27th October, 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

JS John Simkin BF Bishops Finger WH WestLondonHammer DJ DjBelz GL Gary Loughran
DC David Cross SN Sicknote PA Party Iron LA Larry MA Mart

West Ham v Portsmouth: Video Highlights

Sky Sports: Yet it was West Ham, largely under the cosh, who should have gone in front in the 24th minute. Distin knocked away Cole's cross but the striker's second attempt to feed the ball in from the left found Solano sneaking in behind the Pompey defence but failing to get a touch into a gaping net. Almost immediately at the other end it looked as though Benjani had missed a golden chance with only Green to beat but it was George McCartney's brilliantly-timed last-ditch tackle which sent the ball skewering wide of goal. David James was called into rare action with a tip-over to Solano's curling free-kick but it was a relatively quiet opening half-hour for Portsmouth's former West Ham keeper. West Ham were niggled again when Sol Campbell, Pompey's last man in defence, went down and won a free-kick as Cole brushed him off and headed on a clear path to goal in the 43rd minute. The Pompey man looked lucky to get away with it. Bellamy failed to come out for the second half, West Ham replacing their danger man - who had looked frustrated in a right-wing role - with Matthew Etherington.

BBC Sport: Etherington was introduced at half-time in place of Craig Bellamy, who endured a frustrating first 45 minutes and suffered a slight knock. The change initially made little difference and the home side made an equally determined start to the second period, with Benjani testing Green with a blistering 25-yard drive the England international pushed to safety. But just as West Ham seemed happy to grind out a point, Solano squandered another simple chance. And his second miss was even worse than the first. Cole turned Sol Campbell and after his shot came back off the woodwork, Solano had nobody near him and plenty of time but somehow failed to find the net. Solano, making his first start for his new club following a recent move from Newcastle, was promply replaced. It was a full debut the Peruvian will certainly want to forget.

Hammers Mad: Robert Green was West Ham's hero as Alan Curbishley's side stopped Portsmouth moving up to fourth in the table. Green pulled off a dramatic stoppage-time penalty save from Benjani to deny high-flying Pompey a club record fifth successive Premier League win. The former Norwich stopper had already produced a series of fine saves to stake his claim for a starting place in England's crucial Euro 2008 decider against Croatia next month...Solano should have grabbed himself a goal against the run of play midway through the first half when he raced onto Carlton Cole's centre. The Peruvian mis-timed his jump at the back post and failed to make decent contact with an attempted diving header with Pompey's goal gaping. Worse was to follow as Solano left Curbishley with his head in his hands early in the second half. Cole smashed a close-range shot against the underside of the crossbar and Solano nodded the rebound wide from two yards after being left with an empty net.

Sunday Times: Presumably waylaid by his hamstrings once more, Bellamy did not reappear for the second period. Curbishley retained his formation and utilised Etherington’s more orthodox winged gifts. Green once more had to be on his mettle, flying across his goal to parry Mwaruwari’s stinging drive, but his colleagues – in particular the doughty Boa Morte – were not without resolution and without summoning a head of steam, they began to sense the evening need not be entirely about containment. Indeed, just after the hour, they really should have scored. Etherington fed Cole, who spun neatly round a statuesque Sol Campbell and fired against the bar. The rebound fell perfectly for Solano. Again unmarked, again inside the six-yard box, he fluffed his golden chance, feebly heading wide of the open goal. The visitors held their heads; the rest of Fratton Park exhaled with relief... Then Danny Gabbidon appeared to nudge Niko Kranjcar on the edge of the penalty area. Referee Mike Dean awarded a penalty. Benjani Mwaruwari hit it Robert Green’s right, the goalkeeper saved it, justice was done and West Ham United had their deserved draw. It was the least they deserved after Portsmouth’s whirlwind start petered out into a mild breeze and West Ham, who began looking shellshocked, finished in the ascendancy and had not Nolberto Solano somehow contrived to miss two chances of mind-boggling simplicity, they would have wended their way back up the A3 with three points to their name. Instead they left grateful to Green for the point they came with. (John Aizlewood, 28th October, 2007)

Sunday Mirror: Portsmouth's surge up the Premier League table was met with stiff resistance by a West Ham outfit who have been casting anxious glances in the other direction. And it was not helped by a desperate late penalty miss by Pompey striker Benjani, awarded late into injury time. The last league fixture at Fratton Park produced 11 goals when Reading were beaten 7-4 in an extraordinary match. There was never any danger of a repeat last night as West Ham worked slavishly to keep the free-scoring Portsmouth front line at bay. Zimbabwean striker Benjani has acquired folk hero status with his exploits this season that have brought him seven goals going into last night's clash and they way he started he he was certainly in the mood to add to his tally against a West Ham side still struggling to find any consistent fluency. (Steve Stammers, 28th October, 2007)

The Observer: he match had been slumbering when Carlton Cole came close to winning it. His swivel and shot unluckily hit the bar in the 65th minute. This presented Solano with the easier of his chances, though the rebound that came to him at speed. Still, the Peruvian will hate to see replays of his insipid stooping header. An earlier opportunity for West Ham's full debutant came in the 24th minute. Again the improving Cole was the provider. Playing in the middle off Craig Bellamy - who went off at half time with a groin strain - and Solano, the big striker dribbled expertly down the left. His cross came back and this time Cole found Solano, who had drifted superbly from his central midfield position into the area. But the header again was just too weak.... Ten minutes before the break, Kranjcar again showed off his ability. After David James - branded 'England's number two' by his former fans - had sorted out a mix-up involving Sol Campbell and Cole on the edge of his area, the midfielder brought the ball down beautifully. Again his swerve fooled the defenders - Gabbidon and Solano - but the angle proved too much. In reply to the West Ham fans, their opposite numbers had politely told them to 'Stick their bubbles up their arse'. But the visiting supporters and Curbishley have a more serious consideration. Julien Faubert, Calum Davenport, Dean Ashton, Scott Parker, Kieron Dyer, James Collins, Bobby Zamora, Freddie Ljungberg, Nigel Quashie and now Bellamy are injured. The manager put this down to bad luck, but having 10 senior players out at the same time may just provoke a few questions that have to be answered. (Jamie Jackson, 28th October, 2007)

Daily Express: The point West Ham clawed from the fortress of Fratton Park was as much a tribute to Carlton Cole as it was to goalkeeper Robert Green. The unstinting workload Cole took on in the new system Alan Curbishley tried out was matched only by Green's last-minute penalty save. And it could yet see Cole finally accepted by the demanding Upton Park fans who have never really taken to the England Under-21 striker. At times they have made his life a misery, come close to driving him out of the club and even left him wondering if he had any future in the game. But asked to play the lone role up front, Cole was immense and while Green was rightly garlanded with praise for his spot-kick heroics, with Portsmouth failing to score for the first time in six matches, the Hammers showed again they are well equipped to be successful away from home. Curbishley has often debated the best way to utilise Cole's talents and at last appears to have found the way to satisfy the young striker, too. Cole said: "I finished the match exhausted, I was in a different role doing the hold-up play with two wide men linking. It put Portsmouth under pressure and I know I gave Sol Campbell and Sylvain Distin plenty to think about. "The manager asked a lot of me and I'd like to think I gave two central defenders as good as them a hard time. It meant putting myself about and I enjoyed it. Perhaps I have done enough now to stay in because I've never really had a run of games in any side in my entire career. I've always been under pressure to come in and make an instant impact instead of trying to establish myself as a proper player." (Nigel Clarke, 29th October, 2007)

The Times: Carlton Cole tries the patience of West Ham United fans, but he is also trying his hardest. For the critics on internet messageboards such as these and those in the stands who have jeered him, trying is not enough. Cole knows it and it torments him. “They have been on my back,” the striker said. “I got booed a lot. It hurts. It’s in my hands to try to get them on my side. I know when I get on I try my utmost. In the past, I’ve never been match fit and I’m trying to do something special. And if it didn’t work out I got stick. But I’m trying to establish myself as a proper player.” Cole, nearly 24, began his career at Chelsea and scored in only his second match, in April 2002. But he went on loan to Wolverhampton Wanderers, Charlton Athletic and Aston Villa before signing permanently for West Ham in the summer of 2006. Since then he has made only 12 appearances. “I’ve had people around me off the pitch. I train well,” he said. “I have got a sports psychologist. He is with me every day. He talks to me; he does a lot – mental things you don’t think about as a footballer. Some people have it naturally, some don’t.” Given a chance because of his club’s injury problems, Cole scored against Sunderland last week and impressed against Portsmouth on Saturday, hitting the bar and leading the line with effort and strength. ITom Dart, 29th October, 2007)

The Guardian: West Ham had the two best chances from open play. In the 24th and 65th minutes Nolberto Solano missed open headers from inside the box after good work on both occasions from Carlton Cole. Cole has endured a difficult time since his arrival to West Ham last year. But he put in a mature performance against Portsmouth's robust central defensive partnership of Distin and Sol Campbell which suggests the 23-year-old will soon add to his one goal this season. He will certainly have to take on more goalscoring responsibilities after Craig Bellamy joined Dean Ashton on West Ham's injured list. The Welshman had to be substituted at half-time with a persistent groin injury. "Carlton Cole was excellent today," said Curbishley. "He's hopefully won over a few people, including West Ham fans." (Sachin Nakrani, 29th October, 2007).

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