Curbishley wants fans back on side

ALAN CURBISHLEY has told West Ham fans not to undermine the club’s bid for survival by targeting skipper Nigel Reo-Coker.

Reo-Coker, who has been linked with a move from Upton Park, received abusive mail after a slump in form this season which was held partly responsible for the departure of Alan Pardew as boss.

The 22-year-old was jeered by some supporters before Sunday’s clash against Manchester United, Curbishley’s first match as manager, but responded with the only goal of the game to breathe life into West Ham’s campaign.

The Hammers remained in the Barclays Premiership’s bottom three despite the victory over United, and Curbishley believes the fans have an important role to play in getting the club out of trouble.

“I think we’ve got to draw a line under the situation and I’m asking all the West Ham fans to get behind the team and get behind Reo-Coker as well,” said Curbishley.

“We’re not in the best of positions and we need to win some games to pull us away from the position we find ourselves in.

“So we need everyone pulling in the same direction — everyone coming to the games getting behind the team is what we need.

“There has been a lot said this week and a lot of headlines but we’ve got to start making headlines for other reasons, we got great press after the Manchester United result including Nigel.

“We’ve got to get out and do it on the pitch and we need the fans to support us off it.”

Reo-Coker’s agent, Tony Finnegan, had hinted the England Under-21 skipper was unhappy with the jeers from his own supporters, and Curbishley believes fans have the opportunity to get behind the captain on Saturday at Fulham.

“The players and everyone have got to get themselves out of it, which is why I’m calling on the fans to get behind everybody,” Curbishley added.

“I hope they do. We’ve taken all our end at Fulham on Saturday and I hope they make it the atmosphere that I’ve seen from afar and they get behind everyone.”

Curbishley insists Reo-Coker has not been affected this week despite the publicity surrounding the letter.

“It’s not such a big deal, even though there’s been a fuss about it,” he added.

“If I declared every abusive letter I got I’d be in the newspapers every other day. Who knows who sent it, we all get letters like that so let’s get on with it.

“I saw the letter — no-one signed it, no address and it was just about joined-up writing, so I didn’t read too much into it.”

He added: “It’s been a whirlwind few weeks and now we’re looking to settle down.

“I’m asking every West Ham fan who goes to Fulham on Saturday to get behind us and see if we can get a result there, because it would give us another big boost in getting out of the bottom three.”