West Ham v Wolverhampton Wanderers - as it happened

Preamble: Having visited Stamford Bridge, the Emirates and Old Trafford in three of their last four Premier League outings, West Ham will be delighted to be back in their own manor for a match even the most biggest pessimists among their fan-base will be hoping they can win. The unhappy Hammers have lost four on the spin since their last victory, a 3-0 triumph over fellow strugglers Hull City on February 20, with a 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Bolton Wanderers adding to the monotonously predictable hurt put on them by the first three in the Premier League pecking order. West Ham currently lie 17th in the table, one point and place behind tonight's opponents and their manager Gianfranco Zola left Scott Parker and Carlton Cole nursing minor niggles and out of the side that got beaten by Arsenal on Saturday, presumably with one eye on tonight's set-to, a match he's described as "massive, a six-pointer". Meanwhile in (or near, depending on your point of view) the Black Country, Mick McCarthy's Wolver-yam-pton Wanderers are scaling the dizzying heights of 16th place in the table and will be hoping to stretch the gap between them and the bottom-feeders to seven points with a win tonight. Having finally started scoring with something approaching gay abandon, they remain porous at the back and have kept only two clean sheets in their last 10 games. Betting wise: West Ham are best-priced 5-6 favourites to win tonight, while Wolves are 4-1 and the draw is 13-5 . Meanwhile, here's Don McRae's interview with Gianfranco Zola , from last Saturday, in which the West Ham gaffer discusses "the passion and suffering of managing a football club". And here's yesterday's episode of our chart-topping podcast Football Weekly , which probably isn't worth listening to because it\'s never quite up to scratch when I'm not on it. West Ham: Green, Faubert, Tomkins, Upson, Daprela, Behrami, Parker, Kovac, Diamanti, Cole, McCarthy. Subs: Stech, Ilan, Franco, Mido, Noble, Spector, Stanislas. Wolverhampton: Hahnemann, Zubar, Craddock, Berra, Elokobi, Foley, Mancienne, Henry, David Jones, Jarvis, Doyle. Subs: Hennessey, Ebanks-Blake, Ward, Halford, Iwelumo, Milijas, Guedioura. Referee: Phil Dowd (Staffordshire) Mick McCarthy speaks: "We've been in a relegation scrap since we played Chelsea in November, I don't need to spell it out for my players," he tells Sky's reporter Andy Burton. "Mick knows what his team is doing and what is team is capable of doing," says Cardiff City manager Dave Jones from his seat on pundits' row in the studio, where he's joined by Alan Curbishley. Curbs fancies West Ham to win this evening. Jones reckons Wolves will be happy with a point and predicts a draw. Not long now: Both teams emerge from the tunnel kitted out in the strips with which they're most readily associated: The Hammers in claret and blue, Wolves in oran ... sorry, Old Gold. The visitors will play a 4-5-1 tonight, with Kevin Doyle playing as lone frontman in front of a midfield comprised of Kevin Foley and Matt Jarvis on the flanks and Michael Mancienne, Karl Henry and David Jones causing traffi congestion between them. West Ham will play a 4-4-2, with Valon Behrami and Alessandro Diamanti on the right and left flanks respectively. Benni McCarthy makes his home debut alongside Carlton Cole up front for the hosts. An email from Dominic Hart: "Green, Upson, Parker, Cole. Diamanti's set pieces and Noble on the bench," he writes. "'Quite Good but not Quite as Good as the Team who was Too Good to go Down who went Down'. You're kind of a journalist, Barry: does that work as a headline?" Kind of a journalist? You're the one that's being kind. 1 min: Wolves kick off, the ball is immediately lumped forward and out for a throw-in down in the West Ham right-back position. 2 min: Wolves win a throw-in in the same place. Matt Jarvis and George Elokobi exchange passes and then West Ham clear. Julien Faubery sends a cross into the mixer from distance, but Marcus Hannemann plucks it from the air and wellies the ball down towards Kevin Doyle. 4 min: Alessandro Diamanti sends a cross in for Benni McCarthy to chase, but it's too far in front of the West Ham striker, who complains about the poor quality of service and gestures that he'd like it delivered to his feet. Diamanti waves by way of apology. 5 min: "Whilst I am a neutral in this game (Arsenal fan), I will be cheering on the Hammers," writes Tony Higgins in California. "I like Zola for his charisma and style. I used to like Mick McCarthy till he gave utd a free game!" Ah yes, that free game where Mick picked 11 fit professional Premier League footballers from his senior professional squad to contest a Premier League match, breaking no rules whatsoever ... and yet still incurred a suspended £25,000 fine from the FA. It's strange that no such penalty was imposed on Manchester United when they did the exact same thing against Hull City last season. Almost as strange as being punished for picking a player from your senior squad to play on your first team if the FA arbitrarily decide that he's not good enough. 7 min: Hannemann launches a long ball down the right channel, Kevin Doyle beats Matthew Upson to get the flick-on and Kevin Foley beats Fabio Duprela to the loose ball and rattles a right-footed volley off the crossbar. Great shot ... he was unlucky not to score there. 10 min: Wolves win a corner, which is sent into the penalty area. Green punches out for a throw-in on the other side of the pitch. 11 min: Scott Parker robs the ball from the toe of Michael Mancienne and tries a shot from the edge of the penalty area. His scuffs his daisycutter and doesn't trouble Hannemann in the Wolves goal. 13 min: West Ham win a free-kick about 50 yards from the Wolves goal after David Jones is adjudged to have played fast and loose with his elbow while contesting a high ball with Benni McCarthy. Nothing comes of it, although West Ham right-back Julien Faubert does end up dragging a subsequent shot well wide of the left upright. 15 min: Showing a surprisingly GTFABM, Cole turns Craddock nimbly on the halfway line, before combining with Parker, who feeds the ball out to Diamanti on the left touchline. He aims a cross at Cole, who's made about 20 yards in jig-time, which is put out for a corner. The ball is sent in from the right quadrant and David Jones clears. 19 min: "While we're on the subject of Wolves' selection against Manchester United," writes Ryan O'Connell. "It's worth mentioning that their starting line-up contained 6 internationals. It's not like he put the kiddies out, is it?" 20 min: West Ham are starting to dominate. Benni McCarthy slides an excellent diagonal cross into the path of Cole, whose first touch is poor and enables Christophe Berra to usher him away from goal. Cole ends up getting a shot off, but the angle is too narrow and he skews it wide. 22 min: Matt Jarvis, who turned Gary Neville inside-out a couple of weeks ago, slaloms down the left wing before firing in a cross under pressure from the covering Tomkins. His delivery is woeful and Upson clears. 23 min: Scott Parker sends the ball into the feet of Carlton Cole on the edge of the Wolves penaly area with his back to goal. He pings it out wide to Faubert, whose shot from right to left takes a deflection off George Elokobi and goes wide. West Ham's fans appeal for a penalty for hand-ball, but Elokobi's hands were behind his back and any contact with his arm was accidental. Nothing comes from the corner. 25 min: The camera pans to rhythm-mag magnates and West Ham owners Davids Sullivan and Gold in the fancy seats. They look particularly pleased with themselves, although maroon crushed velvet smoking jackets seem mercifully conspicuous by their absence from their apparel. GOAL! West Ham 0-1 Wolves (Doyle 27) A howler from West Ham defender James Tomkins gifts the leads to Wolves. Attempting a back-pass to Robert Green from about 40 yards out, he miscontrolled, got the ball trapped under his feet, then panicked under pressure from Kevin Doyle and scuffed the ball into no-man's land between himself and his goalkeeper. The Irishman pounced, took it forward and slotted an excellent diagonal shot in off the far post. 31 min: Benni McCarthy tees up Carlton Cole on the edge of the Wolves penalty area, but his low drive is pretty feeble and Hannemann saves easily. 33 min: Wolves corner. Jarvis sends it in, Craddock heads it straight up in the air and Daprela puts it out for a goal-kick. 34 min: "In light of West Ham's proposal, announced today, to prevent the new Olympic stadium from becoming a white elephant and perpetual drain on public resources, and given that this is less likely to happen if they get relegated, shouldn't the whole country (or that portion that pays tax) be getting behind Zola's side here?" asks David Wall. "Shouldn't the FA, in the form of the referee be helping out here? Surely he could have found some reason to disallow that goal, in the national interests." 34 min: From behind, West Ham midfielder Radoslav Kovac tackles David Jones on the right-hand side of the penalty area, going in with his studs up and straight into the Wolves player's calf. Jones goes down and appeals for a thoroughly deserved penalty, but Phil Dowd waves play on despite having a perfect view of what was clearly a foul. 38 min: Stat ahoy! Last 10 minutes of possession: West Ham 39%-61% Wolves. 39 min: "Good to see you continuing the anti-Utd bias in The Guardian," wails Chris Jones, a Manchester United fan who I suspect is about to embark on a somewhat hypocritical rant about what he perceives as my lack of objectivity when it comes to discussing a team he supports . "You're reporting on Wolves and see fit to get in a cheap shot at Utd for supposedly fielding a weakened team against Hull, even though they won the game. 'Utd get all the decisions, refs are biased, Fergie influences refs, they get favourable treatment blah blah blah'. Jealous nonsense." 42 min: West Ham are getting over-run in midfield at the moment. Kovac and Parker aren't getting a sniff of the ball and the Wolves triumvirate of Mancienne, Henry and Jones have them chasing shadows. 44 min: Chris Jones is correct, by the way. I am jealous of United. I envy a football club. I'd love if the team I supported was saddled with £750m worth of debt and supported by people whose idea of sticking it to The Man is wearing a green and gold scarf. 44 min: That's astonishingly bad luck on the part of Scott Parker, who I've £5 on to score at 9-1. He scorches through the centre injecting a bit of much needed pace into the West Ham attack and tries to place the ball past Hannemann and inside the right upright. The ball cracks off the post and rebounds across the face of goal. Parker follows up and shoots from a narrow angle, but Hannemann recovers brilliantly to save. Parker is disgusted and cannot believe his rotten luck and neither can I. Half-time Wolves go in a goal to the good, which is about fair on the balance of play, all penalty appeals and hit woodwork considered. Maybe It's Time To Let Go Dept: "The Utd-Wolves game: So what," writes Richard Rouse. "Wolves lost the game at Old Trafford 3-0. We won the next (slightly more winnable) game against Burnley. Fans of Wenger, Ferguson et al, tell me that these pragmatic giants of management wouldn't have done the same were they in charge of team fighting relegation, as opposed to one challenging for the title. "If you're willing to follow teams whose financial clout is distorted by their TV income from the Champions League, then kindly accept that your attempts to become champions will be screwed by the fixture list as well as the small clubs who you regard as being there to make up the numbers: Clubs who want to make sure they are still at the same league next season. "By the way, one of my happiest memories as a Wolves fan was seeing Kenny Miller score a goal that was useless to Wolves in the long-term but completely buggered United's chances of winning the league." 46 min: The second half starts, with Gianfranco Zola having made a double substitution: Junior Stanislas and Jonathan Spector for James Tomkins and Radoslav Kovac. Spector goes into the centre of defence to take over from the possibly traumatised Tomkins, while Stanislas replaces the ineffective Kovac in the centre of midfield. 48 min: Scott Parker tries to play in Carlton Cole with a weighted through-ball down the right channel, but Marcus Hannemann is wise to his ruse and rushes off his line to smother the ball to his chest. Cole is left to hurdle him. 49 min: There's a break in play while Benni McCarthy receives treatment after a clash of heads with Michael Mancienne. He's ushered to the sideline and receives permission from the referee to lope back on to the field. 50 min: "I'm with you on that poxy scarf protest," writes Anthony O'Connell. "The united fans have a great protest going on, wearing a different coloured scarf over the latest united jersey while reading the latest programwhile consuming a beverage of their choice accompanied by some fresh hot food. I'd say the glazers are really happy with the way it's going." 51 min: "Re: the rather eloquent green and gold protest," writes Gary Naylor. "How would you stick it to The Man?" 53 min: How would I stick it to The Man? I'd probably wear paisley Y-fronts and hop up and down on one foot while drinking sherry from an elephant's tusk. I can't see how it would be any less futile than wearing a green and gold scarf and it would almost certainly attract more attention (but a bit less ridicule). Alternatively, I might do my bit to cut off The Man's income, safe in the knowledge that if the rest of my fellow supporters did the same thing he'd soon bugger off elsewhere. 56 min: West Ham win a free kick deep inside their own half. The ball's played towards Carlton Cole on the edge of the final third and he promptly gives it away to Matt Jarvis. 57 min: A cross from Jarvis on the left flank is headed clear by Jonathan Spector. Wolves continue to pile the pressure on West Ham and ... GOAL! West Ham 0-2 Wolves (Zubar 57 min) West Ham's defence gets rent asunder as David Jones plays the ball up the right channel for Zubar to chase. Although the angle looks narrow, he shoots and his low, diagonal drive from right to left sails past Robert Green and into the bottom left-hand corner. That's a great strike. 60 min: The natives are getting restless. West Ham's fans strike up a loud chorus of You're Not To Fit To Wear The Shirt. That may well be the case, but it's worth pointing out that those being sung at appear to be considerably fitter than the beer-bellied oafs belting out the ditty. One suspects they probably smell better too. GOAL! West Ham 0-3 Wolves (Jarvis 60) Jarvis slots the ball home past Green from 30 yards after being teed up by another marvellous pass from David Jones, who's doing a remarkable job conducting the Wolves orchestra from midfield. In the stands, West Ham fans begin pouring out of the exits. 63 min: "Is the answer to Gary Naylor's question: 'wait until the 51st minute to print one of his countless emails?'," asks Gwilym Jones. 66 min: Diamanti gets penalised for a foul on Doyle outside the West Ham penalty area that was identical to that of Kovac on Jones which referee Phil Dowd didn't deem worthy of punishment when it occurred inside the penalty area in the first half. Funny, that. 70 min: Wolves substitution: Stephen Ward on, Matthew Jarvis on. West Ham substitution: Benni McCarthy off, Guille Franco on. 72 min: West Ham win a corner after a half-hearted penalty appeal for hand-ball falls on deaf ears. Diamanti swings the ball in to the mixer and it's put wide. Goal-kick for West Ham. 73 min: Sky's man on the touchline reports that James Tomkins went off at half-time with an ankle injury, not as a result of being traumatised by the gaffe that gifted Wolves their opener. 75 min: "Its very impressive how the Guardian manages to have a bias against every team in the league," writes Zach Neeley, in an email responding to the primal scream of Chris Jones (39 min). "Most people would take your comment as a criticism of the FA for fining Wolves, but Mr Jones saw right through to anti-United sentiment. If he really wants angry comments about Man United though, he should talk to Mr. Smyth." You mean my colleague Mr Smyth the Manchester United fan who's also frequently accused of having an anti-Man Utd bias? For the heinous crime of occasionally being mildly critical of Lord Ferg and some of his footsoldiers? I suppose such blatant insubordination is not and never will be the Newton Heath way. 78 min: With his back to the endline, Diamanti chests the ball down to Guille Franco, who demonstrates some nimble footwork by waltzing past two defenders and unleashing a shot that stings the palms of Marcus Hannemann. The ball fizzes over the crossbar for a corner. Nothing comes from it. 80 min: Wolves substitution: Ronald Zubar off, Greg Halford on. 81 min: A slip by Valon Behrami in midfield appears to put David Jones straight through on goal, but the Swiss international recovers, chases back and atones for his error. With 10 minutes to go, unoccupied seats appears to out-number occupied ones in Upton Park by about two or three to one. 84 min: "As a Villa fan still fuming from Saturday, I have to say this is the second game in a row I've seen where Mick McCarthy has tactically rinsed far more media-friendly managers," writes Tom Waterman. "Is it too clichéd a moan to say that if the Dingles (Wolves) manager wasn't carved out of Ireland and Yorkshire, pundits would be far quicker to praise his appreciation of the game, rather than just banging on about work-rate all the time?" I wouldn't say it's clichéd or unfair at all. If Harry Redknapp was doing the same thing with Wolves, his many fawning acolytes in the press pack would be falling over themselves to insert their tongues in his rectum. What's more, the chances are that Wolves won't be a smouldering financial wreck when Mick walks away. Roberto Martinez only had to win Premier League match against Aston Villa to be hailed as the second coming of Jose Mourinho, I'm not sure what Mick has to do to get the respect he deserves. 86 min: The jig is well and truly up for West Ham and has been for some time now. Diamanti tries a shot from distance which swerves in the air, but Hannemann beats it away. 88 min: Manchester United worshipper Chris Jones is back, with an email marked 'More cheap shots': "Thanks for the post," he writes. "And another (predictable) cheap shot about Utd's debt. I don't know who you support but you know very well what I mean; you only dig at Utd becuase you resent their success. Who's won the league for the last three years?" Some particularly supporters of Big Four teams just don't get it, do they? Apart from the fact that there's more to supporting a team than winning big shiny trophies, your team is facing financial meltdown and and you think other people resent your success ? GOAL! West Ham 1-3 Wolves (Franco 90+3 min) West Ham's Mexican striker Guille Franco, who's been excellent since coming on, bags a late consolation for West Ham. Nipping in behind the Wolves defence, he picks up a through-ball and chips it over Hannemann and into the empty net. That's a marvellous finish. Craddock appeals for offside, but he's chancing his arm - Greg Halford was playing him on. Peep! Peep! Peep! It's all over. A best ever Premier League away win sends Wolves seven points clear of the relegation zone and leaves West Ham - abject West Ham - three points from safety. They'll almost certainly get relegated if they continue playing like that. They were largely pitiful. Post-match emails: "If we really were resentful of Man Utd's success, couldn't we just become Man Utd fans?" asks Neil Lenthall. "We wouldn't be the first, would we? Zing." "Oh good lord," harrumphs Pete Corway. "Chris Jones is one of those United fans who bring shame on us non-myopic sensible ones." "Is it possible that managers have both good and bad points?" asks Niall Mullen. "The extent to which people go to vilify or defend them says more about their sad lives. That said: Rafa out!" "Can you give a shout out to Wolves-supporting, Guardian-reading, father-in-law Ken Gregory, who could only be happier if older grandaughter, Amy (9) came on as sub and crossed for younger grandaughter, Maddie (6) to control the ball, then smash in the fourth, before singing Heigh-Ho Silver Lining in front of the away end. He is a bit of a miserable bugger and might suggest Maddie should have hit it first time, but what can you do?" You could force her to practice her volleying. All she needs is a gable end and a ball, when all's said and done.