Guile-less Draw

Another hard-fought point safely in the bag, but we are still no closer to finding that elusive first away win in six months.

Thankfully the defensive frailties which threatened to send our season into freefall before Xmas have been well and truly solved, thanks to Curbs settling on the solid 'little 'n large' partnership of Perry/Hreidarsson in front of the impressive Myhre.

Unfortunately for any neutrals watching Sky's coverage however, these solid defensive displays are accompanied by a continued wanton lack of midfield creativity thus resulting in a fairly horrid spectacle.

Sadly matches like this one do little justice to claims that this is the 'best League in the world', but are increasingly regular occurrences in this uncompetitive and bifurcated competition.

This goalless draw was our fifth in eleven Premiership games, and we have now failed to score in five of our last seven. No successful team ever lacked a solid defensive spine so we are perhaps halfway there, but we are desperate for an injection of midfield guile. We didn't create a single clear-cut chance and you have to feel sorry for Darren Bent who must have cast a rueful eye at Sven in the main stand, and hoped the Swede could at least appreciate the hefty burden he carries in a lumbering side.

For the first time in I don't know how long, Curbs actually began the game with all the players in their best positions. Bryan Hughes began on the left wing which is frankly where he belonged all along, whilst Kish was returned to his central midfield berth where he performed admirably. Kish's right midfield berth was taken up by Rommedahl who invariably teased us but lacked a final product. It remains to be seen whether the Dane will still be at the Valley next season, but if so somehow the coaching staff need to find a way to maximise his undoubted talents.

Holland meanwhile put in an honest day's work but like Kish, he doesn't have the pace to get behind defences. As if to demonstrate what we are missing, the mercurial Benayoun got beyond the last man early in the second-half but shot wide when he probably ought to have scored. Up front the Bents toiled away, and whilst I felt Marcus had a reasonable game, the transfer fee is looking increasingly extravagant given the missing links elsewhere.

And then just as it looked like we were getting on top and threatening to nick a one-nil win, Curbs made a substitution which handed the initiative straight back to his former employers. One has to be careful not to judge tactical switches too harshly because we only get the benefit of witnessing a single outcome from infinite possible outcomes, but switching Kish and Hughes (in order to accommodate Thomas) for the final quarter-hour ensured the inefficacy of the former and the anonymity of the latter. Luckily Kish retained his defensive nous despite being moved from his best position, and made two crucial late interventions. I can usually understand the reasoning for most of Curbs' tactics, even if I don't agree with them, but this one felt like mere tinkering during a game in which we were comfortable.

A three-nil win would have seen us leapfrog the Hammers and Wigan into a lofty 8th place, which just emphasises the League's mediocrity. With fixtures against both Bolton and Blackburn to come, it might have given us an outside chance of UEFA Cup qualification via the League but it wasn't to be.

West Ham meanwhile continue to fade along with their promoted counterparts Wigan. Despite all of the hyperbole about their respective travails this season, neither is assured of reaching 52 points, the very total that we achieved during our first season back in the top flight in 2000/2001. With the benefit of five further seasons of hindsight, the achievement during that campaign deserves the credit that I am don't recall it received at the time.