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| Cardiff try to score a goal. Bless 'em. |
If, like me, you abhor the tedium of preseason and the transfer rumours – baseless or otherwise – that go with it, then last Saturday would have felt like Christmas Day. Not only did the talking stop and the football begin, but a West Ham starting line up containing no new signings swept aside spend-thrifty Cardiff, demonstrating how limited the analysis of summer transfer activity is.
As Renton from Trainspotting might say, I don't hate the "in the know" tweeters; they're just wankers. Those who invent rumours are to be pitied and those who leak genuine information are surely doing our club a disservice. Jack Sullivan is too young to be called a wanker (let’s wait till his sixteenth birthday before we do that) but his tweets are nauseating and reflect poorly on our club. However, you do at least know that his information is well founded and, hopefully, well intentioned. So why bother with the other dickheads?
Anyway, back to the stuff that matters …
Hosting a club making their Premier League debut was a nice way to start the season. Totally outclassing them was a brilliant way to start the season. Cardiff have clearly bought well and in the likes of Kim Bo-Kyung, Craig Bellamy and Peter Whittingham have existing players who can hold their own in this division. But it just didn't seem to come together for them. I will follow their progress with interest. They have the basis of a team that can steer clear of relegation, yet I fear they may labour in learning harsh lessons. I use the word fear in its loosest possible sense, of course. My endearing memory of Malky MacKay from our time in the Championship is of his lame mind games ("the pressure's all on West Ham, blah blah blah …”).
One Cardiff player who I do wish well – aside from Kim who looks very talented – is Bellamy. I loved watching him in claret and blue. I can't think of many ex-Hammers in recent memory who can take a game by the scruff of its neck and create a goal from nothing to the extent he could. That mix of natural skill and high workrate felt like a rare thing in E13 during the late noughties. At a time when we desperately needed the money, he was offloaded to Man City for a reasonable sum. The boy had done good. That's what I had in mind when I took to my feet to applaud him as he was substituted. I was relieved to be in good company, just about drowning out the boos of the dickheads (there's that word again) who think it's their duty to abuse any player who has the temerity to move on from West Ham.
With the exception perhaps of Mohamed Diame, seldom these days do you hear of West Ham players being linked with a move to pastures greener. Despite last season's success, the players are viewed not as particularly gifted individuals, more as cogs that fit effectively into Sam Allardyce's system. On Saturday's evidence, it's a system that shows no sign of malfunctioning. The build-up to both goals was a joy to watch. The midfield's control of the game would surely have struck a chord with one spectator by the name of Billy Bonds.
One game does not a summer make, but it does prove how little we learn in the those summer months. Ravel Morrison may yet break into the team but, as I tried to emphasise in last week's blog, his performances in friendlies alone are not enough to dislodge others with proven track records.
Still, not everyone was happy. As I made my way back to Upton Park tube station at around 5pm, I overheard one underwhelmed fan moan to his friend, "What we need is some new blood". His poor missus. She must have checked the score and been sure her fella was coming home in a good mood. Or perhaps she knows better. It may be a new season, but some things don’t change.
