8th April, 2008

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

Sky Sports: West Ham boss Alan Curbishley failed to hide his disappointment after his side produced an inept display as they went down 1-0 against Portsmouth at Upton Park. Niko Kranjcar's 61st minute strike lit up a drab affair in East London with the Hammers rarely threatening the Pompey goal in a frustrating night for the home supporters. Bobby Zamora spurned West Ham's best chance in the 18th minute as Curbishley's men slumped to back-to-back Premier League defeats to reamain in 10th place - five points behind Man City. "We thought this was winnable tonight but Portsmouth did all the threatening in the second half, said Curbishley. "We had a great chance in the first half and it would have been vital if we had scored it because I can't remember Greeny making too many saves.

BBC Sport: Portsmouth's FA Cup exploits seemed to have caught up with them as they began sluggishly, and the little early goalmouth action that there was usually involved West Ham striker Bobby Zamora. He did well to beat Sol Campbell and fire in a cross from the left, but there was no-one on the end of it. However, minutes later Zamora had only himself to blame when he went round the keeper but made his angle too narrow and fired across the goalmouth.

Hammers Mad: West Ham had the better of the early exchanges with Luis Boa Morte testing David James. The England keeper also had to react quickly to head the ball clear from the on-rushing Dean Ashton on the edge of his penalty area. The Hammers ought to have taken the lead in the 17th minute when Bobby Zamora found himself free and on side inside the box, but having done the difficult part in side-stepping James, the striker screwed the ball across the face of the goal and wide of the far post. Pompey responded well and went close themselves seven minutes later when David Nugent fired just wide. Portsmouth bossed much of the second quarter but it was the Hammers who came closest to taking a half-time lead. Firstly, Ashton warmed James' hands with a fierce 35-yard drive and then Nolberto Solano saw his goalbound free-kick deflected wide of the goal frame.

Iain Dale: Portsmouth seem to become our bogey team. They certainly didn’t deserve to win last night’s game, but then again after our second half performance neither did we. In the first half we looked bright without really being a constant danger. We scorned two good chances and that was about it. After the break headless chicken syndrome seemed to descend on some players, especially the central midfield pairing of Mullins and Parker. Mullins put in his worst performance of the season. You can’t fault his effort, but his passing was dire. Up front Dean Ashton did well in the first half but only had one shot, while Zamora was largely anonymous apart from his scandalous miss from an acute angle.

Daily Telegraph: West Ham have inhabited 10th place since November, but have now won just once in seven games. Alan Curbishley was asked if he was bored by being in the same place for so long. "I would like to stay there," he said, "but we will not finish where we are if we don't start winning, and I don't want to finish on a downer." There is an incentive to improve on their present position. "Their bonuses are geared to being in the top 10 and nothing for not being there. So if people think we have switched off, they are wrong." West Ham dominated the first half, and in a tight game should have scored early on. Dean Ashton put Bobby Zamora behind the Portsmouth defence and when he went round David James, a goal looked to be the obvious conclusion. Instead the angle became acute and his shot turned into a cross, Sol Campbell just avoiding sliding the ball into his own net. (Martin Smith, 9th April 2008)

Daily Mirror: Hammers keeper Robert Green will spend his summer scrambling up Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest peak, for charity, but after 17 minutes it should have been Pompey who had a mountain to climb. Bobby Zamora, played onside by a ricochet off Pedro Mendes, skipped round England No.1 David James only to drag his shot wide from an acute angle. Scott Parker's optimistic penalty appeal was ignored by referee Lee Probert and Luis Boa Morte shot straight at James as West Ham dominated, but Portsmouth were at least resolute. Mendes rippled the side-netting with an angled drive but the first half was largely dreadful. The Hammers, bullseye in mid-table, did exactly what it says on the tin. They looked neither like a side in relegation trouble nor upwardly mobile enough to threaten Europe. Dean Ashton's swerving drive and Nobby Solano's deflected free-kick briefly threatened to break the tedium, but otherwise Redknapp must have been pleasantly surprised by the pacifism his return had generated. And three minutes after the introduction of Hammers' cult hero Freddie Sears from the bench, Pompey seized on the home side's torpor to snatch the winner. Kranjcar collected Sulley Muntari's short pass and spun to drill a low shot right-footed beyond Green, his seventh goal of the season. (Mike Walters, 9th April, 2008)

The Times: Bilic is among the former West Ham players held in high esteem at the club — some fans would like him to replace Curbishley as manager in the summer. Gianluca Nani, the West Ham technical director, will scratch his head at the dearth in quality when he comes to review the tape of this match. The club who became known as the Academy of Football have few players of distinctive class. West Ham have been in and around tenth place since Kranjcar’s goal helped Croatia to defeat England in November, but now they are looking over their shoulders at Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United. Some booing accompanied the final whistle after another poor, characterless performance, with their forwards feeding off scraps. West Ham delivered hanging crosses from too deep, failed to find rhythm and penetrate an organised defence. Too often Bobby Zamora and Dean Ashton dropped deep to meet a pedestrian midfield. Zamora had their best chance: after a fortuitous ricochet, he went around David James but screwed the ball wide. Curbishley had targeted the top six, but it appeared that their end-of-season holidays had started two months early. “The players’ bonuses and mine are based on finishing in the top ten,” Curbishley said. “We are in this together. We were flat and it was a massive disappointment. We have to react and do better. We are fizzling out.”

The Guardian: The problem as this match started was that they repeatedly failed to get on with it, and for the entire opening half-hour Pompey did not so much need to play up as wake up. West Ham could have won the game before their visitors worked out that they were playing one, but they were made to regret their wasted chances. Bobby Zamora wasted the best of them in the 17th minute, taking the ball round David James after Nolberto Solano's deflected pass had sent him clear, only to slice his shot wide of goal from an acute but hardly impossible angle. "We had a couple of decent opportunities but we didn't take them and as the game wore on Portsmouth got stronger and we got flatter," said Alan Curbishley. "Considering what we're fighting for, it was a massive disappointment. I think the whole night was flat. We didn't lift the crowd, the crowd didn't lift us, it was just flat. We're very down and disappointed." Further disappointments may await a squad whose end-of-season bonuses depend on them finishing in the top 10. They have been precisely 10th for most of the past five months but are fading fast, with only one win in their past seven games. "I'd like to stay there but we've got to win some games for that. Otherwise the season will fizzle out and we'll end on a downer and that's the last thing I want." (Simon Burnton, 9th April, 2008)

xxx.

.

.