With our relegation rivals struggling to stay afloat,
five fantastic wins from the last seven outings have bolstered West
Ham United's chances of Premiership survival.
But while the lifeboat may be on the horizon, with three crucial
hours of football still to play - and Hammers still languishing in
the bottom three - Alan Curbishley insists the rescue operation is
far from over.
And following the emphatic 3-0 victory over Wigan Athletic, the
Hammers boss knows that there is no room for complacency when
Bolton Wanderers trot into Upton Park on Saturday.
"We're still alive but now we must go and get something
from our next game," warns Curbs looking ahead to the weekend
visit of Sammy Lee's fifth-placed side. "People talk about
our momentum - and I'd much rather have the points on the board
already - but we still go into the Bolton match with a chance of
getting out of this.
"When I first took over and we had that terrible run of
results, I'd have taken this position with two games remaining.
"Ever since we played Spurs - a game in which we showed a lot
of positives and shouldn't have got beaten - we've been
saying that it ain't over but, obviously, we've still
needed to get the points.
"Even if we get to my target of 38 points, we're still
relying on other things but given our momentum and the way
we're playing at the moment, there's no reason why
can't we get more than that. After all, Middlesbrough went to
Manchester United, where they got a draw and could've got even
more."
Certainly Curbs could not have asked for more at the sold-out,
silenced JJB Stadium where goals from Luis Boa Morte, Yossi
Benayoun and Marlon Harewood ensured that woeful Wigan were simply
blown away by the pace and power of his hearty Hammers, who were
roared on by 5,500 ecstatic East Enders.
"We stressed to the players that we needed to make sure that
the right team turned up - was it going to be the one that played
ever so well against Everton or the side that lost at Sheffield
United?" he reveals clearly hoping that the players and
supporters can combine once more to produce another cocktail of
success in that penultimate game against Bolton. "Thankfully
it was the Everton one!
"As we drove into the ground, all we could see was claret and
blue all over the place and although there had been offers to help
the fans get up to Wigan, they would've come here anyway.
"Ever since I've been at this club, the fans have been the
constant thing. We also took 6,000 supporters to Fulham, Villa and
Arsenal and they're just fantastic. Whenever we give them
something like we did against Everton and Wigan they get behind us
but when we don't give them anything they certainly let us
know! We accept that.
"It's vital to score the first goal in these games and
once we did that, we looked quite strong and might even have got a
few more. Luis Boa Morte can create a goal and he can pinch a goal,
too, and he's shown that. Long may it continue.
"We wanted to grab our chance against Wigan and have some
positive stuff coming out in the papers about us," continues
Curbs after finally seeing the presses roll-out some good news
following recent events down West Ham way. "Ever since
I've been here we've had so much negative publicity both on
and off the pitch and that's been par for the course.
"There's even one article that has just had a go at our
January signings. Lucas Neill came in and got injured twice but
he's now showing what he's all about, while Luis Boa Morte
came into the club on the back of an injury. Calum Davenport has
only just got back to fitness, while Matthew Upson and Nigel
Quashie are both out, too.
"For one reason or another, the new signings haven't been
given a chance but they're all good players and that holds us
in good stead for whatever happens to us at the end of the season.
"In January, I tried to bring some experience to all the young
talent that was already here at the club and, although it never
materialised because none of them have managed to stay fit,
we're still seeing the talent.
"Lucas Neill was our only new signing in the side that beat
Everton but the players have still shown that there's a lot of
ability here and now we've got to go out there and do ourselves
justice in our final two games.
"We've given ourselves a chance, it's certainly not
over, and we've proved that at Wigan."
by Steve Blowers