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Vinny 12:04 Sun Jan 15
Vinny's Portsmouth Report

Portsmouth 0 West Ham United 1

West Ham remain on course for automatic promotion after another victory, this time away at Fratton Park against a Portsmouth side who were forced to play much of the second half with ten men after David Norris was dismissed for a foul on Winston Reid.

The only goal of the game came from the penalty sport with Mark Noble making no mistake and it would be this sport kick which would give us the three points in a truly dire game void of any invention, skill or entertainment.

And once again the debate rages on to what as supporters of this football club do we want to see when we go to watch West Ham. Is it simply just about gaining promotion or is there something more we should be hoping for?

I was unhappy at the way we went about last week’s FA Cup game against Sheffield Wednesday and thought it was a bit disrespectful to the fans that travelled that Allardyce clearly had no interest in the Cup at all and he is solely focussed on one thing only no matter what is sacrificed. I saw no reason to play a weakened team and it was not as if we had a midweek game to play either.

If you have seen West Ham play this season then this performance would have not come as much of a shock as it was the same as every other. We set out our stall to contain and attempt to play possession football but offered very little going forward. With this tactic we shut the opposition out and ensure that they create very few chances and whilst this is effective it is so fucking boring to watch.

Perhaps I have unreasonable expectations and need to fall in line with our main objective which is to return to the Premiership (how fun) and forget about being entertained at all. We sit joint top of the League and continue to push Southampton as every week goes by.

The Team

After making seven changes against Sheffield Wednesday last weekend, Allardyce reinstated all of the missing players.

In defence James Tomkins was back at centre half alongside Winston Reid with George McCartney back in his familiar left back slot. Joey O’Brien retained his play at right back.

It was a five man midfield of Faubert, Noble, Diop, Nolan and Collison with Carlton Cole up front on his own.

Some will call this formation 4-3-3 but neither Faubert nor Collison played in forward role, and neither got in front of Cole at any point so they cannot be considered as forwards. It was a five man midfield no doubt about it.

I had been expecting Sam Baldock to start but the striker was only named on the bench alongside Carew, Lansbury, Faye and O’Neil. There was no substitute goal keeper on the bench.

Starting for Portsmouth was midfielder Hayden Mullins who was at West Ham from 2003 until his move to the South Coast in 2009. Mullins played 179 times for the club scoring 4 goals and was part of our last Promotion campaign. Also starting for Portsmouth was Tal Ben Haim who was on loan at the club for the first half of last season and played 8 games.

First Half

It is always bitterly cold down at Pompey and today was no exception. I recall playing Portsmouth a couple of seasons ago in a night game which was one of the coldest nights of football I have ever been to.

The cold didn’t seem to bother the travelling West Ham support who had turned out in numbers and sold out the away end just as they have done so many times this season.

We saw a lot of the ball in the early stages although both sides were guilty of gifting possession back to the other in those opening moments.

It was Pompey who had the first chance of the game when the won a free kick midway into our half which was taken by Liam Lawrence who drifted the ball into the area and found the head of Greg Halford but his header was poor and over the bar when he should have worked the keeper.

With nine minutes on the clock Faubert won our first corner which was taken by Mark Noble but it was too close to the keeper who punched away.
Like most sides in this division Pompey were closing us down quickly and preventing us from finding space to move the ball about. Given how many central midfielders were on the pitch and our lack of width they were finding it relatively easy to shut us out.

A counter attack from the home side saw Fuctas burst into the area only for James Tomkins to make a fantastic challenge which was inch perfect as the Pompey supporters cried foul and demanded a penalty but Tomkins had executed the tackle perfectly.

As we moved forward with the ball from that Pompey attack, Diop was bundled over and awarded a free kick. This set piece was played into the area and cleared only as far as Faubert who took a touch and was taken out by a Pompey player just outside the area.

We do not seem to have a player who can take a free kick and it was Noble who had a go but the shot was poor and into the wall and out for a throw in.

The throw in was flicked on by Tomkins to Faubert in the area who looked as though he had been fouled again as the ball was cleared. I thought this looked identical to the challenge on him a few moments earlier which was given as a free kick just outside the box. Kevin Nolan unsurprisingly had a few words to say to the referee regarding this.

A poor challenge by Pompey striker Dave Kitson on Joey O’Brien saw the flame haired forward booked by referee Kevin Friend.

Noble took the free kick quickly into the feet of Nolan who flicked the ball back for Winston Reid who was pulled down by the centre half Pearce with the referee pointing to the penalty spot. This was the second penalty Reid had one in as many weeks but unlike last weekend we would take this chance.

Stepping up to take the penalty was Mark Noble who dispatched the spot kick despite the keeper Henderson guessing the right way and getting a hand to the ball. This was the fourth goal Noble has scored this season with all of them coming from the penalty spot.

Noble would be in the thick of the action again minutes later and he took a shot from outside the area which he dragged wide of the Portsmouth goal.
All the noise inside Fratton Park could be heard from the away end as the 3500 West Ham fans were in full voice.

Portsmouth had their best spell of the game at this point and forced a number of corners which were dealt with well on every occasion. Getting the ball clear without it coming straight back into the area was another thing as we struggled to complete a clearance.

The pressure Pompey were applying was giving their fans some confidence and the atmosphere seemed to increase a notch as a number of crosses were put into our area. Unlike in recent games we stayed solid and did not get rattled seeing out a tough period.

With five minutes of the half remaining Kitson found Lawrence out on the right who cut inside and hit a shot which was superbly saved by Robert Green with Tomkins putting the loose ball out for a corner. From the resulting corner Green again made a great stop to deny Pearce from equalising.
You could have argued that we were looking forward to half time and were certainly the side who would have wanted the whistle to blow.

We survived the two minutes of first half stoppage time and went in at the break leading 1-0.

Second Half

The second half continued in the scrappy fashion that the first half had presented with both sides struggling with their passing. If any player epitomised our football it was Papa Bouba Diop who would make a challenge and then always find an opposition player with his subsequent pass.

Things were made a lot easier for us on 57 minutes when Portsmouth were reduced to 10 men.

Winston Reid received the ball, chested it down and played the ball to Cole. Reid was taken out late by Norris with a poor challenge and referee Friend pulled out the red card immediately.

Having only seen this incident as it happened I was very surprised to see the red card come out as it wasn’t two footed and he almost came in from the side of Reid. Until I see it again I cannot really make a judgement but on first look it seemed a harsh decision.

What this sending off did was highlight how little creativity we have in our team because at no point did it seem as though we had an extra man. I suspected if Pompey had gone down to nine men we would have noticed very little difference as we seem to have one way of playing and will not alter this unless losing.

On 61 minutes Nolan played a good ball out to the right for Jack Collison to cut inside and hit a curling left foot shot which went inches wide.

Our best chance of the second half game four minutes later when the ball was worked wide to Collison who put a good cross into the area and the ball was inadvertently chested at his own goal by Greg Halford with the keeper Henderson having to make a fantastic save to stop the ball from going in.

Faubert got down the right hand side and beat the defender crossing low for Cole to dummy and leave for Kevin Nolan who dragged his shot well wide when she had to hit the target.

Faubert was unlucky a few moments later when he controlled the ball just outside the area and hit a left foot volley which went just over the bar in what would have been a magnificent goal.

Portsmouth did very little going forward and the sending off had really killed their momentum that they were building in the first half. They really could only offer some long range efforts which either went well wide or were easily saved by Green.

With eight minutes of normal time remaining the hosts decided to attempt to get something from the game and take a risk by taking off midfielder Mullins and was replaced by Striker Benjani.
We made a change ourselves with Julien Faubert being replaced by Henri Lansbury.

There was another chance of us to kill the game on 86 minutes when Cole got behind the defence and laid the ball off to Nolan who attempted to curl the ball in but it went over the bar.

As we went into injury time (although I do not recall any minutes actually being held up) Pompey were awarded a free kick on the edge of the area when Tomkins was adjudged to have brought down Benjani. It was Liam Lawrence who stepped up to take it but the ball crashed into the wall.

As we got to the 94th minute in an identical position to the previous Pompey free kick they were awarded another one with Diop adjudged to have gone in with a high boot. This was a ridiculous decision given that the Pompey player had gone in with his head down.

This time the kick was taken by Huseklepp but it hit the wall and went over the bar for a corner but before this could be taken the ref blew the full time whistle to the delight of the West Ham fans and once again we had won on the road.

Player Reviews

Robert Green
Another clean sheet for Green as he put in another solid display. There wasn’t many saves he had to make but he did make an excellent stop in the first half.

Joey O’Brien
Slipped over a few times in the first half and his distribution of the ball was pretty poor. Knocks the ball long far too much and needs to look for a West Ham player when playing these passes.

James Tomkins
It would be a great shame if Tomkins was to leave the club during the transfer window for a number of reasons but none as important as how vital he is for us. He was terrific again and kept everything simple and won just about every header presented to him.

Winston Reid
Reid also needs to be praised for his display as he was solid and dealt with the physical presence of Kitson with ease. Won his second penalty in last two games and although I feel more at ease with Faye in our defence, Reid is clearly starting to regain his early season form.

George McCartney
He continues to try and offer us width on the left and you can see clearly how much running he does as he gets up and down that left hand side continuously. Defended well as always and McCartney continues to be a consistent and dependable performer.

Julien Faubert
Saw a lot of the ball and never shied away from getting stuck in but quite simply the things he did were poor. His passing, his crossing, and overall decision making was not up to standard. Should have been taken off sooner than he was with Baldock coming on.

Papa Bouba Diop
He was as dominant in the challenge as you would want a defensive midfielder to be. He covered a lot of ground, won the ball back on so many occasions I lost count but the man cannot pass. His passing was so bad it was a bit perplexing seeing as he did everything else well.

Mark Noble
The penalty aside Noble never really got going and found it difficult to find any space to pick out a pass and switch the play. The game was flooded with central midfielders and Noble couldn’t get a hold of the game.

Kevin Nolan
Now don’t be shocked here but I thought Nolan had a good game. The man ran and ran and both he and Diop were our battling midfielders. He should have scored in the second half (or at least got a shot on target) but this was a good display from the captain.

Jack Collison
Last week he was at the centre of most things we did as he was able to get a hold of the game but out on the wing he offers very little. He doesn’t have the pace to beat a man and if you are going to play Collison you need him to get on the ball and move forward with his quick passing.

Carlton Cole
Extremely isolated and there was not enough support in and around him especially in the first half. He worked hard, chased everything he could but we did not create one chance for him in the entire game. He needs a strike partner and either a new striker or Baldock needs to start against Forest.

Subs Used

Henri Lansbury (on for Faubert 82 mins)
Played better in his ten or so minutes than he did in the entire game against Sheffield Wednesday. Looked sharp and willing to beat his man.

Subs Not Used: O’Neil, Carew, Baldock, Faye

Bookings: Nolan

Man Of The Match: James Tomkins

Portsmouth: Henderson, Mokoena, Pearce, Ward, Ben Haim, Halford, Mullins, Lawrence, Norris, Kitson, Futacs
Subs: Ashdown, Webster, Williams, Huseklepp, Benjani

Attendance: 18,492

Overall

Boring, uneventful and certainly uninspiring but victorious once again and we keep the title challenge going with another three points.

I thought we could have taken the game to Portsmouth when they went down to ten men and felt we looked far too cautious throughout the second half. The game was crying out for Baldock in my opinion as he can create space which is what we found difficult to do.

There obviously has to be some positivity as we are on 50 points and joint top of the league.

There was a point where we thought Southampton were going to keep extending their lead at the top but we are there with them and just goal difference separates us. This goal difference should be in our favour as we have had the chances to score goals against many of our last few oppositions.

Next Game – Nottingham Forest (h) 21st January 3pm Kick Off

Forest were smashed today at home by Southampton and are on a poor run of form. We have got to take the game to them and show our superiority. Yes, to win 1-0 will do but I do not make any apologies for perhaps wanting to see a bit more. I want to see us take some risks and attack with purpose instead of simply grinding a result.

I believe we have it in us to give a team a good beating and we were scoring goals earlier in the season but we seem to be making life difficult for ourselves by not taking chances.

I still firmly believe we will be promoted, I just would like to see a bit more to our attacking play.




The View From Allardyce

"When you think it's eight wins away from home and we haven't won away since November, it shows we had pretty miraculous form up until our devastating month of December really in terms of results.

"It was a great victory and was obviously helped by the sending-off, but I thought it was thoroughly deserved. If I have to be a little disappointed, it is because we haven't made it more comfortable than it was with the chances we created after they had gone down to ten men. I have been talking about that for the last few weeks.

"Our defensive side of our game is so outstanding at the moment that teams against us, home or away, are finding it so difficult to create chances. That's a great platform to build on and Saturday was another very precious three points and we've got to kick on from there.

"We've got almost a full squad back and available which showed in the performance all-round and players can come in whenever needed now and make an impact. Looking forward from here, hopefully we can have the sort of month we had in November and get as many victories back-to-back as possible and make sure we push forward to our ultimate goal."

"Like many games we played away from home, we took control of the game from the start. Portsmouth had won seven, drawn three and only lost two at home and everybody said they would come out and go straight at us but we didn't let them do that.

"We controlled the game, should have had a penalty for a foul on Julien Faubert and had a couple of half-chances, then got the penalty on Winston Reid and put that away. We then slipped up a little bit in the last ten minutes of the first half when we let some pressure come on ourselves particularly from set plays rather than Portsmouth's open play.

"Then, of course, the game changed completely when we went down to ten men and we dominated completely and the gameplan changed. We just needed to keep the ball and wait and wait and we kept the ball well. We created several chances but failed to put them in the back of the net.
"It could have been more comfortable but it was still a well-deserved victory."



Season 2011/12 Scorers and Red Cards

Carlton Cole - 8 (8 League)
Kevin Nolan - 7 (7 League)
Sam Baldock - 5 (5 League)
Mark Noble - 4 (4 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)
Papa Bouba Diop - 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)
Frank Nouble - 1 (1 League)
Junior Stanislas - 1 (1 Cup)


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)



Email: vinnywhufc@hotmail.com

Iron2010 9:36 Mon Jan 16
Re: Vinny's Portsmouth Report

North Bank 1:49 Sun Jan 15

Mex Martillo 8:30 Mon Jan 16
Re: Vinny's Portsmouth Report

Vinny, you need to decide what you what, now you are tired of dire football and good results, in the prem you were tired of attempts to play football and poor results, you appeared ready to sacrifice anything for a good result.

Unfortunately we cannot afford good football and good results, but I really would prefer that we always aim for good football and good results, in that order.

Sam will get us up, and then I truly hope we sack him and get someone that will at least try and give some entertainment.

Welcome back, good festive break?

flyingV 10:28 Mon Jan 16
Re: Vinny's Portsmouth Report

The expectation levels of some of our fans this year have been bemusing.

You know what though? I reckon even if we were down here another 5 years that wouldn't change.

appyhammer78 10:21 Mon Jan 16
Re: Vinny's Portsmouth Report

Diop got star man and made team of the week in the Sun...and got a 9 rating

DaveT 10:17 Mon Jan 16
Re: Vinny's Portsmouth Report

Nice report Vinny.
Don't agree with opinion of Noble though. Our best player by far on Saturday. Like the way tried to keep the ball in second half but agree about not killing the game off and final ball was generally poor.
Like most would like to win in style but will take 1 0 every game this season.
Can't see why people are saying we would play same way if we get promoted. Still not certain about Allardyce but let's wait until get back in premier league and see how he approaches it before judging him.

Sir Alf 2:09 Mon Jan 16
Re: Vinny's Portsmouth Report

North Bank 1:31 Sun Jan 15

I understand the wish for style but can those that dont like what they see perhaps stop going to games until we get promoted? Ok, perhaps we will only take 500 away to places like Pompey but at least it will stop all this noise.

This season is about promotion and nothing is going to or should change until we can hopefully get the promotion. If someone has can suggest an alternative approach and how it can be achieved then I am all ears but there is simply no other way for the next 20 odd games. Please could we defer all discussion of style until next season (hopefully). It would help some of us enjoy looking at the league table without a sense of guilt :-)

Ozziehammer 1:08 Mon Jan 16
Re: Vinny's Portsmouth Report

I guess at this time Vinny the entertainment takes second fiddle to promotion.

The question is can we survive in the Prem playing the same football?

We don't get the games in OZ so I can't comment but I do watch the Prem games and I have to say that even the worst and Blackburn in particular, are playing some bloody good football.

We will not survive playing one man up front and the big boot football in the Prem no matter how sound our defence is; the pressure of the ball keep coming back will eventually tell on the defence as it did last campaign.

This must change before next season assuming we get promoted.IMO

Thanks for the report as always Vinny, much appreciated in OZ.

british is best 12:42 Mon Jan 16
Re: Vinny's Portsmouth Report

some teams gonna get a hiding off us shortly .

Ahmed 10:47 Sun Jan 15
Re: Vinny's Portsmouth Report

Thank you very much VinnySON,

I do not get to go to the matches away but I will be attending on Saturday against Nottingham. I am hoping Mr Allaydce can buy a striker for this game as we need goals so terrible. I have thought that Mr Jason Roberts of Blackburn would be a very good purchase as he is very experienced and can score many many goals in the championship. I do not believe he would cost a high price.

jimbo2. 10:33 Sun Jan 15
Re: Vinny's Portsmouth Report

It was a dire game, but terrific result. Wereally should have taken Collison off and brought Baldock on and go for a 2-0 or 3-0 result. Where did BFS get the "we had loads of chances" from?We should have been creating them, but we weren't!

KLM 5:04 Sun Jan 15
Re: Vinny's Portsmouth Report

I really enjoyed the game.

my differences with your report.

Noble - I thought was a class apart from anybody else on the pitch, motm;

Collison - had his best game for me;

Cole - their defence couldn't handle his movement;

Nolan - puzzled by this guy. it seems all our problems stem from him as well as our achievements. Not impressed at all.

other pts
Diop - i agree with V; pompey simply couldn't shake him off the ball. But his passing is a bit poor; but worse,

Faubert - an extarodinary ordinary player. That said, he did produce two pieces of trickery which i didn't think he had. then the usual crossing rubbish that is not conference standard and inability to time a jump for the ball


Our RHS is our weakness O'brien and Faubert. Fortunately pompey didn't have varney.

btw, i was in the pompey end I didn't hear Wh sing much.

BillyBondsBirthday 3:47 Sun Jan 15
Re: Vinny's Portsmouth Report

Thanks, Vinny

What was the thought behind no sub keeper?

Whenever I do that in CM, he's bound to get sent off.

gph 2:59 Sun Jan 15
Re: Vinny's Portsmouth Report

Thanks, Vinny.

New Jersey 2:41 Sun Jan 15
Re: Vinny's Portsmouth Report

Thanks Vinny - Like you I think we will get promoted and it is hard to get a win at pompey but it is a bit turgid football at the moment and I am still a bit pissed off about last week. When we return to the prem will it be about survival, tight 1 nil wins and weakened sides for the cups?

Know it all 2:05 Sun Jan 15
Re: Vinny's Portsmouth Report

Some classic humour from the Portsmouth lot yesterday.......

Steward who was looking for the ball that we didn't give back

"come on people give it back, we've only got two and can't afford another one"

Two fans walking back to the station

Fan1 "Do you think we'll appeal the red card"

Fam2 "Nah, can't afford a lawyer to make the case or the headed paper to send the FA the appeal on"

Know it all 1:59 Sun Jan 15
Re: Vinny's Portsmouth Report

I agree sitting on the 1 goal lead as foolish. Had they stuck one of the couple of very dangerous freekicks on the edge of the area into the top corner in the dying moments we'd have thrown away 2 points and it was have been criminal.

bell 1:58 Sun Jan 15
Re: Vinny's Portsmouth Report

Cheers Vinny.

One McAvennieeeeee 1:51 Sun Jan 15
Re: Vinny's Portsmouth Report

There is something quite special about watching NB in action after a display like yesterday's. He takes no prisoners, that's for sure.

North Bank 1:49 Sun Jan 15
Re: Vinny's Portsmouth Report

dicksie that would be my only gripe yesterday that we didn't finish them off, however Nolan, Noble, Collison and Faubert all had good chances to score the 2nd but didn't.

I read on here all the time from those that suggest that we're not pretty enough that Faubert is shit and Collison is wasted out wide, without realising the hypocrisy of their posts and failing to understand that when Collison broke into the side he moreoften than not played wide left where he was excellent and contributed many assists and goals, he hasn't looked the same player since his injury

Some of our fans are tedious

dicksie3 1:38 Sun Jan 15
Re: Vinny's Portsmouth Report

North Bank, I think that Fat Sam has done a very good job - because he has. It's a fact. And I don't agree with posters on here who state that we play anti-football because we've played some entertaining stuff at times this season and scored a hatful of goals in the first couple of months or so of the season.

However, although I'm delighted with the three points from yesterday's game; I'm not pleased by the fact that we tried to sit-on a 1-0 lead to a team who had ten men with over half-an-hour left on the clock to play.

We did the same thing away to Birmingham a few weeks ago after playing great stuff in the first-half only to then try and see the game out where we came unstuck - which was totally of our own doing.

Far Cough 1:37 Sun Jan 15
Re: Vinny's Portsmouth Report

North Bank 1:31 Sun Jan 15

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