FIVE things West Ham need to turn their season around

After an abysmal performance at the weekend, resulting in a 2-1 home defeat to Newcastle, it is clear West Ham’s recent unbeaten run of games has merely papered over the cracks of a side evidently still lacking in confidence and cohesion. In recent history, it was a performance matched only by last season’s 3-1 home defeat by Wolves in terms of utter ineptitude and lack of invention, and although over the past couple of seasons there have been many below-par displays by the men from Upton Park, the Wolves game stood out as a particularly good comparison to this weekend’s atrocities. However, although this may be difficult to believe after my opening gambit, I consider myself an eternal optimist, especially with regards to everything West Ham, and I have seen enough to convince me that the Hammers can drag themselves out of the current mess they’re in. In light of this, here are five things I believe Avram Grant needs in order to reinvigorate West Ham and turn their season around.

TIME

An inevitable consequence of languishing in the bottom three of any division is that the security of the manager’s job is always under constant speculation, and this is no different when it comes to Avram Grant. Being bottom of the pile after nearly 10 games is never a good sign of things to come, and when the last team you managed were also relegated, it can be difficult to inspire confidence in those around you. However, West Ham have had a relatively difficult start to the season in terms of fixtures, and it is my belief that Grant inherited a relegation in the form of the sinking ship that was Portsmouth, in the same way he very nearly inherited a league title and a Champions League winners medal in the form of Chelsea, so West Ham is perhaps the first team which he can truly apply his own touches to, and this will take time. With a solemn-looking David Sullivan, doing his best impression of a Soviet-era Russian general, watching from on high against Newcastle, one couldn’t help but feel an untimely outburst was on its way, but Sullivan would do well not to send Grant to the Gulag just yet. As co-chairman David Gold recently pointed out, having attained a mere 35 points last term, the Hammers should technically be a Championship side, and as both chairmen did a good job of unsettling Gianfranco Zola and his side to the brink of relegation last season with their ill-advised vitriol, Grant should be given time to fashion his team and instil his tactics without interference.

FAITH

This is applicable to everyone at and around the club. Being booed off on Saturday was not as a consequence of our league position (I don’t think anyone thought, after last season’s debacle that this one was going to be a walk in the park), the booing was principally due to the manner of the defeat. West Ham played like a lower league club, and were beaten at a canter by a side, who come the business end of the season, the Hammers will be jostling for places with. I don’t in any way condone the booing of your own team, but after Saturday’s performance the 34,000 who turned up were wholly justified with their reaction at the end of the match. That said, West Ham look nervous playing in front of the Upton Park faithful, perhaps fearing the rebuttal if they fail to perform, and this showed, especially when they were 1-0 up. With captain Matthew Upson telling the club’s website that he “absolutely understands the fans”, adding “On Saturday we let ourselves down and did not get the result we needed at home to move forward” perhaps the players should be given another chance to prove their worth on the pitch. So with this in mind, it is imperative everyone at the club gets 100% behind the team, starting with the Carling Cup match at the Boleyn Ground against Stoke on Wednesday evening.

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