WHUFC.com
The No15 on scoring his first Hammers goal and encouraging the club's
younger players
21.03.2012
Abdoulaye Faye should have been delighted after netting his first West Ham
United goal on Tuesday. However, the No15 was instead left frustrated as
Middlesbrough scored a late equaliser to secure a 1-1 npower Championship
draw at the Boleyn Ground - the Hammers' fourth consecutive stalemate and a
result that leaves them third in the table. Speaking to West Ham TV, Faye
admitted to being frustrated at West Ham's recent form, but insisted he
would be doing his utmost to lead the club to promotion, on and off the
pitch.
That is five draws in a row at the Boleyn Ground. What is happening with the
home form, Abdoulaye?
"I don't know. Nobody knows what happened. We play well every time and had
chances and Middlesbrough didn't have any chanes to score. We made it 1-0
and the game is over and now that's three times that this has happened."
Do you think the players are more relaxed playing away from home?
"I think that is true for some players, because it is hard to cope with the
pressure at home. In the last away game against Leeds, for 95 minutes the
fans supported the team and the crowd was amazing. We have to be together.
It is very important and now because we have played nine games and not lost,
but maybe we don't win enough of them. We have to win now and there is big
pressure.
Why did you shake your head and wag your finger when you scored your first
goal for the club against Middlesbrough on Tuesday?
"I am a little disappointed because every year I score three of four goals
and this year I don't have a chance. But now I have scored one I can get
more and more quickly. So with nine games to go I think I may score a few
more."
Our promotion fate remains in our own hands, so it is not all doom and gloom
is it?
"I think we have a chance. It is only two points [behind Reading] and we
have a game in-hand. In nine games we have to win them all - no draws - if
we want to go up to the Premier League. When you don't win there is no
chance to go to the Premier League. "I have confidence because we play well
when we play away. I think it was better against Middlesbrough, but you have
to keep going and look forward, you have to be mentally strong for the end
of the season."
Have you enjoyed playing with your old Stoke City team-mate Danny Collins?
"It is easy because I played a few games with him when I was at Stoke. He is
a good lad and a good player, a good experienced player with a good
left-foot and a very clever player."
Were you a bit put out that he scored on his first full appearance and it
took you 22 starts to get your first goal?
"Yeah, yeah. (laughs). Oh my God, I thought I had to score now. Everybody
said to me I had to score and then on Tuesday I had a little chance to score
and I am very happy."
Do you feel experienced players like yourself have a responsibility to help
the younger players through?
"Yeah, we tell them every time you have to do your best for your team-mates,
for your family and for the supporters. Everybody thought it was going to be
easy to go to the Premiership, but the Championship is very hard, I never
knew just how hard it was. "Every team, when they play against West Ham is
very motivated, they give 200 per cent, but in the next game they lose.
"When you play for West Ham it is very hard. I say every time to the lads
you have to give 300 per cent every time because everyone has to work for
West Ham and it is not going to be easy. We try and try and we have to look
forward and be strong mentally."
Talking of family, I understand your brother was here to see you score
against Middlesbrough?
"Yeah (laughs). My brother was here and he said to me you have to score now,
because every year he sees me score. So I had a little chance and now I am
happy."
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Big Sam makes his point
WHUFC.com
Big Sam thought West Ham United deserved more in their 1-1 draw with
Middlesbrough
21.03.2012
Sam Allardyce believes West Ham United's luck must turn soon after they drew
1-1 at home to Middlesbrough on Tuesday evening. The West Ham United manager
saw his side held to their fourth consecutive 1-1 draw as Abdoulaye Faye's
looping header was cancelled out by a fine strike from Bart Ogbeche with
with six minutes to go. Big Sam thought the scoreline was harsh on the
Hammers with some clear-cut chances and two possible penalty calls not going
in their favour. "When we did take our chances their keeper managed to pull
off some great saves," Big Sam said. "We just aren't having the rub of the
green at the moment. Things just seem to be going slightly against us. A few
tricky decisions for the referee and some great saves from the keeper have
seen us go from a leading position to drawing the game. "We have to begin
getting that second goal to relieve the pressure on the team in the final
stages. We haven't gifted Middlesbrough the goal; it was a fantastic
left-foot strike bent from the substitute but it came off the post. "At the
moment that's what happening to us; instead of the ball hitting the post and
rebounding away, these shots from outside the area are finding the back of
the net."
West Ham could, and probably should, have been out of sight by the time
Ogbeche slammed the ball into the far corner from 20 yards. James Tomkins
had seen his point-blank header brilliantly saved by Luke Steele in the Boro
goal, while Matt Taylor's effort from a one-on-one bounced agonisingly
beyond the wrong side of the post before the No14 was felled by the
goalkeeper. "The second-half performance was much better but we just
couldn't find the second goal as we all know how nervous we get going into
the final stages a goal up. The real turning point was Tomkins' header that
brought a brilliant save from the Boro keeper. "We also had Matt Taylor
one-on-one with the goalkeeper who took him out but for some reason, because
it's a goalkeeper and not an outfield player, the referee deems it not to be
a penalty. "There was a lot of good football played though, people are
ignoring that and are only looking at the result. When opposition teams come
here they make it very hard for us to play our game, in the second half we
did much better. "Some of the great play will be forgotten due to the fact
the final ball was missing. We have to learn how to find a clean sheet
because at the moment we are struggling to score more than one goal a game,
not maybe so much away from home but certainly here."
The point extends the Hammers' unbeaten run to nine games and with Reading
slipping up away at Peterborough, who West Ham play next Tuesday, the
Hammers could go a point ahead should they win at London Road. For that to
happen though, West Ham must beat Burnley on Saturday to ensure they are
still in touch at the top. "I'm not concerned with Reading, I am concerned
with the way we are drawing too many games at home. Boro did have some
chances to win it at the very end, but so did we; Sam Baldock was very close
with the last header of the game. We should have killed it off before they
scored but we didn't and we have been punished yet again. "Thisis another
point towards the total, its nine games unbeaten. We go home disappointed
but like I said we must continue to believe that draws will turn into wins
starting on Saturday when again we will be trying our best to gain the three
points."
Another positive from the night was the overwhelming minute's applause
before the match in support of Fabrice Muamba after reports of progress in
his condition following his cardiac arrest on Saturday. The Hammers players
all warmed up in T-shirts with a good luck message for the Bolton midfielder
and Barcelona's Eric Abidal. "Yes to hear about Fabrice's update was
fantastic news and just what we wanted to hear. The British Heart Foundation
were here [collecting for the charity] and it was right and proper that they
were and I hope everyone did their bit and donated as did I."
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Allardyce on... Middlesbrough
KUMB.com
Filed: Wednesday, 21st March 2012
By: Staff Writer
A despondent Sam Allardyce bemoans his side lacking a little luck as they
record a fifth straight draw at the Boleyn Ground...
Sam: should you have won that game?
On the balance of play yes, absolutely. There was a chance in the end...
They had a couple of chances right at the end when it ended up 1-1. The
centre forward just clipped the bar and the one we cleared off the line. But
then Sam Baldock could have won it in the last minute with the header.
But in between that, particularly in the second half for me is when we
should have seen the game out and finished it off. I think the turning point
for us was a fabulous, fabulous save from the goalkeeper off James Tomkins'
header. The rest of it is just about our quality of finishing not being good
enough tonight, sadly - and the quality of their finish.
[It] was one of the outstanding goals of the season unfortunately for us. It
went in when most of the time they'd probably flash wide. So it's
disappointing again, conceding a winning position at home but it's one point
more towards the total and it's nine undefeated.
We are disappointed - of course we are - and frustrated here at home. The
opposition make it difficult for us but we were patient enough to wait and
wait and create enough opportunities - particularly in the second half - to
win it. When we got the one goal you hope everybody's going to be strong
enough but when you get a winder goal like they got, unfortunately for us at
the wrong time, it's something you can't control.
I thought we should have had a couple of penalties - particularly Bates'
hand-ball, leaning towards it. It doesn't matter how small a part of the arm
it hits on the shoulder and arm it's still a penalty, because it's going in
to an empty net. Then the tackle by the goalkeeper on Matt Taylor is ignored
by most people in the stadium - particularly the referee - because it's the
goalkeeper who makes the tackle, not a defender.
If a defender makes that tackle it's a straight red card and a penalty but
because, for some reason, the chance is missed nobody sees what the goalie
does after - and that for me is disappointing. But the only thing I can work
on is the lads and keep them going, keep our undefeated run going and try
and win the game at Burnley on Saturday.
Five home draws on the trot...
Yes; one was against Southampton with ten men...
Is it going to cost you automatic promotion?
Well eventually, yes. You've got to turn your draws into wins sooner or
later and it's too many. It's strange how our best undefeated run ends up
not yielding the points that we wanted. We haven't gone this far undefeated
all season but we've drawn too many, obviously. Again, it's another night
when you want the rub of the green or the bounce of the ball, or you want
one of your players to produce something a little bit special; I have to say
Abdoulaye Faye's header was a great header.
But then when you think it's your second goal coming - which is what we
needed at that time just to see the opposition off - the opposition goalie
makes the save [from Tomkins' header]. I think the goalie's won
Middlesbrough a point because that kept it at 1-0 and they always had a
chance. Great goal from the opposition though; can't really criticise any of
the players for conceding that goal because it's a fantastic strike that
goes in off the post.
Teams are looking to stifle you and stop you playing, especially at home. Is
there a sense that you might have to change the way you are playing?
We changed the way we play three times today. We changed the shape at half
time, we changed the way we played at half time - that's when we got into
the game more. Then we changed the way we played with the substitutes.
Because we changed at half time we got an awful lot better and an awful lot
of final third entries to see off the opposition, but couldn't find the
right opportunity to do that.
Who do you look to, to make the difference?
Well, anybody! Abdoulaye Faye should have made the difference today because
not only was he defending brilliantly but he scored a great goal for us.
Like I said, it would have been James Tomkins who'd have turned it around.
Or the referee, if he'd made the right decision in those two particular
instances.
Because we've got Mark Noble, who's scored six penalties out of six [this
season], we'd probably had fancied that he would score. A bounce of the ball
in the right area, a mistake by an opposition player or a goal that bounces
in off somebody's knee can make the difference at any given moment. At the
moment the rub of the green is just not with us.
Thank you
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Mowbray on... West Ham United
KUMB.com
Filed: Wednesday, 21st March 2012
By: Staff Writer
Middlesbrough boss Tony Mowbray believes that West Ham are faltering under
the weight of expectation. We bring you his entire post-match press
conference, exclusively in full...
Tony: how do you sum that up?
I think our team came and did what you would have expected if you come to
watch West Ham every week. We're fully aware of the difficulties they've
been having and it was our prerogative really to come here and make life
difficult for them, to see if we could create some anxiety in the stadium. I
think we managed to do that.
It was a huge blow to lose that goal of course, but fantastic credit to my
team that they've come fighting back, got a point and could have won it late
on. We hit the bar and had one cleared off the line. I think it was a decent
performance on the back of two defeats from us and showed that we're still
alive and kicking.
At West Ham at the moment with Reading's push, I'm sure there's a bit of
doom and gloom at times - and yet here we are both sitting in the top six of
the Championship. Different aspirations probably; I think the expectation of
West Ham's support would be slightly greater than ours. If you think of the
change around at our club over the last year with maybe a dozen players
leaving our club, the higher earners - Gary O'Neil here at the moment being
one of them - I think we're doing okay.
We will fight the last nine games to see if we can finish in the top six.
Then if we get [Scott] McDonald back, if we get Rhys Williams back, if we
get Barry Robson back, Faris Horoun back I think we'll be a match for most
teams in the top end of the table - as we like to think we've been all
season. Let's wait and see.
West Ham's home record - was it real encouragement coming here knowing that
you can get on top of them and maybe the crowd will...
First and foremost you look at West Ham's team and you see some high quality
footballers, some players with lots of Premier League experience. The bottom
line in football [is] good players win games generally; the centre-forward
generally gets half a yard and smashes it in the bottom corner or the
experienced defender puts himself in the right position and just keeps
heading crosses away or blocks things at the near post. They've got lots and
lots of good players.
For me it's about your own team and having concentration, doing the job,
defending well. I thought we did that.
I think the expectation of the fanbase [here] is that they should be in the
Premier League, that's where they want to be. They almost see it as an
insult, I think, that they're playing their football in the Championship.
That's how it appears to me and yet I've never lived in this part of the
world and that's only an expectation that the supporters of this club have.
I'm sure big Sam is dealing with that every day.
The only way out for Sam is to keep doing what he believes in and to try and
get this club in the top flight. There's a fair chance he'll do that you
know, with the players he's got.
And yet as Middlesbrough are finding at the moment at the Riverside, the
expectation is huge there and we win more games away from home than we do at
home because of the way teams come and play against us - similar to what we
did tonight. Make life difficult, particularly if you want to pass through
the massed ranks of nine, ten men behind the ball - it becomes more
difficult and the crowd get frustrated with every bad pass, every
interception. There's a groan and the players have to be strong and keep
believing that what they're doing is right.
It's very difficult in the Championship as we're seeing, the results tonight
for instance. There's some unbelievable results from teams with [high]
expectations that just can't seem - or maybe don't have the quality or
whatever it is - to get over the line. It's an amazing league.
I've just been saying to our locals there, we've got four homes games left -
two against teams right at the bottom scrapping for their lives and two
against teams right at the top - and you wouldn't know which are going to be
the more difficult games. Doncaster and Bristol City will be just as tough
as Southampton and Cardiff for us because that's the nature of the league,
there's no easy days.
Sam Allardyce said you scored one of the goals of the season. Would you
agree with that?
Bart [Ogbeche] scores them every day! Bart's been in my office this week
asking if he can have more game time because he thinks he can help. There
you go, that's what he does; I'm delighted for him because he's a fantastic
human being who hasn't had enough game time but that's my job to make the
changes that I think can impact on the team and the game.
And I do sit there in the dressing room afterwards and think, "if Bart
hadn't have knocked on my door this week and said, "come on gaffer, give me
some time, I can do it for you and I'm desperate to help" would I have stuck
him on the pitch tonight?" I was so pleased that he's desperate to help us
and he's come on and done what he's done.
He was brought in for nothing really, he's one of these players who'd been
out to Greece, wasn't getting paid, came back and didn't have a club. We had
him in for a week or so, looked at him and could see what he showed tonight.
He has talent in them feet and he can score a goal. We took a chance on him
and there you go, that's what he can do. Bart Ogbeche, remember the name!
We have different aspirations but we both want to get promoted out of this
league. I think West Ham are desperate to get up, I read in the program
tonight that it's not an option not to get up is it, at this football club?
At Middlesbrough we're trying to build something, a foundation that we can
put in place for a lot of years. If we do get up this year we would know
that we're not quite ready - but you would have a great go at it.
Is that alright? Plenty of copy! Thank you, cheers.
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What has happened to My West Ham
Monk~koknee 5:45 Wed Mar 21
West Ham Online
There are a number of things that one-time made me particularly proud about
supporting West Ham. They were in no particular order: the tradition of
bringing through players from the academy; the loyalty, passion and
dedication of the supporters; the fact that we had only a handful of
managers in our history and the assertion that we played attractive football
the way it should be played (although I believe this to be somewhat of a
myth it still gave me satisfaction that this is how we were viewed by
others). Maybe all of these attributes were related somehow but one thing is
apparent in that they are all long gone and I am left with the accident of
birth of supporting my local team and the team of my father.
If you were to chronicle the malaise and apparent decline of our club I
wonder where to start. Sure there are accusations that we have always lacked
ambition. Wasn't this the case why we failed to push on in the 60's and
again after the boys of 86? But to the fans without the oxygen of 24 hour
internet coverage it didn't really matter. You supported West Ham no matter
who was picking the team or who pulled on the shirt. So Greenwood and Lyall
survived and became legends despite enduring relegation battles and
eventually my first relegation experience in the case of the latter. In the
days when money was not the sole driver in the game this was possible but
nowadays instant solutions and (relative) success are all that matters. A
manager will rarely survive a relegation and is under pressure after a
string of poor results (even if these are draws rather defeats in some
cases).
So fast forward to the start of this season and the challenge of getting
West Ham back to the Premiership and I am reminded of the joke about the
tourist asking the Irishman "how do I get to Dublin" and his reply "well if
I were you I wouldn't start from here".
It is difficult to define where the roots of today's doldrums set in with
any certainty as it has been one calamity after another for so many years.
Love him or loathe him, we were looking good with Harry at the helm. Rio and
Frank were regulars in the first team; Cole, Carrick, Johnson and Defoe were
in the pipeline. All exceptional players whatever we may think of them now
who we imagined lining up alongside the likes of Di Canio, Sinclair and
Kanoute. The future was bright and being a Hammer was great.
Then it all went wrong. Selling Rio set the tone and shortly afterwards the
departure of Harry was compounded by the comical appointment of Roeder,
relegation and the consequent sale of prized assets at knock-down prices.
The appointment of Pardew was a positive decision and although achieving an
immediate return to the Premiership with a re-built squad was beyond him in
his first year it was accomplished after scraping into the play-offs in year
two. The next season was to be somewhat of a revelation (and the last in a
series of false dawns) culminating in the pride, excitement but ultimate
disappointment of the 2006 FA Cup final. Things had begun to look up again -
bright young manager, good young players, two top Argentinian internationals
and a wad of Icelandic money. But in true West Ham fashion it all went
horribly wrong again. The loss of (the yet to be replaced)Yossi, the injury
to Ashton, cliques in the squad, problems integrating the Argies, wayward
penises (allegedly), another change of manager, squandering the new found
wealth on long lucrative contracts to distinctly average players, Tevezgate
and the Icelandic banking collapse. The soap opera that is Upton Park beats
anything that its Eastender's neighbour can deliver.
Further new owners and two poor managers later we find a heavily indebted
club back in the Championship. Apart from Tomkins and (arguably) Noble the
academy hadn't delivered any exciting new talent for 5 or 6 years, the star
player wanted out, there was a demoralized squad with no real quality except
for the goalkeeper. Enter the big name manager. "OK Sam how are you going to
get us back up?" "Well I wouldn't start from here"
Everyone has their opinion on what happened next. Time will tell where and
how it will end. The sad thing is though that all those things that made me
proud of the team that I was born to support, like my dreams, appear to be
fading and dying.
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Exclusive - Cottee: West Ham's lack of goals is cause for concern
By talkSPORT | Tuesday, March 20, 2012
West Ham hero Tony Cottee believes his former side need to change their
approach if they are to win automatic promotion back to the Premier League.
The former striker, who scored over 100 goals for the club during two stints
at Upton Park, has watched his side draw their last three Championship
games, scoring just a single goal in each. And he believes mistakes are
being made with the selection of attacking talent and the service - or lack
of - they are receiving. "It's concerning at West Ham when you've been in
the top-two all season and then you drop out you have to pull yourself up
again," Cottee said. "They're not on a bad run but they've drawn too many
games and the home form has been the problem. "Teams are coming to Upton
Park and raising their games, it's a big club and a big ground so teams are
turning up and raising it. "We've been getting one goal but not the second
and that's when fans get nervous and you can't blame them. Fans want to be
entertained and when they don't get the second goal, it's a worry."
The former England international added: "Ravel Morrison has not been played
at all and I don't know why. We've been playing Nicky Maynard but he is a
small striker, like I was, and I don't think it works having him as the lone
striker. I've felt sorry for Nicky when he's been played on his own up
front. "A lot of fingers have been pointed at the forwards but a striker is
only as good as his service and there aren't too many options out wide and
that's been a problem more than anything else."
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Hammers face Olympic Stadium fight as they lose battle for naming rights
By LAURA WILLIAMSON
PUBLISHED: 22:30, 21 March 2012 | UPDATED: 22:30, 21 March 2012
Daily Mail
West Ham will still bid for the tenancy of the Olympic Stadium but 'not at
any price' after losing out on lucrative naming rights. The original deal
for the Championship club to take over the stadium collapsed in October. The
Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC), together with Newham Council, will now
convert the arena into a 60,000-seat, multi-use facility themselves and
offer leases of five to 99 years. Crucially, naming rights will be sold
separately, meaning West Ham would lose out on millions of pounds and
potentially play in a stadium with a name that means nothing to them. A
Hammers source told Sportsmail: 'We will still be bidding, but some of the
details of the new lease (eg losing naming rights) make it far less
attractive to us. 'We want it, but not at any price. It has to be our home.
If we don't get a suitable deal we'll stay at Upton Park.' In an interview
with supporters' site West Ham Till I Die, club chairman David Sullivan
said: 'We have to ensure the stadium is a home for West Ham, not just a
venue to play our matches. We also have to be very careful about who we
share with.' West Ham and the other 15 interested parties have until Friday
to submit their bids, and the OPLC will announce the result in May
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Tony Cottee Column: It's not fair for players to criticise West Ham fans
London 24
Nathaniel John, West Ham Correspondent
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
5:00 PM
This is fast becoming the Groundhog column and every week I am now repeating
myself when it comes to West Ham. On Tuesday night, the Hammers put in
another disappointing performance and I felt that we threw two points away
again at Upton Park, this time to Middlesbrough. I will be the first to
admit that we didn't play very well, especially in the first half, but after
the break I thought West Ham stepped it up and got the goal they deserved
through Abdoulaye Faye. There was some fortune about the goal and it
deflected off the defender, but I thought the Hammers would then push on for
the second goal. Instead, Sam Allardyce decided to make a couple of
substitutions that changed the face of the game. John Carew became isolated
up front, and we almost seemed to give Middlesbrough a route back into the
game. And what was even more frustrating was that we had two golden chances
to wrap up the game, first when James Tomkins hit the bar and then when
Matty Taylor found himself one-on-one with the keeper, but steered his shot
wide. However, it is easy to say with hindsight that the subs were the wrong
choice, and Boro deserved their goal from what was a fantastic strike. I
have to say that I thought the fans were fantastic on Tuesday night and it
felt as though the supporters were really behind the team and willing them
on. That is why it is disappointing to hear some of the players coming out
and blaming the fans for a negative atmosphere at Upton Park.
The fans work hard and pay good money and come to the game wanting to see
their team play well and it is up to the players to perform, no-one else. At
the end of the day, the fans won't boo or criticise if the team is playing
well and winning. One of the things that West Ham lacked on Tuesday night
was width down the right-hand side and I think that this has been a problem
position all season. Obviously at the start of the campaign, David Bentley
was brought in the play there, but then he got injured, and now Julien
Faubert and Ricardo Vaz Te are also currently on the treatment table. The
Hammers need that width and on the left they have Taylor, but without a
right winger the team is unbalanced. On Tuesday it looked as though Nicky
Maynard was asked to play out of position there. I felt sorry for Nicky and
I understood his frustration as he wants to play and score goals as a
striker, not as a converted right winger. He should be playing alongside
Carlton Cole in my opinion. However, that result is gone now and West Ham
must focus on the remaining nine games of the season, and fortunately three
out of the next four matches are away from home. It is starting to look as
though the best the Hammers can get is second place now, although there is
still a long way to go and anything can happen in football. This weekend, we
go to Burnley and I will be expecting us to return with a win. If we can put
in a strong performance like we did at Cardiff then it will get us back in
the mix of the top two and set us up nicely for the final run-in.
Tony Cottee was talking to Nathaniel John
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West Ham goalscorer criticises fans for home support
London 24
Dave Evans, West Ham Correspondent
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
4:33 PM
West Ham goalscorer Abdy Faye has called on the fans to get behind the team
at Upton Park as the wheels begin to fall off their promotion bandwagon. The
34-year-old veteran nodded his first goal in claret and blue on Tuesday
night, but it was not enough to beat Middlesbrough who hit back to force a
1-1 draw. That result was met by a chorus of boos and Faye feels that is not
helpful to the players. "I think the support of the fans is no good," said
the defender. "You have to support your team when you play well and when you
play no good, because it is too hard for the players. "For me, it is okay,
but for the young players it is hard to cope with the pressure. "We have to
support the team every time, it is difficult sometimes, but you just have
to, so from the fans it is not good enough."
Faye called on the supporters at Upton Park to mirror the enthusiastic
support that the team are given away from home. "In the last game against
Leeds, for 95 minutes they supported the team - the crowd were amazing, but
you have to do it here. "You have to help with the team because when you go
up everybody is happy, when you go down everybody is going to be
disappointed, so we have to be together I think. "We have played nine games
and not lost, though maybe we don't win, but we have to win every one now
and there is big pressure now."
Faye still believes West Ham have what it takes to win promotion this
season, but he accepts that it is going to be very difficult now. "I think
we have a chance. It is only two points and we have a game in hand. In nine
games we have to win them all, no draws if we want to go up to the Premier
League. "We have to be mentally strong until the end of the season."
Tuesday's draw was West Ham's fifth in succession at Upton Park and manager
Sam Allardyce admitted that if that continues then automatic promotion will
be out of the question. "Eventually it is going to cost us," said the boss.
"You have got to turn your draws into wins sooner or later. "It is strange
that our best undefeated run ends up not yielding the points we wanted. "We
haven't gone this far undefeated all season, but we have drawn too many."
West Ham did gain a point on second-placed Reading, who lost at
Peterborough, but Allardyce will see the Boro draw as another missed
opportunity. He will hope to rectify that at Burnley on Saturday.
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Tomkins is still looking up even though fans feel down
Evening Standard
Ken Dyer
21 March 2012
West Ham 1 Middlesbrough 1
West Ham missed a golden opportunity to move back into one of the automatic
promotion spots but James Tomkins was nowhere near as downcast as some of
the fans. Tomkins and his West Ham team-mates were booed off yet again at
Upton Park following their fifth consecutive home draw but the defender is
still banking on finishing in the top two. "The confidence is still there
despite the frustrations at home," said Tomkins. "Our away form is good but
we just need to improve our home form a little. I'm sure we will be up there
at the finish. We just need to be a little more patient and if the fans keep
supporting us, I'm sure we will achieve our goal."
To be fair to the Upton Park crowd, they did stick with the team for large
parts of the game, until their patience finally ran out when Middlesbrough
substitute Bart Ogbeche hit a screamer of an equaliser past Rob Green in the
84th minute. Up until then West Ham looked as if they were going to squeeze
to their first home win since they beat Millwall on February 4, a result
which would have moved them level on points with second-placed Reading, who
lost 3-1 at Peterborough last night.
Abdoulaye Faye had given his side a fortunate 67th-minute lead when his
header from George McCartney's cross glanced off Boro defender Joe Bennett's
head and into the net. Tomkins had a great chance to finish the game off
only to see his header brilliantly saved by Jason Steele. "It was a great
delivery from Mark Noble," he said. "I got my head to the ball but the
goalkeeper's pulled off a world-class save. It's important we keep battling
away. The last few goals we've conceded have been good efforts from the
opposition point of view but the good thing is it's in our hands again after
Reading lost. "It's hard to put my finger on why the goals have dried up for
the strikers. To be fair they didn't have that many chances against
Middlesbrough. It's not just the strikers though, we all need to be better
in that final third and create more chances."
The visitors had a couple of chances to win the game near the end but Sam
Allardyce was frustrated by some of the decisions made by referee Scott
Mathieson.
"I thought we should have had a couple of penalties, particularly the
handball by Matthew Bates," said the West Ham manager. "It doesn't matter
how small a part of the arm the ball hits, it's still a penalty because it
was going into an empty net. "The strange thing is our best undefeated run
of the season ends with us not yielding the points we wanted. All I can do
is keep the lads going and try to win at Burnley on Saturday."
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Too many draws could cost us, says Sam Allardyce
Evening Standard
Sam Allardyce admits too many home draws could cost West Ham automatic
promotion after Bart Ogbeche's fine late strike ensured a fifth consecutive
failure to collect three points at Upton Park. After a 1-1 draw with
Middlesbrough, West Ham are now unbeaten in nine matches, but their last
four at home have ended in draws, leaving the Hammers outside of the top two
in the npower Championship. Allardyce's luck appeared to have changed when
Abdoulaye Faye's 67th-minute header looped up off Boro defender Joe
Bennett's head and into the far post but Ogbeche's fine strike six minutes
from time denied the Hammers victory. The final whistle was greeted by a
chorus of boos, leaving Allardyce to bemoan his side's failure to find the
net. He said: "Eventually these draws will cost us. We were very, very
patient tonight and got into the lead which was not easy because of the way
the opposition sets up against us. "It's frustrating because this is the
best unbeaten run we've been on this season but we're not getting the points
that we need from these matches. "We didn't have that little bit of quality
or the ability to just add the killer instinct and then we go and concede
one of the best goals this season, it was a real moment of quality. "It is
five draws at home but then one of those was against Southampton when we had
10 men for most of the game. "The turning point for me is the save that
their goalkeeper made from James Tomkins when we were 1-0 up. If we had got
it to 2-0 I think that would have been game over."
Neither of those incidents were adjudged to be penalties however. Referee
Scott Mathieson decided Matthew Bates blocked Tomkins' first-half header
with his shoulder while Jason Steele was not punished after Matt Taylor just
chipped wide in the second half. Thanks to Reading's shock defeat at
Peterborough it leaves West Ham just two points adrift of the Royals in
third place while Boro are now up to fifth place. "It's a bit crazy that
it's all doom and gloom and here we are, both clubs in the top six," said
Boro boss Tony Mowbray. "I was pleased with the way that we came here and
set up to frustrate West Ham because of the run they've been on we thought
we could play on their anxiety a bit. "We're in the top six and with a bit
of luck and a few players back hopefully we will stay there in the last nine
games of the season and get into the play-offs. "I'm pleased for Bart - he
does that kind of thing every day in training but he's been coming into my
office this week and asking me for more game time. "Had he not done that
would he have got his chance today? It's very hard to say but I'm pleased
that he did."
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