MOYES’S MEN STILL LACK A SPARK

IN A Premier League season offering opportunity to a host of clubs, David Moyes and West Ham must look to figure in the top half of the table at least. There has been too much mediocrity for both in recent years, so nights like this hurt. Just when they seem ready to move significantly forward, they stall. It is so very West Ham and Moyes really has to bring about change. Moyes, 57, is at the right place as he looks to re-establish his reputation. The Scot and his club feel they belong somewhere other than the lower reaches of our top division. Both have something to prove, whether they admit it or not. Moyes has always been a strange contradiction of talent and sensitivity. His failure at Manchester United scarred him after years of steady success at Preston and Everton. To all but his most ardent disciples, it can sometimes feel as though he is still looking to draw a line under that and move on. At West Ham he has that chance and his work has been impressive enough. His team finally look to have shed some of the schizophrenia that damaged them for so long and it was no surprise to see them competitive at Stamford Bridge. Equally, it was not that surprising to see them lose. Self-harm remains an issue. Moyes’s West Ham team are certainly different from those we have seen recently and that is a compliment. This version look more reliable and less reliant on individuals. The manager, for example, is getting the best out of an emerging player in Jarrod