Beautiful Day

OLAS 483 April 10th 2010

Telepathy? Maybe. But early on Saturday morning, for the first time in many years, I played one of my favourite tracks by the Levellers: “What a Beautiful Day”. It might have seemed an ironic choice given that we’ve been getting used to Saturdays and Sundays that are far from beautiful – but have been filled with anxiety and apprehension, desperation, doom and gloom. But last Saturday seemed to get better and better, what with Hull going a goal down on six minutes and Stoke doubling their lead in the second half, Wolves going down to an injury time goal at the Arse, and when I checked the Burnley - Man City score at half time in the late kick-off, I could hardly believe my eyes. Burnley have been strong at home for much of the season, while Man City have blown hot and cold, so I had fancied our claret and blue brothers to make that a tight game in what was almost a local derby (northern bastards v northern bastards).

It was truly a beautiful day and had me geared up looking forward with some optimism to Sunday, even though I get to win the lottery almost as often as we get something from Goodson Park, ie never.

The news just a few minutes before our game that Wigan were leading at Fulham was threatening to ruin the lucky charm of the weekend but Zola was clearly in fighting form and managed to instil that into the players. Admittedly the situation on half time still didn’t look too promising. In an all too familiar script we had started well but faded. We were fighting but losing too many challenges in midfield and that was putting the defence under increasing strain. Inevitably we paid for it when we gave away a soft goal, for which Spectator, da Costa and Upson were all at fault.

Fortunately Everton were not at their sharpest and rarely threatened to take more advantage of our weaknesses. Meanwhile Noble and Parker – who both epitomised the spirit needed to fight back – were working overtime to hold the fort and Stanislas tried to use his pace to create openings for our forwards. Parker’s most spirited and foolhardy moment was when he went tumbling over but, desperate to pass the ball to a team-mate, he lay flat on the ground and headed the ball with boots flying nearby. It brought to mind a comment by my late comedian friend (and Hammers fan), the brilliant Linda Smith, when she described rugby players who go in head first: “They have no fear of head injuries and apparently no reason to fear them”.

Parker led a series of threatening runs but our one moment of real creativity that left Everton hopelessly undone came to nothing when Mido chose to tap the ball gently for their goalie rather than smash in a penalty perhaps generously awarded.

I was watching the game in my local pub with two mates – one an Everton supporter and the other another Tufnell Park Hammer. The former had good reason to be smug and half time and the latter, like me, was not particularly looking forward to the second half, though well aware that we were still in the game at 1-0 down.

Second half of course was a different story. We played with more pace and determination, started to win challenges and look more threatening on the break while the defence were snuffing out any Everton threats much more efficiently. When Noble placed a beautiful chip, worthy of the Academy of Football, over their goalie, only to see it bounce back off the bar I almost resigned myself to another defeat, only one with better quality excuses “…but we missed a penalty and hit the bar”.

A minute later, though, we were truly celebrating. Da Costa’s stab at the ball was hardly the stuff that gave us the reputation of “the Academy” but his grit and effort, and the way he and the team celebrated, typified the spirit we need, along with the style we have grown accustomed to over the years, but which reveals itself so rarely these days. Suddenly it really was game-on. As the game wore on I didn’t think Everton were going to break us down and the chances of us nicking a goal on the break seemed to be increasing. Cole had an excellent chance but shot wide from a good position.

I don’t know whether the players knew, but the news from Craven Cottage that Fulham had not only pulled a goal back but also taken the lead over Wigan was keeping our spirits up as well.

Everton’s second goal with five minutes to go, ought to have been a killer. Like so many of the 57 varieties of goals we have conceded this season, its origins were in our defence’s inability to make a simple and effective clearance in the first place , and that was an open invitation to place us under more pressure. This was followed by two of our tallest defenders being out jumped and out-manoeuvred from a teasing cross. At that moment the only consolation was that we had actually fought back form going a goal down and had looked like we were going to hold on for an unlikely point. It wouldn’t have felt like a defeat in the same way as other recent drubbings. We hadn’t just put our heads down, rolled over and died. But a couple of minutes later came a West Ham goal of old. A precision cross not to the player’s head but to where the forward was running. A powerful diving header. 2-2, a point rescued and a moral victory. It was the kind of goal I used to see every other week in the days of Hurst and Peters, getting service from Brabrook, Redknapp and Sissons, but it was the kind of goal we have been starved of more recently. Full credit to Faubert for the cross and for Ilan for having the vision and bravery to go for it, and the precision to put it away. I doubt if Mido’s partner in the flab-stakes – McCarthy who was another option on the bench – would have had the speed or presence of mind to do what Ilan had done. So full credit to Zola for making the right substitution,

That moment in itself ought to clear up one of Zola’s selection quandaries today. In the 15 minutes he was on the pitch, Ilan was far more effective than Mido had been all afternoon and surely justifies a place in the starting 11. Mido wins more balls than you expect in the air but he is slow, overweight and perhaps better suited to watching football on television than playing it.

Losing Parker for two games is without doubt an immense blow – especially as he won the ball cleanly in the challenge for which he was booked but if Behrami is fit he can fill in, and Noble’s display at Everton gave confidence that he can take on that role too. As for elsewhere in midfield and defence, how we continue to choose that lummox Kojak and the utterly clueless Spectator when other options are available still baffles me. I hope that when Zola comes down from the jubilation he must be feeling and soberly analyses the weaknesses we still displayed, he will find alternatives to these donkeys (no offence to donkeys, who are fine animals and excellent jackets but are not footballers).

We all knew how crucial the home game with Stoke was in our last Upton Park outing and the crowd really got behind the team – as we must do today. We saw a determined performance but players still lacking in confidence following such a terrible run of defeats, and devoid of the guile, creativity and subtlety needed to unlock the totally predictable but well organised no-nonsense defensive unit that Stoke possess. Sunderland are more brittle than Stoke – they have let in 34 goals on the road compared with Stoke’s 16 – and we can go into this game with our heads held higher from that terrific point won at Everton. The danger is at the other end where Darren Bent, a player I never particularly rated has hit a patch of excellent form. A high-scoring game may be on the cards and at the final whistle Zola needs to be in a position to be able to reply in the style of the legendary Malcolm Allison, who when asked once on television why his team had triumphed, responded : “We scored more goals than they did.”

Wigan are not playing this weekend. Victory today means that whatever result ensues at Liverpool on April 19th (apart from losing 20-0) we would entertain Wigan on April 24th within striking distance of them and with a vastly superior goal difference. At the same time Hull and Burnley have to play each other and soon Hull and Wigan have to lock horns. So even if Hull haul themselves clear they will be keeping Burnley and Wigan down in the basement places. In addition Bolton are not quite out of it too. It all looks just a little rosier than 10 days ago and, as the Levellers remind us: “Nothing is impossible in my own powerful mind”. COYI!!!