As one year ends and a new one awaits, Alan Curbishley has plenty of reason for optimism at the helm of West Ham United.
The outstanding 2-1 weekend win against Manchester United saw the club enter the second half of the 38-game league season in the very best of spirits - and looking up rather than down. "With all the problems we have had in the last 12 months, this is a fantastic achievement by the players and I am looking forward to the next half of the season," the manager said.
Much of that could be because Curbishley is hopeful soon of seeing some, if not all, of the likes of Julien Faubert, Kieron Dyer, Bobby Zamora and Craig Bellamy adding creativity and pace to the attack - not forgetting more recent absentees like Luis Boa Morte and Matthew Etherington. Suggesting that such flair players are a key ingredient at the Boleyn Ground when teams outside the top four come to defend and "you need a bit more to break them down" - it only emphasises the achievements in their absence.
Indeed, it was the solid defence and tenacious midfield again, coupled with some lively substitutions, that helped the side roar back to victory on Saturday, despite going behind early in a rousing contest against the champions. "You go into these games sometimes and you worry so much about the opposition because they have got so many avenues to hurt you," the manager said. "But we stood up to it. Man for man we stood up to it.
Of all those to come back, the fact French international Faubert is at last waiting in the wings to be let loose on the wings particularly suggests there is more to come - in keeping with the whole atmosphere at the Boleyn Ground. Spying his nearly fit young summer signing from Bordeaux watching from the sidelines as players and fans alike celebrated on Saturday, Curbishley was keen to use the aftermath of victory to hammer home the Hammers.
"I said 'look, that's the West Ham noise'. We haven't heard it a lot this year but that is the West Ham noise. When they get going, it gives everybody a massive lift. It is down to us to get them going. On a lot of occasions, they have helped us but sometimes it is the team that has to do it."
The small matter of an away trip to league leaders Arsenal is first on the agenda for 2008 and, for all the euphoric end to the year, Curbishley knows avoiding complacency is just as important as keeping a level head. A key theme this season has been remaining competitive in each and every match. "If you look at it, there are no gimmies in the Premier League and that's what makes it so tough. Every game is contested
"If you care to look at what has happened to us. All our games have been tight, we lost two really hard-fought games against Everton, which could have gone either way. We have lost 1-0 to Arsenal, we lost 1-0 to Chelsea - so we have been quite consistent. Our defensive record is great at the moment - people know they are in for a game when they play us."
Manchester United certainly found that out on Saturday. "You have got to give us a bit of credit. We stood up. I think they are exceptional players but they managed to only get away from us a couple of times. I can't remember Rob Green having to do too much. We put in massive effort - a lot of teams stand off these players, and it becomes a passive game and they just destroy you."
Football can turn around quickly as Curbishley was only too aware after the frustration of a home 1-1 draw against ten-man Reading on Boxing Day had surprisingly dampened the mood before United's superstars came calling. "I had to remind myself [before United] that in our last ten games we had won four and drawn four and lost two. It was all doom and gloom because of the Reading result."
Such a phrase could also have applied to 1 January this year, when the relegation-threatened Hammers lost 6-0 to those same opponents on a miserable afternoon. Fast-forward 12 months, and consider everything in between, and it is clear that doom and gloom is nowhere near adequate a description for West Ham United.