Cardif V West Ham United FC

great result also drags Villa and Hull into this scrap , anyone from 10th downwards is now in this mire

That was tough...

for some reason - despite paying money for it - the games aren't being shown on telly here,,, only on the interwebthings... so that meant no option of recording the game, sleeping in and then fast forwarding from the moment we go behind so the full impact of the devastation isn't felt.

No.

with only an iPad... the only choice i have to is get up at 6:55am on a saturday and watch every second of it live.

And of course... what's a 6:55am alarm call if it's not preceded by waking up at 4:30am and then fretting about whether to try and stay awake till kick off or get some much needed "zzzzz's"...

Anyway... I made it to 6:55am... franticaly got the nag of using an iPad and dealing with spotty wiFi cramped up in bed rather than luxuriating on the couch in front of a nice 48" TV.

SO... the game...

Started off okay. e immediately looked better than we have in the past two... but we've also thrown away more games from winning positions than anyone else - so there's little to no comfort for us when we play well either...

Ugh... then Demel goes down under the most innocuous looking challenge... but he stays down... and down... and down... and it was our own player who crocked him.
He doesn't move, they bring on a stretcher... jeez...

So we lost Demel and brought on McCartney... would this be more of the same we've seen these past few weeks?

It was kinda... we looked decent in fits and starts... we looked as porous as a sieve in others... Cardiff didn't look quite as confident and composed as i was expecting after a decent win in their first game under OGS... and let's face it... we've played some pretty piss poor teams this year and generally failed to get a result.
So none of this is looking good.

Then somehow we have a cross in from the wing... Carlton Cole of all people is alone in the box - and he side foot volleys it into the back of the net.

So as if taking the lead wasn't nervewracking enough we then has to endure a strength sapping TEN MINUTES of injury time in the first half.

Not only that but Cardiff even seem to score... the goal line technology (ie just another camera) shows the ball splitting the line so perfectly you'd need a micrometer and a telescope to figure out if more than half of it was in or out of the goal... you'd never fault a ref or lino for giving it as a goal as it strikes the bar, bounces down and as Adrian grabs it and carries it over the line for what surely should be a goal... he's hit in the back by a Cardiff player...
It's all gone as Pete Tong as it could... except the Ref doesn't blow for a goal, he blows for a foul on Adrian...

We never get any luck... but you got to be good AND lucky... this time we at least got the luck part right... this could be a game changer.

2nd Half... Cardiff bring on Bellamy... of course... ex-players always seem to find the net when they play against us. Of course... players out from injury or not having scored for months or years always seem to find a friendly open goal against us...

This doesn't look good.

Cardiff throw everything at us... we give away stupid free kicks... it seems like everyone is collecting yellow cards like they're air miles or something...

but we persist... it's not looking too bad... i mean, at times it is... we can't seem to do anything consistently except lose... but we're under the cosh. I think the comms said Cardiff had 70% possession in the 2nd half.

Then it happens... a shot of some bearded hippy warming up on the sidelines... it's him... it's Carroll... oh for the love of... i can see it now... he comes on out of desperation to secure this win... gets injured... yadda, yadda...

So Carroll comes on... it could be the dawn of a glorious new age in West Ham football.. and the Tomkins goes and kicks someone in the face and gets sent off.

There's 20 minutes to go and we're down to the bare bones in terms of the team... ten men on the field and we've already played an additional 10 minutes in the first half... surely it's only a matter of time before cardiff score 1... 2... 3... this could be...

We're under the hammer... down a man... clinging manfully to our one goal lead.

Cardiff bring on their new bloke... he looks decent... Belammy fizzes a free kick just past the post...


But like it does in life... time just keeps marching forward... it never stops... it's on our side because every moment we're getting closer to a very very needed victory...
Carroll appears to get pulled back when he's on the goal line about to head the ball into the net (oh how glorious that would be)

Somehow we get to the cusp of 90 minutes... no more injuries, no more red cards... Carroll still has both legs...

But there's four minutes of extra time...

We try running the ball into the corners... we try to play it among ourselves... misshitting and giving it away for more Cardiff attacks.

Then Carroll has the ball out on the right. He looks up... he crosses the ball inside to Noble... Noble dodges a tackle and lasers the ball past the goalkeepers... WTF!!!!

When did Noble last score from open play? I thought the comms said 4 years!!!!

Who cares.... the whistle went about a minute or so later... it had been ballbreakingly difficult to watch... we'd rode our luck... done everything we usually do to lose games... but we'd won.

We're out of the bottom three but there's seemingly only 4 points separating the bottom club and the European spots... it's that crazy difficult down the bottom.

I'm not even ashamed to admit... I actually shed a little tear while Carroll, Noble and the rest of the team were celebrating. I can't remember doing that before... but it was that kind of game.

By God we needed that! What a feeling when Noble scored and how great that it was on a perfect ball from Carroll. He makes a difference already.

RichB wrote:NOt much action on here today even though we've just moved out of the relegation zone!

Well done Carlton Cole  !

Either everyone is celebrating on the lash or it's human nature that people prefer moaning.

Nooooooo ...... That game was something else.  No time to post on here or facebook, even though I missed half of it terrified of not just losing. Oh no, it was every time they had the ball, especially Bellamy, every free kick and throw in conceded, every time anybody got to within two feet of Carroll "get away from him moron, he's fragile"  Nervous wreck I tell ya, I was a nervous wreck by the time Noble made it safe!  (Well done captain - so proud of you xxx)

Noble had a good game today.

And as much as he's a total bell-end for getting suspended, it was actually kinda nice to see nolan on the sidelines shouting the team on.

Any idea how long Tomko gets banned for (in soccer, not in life). As it was 2 yellows is that just a 1 match dealio?

It's great to be out of the relegation zone (and truth be told, given the past month, I'd settle for these positions at the end of the season (except I don't really want to see Cardiff relegated)

But it's still pantwettingly awful knowing we're only 1 point off the bottom of the table.

At least our goal difference is still just about worth a point (thank christ we only shipped all those goals in the cups and not the league)

The Toon game (like pretty much every game left) is a must win...

Cardiff are away to Citeh and Blunderland and Pal-arse play each other so it's a chance to put a couple of points between us and relegation - this season is gonna be won and lost by inches at both ends of the table the way things are going...

We rode our luck but also played with a desire and commitment that has been missing recently and ended up winning 3 priceless points and the celebrations by the whole team when Noble scored were wonderful to see.

Looking at our ball possession stats  (not just from this game) we clearly have real problems with ball retention and long term we need a more fluid and synergised brand of football and a different direction under a different manager IMO !!!
Irons In The Soul

Tomkins - 1 match ban. Let's hope Ginge is fit as we are down to ONE centre back again for the Barcodes game

Tony P wrote:Tomkins - 1 match ban. Let's hope Ginge is fit as we are down to ONE centre back again for the Barcodes game

I'm assuming as its 2 yellows we have no grounds for an appeal.

Maybe Lescott will be here for the Newcastle game I read we are offering him a more than 3 year deal.

Hansen was certainly very complimentary about west ham (kept saying phenomenal) and noble ( you won't see a better performance from anyone this weekend)

Tony P wrote:Tomkins - 1 match ban. Let's hope Ginge is fit as we are down to ONE centre back again for the Barcodes game

Carroll will be buzzing (adrenalin hopefully) for that one...

westhamonkey wrote:
Noble had a good game today.

And as much as he's a total bell-end for getting suspended, it was actually kinda nice to see nolan on the sidelines shouting the team on.

Any idea how long Tomko gets banned for (in soccer, not in life). As it was 2 yellows is that just a 1 match dealio?

It's great to be out of the relegation zone (and truth be told, given the past month, I'd settle for these positions at the end of the season (except I don't really want to see Cardiff relegated)

But it's still pantwettingly awful knowing we're only 1 point off the bottom of the table.

At least our goal difference is still just about worth a point (thank christ we only shipped all those goals in the cups and not the league)

Next use of the term 'soccer' and I will report you to admin for offensive language   

IronDane wrote:Maybe Lescott will be here for the Newcastle game ;)I read we are offering him a more than 3 year deal.

On Sunday Supplement this morning they said the clubs had agreed a deal but the player still looking at other options and if I does happen it won't be until later in the month

I sometimes think it's easier for defenders (and especially goal keepers) to shine in teams lower down the table. Your called into action more. Joe hart must have been bored shitless in our game on Wednesday whereas Adrian was one of the few players to come out with some credit. Same theory for defenders looking to get into a World Cup squad?

Blakey wrote:

Tony P wrote:Tomkins - 1 match ban. Let's hope Ginge is fit as we are down to ONE centre back again for the Barcodes game

I'm assuming as its 2 yellows we have no grounds for an appeal.

Unfortunately not Dave. Ridiculous rule. A second yellow obviously leads to a sending off and therefore a ban - just as a straight red does - so why should clubs not be able to appeal? IMO Tomkins only had eyes for the ball and had no intention of kicking anything but the ball. Classic case of a referee who has clearly never played the game. Very similar to Carlton Cole's sending off by that serial idiot Anthony Taylor at home to Everton last season. As that was a straight red we could appeal the decision - and did so successfully

Stupid system

Tony P wrote:

Blakey wrote:

Tony P wrote:Tomkins - 1 match ban. Let's hope Ginge is fit as we are down to ONE centre back again for the Barcodes game

I'm assuming as its 2 yellows we have no grounds for an appeal.

Unfortunately not Dave. Ridiculous rule. A second yellow obviously leads to a sending off and therefore a ban - just as a straight red does - so why should clubs not be able to appeal? IMO Tomkins only had eyes for the ball and had no intention of kicking anything but the ball. Classic case of a referee who has clearly never played the game. Very similar to Carlton Cole's sending off by that serial idiot Anthony Taylor at home to Everton last season. As that was a straight red we could appeal the decision - and did so successfully

Stupid system

Todays refs have been bloody shocking

We need to improve on our possession if we are to go up the league.

alfiehammer wrote: Joe hart must have been bored shitless in our game on Wednesday

At least he was out of the rain, seeing as he was sitting on the bench!

Dan C wrote:

alfiehammer wrote: Joe hart must have been bored shitless in our game on Wednesday

At least he was out of the rain, seeing as he was sitting on the bench!

Doh.   

Dan C wrote:

alfiehammer wrote: Joe hart must have been bored shitless in our game on Wednesday

At least he was out of the rain, seeing as he was sitting on the bench!

I think both Hart and Pantillimon were on the bench Dan. They weren't required !