Gabriel Agbonlahor, but also benefitted from the protection of the
excellent James Tomkins and Matthew Upson in front of him. "I am delighted
and lucky to have a bunch of players that are fantastic. Their commitment,
passion and desire to please me and the supporters is unbelievable. That is
the best ingredients for success. "If we perform like this and we have
everybody back, it is down to us. We are good enough to start climbing the
league but we must have the same attitude and we will have some players back
that are missing."
The point, coupled with other results going their way, moved the Hammers up
two places in the league standings. "It was a good point for us. They had
good chances but we had some good chances as well. The way we played in the
second half meant we deserved to get a point. They had good chances as well
so it was a fair game and a fair result.
"When we bought the two wingers, Alessandro Diamanti and Junior Stanislas,
on the game changed for the better for us. We looked dangerous and it was a
really good game.
"I am pleased and proud of my team's performance as it was a difficult game
against a team in form and we had some players missing, so it was brilliant
performance from our players."
Although Green will rightly deserve the plaudits he gets for his
performance, his manager joked that there was one occasion the England
goalkeeper did have him a little worried as he tried to take the ball around
John Carew. "He was outstanding apart from one moment when my heart stopped
for a few seconds. Fortunately not long enough to damage my brain, but it is
damaged already," he joked. "His performance was really good and he was back
to his normal standard."
Further forward, the 18-year-old Frank Nouble put in a tireless shift and
could have easily marked his first Premier League start with a goal in the
fifth minute, only to smash his shot over the bar. "He had a very good game.
He delayed too much, he should have taken his chance earlier. Despite that
he posed a threat to then all of the time. You can't afford to play a team
like Villa and not cause them problems or they will come on top of you."
Another slightly nervous moment came when Radoslav Kovac escaped with just a
warning after a foul on Stiliyan Petrov having already booked. Zola was
quick to acknowledge the honesty of the Bulgarian in not trying to get his
opponent sent off. "I have to congratulate Petrov as he is a fair person and
fair player. The first booking was a little harsh as it wasn't a foul and
wasn't a booking and that levelled it up."
Zola was pleased to report that Scott Parker's hamstring injury is not
thought to be too serious, while he may be joined back on the training
pitches by some other key players over the coming fortnight. "Carlton Cole
shouldn't be far as he might be joining us in training, Kieron Dyer is a
couple of weeks away, Danny Gabbidon might be this week, Guillermo Franco
will be at least a couple of weeks more and Herita Ilunga should be two
weeks away, maybe one week."
West Ham now face games with Portsmouth, Blackburn Rovers, Wolverhampton
Wanderers, Birmingham City and Hull City next, which could all go a long way
to determining the shape of the season. "It is massive to out of the bottom
three. But not just being out of the bottom three, picking up a point here
is not an easy task. That will give the players a big boost in confidence
and many other things. "Then we have another tough match against Portsmouth
and then a run of games as home. It is a big opportunity and the Villa match
will prepare ourselves properly to play the next games. "It will let us push
clear as we have important players coming back. The performance will give us
a platform for the future."
Far from worrying about the possibilities of the upcoming games, Zola is
excited at the prospect of the scale of the encounters. "I'm looking forward
to it as we have big games coming up so it is a very important time for us.
What makes me positive is the team is alive and is determined to make a good
impact."
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West Ham takeover deal nears conclusion
BBC.co.uk
New owners are set to take over at West Ham - and the successful bidder
could be announced on Monday. Lotus F1 team boss Tony Fernandes has been a
front-runner, although former Birmingham City owners David Gold and David
Sullivan are also in the hunt. Finance firm Intermarket and Italian Massimo
Cellino are the other known interested parties. Hammers boss Gianfranco
Zola, whose future may hinge on which bid wins, has hinted an announcement
is imminent. There have been conflicting reports about who is in pole
position to gain control of the east London club, with the water muddied by
interested bidders agreeing to sign non-disclosure agreements. West Ham have
effectively suspended any activity in the January transfer window until the
takeover situation is resolved. Speaking after a 0-0 draw at Aston Villa on
Sunday lifted his side out of the Premier League relegation zone, Zola
acknowledged the situation was frustrating. "These players, this team, they
deserve to be helped. Stability for the club would be massive. Right now we
can't do anything we just have to wait for something to happen with the
club. Once we know where the club is going, then we have a chance" he said.
The Italian indicated that he hoped the takeover would be resolved on
Monday.
The interested parties:
Tony Fernandes - Boss of Air Asia and the revived Lotus F1 team. An Upton
Park regular for many years, he is likely to support Zola but has he proved
to have the money readily available?
David Gold/David Sullivan - Former Birmingham City owners have been
determined suitors of the Hammers for several months. They once held shares
in the club and boast the liquid assets required.
Intermarket - Finance firm based in London's Canary Wharf, made money with
the FX currency exchange business. Ex-West Ham striker Tony Cottee is an
adviser, but chief executive Jim Bowe died in America earlier in January.
Massimo Cellino - The president of Serie A club Cagilari emerged as a
potential late bidder last week and there were even reports in Italy he had
secured a deal, but these proved premature.
Former Chelsea favourite Zola, and assistant Steve Clarke, took the
managerial reins at West Ham in September 2008 after Alan Curbishley's
departure. The pair guided West Ham to ninth in the table after a sticky
start. West Ham are currently 16th in a season which has been plagued by
injuries and off-the-field distractions. Zola knows his future will depend
on the wishes of the club's next owners. "I know I can do this job but you
always have to prove yourself every day," he said on Friday. "I am not going
to go to anyone and say 'look, I am doing well'. The results do the talking.
If what I am doing is not good enough on the pitch it is right they change."
The club are currently owned by CB Holding, which has indicated West Ham are
£38m in debt. The main shareholder in CB Holding is Icelandic bank Straumur,
which has previously said it was in no hurry to sell the club although that
was before the various bidders became known. Zola has insisted he will not
have to sell his star players in the January transfer window. England
goalkeeper Robert Green, defender Matthew Upson and Carlton Cole have all
been linked with interest from big clubs.
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Vinny's Aston Villa Report
Vinny - Sun Jan 17 2010
West Ham Online
Aston Villa 0 West Ham United 0
It may not have been one for the neutrals but a committed and much improved
display saw West Ham come away with a well deserved point as Champions
League chasing Aston Villa were held on their own patch.
If such thing can come about it felt like we won this game 0-0. Ok, it may
sound odd and I'm not saying we were fantastic but the improvement was
apparent as we even looked as though we could nick the game during parts of
the second half.
Having seen us play so badly at Bolton last month this was much more
pleasing to see with at least the effort and determination evident in our
play. Our final ball was usually quite dreadful and some players found it
hard to make a simple pass but whatever way you look at it this was a good
result – even on the best of days.
Aston Villa were quite predictable in that they just wanted to counter
attack and despite having a massive sixteen corners I cannot think of one
which really caused us trouble as we put in our best defensive performance
of the season with all four at the back putting in excellent performances.
Villa had their chances and of course that is to be expected from a top five
team playing on at their ground. So we rode our luck a few times but we had
a few chances of our own although with better delivery and more composure we
would have created a lot more.
Gianfranco Zola made a number of changes to the side who crashed out of the
FA Cup at home to Arsenal. In defence Fabio Deprela was dropped to the bench
with Jonathan Spector coming in at left back as Herita Ilunga remained
injured.
We were playing a five man midfield and this saw Alessandro Diamanti, Junior
Stanislas and Luis Jimenez all dropped to the bench in favour of the
returning from injury trio of Jack Collison, Mark Noble and Scott Parker.
Frank Nouble was given the task of being the lone striker.
Starting for Aston Villa was former Hammer James Collins.
Right away this put out the message that we were here to contain and not to
attack in numbers. With Villa playing a similar way in the sense that they
like to play the ball into the feet of the big striker and play around him
this saw both sides cancel each other out for long spells.
Before the kick off there was a minutes silence for the attack on the Togo
national team bus which left three people dead. A number of West Ham fans
did not really feel the need to be quiet about this with the chap behind me
stating that he "couldn't give a fuck" and proceeding to chant
"Eng-er-land". What a nice bloke.
We started well and like last seasons fixture we found a lot of room in the
midfield and were playing it about nicely without any real penetration. This
would be the story of the game from our attacking point of view but it made
a change to being dominated and bombarded with shots from the opposition.
The first chance of the game fell our way. When I say fell I mean made
entirely by Frank Nouble only for the 18-year-old striker to miss from
twelve yards out.
Nouble received the ball just inside the Villa half and decided to take them
all on and he beat Collins and somehow powered his way past Richard Dunne
but his finish went over the bar when he had been so close to scoring a
quite simply stunning goal.
The referee Mike Jones had a terrible game and although there were no major
decisions, which affected the outcome of the game the amount of things he
missed was quite incredible. His first mistake was showing Radoslav Kovac a
yellow card for what looked like a fair challenge on Emile Heskey. It was
barely a foul never mind a booking.
The resulting free kick from James Milner smashed against the wall with
ironically Kovac being in the way.
Villa's first shot on goal game mid way through the half when Ashley Young
cut in from the left and hit a curling effort which was clawed away by
Robert Green.
Only a minute later Villa had their best chance of the half when our failure
to clear the ball eventually saw a cross put into the area for Abonglahor to
swivel and hit a shot at goal which Green brilliantly saved.
The home side were starting to get a foothold on the game and when we tried
to counter attack the passing from some of hour players was quite
embarrassing with Mark Noble being the main culprit.
A number of corners were won by Villa but everything they through at us was
dealt with ease and calmness led by Matthew Upson who was immense at the
back.
We managed to win one corner in the first period after good work from Nouble
who was quite clearly giving the Villa back line something to think about.
So 0-0 at half time and although we knew it wasn't great we couldn't
complain too much either as we were in the game and looked as though with a
little more going forward we could actually hurt them and maybe nick a goal.
Villa Park had been very quiet in the first half with the only noise coming
from the West Ham fans who were happy to let the home support know how bad
they were. They would counter with "You've only got one song" to which we
replied, "At least we've got one fucking song".
The thing is, it is difficult to criticise too much as we all know what it
is like at Upton Park. On a Saturday after noon it isn't very good and the
atmosphere on a Sunday at 1.30pm is pretty much the same as we witnessed at
Villa Park today.
The second half saw Villa have a wonderful chance to score with just a few
minutes on the clock as Heskey set up James Milner to have a shot which beat
Robert Green but not the post.
But then a few minutes later we should have taken the lead ourselves as a
great move saw Parker play a quite exquisite pass through for Collison to
get down the left and cross for Nouble to miss the ball and then Behrami to
gain possession and he just had to knock the ball back to Kovac who would
have surely scored but the pass was so poor and the move broke down.
Scott Parker was taken off by Zola with Alessandro Diamanti replacing him. I
don't know if this was due to a recocurrance of his hamstring injury or just
a precaution.
On the hour mark Villa thought they had taken the lead after the impressive
Stewart Downing hit a low shot which Green couldn't handle and John Carew
who had just come on for Emile Heskey bundled the ball over the line only
for the ref to blow for a free kick. I don't know if it was for offside or
that he kicked the ball out of Greens hands but regardless the goal was
ruled out.
Kovac who had been booked earlier in the game went in with a nothing tackle
on Petrov and the foul was given with the home supporters chanting for Kovac
to be sent off. The ref had a long and needless word with Kovac giving him
his last warning.
With this Zola made a second change, taking off Kovac and replacing him with
Junior Stanislas. It was strange how we had really inadvertently gone to a
much more attacking line up due to Parker with a possible injury and Kovac
looking as though he would be sent off.
The changes helped us though and we instantly looked more of a threat going
forward.
Nouble got a shot on target with a low shot as he came in from the left hand
side having made James Collins look silly as he powered his way through yet
again.
Our best chance of the second half saw the ball find its way to Junior
Stanislas who drove the ball across goal with venom for James Collins to
slice over the bar inside the six yard box.
There should have been more chances but some of the final balls were poor.
One of the most frustrating moments was when Behrami got the ball and only
had to pass it our to Nouble who was in acres of space but he held onto the
ball for far too long and ended up losing it. I think I called him every
name under the sun at that point thus was my absolute frustration at the
loss of possession.
Thinking about it now although I was delighted leaving the game with a point
I do feel that if we just had a little bit more about us in the final third
we would have surely scored a couple of goals. Some of our play was very
tidy but it lacks the potency to be anything other than 'neat'.
Villa probably should have won the game with just minutes remaining as
Abonglahor was put through on goal only for Green save the day as he got
down at the strikers feet and the ball was cleared. For all Green's
occasional lapses in concentration this was a magnificent piece of goal
keeping.
I was still hoping for one more counter attack which would see us steal all
three points but it was never to come.
A point away from home against a top five side cannot be looked at as a bad
result. Considering our position in the league and how badly we have played
this season there are many positives to take out of the game.
Of course the next four games will give us a clearer indication of how
things are likely to pan out with some absolutely massive encounters to
come.
Player Reviews
Robert Green
It's becoming difficult to watch his performances as one moment he will pull
off a fantastic save yet the next he will looks as though he doesn't have a
clue what he is doing which we saw with his decision making with a few back
passes. But his saves kept us in the game and he will be pleased with a rare
clean sheet.
Jonathan Spector
Villa winger Ashley Young started on Spector's side with the American
defender who was out of position obviously being looked at as our weak link.
But Young got no joy from Spector and had to move flanks mid way through the
half. He tried it again in the second half but Spector again matched him.
This was a very impressive performance from Spector.
James Tomkins
After an initial shaky start when dealing with Ablongahor he got better as
the game went on and put in a very good performance. I feel his confidence
has been knocked in recent months but he came through this one well and can
be very pleased with his display.
Matthew Upson
I though Upson was terrific. The amount of headers he won and interceptions
he made were essential to us keeping the score at nil. Heskey was beaten by
him all day long and was taken off for Carew in the second half given the
lack of joy he had got. Upson showed why he is a very valuable asset and I
hope we can keep him here.
Julien Faubert
Saw nothing of him going forward to support the attacks but he did a good
job defensively and for the most part he had a good game. There were a few
misplaced passes but overall this was a solid showing from Faubert.
Mark Noble
The crowd were getting on his back at half time as his first half
performance was pretty poor. Nothing he did seemed to go well and he
struggled to make any positive pass. His lack of pace was highlighted on a
number of occasions. He was better in the second half but I can only put his
poor performance down to a lack of fitness.
Scott Parker
Another player who did not seem 100% fit but he put in another hard working
performance and although his passing is very hit and miss when it does come
off he can really open teams up.
Valon Behrami
Whilst Noble was poor in the first half I though Behrami was poor all game.
Too slow on the ball, wrong decisions made time and time again and he
generally just frustrated the fuck out of me for the majority of the ninety
minutes.
Radoslav Kovac
He gets a lot of stick from the fans but I didn't really think Kovac was
that bad. Yeah there were a few odd choices of clearances from the Czech but
he didn't deserve to get yellow carded and that ultimately saw him being
taken off in the second half as he wasn't going to stop putting his foot in.
Jack Collison
It's not that Collison doesn't work hard because he does and he is always
running about and closing players down but for me he just doesn't get
involved in the game enough. He did nothing of note on the ball and
disappeared from the game for large periods which he does all to often.
Frank Nouble
For an 18 year old making your full premiership debut the boy had no fear up
against Collins and Dunne and when the ball was played into his feet he
often had the beating of them although it was a shame he kept falling over.
So unlucky not to have scored in the first half and I am quite happy to
continue to play him until Cole returns.
Subs Used
Alessandro Diamanti (on for Parker 57 minutes)
Our game was crying out for him and he did quite well when he came on. I
don't really recall him losing the ball when in possession and he often did
the right thing. I can't believe he won't start the next game.
Junior Stanislas (on for Kovac 62 mins)
Since his cameo against Spurs I have been quite impressed with Stanislas.
Although he made a few poor choices on the ball when he came on he is always
looking to make something happen and it is refreshing to see a player who is
solely focussed on attacking especially in a game which contained only one
attacking player in our line up. He has improved and I would like to see him
feature a bit more over the coming weeks.
Manuel Da Costa (on for Nouble 94 mins)
Tomkins had gone off the field of play after receiving treatment and this
sub was just to waste some time.
Subs Not Used: Kurucz, Jimenez, Sears, Daprela
Man Of The Match : Matthew Upson
Yellow Cards: Kovac (4th) , Stanislas (2nd)
Attendance: 35,646
Overall
Was this a good result? Yes, it was, and although we need to be picking up
victories urgently we looked much better, played better football and
although our weaknesses are still apparent the level of performance shown in
this game will surely give us a platform to go on and pick up points over
the next few games.
Looking at the fixture list it is hard not to think the next five fixtures
are all what you would consider 'winnable'. Of course we have seen it all
before with West Ham and this result will only be considered good if we are
to pick up a win in our next game away at Portsmouth.
There is a lot of talk going on off the pitch with regards to the takeover
and personally I don't care who takes over the club just as long as someone
does it soon and we can then go and strengthen the team and maybe even
consider replacing Craig Bellamy and Lucas Neill.
Next Game - Portsmouth (a)
I seem to say the same thing every week that 'this game is massive' but I
don't think anyone really needs me to say much about this game as it is all
pretty self evident. Nothing but a win will do.
We are about to come into a run of fixtures will surely make or break our
season. Pompey, Blackburn, Wolves, Burnley and Birmingham. All games at the
start of the season we would be expecting to win and three of them are at
home.
Zola need to make sure his players are up for the task as his job is on the
line as well as our Premiership status.
This result was encouraging, but we need to see more.
Zola's View
"I am delighted and lucky to have a bunch of players that are fantastic.
Their commitment, passion and desire to please me and the supporters is
unbelievable. That is the best ingredients for success.
"If we perform like this and we have everybody back, it is down to us. We
are good enough to start climbing the league but we must have the same
attitude and we will have some players back that are missing."
"It was a good point for us. They had good chances but we had some good
chances as well. The way we played in the second half meant we deserved to
get a point. They had good chances as well so it was a fair game and a fair
result.
"When we bought the two wingers, Alessandro Diamanti and Junior Stanislas,
on the game changed for the better for us. We looked dangerous and it was a
really good game.
"I am pleased and proud of my team's performance as it was a difficult game
against a team in form and we had some players missing, so it was brilliant
performance from our players."
"Green was outstanding apart from one moment when my heart stopped for a few
seconds. Fortunately not long enough to damage my brain, but it is damaged
already," he joked.
"His performance was really good and he was back to his normal standard."
"Nouble had a very good game. He delayed too much, he should have taken his
chance earlier. Despite that he posed a threat to then all of the time. You
can't afford to play a team like Villa and not cause them problems or they
will come on top of you."
"Carlton Cole shouldn't be far as he might be joining us in training, Kieron
Dyer is a couple of weeks away, Danny Gabbidon might be this week, Guillermo
Franco will be at least a couple of weeks more and Herita Ilunga should be
two weeks away, maybe one week."
"It is massive to out of the bottom three. But not just being out of the
bottom three, picking up a point here is not an easy task. That will give
the players a big boost in confidence and many other things.
"Then we have another tough match against Portsmouth and then a run of games
as home. It is a big opportunity and the Villa match will prepare ourselves
properly to play the next games.
"It will let us push clear as we have important players coming back. The
performance will give us a platform for the future."
"I'm looking forward to it as we have big games coming up so it is a very
important time for us. What makes me positive is the team is alive and is
determined to make a good impact."
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ASTON VILLA UNDER FIRE AS GIANFRANCO ZOLA POINTS THE WAY
Daily Express
West Ham United's Robert Green makes a save against Aston Villa's Gabriel
Agbonlahor
Monday January 18,2010
By Harry Talbot
Aston Villa 0 West Ham 0
Martin O'Neill is three days away from securing Aston Villa's first cup
final appearance for a decade – but that has not stopped him becoming the
latest victim of the grumpy inhabitants in the seats behind the dug-out at
Villa Park. The serial moaners sit just yards behind the Villa manager,
made former boss David O'Leary's life a misery and, more notoriously, threw
coins at Harry Redknapp. Yesterday they decided to take on O'Neill after
more dropped home points, against Gianfranco Zola's side, prevented Villa
re-entering the race for the top four and capitalising on Manchester City,
Liverpool and Tottenham's failure to win 24 hours earlier. In three years
O'Neill has made significant progress and Villa are genuine contenders for a
top-four finish, despite only collecting one point from their past three
games and failing to score in that period. But that did not stop O'Neill
from coming under fire from the snipers at the end of what was a frustrating
afternoon. He and goalkeeping coach Seamus McDonagh were involved in a
verbal exchange of views with the critics, who were clearly less than
impressed. However, they will most likely be joining the scramble for
Wembley tickets if Villa press home their 1-0 first-leg advantage over
Blackburn Rovers in the Carling Cup semi-final on Wednesday. O'Neill tried
to make light of the issue, claiming he will be "having a word with his
brother" about the incident. But Villa fans will do well to note he is a man
who can bear a grudge and once kept letters of criticism from Leicester
supporters, during some troublesome early times at Filbert Street.
And he was quick to defend his players who, all bar Brad Friedel, had been
on duty at Ewood Park while West Ham were resting in preparation. He said:
"It is not a serious issue. It does not concern me. I did not know about
Seamus getting involved, but it was frustrating. "I was genuinely delighted
with the team. Their effort was terrific. We got a little tired in the last
15 minutes, but I cannot fault our effort. West Ham would be a match for any
of the teams now they are getting some players back."
Things may have been different for Villa if Radoslav Kovac had been shown a
second yellow card by referee Mike Jones eight minutes into the second
period. Kovac lunged at Stiliyan Petrov, after he had earlier been booked
for a foul on Emile Heskey. "Stiliyan Petrov kept him on the pitch, getting
up quickly," said O'Neill. "If he had stayed down he would have been sent
off. It looked a bookable offence. Well done Stiliyan. The idea we have a
couple of divers in Gabby and Ashley, I hope it all gets washed away." Zola
has the same hopes about his side's relegation fears after seeing the kind
of resilient performance that most of West Ham's critics did not believe
they were capable of producing. When several of his key players come back
later this month things could improve further.
Apart from a moment when Robert Green "made my heart stop for a few seconds"
in attempting to dribble the ball around John Carew, there were not too many
moments of discomfort for Zola. Green looked back to his best in saving from
Gabriel Agbonlahor twice, once from a close-range volley and later with a
brave dive at his feet in stoppage time. Considering West Ham's away form
was so fragile and their injury-hit squad so thin, they appeared full of
desire for the battle ahead. This was certainly an advert for any potential
buyer, especially as they prepare for a run of games against five clubs also
in relegation trouble. "I am pleased and proud of my team. We had players
missing against a team in form," said Zola. "It was a brilliant performance
from the players and it is massive to be out of the bottom three. "That will
give the players confidence and many positive things for what is coming up.
We have a run of good games now. It can help us push clear."
ASTON VILLA (4-4-2): Friedel 6; Cuellar 7, Dunne 7, Collins 6, Warnock 8; A
Young 7, Milner 7, Petrov 8, Downing 6; Agbonlahor 5, Heskey 5 (Carew 56,
6).
WEST HAM (4-5-1): Green 8; Faubert 7, Tomkins 6, Upson 7, Spector 6; Behrami
6, Kovac 7 (Stanislas 62, 5), Noble 7, Parker 8 (Diamanti 56, 7), Collison
7; Nouble 7 (Da Costa 90).
Referee: M Jones (Cheshire).
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MARTIN O'NEILL THANKS PETROV FOR HONEST PLAYING
ABOVE: Martin O'Neill said Petrov's honesty had kept Kovac out of red-card
trouble 18th January 2010 By Dave ArmitageYour Shout ( 0 )
Aston Villa 0, West Ham 0
The Star
MARTIN O'Neill reckoned West Ham had Stiliyan Petrov to thank for not
playing the last 30 minutes of this game with 10 men. The Aston Villa boss
said midfielder Petrov's honesty kept Radoslav Kovac out of red-card
trouble, which could have proved the difference between winning and losing
yesterday. As it happened, the Hammers frustrated Villa to move themselves
out of the bottom three with an excellent point. But one of the big talking
points was whether Kovac, who had already been booked, should have taken the
long walk after a crude challenge on Petrov. The Bulgarian got straight to
his feet, with referee Mike Dean settling for a lecture before telling
Hammers skipper Matthew Upson that the slightest indiscretion would give him
no option. West Ham boss Gianfranco Zola immediately took him out of the
heat of battle and admitted he was full of admiration for Petrov. Zola said:
"I have to congratulate Petrov for being a very fair person. I took Kovac
off, then, because I would not take a chance."
And opposite number O'Neill said: "Stiliyan kept him on the pitch. If he had
stayed down their lad would have been sent off Well done, Stiliyan. I hope
this idea that we have a couple of divers in our team will eventually get
washed away with the rest of that kind of nonsense." O'Neill ended up being
the one who was frustrated and he was seen to have a difference of opinion
with some fans behind his dugout at the final whistle. The Irishman added:
"It really wasn't a major issue. It doesn't concern me. I thought the
endeavour we showed was fantastic." "It's just that we couldn't score and
so, yes, I suppose this will be looked at as a missed opportunity." Villa
looked the better side at the end of 45 minutes and looked set to go on and
finish off Zola's plucky Hammers.
Within 10 minutes of the turnaround, Villa fired off more than enough
warning shots that they were hellbent on getting the lead. Before the
interval the visitors had relied solely on an enterprising performance from
the free-running Frank Nouble. True, Villa keeper Brad Friedel had not had a
direct save to make, but, nonetheless, Nouble had shown more than enough to
warrant keeping a close eye on him. It was Hammers keeper Robert Green who
had been by far the busier, having to make a series of interventions to deal
with a range of crosses into the heart of his box. He had to make one
particularly fine save to keep out a Gabi Agbonlahor volley which was
heading for the top corner. The Villa hitman turned and thumped it but
probably made too good a connection and Green got sight of it before making
a full-length diving save to his right. James Milner was the first to go
close for Villa after the break, with his thumping drive rattling Green's
right-hand post. Emile Heskey set him up five minutes into the half,
carefully nudging the ball across the 18-yard box and straight into the
England midfielder's path. He sent in a scorcher but was left looking to the
heavens in disbelief as it smashed into the upright. A few minutes later,
Carlos Cuellar really should have done better with a golden chance just 10
yards out when a Milner cross found him at the far post. However, he showed
the true touch of a defender and ended up blazing the ball yards over. James
Collins was only inches wide with a left-foot drive before he went
alarmingly close at the other end. Collins did well to intervene when a
cross-cum-shot from sub Junior Stanislas flashed across the goalmouth until
the big defender sliced it to safety over his bar – but only just. Next up,
Villa did get the ball in the net when Green spilled a Stewart Downing shot
and sub John Carew nipped the ball in only to be ruled offside. West Ham's
efforts often broke down right at the last minute and one classic example of
that saw Valon Behrami totally miscue his pass to put Kovac in a great
shooting opportunity. Not long after, Kovac was taken off. He had been
extremely unlucky to be have been booked for a foul on Heskey in the 18th
minute, but he might well have been given his marching orders for that
tackle on Petrov.
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Aston Villa 0 West Ham 0: Hammers D-Day: Gold and Sullivan to discover if
they have won fight for control
By Neil Moxley
Last updated at 1:20 AM on 18th January 2010
Daily Mail
The race to buy West Ham will be decided on Monday after former Birmingham
bosses David Gold and David Sullivan, and Malaysian multi-millionaire Tony
Fernandes, finalised their bids in a round of dramatic talks late on Sunday
night. Although Gold and Sullivan are confident of success, Sportsmail
understands that Fernandes, owner and chief executive of Air Asia, is still
right in contention. If Gold and Sullivan complete their return to football,
they will make an approach to former Manchester City boss Mark Hughes,
currently away on a skiing holiday, to take over from Gianfranco Zola
controlas manager. They will also move for Monaco forward Eidur Gudjohnsen
and Manchester City's Benjani. On the field, West Ham hung on for a point at
Aston Villa on Sunday, leaving home boss Martin O'Neill to defend his team
against a dis-gruntled section of home fans whose frustration boiled over.
The Irishman remonstrated with supporters at the bottom of the Trinity Road
Stand as Villa battered away unsuccessfully against a resolute West Ham
defence. The exchange happened after Gabby Agbonlahor had missed a late
chance and coach Jim McDonagh also waded into the row. Villa are 90 minutes
from their first Wembley final in a decade — leading Blackburn 1-0 going
into Wednesday's home leg of their Carling Cup semi-final — and in sight
again of the Premier League top four, so it was difficult to understand the
complaints. But dissatisfaction grew as Zola's defence withstood 16 corners
and umpteen crosses. O'Neill said: 'I'm not sure it was a big issue. The
issue was that we were unable to score. But considering we played on
Thursday, it was a huge effort.'
The outcome would probably have been different if referee Mike Jones had
applied the letter of the law after Radoslav Kovac's second-half challenge
on Stiliyan Petrov.
He took out the Bulgarian from behind but was spared a second yellow card by
the Chester official, presumably because the first-half caution he had
awarded against the Czech was so soft. 'Petrov kept him on the pitch,' said
O'Neill. 'If he hadn't got up so quickly, then it's likely Kovac would have
been sent off. Well done, Stiliyan. I must have a word with him about that.'
Within seconds, Zola had hauled off the holding midfielder and it sparked
the visitors' best spell of the game. Until then, they had done well to stay
in it.
The Italian gave 18-year-old striker Frank Nouble his full League debut,
leading the line on his own, and the youngster worked himself to a
standstill. After one mesmerising run in the opening five minutes, he
failed narrowly to deliver a shot under pressure from Petrov. Then Green
saved smartly from Agbonlahor and Villa dominated until half-time, before
turning up the heat again after the interval. James Milner cracked the
outside of a post from 25 yards and the assistant's flag wiped out John
Carew's effort when Green spilled Stewart Downing's shot. At the other end,
James Collins almost slashed wildly into his own net from Junior Stanislas's
cross-cum-shot, but Green was needed in the dying moments after Agbonlahor
had expertly turned Matthew Upson. That incident sparked the touchline
fracas. Zola was happy. With four games to play against their rivals at the
foot of the table before the end of February, Carlton Cole returning to
training next week and the prospect of a cash injection when the takeover
goes through, the outlook is brighter for West Ham. 'I'm proud of the
players,' he said. 'Villa had good chances but maybe for our performance in
the second half we deserved something. It's a big boost and will prepare us
in the best way for what's coming up.'
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Aston Villa 0 West Ham 0: Match Report
West Ham Till I Die
A job well done. And a clean sheet to boot! i can't remember the last time
we had a 0-0, and normally I'd be disappointed with such a result. But not
today. No Cole. No Franco, and we are up to 16th. Frank Nouble did so well
to hold the line. If he had scored after his fantastic run in the first
minute, who knows what might have happened.
We defended very well. Robert Green was man of the match in my view, while
Tomkins and Upson did incredibly well and always looked relatively
comfortable. Spector looked comfortable against Ashley Young and Faubert
didn't do badly either.
In midfield we looked a little leaden to be honest. Parker, who went off
after 55 minutes, was the best of a pretty poor bunch, with Behrami and
Noble largely anonymous for long periods of the game. Collison had some nice
touches and Kovac put in a lot of effort but he forced Zola to sub him after
getting one yellow card and then nearly a second. Funnily enough, it was
then that we really sprang to life and looked as if we might even sneak a
winner. With Diamanti and Stanislas added to the equation we looked far more
threatening going forward, and although I can't recall a shot which actually
tested Friedel, we looked the more likely to score in the last quarter of
the game.
The thing about this performance was that it was a real team effort. No one
put in a 9 out of 10 performance, but neither did anyone rate a 4.
We now have five games, against Portsmouth, Wolves, Burnley, Birmingham and
Hull. Four of the five are at home. These are the games which will decide
our season. If we can get 10 points – and we really ought to be aiming for
12 – we will be half way to safety.
Green 8
Upson 8
Tomkins 8
Faubert 6
Spector 6
Collison 6
Behrami 5
Noble 5
Parker 7
Kovac 6
Nouble 7
Diamanti 6
Stanislas 6
PS I would like to offer my apologies for questioning Gianfranco's team
selection. I was wrong. In Zola I trust!
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