WHUFC.com
The manager was honest in his assessment of Saturday's 3-0 Championship
defeat at Reading
10.12.2011
Manager Sam Allardyce admitted Saturday's 3-0 npower Championship defeat at
Reading marked his 'worst day' since taking charge of West Ham United. The
Hammers recovered from the early loss of Guy Demel to a thigh injury to edge
the opening 45 minutes at the Madejski Stadium, only for the wheels to come
off in spectacular fashion after half-time. Demel's replacement Joey O'Brien
was sent-off for two bookable offences with 25 minutes remaining and Alex
Pearce put the Royals in front within 60 seconds. Substitute SImon Church
then scored either side of Wales international team-mate Jack Collison being
shown the red card for a challenge on Jimmy Kebe.
Speaking to West Ham TV, Big Sam was honest in his assessment of both his
players' lack of discipline and failure to defend properly after going a man
down.
Sam, what was your assessment of the second half after a fairly mundane
opening 45 minutes?
"It was a lack of discipline from our players for no reason at all,
basically. We have thrown the game away by getting two players sent-off, I
think that was the only difference between the sides and, if anything, we
had created the better chances up to then even though we weren't playing to
our best. "We were certainly in the game and had three or four chances to
score goals but didn't get that one-goal lead that we wanted. "That
irresponsibility of getting sent-off was very, very costly. Whether the
referee is right or wrong, you don't put yourself in that position. You
could argue about the sending-offs but at the end of the day it can't change
the result. "The thing is not to put yourself in the position to be
sent-off. Joey's second yellow should have been avoided if he'd stayed on
his feet. Jack shouldn't have done what he did either because that left us
struggling in a game we shouldn't have struggled in. "To boot, we let them
score immediately after Joey got sent-off when we had to defend a free-kick.
It's a shame that it's happened. These things in a game of football can go
against you and that's what's happened and cost us the game. It wasn't what
Reading were doing."
Were you disappointed with the nature of all three Reading goals - two from
set pieces and one from a counter-attack following a West Ham free-kick?
"I was disappointed with their first one because you have to keep yourself
in the game with ten players by being more resilient and organising yourself
properly.
"They get organised every week, do these lads, and they have to remember
what they should do and they haven't done it. It's that simple. Reading
should have had to work a lot harder to win the game, even though we went
down to ten men. "When we gifted them a goal from the free-kick immediately
after Joey got sent-off, that's what really disappoints me. Even with ten
men, we might have got a draw or even won it. When Jack got sent-off, that
was even more irresponsible. "Their second goal came from our free-kick.
Because the players decided they wanted to take a free-kick that they had
dreamed up themselves, and not the one we rehearsed, all of our players were
not where they should have been. Abdoulaye Faye hit the ball where he
shouldn't and they went up the other end and scored.
"It just shows them that the irresponsibility and the pressure they were
under meant they started doing silly things and the wrong things and we've
lost the game because of them. Obviously the big turning point was going
down to ten men."
The loss of Guy Demel to a thigh injury and Joey O'Brien and Jack Collison
to suspension means the remaining players will have to rise to the challenge
against Burnley on Saturday?
"We haven't got many left! Only Henri Lansbury is nearly ready, so we're
really going to be down to the wire next week. We may have a slight outside
chance of getting Matt Taylor back, but that would be it, and Henri has only
played 60 minutes in eight weeks. "We've lost two games on the trot so it's
been our worst day of the whole season. One, the way we lost it. Two, we had
two men sent-off. Three, Guy getting injured. So nothing went right for us,
I'm afraid."
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U18s secure Charlton draw
WHUFC.com
Blair Turgott and Nana Boakye Yiadom are on target as the Hammers gain at
point in south London
10.12.2011
Nick Haycock has praised his Under-18 squad for ending a memorable week by
securing a 2-2 FA Premier Academy League draw at Charlton Athletic. The
Academy coach made five changes to the side that scored a fantastic 3-2 FA
Youth Cup third-round win at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Wednesday evening,
handing a debut to new signing Pelly Ruddock and starts to full-backs Josh
Siafa and Frazer Shaw and midfielders Dominic Vose and Kieran Sadlier.
Ruddock played his part on his first competitive appearance in claret and
blue, knocking the ball down from a corner for schoolboy substitute Nana
Boakye Yiadom to net a deserved equaliser midway through the second half.
Earlier, Blair Turgott (pictured) had put West Ham into an early lead before
Charlton hit back to equalise after 20 minutes. The Hammers then had an
Elliot Lee 'goal' disallowed before hitting a post before the break. The
second half saw the Addicks go ahead from a free-kick before Boakye Yiadom's
dramatic intervention courtesy of his first goal at U18 level. After a week
that saw his squad contest three matches, Haycock was proud of his players'
efforts.
"We should have won the game, to be honest, because we were the better
team," said the coach. "I am disappointed for the players, but we had a hard
game in the week at Wolves and I made five changes to the starting lineup.
"To be fair, we produced another good performance and mixed our playing
style up well, which is something we've been working on in training. We had
chances to win it near the end, especially when Dominic Vose broke down the
left and cut the ball back, but there was nobody there to put the ball in
the net. "After the tough week we've had, I was pleased because the whole
squad has contributed and everybody has played their part. The league table
is still very congested and we have gained a point away from home, so I
can't be displeased with that. "Josh and Frazer came in and did a good job
at full-back, while Leo Chambers and Kenzer Lee again looked commanding at
the heart of the defence. Pelly and Jack Powell combined well, too, so there
were plenty of reasons for me to be pleased with our performance."
West Ham United U18s: Cowler, Siafa, Shaw, Chambers, K.Lee, Ruddock, Powell,
Sadlier (Boakye Yiadom 65), Vose, Turgott, E.Lee (Fanimo 70)
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Reading 3 - 0 West Ham
BBC.co.uk
Page last updated at 17:39 GMT, Saturday, 10 December 2011
Simon Church scored two and Alex Pearce one as Reading eased to victory over
a West Ham side reduced to nine men. Joey O'Brien was sent off for two
yellow cards in the 65th minute and Pearce made the visitors pay a minute
later by scoring from eight yards out. Substitute Church tapped home Adam Le
Fondre's chip for his first before Jack Collison was dismissed for a wild
challenge on Jimmy Kebe. Striker Church nodded home Ian Harte's set-piece to
complete the scoring. West Ham would have gone joint top with Championship
leaders Southampton if they had won the match, but were on the backfoot from
the start. Noel Hunt almost gave the Royals the lead early on while Kebe and
Jem Karacan also went close to scoring in the first half. Collison blazed
over the bar for the Hammers while Papa Bouba Diop thought he had had poked
the ball home but Hunt cleared off the line. The game's scrappy nature
continued into the second half before the match exploded into life after
O'Brien tripped the dangerous Jobi McAnuff to earn his second yellow card.
From the free-kick given for O'Brien's offence, Harte's delivery was not
cleared properly, McAnuff slipped the ball into Pearce's path and the
centre-back side-footed home. Reading dominated from there onwards and went
two up when Church tapped home. West Ham lost all their shape and discipline
and were reduced to nine men when Collison needlessly fouled Kebe. From the
resulting free-kick Church headed home Harte's cross to intensify the misery
for the Hammers. Reading boss Brian McDermott: "We are a team that's trying
to evolve and we have done that today to the best team in the division.
"They have a lot of Premiership players in their side and you can see why
they win so many away games. "We are all about the team at Reading and never
about the individuals. I try to explain that to players who don't play."
West Ham manager Sam Allardyce: "Unfortunately a loss of control by the
players that I haven't seen before in my time here, particularly Joey
O'Brien, cost us a result today. "It's not like him and he's not that sort
of character. Then we let the opposition score from the free-kick instead of
organising ourselves to see it out to a 0-0 draw. "I wouldn't really quibble
about either sending-off but if Jack Collison went then I think Noel Hunt
should have gone. He caught Joey and could easily have broken his foot or
leg. "We are in serious trouble now player-wise and will be struggling to
get 11 out."
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Reading 3 West Ham Utd 0
KUMB.com
Filed: Saturday, 10th December 2011
By: Staff Writer
Sam Allardyce has plenty of work to do after he watched his side slip to
back-to-back Championship defeats for the first time with an embarrassing
3-0 defeat at the Majedski Stadium. Although there has been muted criticism
of his playing style and lack of creativity, Allardyce has enjoyed a fairly
easy ride since replacing Avram Grant in the summer as his team has
continued to produce results. However that could all be set to change after
his West Ham side produced possibly the worse performance since Alan
Curbishley's team were thrashed 6-0 at the same venue some four years ago.
It was apparent that something was wrong from the off - after all, it took
West Ham some 37 minutes to produce their first (and only) effort on target
- yet it wasn't until midway through the second half that the wheels
completely fell off when the game descended into farce. Joey O'Brien, on as
a fifth-minute replacement for Guy Demel (whose right leg gave way following
his second touch of the game) was cautioned on the hour-mark after reacting
badly to a poor challenge from Noel Hunt. Although his reaction was perhaps
understandable given his recent injury record O'Brien was therefore foolish,
at best, to stick out a leg in an attempt to steal the ball from former
Hammer Jobi McAnuff just four minutes later.
With referee Neil Swarbrick in no mood to display even a modicum of common
sense and consider a stern word or final warning to O'Brien - and McAnuff
making the most of what was nothing more than a clip on the ankle - the
right back was given his marching orders. Less than 30 seconds later,
Reading were ahead.
Still at sixes and sevens as they readjusted to the loss of O'Brien, the
Hammers gifted Alex Pearce a free header at the far post that he simply
couldn't miss. And had substitute Simon Church been on the field for more
than four minutes he may well have made more of the chance presented to him
by McAnuff; fortunately for West Ham, he fired wide. On that occasion,
anyway.
John Carew replaced the woeful Freddie Piquionne as Sam Allardyce chased a
point that he obviously felt was still within his grasp. However those hopes
were effectively dashed as Church atoned for his earlier error by scoring
from a yard out when nodding home Adam Le Fondre's lob with the left side of
West Ham's defence seemingly under the direction of Moses.
With the game all but lost by that stage, the last thing we needed was
further displays of petulance from West Ham, but that's exactly what we got
- and from the most unlikely source. Jack Collison, a player with only six
yellow cards to his name in his entire career let his frustration get the
better of him when reacting to what would once have been called 'bad
sportsmanship' by Reading's Jimmy Kebe. The midfielder appeared to mock the
opposition by pausing to roll up his socks whilst in possession of the ball.
Collison naturally took great umbrage to Kebe's attempted piss-take and
launched himself into the Frenchman, catching him on the knee with his studs
and pushing him in the face at the same time. Kebe embarrassed himself by
launching himself backwards; not that it mattered to the card-happy
Swarbrick who had no hesitation in producing his red card for the second
time in 20 minutes as Collison walked for the first time in his prefessional
career.
Damage limitation was now order of the day as West Ham were reduced to nine
men for the first time this century, Church managed to add a second to make
the final score 3-0 when left completely unmarked in the penalty area yet
again. Not that it mattered a great deal at that stage, for the real damage
has already been done.
What made defeat even more difficult to swallow was that the home side had
been average, at best, up to the point that O'Brien was dismissed. In what
must be a fairly unique statistic for a team winning by three clear goals,
Reading managed just seven shots in total during the game - and evey one of
the three on target resulted in a goal.
Despite having failed to make anything of the few chances that had fallen
their way, West Ham had looked the better side earlier in the game and the
Irons should have gone ahead when Papa Bouba Diop's goalbound effort was
hacked off the line by an alert Royals defender with the half-time whistle
just a few minutes away.
Freddie Piquionne then completely mistimed a free header with the goal at
his mercy, though in the interests of impartiality it should perhaps be
pointed out that both Adam Le Fondre and Jem Karachan also wasted clear-cut
chances at that stage of the game.
Sam Allardyce - who maintains his record of never having beaten Reading as a
manager - now has some serious thinking to do ahead of next weekend's visit
of Barnsley to the Boleyn.
Already missing the likes of Matt Taylor - whose omission only serves to
reinforce the winger's importance to the team, Winston Reid and Sam Baldock
he can add Guy Demel (injured), Joey O'Brien and Jack Collison (both
suspended) to those unavailable for selection.
Allardyce's problems are compounded by the fact that the players currently
available have mostly offered a passable impression of being unfit for
purpose in the last two outings; today, for example, his side managed just
three shots on goal all afternoon - two of which were off target.
The good news, if there can be any after a dreadful day like today is that
both Henri Lansbury and Gary O'Neil are expected back soon. But with neither
likely to be up to a full 90 minutes for a while, Allardyce's resources are
set to be tested to the limit between now and the opening of the winter
transfer window on 1st January when he is expected to bring in some fresh
faces.
Reading 3 West Ham Utd 0: match facts
West Ham Utd: Green, Demel (O'Brien 5), McCartney, Faye, Tomkins, Diop (Cole
57), Noble, Nolan, Faubert, Collison, Piquionne (Carew 72).
Subs not used: Stech, Sears.
Shots on/off target: 1/2.
Booked: Faye (17), McCartney (52), O'Brien (61).
Sent Off: O'Brien (65), Collison (84).
Reading: Federici, Cummings, Harte, Gorkss, Pearce, McAnuff, Kebe
(Robson-Kanu 88), Karacan, Leigertwood, Le Fondre, Hunt (Church 65).
Subs not used: Andersen, Antonio, Tabb.
Goals: Pearce (65), Church (80, 86).
Shots on/off target: 4/5.
Booked: Hunt (62), Karacan (82).
Referee: Neil Swarbrick (3).
Attendance: 24,026.
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Sam - We lost our cool
Hammers boss laments O'Brien and Collison after dismissals
Last Updated: December 10, 2011 7:18pm
SSN
West Ham manager Sam Allardyce bemoaned his side's indiscipline after they
crashed to a 3-0 defeat at Reading. The Hammers, who slipped three points
behind Championship leaders Southampton as a result, had substitute Joey
O'Brienand Jack Collison sent off at the Madejski Stadium as Reading cruised
to an impressive win. Alex Pearce grabbed the opener before a late Simon
Church brace put the icing on the cake, with Allardyce citing his team's
lack of self-control as the biggest contribution to their loss. He said:
"Unfortunately a loss of control by the players that I haven't seen before
in my time here, particularly Joey O'Brien, cost us a result today. "It's
not like him and he's not that sort of character. Then we let the opposition
score from the free-kick instead of organising ourselves to see it out to a
0-0 draw. "We have had a very bad day. We have lost Guy Demel with a thigh
strain early on. If that hadn't happened Joey would not have been on the
pitch. "I wouldn't really quibble about either sending-off but if Jack
Collison went then I think Noel Hunt should have gone. He caught Joey and
could easily have broken his foot or leg."
O'Brien was dismissed for two yellow cards, the second for a 65th-minute
foul on Jobi McAnuff. Almost immediately, Pearce turned in McAnuff's centre
for the opening goal. Church made it 2-0 and then added another shortly
after Collison had seen red for a needless challenge on Jimmy Kebe. "We lost
our cool today," said Allardyce. "They could have been heroes if we had got
a point away with 10 men. "We are in serious trouble now player-wise and
will be struggling to get 11 out."
McDermott
Meanwhile, Reading boss Brian McDermott was delighted with the win and
praised his young side. "We are a team that's trying to evolve and we have
done that today to the best team in the division," said McDermott. "They
have a lot of Premiership players in their side and you can see why they win
so many away games.
"We are all about the team at Reading and never about the individuals. I try
to explain that to players who don't play. "We have played some good stuff
today. We got the first goal, which was really important and then we kicked
on. "We had four products of our academy on the pitch at the end of the game
which is a credit to the way we develop them."
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Royals rout nine-man Hammers
Last updated: 10th December 2011
SSN
Simon Church's double and an Alex Pearce strike saw Reading beat nine-man
West Ham 3-0 in the Championship at the Madejski Stadium on Saturday. All
the goals came in the final half-hour as the Royals capitalised on a Hammers
implosion, with both Joey O'Brien and Jack Collison seeing red. Centre-back
Pearce beat visiting keeper Robert Green from eight yards out midway through
the second period, following good work from Jobi McAnuff, to hand the hosts
the lead. West Ham, who have now lost back-to-back Championship matches
after their home defeat to Burnley last weekend, could not generate any
momentum over the course of the 90 minutes and were not helped by the
dismissal of O'Brien moments before Reading's first strike. O'Brien received
the first red card of his career for a second, needless yellow card after a
trip on McAnuff and the Hammers struggled to contain their hosts without
him. Once Pearce had slotted home it was all one-way traffic at the Madejski
Stadium, and substitute Church tapped home Adam Le Fondre's chip to seal the
victory for the Royals before Collison was dismissed for a wild challenge on
Jimmy Kebe late on. Not satisfied with one goal after coming off the bench,
Church nodded home Ian Harte's set-piece with four minutes left to round off
the scoring.
Reading had the first significant chance of the game after just seven
minutes. Le Fondre fizzed the ball across the face of the goal and Noel
Hunt, back in the starting line-up after a head injury, narrowly failed to
connect as he slid in. West Ham's best opportunity of the first half-hour
came when Collison blazed over from inside the area, while at the other end
Jimmy Kebe had a good chance to open the scoring. The Mali winger, although
a long way from goal, had the net at his mercy when Green missed opposite
number Adam Federici's long free-kick. However, Kebe could not control his
effort on the half-volley and shot wide. Jem Karacan also failed to hit the
target with a curling effort from distance as neither side were able to work
the goalkeepers over the course of the first 30 minutes. The visitors were
struggling to reach their fluent best, but almost claimed the advantage in
the moments before the break. Collison's corner was headed across goal and
Papa Bouba Diop thought he had poked home, only for Hunt to get in the way
on the line and clear.
Almost straight away the Royals rallied, and Karacan was within centimetres
of finding the net with his flying header from Kebe's whipped centre. The
scrappy nature of the contest continued into the second period and West Ham
took almost 20 minutes of the half to have their first shot on target before
the match then exploded into life. O'Brien foolishly tripped McAnuff to earn
his second yellow card of the afternoon and moments after he left the field,
Reading went a goal up. From the free-kick given for O'Brien's offence,
Harte's delivery was not cleared properly, McAnuff slipped the ball into
Pearce's path and the centre-back side-footed home from eight yards out. In
an instant the home side were dominant and went two up when Church was on
hand to tap home Le Fondre's chipped centre from close range. West Ham lost
all their shape and discipline, and soon found themselves reduced to nine
men when Collison needlessly raked his studs down Kebe's legs. From the
resulting free-kick Church headed home Harte's cross to intensify the misery
for the Hammers.
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Jimmy Kebe pulls his socks up, gets clattered by Jack Collison (Reading 3 -
West Ham 0)
Sunday, December 11th, 2011
101greatgoals.com
"You can be unhappy about something but you have to keep your cool and your
discipline, you can't allow the red mist to come down and react like that."
- West Ham boss Sam Allardyce.
Reading's 3-0 win over West Ham on Saturday featured one of the most bizzare
sendings off seen for some time and sparked off a debate over the antics of
Mali winger Jimmy Kebe. With six minutes left on the clock Reading were
cruising 2-0 against the 10-man Hammers. The ball was worked out over to the
right hand side where Jimmy Kebe received the ball. Kebe stops the ball and
pulls up his sock. For many, this was seen as a cheeky Showboat that simply
riled up West Ham midfielder Jack Collison who came over and with little
fanfare dumped the former Lens winger on his backside. Collison received a
straight red card and Kebe was withdrawn from the fray four minutes later,
after Reading had gone 3-0 up.
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