The Positive and Negative Thread - Millwall
Mr Polite 5:08 Sat Feb 4

Other articles by Mr Polite...

The game that all of us look forward to most this season, the time when holiday's are cancelled, wives sent shopping, pubs are boarded up and style of play takes a back seat not just for the Manager but for those that love the beautiful game too. This type of game is about winning and nothing and I mean NOTHING else matters. The Scum have loaded up their caravans and have found their way north of the river. Thankfully we can dwell on the mostly good points of a tough game.


Positives:

We WON - We BLOODY WON!

Millwall lost.

Now on a day like today those two things are enough to send me to bed happy, but the manner in which the result was achieved was great. 10 Men for 88 mins and still we looked like the best team. Millwall are poor, very poor of that there is no doubt but that shouldn't take anything away from West Ham. The energy and desire from all the players was something to be proud of and some half decent football to boot.

Reid and Faye in the centre of defence were pretty solid, yes Faye should have done better with their goal and there were some nervous moments but all in all a good display with our best defender playing out of position. As for
Reid's finish - it was the composure and strike that eludes many a championship forward!

Tomkins being asked to play out of position worked very hard too and although I thought in the first half he struggled with knowing where to be and how to play there he grew into the role a role that was vital when you consider what Nolan did.

Noble was quite rightly named man of the match and he played the captains role with the armband rightly on his arm. He ran the midfield and he made us tick. So proud of the boy - like he said on sky afterwards...he ran his nuts off.

Faubert Faubert Faubert, one of his best performances in a West Ham shirt for me. He covered so much ground and work so so hard. Gutted his header onto the bar didn't dip in as his performance deserved a goal and his 'assist' for Reids goal will keep me smiling for days. Sadly his performance today will still be ignored by some - they'll moan about his misses and they'll jump on the next poor performance he has, they might even sadly bring up a misplaced pass from a previous game. Fact is in that position he has more good games than bad, but as that goes against what some have already decided on they'll scrub todays game from their memory.

I have knocked Cole a number of times when he has deserved it but there is no doubting that he dserves a lot of credit today. After the sending off it was always going to be a lot tougher and he'd be isolated more than usual, but he held the ball up well and took his goal very well.

I disagreed with Sam's lineup and because of what happened in the 9th minute we'll never know if he was right or not but credit where it is due, after the sending off he organised the team perfectly and the substitutions were spot on and at the perfect times. Well done Fatty.

We won't have the managers favourite picked in the next few matches - hopefully we can show we don't need him and see more energy and decent football in the middle of the park.

Negatives:

Gladly not many and may even come across as a bit picky, especially in light of the result, but the first and most obvious one is Nolan. Shocking, pathetic and awful decision to go in two footed. The ref was correct to send him off and whether he agrees with the laws or not he knows them and he knows that going in like that is a sending off. The fact that it was unnoticable that he wasn't playing says it all about the man. He should be going round and thanking each player on his hands and knees that they got him off the hook.

Our two full backs, They both put some good crosses in today with a great cross field pass from McCartney as on that particularly springs to mind and as part of the defencive unit they were strong but I do feel that with them both we don't have players that can take on an opposing fullback and run at the defence. To be fair there aren't many full backs that can, but with the lack of pace and that type of player in midfield I feel that with full backs with a bit more atacking nouce we could really cause teams proper damage.

Compare the atmosphere today to a normal home games and it was very good, but I have to say it was the quietest game against Millwall I have ever seen/heard. Granted the the early kick off doesn't help nor does the empty lower tier and the away fans where they were and very quiet themselves, but I do feel that at home when the crowd feels up for it (we were singing 15 mins before kick off) that it seems the lack luster way we start games has a negative effect on the fans. It was noticable that when we did play some good football that the noise lifted for a time, it just seems to be a sense of - for want of a better word - Boredom around the ground.


Summary:

Yes a couple of grumbles and a couple of them could well be being overly harsh for the sake of the thread but if they can be noticed even when we win I guess there could be some truth in them. But today is a good day as any day we beat Millwall is. Very proud of the team, they deserve all the credit they get... yes and the manager too.

Thank you for reading

(¯`v´¯)
.`·.Mr Polite ♥
`•.¸.´¸.•´¸.•*¨) ¸.•*¨)

Mr Polite 7:53 Mon Feb 6
Re: The Positive and Negative Thread - Millwall

I was moved from my usual seat to Alpari Upper and the atmosphere was pretty poor although seeing as others said it was good it could well Be to do with acoustics as I could hear the Jeremy Nicholas up there either.


Texas,

Two things: 1) watching it on TV you wouldn't be able to appreciate just how much Faubert did and 2) you have made it clear how low your opinion is of him in the past and your comments today just prove you aren't man enough to give someone credit when it is due.

chim chim cha boo 7:08 Sun Feb 5
Re: The Positive and Negative Thread - Millwall

Mr. Burns 5:09 Sun Feb 5

A minutes silence or even applause would have led to a LOAD of trouble like the minute for the Hillsborough disaster did. Those pikey cunts are simply not able to stop themselves.

Next home game would be nice and I'm sure Ernie would understand.

Mr. Burns 5:09 Sun Feb 5
Re: The Positive and Negative Thread - Millwall

Bit away from the game, but a negative was no minutes silence for Ernie Gregory. I know there was an announcement. Did they not want to do it as they were worried Millwall would sing through it and It will be done at the next home game? I mean we had to do one (applause) for Gary Speed and he had nothing to do with us.

boltkunt 5:02 Sun Feb 5
Re: The Positive and Negative Thread - Millwall

you are such a cunt texas its untrue.

Texas Iron 5:00 Sun Feb 5
Re: The Positive and Negative Thread - Millwall

good post mr P...

but a bit OTT in praising Faubert so much ..should have been delivering such games for years...

its about time he played well...he's a French International...& played For Real Madrid...donchaknow...

dicksie3 4:57 Sun Feb 5
Re: The Positive and Negative Thread - Millwall

roltrader, I think that most people were watching the same game as me though mate!...

roltrader 4:55 Sun Feb 5
Re: The Positive and Negative Thread - Millwall

The game I watched was one where those in claret and blue could not string more than two passes together against a team that was probably the worst in the league.

roltrader 4:53 Sun Feb 5
Re: The Positive and Negative Thread - Millwall

dicksie, we must have been watching different games mate !!

dicksie3 4:33 Sun Feb 5
Re: The Positive and Negative Thread - Millwall

"First game of the season for me - must say I thought the atmosphere was shit and the standard of football was frankly embarrassing - but we WON !!"

We outplayed our main rivals with ten men for 88 minutes and should've won the game by two or three clear goals; I'm not quite sure how that kind of performance can be branded as "embarrassing" - more like heroic and passionate.

As for the atmosphere: in spells, it was very good and far from being shit. Remember, this was a tense fixture against our biggest rivals; the crowd are bound to get nervous at times and bite their nails instead of sing - especially when there's only one goal in it with just minutes remaining on the clock and the pikeys pressing...

cosmo smallpiece 3:42 Sun Feb 5
Re: The Positive and Negative Thread - Millwall

"Tomkins did the defensive things well, but he is atrocious on the ball"

Do fuck off.

roltrader 3:14 Sun Feb 5
Re: The Positive and Negative Thread - Millwall

BulphanIron, fair point !! - I looked over to your lot and it was better - still I was expecting a bit more from the rest

Steve P 3:13 Sun Feb 5
Re: The Positive and Negative Thread - Millwall

I haven't read a single thing about Allardyce or the style of football.

To be honest, I was fuming when I found out the team. I'm fuming about Demel still not being fit, Maynard and Baldock not getting a look in, us not being able to field a team without having a defensive block and it being 4-5-1

Most of all I was fuming Cole and Faubert were in again.

All worked out in the end though?

BulphanIron 3:06 Sun Feb 5
Re: The Positive and Negative Thread - Millwall

There is never an atmosphere in the Alpari Upper, what did you expect? It's like a viewing platform almost seperated from the action.
Bobby Moore Lower was superb, the scenes when we went weren't were mad, bodies flying everywhere.

roltrader 2:44 Sun Feb 5
Re: The Positive and Negative Thread - Millwall

Leatherhead, I brought over a couple of Catalans and they were the most animated supporters in the Alpari upper - bit embarrassing when foreigners are louder than the locals

Leatherhead Hammer 2:40 Sun Feb 5
Re: The Positive and Negative Thread - Millwall

One McAvennieeeeee 10:50 Sun Feb 5

Agreed. I was stood next to a small group of youm European lads, right at he back of the BMU. They were right up for it. The one stood next to me kept sreaming "GET UP PUSSY!" everytime one of Millwall's players went down and "YOU BLOODY CUNT" whenever the ref made a decison in Millwall's favour.
When everyone's fired up the atmosphere is quality.

fred flinstone 2:01 Sun Feb 5
Re: The Positive and Negative Thread - Millwall

Positives -

Noble
Faubert
Taylor
Both full backs
100% effort from everyone

Negatives -

Stupid tackle by Nolan
Mistake from Faye for their goal

roltrader 1:20 Sun Feb 5
Re: The Positive and Negative Thread - Millwall

First game of the season for me - must say I thought the atmosphere was shit and the standard of football was frankly embarrassing - but we WON !!

gph 11:25 Sun Feb 5
Re: The Positive and Negative Thread - Millwall

You missed a positive: Spurs loans were well represented in Millwall's ranks.

dicksie3 11:24 Sun Feb 5
Re: The Positive and Negative Thread - Millwall

Yeah, I thought the atmosphere was pretty decent - although it was obviously nowhere near as good as the League Cup game the other year but that was an evening game with everyone pissed-up and on the swindle!

I've had a groin strain and I've fucked it up good and proper now amongst the celebrations - especially the second goal when I ended-up on the deck with a twenty-stone bloke on top of me!

I'll be limping like a leper for the next few days but it was worth it!...

joey5000 11:20 Sun Feb 5
Re: The Positive and Negative Thread - Millwall

Atmosphere was great where I was, especially the 2nd half. Great celebrations!

Leigh Jim 11:19 Sun Feb 5
Re: The Positive and Negative Thread - Millwall

And the agenda continues

Zzzzx

Page 1 - Next