Striding into the London Stadium with Bubbles blaring in his ears was bound to be an emotional moment for David Martin as he went into his first home game for the Hammers..
But it was nearly all downhill from there as the Hammers enjoyed a brief lead before crashing to yet another dreadful defeat.
And on the basis that Premier League clubs HAVE to produce a player to comment on the game at the end of each match, it was the new goalkeeper who found himself last night’s candidate after a defeat which has put his manager’s job bang on the line.
As the son of legend Martin this was the most bitter/sweet of nights for the 33 year old appearing at the Hammers home for the first time.
But the emotion was overcrowded at the end by a result which has plunged a team tipped for the top six such a short time ago into what could become a relegation battle of epic proportions.
And afterwards he said at https://www.whufc.com/news/articles/2019/december/10-december/david-martin-it-takes-grit-and-determination-play-west-ham: “I try be calm and give that feeling around for other people, but tonight obviously, once that first goal went in, it was not good enough and we’ve got to show more character than that,” he said.
“I was brought up on character and the West Ham way, and you’ve got to dig in sometimes. It’s not all going to be pretty football and when the chances come along, hopefully we’ll take them.
“At times like this, you’ve got to dig in and when that first goal went in you’ve got to go ‘Right, OK, the minimum now is that they don’t score again and if we can nick one and put the momentum the other way, then great’, but it takes grit and determination to play for this Club.”
“I thought we played really well in the first half and deserved a one-nil lead but the second half was not good enough from all of us and we’ve got to have a reaction now because of that.
“For their first goal it (Sead Kolasinac’s cross) went through Ryan Fredericks’ legs and he (Martinelli) found himself with the whole goal to aim at and it happens like that sometimes in football and it’s about being strong enough and brave enough to keep playing like we did in the first half and keep doing the right things.”
“It was a bit emotional hearing ‘I’m forever blowing Bubbles’ and walking out to them and I had to concentrate on keeping focused. But we’re all gutted about the result. It’s a great day for my family, but it would have been a lot better with the three points.”
