Skippy: Hammers Will Bounce Back

Stan Lazaridis says he wishes he had never had to leave West Ham - and insists his former club will get off the bottom sooner rather than later.

'Skippy', who came and went in the reign of Harry Redknapp, returned to Upton Park for the first time since he left when he played for Birmingham City - whom he joined from the Hammers - before the international break.

"It was nice to go back there and nice for the fans to give me a very warm reception," he says, mindful of the applause he got from both sets of fans when he was substituted in the second half.

"It was appreciative and I was appreciative of them, obviously."

Stan, who came to east London from his native Australia, adds: "I love West Ham, to be honest; it is the club that gave me an opportunity when I came over very raw and I will never forget that.

"I didn't want to leave but in the end it was one of those where the all round decision was that I had to go and I was very sad.

"But moving on is part of the business and I just hope West Ham get themselves a couple of results soon.

"It is a good team with some great players and they are not going to get relegated if they play as we know they can.

"I just hope both of us survive this year!"

Despite the defeat of West Ham, and their position at the bottom of the table, he concedes that the Hammers' ambitions should be loftier than Brum's this season.

"It has obviously been a tough start and the first thing to look for is consolidation to the middle," he says. "Once you get there you then push on for the next hurdle.

"Our priority at Birmingham, to be honest, is just to avoid relegation and we haven't set sights on Europe or anything like that to be honest because we want to be sensible about it.

"If we stay up we can build on that next year when more money comes in to bring players to the club.

"West Ham is a great club and I wouldn't have picked it for them to be down there, but it is still very close - you get one or two wins on the spin and you are mid-table, then thinking about pushing on for Europe.

"I knew Glenn when I was at the club and he is a good manager; the nucleus of the team has stayed and as long as Paolo Di Canio, Trevor Sinclair, and Joe Cole are at the club something is always going to happen."

Of his victorious return to Upton Park - since redeveloped since he left, of course - he says: "The result for the Hammers wasn't good but we needed to win and with that two week break following it it put us in a good position again.

"I was just pleased to play because I hadn't started a league game.

"When they levelled they had a couple of chances when they probably dominated for the next 20 minutes after they scored.

"I think they had to score then, and if they had gone 2-1 in front, then I really couldn't have seen us coming back.

"But we counter attacked, did well, and in the end probably could have stretched the lead more especially after scoring just before half time.

"That was the icing on the cake for us and we knew that if we were sensible at the back we'd be okay on the break, and we could have ended up winning by three or four."

Of his time overall at Upton Park, and whether the West Ham fans saw the best of him, he says: "They probably saw it in bits and pieces but at Birmingham I had a pretty regular run until recently.

"I played a lot of good games and I suppose I played a lot of average games down there, but in the time I was here we finished 14th in my first year then 10th, 8th, and 5th so we always got progressively better - for me that was great, a sign of good things.

"We made the quarter finals of the FA Cup - losing to Arsenal in a penalty shoot-out - and the goal I scored against Newcastle was the best of a lot of good memories.

"I will never forget West Ham and I just wish the club and the players well."

As for whether or not he will stay in England beyond next summer, he concludes: "To be honest I am not sure what I will do; this is my last year with the club and we will wait and see.

"If I stayed here for one or two more years that would be great but you have to be realistic and I might have to look possibly at going back home or maybe abroad.

"We will see how it goes."