Goodbye, Alan Curbishley

The first managerial departure of the season came today as Alan Curbishley resigned his post as West Ham manager. Curbishley had been at or near the top of the list of managers speculated to go, along with Newcastle boss Kevin Keegan, so this bit of news shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone.

However, the reason for it is very interesting. Managers typically resign or are forced to resign when their teams aren't playing well on the field and not living up to expectations. That's not the case here, though; it's still early in the season but West Ham is in 5th place, having taken six points out of nine and advancing to the 3rd round of the Carling Cup. Curbishley has taken a lot of heat over the years for mediocre finishes at Charlton Athletic and West Ham, some of it fair, but it's important to remember (and this has been vastly overlooked) that he guided West Ham out of the relegation zone (with the considerable help of Carlos Tevez) in 2006-2007 and may have been leading the Hammers in Europe this season if it wasn't for the horrific rash of injuries to his first team last year. All-in-all, Curbishley did a fine job at West Ham.

His authority was undermined, however, at the end of this summer's transfer window and that was the final straw. West Ham sold Anton Ferdinand, still a promising young center back, and George McCartney, who started every league game last season for West Ham at left back. Craig Bellamy was offered publicly as well, though no one came in and made a serious move for the injury-prone striker. Curbishley didn't seem to have any say in those decisions, and even though a manager's primary task is to lead the team he has at that moment, it's still important for him to at least be involved in incoming and outgoing transfers. After all, he's the one who has to put a squad on the field.

I can't blame Curbishley for leaving. A lack of trust and cohesion had developed between himself and the front office, and that's not healthy for either party. His resignation looks better for him personally than him being fired, which may have happened soon anyway if the oddsmakers were right. He can walk away with his head held high while West Ham looks worse as a club for taking crucial bits of control away from the man who really needed it most.

Premiership Preview--10. West Ham

I think it would come as a surprise to many to know that West Ham, not Middlesbrough, not Aston Villa, not any of the promoted clubs, had the highest average of English players in their starting lineups (6.61/11) in the 2007-2008 Premiership season. That surprise symbolizes a commonly-held feeling towards West Ham from outside those associated with the club in one form or another: apathy.

West Ham is the fourth club in London, behind Chelsea, Arsenal, and Tottenham, and ahead of the likes of Fulham, Crystal Palace, Millwall, Charlton Athletic, and QPR. Their status behind those bigger teams means they’re often overlooked by the masses, and the fact that they haven’t won anything lately like those three have only makes matters worse. West Ham flies under the radar; they’re good for an upset or two every season like we saw last year with Manchester United and Liverpool and the year before with United on the final day of the season, but the fact of the matter is they’re a middling Premiership club in a city with tons of other entertainment options, sporting and non-sporting.

This ignorance is a shame, too, because West Ham has fantastic supporters and, at least in my opinion, one of the best, most charming stadiums in the country. The club fights a constant battle to escape the broad shadows left by their North London rivals and Chelsea in the western part of town. The only thing that will get them more exposure outside of East London is success. Until then, interesting statistics like the one I led this preview with aren’t going to be associated with West Ham, simply because the team itself isn’t one of the first that comes to mind when you’re talking about soccer in England.

West Ham finished 10th last year and had an outside shot at qualifying for the UEFA Cup until the final two months of the season, when they essentially packed it in because there was just no way they could vault the four or five teams necessary to make it into Europe.

Manager Alan Curbishley acquired Swiss international Valon Behrami from Lazio in the Hammers’ only big move so far this summer. I dedicated a post to this signing the day it occurred (July 23) so you can check the archives for more detailed analysis of it, but in brief, bringing the young, versatile winger in was a good move for West Ham. He adds Champions League experience to a club that has tasted nothing positive in European competition in a long while, can play either flank and right back if necessary, and stands out from the plethora of wide midfielders already employed by the team.

A few spare parts have left Upton Park; Nolberto Solano was released by Curbishley as he was excess to requirements after Behrami was signed, Bobby Zamora was likely going to be fourth on the striker’s depth chart with the return from injury of Craig Bellamy, and despite John Paintsil’s quality play at the international level for Ghana, he couldn’t break into the starting lineup at right back for West Ham with Lucas Neill on the roster.

Curbishley lost some depth players and really only added Behrami, but this is one of the deepest first team rosters in the Premiership already, so not much tooling around was necessary. The main issue with West Ham, and it's been a huge problem for the past couple of seasons, is the number of injuries suffered by key players. Bellamy missed most of last year with nagging problems in multiple areas. Kieron Dyer’s right leg was broken in two places in only his second competitive game with the club. Julien Faubert’s ruptured Achilles tendon prevented him from making his first appearance until January 12, and he also was plagued by nagging injuries even after that game. A knee injury to Scott Parker cost him two months in the winter (Dec. 29 - Feb. 23). Freddie Ljungberg missed two weeks in January with a hamstring problem, and the list goes on and on.

When everyone is healthy, which is no guarantee with the players on this team, West Ham’s strongest area is midfield. If you’ll notice, all of the injured players I just mentioned are midfielders, aside from Bellamy, and yet capable replacements like Luis Boa Morte, Lee Bowyer, and Matthew Etherington filled in nicely. Mark Noble and Hayden Mullins are steady in the center of the pitch, and those two should again feature in the middle. Parker is a nice asset to have there as well. There’s never been any question of his ability, it’s just been a matter of staying healthy. Faubert and Dyer are capable on the flanks, though it’ll be interesting to see how much (if at all) their injuries from last season will slow them down in the future.

Projected Starting Lineup (4-4-2):
GK: Robert Green

RB: Neill (captain)
CB: Matthew Upson
CB: Anton Ferdinand
LB: George McCartney

RMF: Behrami
CMF: Mullins
CMF: Noble
LMF: Boa Morte

ST: Dean Ashton
*ST: Bellamy

West Ham opens the season in ridiculously easy fashion with an eight-game stretch that could launch the Hammers near the top of the table if they take care of business like they should. They’ll welcome Wigan, Blackburn, Newcastle, and Bolton to Upton Park while traveling to Manchester City, West Brom, Fulham, and Hull City. Six wins in these games is realistic, and even seven isn’t too daunting given the opponents. This is probably the easiest run of fixtures any Premiership team will see all season — no exaggeration.

The schedule balances out, of course, and West Ham will play Arsenal (home) and Manchester United (away) in a two-day span in late October. Starting in early November and lasting all the way to the turn of the new year, the Hammers will face six clubs competing in Europe this season in a nine-game stretch, including Portsmouth twice, with a game at Sunderland and another against Stoke City in East London over that period as well.

That game with Stoke is the first of four in a row that should be pretty straightforward for West Ham. Three of the four are at home — Stoke, Fulham, Hull — and the other is at Newcastle.

Curbishley’s side then closes out the season with five tough games in six overall, with dates at Tottenham, Aston Villa, and Everton going along with home games against Chelsea and Liverpool.

Remember, West Ham has developed a tendency to play very well against big-name, high-profile opposition and follow up those great performances with absolute duds in games they should win. That long run of matches to begin the season will tell me a lot about this team. If they do well, maybe 5-2-1, 6-2-0, 7-0-1, something like that, I’ll begin to take West Ham much more seriously.

Bottom Line: I just said it — West Ham will set the tone for their whole season with the way they start. If they bottle it in those games, any potential upset over a top team is meaningless to me because it’s just a flash in the pan. The Hammers need to show some consistency, and that starts with staying healthy, the other key to their season. Unfortunately, a lot of the players on this team are prone to getting hurt — Parker and Bellamy chief among them. They have enough quality on the roster to make a push towards Europe, but anything like last year’s injury woes will set them back too far.

Update (08/06): Freddie Ljungberg and West Ham agreed to mutual termination of the player’s contract today, so obviously he won’t be in the starting lineup like I’d originally projected when I wrote this article last night. In his place, I’m moving Behrami over to the right and inserting Luis Boa Morte.

*Update (08/07): Bellamy has just picked up yet another injury and will miss the first few weeks of the season. Insert Carlton Cole into Bellamy’s spot alongside Ashton.

Premiership Lookalikes

They say that everyone in this world has someone who looks exactly like them. Well, these gentlemen may not be the people who that nice little saying refers to, but for me, it's a good start. Feel free to think of some more Premiership figures who look like American celebrities. Players or managers, I don't care. Ready, set, go!


1. Steve Bruce (Birmingham City) and Jay Leno (Tonight Show)



2. Alan Curbishley (West Ham) and James Denton (Desperate Housewives)..well, maybe an older James Denton..

Scott Parker to West Ham

Former Newcastle captain Scott Parker has signed a 5 year, $13.9 million US contract with West Ham as he reunites with his old manager at Charlton Athletic, Alan Curbishley. Parker had his eye on a return to London with the new management taking over at Newcastle and seemed especially eager to rejoin his first professional manager and in the end, he got his wish.

Parker is only 26 years old and looks set to replace England U-21 captain Nigel Reo-Coker in the center of West Ham's midfield. West Ham have to like this tradeoff as they get a relatively inexpensive, tenacious tackling, hardnosed midfielder and lose a player who was going to command a high salary on the open market and didn't seem to want to play for them anyway.

All in all, West Ham have acquired a player who will bring some grit and fire to the team but most importantly, one who actually wants to be there. He was a captain last season and the leadership he will bring to that club will be invaluable as West Ham look to build off a strong finish to last season.