Hapless Hammers need swift results

ALAN CURBISHLEY has a major job on his hands — possibly the biggest of his managerial career — to stop West Ham’s troubled season from spiralling out of control.

The Hammers were booed off at Upton Park and taunted with chants of “you’re not fit to wear the shirt” after being dumped out of the FA Cup with a toothless performance against Watford.

Curbishley did succeed in establishing Charlton in the top flight after they were relegated – but the need for Premiership survival is greater now than ever before.

The millions available from the new television contract, a huge attraction for chairman Eggert Magnusson and the new owners, make survival imperative.

But the team, bereft of confidence and badly disrupted by injuries, have only beaten Brighton in their last eight games.

West Ham are stuck in a desperate cycle of failure which Curbishley admits must somehow be broken this week, when the Hammers face Liverpool and Aston Villa.

He said: “When you are in the bottom three you start to panic when you are 1-0 down, because you are chasing the game and you have to change the course of the game.

“But you also panic when you are 1-0 up because you just want the game to end and you sit back defending that lead.

“Confidence is a major factor – the fans’ confidence, the players’ confidence — and we have got to get it back by winning some games. The only solution is to get results. Do results breed confidence or does confidence breed results? Either way, we have got to get there.

“The people who go out against Liverpool on Tuesday have an opportunity. That is the way we have to look at it.”

To add injury to insult, West Ham are set to be without new signing Lucas Neill, who lasted just 48 minutes before hobbling off with a rolled ankle.

“That is just par for the course at the moment,” said Curbishley.

West Ham had their chances against Watford – Bobby Zamora hit the crossbar in the opening minute and Christian Dailly had a header cleared off the goal-line — before Roy Carroll missed his punch and Anthony McNamee punished them with an acrobatic bicycle kick.

Curbishley said: “I can’t ask much more. I know the fans will complain and say ‘what is he on about?’ But the players tried their hardest.

“This is a very demanding crowd and you have to be able to play in front of them. We mustn’t get too down. We did want to put a run together. We beat Brighton, we drew with Fulham and Newcastle and we wanted to keep it going so the players could go home feeling happy. Now they have got to pick themselves up for Liverpool.”