Stringfellows can wait when you have got Upton Park. Before heading up West for his stag do, Russell “he kissed a girl and he liked it” Brand was to be found gallivanting in the East End, inviting his celebrity chums — Baddiel, Walliams, Noel Gallagher, the usual suspects — to join him in a kickabout at the Boleyn Ground on Saturday evening an hour after his beloved Hammers had launched his party there.
Joy appeared unconfined. As the home fans trekked home celebrating the derby win which spirited them off the bottom of the table, co-owner David Sullivan, Scott Parker, assorted players, rock stars and comedians all seemed to have been infected by the feelgood factor as they enjoyed a laugh under the floodlights. Evidently, the old place had really needed a lift like this. “The sweetest win,” Sullivan called it.
Even Avram Grant was smiling, doing his best to give the impression this had not been a must-win affair for him. How had he handled the pressure? “I control the pressure and can direct it when I decide. Others let the pressure control them. For me, it was nothing exceptional.”
Fair enough; after Portsmouth and Chelsea, presumably he could cope with anything? “You are close to the truth,” mused Grant.
Still, although he talks of West Ham being a long project, a short-term return had never been more sorely or urgently required. Sullivan suggested afterwards that no manager could survive nine successive defeats; until last week, Grant had been almost halfway to the gallows. Yet here his team, who have been improving by the game, delivered robustly.
“Not a relegation team,” sniffed Sullivan, and who could argue? Manuel da Costa was towering at the back, Parker offered the sleeves-up leadership Spurs seemed to lack and the muscular strike pairing of Victor Obinna and match-winner Freddie Piquionne was a persistent pain for Spurs’ makeshift back four.
Then there was the Robert Green makeover. An assured display, topped by one astounding effort to tip Luca Modric’s volley on to the bar, was marked afterwards by a defiant “stick it” gesture to the press box which looked like the public exorcism of Clint Dempsey torment.
Green’s team-mates could not have been more thrilled for him. “We never needed to say anything to Robert because he’s a very strong character and never let what happened affect him,” explained Danny Gabbidon.
Green helped seal Harry Redknapp’s wretched week, though, and Spurs’ defensive injury woes offer no guarantee that Wednesday’s Champions League tie with Twente will see a rapid change of fortune.
William Gallas, with a torn groin muscle, could be out for a few weeks, Ledley King was “struggling” with groin and knee problems and Younes Kaboul a hamstring strain, so Redknapp may have to rely on Saturday’s unconvincing pairing of Vedran Corluka and Sebastien Bassong in central defence.
This was not Harry’s day. “Yep, first time I’ve ever been beaten by the super Hammers,” sighed the old super Hammer. Even he, though, had to applaud the revival for no one knew better what this afternoon had meant to West Ham’s exultant faithful, be it the lads in The Boleyn pub or Mr Brand’s Stringfellows crew. “He’s following me on Twitter but he hasn’t invited me to his stag do,” muttered Gabbidon. Good job; West Ham’s revival was at least safe for the moment.
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