Scott Parker says West Ham must use their dramatic recovery from 3-0 down against Cardiff City as a lesson after he began his tenure with a draw just hours after being appointed.
The former Hammers midfielder was named manager on Wednesday morning following the dismissal of Nuno Espirito Santo. By that evening, Parker was on the touchline in the Welsh capital as Jack Moylan’s hat-trick put Cardiff three goals ahead within 39 minutes.
West Ham responded after the interval, with goals from Divine Mukasa, Arne Engels and Max Kilman earning the visitors a point. They produced 14 shots and registered 2.52 expected goals in the second half, while Cardiff managed three efforts and 0.08 xG.
The teams had four shots each before the break, but Cardiff led the expected-goals count 1.07 to 0.27, with Moylan’s penalty contributing to their total.
Parker had met his players for the first time at the airport on the morning of the match.
“I haven’t had much input, but I wanted to be on the sideline, and I decided not to just sit in the stands and oversee it,” he said.
“In the first half, we were clearly really poor. I thought we were poor in both phases of the game.
“Out of possession, we were quite passive at certain moments, and with the ball there was certainly a lot to work on. There were a lot of backwards passes, and the goalkeeper had a lot of touches.”
Asked whether the comeback had surprised him, Parker said: “Maybe not so much a surprise, but a big learning. The second half was the polar opposite to the first, really, and to come back into the game like we did was brilliant.
“It was a forceful team, an aggressive team, a front-footed team, which was obviously a big improvement.
“There’s a lot of learning to take from this. It’s a quick turnaround, but we’ll go to Blackburn with a bit more influence from me.”
West Ham remain eighth in the Championship and occupy the final play-off position. They moved to within five points of leaders Middlesbrough, who suffered a 2-0 defeat at Wrexham.
George Thomason and Oliver Rathbone scored in the final 20 minutes to give Wrexham victory, condemning Middlesbrough to only their second loss of the campaign and their first since a 2-1 defeat by Blackburn Rovers on 22 August.
Wolves can move above Middlesbrough at the top of the table if they beat Wrexham in one of Saturday’s early kick-offs. They climbed to second after a late 2-1 victory at Bristol City.
Scott Twine’s outstanding free-kick gave Bristol City the lead in the first half, and Wolves were still behind when the match reached the 82nd minute. However, Newcastle United loanee Sean Neave scored twice after coming off the bench to complete a dramatic turnaround.
The 19-year-old’s goals were his first at senior level. Wolves have now lost only two of their past 19 league meetings with Bristol City, winning 13 and drawing four. Their previous encounter, in December 2017, also ended in a 2-1 Wolves win secured by two late goals.
