“If there is any justice, Alvin will only be suspended for one game,” he said.Goal: Impey (20) 1-0.Queen’s Park Rangers (4-4-2): Roberts; Bardsley, McDonald, Maddix, Yates; Impey, Barker, Holloway, Dichio; Gallen, Sinclair. “In a battle, you don’t always make the right decisions,” he said. “It’s when we are punished for dissent that I get upset.”Left to face the struggle for survival in the Premiership, Redknapp set out a case for Martin, ludicrously sent off last week against Sheffield Wednesday. The promise of four free-kicks in quick succession came to nothing.In setting up a stern defence, Rangers had four players booked, but this did not trouble Wilkins unduly. Improving after the interval, West Ham established a measure of superiority, but without ever threatening to equalise. He should not have feltthe need to impress the need for a more direct method. That it was pretty near impossible to make progress by any other means seemed obvious.By the time this was repeated as a principle, West Ham were behind to a goal in the 20th minute by Andrew Impey, who came through smartly on to a cross-field pass intelligently provided by Ian Holloway.

Considering the benefits of the tuition they enjoy, Redknapp was entitled to suppose that his players would have reacted accordingly to advice about how to play in the prevailing conditions. For 45 minutes, their commitment, disappointingly, was questionable.Also, there is the issue of initiative. We’re capable of playing good football, but we have to compete.” Although it did not apply in every position – Alvin Martin and Julian Dicks were notable exceptions – this was precisely West Ham’s problem. “In my days here as a player, I always felt that we had a bit of an inferiority complex,” he said “I want to change that. Management takes a bit of getting used to.”Don’t misunderstand; Wilk-ins knows what he is doing. “I see things going wrong, but when I shout to the players, I’m not always sure they’re listening. Fresh to the trade and still available for selection, the QPR manager continues to find the experience frustrating “Sometimes, I’m itching to get out there,” he said.

Tradition dictates the losers go down fighting.
To be fair, West Ham did, but only after being prevailed upon at half-time by their manager, Harry Redknapp, who was at a loss to explain a visible dip in application. “It is the first time this season that I have been really disappointed in them,” he said.If Queen’s Park Rangers adapted better to what any clerk of the course would have designated as heavy going, technically there was little between the teams, so is there a magic elixir that separates winners from losers? Can you buy it in the phamarcy? Doyou pour it on cornflakes? “We improved considerably in the second half,” Redknapp said, “but it shouldn’t have been necessary to get on to them about attitude.”By contrast, Ray Wilkins was more than pleased with the talent at his disposal; a team depleted most conspicuously by the absence of Les Ferdinand. This is especially true of the FA Cup, a competition noted for heroics. If, as in the majority of cases, a team’s imagination is limited, it is usually reliable in resolve. Sufficiently upset to have been tearful at the final whistle, a West Ham supporter called Radio Five Live’s Six-o-Six programme on Saturday to complain about lack of effort, after her team had lost 1-0.

“Some of our players didn’t try,” she said, “they were crap.”

The dominant feature of British football is endeavour. “He’s a great player, but he’s got a screw loose somewhere.”The second half got under way, and within 10 minutes Cantona was old news This was the Cup, after all. Chances began to arise at both ends with increasing frequency, and neither side looked particularly interested in a third meeting, having played each other in the League at Carrow Road last Wednesday.Twenty minutes from time, Coventry’s American striker, Roy Wegerle, came on as a substitute, and within seconds the home supporters were singing, to the now-infamous tune of “Ooh-Aah Cantona”; “Who needs Can-ton-a when we’ve got We-ger-le.”To which a Norwich fan immediately responded: “Who needs Cantona when we’ve got Herbie Hide.” And if you know that Hide is a heavyweight boxer from Norwich, then you’ll understand the joke.. Shaun and David turned out to be carrot-growers from just outside Norwich “Should be banned for life,” said Shaun. When I asked him if he’d be sorry to see Cantona leaving English football, he said: “I’d like to see him play in the Czech Republic. I go there quite a bit and I’ve seen a few games.”He’s always saying he’d like to go to Prague, and he’d go down really well there. The language is more difficult too, so he wouldn’t understand so much of what the fans were saying to him.”Back at my seat, I asked the two in front of me what they thought.