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Adrian Kajumba at Daily Star |
Fulham (1) 2 West Ham (1) 1
West Ham boss Sam Allardyce launched an extraordinary attack on his captain Kevin Nolan after Fulham heaped more misery on his side.
The Cottagers bagged three vital points from this basement battle to climb out of the relegation zone thanks to Dimitar Berbatov's second-half winner.
But a fuming Allardyce pointed the finger of blame at Nolan after his second red card in four games.
Nolan was sent off for needlessly kicking out at Fulham defender Fernando Amorebieta, less than a month after he received a straight red for a foul against Liverpool.
Allardyce, who has also managed Nolan at Bolton and Newcastle, said: "He is responĀsible for us losing the game, more than anybody else.
"I don't think there's any doubt about that.
"I don't understand it because the indiscretion of what he has done has happened straight after what he did at Liverpool. I have to find out what's wrong with him because there is certainly something wrong with his mentality at the minute.
"At his age and with his experience and over the many years I've known him, I haven't seen this type of reaction or situation that he has put himself into.
"You can expect it from someone who is starting out or is a youngster who is finding his way, but not Kevin.
"I am disappointed with what he has done and time will tell how we deal with the situation internally."
Already without star striker Andy Carroll and most of his defence due to a crippling injury crisis, the under-fire Allardyce now has a gaping hole in his midfield.
West Ham also lost another key midfielder, Mark Noble, to a calf injury yesterday, to cap a day to forget. He is likely to be out for around 10 days.
Allardyce, whose side are second from bottom after seven league games without a win, said: "We are in a massive hole at the minute and we have to dig ourselves out of it."
While Allardyce is drowning in a sea of problems, Fulham were singing in the rain thanks to fit-again Berbatov's winner.
After seven minutes, though, it looked like West Ham were going to be the ones celebrating a winning start to 2014.
Unsurprisingly, after shipping six at Hull, Fulham were a bag of nerves at the back early on, playing against the elements at a wind and rain-swept Craven Cottage.
The conditions played a part when Philippe Senderos misjudged Jussi Jaaskelainen's simple long punt and the ball bounced through to Mohamed Diame, who controlled and fired in.
A brilliant David Stockdale block to keep out Nolan's header denied West Ham the cushion of a second.
After that, it was all Fulham and they finally levelled when Steve Sidwell headed in Damien Duff's corner, just after Noble hobbled off.
Then came Nolan's moment of madness and Fulham made the most of their one-man advantage, Berbatov finally tapping in the winner in the 66th minute after Alex Kacaniklic's cross was knocked on by Scott Parker.
Fulham boss Rene Meulensteen said: "We needed that. In these positions, winning home games is very, very important."
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