When Push Comes to Shove

I think my brother summed it up best upong hearing the news; “Oh well”. Indeed, the inevitable has finally happened, oh well.

Perhaps a little sooner than expected but realistically, noone could say they didn’t see this one coming. Despite a relatively easy first few weeks of the new Premiership season, Curbishley never really had a chance. Statistics show that this was West Ham’s best start in 9 years, but of course statistics only scratch the surface. Performances had barely improved on last season and quite frankly, West Ham could easily have been with barely more than a point had their finishing not been so clinical. Then again my grandmother would have been a bus if she was red and had four wheels. Shoulda coulda woulda.

The fact is however, that the reasons for Curbishley’s position becoming so untenable date back much further than simply some unrest after last season’s parking up in 10th place in October and staying there. The media’s been very quick to jump on the backs of West Ham fans for being unreasonable and a lot of what’s being banded about is simply not true.

Firstly, i think if you asked the majority of West Ham fans at this season their feelings on Curbishley, they would have told you the same thing. Skeptical, but give him time. Moreso, the apparent conflict between him and the board if anything galvanised the support of the fans behind Curbishley, sympathising with his position. But fans were still skeptical. This doesn’t mean the fans necessarily wanted rid, but they weren’t sure. Consider this:

• That relegation season when he took over. He “saved” us. No he didn’t in my opinion. It may be incredibly cynical of me, but quite frankly i think Curbishley got lucky that season. For weeks we continued to play incredibly poorly. Maybe this was him turning it around (Hell, I gave Pardew 2 years to get us out and he more than did that), but there’s two main reasons i don’t buy into this. One, the baffling exclusion of Carlos Tevez from the starting lineup for weeks (and the sale of Mascherano). Curbishley (or Day, i forget) actually said they didn’t know what the fans saw in Tevez until they actually started him around the Spurs game. That’s pretty incompetent if you ask me.
  Two, there’s too many reports of Curbishley’s man management being appalling. If there’s someone to  lift a dressing room, it’s not him. Now I get angry enough when Carlos Tevez is given 100% credit, because the additions of Lucas Neill and Mark Noble were just as important in keeping us up. And Lucas Neill is the key here. Say what you like about his character, the supposed 60k he earns, but he really does seem a fantastic captain, he’s been handed it everywhere he’s gone. I’m pretty sure his work to galvanise the team was invaluable.

• Curbishley’s never looked fantastic in the transfer market. Sure Upson has been a revelation, Neill’s was fantastic in the survival year. But the Ljungberg saga, Dyer, Parker, Davenport, Nigel Quashie. I’m not saying this should get him sacked, but it’s a reason to be skeptical