Portsmouth - 2 West Ham - 0: Harry Redknapp's original dilemma is what to do in January. "I'm going to enjoy Christmas and the New Year this time," the Portsmouth manager said. "I can even turn my mobile off. I always take over teams that are struggling, that need some players."

The win moved Portsmouth up to third in the Premiership, until Bolton's win at Newcastle yesterday, and Redknapp has a strong and experienced squad with which to consolidate his position.

Indeed the goals came from two of his more senior players with Kanu, 30, nodding Portsmouth ahead before Andy Cole, who turned 35 yesterday, swivelled and shot in the 82nd minute to seal victory.

"I'm even thinking of giving Jose Mourinho a ring to ask how the rotation system works," joked Redknapp, enjoying his side's lofty position. "Some managers think they're so clever that they can turn a load of rubbish into super team and that's why they don't stay in the job too long. But I've been in this job for 25 years. I do know something about it.

"I get rid of the players I think are no good and try to get some better ones. I built a terrific team here first time round, took over a load of rubbish when I came back and have built a good team again without breaking the bank."

Portsmouth started with Cole, Sean Davis and Lomana LuaLua on the bench. Redknapp then brought on Cole and LuaLua for Benjani Mwaruwari and Kanu, as if to flaunt his riches.

"The four of them are different and there's a nice blend between them," he said. "I'm not sure Kanu and LuaLua are a pair. Benjani's a runner and Andy's a finisher. It's nice to give a couple of them 60 minutes and then bring on another two. It's a luxury I've never had before."

If Portsmouth supporters, lost in reverie, are contemplating just how much can change in one year, the same notion is probably passing through the minds of West Ham fans, after their sixth straight defeat.

Apart from their heroically-loyal supporters, West Ham are beginning to attract the attention of football's rubberneckers, the sort of ghouls who slow down on the motorway to have a closer look at a particularly nasty accident.

This was such an ordinary match that many spectators must have regretted not leaving the ground when they had the chance just before kick-off, when the ground's evacuation siren was tested.

And when West Ham's manager Alan Pardew said afterwards that, "I didn't think the performance was that bad" he had his audience exchanging quizzical glances. West Ham were very ordinary indeed, though Pardew was probably correct when he said that there is a confidence problem.

"We're lacking a little bit of belief," he said. "In the last third of the pitch we need that little bit of inspiration, or flair, or magic . . . or luck."

He would settle for luck. In the second half Paul Konchesky fired a drive through a thicket of defenders and David James made a fine save low to his left. "I was hoping to God it would hit somebody's heel and go in," said Pardew.

"Six defeats is far from okay for a club like West Ham. Any manager who has lost six games must have a certain amount of fear for his job."

Guardian Service