HAMMERS REINSTATE COACH
WEST HAM have reinstated youth coach Mark Phillips after they suspended him for taking part in a controversial march last month, the Premier League club announced yesterday. The Hammers suspended Phillips after he attended a Democratic Football Lads Alliance march through central London in October. The DFLA have faced accusations they are a racist and Islamophobic group, but Phillips defended them in a series of Twitter posts. “West Ham United can confirm that following suspension and subsequent investigation, academy coach Mark Phillips has been reinstated to his role in accordance with employment law, and has been reminded of his responsibilities,” said a statement issued by the east London club. In February, West Ham sacked director of player recruitment Tony Henry over remarks he had made saying some African players “cause mayhem” and that the Hammers “don’t want any more Africans”. But it is understood Phillips’ comments were insufficient to justify his dismissal for breaching the Hammers’ social media policy and bringing the club into disrepute. ARSENAL or Barcelona would have been delighted to score a goal like Cardiff City’s equaliser against Brighton on Saturday, according to football pundit Chris Kamara.
The header from Callum Paterson saw patient build-up play from the Bluebirds, involving every member of the team in a 16-pass move.
It was a well-worked passage of play, which admittedly did benefit from a slice of luck right at the end, with the cross deflecting off Gaetan Bong, but Kamara was impressed.
The Sky Sport pundit said: “A little bit of luck with the deflection from Bong but I can assure you, if Arsenal, Barcelona had scored this goal, everyone would be going (claps) ‘well done’.
“It starts with the goalkeeper, every single Cardiff player is going to get a touch of the ball, all 11 are going to get a touch.
“I didn’t count the number of passes (it was 16) but I did count that everyone got a touch of the ball.
Guest pundit Jermaine Pennant agreed with Kamara’s verdict.
“It was fantastic football. It just goes to show how much the game is evolving, a lower team like that being able to pass the ball.”
Pennant added that a free-flowing style could be seen more now from Neil Warnock’s men as confidence builds. “Yeah, 100%,” he said. “Obviously they can do it, they’ve just shown that they can do it there, and they got a goal from it.
“There is no reason now, in upcoming games, that they can not continue that style, rather than being a direct, route-one team.
“That’s when you start to enjoying the game, when you are passing the ball like that.
“Tiki-taka, one and two-touch football, when it starts to go long and in the air, that’s when I started to go invisible! I think the flair players will enjoy that football more.”
Warnock had his say on the matter in his post-match press conference.
“We get knocked a little bit and yet you look at the first goal we scored, it came from Neil Etheridge, we had 16 passes, and not one of their players touched it, but people will say it’s a long throw,” said the veteran boss.
“I don’t think sometimes our lads get enough credit. It was a well-worked move and a great goal.” – WalesOnline
Icelandic international Aron Gunnarsson, who recently returned to the first team side following a knee injury, said: “This was huge for us. It was important to get the three points coming towards the international break. “We knew how good Brighton have been this season. We had to have a good game to get anything out of that game. “We put a lot of effort into this game and we’re happy with the result.”
“It was a late winner, and we had to grind it out. The boys did so well and we’re just pleased to have won the game coming from behind.”
“We threw everything at them,” the midfielder concluded.
“We changed our system and tried to push on. They were going to sit back and try to get us on the counter, so we had to be ready for that.
“But that’s football, you need to be ready for everything in the game and we’re pleased with the three points.
“We could’ve done it a little earlier, but it was exciting at times, and we got the goal in the end.”
Saturday’s win will no doubt be a bonus for Warnock’s side, who will head into the international break on a high note.
The Bluebirds’ next match will be against Everton away on Nov 24 before returning home to Cardiff City Stadium on Nov 30 for a clash with Championship rivals from last season, Wolves. – WalesOnline/Cardiff City FC