ANDY’S CRACKER SHOWS BILIC’S HAMME CAN SURVIVE TOP FLIGHT WITHOUT PAYET
NORWICH boss Alex Neil brushed off calls for his sacking after a surprising defeat at rock-bottom Rotherham.
The Canaries suffered a miserable ninth defeat in 13 Championship games as goals from Jerry Yates and Tom Adeyemi either side of Cameron Jerome’s leveller gave the Millers only their fourth win of the campaign.
Norwich fans, who saw Nelson Oliveira sent off in the 18th minute for a tussle with Kirk Broadfoot, reacted angrily and demanded the Scot lose his job.
Neil said: “There’s nothing I can do about that, the fans are going to say what they’re going to say.
“After the Derby result everyone was saying how well we played, that was the same team that took the field today.
“I have spoken to Jez Moxey our chief executive and Delia Smith our owner and the message is it was a disappointing day and the decisions haven’t helped us.
“We didn’t start playing until the man was sent off.
“We got ourselves back into the game and then gave away a sloppy goal. The damage was done in the early part of the game.
“Everything that could go wrong has gone wrong – and that happens when you’re on a poor run.”
Neil left Martin Olsson out of his side ahead of a protracted move to Swansea.
He added: “Martin is in dialogue with Swansea, we have been in dialogue with Swansea and that is pretty much where it is.”
There was at least one man from Norwich who enjoyed the result, though, as Millers boss Paul Warne masterminded a win against his hometown club.
Warne has been handed the job until the end of the season and watched on as his side put in their best performance of the season to move to nine points from safety.
“I didn’t think many people would give us a chance and I thought that would be in our favour,” he said.
“My players can’t give me any more than they have got and they have given me everything today.”
But without Michail Antonio’s brilliance that simply would not have happened.
The man whose goals have kept the Hammers out of trouble this season turned provider with three brilliant assists.
His contribution will not have gone unnoticed by likes of Chelsea and others who would love to snap him up in the transfer window.
If this is anything to go by, his price tag increased by a few million last night – if West Ham are prepared to sell him.
Up until Michail’s magic moments, Big Sam Allardyce had been all smiles on his return to his former club while the under-pressure Slaven Bilic cut a forlorn figure on the touchline.
And with star player Dimitri Payet seemingly hell-bent on leaving and leading scorer Antonio touted for that move to Chelsea, you could hardly blame the bloke.
But after the three points were sealed, Bilic claimed the Payet controversy had inspired his side.
He said: “We knew the team and the crowd would be galvanised and this was the proof. It was a great day for us and I praise them all.
“We played as a team and gave everything as a team, it was almost the perfect result. I heard the support from the crowd for me but this wasn’t for me – it was for the team.
“So let’s not talk about Dimitri Payet here, let’s talk about how the players responded.”
Bilic labelled Carroll’s wonder strike “already a contender for goal of the season”.
And he added: “It was a great goal and a crucial one. He does that sort of thing in training but I don’t like him to do it too often in case he gets injured.”
The manager also revealed that Man of the Match Antonio had not trained for two days because of flu.
“He had a temperature but he wanted to play. That is the team spirit we have here.”
Carroll could have got on the scoresheet even earlier but blasted a 26th-minute effort over the bar.
That could have proved costly but James Tomkins missed a sitter for Palace – and the chance to put the boot into his old West Ham pals – with a gaping goal at his mercy.
To be honest, it looked easier to score. No wonder Mr T held his head in his hands.
What came next was tame stuff with Palace arguably shading a first half decidedly short on highlights.
Certainly the visiting fans made far more noise in a stadium that is becoming increasingly like a morgue.
It is anyone’s guess what Bilic said to his players at half-time.
Keep doing what you’re doing would have been Allardyce’s advice to a Palace side growing in confidence after a nervy start.
Carroll spurned another couple of chances to lift the gloom within a few minutes of the restart.
Cynics might have suggested then that all those long injury lay-offs had taken their toll. At that particular moment they would have had a point. The old Andy Carroll would have buried at least one of the openings.
The absent Payet might also have netted a free-kick that Manuel Lanzini put over the bar soon afterwards.
But it would be a hard-hearted soul who begrudged the suffering Bilic his break and the goal the Hammers finally got in the 67th minute.
Antonio, strangely quiet before this, turned provider after Mark Noble sent him clear, with a cross that beat everyone except Sofiane Feghouli.
The Algerian could not have wished for an easier opportunity to score his first Premier League goal – an empty net from just a couple of yards out.
And Carroll made all talk about him losing his touch look stupid a with a goal they had every rig on Match Of The Day last nigh
And they will be talking a parts for a lot longer.
The same can be said about goal from Lanzini, set up again
It was another highlight on that saw the fans wait a something to warm them.
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Big Sam will be looking for different as he faces another r
This was definitely not a h him. Allardyce admitted his went to pieces.
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“Once we gifted them their fi went to pieces. I didn’t think w like that. It was a shock.”
Allardyce said the search for will be stepped up but he add relegation battle and players and not want to come here.
“But it isn’t the players who will be the ones who are here out of trouble.`’