John's stern test for England wannabes

West Ham United 1 Birmingham City

Glenn Roeder, the West Ham manager, had spoken all week about the need for a more consistent level of performance, but the only immovable element is the Hammers' League position.

With his side firmly rooted to the foot of the table after this poor home defeat at the hands of newly-promoted Birmingham City and their excellent striker Stern John, you wonder how long Roeder can remain in charge. The players should shoulder some of the blame, but you suspect that it is the manager who will be made to pay for the lack of success.

Roeder remained defiant after the game but the board's patience is being tested. "It's unacceptable and yet again poor defending has let us down," Roeder said. "It's really hurting me and I can understand the crowd's displeasure. We need to work harder than ever now."

The only surprise is that the West Ham players continue to be held in such high esteem. Many of them are still likely to feature in England's Euro 2004 double-header qualification programme over the next 10 days. But judging by some of yesterday's showings, Sven Goran Eriksson's support may be wearing thin.

Of those laying claim to a place in the starting XI against Slovakia, the goalkeeper David James will be most disappointed. Not only has his rival for the jersey, Arsenal's David Seaman, been given the vote of confidence by the England manager, but his performance also confirmed that the 33-year-old is still prone to the odd gaffe.

The match was barely two minutes old when the West Ham defence, which has left a lot to be desired for much of the campaign, gifted their visitors the opener with a series of individual errors. First, Gary Breen allowed John to muscle him off the ball on the by-line. Then James, who has been campaigning for his elevation to England No 1, somehow let the Trinidadian's shot bounce off him and sneak in at the near-post.

The one consolation was that he was blameless for Birmingham's second goal a couple of minutes before half-time. John embarrassed the Czech Republic international defender Tomas Repka with a splendid back-heel and found the net with the simplest of finishes.

"We deserved the win," was Steve Bruce's assessment. "Apart from the silly goal we let in, I think we were very solid and never looked like conceding. Aliou Cissé [who will return to his native Senegal after learning that he lost nine members of his family in the ferry disaster just under two weeks ago] was excellent and, as for Stern, the trick on the second goal was special. But to be fair he played very well all round."

The same cannot be said of any of the West Ham players, although one of the England hopefuls did at least manage to emerge with his reputation intact. Joe Cole, who may still hold the key to solving the national team's continuing lack of invention in the centre of midfield, had a good first half but, like his team-mates, struggled after the break.

He was everywhere during the opening period, and it will have pleased the watching England manager that he is now marrying invention with discipline. More encouraging still, the 20-year-old is finding the net more regularly.

His goal yesterday not only restored some much-needed voice to the disgrunt-led home supporters, it also doubled his League tally for the season. The goal itself was wonderfully executed, as the inspirational Paolo Di Canio released Cole down the left of the Birmingham penalty box after 17 minutes before he lifted the ball over Nico Vaesen's head with a delicate left-foot finish.

That his equaliser was then over-shadowed by John's second strike late in the first half sums up West Ham's season. It might have been worse had Clinton Morrison not missed the easiest chance of the match just one minute after the restart. Again, Birmingham's build-up play was crisp and inventive and, again, the West Ham defence were at sixes and sevens. Robbie Savage found John in the area, and he then managed to lay the ball off for Morrison, but the club's record signing fluffed the chance.

West Ham grew increasingly desperate and never managed to establish any real rhythm. Lady luck, too, was absent as Trevor Sinclair, the third of the England wannabes, broke free on the right of the penalty area on 58 minutes only to see his right-foot shot bounce to safety off the outside of the post.

Then, with just over 20 minutes left, Roeder took a sizeable gamble when he introduced Titi Camara in place of Cole. The decision did not go down well. True, Cole's influence was waning and he was carrying a dead leg, but it is always risky to substitute a crowd favourite with a player who has only nine League appear-ances to his name in two years at the club. The switch did nothing to inspire the Hammers. The spirit remained throughout, but the belief is clearly not there.

In fact, it was Birmingham who looked the more likely to score in the second half and John came within a whisker of his hat-trick when Repka again misjudged the flight of a cross and allowed the Birmingham striker a free header at goal. The relief was clear on Repka's face when the ball sailed wide, although the most pleasant sight for the entire West Ham defence was that of John being substituted 10 minutes from time.

West Ham United 1 Birmingham City 2
Cole 17 John 4, 43

Half-time: 1-2 Attendance: 35,010