Two Weeks of Safety

Let's get the niggling little matters out of the way first. Carlton Cole, go around the keeper next time. In fact, learn to finish a chance here and there and you'll be a top striker. As it stands, you get up and down the pitch well; you play surprisingly effectively in your own end, and you set yourself up to score fairly often...but you can't finish.

If you could, we might have nicked three points yesterday. A striker has to be able to finish. It's that simple. You'll be back in the Recaro seats once Robbie Keane, Frederic Piquionne and Victor Obinna are available for the starting XI because they put the ball in the net while you hold your head in your hands. Oh, and Gary O'Neil--you still just don't impress me much. You're better than what we were throwing out there before January, but you were largely anonymous yesterday, which you tend to be most of the time.

Right, with that settled, let's talk about what went right yesterday: pretty much everything else. Aside from Cole's wastefulness--and, to his credit, he did do well to at least set himself up to score--yesterday's 0-0 draw with Spurs in sparkling HD on ESPN2 was a Premiership performance. What I mean by that is that it was pragmatic, spirited and effective. The collective effort was immense. We stole a point in a match we probably should have lost, and we weren't far from stealing all three. That's what Premiership clubs do, and with more football like the kind we played yesterday, we'll be Premiership club again next season.

We turned in way too many Championship performances prior to our recent run of success--total capitulations in which we looked disorganized, disinterested and downright beaten. I wrongly blamed Avram Grant for most of those performances; it seems pretty clear now that with a decent squad, Grant is at least a decent manager. He might even be a good one. Tactically and in terms of player selection, he got yesterday right and should take credit for his wise management and cool head.

It wasn't very West Ham of me to suggest on multiple occasions earlier in the season that Grant had to go. We've never been a club that hires and fires managers in rapid succession, and we shouldn't become one. Should we stay up this season and continue to perform as we have since the second half at West Brom, there's no reason why Grant shouldn't return for next season and many reasons why he should.

Of course, with Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City--not to mention the dreadful prospect of Bolton--all on the docket, survival is far from guaranteed. As it stands, though, we're safe for two weeks (although just barely) given next weekend's Euro 2012 qualifiers. As April begins and the pressure really mounts, we'll take on the league leaders, Man U, at home. Three points separate 13th from 20th.

Given how we've played against Spurs this season, though, who's to say that we can't steal at least a point from Man U as well? Yesterday's match was a real rarity, a thrilling goalless draw. Yes, Tottenham wasted some chances. Sure, we left a lot of open pitch in the midfield. But when Spurs got into our final third, we closed ranks with stunning effectiveness. Scott Parker and Mark Noble bot played defensive gems, and Noble nearly stole a goal with a skillful overhead kick. Thomas Hitzlsperger didn't have much going forward, but he tracked back well to clear dangerous situations. Parker was exhausted with about 15 minutes left to play but didn't leave the pitch--it appears as though Grant has fallen into the Gianfranco Zola trap of leaving our talisman on for too long, even when he's clearly wiped.

No matter, though. Even as Super Scotty's battery wore down, our back line remained superb. Somebody get Manuel Da Costa a good lawyer (hopefully he's just plain innocent) because he was immense yesterday, flying all over the pitch and just getting a foot in here and there to break up several Tottenham chances. Matthew Upson was also very good once again, and Wayne Bridge and particularly Lars Jacobsen locked down Spurs' wide game and frustrated Gareth Bale and Jermain Defoe for most of the afternoon.

And then there was Rob Green. I've long swum against the West Ham tide when it comes to our keeper, criticizing him more than praising him. But he was man of the match yesterday without question, and we probably go down 2-0 on the day if he doesn't make a couple of magnificent saves. His tip against the bar of Bale's free kick five minutes from time was easily one of our plays of the season and might end up being the difference between going down and staying up once all the points and goals are tallied. Keeping a clean sheet was of paramount importance for us not only because it snatched us a point but also because goal differential is likely to play a factor in this season's relegation battle.

Let's not forget that Spurs, for all their relative struggles in the league this season, are in the quarter-finals of the Champions League and just ousted one of the biggest clubs in Europe from that competition. Spurs can beat Milan, but they can't beat us--taking four points off of Tottenham in 2010-2011 and battling to a draw in front of a frustrated crowd at White Hart Lane was satisfying to say the very least. As loathe as we might be to admit it, Spurs are a bit club now. They have big-club money, and they're starting to get big-club results at home and abroad. Taking four of six off of them is a huge accomplishment, derby satisfaction aside.

And it should give us hope for the run-in. Clearly, Tottenham struggle in the league after playing in Europe; their domestic results this season show that. While Manchester United and Chelsea are less likely to fall into such a two-competition trap, it's entirely possibly that we'll get a tired, listless Man U side on April 2 with it's mind elsewhere. Sure, that's not exactly what Alex Ferguson's sides are known for, but Manchester United will be the hunter and West Ham the wounded animal in this situation. They'll have the weapons, but we'll have the basic need to survive on our side. That will make us the dangerous team. We'll be fighting for our lives, and there's not much greater motivation than that.

Add to all that our recent form, which is frankly superb save for one FA Cup match ruined by an incompetent referee, and I'm personally feeling very confident about our chances for survival and maybe even for finishing above 17th. Form is temporary, as always, and disaster lurks around every corner with West Ham, also as always. But we're on the up while clubs like Blackpool, Birmingham and Aston Villa are starting to struggle big time. In fact, there's a pretty good possibility that the city of Birmingham won't be represented in the Premiership at all next season, although I personally see Wigan and Blackpool (their ride is just about over) going down with a third club to be determined. At this point, I'm feeling good about West Ham not being that third club. And for the next couple of weeks, anyway, I'm going to enjoy safety, even if it is still more than a little precarious.

COYI