When Coventry City visited St Mary’s on the last day of the season, we needed a fair amount of good fortune for an already relegated Sky Blues to cause a shock against Southampton to keep 2nd place and an automatic promotion spot a possibility for West Ham. Alas, a 4-0 Saints win meant they clinched 2nd and we would have to settle for 3rd and a play-off spot.
Saints have played good football this season, spearheaded by Rickie Lambert’s goals, and deserve to go up rather than us. Even if Billy Sharp’s Oscar worthy theatrics getting Matty Taylor sent off at The Boleyn Ground leaves a sense of resentment, they have applied themselves far more consistently than we have and have shown good character to bounce back whenever they have slipped up.
It’s certainly hard to begrudge Champions Reading achieving automatic promotion. Reading’s lauded run of 15 wins from 17 games since Christmas under Brain McDermortt is all the more impressive when you take into account that The Royals were 16th at the beginning of November.
With West Ham United, you would have to say it’s a case of the team and the manager not getting the job done. Big Fat Sam came in with confident statements of automatic promotion and with our squad it was expected.
It’s all the more frustrating when in February, after an immensely satisfying 10 man win against some team from Bermondsey, we were top of the league and 4 points clear of Southampton.
Our poor home form cost us automatic promotion. You simply don’t get promoted if you drop 28 points at home in a season. From February 14th to 9th April, in our seven home games, we had 6 draws and 1 loss and it certainly fuelled the fire for sections of the crowd to get on Sam Allardyce’s case.
There is no denying that at times, in particular during that terrible run of home games where it felt like a 1-1 Groundhog Day, we played some completely aimless stuff. Allardyce was giving his detractors ammunition and even loading the gun. The ‘We play on the floor’ song, sadly, became a terrace favourite in the latter part of the season.
Where the manager should be criticised is the lack of mental strength he had instilled at key points of the season. As Southampton and Reading won games, our games became far more important and I have lost track of the number of ‘must wins’ we have come up short in the last couple of months.
This was no more apparent than in the home game against Reading. 1-0 up and totally dominating Reading, we decided to have a good old fashioned West Ham Balls Up ™. Poor defending from a corner resulted in Reading’s equaliser and then Jason Roberts and Ian Harte ran riot and eventually we lost 4-2.
Now those of you who know this writer are fully aware that my glass tends to be of the half-empty variety, in particular when it’s regarding matters claret and blue, but play-off time is a period where we should try and forget these negatives and take a more positive outlook.
You could argue a haul of 86 points would normally be enough to win automatic promotion. You could also argue that this season our away form has been a breath of fresh air. Granted, it’s at a lower level than what a lot of fans are accustomed to, but Allardyce has masterminded a record 13 away wins this season.
We must also remember that for all the bad stuff we have played this season, we have also played some really entertaining football and handed out several drubbings including the majestic 6-0 win against Brighton.
And, although mental strength had been lacking in most big games this season, the way in which we came back from 3-1 down at half-time against Birmingham to claim a point was certainly encouraging, as was the way the team applied itself when 1-0 down at The Crisp Bowl against Leicester recently.
And so, to the ‘lottery’ of the play-offs and a trip to play the perennial bridesmaids Cardiff on Thursday. The common misconception that the team who finished 3rd don’t win is dispelled by the fact that 4 of the last 6 play-off winners finished the season in 3rd. Conversely, in 2005, when we won the play-offs, we had finished 6th. So, those stats are about as useful as a Julien Faubert cross.
Allardyce has been typically confident, as well he should/needs to be, but has also stated that ‘if you start thinking about that game (the final) before the semi-finals, you won’t get there’. It would be foolish to not respect Cardiff, as it would any side in the play-offs. Former Hammers target Peter Whittingham has been impressive as have Mark Hudson and Ben Turner at the back for the Bluebirds.
Looking at this season’s two meetings between the clubs offers no clues to predicting a winner, as we traded away wins. The Bluebirds’ Don Cowie has said that the pressure is on West Ham, and he’s right. Allardyce has not succeeded what he set out to do, but he has yet to fail either.
These two games are massive and it’s now that we need to forget the dodgy home form, build on the positives and finally get the job done. Carlton Cole looked in good nick against Hull, in particular his coolly taken second and Richardo Vaz Tê’s 10 goals in 15 games shows what a good purchase he was in January. We can also take encouragement in the fact we are unbeaten in 6 games.
We do, however, need experienced players to step up over the course of two legs. Mark Noble has been solid all season and I expect nothing less from him. There are mild injury doubts in James Tomkins and Kevin Nolan, but it is expected both are to be fit for Thursday and Nolan, in particular, has a bit to prove. Granted, he has scored some very important goals this season but perhaps has not been the Captain Fantastic that his reputation (and wage) have demanded. The play-offs would be an ideal stage to fully convince me.
I know I don’t need to request anything of the fans as the away support will be fantastic in South Wales. If we can get a good away result and then Cardiff come to a rocking atmosphere at The Boleyn, there is no reason we won’t get to the final. So let’s keep the faith, think positive thoughts and we’ll be Wembley bound. We’ll then start to worry about Birmingham or Blackpool come May 19th.
COME ON YOU IRONS!
Written by Oliver Duffin, We Are Going Up’s West Ham United Blogger
