Having taken two sure-footed strides forward against
Manchester United and Fulham, the Boxing Day defeat at the hands of
Portsmouth has now seen Alan Curbishley take one unwelcome step
backwards, too.
But the shell-shocked Hammers' boss remains defiant that his side can still claw themselves up the Premiership table to safety.
"To be honest, I certainly didn't see that first-half coming but we're definitely still good enough to stay up," insisted Curbs after seeing the double-heading Linvoy Primus - the dreadlocked defender he once ironically signed for Charlton Athletic - nod Pompey into an unassailable two-goal half-time lead at Upton Park.
"Although results like today don't help, I haven't come here to end up as a Championship manager.
"When I first arrived at Upton Park, I wasn't under any illusions whatsoever because I'd already had a good look at the table and saw that Charlton Athletic, who have had a disastrous season, were only two points behind us. What did that say about West Ham's year so far?
"I knew that I was facing an interesting six weeks because I had to get results, win some games, implement what we want to do here, assess the playing staff and also look to see if we needed to bring anyone in during the transfer window even though there's no guarantee of any business being done.
"Today, I drove to the ground thinking that if we're going to get ourselves out of the bottom three, then we need to string a few more results together," revealed Curbs, looking at a table still showing Hammers languishing in 18th-spot, two points adrift of Sheffield United following the 1-2 defeat. "And I felt that our two home games against Portsmouth and Manchester City might have got us out of the bottom three.
"The Premiership's an unforgiving league, though, and after the Manchester United and Fulham results, everyone expected us to do well when Portsmouth came to town. But you've still got to go out there and do it and, today, we just didn't do it.
"Now we're still looking to catch the team that's fourth from bottom and I've got to get as much out of my players as I can. Already, they've shown me that they can perform but, today, they've also shown me that they can't handle it, either.
"During my first two games there was an attitude and defensive steel but that just wasn't there today. The effort, work rate and endeavour to force the issue was missing, while we didn't do the bread and butter stuff that you have to do wherever you are in the Premier League, either. You just can't afford to give away two soft goals like we did.
"I'm still assessing things, it's an ongoing situation and I tried to change it around a little bit today. Yossi Benayoun got a start in midfield, Carlos Tevez came on at half-time, while there was no room for Lee Bowyer, who took the decision well. I spoke at length with Bow and I know that he's still here to play for West Ham and to do his best for the Club but none of those changes had anything to do with the end result.
"It's simple, if you can't defend set plays, you've got your work cut out, and we gave away two bad goals. Portsmouth have scored five of their last six goals from set-pieces and none of our players were left in any doubt about that, but we still gave them two free headers
"When you find yourselves trailing by two goals at home, you've usually been opened up a couple of times and seen some goalmouth scrambles, too, but there was none of that. No disrespect to Portsmouth but I can't really remember Robert Green having anything else to do. Two basic errors put us on the back foot and I was certainly shocked by that first half.
"We may have got ourselves back in the game after the break and I was pleased with some of their performances in the second half," admitted Curbs, who saw interval substitute Teddy Sheringham reduce the arrears with a late consolation. "West Ham have had to come from behind too many times this year, though, and that makes things very difficult.
"Last year, everyone - the players and the supporters - was all in this together but while the crowd have still been giving it their best shot this season, they've just not been getting it back from the pitch.
"So far, the players have had a difficult time. It's all about confidence and, although it's certainly not the supporters' fault, when the crowd didn't see us start too well, that transcended into the players. It all got edgy but the team's got to learn to handle that.
"We've got a lot of things to work on and it'll be a really busy, full-on period from now," concluded Curbs, knowing that the upcoming clashes with Manchester City and Reading take on even more significance as Hammers approach the New Year in the drop-zone. "Alan Pardew said that the defeat against Wigan Athletic was a reality check and, unfortunately, we've just had another one today."
But the shell-shocked Hammers' boss remains defiant that his side can still claw themselves up the Premiership table to safety.
"To be honest, I certainly didn't see that first-half coming but we're definitely still good enough to stay up," insisted Curbs after seeing the double-heading Linvoy Primus - the dreadlocked defender he once ironically signed for Charlton Athletic - nod Pompey into an unassailable two-goal half-time lead at Upton Park.
"Although results like today don't help, I haven't come here to end up as a Championship manager.
"When I first arrived at Upton Park, I wasn't under any illusions whatsoever because I'd already had a good look at the table and saw that Charlton Athletic, who have had a disastrous season, were only two points behind us. What did that say about West Ham's year so far?
"I knew that I was facing an interesting six weeks because I had to get results, win some games, implement what we want to do here, assess the playing staff and also look to see if we needed to bring anyone in during the transfer window even though there's no guarantee of any business being done.
"Today, I drove to the ground thinking that if we're going to get ourselves out of the bottom three, then we need to string a few more results together," revealed Curbs, looking at a table still showing Hammers languishing in 18th-spot, two points adrift of Sheffield United following the 1-2 defeat. "And I felt that our two home games against Portsmouth and Manchester City might have got us out of the bottom three.
"The Premiership's an unforgiving league, though, and after the Manchester United and Fulham results, everyone expected us to do well when Portsmouth came to town. But you've still got to go out there and do it and, today, we just didn't do it.
"Now we're still looking to catch the team that's fourth from bottom and I've got to get as much out of my players as I can. Already, they've shown me that they can perform but, today, they've also shown me that they can't handle it, either.
"During my first two games there was an attitude and defensive steel but that just wasn't there today. The effort, work rate and endeavour to force the issue was missing, while we didn't do the bread and butter stuff that you have to do wherever you are in the Premier League, either. You just can't afford to give away two soft goals like we did.
"I'm still assessing things, it's an ongoing situation and I tried to change it around a little bit today. Yossi Benayoun got a start in midfield, Carlos Tevez came on at half-time, while there was no room for Lee Bowyer, who took the decision well. I spoke at length with Bow and I know that he's still here to play for West Ham and to do his best for the Club but none of those changes had anything to do with the end result.
"It's simple, if you can't defend set plays, you've got your work cut out, and we gave away two bad goals. Portsmouth have scored five of their last six goals from set-pieces and none of our players were left in any doubt about that, but we still gave them two free headers
"When you find yourselves trailing by two goals at home, you've usually been opened up a couple of times and seen some goalmouth scrambles, too, but there was none of that. No disrespect to Portsmouth but I can't really remember Robert Green having anything else to do. Two basic errors put us on the back foot and I was certainly shocked by that first half.
"We may have got ourselves back in the game after the break and I was pleased with some of their performances in the second half," admitted Curbs, who saw interval substitute Teddy Sheringham reduce the arrears with a late consolation. "West Ham have had to come from behind too many times this year, though, and that makes things very difficult.
"Last year, everyone - the players and the supporters - was all in this together but while the crowd have still been giving it their best shot this season, they've just not been getting it back from the pitch.
"So far, the players have had a difficult time. It's all about confidence and, although it's certainly not the supporters' fault, when the crowd didn't see us start too well, that transcended into the players. It all got edgy but the team's got to learn to handle that.
"We've got a lot of things to work on and it'll be a really busy, full-on period from now," concluded Curbs, knowing that the upcoming clashes with Manchester City and Reading take on even more significance as Hammers approach the New Year in the drop-zone. "Alan Pardew said that the defeat against Wigan Athletic was a reality check and, unfortunately, we've just had another one today."