Hammers fans curb their enthusiasm

AFTER narrowly avoiding relegation, most fans would celebrate a top-half finish with the sort of gusto usually reserved for Champions League winners.

But West Ham manager Alan Curbishley now finds himself under fire after a season of trying to cope with a devastating injury list and saw his side booed off the pitch after this scrappy win over doomed Derby.

Curbishley went into the game with 14 first-team players on the sick list but when he chose to substitute youngster Freddie Sears with Carlton Cole, the chants of “You don’t know what you’re doing” rang out at the Boleyn Ground.