Post by Tangerine Sherlock on Oct 16, 2011 17:23:32 GMT 1
Ian: I think that took all of us a bit by surprise? How about you?
Just slightly, yeah. I never saw that coming to be fair, with the first half performance. The only thing I was disappointed with in the first half was the ease of Carew's goal. You have to give the big man some credit but I think the defender got it wrong. We didn't stop the cross, that's coming in, he was the wrong side of him, tried to get back [on the] right side of him and the big man just held him off and glanced it in.
I didn't like the reaction of my back four after that; I think they were looking at my goalie. I more than told them at half time; I asked them, "did you try and blame [Matt] Gilks, you thought he should have come for that?" Well, you do your job first and his job is to save it on the line. You've got to get [on the] right side of your man, head it bloody out - excuse my French.
I thought we then made excuse after excuse in the second half. We were asking the linesman to help us out, we defended terribly and my two centre halfs couldn't handle their movement with [Sam] Baldock and the big man. It was quite shocking for the rest of my team, to be honest.
Second best defence in the division before today?
Yeah.
Is this just a bad day at the office? How do you react to this?
Well... we're trying to get used to having internationals who go away, to be honest. We had it last year with a few and this year we've had [Craig] Cathcart go away. He got injured, he missed a weeks' training and he said he was fit on Friday. He couldn't train on Thursday and I don't like that, I'm a bit old fashioned so I said, "you're not fit, son". I'm probably rueing that at the moment.
I'm not blaming one person but the lack of cohesion; [Ian] Evatt normally plays left side, Cathcart's right - so Evatt's had to go over. But on the day, all I can say is West Ham's defensive set-up, their line that they had, we didn't hurt enough even with the possession we had in the first half. We moved them around but we didn't get in. So it's alright having possession but you need to get through, be exciting and get some chances and that wasn't quite how it went.
I think West Ham's fans were quite quiet at first because we had possession and we kept the ball. The minute they scored; the last thing you want to hear is to let them get an early goal, particularly with what's been happening at home for them. They all settled down, their team settled down and they were probably quite surprised how easily they beat us in the end, I would imagine.
I'm certainly surprised. I thought we had more about us than than but sometimes, these things happen at a place as big as this with a crowd as big as this. Maybe it was a little bit much for some of my boys, but...
I know that there's been a big changeover of players...
Oh, just slightly.
But you've still been in the Premier League?
What's that got to do with it? That wasn't with these players, was it.
Blackpool has changed. The tower's still there... [laughs] The lights are still there but the fame's gone, hasn't it? And if you want to be famous again... We were famous for one year. You've got to fight, you've got to come to places like this, you've got to believe in yourself and you've got to hurt them.
To be fair, we danced around, fannied about and looked more like Sugar Ray Leonard in a practise bout than David Haye, who's just retired. We didn't have a big punch, we didn't knock anyone out, we didn't make their goalie [work]. I don't think he's touched the ball and that's surprised me and it's upset me.
But I will take it. Well done to Sam, I thought his team were much better than mine today. The organisation of his boys was spot on, every time we went inside they squeezed up. I knew they'd do it but I expected us to get round the back in behind them. Ince looked like he might do at the start of the game I thought, but we didn't then receive it and look forward.
I think we were stuck in the middle of passing and passing - and that's fine, isn't it, if it's all about possession. It's not; it's all about how many times you put the round thing in the onion bag.
You seemed to have an issue with the second goal. Did you feel it was offside?
I thought it was, because my team looked like they thought it was. But to me, they made a bad excuse and then in the second half they made excuse after excuse. They were so weak. "Please help me, he must be offside!" My lot don't normally do that - and they were right every time, the officials. I've just gone in and told them.
So who am I not happy with? My whinging, moaning, back-line. The only saving grace is he's quite new, he's quite fresh - and it looked it. That two have played together before, against Derby County. We let a late goal in and we lost the game, but we never looked like letting any in before. First half, we didn't really look like letting that many in either did we, to be honest.
So it's a big for all of us but we've got to get back on the bus. I shall let them have tomorrow off, I'm not one of these people who screams and shouts. I'll do my work, I'll watch the game again and I'll make sure I try and pick a team. I will also watch Doncaster Rovers because I Sky-plussed that, if I'm allowed to say that in here. [laughs] I've got a lot of work to do.
Our fans will be going home very disapointed, the West Ham ones won't. But we fell well short of the level required to catch someone as good as they were today I'm afraid. Not in every department, but in the imortant areas we didn't get that right I'm afraid. So there you go.
That was the best West Ham have played at home this season by a country mile.
Well they're evolving, they're developing. So all I can say is that if that's the standard they play then they'll take some catching. But why they don't play like that every week, who knows?
Just slightly, yeah. I never saw that coming to be fair, with the first half performance. The only thing I was disappointed with in the first half was the ease of Carew's goal. You have to give the big man some credit but I think the defender got it wrong. We didn't stop the cross, that's coming in, he was the wrong side of him, tried to get back [on the] right side of him and the big man just held him off and glanced it in.
I didn't like the reaction of my back four after that; I think they were looking at my goalie. I more than told them at half time; I asked them, "did you try and blame [Matt] Gilks, you thought he should have come for that?" Well, you do your job first and his job is to save it on the line. You've got to get [on the] right side of your man, head it bloody out - excuse my French.
I thought we then made excuse after excuse in the second half. We were asking the linesman to help us out, we defended terribly and my two centre halfs couldn't handle their movement with [Sam] Baldock and the big man. It was quite shocking for the rest of my team, to be honest.
Second best defence in the division before today?
Yeah.
Is this just a bad day at the office? How do you react to this?
Well... we're trying to get used to having internationals who go away, to be honest. We had it last year with a few and this year we've had [Craig] Cathcart go away. He got injured, he missed a weeks' training and he said he was fit on Friday. He couldn't train on Thursday and I don't like that, I'm a bit old fashioned so I said, "you're not fit, son". I'm probably rueing that at the moment.
I'm not blaming one person but the lack of cohesion; [Ian] Evatt normally plays left side, Cathcart's right - so Evatt's had to go over. But on the day, all I can say is West Ham's defensive set-up, their line that they had, we didn't hurt enough even with the possession we had in the first half. We moved them around but we didn't get in. So it's alright having possession but you need to get through, be exciting and get some chances and that wasn't quite how it went.
I think West Ham's fans were quite quiet at first because we had possession and we kept the ball. The minute they scored; the last thing you want to hear is to let them get an early goal, particularly with what's been happening at home for them. They all settled down, their team settled down and they were probably quite surprised how easily they beat us in the end, I would imagine.
I'm certainly surprised. I thought we had more about us than than but sometimes, these things happen at a place as big as this with a crowd as big as this. Maybe it was a little bit much for some of my boys, but...
I know that there's been a big changeover of players...
Oh, just slightly.
But you've still been in the Premier League?
What's that got to do with it? That wasn't with these players, was it.
Blackpool has changed. The tower's still there... [laughs] The lights are still there but the fame's gone, hasn't it? And if you want to be famous again... We were famous for one year. You've got to fight, you've got to come to places like this, you've got to believe in yourself and you've got to hurt them.
To be fair, we danced around, fannied about and looked more like Sugar Ray Leonard in a practise bout than David Haye, who's just retired. We didn't have a big punch, we didn't knock anyone out, we didn't make their goalie [work]. I don't think he's touched the ball and that's surprised me and it's upset me.
But I will take it. Well done to Sam, I thought his team were much better than mine today. The organisation of his boys was spot on, every time we went inside they squeezed up. I knew they'd do it but I expected us to get round the back in behind them. Ince looked like he might do at the start of the game I thought, but we didn't then receive it and look forward.
I think we were stuck in the middle of passing and passing - and that's fine, isn't it, if it's all about possession. It's not; it's all about how many times you put the round thing in the onion bag.
You seemed to have an issue with the second goal. Did you feel it was offside?
I thought it was, because my team looked like they thought it was. But to me, they made a bad excuse and then in the second half they made excuse after excuse. They were so weak. "Please help me, he must be offside!" My lot don't normally do that - and they were right every time, the officials. I've just gone in and told them.
So who am I not happy with? My whinging, moaning, back-line. The only saving grace is he's quite new, he's quite fresh - and it looked it. That two have played together before, against Derby County. We let a late goal in and we lost the game, but we never looked like letting any in before. First half, we didn't really look like letting that many in either did we, to be honest.
So it's a big for all of us but we've got to get back on the bus. I shall let them have tomorrow off, I'm not one of these people who screams and shouts. I'll do my work, I'll watch the game again and I'll make sure I try and pick a team. I will also watch Doncaster Rovers because I Sky-plussed that, if I'm allowed to say that in here. [laughs] I've got a lot of work to do.
Our fans will be going home very disapointed, the West Ham ones won't. But we fell well short of the level required to catch someone as good as they were today I'm afraid. Not in every department, but in the imortant areas we didn't get that right I'm afraid. So there you go.
That was the best West Ham have played at home this season by a country mile.
Well they're evolving, they're developing. So all I can say is that if that's the standard they play then they'll take some catching. But why they don't play like that every week, who knows?