Cardiff City 3-3 West Ham United. What a dramatic introduction to life as West Ham boss for Scott Parker.
The first half was as frustrating and familiar as the second half was encouraging.
This is a glimpse of the same Jekyll and Hyde Hammers that we have witnessed all season long, and Parker must stop the rot.
Once again, the first goal was conceded and things got worse from there, even if it was a thunderous strike from Cardiff’s Jack Moylan.
He followed up his fantastic 11th-minute strike with a penalty on 37 minutes, then two minutes later he got the last touch on a corner.
3-0 Cardiff, the visitors were shell-shocked, and Scott Parker must have been left scratching his head.
Half-time turning point
It’s clear that the new boss got his message across at half-time and the instruction resonated, with the players putting in a transformed performance after the break.
From registering just four shots in the first half (two on target), West Ham found their edge with 14 shots (eight on target) in the second half.
That was evidenced in the way the Irons took control of the game, as they rallied to equalise on 82 minutes through Max Kilman.
That came after goals from Divine Mukasa and Arne Engels, with the Belgian grabbing his first strike in West Ham colours.
With the way the second half panned out, the only disappointment was that Parker’s team could not find a winner in the final stages after Ezra Mayers and Tomas Soucek went very close.
Scott Parker reacts to Cardiff draw
As detailed by BBC Sport, Scott Parker said after the game:
“The first-half performance was pretty poor. We had a really slow start. A lot of things didn’t go well. We were very passive and slow with the ball.
“The biggest thing for me tonight is that there’s a lot of learning that’s taken place, particularly in terms of the team and the group.
“I came in here at nine o’clock this morning and met the players for the first time, so I didn’t have a lot of input as such.
“The biggest positive is the team we saw in the second half. There were some changes based on what I was seeing in the first half, and the players adapted very well. We looked a real threat and dominant, and that’s the team I want us to be.”
“Wake up call” – Jarrod Bowen
The club captain had his say, revealing that he asked his teammates to stand up and be counted, after a dismal opening 45 minutes.
“From the players’ point of view, from myself, as I spoke about in the dressing room (at half-time), it was don’t hide, don’t let the shoulders slump, be brave with what we’re doing,” Bowen told the official club website.
“We’re 3-0 down after an appalling first half, so what we have to do is stand up, stand tall and go out there and make a difference.
“It was important for the senior lads that were in the group to stand up and answer the questions. I think we did that in the second half.
He continued, “We’re probably disappointed that we didn’t win in the end, but then also it’s a wake-up call for the first half.
“We know it’s not good enough for our level and what we expect for the fans that travelled, but I think it’s a credit to ourselves to dig in and be brave and take those risks to get back into the game, because we didn’t want to be a team that hid after the first 45 minutes.
“It was not a performance that we should associate with playing for this Club, so to come back out in the second half and to get back into the game the way we did, it’s a credit to everyone involved.”
Next up for West Ham is the trip to Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.
There can be no going back, no falling into the same trap. The onus is on Parker and the players to deliver a performance from the beginning, so that there is no mountain to climb to salvage a result once again.
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