Archive for March, 2008
West Ham board backs Curbishley
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West Ham manager Alan Curbishley has received the dreaded “vote of confidence” following three successive 4-0 defeats. (BBC) The Hammers sit in 10th position in the Premier League after heavy losses to Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham. “The board of West Ham recognise that recent results have been disappointing and frustrating for everyone connected to the club,” a statement said. “However, there is no question of Alan Curbishley’s future as manager being called into doubt.” West Ham’s squad has been hit by a series of injuries this season but the recent run of poor results have brought Curbishley’s management style under scrutiny.
The statement added: “Alan, his staff and the players have done well to put the club into the top half of the table, despite a massive injury list, and they have the full support of the board. “Of course, there are challenges to be met and further improvements needed to keep the club moving forward. “The board will work with Alan to ensure that the progress we have made is maintained and built on to deliver success and long-term stability for West Ham.” |
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3 x 0:4 = The Sack?
West Ham v Chelsea 0-4
Liverpool v West Ham 4-0
Tottenham v West Ham 4-0
Last season’s 29th game was against Spurs, too – West Ham lost 3:4 and started “the Greatest Escape” afterwards. The Hammers had only 20 pts. at the same time last year and stood on the last spot in the league table. Now they’ve got 40 pts and are 10th, hence this season has been twice as successful so far. Don’t forget the team had a great run with Curbs in charge last year. This season they beat ManU and Liverpool – and they won enough games to bring us in a position above Tottenham (so far) and miles away from the relegation mire.
But after these three defeats (0-12 !!!) everything will go south unless Curbs is able to motivate his squad and restore the confidence in the team. Though 6th place still is not too far away and could mean qualification for Europe (if England gets an extra ticket for the UEFA cup due to the “UEFA fair play table”) nobody should speak about Champions League and Europe anymore: this is ridiculous. What we need now is rebuilding West Ham’s pride and confidence whatever the final league position is. If Curbs is not able to change fortune now in order to add a good end to a “solid season” he has to be replaced. The next games will show.
Watching the Toon from a seat among the Gods
Peter Jones, a university classics lecturer, suddenly understands the abusive behaviour of his fellow Newcastle football fans
Last Saturday Newcastle United were thrashed at home 5-1 by Manchester United, plunging the Toon closer to relegation. The fans on the terraces were outraged. Abuse of their own team and their new manager, Kevin Keegan, filled the air. Was there pleasure at the supreme skills of Manchester’s Rooney and Ronaldo? No.
Why on earth do they come? The answer lies in the tone of voice in which the criticisms are expressed: it is the tone of those who have been personally insulted.
This sense of injured and affronted merit tells one everything one needs to know about the fans’ view of themselves, ie. that they, not the players, are the real gods – and pagan gods at that, who demand respect from their favourites, require offerings, punish disobedience and, most of all, do not countenance failure.
So the fans turn up week after week to ensure that their divine will is done. Players who fail them (forget the opposition, let alone the ref) are an insult to their dignity and deserve to be subjected to the full onslaught of their divine wrath.
These supporter-gods love their players. What more do those ungrateful wretches want? How dare they fail to come up with the right offering – a win?
It is true that the players earn in a week two or three times as much as the average fan earns in a year. But that makes attendance at the match all the more important. For those 90 minutes, every fan personally occupies the heavenly seat of judgment over (in his view) the most privileged mortals on earth, ready to offer them the full benefit of his Olympian advice, graciously to acknowledge his role in the team’s success and to grant them what only a god can – the glory of sporting immortality. All the players have to do is obey – and perform.
| “Players who fail are an insult to the fans’ dignity and deserve to be subjected to their divine wrath” Peter Jones, The First Post
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