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Football FanCast guest columnist Colin Woods is hopeful that West Ham learn from their mistakes of last summer and bring in the right calibre of player.

I remember my late father once saying to me, "Son if you are going to support the hammers, embrace yourself as it is never easy." It was not quite what I wanted to hear as I set off with him for my first ever game, but it's fair to say the old man had a point.

We have had our disappointment's that is without question and moments of adulation have been few and far between, but it has never stopped us believing that one day we will become a force, live up to our potential and finally challenge at the top end of the table on a regular basis.

I'm sure that I am one of many hammers fans that thought our time had come, when the Icelandic consortium moved in and all our previous limitations seemed a thing of the past. There was a new vibrancy around the place, belief that we could now compete financially and the common practice of selling of our best players confined to the past. Curbishley now had a seemingly open chequebook and we all waited and wondered who would arrive last summer.

All in all I don't think there were many West Ham fans that were over the moon about the arrivals last summer. Sure the likes of Scott Parker and Julien Faubert were considered excellent acquisitions; however there were certain question marks around the signings of Dyer, Ljungberg and Bellamy. All very good players when fit, but that is just it. It was a massive gamble by Curbs that backfired and that is why I refute any claims by the manager that last year we were unlucky with injuries, what did he really expect?

It is vital that we don't make the same mistakes this summer if Curbs has any hopes of being in the job come next year. He has an experience guy in Nani alongside him who will hopefully assist in bringing in the right calibre of player. There was a time at West Ham where you had to accept the clubs limitations, due to financial constraints however no such problems now exist so in my eyes, there is no longer an excuse - it is time we stepped up.

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KUMB
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Totally agree but my big
Totally agree but my big concern is whether Curbs is a big enough pull for top players.

Thurrock
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I dont think that Curbs will
I dont think that Curbs will be in charge come the start of the season.

Syd
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I will move for Darren Bent,
I will move for Darren Bent, he will be an absolute sensation alongside Ashton, Im confident that we will do well next season.

Staines West Ham
Picture of Staines West Ham
Totally agree I really hope
Totally agree I really hope curbs is not in charge come the start of the season. He was on ITV discussing the euros the other day and was so dull. He hasnt got the right character to bring in top players. Dyer, Ljungberg and Bellamy last year were all excess to requirments by their clubs - when was the last time we managed to compete for a player everyone wants like Bentley for example??

GJF
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Learn from last
Learn from last summer....Curbs is still there....he HAS to go if the club is going to move forward & up to the next level he's just so wrong in every dept for the club and its fans....GET RID or pay the price

scott
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croatia are now out of the
croatia are now out of the euros which means someone is probably now available to replace curbs. im so sure that this is going to happen. theres been nothing comin from west ham camp since the end of the season, i think they're waitin for this certain someone to start fresh.

Mr Moon
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Curbisley did a good job
Curbisley did a good job under very difficult circumstances last year. We had a lot of injuries, many of them to players that he didn't buy. I agree he made some poor signings, but at Charlton he never had the money to go out and buy players, so he's learning on the job. 3 seasons ago we were a 2-bob fizzy-pop side 2 seasons ago we had to beat Man U away to stay in the Premiership. Last season we finished in the top half of the table and above Spurs. This season - I hope we push on and challenge for Europe, but we have no automatic right to be there. Clubs like Villa, Newcastle, Blackburn have been building season after season. Maybe it's not that Curbs can't attract big players, maybe they just fancy their chances more at Everton or Pompey? You people need to get a grip. You sound like a load of Spuds fans.

OLAS Poet Loriet
Picture of OLAS Poet Loriet
To those who already peruse
To those who already peruse my offensive odes and scribbled rythmnical invectives (God Bless you all); hurled relentlessly at a certain Mr Curbishley, you will already have discerned my obdurate stance on this interminable conundrum. Let's face it, without stubborn prejudice, I think, as an avid Ammer's loonatic, I/We have 'already' afforded the div, A.C more than a fair crack of the whip. Well, it's not that I hold any personal grudge against the 'lemon', it's just that he's a complete cnut, snigger: a chocolate teapot in the highest degree. Can any of us seriously conceive of even the most hopeless of players (Steve - Ex Spuds - Carr) ever wanting to set foot near our beloved Boleyn, with this utter tossrag at the helm. No, I think not. I wanted, but having been used to being perenially dissapointed, to start this season on a positive note; but we just have to take a cursory glance at the initial fixtures to realise the possible/probable jeopardy that could await us if 'The Tedious One' is still precariously clutching the reigns. Without talking utter nonsense, and excluding any over-exuberance, we 'have to' and 'should be' certain of grabbing at least 19 point from the first 7 fixtures. Take a peak, they are all 'three point fodder'. My fear however, is that Curbs (who, thank funk, cannot play the Spectator consolidation tactic - Hooray!) will lead us headlong into an abysall chasm of failure, and will just follow on from where we signed off last season. Yeah, we certainly can't forget that load of cobblers - utter shite. Ummmm....losing/drawing or perhaps even winning very badly, and collecting just a meagre smattering of points from the aforementioned just won't cut it - there are no excuses with a now, at last, full squad. Well, that succintly is the clamity isn't it. I mean, 'that' happens, and within just SEVEN games of our new season, we, without veritable pessimism, are completely funked before we've even started !! Ergo, if the board have any common sense, and I happen to think they do (The hiring of that [*@!$] Kia, just to snub the Blunts, possible masterstroke chuckle), and hopefully they 'are' considering a 'Slavering Prospect'(You saw the caption here first, or maybe 'Up Yer Blunt', or something equally derogatory) or perhaps someone else, then let's at least do it NOW, and not wait for Droopy to completely funk it up 'again'. Nuff Said. Yours, currently 'bitin the Eds off whippets' :) D.J.E Comon You Irons ! P.S My apologies for the ungrammatical appearance, but this post doesn't seem to allow paragraphs.

OLAS Poet Loriet
Picture of OLAS Poet Loriet
No Offence, sincerely, but
No Offence, sincerely, but do you follow or even support West Ham ? I'd rather be in the apprehensive clutches of an 'exciting' relegation scrap than have to squander hard earned dosh to endure another tedious season of that utter drivel. I seem to recollect being fast asleep during the majority of last season's games, or attemting to count how many hairs were on the head of the fat, balding and equally bored-looking bloke in front of me. In fact, I think the NHS could have saved it's entire budget deficit, by transfering to video footage of Curbishley's current Ammer's reign as a more potently effective soporific than either anaesthetic or a good 15 mg infusion of valium. Perhaps you enjoy three 4-0 batterings on the bounce. Candidly, I'm of the opinion that it's a disgrace and completely inexcusable. Rovers, Barcodes, Villains ! - are you avin a Steffi ? Chuckle. All My Love D.J.E

dave
Picture of dave
Olas are you off your
Olas are you off your rocker.I for one want exciting football, but not a relegation scrap.Sort it out