Reading Hammerfan's recent post about rumours linking Curbs with Reading FC (unlikely until he gets his compo) set me thinking. Why did Hammers fans universally dislike Curbs? His record last season was the same as Zola's is this season after 36 games. Curbs left us in 4th place and we have since slipped backwards from his target of top 8. Curbs was an ex-West Ham player and had been brought up in the East End, plus he had a record of distinguished service in the Premiership keeping Charlton in there. Surely that was a recipe for a long and successful relationship as West Ham's manager?
To Eggert Magnusson, Curbs must have seemed like manna from heaven after discovering the incumbent, none other than players' wife shagging (reputedly!) Pardew with a “Reo-cancer in the dressing room,” was floundering. Relegation was staring our new Icelandic owners in the face and does anyone even dare to think how significantly worse our financial fortunes could have been had we been relegated? But that's another subject...
Was it just that we had been promised exciting times and a route to Champions League football and then got 'safety first' Curbs? Possibly, but I suppose Eggy was right to appoint a safe pair of hands at that time as he did actually save us but, it was a close run thing. For me, Curbs then promised a period of stability and that was what he delivered in our second season of Icelandic ownership. I was ready and happy to give him an extra season to change things for the better but, he decided to resign after 4 games just as it seemed we were on a self-destruct path by selling players over his head.
I believe Curbs was disliked mainly because of the poor quality of football. He had learnt to play a cautious game of defensive football with 9 or 10 players behind the ball and hitting teams on the break at Charlton. That style also suited Darren Bent who has only average skills in my opinion, but he's quick and pacey, troubling slower defenders. Thank goodness we did not waste £18m on him. Well done Spurs but that's another story.
Curbishley's style of play is just not the West Ham way. I believe that the team we had under Curbs in 2007/8 was not as good as the team we have had for the majority of the current season. Faubert, Bowyer, Mullins, Etherington, Ljungberg, Anton, McCarthy et al, have not been missed yet were regulars under Curbs. Mind you, Tristan and Di Michele are hardly stars either but I am looking at the season as a whole.
I do believe Curbs was right though. Had we played an open, attacking game at that time, it would have seen us struggle with relegation again. Curbs could have carried off our defensive game plan had he taken his poor PR into consideration. I don't think he realsied how poorly he came across in the media. He was used to Charlton fans being grateful to him for keeping them in the Premiership and expected us West Ham fans to be just as grateful for doing the same for us. We weren't because we expected something else! Had Curbs communicated better instead of being such a misery, he could have carried our support more. His constant excuses and moans painted him into a corner where he was seen as a miserable sod without any ambition beyond 40 points.
I don't know a single Hammer that would argue that Curbs was a better manager than Zola. Yet after 36 games played, we are on exactly the same number of points as we were under Curbs last season! That's right – Curbs did equally as well as Zola has this season with a weaker squad. The differences are that firstly, Zola still gets 9 players behind the ball but calls it attacking football because it is all about the way we build out of defence. Curbs way was to boringly hit space behind opposition defenders for a fast forward like Darren Bent to run onto. We now build and retain possession which is far more pleasurable to us Hammers brought up under managers like Greenwood, Lyall and to a lesser degree, the younger Harry Redknapp. Secondly, Curbs constantly made excuses about injuries when to most Hammers, they were self-inflicted because he signed injury prone players and appointed an ex-Charlton medical team clearly unable to cope and with a history of injury crises behind them.
Again though, there hasn't been that much difference in reality. I understand that none of the ex-Charlton medical team has actually left the club yet their fortunes have now been transformed where they are now seen as the epitome of sports injury management. We have merely brought in senior pros from Italy to manage them better! We have still had several injuries to key players this season although not quite as numerous as under Curbs. The big difference is that Zola gets on with it in as positive a frame of mind as anyone could imagine. He has motivated the team really well even though the players clearly know the limitations of Tristan and Di Michele as well as us fans do. It must be extremely difficult for Zola to do that and keep speaking positively about players that are not fit to lace his boots, yet he does it with that constant smile on his face. Superb!
So it seems that little of substance has really changed at our club yet there is a definite feel good factor about the place despite having to watch Tristan and Di Michele lately. They are the biggest let down, yet no-one calls for Zola to be sacked because we know it is a result of a bankrupt Chairman and not the manager's fault. Yet it was Zola that bought Savio, a 19 year old unproven record signing at the time we needed a direct replacement for Bellamy. We forgive him that and any other errors because we can see the guy is really trying hard for us and is the best manager we are likely to get considering our potless state, waiting for new owners to arrive.
I guess it is all a question of style. Something Italians naturally seem to excel at. Our manager has style in the way he always speaks positively and always wears a smile. We have style going forward and I've noticed the fans of other clubs and commentators agreeing that we are looking good on the field. No-one misses Curbs but no-one should have the bad grace to wish him anything but well in my opinion. He at least gave Zola the platform from which we have definitely progressed in everything except statistics.
In summary, the only change since Curbs left has come about from the positive nature of Zola and the style of play. For that we are developing an adoration of Zola's methods and skills as a manager. Curbs got us just 1 point in the last two games of 2007/8 season. Let’s hope Zola can improve on that at home to Boro next week!
Come On You Irons!
Billbanksy
Actually Bill, Curbishley's record was better; remember he got us 6 of those 48 points this season!
ReplyDeletewhat football have you preferred? I think we all know the answer to that don't we...
ReplyDeletei would agree with you about savio, i think we did need a quick replacement striker asap after he "left", but to be honest i don't think hes done that bad of a job. hes had about 2 or 3 starts and the rest of his peformances were late of the bench. so i don't think you can blame him. also, havent seen much of stanislas lately, all the hype around him has gone a bit quiet, so can you say hes really done any beter than savio...i think not. as for the recent everton game, i was thoroughly dissapionted with our performance. our only highlight was the kovac goal...for a team who are trying to reach europe and at the same time playing "attacking football", i really do think we should have got more goals...oh well.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the records are similar, under Zola I feel like we are building something. Under Curbishley we just seemed to be existing. I would also defend the signing of Savio, who is only 19 and will get better. I might get shouted down but if we had done what WBA should have done last summer and offered Kevin Phillips a contract we would have been higher up. Phillips would have been ideal to come off the bench and would provide far more than DDM and Tristan put together. He would have been the finisher we need - not a long term solution but a decent stop-gap who knows where the goal is. We need to sign a predator this summer or next season could be a struggle....
ReplyDeleteDear old Curbs. West Ham thru and thru but................the football he played was like watching paint dry. It was negative, restricting creative players to become boring and frustrated and really tedious for us fans. Look at the players he brought in ffs. Sure he secured Prem football for us and I thank him for that, but the way his teams played bored most true fans into some form of early death.
ReplyDeleteZola and Clarke [they cannot and should not be seperated when spoken of] have performed an outstanding job. They have brought good, young players with excellent potential. They have developed and motivated existing players so that they are almost unrecognisable as the same players that turned out for bluebottle. They have gradually introduced academy players into the first team and because of this effort, we have a sensational opportunity ahead of us.
Next season will be an unbelivable ride for all West Ham fans. We are on the cusp of really exciting times, on the edge of success beyond what any of us have experienced. But more, much more, we will do it all the West Ham way, something we could never of achieved under Curbs.
Hello there, as a Charlton fan I would say that Curbs got a bit of a reputation for his football based on this last 2 years at Charlton. When we first went up and for a couple of years after, particularly with Parker & Jensen in the team we were playing some nice stuff. I think that is where he ultimately wants to get his team, but his natural caution can take over a bit. Towards the end of his time at Charlton I think the fans expectancy was above what we could have realistically achieved and things went a bit flat.
ReplyDeleteAnon 10:18 - That's the whole point mate. You reckon watching Curbs team playing was like watching paint dry but the stats tell us his teams scored more goals than Zola and Clarke's! Don't you think that's strange? Curbs promised us top 8 this year - something Zola and Clarke are unlikely to achieve even if we beat Middlesbrough. Did you really expect us to play better football with Faubert, Bowyer, Mullins, Etherington, Ljungberg, Anton and McCarthy in the side? If I had them in my team I'd play defensively as well but let's not kid ourselves, Zola and Clarke play defensively now and we have to as we average less than a goal a game under their management! How many of Curbs' signings never worked out then? Quashie and Faubert I suppose? Bellamy got sold at £6m profit. McCartney got sold at £4-5m profit or was he Pardew's signing? Parker we could have sold at £8m profit but decided to keep him. Upson's now an England regular and Neill is our captain. Even Faubert went to Real Madrid for £1.5m loan and Davenport will probably fetch £2m this summer. Every manager makes some mistakes with players but I was sure once we had a better squad Curbs would have opened up our play. Zola and Clarke are good but so was Curbs. I truly believe we would have easily qualified for Europa League while Zola was still making mistakes while learning the ropes. I hope we can make the signings this summer that makes Zola the legend he could easily become at Upton Park.
ReplyDeleteBillbanksy
This is one of the better articles on this site and I am glad to see that it hasn't been shouted down yet.
ReplyDeleteI am pleased with Zola and Clarke but will not, unlikely many so called Hammers fans, rubbish Alan Curbishley. First and foremost, he saved us from relegation. Say what you will about the players, Curbs was the manager and made the decisions.
We then achieved a respectable position in the league last year. We had terrible injuries and Curbs must shoulder part of the blame as he bought players who were injury prone.
Both Curbs and Zola have shown faith in Cole and we really do miss him now.
However, it must be said that when Curbs had a full squad to pick from his football was fairly attacking. Towards the end of the almost relegation season he attacked and remember Reading away? There are others I am sure but under Zola I am sure that we will probably play more pleasing football on the eye.
Don't knock Curbs. He is West Ham through and through, kept us in the PL and doesn't deserve to be rubbished.
surely people like the slick fluent passing were playing now its great the real west ham way zola i think has done quite well so far but i think its important he keeps clarke as number 2
ReplyDeleteYep Zola has more respect in the game and the football is better. Looking forward to next season already. Curbs was a afe pair of hands. Zola is the way forward.
ReplyDeleteI cannot believe we are revisiting this 'debate'. Curbs is a mediocre manager (at best!) whose time has been and gone. We are playing the best football we have played for years and with a bit more luck in front of goal and a lot more luck with injuries we'd have scored plenty. The important thing, actually, is that we are a much tougher proposition defensively (recent lapses aside) and with that platform we have more chance of building something long term, which surely is the point of all this.
ReplyDeleteCurbs is history. Let it go.
i do agree that Zola is alot better, but personally, i wanted Curbs to stay until xmas this season simply because i believed he deserved it. Bit off the point now, but i fear that Clarkey will leave fairly soon to become a manager and we wont have a magician to replace him. We are lucky to have two great managers at the helm, as Clarke may aswell be our second manager.
ReplyDeleteDa Don. It isn't good enough to say "with a bit more luck in front of goal and a lot more luck with injuries we'd have scored plenty." Curbs could say the same because he had a far worse injury crisis to contend with but that's my whole point in writing the article. We all feel good about Z&C yet Curbs record was actually better! Curbs was not a "mediocre manager" but he was a miserable sod and had a bad PR about himself. Zola and Clarke have not been playing "the best football for years". It just seems that way but we still get 9 & 10 men behind the ball as Curbs did but now try to build with short passes. The best football comes from finishing off those passing movements and we have not been doing that with any kind of regularity.
ReplyDeleteBillbanksy