Hammers fans be careful what you wish for!

All those hammers fans who were calling for and happy to see the end of Alan Curbishley's 20 month reign as hammers boss would do well to look at the current predicament Charlton find themselves in. If Curbishley's biggest crime was being safe from relegation by easter and not playing exciting enough football then personally I’d happily take that.

As much as Zola's football principles are admirable they do not necessarily win you points, when Curbishley left at the beginning of September on the back of West Ham’s best win of the season – a 4-1 thrashing of Blackburn – the hammers had taken 6 points from their first 3 games of the season, not the worst start ever I think you’d have to agree.

With the bottom half of the premier league being so tight this season its now not looking like such a good move to put a managerial novice like Zola in charge. If the West Ham board appointed him for his style of football and potential then they have to be applauded, but I fear their motives were purely financial – trying to appoint a big name on the cheap – rather than investing in someone they are prepared to stand by while he completes his managerial apprenticeship potentially in the championship.

Zola’s football knowledge and style are second to none but I think it’s looking more like a situation for an experienced head at the moment, for Curbishley’s part he might not have played the most enthralling football ever seen at Upton Park but he would have been shrewd and canny enough to comfortably keep the Hammers up.

In a similar way to the Geordie fans it comes down to what you want. Do you want the same bland stale football every week with no relegation worries? Or do you want more flamboyant stylish potentially losing football? It’s very admirable to take on Man Utd, Chelsea and Arsenal toe to toe at playing football but your not going to come out on top very often, you need to adopt a more robust or defensive style and try to upset their rhythm, stop them playing and be a bit more canny like a Bolton or an Aston Villa side would, personally I don’t think West Ham have that know how - Alan Curbishley might have done though.

Best odds on the Hammers to be relegated is 11/4 withBetfred