Glenn: Onwards And Upwards

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Glenn Roeder says the manner of the win at Chelsea on Saturday was as important as the three points themselves - but insists his players are not getting carried away.

Glenn has put his delight at the victory on a back burner now as he prepares the side to face Chesterfield but says: "For us to go to Stamford Bridge and win on merit was very important. Chelsea were deservedly unbeaten and took Manchester United and Arsenal all the way at home, so that tells you how good our performance was.

"Although I felt the players were listening to me in the past month when I told them we deserved more than the two points, sometimes it is hard for them to take that in when they feel they are playing well and not getting anything for their efforts.

"To play exceptionally well and get the win has done wonders for their confidence and their belief, and hopefully now we can get on the sort of run that we need to get on.

"This is only the start and we won't get carried away because there is nothing to get carried away about, but we are delighted with the performance.

"It is the first step in a forward direction - but we have to take a lot more forward steps in the coming weeks to build on it.

"Now the players have remembered what it is like to win again and what the atmosphere is like - and they want more.

"It is a tight squad and there is a lot of quality in it - and if there were any breaks going on Saturday this time we took advantage of it whereas in the past we hadn't."

Glenn feels Paolo's volleyed goal two minutes into the second half at Stamford Bridge is already a contender for goal of the season, and he adds: "The manner in which the goals were scored was the icing on the cake because they were special.

"Paolo is the sort of player who is always liable to score that sort of goal. Come the end of the season when they look at the 10 best goals that will be a contender.

"You could name maybe a dozen players in the Premiership that could conjure up a goal that gets people jumping out of their seats in sheer delight at the quality of the strike - and Paolo is one of them."

Glenn reveals that there were no tantrums from Edouard Cisse when he was taken out of the side at the weekend, and adds: "Edouard, when I spoke to him about not starting, was disappointed, and I would expect him to be.

"But he took it in the way you would expect a professional and an adult to behave and he understood when I told him that Steve Lomas and Michael Carrick had played together many times in winning performances and I just felt it was the right time to put Michael back in.

"He completely understood and I have been delighted with what he has brought to the club and I know he will play many times for West Ham.

"He has got terrific quality and is very comfortable with receiving the ball and playing one or two touch football quickly.

"When he came to us he wasn't fully fit but he has been fit for some time and he is definitely lasting the pace longer.

"He is a player that has helped the strength of our squad and I have been pleased with what he has brought to us."

His 'replacement' was of course Michael Carrick, and Glenn adds: "I felt in the 15 minutes against Manchester City he showed what he was all about. When he fights for the ball it makes him such a better player, because we know his quality on the ball.

"But against Manchester City he won the ball and played the ball forward and I looked at him in training last week thinking if ever there was going to be a game I would bring him back in it would be Chelsea away.

"Michael and Steve Lomas got hold of the centre of midfield from the start to the end of the game.

"We all got frustrated early on in the season, as did Michael, but don't forget he is a very clever, intelligent person. It wasn't as if he thought 'I'm doing well here' - he wasn't."

Glenn is as baffled as anyone else by a newspaper report last week that suggested fans were getting on the backs of Joe Cole, Jermain Defoe AND Michael, but of course it is well documented that in just one game, Michael did get some criticism from the stands.

"It was just a shame our supporters couldn't hold on to their frustration. Everything goes in cycles and Michael had not become a bad player overnight," says Glenn.

"Having spoken to him in training on Monday and having gone through his game with him he knows now what he needs to be doing every game so that he produces the sort of performance he did against Chelsea.

"But all eleven had excellent games. Gary Breen has settled in very well on the left side of Tomas and the two of them looked after Eidur Gudjohnsen and Jimmy Floyd Haselbaink so that they had very few chances in open play.

"I have got no complaints about what Scott Minto has brought to us either - we have picked up four points in the last two games - but he must stay fit and if he carries on playing the way he does he will carry on wearing the shirt."