Vinny 12:32 Sun Dec 11
West Ham Online
Reading 3 West Ham United 0
West Ham again saw the chance to go top of the league squandered as Reading
crushed the nine man Hammers with three second half goals.
The result saw West Ham fall to consecutive defeats for the first time this
season and as many West Ham fans do not accept that we can be defeated this
has obviously annoyed a few of the support.
For me this was a game of strange circumstance and indiscipline with two of
the Reading goals coming directly from the fouls and subsequent red cards
given by the referee.
The first half was nothing to write home about but it was really just a
standard West Ham away display if we go on the basis of what we have seen
this season. The first half performance was certainly better than away at
Hull or Coventry and I was quite confident going into the second half that
we would win the game.
It all went wrong very quickly with Joey O'Brien being sent off for a second
bookable offence (with the first being a bit harsh in my opinion) and
Reading scoring from the resulting free kick into the are which was not
properly cleared away.
We never got the ball again in any sort of controlled possession and this
was where I was most disappointed as we lost our way completely and many of
the players lost their heads. Have seen a more disciplined nature within the
squad this season I found it surprising how easily we were rattled.
O'Brien wouldn't have even been on the pitch but for the early injury to
right back Guy Demel which saw O'Brien come off the subs bench. For me this
certainly wasn't a straightforward 3-0 loss and whilst obviously annoyed and
gutted with the result I can realise that it was a very strange second half
which I doubt we will see the likes of again this season.
The Team
Sam Allardyce decided to make three changes to the side who were beaten last
week by Burnley at Upton Park.
In defence, Joey O'Brien was dropped to the bench with Guy Demel coming in
to replace him at right back.
In midfield with Matthew Taylor again out injured, Papa Bouba Diop came back
into the side which saw Jack Collison move out to the left hand side.
Up front saw Carlton Cole dropped to the bench with Frederique Piquionne
starting as the lone striker in what was a team similar to the one which
started against Middlesbrough in the 2-0 win a couple of weeks ago.
Starting for Reading was former Hammer Jobi McAnuff who took part in 14
games for the club between 2003 and 2004 scoring 1 goal before moving to
Cardiff City.
First Half
If you have seen a few West Ham away games this season then nothing in the
half would have surprised you. We set out our stall to be hard to break down
and looked to get the ball forward to Piquionne with Faubert and Collison
offering him support from midfield.
We played little football but when we were in possession we looked
comfortable although without any bite in the final third.
Two minutes into the game and a long ball forward from Guy Demal saw the
right back pull up with an injury and as the ball came back to him he
immediately kicked it into touch and went down. It took a few minutes to
remove him from the pitch but his day was over and he was replaced by Joey
O'Brien.
We won a first corner a few minutes later which was taken by Noble and
cleared as far as Faubert who laid the ball back for Diop who hit a wild
shot over the bar.
We were beginning to settle and started to pass the ball around and win a
few corners which were all positive signs.
With quarter of the game gone Reading won their first corner kick which was
taken very poorly by left back Ian Harte and the ball rolled into the side
netting.
There was decent banter between the two sets of supporters with Reading
clearly living off the 6-0 win against us back in 2007. They seem to have
forgot the following season when they were beaten 3-0 on their own patch and
were relegated.
Abdoulaye Faye picked up the first yellow card of the game with a poorly
timed challenge on Hunt although the Reading man made the most of it.
The home side were gradually getting into the game and we looked a little
unsure at the back with the decisions made by the two centre halves being
called into question.
A long ball forward saw Tomkins misjudge the flight of the ball and it
looked as though the Reading forward would sneak in by Robert Green raced
out to head clear but only as far as Kebe who hit a first time effort well
high and well wide.
Diop lost possession in the midfield (and this was not for the first time)
as Reading broke forward. Tomkins' sold himself which allowed Hunt to play
the ball through to Kebe by McCartney got back well to see out for a corner.
With 30 minutes on the clock we should have taken the lead when good work
from Faubert saw the ball eventually find Piquionne who had a shooting
chance just inside the area but his powerful shot was blocked in front of
goal by his own team mate Kevin Nolan and the chance was gone.
A counter attacking move involving Faubert (who else) the ball fed through
to Jack Collison who took a touch, cut inside and hit a shot which was
blocked and the ball looped over the bar for another corner.
From that corner we created the best chance of the first half as the ball
was played into the area by Noble and it found Tomkins at the back post who
head across goal for Diop to prod at goal but the ball was cleared off the
line by Noel Hunt.
With the 45 minutes nearly up Julien Faubert did really well down the wing
yet again and crossed deep for Piquionne to meet the ball but his header was
very poor and easily claimed by the keeper when from where we were it looked
as though he should have scored.
In first half stoppage time Reading should have scored themselves as Kebe
did well down the left and crossed for the unmarked Adam Le Fondre to glance
his header wide when he should have diverted it past Green.
Not exactly a great football spectacle but nevertheless we were at 0-0 going
into the break and I was confident we would do what we needed to do during
the second half.
Second Half
There were a number of supporters who had wanted to see the introduction of
Carlton Cole which I too thought would give us a little bit more going
forward. I wasn't surprised to see him still on the bench as the second half
started as it was clear that Allardyce wanted to see how were going to
settle.
This second half would be one of the most difficult to watch for what seems
like many months.
All out attacking play was concentrated down whichever side Faubert was
occupying as he seemed the only one capeable of receiving the ball and
moving forward with it.
He did waste a good chance to get the ball into the area though when he was
down the right after been released by Nolan but the cross came off Harte and
out for a corner.
The atmosphere was kicking up a notch in the ground with the Reading fans
deciding to repeat every song we were singing to try and generate some noise
in a ground which was seeing it's biggest attendance since they were in the
Premiership which isn't too much of a shock as most teams in the
Championship have only come to see the West Ham.
With our attacking play not looking very potent Allardyce made his first
change on 57 minutes as Carlton Cole was introduced, replacing Papa Bouba
Diop.
This saw Collison come into the middle with Piquionne moving out to the left
hand side and Cole down the middle.
Around the hour mark Hunt went in for a challenge on O'Brien which the Irish
full back was not happy with and squared up to Hunt in an off the ball
altercation which was a whole lot of nothing. The referee though decided
that both players should be shown the yellow card which in another game they
would have simply been given a talking to.
Five minutes later and the game would completely turn in the favour of
Reading to which we would never recover.
Jobi McAnuff was released down the left hand wide only for O'Brien to
mis-time his tackle badly and take the winger out. It was a definite yellow
card and having just been booked it was a really silly challenge to make.
O'Brien was shown the second yellow and sent off.
If that wasn't bad enough, from the subsequent free kick Reading took the
lead.
The ball was played into the area but only cleared as far as McAnuff who
easily got into the area and had a lot of time to pick out his pass as he
cut the ball back for Alex Pearce who slotted past Green and the players on
the line to make it 1-0.
The game had taken a real turn and it would take some special for us to get
back into it as Julien Faubert went to right back and Collison to wide
right.
I don't recall us having another meaningful passage of play again as we
totally lost our way and it was very disappointing that we could not pick
ourselves up and at least try to settle down.
We were rattled and Reading were really doing a number on us in that respect
as they were clever in possession and were making us really work to get the
ball back.
On 72 minutes we made a second change with Piquionne coming off and being
replaced by John Carew.
The Reading fans were ripping into us and there was little comeback from the
4,339 travelling Hammers.
It was the home side who looked likely to score the next goal and on the 80
minute mark they did just that. We had lost our shape and looked all over
the place.
Reading broke forward with Kebe who released Le Fondre who clipped his cross
to the back post for the unmarked Simon Church to head in from just a couple
of yard out.
It was game over.
Cole was fouled on the edge of the area from the kick off and the free kick
was taken by Noble but crashed into the wall and although he was able to
loop the ball back into the area, everyone was offside.
Only four minutes after conceding the second goal things did get worse for
us.
The Reading winger Kebe decided to take the piss out of us by receiving the
ball and rolling up his socks as he was unchallenged. It was a bit of a
disrespectful thing to do and Jack Collison took exception as he steamed
into Kebe and pushed him to the floor.
The way Kebe went down and the reaction of Reading players and fans is what
got Collison sent off. I said at the time I didn't think it was a sending
off and even looking at it now it seems a lot of nothing.
It was silly from Collison but serious foul play? Not for me but maybe I am
just being West Ham biased but for me it was never a red just as O'Brien
shouldn't have been yellowed carded initially.
From the resulting free kick, Harte put the cross into the area and Simon
Church met the ball unmarked to score his second, Reading's third and make
our day even worse.
A forgettable day and the worst result of the season so far.
Player Reviews
Robert Green
He didn't have to make many flying saves through the game and claimed most
of the crosses in the first half. His kicking was poor and lacked direction
with Faubert being the target of too many of his long balls forward. Left
stranded for all three goals.
Guy Demel
He was presumably starting because of the pace that Reading possessed in the
wide areas but was injured after just two minutes which would ultimately
have a big impact as it was O'Brien who replaced him.
James Tomkins
I have noticed in the last few games that he is struggling a little with his
positioning and reading the passes from the opposition. He is stepping out
when he shouldn't and not making the tackle when she should. This isn't for
the full 90 minutes and overall he was decent. I felt both centre halves
were left exposed far too often in this one.
Abdoulaye Faye
Beast in the air once again but his distribution of the ball was shocking
with him and Diop being guilty of a number of poor challenged. Picked up his
fourth booking of the season also.
George McCartney
Limited as we are seeing as the season develops although because of our lack
of width he is needed to do a left winger job which he just doesn't have the
attributes to do. This highlights our need to sign a left winger. McCartney
himself could have been sent off for a second booking last in the game but
was let off by the ref.
Papa Bouba Diop
He is usually the shield protecting our defence and this has worked in a
number of away games this season but he was well off his game in this one.
His passing was dismal and although he nearly was the one to score in the
first half his overall performance was poor and he was dragged out of
position leaving a gap in our midfield.
Mark Noble
Never really go into the game and his passing was also poor. Up against a
quick Reading side Noble looked incredibly slow and struggled to make any
impact.
Kevin Nolan
There are many things we can talk about regarding Kevin Nolan but if we just
focus on this display I don't believe there can be anyone who thought he did
anything good in this game. In fact, everything he did was just bad. He
couldn't pass, he couldn't tackles, and he was not involved in this game to
any extent.
Jack Collison
He was getting on the ball in the first quarter of the game and had a couple
of half chances but he fizzled out and got worse as the game progressed. He
wasn't the worst player on the pitch and this is coming from someone who has
criticised him a number of times this season. It was silly of him to
challenge Kebe and will now miss three games.
Julien Faubert
If anything was going to happen with us going forward it was going to go
through Faubert. His effort was immense and he was our best player.
Frederique Piquionne
He did not do much to prove many of his doubters wrong in this game with a
lacklustre performance. My problem with his display is that he just doesn't
move. If the all isn't played directly too him he just doesn't seem
interested. When Cole came on you could see what it was like to have a
forward that actually did some running.
Subs Used
Joey O'Brien (on for Demel 4 mins)
His lack of pace saw him struggle during the game although it wasn't till
the second half that he was tested and he failed the test, getting himself
sent off in the process.
Carlton Cole (on for Diop 57 mins)
Dangerous when he had the ball at his feet so he could run at players but
was trying to do too much and was coming far to deep to get the ball in what
looked all very desperate.
John Carew (on for Piquionne 72 mins)
I presume he came on so we could hit the ball long for him but he needed to
actually win a header for this master plan to work.
Subs Not Used: Stech, Sears
Bookings: Faye, McCartney, O'Brien
Sent Off: Joey O'Brien (Second Bookable offence), Jack Collison (Serious
Foul Play).
Man Of The Match: Julien Faubert
Reading: Federici, Cummings, Harte, Gorkss, Pearce, McAnuff, Kebe, Karacan,
Leigertwood, Le Fondre, Hunt
Subs: Andersen, Antonio, Tabb, Church, Robson-Kanu
Attendance: 24,026
Overall
In a season where we have just focussed on results (as Allardyce keeps
reminding us) this was by far the worst result of the season. Stating the
obvious that might be but Allardyce has been fond of that this season by
implying that good football cannot be played if you want to win games.
This performance up until the first Reading goal was the standard display we
have seen this season and as previously stated it was certainly better than
away at Hull or Coventry.
It all went wrong very quickly and whilst it was a poor result I am not
going to be like some and start going crazy over this loss.
With the players available to Allardyce we do not have many other ways of
playing. Without Baldock and Taylor our style of play is set and this is how
we will set ourselves out for many away games this season.
People want two up front but Cole and Piquionne do not work and I do not
think they ever will. We saw last season how bad both were when playing
together and if you play John Carew then we have the problem where we just
knock it long. Without any width there is little point in playing Carew and
since Taylor has been out this coincided with him being dropped as it just
wasn't working.
And no, Freddie Sears is not the answer.
Next Game - Barnsley (h), Saturday 17th December 3pm Kick Off
Having lost two games in a row it is vital that we bounce back with victory
against Barnsley next week in what we would consider one of the easier home
fixtures.
With no Demel or O'Brien we will need to play Faubert at right back which
leaves gaps in midfield with Collison suspended and Taylor out injured.
Hopefully Henri Lansbury will be back in contention and I expect him to
start.
A horrible result and this day again proved at how much I hate Reading and
their silly little club.
Sam's View
"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."
"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."
"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."
Season 2011/12 Scorers and Bookings
Carlton Cole - 7 (7 League)
Kevin Nolan - 6 (6 League)
Sam Baldock - 5 (5 League)
Mark Noble - 3 (3 League)
John Carew - 2 (2 League)
Frederique Piquionne - 2 (2 League)
Jack Collison - 2 (2 League)
Own Goal - 2 (2 League)
James Tomkins - 1 (1 League)
Joey O'Brien - 1 (1 League)
Scott Parker - 1 (1 League)
Winston Reid - 1 (1 League)
Matthew Taylor - 1 (1 League)
Henri Lansbury - 1 (1 League)
Julien Faubert - 1 (1 League)
Junior Stanislas - 1 (1 Cup)
Yellow Cards
Kevin Nolan - 4
Julien Faubert - 4
Mark Noble - 4
Abdoulaye Faye - 4
Joey O'Brien - 3
George McCartney - 3
Henri Lansbury - 2
James Tomkins - 2
Carlton Cole - 1
Matthew Taylor - 1
Sam Baldock -1
Winston Reid - 1
John Carew - 1
Papa Bouba Diop - 1
Red Cards
Callum McNaughton - 1 (vs Aldershot home)
Frederique Piquionne - 1 (vs Portsmouth home)
Joey O'Brien - 1 (vs Reading away)
Jack Collison - 1 (vs Reading away)
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Reading 3-0 West Ham: Daily Mirror match report
Published 21:50 11/12/11 By Ann Gripper
The Mirror
Kevin Nolan warned West Ham need to get "down and dirty" after this
implosion at Reading. The teams were evenly matched until Joey O'Brien was
sent off for a second offence in the 66th minute, and Jack Collison followed
18 minutes later for a stupid shove on a showboating Jimmy Kebe as Reading
ran riot. Alex Pearce and a double from birthday boy Simon Church provided
the goals for the Royals – and plenty of food for thought for the Hammers.
Draws for their immediate rivals meant West Ham lost little ground, but the
team knows falling apart at the Madejski was unacceptable. Skipper Nolan
said: "There was a lack of professionalism from us losing the man and then
losing the goal right away. "You've got to try and stick in there for as
long as you can when you've got 10 men, make sure that they don't score
early to give them a boost, but we didn't and we got sloppy. "They were
fantastic once we went down to 10 men - but we were terrible. We've all
agreed in the dressing room it's not good enough."
And Nolan wants his team to make sure they do what it takes to get out of
the Championship. He said: "In this league sometimes you've got to get down
and dirty, get a bit gritty and win the game that way. It's not always the
flamboyant way. "We've had our rollicking. We all know what we've done wrong
and we've got to work as hard as we can on the training pitch to make sure
we put it right this week. "We've got a lot to learn from this but I'm sure
we're all big enough and ugly enough to take it on the chin. "We'll go away
and make sure that next week we put in the performance the fans deserve, the
staff deserve and the Gaffer deserves."
O'Brien was thrust into the action from the subs' bench after Guy Demel had
to be stretchered off after less than two minutes' play. But the defender
later had to make the long walk back after two quick yellow cards for a row
with Noel Hunt and a foul on Jobi McAnuff. The resulting free kick brought
quick punishment, Harte's set piece breaking to McAnuff whose low cross was
stabbed in by Pearce. O'Brien admitted he blamed himself for his side's
defeat. He said: "We were in the game, then I got sent off and that's cost
us a point - so I must take responsibility. "The first yellow was silly on
my behalf, and the second was a tackle where I should have stayed on my feet
- but it's all very well looking back in hindsight. "It's not nice to get
into the dressing room and watch the lads get beat, and getting the
runaround. But hopefully it's just one game and we can put it to bed."
With the man advantage Reading took control and Church headed in Adam Le
Fondre's chip after a slick 80th minute surge down the right by Kebe and Jem
Karacan.
With Reading on top, Kebe had enough time to pause to adjust his socks when
the ball broke to him five minute later, a move that apparently infuriated
Collison.
Again Reading drove home their advantage instantly, Church jumping highest
to bury Harte's free kick. And Church, who celebrated his 23rd birthday over
dinner with his girlfriend on Saturday night, was delighted with his double.
Now he hopes he has done enough to earn a recall to the starting line-up
against Leeds. Church said: "It's a nice little present. It's been a good
day and obviously a great win for us. "No one likes being put on the bench.
It's down to the manager to pick the team but I was pretty disappointed. "I
just focused on when I got my chance hopefully taking it, and today I was
fortunate to get two goals as well."
Reading: Federici 6, Cummings 6, Pearce 7, Gorkss 7, Harte 6, Kebe 7
(Robson-Kanu 88mins), Karacan 7, Leigertwood 8, McAnuff 7, Le Fondre 7, Hunt
7 (Church 65mins 7)
West Ham: Green 6, Demel 4 (O'Brien 4mins 4), Faye 6, Tomkins 5, McCartney
5, Nolan 6, Bouba Diop 5 (Cole 57mins 5), Noble 5, Faubert 4, Piquionne 5
(Carew 72mins 5), Collison 4
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Allardyce's 'worst day' leaves beaten West Ham with nine men
MICHAEL BUTLER MONDAY 12 DECEMBER 2011
The Independent
Sam Allardyce, the West Ham manager, admitted he had suffered his "worst
day" since taking over at the club in the summer as they were overrun 3-0 at
Reading after being reduced to nine men, Joey O'Brien and Jack Collison both
getting sent off. "It's been our worst day of the whole season," Allardyce
said. "One, the way we lost it. Two, we had two men sent off. Three,
sustaining injuries. We haven't got many [players] left. Nothing went right
for us. "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."
A tight and scrappy game was turned on its head in the 65th minute, O'Brien
receiving his second yellow card and Alex Pearce giving Reading the lead
just a minute later. Reading dominated thereafter, the second dismissal also
having a direct affect on the game – Simon Church turned in his second goal
from a free-kick after Collison had recklessly lunged at Jimmy Kébé.
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Under the shadow
Grant admits to stress at West Ham
Last updated: 11th December 2011
SSN
Avram Grant says the shadow of Martin O'Neill was hard to ignore when he was
managing West Ham. Grant was sacked in May as West Ham manager after failing
to keep the club in the Premier League and understood why the rumours that
O'Neill would never go quiet go away. "It was not easy to be fair," said
Grant on Goals on Sunday. "You know it can happen in football when you don't
have a good result. But I think at West Ham we knew where we were going,
after the first half of the season, we didn't have a good squad - not good
enough for the Premier League. But this is part of the game and you know if
you are in this business and you lose games there is always someone waiting
for your job. "We had two targets - our first priority was to stay in the
league and we wanted to continue in the traditional way of West Ham - base
the team on as much as we could on players who came from the academy "The
team we had from January was a very good team - good enough to stay in the
league but unfortunately we didn't do it and the responsibility is on the
manger and not anyone else. We did suffer some injuries with Scott Parker
and Mark Noble was injured which was a problem."
Grant also said David Sullivan and David Gold were good when they took over.
"I think David Sullivan and David Gold are good people and are doing their
best for the team. "It was not easy for them to buy a team with so much debt
and they wanted to create some stability. It is no secret that we wanted to
do what Arsenal did with their young players and they gave their support.
You can't succeed only with money, but without money it is very difficult."
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