Can Avram grant salvation to Hammers?

ONE cynic at half-time in the Britannia Stadium press room wondered aloud if it would be a “particularly good result” if West Ham won the game when Avram Grant wasn’t there (the Israeli coach missed the match because of his observance of Yom Kippur).

The inference – and it’s not the exclusive preserve of media hacks: many Hammers’ fans feel the same way – is that Grant is the wrong man for the job. Yet the majority of travelling fans seemed happy when their team held off a Stoke comeback to take their first Premier League point. It may still be West Ham’s worst start to a season but the trip to the Stoke yielded at least a few hopeful signs.

Yes, Robert Green remains a liability. Before either team had scored, the former England goalkeeper hopelessly fumbled a Jermaine Pennant free kick and Robert Huth should have scored instead of hitting the post.