CURBISHLEY: You're out, Anton
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ALAN CURBISHLEY told Anton Ferdinand he has no future at West Ham in a furious dressing room row. Boss Curbishley clashed with the England Under-21 star after SaturdayÂ’s 4-0 humiliation at Charlton. Angry Curbs told his flops several of them would be out the door this summer.
Ferdinand demanded he “name names” and Curbishley pointed at the defender and said “You!” The former Charlton manager then walked away from the dressing room to avoid further confrontation with his players.
The bust-up came after a defeat at The Valley that saw them slide below their relegation rivals. An Upton Park source said: “It is one thing after another — the team is in meltdown. “When the manager arrived, he probably did not realise the scale of the problems.” Morale at the club is an all-time low with the incident at The Valley the latest in a long line of rows involving the stricken side.
Curbishley fears he is losing the dressing room and has been appalled by the shocking attitude of some of the players. Despite gaining the dreaded vote of confidence on Saturday from new chairman Eggert Magnusson, Curbishley knows time is running out for him to turn the club around.
"There was more bad news for Curbs yesterday with star striker Dean Ashton not expected to play at all this season. Ashton broke his ankle during an England pre-season training session and only recently returned to light training. Despite being able to run gently, an increasingly-frustrated Ashton is still in great pain when putting pressure on the ankle.
If Curbishley does somehow survive, he will attempt to move on other players such as captain Nigel Reo-Coker, midfielder Hayden Mullins and striker Marlon Harewood. Defeat at home to Spurs on Sunday will all but condemn West Ham to Championship football next season. They are three points behind Charlton and just one ahead of bottom club Watford.
More importantly, they are now nine adrift of Wigan in 17th place. Charlton travel to Vicarage Road on Saturday for another relegation six-pointer. -
West Ham prepare to clear the decks as relegation looms
It is a mystery why consecutive managers appear to have lost the faith of the West Ham United players, but there is a consensus that there will be a clear-out in the summer. Some 15 players have joined the club since last summer and a complete team is likely to be shipped out before the start of next season.
The five players signed permanently in January are believed to have an escape clause in the event of relegation and Alan Curbishley, the manager, has identified at least the same number whom he would like to sell.
There is an air of resignation at Upton Park that the team are highly unlikely to claw back the nine-point gap to safety, but Curbishley will be given the chance to rebuild a team. He feels that he is being judged on the squad of Alan Pardew, his predecessor, even though he signed six players last month. But in that case he will have to make an excellent start in the first dozen matches of the next campaign or risk being under pressure immediately.
“If you look at our squad, we have got one hell of a team. If you put that [West Ham’s best team] out in any game then we give ourselves a chance as we have proved this season, but what we need to do is achieve that more regularly.”
Curbishley is likely to be able to pick his strongest defence against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, with Matthew Upson expected to recover from a calf injury to partner Calum Davenport. Lucas Neill is also expected to return from a knee injury. Davenport, who will be playing against the club that sold him last month, said that the players have reviewed the 4-0 defeat by Charlton Athletic on Saturday.
“It was unacceptable,” he said. “Maybe the first goal is offside, but once that’s gone in we basically crumbled. When we came out for the second half, I looked up and I couldn’t believe the fans were still there.” -
time for rebuilding.
and to start grooming more youngsters with better attitudes. -
yeah he has been playing badly lately. they need upson back
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Time for the Ferdinand brothers to unite at United.
Cheers.
C.K -
Charlton played too badly.. Need upson back and needs spirit to live up the expectations..
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its really sad to see West Ham ending up in this predicament that they're in now. They are known to produce & groom young talents.
anton was superb last season but some reasons, West Ham sprialled in their performance - i think the bringing in of Tevez and pal has some influence.
Its wise to clear the decks as relegation means less financial. Hence it will be prudent to trim costs and get rid of the old folks. But West Ham must keep their talents onboard - expect to see top & medium clubs come to do cherry picking - ppl like Anton, Reo-Cocker, Mullins, Etherington, Harewood are attractive assets. Oh, I am sure Tevez wants to go as well. Sheringham can retire not unless he wants to play some more in Div 1 or 2. -
Originally posted by turbo_drift:Charlton played too badly.. Need upson back and needs spirit to live up the expectations..
Curbs is not longer at Charlton leh, he's with West Ham now.
Cheers.
C.K -
lets c who go 1st. anton or curbishley.