Big Sam shows Cardiff the way

West Ham United 2 Cardiff City 0

Tan expects to have spent €40m on new players by the time the transfer window closes on September 2 but his side, who were convincing winners of the Championship last season, looked short a cutting edge at Upton Park as they slid to a 2-0 defeat without even managing a shot on target.

Well-taken goals from Joe Cole after 13 minutes, turning neatly on a cut-back from Matt Jarvis, and then from Kevin Nolan after 76, sweeping home elegantly at the end of a move engineered by Mark Noble, gave West Ham a deserved victory and despite some neat interplay in midfield Cardiff rarely threatened to make a game of it.

The sight of record €8m signing Andreas Cornelius returning to training this week after injury will be a welcome one then, especially as Cardiff’s next match is at home to Manchester City.

“It doesn’t get much bigger,” admitted manager Malky Mackay.

“I’m very proud to be the manager of Cardiff City in the first season we’ve been in the top flight for 51 years. You talk about pressure, but for me pressure was last year trying to get the team up, being tasked with the job of getting automatic promotion. That’s pressure.”

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce has plenty of empathy for his Cardiff counterpart. After all, his CV shows he brought Bolton, Blackburn and West Ham up into the Premier League and succeeded in keeping them there.

So he urged Mackay not to be concerned about an opening-day defeat away from home, pointing out that West Ham stayed up last year despite winning only twice on their travels all season.

This year, however, the expectations at Upton Park are higher. The arrival of Andy Carroll on a permanent deal from Liverpool — he is around 10 days away from recovering from an ankle injury — and winger Stewart Downing from the same club highlight the direction the Hammers are moving.

“In year two in the Premier League this squad is right up there with any I’ve had,” insisted Allardyce.

“At Blackburn it was about selling, it wasn’t about improving the squad. Here it’s about going out and spending money to improve what we’ve already got. So second year, it’s as good as I’ve had. We’ve started to show that we’ve improved the squad and are starting to grow.

“We’ll be aiming for about 50 points this season. That’s four more than last year, which would be brilliant for us.”

WEST HAM (4-3-3): Jaaskelainen 6, Demel 7, Collins 6, Reid 7, O’Brien 6, Noble 7, Nolan 6, Diame 7 (Diarra 81), Cole 7 (Vaz Te 90), Maiga 6, Jarvis 7 (Downing 71).

CARDIFF (4-3-3): Marshall 6, Connolly 5, Caulker 6, Turner 5, John 5, Medel 5, Gunnarsson 5, Bellamy 6 (Gestede 74; 6), Whittingham 6, Kim 6 (Maynard 74), Campbell 6 (Mutch 90).

Referee: Howard Webb (S Yorkshire).