Vinny's Barnsley Report
Vinny 2:21 Sat Apr 7

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Barnsley 0 West Ham United 4

West Ham cruised to victory at Oakwell as Barnsley were crushed in a result which breaks the record for the number of away wins in the history of the football club.

This was a fine performance and perhaps the most complete display of the season given how we controlled the game from start to finish. We played some lovely passing football and looked so far ahead of our opponents it was boarding on embarrassing.

Barnsley are one of the worst sides I have ever seen us play and we have played some pretty poor teams over the years. This is not to take away from our dominant performance and we can all be pleased with the way we applied ourselves and of course the end result.

It was as complete performance as you are likely to see and certainly the result we required after the crippling defeat at the hands of Reading last weekend. With Reading beating Leeds United in an early kick off the pressure for us to keep up with them was clear.

Manager Sam Allardyce had decided to make further antagonistic comments earlier in the week implying that certain supporters were ‘talking bollocks’ by questioning his tactics such as playing James Tomkins in centre midfield. The travelling fans would make reference to these comments (as well as previously calling us ‘deluded’) although it was all done in good spirit but with the team winning it certainly helped.

I felt these comments from Allardyce was just another example of him drawing a line in the sand. He clearly cannot take any criticism and for a manager with such experience he has been rattled by comments from the West Ham support and he is clearly bothered by what has been said.

But I don’t want to make this a negative rant about Sam Allardyce as we have just put in a really fantastic display away from home. We should be feeling positive and although the odds are stacked against us we know that automatic promotion is still attainable.

The Team

Allardyce made three changes to the side who were beaten at the Boleyn Ground last weekend at the hands of Reading.

In defence, Julien Faubert was missing from the squad and with Joey O’Brien also out in came Guy Demel who was making his first start since November.

At centre half Winston Reid returned to the starting line up with Abdoulaye Faye missing.

The other change came up front with Nicky Maynard coming into the starting line up in place of Carlton Cole who dropped to the substitute’s bench.

Mark Noble did start despite it being claimed that he was going to be out for a few weeks. I’m not really sure what that was all about.

Papa Bouba Diop was back from injury and in the squad and was on the bench.

First Half

The travelling West Ham fans took their place in the North Stand on this Good Friday and there were 2,428 of us in attendance. This was my first trip to Oakwell and as a club was our first trip since 1997 in a 2-1 victory with John Hartson and Frank Lampard Junior scoring the goals.

The opening few minutes of the game saw us have plenty of possession and it was an early indication of how the game would progress.

A good move saw Nolan exchange passes with Gary O’Neil and Nolan saw his shot scrambled behind for a corner.

With six minutes on the clock the corner was put into the area by Matthew Taylor and the ball took a touch off the Barnsley player Craig Davies and into the path of Kevin Nolan who simply poked the ball over the line from a couple of yards and made it 1-0.

It is certainly no coincidence that Nolan was again in the right place at the right time. He has made a career of it and whatever is said about his all-round performances this goal was his 11th of the season which for a midfielder is not a bad return.

From that moment on Barnsley couldn’t get a look in and we controlled so much of the game.

The first booking of the game came when Vaz Te was brought down by McNulty and the resulting free kick was played into the area for Nolan to be there again but his volley went wide when it seemed certain that he would score.

With 15 minutes on the clock another chance to make it two came when Vaz Te found the unmarked Gary O’Neil who blasted his volley over the bar when he should have at least hit the target.

When Barnsley did have the ball they would quickly give it back to us with their own supporters beginning to get frustrated by their inability to hold onto the ball.

We were clearly growing in confidence and I thought we were going to score with every attack.

A two footed tackled from Dawson on Tomkins saw the Barnsley player become the second player to be yellow carded. From where we were it didn’t look that bad and looked as though he got the ball but I haven’t seen a replay yet so will have to wait for that.

A foul on Taylor saw the cross put into the area by McCartney to the back post for Tomkins to win the header and Vaz Te to attempt an overhead kick which he did connect with but it went harmlessly into the hand of the Barnsley keeper Button.

With the pressure being put on it was not a surprise when we scored our second goal with 23 minutes gone.

It was a fantastic finish as Nicky Maynard played a one-two with Kevin Nolan and Maynard took a touch and hit an excellent shot from outside the area which flew past Button and made it 2-0.

We continued to pass it around and any question regarding us playing the long ball was certainly not evident in the game as we simply out passed Barnsley all day long. If ever there was a time to use the phrase ‘men against boys’ this was it.

With only a half hour gone the ‘ole’s’ could be heard from the away supporters who were in full voice and singing all the way through.

Vaz Te should have scored when he was put through and he got into the area, looked to have the chance to score but for some reason he continued his run and went nowhere. His eventual cross was snuffed out and scrambled clear.

But just a moment later it was 3-0.

Barnsley keeper Button was closed down by the hardworking Maynard which forced him into a poor clearance which went only as far as Mark Noble who took advantage and cooly chipped the ball into the back of the net to make it three.

This was Noble’s 8th goal of the season but his first from outfield play.

It could have got even better when Taylor found himself in acres of space and his cross was just inches away from being turn in by Maynard.

It was almost like a training match with the space we were being afforded. We were just ripping Barnsley to pieces and they looked lost and without a clue to how to deal with us.

As the half time whistle blew just about every West Ham fan applauded the team off in what was a truly dominant first half.

At half time it was announced that we had ‘drunk the bar dry’ and there was no more alcohol.

Second Half

We took our foot off the gas in the second half but still had the better of it and started the half brightly.

A good chance saw O’Neil cross into the area for Nolan to put his header wide when if he had flicked the ball on or just left it Taylor was totally unmarked and would have surely scored.

Just nine minutes into the second half we did find the fourth goal and it all came from a wonderful run down the left from George McCartney who burst forward, cut inside the defender and hit a curling right foot shot which was palmed away by Button but only into the path of Ricardo Vaz Te who volleyed in from close range.

This was the third goal in three games from Vaz Te who is picking up the goal scoring knack at just the right time.

Nicky Maynard came so close to scoring the fifth when he picked up the ball midway in the Barnsley half, drove forward and smashed a shot from 30 yard at goal only for it to beat the keeper and crash off the cross bar. So unlucky and a fantastic effort.

With an hour gone Guy Demel was taken off and replaced by Danny Collins who went to left back with McCartney switching to the right.

In the stands the ‘Conga’ had begun and was slowly picking up numbers as the West Ham fans were in the mood to party. Barnsley feeling left out even had to copy us at the other end.

Like at Peterborough Robert Green was receiving a lot of love from the Hammers fans and even a chant of ‘Robert Green’s Claret & Blue Army’ went out.
Kevin Nolan was booked for a lazy foul on Dawson from behind and could have no complaints with the award of the yellow card.

Henri Lansbury came on for Gary O’Neill with twenty minutes remaining.

Vaz Te had a go from around 20 yards out which was comfortably saved by the keeper.

Maynard had the ball in the back of the net a few moments later but he was flagged offside and before the free kick could be taken Mark Noble came off and Papa Bouba Diop replaced him.

As we got into those final 10 minutes some West Ham fans were singing ‘Is there a fire drill’ in reference to some Barnsley supporters leaving. I would have sung that in the first minute as most of the ground was empty in a very poor turn out from the Barnsley support. There again, having to watch a quite truly terrible team such as that it should come as no surprise.

Barnsley’s Steve Foster was voted man of the match over the tannoy system and despite no one in the West Ham end being aware of who he even was the chant of ‘One Steve Foster’ bellowed out from the West Ham end.

We saw out the rest of the game with relative ease with Robert Green having to make one decent stop in an otherwise untroubled final few minutes.
The fans applauded the players as they came off with Henri Lansbury and Robert Green both giving their shirts to supporters.

Forget the rest of the season for just a moment and savour a really good away day and a brilliant result.

Player Reviews

Robert Green
If there is to be a ‘fans favourite’ it seems that Green is the one you would nominate for that position. A clean sheet in a very easy game was pleasing but his banter and positive reaction to the supporters was good to see.

Guy Demel
I’ll be honest; I can’t remember much about his performance at all. He had bright orange boots. I don’t know if that helps with an assessment of him. I had totally forgot he was playing till he was coming off and I can’t seem to recall anything he did. But, as a defender to not be troubled for an hour is never a bad thing.

Winston Reid
A really top display from Reid who put in a commanding display. Good to see him back in the side and he and Tomkins seem like a good partnership.

James Tomkins
An authoritative performance from Tomkins who won countless headers and was always quick to read a pass and make a tackle.

George McCartney
Superb showing from McCartney who was excellent defensively and was eager to bomb forward showing some great awareness and enthusiasm.

Ricardo Vaz Te
Up against his old club he was dangerous throughout and give us that little more edge when attacking. Scored another goal which was his third goal in the last three games. He is a big player for us.

Gary O’Neil
Tireless and put in a really good shift. Did a lot of running and closing down and I have to say I have been impressed with him over the last few games.

Mark Noble
For a bloke who was apparently going to miss the next few games he came and did really well. Looked a bit leggy at times but he was persistent and made a number of interceptions. And of course his finish for his goal was sublime.

Kevin Nolan
An assist and a goal means that this was another effective Kevin Nolan performance.

Matthew Taylor
Like many of his performances he was decent in parts then anonymous in others. Looked tired at times in the second half and although the idea to beat his man was there he wasn’t able to execute it.

Nicky Maynard
Really stepped up his game with a terrific performance. He ran and he ran, he scored, he hit the bar, he forced the keeper into a mistake which led to the third goal and he never tired. Even in second half injury time I saw him chase the keeper down.

Subs Used

Danny Collins (on for Demel 59 mins)
Allardyce clearly loves a bit of Danny Collins so it was no shock to see him get on again. He did well enough and made a few good runs down the left and one decent cross was cut out.

Henri Lansbury (on for O’Neil 70 mins)
After scoring for the reserves earlier in the week Lansbury clearly had a spring in his step and saw one low shot saved by the keeper. I thought that he did well in his 20 minutes on the pitch.

Papa Bouba Diop (on for Noble 80 mins)
Made a few interceptions and gave the ball away a couple of times.

Subs Not Used: Baldock, Cole

Bookings: Nolan

Man Of The Match: Nicky Maynard

Barnsley: Button, Higginbotham, Foster, Dawson, Wiseman, McNulty, Golbourne, Smith, Davies, Cotterill, Gray
Subs: Lidakevicius, O'Brien, Perkins, Tonge, Collins

Attendance: 11, 151

Overall

Whilst I had always hoped that this would be a game we would win comfortably I was still impressed that we actually went out and did the job. We looked a class above Barnsley and that is exactly what we should be playing like when playing a team this poor.

It is amazing to think of how good we have been away from home this season and how much we have struggled at home. It doesn’t seem to make much sense and it is like watching two different teams.

Next Game – Birmingham City (h) Monday 9th April, 5.20pm Kick Off

Now here comes the test.

An away win at Barnsley is all very well but if we cannot win the following home game then it will mean nothing.

We are playing a side whom we have struggled against in recent times and the memories of the League Cup Semi Final still hold bitterness within me.

If we are to gain automatic promotion we simply have to win the remaining home games. There is no more excuses to be made.

I fear that we will not stand up to the pressure and will fail once again. I hope I am wrong but with the way we have been playing at home I want to know how Allardyce is going to change our fortunes.

And starting Carlton Cole up front on his own is not the answer.


Sam's View

"We broke a club record which I'm really pleased about. I'm pleased for the players and for the fans too, it's a terrific result for us and one that we fully deserved after such an excellent performance."

"I think we gave the fans something to cheer about which is great, it's a long journey up here, especially on Good Friday, so we thank them for coming and hopefully we entertained them and sent them home happy."

"The team deserve a lot of credit for the way they have scored their goals today. Kevin's was from a set-piece - something we work hard on in training, Maynard's was a quality strike and the third, for me, summed up the effort of the whole team today.

"We've closed down Barnsley's defence and their keeper forcing them to make the error, then the finish from Noble was outstanding. We've got everything right and that pleases me greatly."

"We had the added pressure of knowing Reading had won earlier in the day and I was a tad worried how the players would take that pressure. But they used it in the right way and gave a very measured, controlled performance,"

"Now we look to Birmingham on Monday where we will have the fans right behind us so what we must do is make sure we give the same type of performance as today and get that all important win."





Season 2011/12 Scorers and Red Cards

Kevin Nolan - 11 (11 League)
Carlton Cole - 10 (10 League)
Mark Noble - 8 (8 League)
Ricardo Vaz Te - 5(5 League)
Sam Baldock - 5 (5 League)
Jack Collison - 3 (3 League)
James Tomkins - 3 (3 League)
Own Goal - 3 (3 League)
Gary O'Neil - 2 (2 League)
Nicky Maynard - 2 (2 League)
Winston Reid - 2 (2 League)
John Carew - 2 (2 League)
Frederique Piquionne - 2 (2 League)
Papa Bouba Diop - 1 (1 League)
Joey O'Brien - 1 (1 League)
Matthew Taylor - 1 (1 League)
Henri Lansbury - 1 (1 League)
Julien Faubert - 1 (1 League)
Frank Nouble - 1 (1 League)
George McCartney - 1 (1 League)
Danny Collins - 1 (1 League)
Scott Parker - 1 (1 League)
Junior Stanislas - 1 (1 Cup)


Red Cards

Callum McNaughton - 1 (vs Aldershot home)
Frederique Piquionne - 1 (vs Portsmouth home)
Joey O'Brien - 1 (vs Reading away)
Jack Collison - 1 (vs Reading away)
Kevin Nolan - 1 (vs Millwall home)
Matthew Taylor - 1 (vs Southampton home)
Robert Green - 1 (vs Blackpool away)*

*rescinded by FA on appeal





Email: vinnywhufc@hotmail.com

BMU 4:52 Mon Apr 9
Re: Vinny's Barnsley Report

Another excellent report Vinny. After this display, surely Allardyce must leave Cole on the bench and start with Maynard in the same formation (McCartney and Taylor as LB and LM respectively)as his presence clearly encourages the team to pass the ball rather than hoof it to Cole who tends to neither win the ball in the air or, on the rare occasions he does, hold the ball up

Turf Tycoon 10:24 Sat Apr 7
Re: Vinny's Barnsley Report

I'm still getting over the shock of one of our strikers scoring from open play outside the penalty area.

Northern Sold 8:36 Sat Apr 7
Re: Vinny's Barnsley Report

Nice one Vin....

Agreed about Barnsley... Hopeless....

inconsistant fc 8:01 Sat Apr 7
Re: Vinny's Barnsley Report

Thanks Vinny.

A good day all round. Barnsley are fucking shocking though.

I thought Nolan had his best game for us and Noble continues to impress. Maynard? Well I like him more and more.

santa ana hammer 1:57 Sat Apr 7
Re: Vinny's Barnsley Report

Good report again. This is the way we should have be playing all season, beating teams that are so worse than us. Playing with two or more forwards, playing on the floor. After getting one goal pushing for the second and third goals. Now we have to hope we can get a result against Birmingham and hope the top two start droppping points but the season is running out on us. Why o why didn't we take advantage of this weak divison, we could have/ should have been promoted by now. This is West Ham, life is never that easy. Bring on Brum.

KLM 1:09 Sat Apr 7
Re: Vinny's Barnsley Report

brilliant result and brilliant football, but as others have said against a side as bad as I have seen.
some probs
demel looked slow and a bit brittle against higginbottom;
mccartney outpaced several times by the the other winger.
taylor not really in the game.

taking chances..if we'd been even more decisive we'd have got 10!

Norm de Plume 12:58 Sat Apr 7
Re: Vinny's Barnsley Report

Thank you Vince.

Birmingham will have taken note of George being embarrassed for pace once or twice when he was defending.

Great 3 pts.

B.ferguson1980 12:19 Sat Apr 7
Re: Vinny's Barnsley Report

Grumpster i was on that train it rounded off a cracking day

Kenkwondo 12:13 Sat Apr 7
Re: Vinny's Barnsley Report

Cheers, Vinny.

whu 9:59 Sat Apr 7
Re: Vinny's Barnsley Report

top report vinny (as usual)

jonthehammer 9:16 Sat Apr 7
Re: Vinny's Barnsley Report

Just one other thing to add vinny, Macca gave his shirt away as well just before he went down the tunnel :)

aldgate 9:16 Sat Apr 7
Re: Vinny's Barnsley Report

Cheers vinny. Much better times. Play defenders in right positions, pass the ball and employ a mobile strike force = 3 points

Grumpster 9:10 Sat Apr 7
Re: Vinny's Barnsley Report

Cracking day out made better when the players strolled in to Sheffield station to get on our train home. Players loved the baldock's big cock song and got the fans right up for a sing song again ;)

franksfat&slow&wank 8:57 Sat Apr 7
Re: Vinny's Barnsley Report

Good report. Is collison injured or just not good enough?

ted fenton 8:46 Sat Apr 7
Re: Vinny's Barnsley Report

Cheers Vincent.

Mr Polite 8:43 Sat Apr 7
Re: Vinny's Barnsley Report

Thanks Vinny,

Pleased with the result and performance and that you got to write a report on it after the hard reports of recent weeks.

Its weird isn't it that when we play with the ball on the floor and pass and move at a good tempo that we do well. Its almost as if good football can be successful in this division.

Mex Martillo 8:10 Sat Apr 7
Re: Vinny's Barnsley Report

Thanks Vinny

holyhandgrenade 4:46 Sat Apr 7
Re: Vinny's Barnsley Report

Thanks Vinny, really appreciate your reports

Ronald_antly 4:35 Sat Apr 7
Re: Vinny's Barnsley Report

Down to Earth with a Brump on Monday, I fear.

Texas Iron 4:28 Sat Apr 7
Re: Vinny's Barnsley Report

Cheers Vinny...Good and accurate report of the game as I saw it...

First time I'd seen Demel...looks quietly confident...skilled and classy...

Very good team job against a weak...clueless and error prone Barnsley... They never bothered us at all really ecept for a few speculative shots...

I believe we outdid them by a factor of 3 on goal attempts...18 to their 5,,,and 59% possession...though they had more corners...

A professional job done and we did most of it on the floor...

Well done team..and Finally...well done BFTDS...

Now win the next FIVE games...

You can if you think you can...and use the right tactics...formations & players...!!!

Darby_ 3:37 Sat Apr 7
Re: Vinny's Barnsley Report

Spot on, Chim. Momentum is everything in the playoffs, which is why I held out a little bit of hope. Now is the perfect time to go on a little run.

As I've said before, I've never blamed BFS for playing a pragmatic style while he had a new team that was getting to know one another, but they've almost had a season together now. They should have developed a bit of an understanding, and it's time for a change in the style. If for no other reason than to give the supporters something to get behind.

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