Source: Daily_Mail
Avram Can't cure West Ham's travel sickness
Avram Can't: it is an unflattering, rhyming by-product of the West Ham manager's surname. And increasingly, this is how Avram Grant is known on his own, as they say round there, 'manna'. [LNB]How long this remains the case - the manor, not the nickname - is now back on the agenda because yet another pointless Hammers away day took the club back to the pressurised foot of the Barclays Premier League table. [LNB]Headache: Avram Grant watches his team lose on their travels again[LNB]There are only so many times West Ham can stage 'Save Our Season' Saturdays but there is another coming this weekend when Manchester City bring their swag to the East End. [LNB]At least it is a home game, because while the claret and blue sceptics may doubt Grant, it is not his fault that West Ham have now not won away from home in the league since the opening day of last season. Gianfranco Zola (remember him?) played a part in that record, as of course did the squad. [LNB]As far as winning away goes, it's: West Ham Can't - 26 Premier League away games have disappeared since Wolves were beaten away and while last season that was not bad enough to take West Ham down, it is unlikely to suffice in this extra-competitive division. [LNB]As Grant knows all too well, Portsmouth, with their points and finances, made for an exceptional table. The other two teams relegated were Hull and Burnley, both on 30 points. West Ham finished fourth-bottom. The club were relieved at that, and so was Zola. [LNB]This season, with the three promoted clubs over-achieving so far - in terms of our expectations - the revised opinion is that survival may require a 2007-type points tally when Sheffield United won 10 games and still went down on 38 points. [LNB]Goal difference cut the Blades then - as did West Ham, Carlos Tevez and all that - and it was the Hammers' goal difference that dropped them below Wolves to the bottom yesterday. The defeat leaves West Ham on 12 points. They remain only three off 'safety' and there can be such a thing in December, as Grant confirmed. [LNB]'We are looking now, between us and 15th place it's only five points and this is what we're looking at,' he said. 'The gap is not too far. It is a gap that we can close. We don't speak about the record, a statistic is a statistic. I'm sure that we will win away this season. In the last 12 games we have lost three and if we continue like this all season then we will stay in the Premier League.' [LNB]When asked if there was consolation in not being adrift, Grant asked: 'What is adrift?' An alleged comedian said he should look outside at the snow. [LNB]No, West Ham are not adrift. But the uncomfortable reality is that with 16 games gone the Hammers may be as many as 26 points off avoiding relegation next May. [LNB] Hammer horror: Victor Obinna can't believe it[LNB]The way the fixtures fall can seem cruel and this was the first of three in four league games away from Upton Park. [LNB]Unpromisingly, a trip to Blackburn awaits followed by Fulham at Craven Cottage on Boxing Day. It can seem premature to ponder these things three weeks before Christmas, but it isn't too early in the Upton Park boardroom. There they have already been making such bleak calculations, which presumably is why Wally Downes was stalking the visitors' technical area. [LNB]Intense, verbose and demonstrative, Downes was what Grant appeared not to be. As Downes urged and cajoled, Grant had that man-of-constant-sorrow demeanour we know him by. One is not necessarily superior to the other and for their sake it is to be hoped opposites attract and they can find some anti-chemistry that works. In the second half they spoke to each other on occasion. [LNB]'You can see Wally Downes's influence on the team straightaway,' commented Steve Bruce. 'Two banks of four, they were very rigid.' [LNB]Bruce shared Grant's optimism about that state of the table, too. [LNB]'They have an England goalkeeper, an England centre half, an England midfielder and an England centre forward,' Bruce said. 'But I've never known a league quite like it. Put back-to-back wins together and you can be mid-table. It's that tight. West Ham have too many good players, but then nothing surprises me.' [LNB] New man: Wally Downes has already made his mark on West Ham's defensive set-up[LNB]Those good players were close to earning a morale-boosting point at a ground where Arsenal, Manchester United and City have failed to win this season. [LNB]Revolving once again around the unlimited Scott Parker, West Ham showed a good deal more cohesion and desire than Chelsea, for example, did at Newcastle the previous Sunday. [LNB]Grant saluted 'the spirit of the boys' and there seemed enough to build on. Bruce is right, the tightness of the table means that we tip from toe to toe as each weekend's results come in. [LNB]We may do so the whole way to May, but West Ham surely need to stumble to an away victory soon if Avram Grant is going to be around then, if Avram Can't is to earn the time to change that to Avram Can or, even better, Avram Did.[LNB] Sunderland 1 West Ham 0: Jordan Henderson strikes to pile more misery on HammersPeter Pannu says lost boy David Gold is welcome back to BirminghamTottenham refuse to bow to supporter pressure over Olympic Stadium plansWEST HAM UNITED FC
