"It is really difficult times but we have got to stand up and be counted; you win as a team and you lose as a team," says Les, now with three games under his belt.
"We have got some very good players in the dressing room but now it is time for their characters to come out as well as their abilities."
Les says the players - not the manager - must take the blame and insists:
"All he can do is pick a side that he feels will win him the game and give a good showing; unfortunately he didn't get the showing that he probably deserved against Liverpool.
"So it is back to the drawing board, we have got a big game on Saturday, and we have to forget about Sunday."
Les has been particularly impressed with the support of the fans at Upton Park since his arrival from White Hart Lane; he saw a positive response against Blackburn even though West Ham went a goal down, and he feels they were behind the team on Sunday, despite the obvious, and bitter, disappointment at the display.
"One of the factors that brought me to West Ham is the supporters here," he says, "and I class them the same way as Newcastle.
"We didn't perform the way we should, but they still clapped us off the pitch; I know it is hard times for all concerned but if they keep showing us the good support that they have at the moment then they will help us out of the situation as well.
"Without a shadow of a doubt the supporters have been brilliant; they are obviously not happy with what is going on and they have been here a lot longer than me - as have the players, and they have gone through this all season."
The 'this' referred to being, in particular, conceding disappointing goals, especially from set plays.
"The manager let us know that he was annoyed about the three set pieces and that is where we have to tighten up," says Les.
"It was very disappointing and we made it difficult by giving away two goals early doors - but we didn't make a good showing of it.
"We have got to talk to each other and make sure we are more determined so we don't give away any more goals like that - it is difficult, but you work hard on the training pitch, and it is about big characters now.
"We have to show more fight than we did on Sunday; we started to claw ourselves back in but we never really did enough to score goals because we didn't create any chances, and that is what we have got to look at.
"If we don't do it together that is when we are going to have problems, and the games are dwindling out now, though I still feel as a team we can get out of this - but we can only do it as a team."
A trip to troubled Leeds comes next, and Les says it is time to put away the calculators, thinking about points totals, what other teams are doing, which upcoming opponents have key players suspended - such as Viduka missing Saturday and Roberts being out for the trip to West Brom - and any other factors outside of West Ham's control.
One statistic from before the weekend might impress the mathematicians, but not Les.
It reads that only three times since the war has the team fourth from bottom in the final table averaged less than one point per game, if one assumes three points for a win which of course is a relatively modern phenomenon.
And it therefore meant, that at the same rate of points per game before the weekend, with no one achieving more than 0.84 points per game in the league this season, there was a possibility of breaking the 'record' of Southampton, who were fourth bottom with 0.83 points per game in 1969-70.
If the present average rating was to continue - and notwithstanding the fact that any or all of the bottom four could well start picking up more points per game in the final third of the season, as evidenced by wins for Bolton and West Brom at the weekend, then a paltry 31 points would ensure safety.
All purely theoretical, of course, and the target has to remain the traditional 40 points.
Les adds:
"We have to start focusing on what we have got to do, not be worrying about what other teams did the night before, or the day before, but concentrate on West Ham United.
"It is in our own hands - and we must face up to that."
As for it being a 'good' time to face Leeds because of their turmoil, if you can call a squad comprised of internationals 11 points clear of relegation as being in 'turmoil', then Les has other ideas.
Like West Ham, Leeds have lost three goals at home, but 'Sir' Les says:
"We have got to realise there are no easy games left in this Premier League now and we have to start winning."