LONDON // Robert Green continued to walk the road to redemption at Upton Park yesterday, but talk of a West Ham renaissance is premature.
After the goalkeeper's terrible mistake for England in the opening match of the World Cup - which saw a speculative shot by Fulham's striker Clint Dempsey slip through his fingers and give the United States a 1-1 draw - Green has suffered a complete collapse of form.
His error, which set the tone of his country's poor campaign in South Africa, saw him immediately dropped from the team and subsequently from the squad. The experience shattered Green's confidence and he made a series of errors contributing to West Ham's dismal start to the season. But, a week ago, the green shoots of recovery were plain to see as Green produced a man-of-the-match display which enabled the Hammers to grind out their first league win of the season - 1-0 over Tottenham Hotspur.
Once again yesterday, Green proved to be West Ham's saviour making two stunning late saves to deny Fulham what would have been their first away win in the Premier League since the opening match of last season - a run of 22 games. In that sense it was a point gained by the Hammers rather than two lost - and they have now gone three league matches unbeaten - but Everton's win at Birmingham City meant they actually dropped back to bottom place in the table.
However, Avram Grant, the West Ham manager, said: "The position is not important at the moment. One win will move us up several places. I am very pleased for Green. He has shown great character after a difficult start."
There were some encouraging signs for the Hammers. Victor Obinna, the Nigerian striker on loan from Inter Milan, continues to impress. He has both pace and flair to offer some zest to their attack, while Frederic Piquionne gives them a decent spearhead in attack. But there is a lack of guile in the team and, despite Green's improvement, their back four continues to look susceptible.
In the 34th minute, Dempsey exposed the indecision in West Ham's defence and again got the better of Green, although on this occasion the keeper could not be blamed as the US midfielder's shot from 12 yards flashed past him. Grant changed his formation from 4-4-2 to 4-3-3 at half time and the shuffle had an immediate impact when Obinna crossed from the right and Piquionne headed home from close range.
It was Fulham who finished the stronger. Dempsey grazed the bar with a long-range shot then, in the last five minutes, Green produced those two superb saves to keep out Simon Davies and Dickson Etuhu. Fulham have drawn six of their first seven games, but on this evidence that is a good foundation for what promises to be another steady season. And Mark Hughes, the manager, is not worried about the run of draws.
"The wins will come," he said. "This was a bit disappointing because we had the chances to win and should have had a penalty just before half time when Eddie Johnson was shoved over."
As for West Ham, well on the anniversary of Richard III's birthday, this could be another winter of discontent unless there is a dramatic improvement.