Smells Like Team Spirit

Martin O’Neill said after the 1-0 win over Premiership strugglers West Ham: ‘Anything less than three points today would have been a travesty.’

O’Neill added in his post match interview with the official site: ‘I thought we fully deserved the three points today – even allowing for the late pressure from West Ham. Thomas Sorensen had been given nothing to do for nearly 90 minutes, but he played his part late on. One of the saves, he had no right to get to it. But over the 90 minutes I felt we were the better team, we just couldn’t the second goal and when Patrik Berger got the ball in the net, the flag was up for offside.’

‘John Carew scored a good goal and I thought at times in the first-half he was absolutely unplayable for West Ham. That was a good home debut and he again linked-up well with Ashley Young.’

Adding: ‘The fans were terrific today. It was a great crowd and they backed us all the way. It does make a difference and thankfully we sent the fans home happy with three points.’

And he has also hailed the impact that John Carew has already made saying: ‘John Carew was absolutely terrific for us. His first-half performance was more than could have been expected on his home debut. He had the disappointment of having his goal knocked off at Newcastle but he’s got one today and the crowd have really taken to him. His performance was majestic. For someone who is so tall, he has got a great touch and, make no mistake, he can definitely play.’

And there is more to come: ‘He hasn’t played much recently and came off because of cramp but when he is fit he will be really excellent. I think he is hoping to play some part for Norway in midweek and that will help if he can get through that. I was also pleased with Ashley Young who also poses a threat. The last two games have made it clear that we can look dangerous which is very encouraging.’

As Witton said to me, when Carew scored all the players celebrated with him, smells like team spirit! (Very good witts!)