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Your support makes all the difference.There aren't enough terrific reasons to talk much about the game, so let's talk horses; specifically Kevin Keegan's horse, the quaintly named Funfair Wane, a 14-1 winner of the Ayr Gold Cup on Saturday. We aren't really talking horses, just Keegan's involvement with a nag bred by his wife, Jean, and running in colours similar to those worn by West Ham. "You could take the colours as an omen," somebody said before the kick-off. "It's no way to bet," I said.
Ten minutes into the second half, Keegan was standing on the touchline still waiting, like the rest of us, for the game to become better than ordinary, a description that fits most that have been played this season, certainly those I have taken the trouble to watch either live or on television. "I needed a lift," the Manchester City manager said.
It came in the form of a message from City's kit man, Les Chapman, who had heard that the sprint king Dandy Nicholls had sent out his third successive winner of the Ayr Gold Cup. "Your horse has won," he told Keegan. "You can never be sure with Les, likes a wind-up, so I only half believed him," Keegan said.
Since the game had not filled anyone with joy, and there were no controversial incidents to fall back on, a pretty safe bet was that Keegan's hobby – "it's no more than that," he insisted – would be the main topic of post-match interrogation.
We are not talking about Sir Alex Ferguson and Rock of Gibraltar, but Keegan and Funfair Wane sounded a lot better than a 0-0 draw at Upton Park. "Great team performance," Keegan said. The team he spoke about had been at work in Scotland, not east London.
Not that Keegan had any complaints about the other team's performance. First away point of the season, first clean sheet on the road. "Something big could grow from this," he said, thinking about acorns and oaks which, even for the optimist he is, might be taking things a bit far.
Haunted by their worst-ever start, West Ham came up against a formation to suggest that Keegan can now be as much roundhead as cavalier; three at the back, six men populating the midfield, Nicolas Anelka the only designated attacker; commitment, concentration and Peter Schmeichel's experience; no wonder that West Ham were again denied the encouragement of a home victory. "We had our moments," Glenn Roeder said, "but Kevin's team made it very hard for us."
When in a similar plight at this stage last season Roeder came under heavy pressure from disgruntled supporters and could not turn to the sports pages without reading that his job was on the line. "I stood up to be counted then and I'm standing up now," he said. "What we need, of course, is a result to get us going. It's no good the players feeling sorry for themselves. We've got to pull together. We were worth a point at Tottenham last week and we could have won today but now that's history."
History – with three World Cup winners, Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters in the team, a dismal start was made to the 1966-67 season – shows that West Ham are not unfamiliar with difficult circumstances, but this is beginning to look like a crisis.
Had David James not blocked an Anelka effort with his legs – "the only time we really threatened," Keegan said – things would be looking worse. When the substitution of Paolo Di Canio was brought up, a scowl crossed Roeder's face. "Paolo had no problem with it," he said. "He had no problem with it at Tottenham last week despite what was written. He's a passionate man and passion is what we need here."
Passion and a sense of humour. "Just been talking to Kevin," Roeder whispered as he walked by. "Seems they had the horse gelded." The word "bollocks" was mentioned.
West Ham United (4-4-2): James 7; Schemmel 6, Repka 6, Breen 6, Minto 6, Cole 6 (Pearce, 89), Cissé 6 (Carrick 6, 74), Lomas 6, Sinclair 6, Di Canio 6 (Defoe 6, 74), Kanouté 6. Substitutes not used: Van Der Gouw (gk), Winterburn.
Manchester City (3-5-1-1): Schmeichel 7; Sun Jihai 6, Howey 6, Distin 7, Wright-Phillips 6, Benarbia 6 (Huckerby, 82), Horlock 6, Foé 6, Jensen 6, Berkovic 6, Anelka 7. Substitutes not used: Nash (gk), Tiatto, Bischoff, Shuker.
Bookings: West Ham: Minto, Cissé.
Referee: G Barber (Pyrford) 6.
Man of the match: Anelka.
Attendance: 35,550.
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