The Centre Circle

What a night for Mick McCarthy and his boys. Their 3-1 victory was a triumph for teamwork over a set of allegedly superior individuals &  as such they took a huge step towards securing their Premiership status for next season and condemned a poor West Ham side to a 5th straight defeat. 

Wolves started with more vim and vigour and 28 minutes in came the crucial moment of the game. Young centre-back James Tompkins made a horrendous mistake, allowing the superb Kevin Doyle to race away and strike a low drive past Robert Green. West Ham tried to respond and Scott Parker was ever so unlucky as his curling effort hit a post and rebounded along the line staying out. So near, but so far. At half time Zola rang the changes, Tompkins and Kovac being hauled off for Stanislas and Spector, but it made little difference as West Ham failed to ignite in attack. On the hour, Wolves put the game out of reach. David Jones set up Zubar who rounded Stanislas before unleashing a low shot crashing into the far corner of the net. Three minutes later it was Jones’ pass that set Matt Jarvis free and he cut inside two defenders before smashing in a third. Wolves were in dreamland and the Upton Park faithful had had enough, streaming to the exits. Franco chipped a consolation goal for West Ham just before the final whistle, at which there was a chorus of boos and chants of “You’re not fit to wear the shirt”. Dark days these for the Hammers.

Wolves are now 7 points ahead of the bottom three and in good form. On this display their Premiership status for next year should be confirmed in the next few weeks. As for sorry West Ham, worrying times lie ahead. The team seems disjointed and severely lacking in confidence and Zola’s future must now surely we called into question.