Glenn Signs New Deal

West Ham United are delighted to announce that Glenn Roeder has signed a new three year contract, and the Hammers boss declares: the hard work has barely begun.

MD Paul Aldridge says:

"Glenn's extended contract underlines the esteem in which he is held by everyone at the club and provides the continuity which is part of West Ham United's proud tradition.

"His judicious spending in the transfer market, and the respect he commands from players, staff and fans alike, not to mention the encouraging results he has achieved, have combined to make the decision to offer a new contract one that the board is delighted to take.

"The board has every confidence that the club is moving in the right direction under Glenn, and will continue to do so in future."

Glenn, who says the board showed "bravery" in appointing him in the first place, is more modest about his achievements thus far, and says:

"I am the last person in the world to blow my own trumpet - there is nothing to blow!

"There is a big job to be done, with a lot of work behind the scenes ongoing, and a lot of things need to be sorted out.

"But I am grateful and honoured that the chairman and directors have bestowed that responsibility on me over the next few years.

"I have really enjoyed the job so far and it goes without saying that the days are really enjoyable when you have good results and performances - but the defeats are the really big down side.

"I want to get my head down; I don't want to make too much fuss about it, but just get on with the task in hand."

Glenn's original deal now extends to the end of the 2004/2005 season, and he says:

"I am really looking forward to carrying on the job I have already started. It is not going to be finished overnight, but will take a period of time to work through, and while we are doing that we will look to improve things.

"We are all in the results business and that is what we work towards, but it is a big thank you to Terry Brown, the directors and the people that have shown faith in me.

"What I have to do is now return that faith, really get stuck into the job, and bring the results that the job requires.

"In this position you must always be looking to the next game, and get yourself in the best possible situation to win it; but you must also have half an eye on what is happening in the future, and there is a lot of hard work ahead."

Glenn is determined to carry on what he has started in his first seven months as boss, and he adds:

"I certainly want to be there to see it out; it is a wonderful opportunity and a fantastic club to be asked to work for, and to hold the highest position here is the ultimate for any young manager.

"I just feel that by signing a new contract, it gives me a lot more confidence to work even better. I am the sort of person that, if someone shows faith in me, they will get every last ounce out of me as a result, and I will continue to do that."

He stresses that he judges himself on results, and explains:

"What ultimately makes any football club is how good the team is, and my main job is to work as hard as I can in improving the team, improving the squad, and giving us the best possible chance to get the results we all want.

"I'd like to be able to do it overnight, I really would, but we are not in a position to be able to throw money at it. It is going to have to evolve more slowly than we would want it to, but the important thing is that at the end of each season we have made some progress.

"That is what I will be aiming to do and by hopefully being able to see out the course, by being able to stay a length of time and keep some continuity, which I think is always important, we will get there."

Glenn, appointed last June, has brought in eight new faces to the club so far - Sebastien Schemmel, David James, Tomas Repka, Don Hutchison, Vladimir Labant, Laurent Courtois, Sven Andersson and David Forde - and says:

"I'd worked with all the other players over the previous two years and I was given the Frank Lampard money and some more. Hopefully I've spent it wisely.

"That is what I must continue to do.b I try as hard as I can not to make any errors of judgement, because buying players is a very difficult business - it is not an exact science.

"Ultimately I want to improve the quality of the squad and gradually to increase the size of it, because we know we work with a senior squad that is far too small.

"But it will take time, and while that time is elapsing we have still got to get the results that we all want and we all need."

He says the players have helped him earn the new deal, adding:

"This would be a good opportunity to say how well I think the players have worked this year, under extreme difficulties at times.

"There are players that I have asked to come back from injury a little soon, such as Steve Lomas, who has done absolutely brilliantly.

"To be asked to come back after 70 minutes of reserve team football following a broken toe, and play the way he has, just sums up his character.

"I'm going to be asking the same of Ian Pearce; because of injuries and suspensions for the Middlesbrough game I have really got to try and get Ian up to speed for that game.

"I have seen how hard Ian has worked and I know how much he wants to get back into the first team action as soon as possible.

"Hopefully we will be able to get him ready and able to do the job in a fortnight's time."

He says the non-regulars also deserve praise and adds:

"There are a few players that hadn't featured in the first team for various reasons last year, but they have all come back onside, and they are all working hard.

"Paul Kitson and John Moncur are two players who haven't featured too much last season but I have included them a lot more and they have done really well when they have come in.

"A lot of credit has to be given to all the players; it is easy to remember the ones that people write about week in, week out in the media, but there are a lot of lads that have really done well for the club this year."

And he reserves a special mention for one man who has overcome his critics.

"Christian Dailly is an example," he says, "he had a difficult time when he first came to the club, but this season he has been a model of consistency - and a little bit of an unsung hero."

And he says that those behind the scenes have worked tremendously hard as well, explaining:

"It has been a team effort, and in that I include the backroom staff who have worked really well with me.

"I brought Paul Goddard back to West Ham; he has been an excellent acquisition for the club and he is a very good man as well as being good at his job.

"Roger Cross has done brilliantly and has backed me all the way; he works hard with those youngsters, a job that I used to do, and has got on with his work like the professional he is.

"He has been in the game a long, long, while, and we include Roger in everything. Paul, Roger and I work as hard as we possibly can, and their contribution has helped me to secure a new contract.

"Hopefully we can all look forward to working together over the next few years to make everything that much better, which is what we all want.

"Of course, at academy level, Tony Carr, Jimmy Hampson and Peter Brabrook can be trusted to work hard, and I don't interfere with them at all.

"They continue to produce young players for the first team, which is the lifeblood of this club; they must bring youngsters to the first team squad - that is their goal, and their job.

"Tony Carr's record of bringing young players through is as good as anyone in the country but obviously I still need him to do that.

"Although I don't see much of them now I know they are getting on with the task of bringing young players through, and hopefully there are one or two to come through in the next year or so.

"John Green and his medical staff have also played a hugely important role this season, and it is important that their good advice is listened to; they work tirelessly to get the players fit and strong, along with John McCarthy on the sports science side of things, and others.

"The scouting team led by Ted Pearce is also an integral part of the club, and vital to the future of our success.

"We have made some slight changes, hopefully for a better working environment, and I am obviously very happy to be given the mandate to carry on working over the next few years, which I am looking forward to."

The key to success, says Glenn, is getting everyone working as a team, and he adds:

"It is like being in a boat with oars; we have all got to row in the same direction, and if one person starts rowing in the opposite direction you are not going to progress the way you want to.

"We have all got different roles to fulfil at the football club - but we all must be working towards the ultimate aim, which is improving the team.

"If the team improves I believe the club improves; the team must come first - for me the football team is everything, and it is my job to improve that by dealings in the transfer market, hopefully an ability to coach players, and by bringing everyone together to work in the same direction.

"We mustn't have anyone in the team or the backroom staff not all pulling together, and that is what we are all trying to do."

As for the short term, he insists:

"Slowly but surely we think we are making progress but there is still an awful lot of work to do in the next 12 games.

"We are trying to get as many points as we can as quickly as we can; we know it is going to be difficult, and although they say it is tight at the top, it is tight everywhere this season.

"We really need to keep our noses to the grindstone, not take our eye off the ball, and if we do that hopefully when there are any breaks going the breaks go your way - and then you try to improve again next year."

He says the board do share Glenn's aims, and insists:

"Their ambition is certainly there; they want us to be a successful side but they also know with certain financial restrictions it can't be achieved quickly.

"It is going to have to evolve slowly which, at times, will make things a little bit uncomfortable.

"But, as I have said, as long as improvement is being seen to be made over a period of time, then hopefully no one will have any complaints."

Glenn is only West Ham's ninth manager, and he adds:

"It makes me very proud, but I try not to think too long and hard about that; I would like to be able to do well enough to stay a long time.

"I will always say when asked how am I doing I will always remember what Brian Clough said - 'I'm surviving'.

"All you can in this game as a manager is keep surviving and working hard to do that: stay focused and remain motivated and driven.

"I came on the back of a fair amount of opposition and I would like to be able to repay that bravery by doing a good job for the board.

"As for the fans, I think they have been very fair to me; I really appreciate how reasonable they have been.

"I think they recognise that times are a little difficult at the moment, but I think as long as they see myself and the team working as hard as we can to make things better, they will always stand by us.

"As long as we keep putting plenty of sweat on that shirt and see what we are trying to do, I think they will stay with us.

"There is a tradition at West Ham that you have to try and fulfil, and that is to play attractive football, but it has to be winning football.

"You are always working to try and achieve both those aims; attractive football but result driven football as well."

And after his first winter in charge, what are his thoughts?

"I think seven months does seem a long time ago now, but I also believe it has flown by in many respects; we have crammed an awful lot of things in those seven months."