Avram Grant insists that West Ham will not be relegated
West Ham United’s manager Avram Grant is full of optimism despite his team being at the bottom of the table in English Premier League.
Last week when Hammers managed to earn a surprise win over fellow Londoners Tottenham Hotspur, they did briefly go up in the table. However later on wins for Everton and Wigan Athletic once again pushed West Ham back to the bottom
of the pile. West Ham played Fulham over the weekend and earned a hard fought draw, but still remain in 20th place.
Avram Grant’s team will face Newcastle United next and after that Wolverhampton Wanderers who are also relegation threatened. The manager is adamant that his team will turn it around and come out of the drop zone.
"We are not a team to be on the bottom of the league," said Grant,
"We are not heading for relegation. We play football to be in a better place and we will do it."
The manager focused on any positive that his team could come up with; he referred to the spirited display in the London derby against Fulham where they showed a remarkable turnaround and did get an equaliser to share the spoils.
He said that it showed hunger for more and willingness to go out and get what they want. Grant said that his team is improving and will be able to come up with the goods during the course of the season.
"I was delighted to see the second half performance because one of the problems was that at 1-0 down everyone's head was down and everyone was feeling sorry for themselves - but we were stronger in the second half.
Avram Grant was in charge of Portsmouth last season when they dropped down to the championship. However he was also the man who took Chelsea to their only Champions’ League final and also one game away from the Premier League title
in 2008. The manager continued to lead the attack with Victor Obinna and Frederic Piquionne for the match against Fulham, while Carlton Cole, the England international had to be happy with a place on the bench.
The manager insists that his summer signing Benni McCarthy and Carlton Cole would come good for him later on in the season, and for now he would use them as impact players from the bench. The Israeli said that Obinna, the man who
he brought to the club on a season long loan from Inter Milan has a lot to learn about the English game. He said that the young man has plenty of talent but he has not come to grips with the quick style of English football, and does need some games to get
used to it.
The manager continued to point out the positives from a season that has not gone exactly according to plan. Grant said that Piquionne (the man he brought with him from Portsmouth) has been impressive this season, the front man
has scored 3 goals in 3 games and is looking good.
West Ham United has been a club that has mostly been in the shadows of its much more accomplished London neighbours. Clubs like Arsenal and Chelsea have been a class above for decades, but in recent times clubs like Tottenham and
Fulham have also managed to build up a significant amount of distance between themselves and the Hammers.
Avram Grant reiterated that there is enough time in the season left, and not only would his team climb out of the relegation zone but would also be able to finish in top 10 of the league.
For now that seems very optimistic, but it would be interesting to see if Grant can actually manage not to become the first man in Premier League to lead 2 different sides to relegation in successive seasons.
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