Jay Jay rules as Joe fails to bear heavy burden

It was a day of high frustration for West Ham's gifted one

The elegantly dressed man walking through the Reebok car park did not look like the embodiment of football's financial catastrophe, but his presence was enough to provoke shudders through the committed. Bolton and West Ham were about to play for their Premiership lives and Peter Ridsdale had appeared like Banquo's ghost.

Perhaps the man who presided over the cash meltdown at Leeds is addicted to trouble because he watched over what could be the defining moment in West Ham's struggle to survive. After yesterday's 1-0 defeat they are six points adrift of Premiership safety with only four games to go and their future will depend on how they can cope with the stricken times that appear to be heading their way.

By conservative estimates the difference between a place in the top flight and the First Division is £15m and last year's condemned men, Ipswich, Derby and Leicester, are hardly examples any treasurer would want to linger too long on. All three have struggled off the field this season, even if their time on the pitch has been more lucrative.

For West Ham, already £33m to the bad with the bank, the need to sell will become an imperative if they do succumb to gravity and the timing is hardly propitious. The market for footballers is a falling one and their assets are on the decline.

Joe Cole is an example. Twelve months ago when he was routinely winning the sort of notices Wayne Rooney gets now andbooking his place in England's World Cup squad the price tag on his gifted young body would have been around £12m; even then West Ham would have found the offer resistible. Now, in bargain basement land, they would be looking at half that. Cole looked like a weary 21-year-old yesterday, a young man mentally weighed down with the captaincy and the expectation that he would have to find the lifeline to save his team. He tackled and ran like fury but his true talent for transforming matches flickered rather than burned.

Just once did it look likely to burst alight when he glided between Bolton defenders with a thrilling run from the right. The Reebok tensed as he drew back his left foot and then exhaled in relief when his shot was an ugly hook wide.

Instead, a more lasting impression came when he became entangled with referee Uriah Rennie who slapped down Cole's arm as he attempted to make a point forcefully. The strong arm of the law had come down as if swatting away an irritating fly.

The comparison between Cole and Jay Jay Okocha was an obvious one. The Bolton midfielder performed thrill-ingly as he provided his team-mates with an energetic and skilful get-out whenever they were in trouble. He hit the post and a beautiful goal while West Ham struck frustration with even more force. The player who was brushed aside by Okocha as he launched his run for the winner, almost inevitably, was Cole.

The Bolton chairman Phil Gartside wrote in the programme yesterday: "We currently have one forecast for the Premier League and one for Division One – and the Division One forecast is not pretty." After yesterday it is Cole, who had to be dragged away from a mêlée at the final whistle, and West Ham who are gazing at the ugly vista.