18th August, 2007

KB: KUMB; HM Hammers Mad; ST Sunday Times; SE Sunday Express; SM Sunday Mirror; OB Observer;
DM Daily Mirror; GU Guardian; TM Times; HD Hammers Diary; SK Sky; DE Daily Express

SM: Sunday Mirror; SA: Sanchoz; BO: Bodger; MC MattCox10; PC Pchen019;
AN Antony; AD: Arch Dandy; OW Oilywragg; JS John Simkin

Sky Sports: A Mark Noble penalty was enough to separate the teams as West Ham claimed their first points of the season with a 1-0 victory at Birmingham. Kieron Dyer, on his West Ham debut, could have been awarded a penalty after just a few minutes when he was tugged down by Stephen Kelly, but the rest of the first half was a largely forgettable, scrappy affair. The Hammers produced a much better performance in the second half and took the lead in the 70th minute when Noble tucked away his spot-kick after Craig Bellamy had been brought down by goalkeeper Colin Doyle. (Lewis Rutledge, 18th August)

Daily Mirror: The white rhino is an endangered animal on the brink of oblivion... but still thriving in the Premier League. West Ham striker Craig Bellamy said he has had to develop the hide of a rhinoceros to survive in football's most unforgiving habitat. Many defenders and former team-mates would love to make Bellamy extinct - the Welshman has already racked up his seventh club following a £7.5million summer move to Upton Park from Liverpool. The Welsh firebrand was typically at the centre of; controversy at St Andrews when he infuriated Birmingham by winning a hotly-disputed penalty. The striker sprinted into the box and, though his touch past Brum keeper Colin Doyle appeared to be going out of play, Bellamy engineered contact to go down - allowing Mark Noble to net the only goal from the spot in the 70th minute. Bellamy was surrounded by Birmingham players following the decision and confronted at the final whistle by Radhi Jaidi and Mehdi Nafti. But the ex-Anfield star was unrepentant and brushed off the incident, telling his doubters to stay in and watch Match Of The Day. After receiving a ton of flak over the years for his many bust-ups, Bellamy won't be losing any sleep over this latest episode. He admits he has had to develop a thick skin in the face of the taunts and abuse he has endured. "If it affected me I would have been out of this game a few years ago," said the 28-year-old, who has also played for Norwich, Coventry, Newcastle, Celtic and Blackburn. "I would have been washed up because if you let everything get to you, you are not going to last long. "When I used to go and watch football as a kid no-one got booed off at halftime but everyone has a right to criticise now. "Criticism is part and parcel of football these days but what went on before has gone and it is a new season for me and a new club. I want a settled period because I have signed a five-year contract and want to do as well as I can for West Ham." (James Nursey, 20th August)

Hammers Mad: Alan Curbishley, West Ham's under-fire manager, finally eased the pressure on himself with the Hammers carving out their first win of the season and hopefully producing more unity in the Londoners' camp. In a game of few real opportunities West Ham sealed the three points with a controversial 69th minute penalty from Mark Noble. It was something of a disputed penalty as the luckless Birmingham goalkeeper, Colin Doyle, cut across Craig Bellamy as the ball was going out of play. Curbishley himself cut a lonely figure sitting alone in the stand, watching a desperate first half that struggled to come to life in the heavy rain, but his second-half appearance on the West Ham bench appeared to have the desired effect. One bright spot for Curbishley was the form of his skipper, Matthew Upson, who was a given a rough ride by the Birmingham fans on his return to St Andrew's. (18th August)

Sporting Life: The Hammers, who gave a debut to £6 million capture Kieron Dyer, deserved their success for an improved second half performance after neither side looked threatening in the first half. Noble impressed in the centre of the park - the only survivor in that department from the side which faced Manchester City - and the margin of victory would have been greater had Bobby Zamora showed more clinical finishing. (John Curtis, 18th August)

The Independent: Suddenly, West Ham United's supposedly troubled world looks a whole lot sunnier. All it took to start lifting the latest East End storm-clouds was a contested but justified Mark Noble penalty 22 minutes from time, an enterprising, committed performance actually warranting a considerably bigger victory. In the week Steve Bruce bemoaned the lack of English talent produced by an Academy system he says is failing, it was perhaps inevitable his struggling Birmingham City team should be beaten by the archetypal local boy made good. Noble was outstanding in a midfield populated by bigger names – the subdued Kieron Dyer for one – and did much to inspire this fifth victory in six away League games either side of the club's remarkable relegation escape. (David Instone, 19th August)

The Times: If life was fair, West Ham United supporters would be waking up this morning and reading about how their team bounced back from losing to Manchester City on the opening day of the season. Life is not fair and Alan Curbishley knows that better than most managers. Curbishley has had more bad press than Pete Doherty since he arrived at Upton Park last December and nothing he says or does seems to make a difference. On Saturday, he had to deny reports that he had fallen out with Craig Bellamy and that the Wales forward had been involved in a scuffle in the tunnel after he had been accused of diving by Birmingham City players. “I had a fairytale existence at Charlton for 15 years,” Curbishley said. “I didn’t upset too many people, but, at the moment, it seems everything I do upsets someone.” Bellamy is the kind of player who could start an argument in an empty room, but Birmingham players would have been better off blaming Colin Doyle for their second defeat of the season. The Irish goalkeeper did not need to rush off his line when Bellamy raced clear in the second half and, when he did, a penalty looked like the most likely outcome. “The penalty was the right decision,” Bellamy said. “Criticism is part and parcel of the game. If it affected me, I would have got out a few years ago.” Millions of words have been written about the Carlos Tévez affair and whether West Ham deserve to be playing in the Premier League this season, but only a Sheffield United supporter would fail to be impressed by the squad that Curbishley is assembling. Sean Bean may disagree, but the top flight is the natural habitat of players as good as Robert Green, Matthew Upson, Mark Noble, Kieron Dyer and Bellamy. “Craig’s a better player than I thought,” Curbishley said. “He’s very professional and he’s not been a problem. You get these situations where you become a target and it’s very difficult. We’re under the spotlight continuously. I’m a patient boy, but perhaps I need to have a thicker skin.” (Kaveh Solhekol, 20th August)

KUMB: This was an encouraging and welcome reaction to last week’s flaccid home performance. It was particularly sweet to turn over Steve Bruce and on this evidence, you can see Birmingham struggling this season. It would break my heart to see Bruce’s bent-nosed smacked ar*e face if they took the drop.... Dyer looks like he's lacking match fitness, but the pace offered by the combination of Matty and Bellamy will worry many a Premiership defence. Noble was back at his confident best, after a lacklustre performance last week and Mullins did a much better job than Bowyer. The back four looked solid as well, with Anton recovering from a shaky start. McCartney was particularly good in his link-up play with Matty and Upson was solid in the face of cat-calls from the home support. In the event, Ashton was not needed as we ran the game. (East End Martin, 20th August)

The Guardian: There can have been few brighter points during Curbishley's time in east London than the progression of his young charge. The arrival of an entire midfield over the summer - Freddie Ljungberg, Scott Parker, Dyer, who made an impressive debut at St Andrew's, and Julien Faubert - could threaten Noble's place but, on this evidence, he will be tough to leave out, with one superb swerving run from the touchline of particular note. "Mark seemed to lose his way last week and he had a flat and laboured performance," said Curbishley. "But we sat down with him in the week and pointed a few things out, and he's got back to basics and started doing what he's good at." The home side, in contrast, struggled to cope with the wet, windy conditions and with West Ham's superior movement. (John Ashdown, 20th August)

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