Source: Telegraph
Avram Grant desperate for a break in mission to prove his stature at West Ham
It is to Avram Grant that he and co-chairman David Gold have entrusted the job of treading that path. [LNB]After a traumatic start to the season, with three Premier League defeats and nine goals conceded, that high wire is wobbling a little more precariously for Grant. [LNB] Related ArticlesParker never tempted to join SpursWest Ham United 1 Chelsea 3West Ham seal Lars Jacobsen dealLiverpool to offer Babel in exchange for ColeSpurs eye last-ditch Parker bidSport on televisionThere is a sign at West Ham's Chadwell Heath training ground on the door of a part of the gym called 'The Cave' which reads: "What we do in the dark will show itself in the light". Put in the hard yards, therefore, and you will reap the benefit. [LNB]Certainly Grant feels that with this opportunity at West Ham he, finally, has the chance to prove he is, as he termed it, a "long-term manager". [LNB]With Sullivan describing reports that Grant has the next three games starting at home to his former club Chelsea to save his career at West Ham as the work of "unscrupulous journalists inventing stories to fill their columns", the manager does appear to have the board's backing. [LNB]He is their choice, of course, following the dismissal of Gianfranco Zola and is understood to have drawn up a five-year plan to put West Ham "in a good place in the league for many, many years". [LNB]After his brief spells at Chelsea and, last season, Portsmouth, the jury remains out on another simple question: is Grant a good manager or merely a well-connected one? [LNB]Unsurprisingly he bridled at that suggestion. "If you don't know now," he said, "when do you want to know?" [LNB]West Ham supporters would undoubtedly reply, ''pretty quickly''. They, along with Sullivan and Gold, will want to see progress. Despite his protestations, and his time in the glare at Stamford Bridge and Fratton Park, this is his true test. [LNB]"When I started in football, my first team in the premier league [his hometown club of Hapoel Petah Tikva in Israel] when I was 30, they said 'we will judge you' and we took second place," Grant said. [LNB]"Then I moved to a big club [Maccabi Tel Aviv], then the national team. Then I came to Chelsea, so every year you judge me. I am used to it."[LNB]It comes with the territory, and so does the accusation that Grant has moved around too much. "I wanted to stay at Chelsea," he said, "because I think we only started the process." Instead he was fired after the 2008 Champions League final and, incredibly, would have lost the job even if his team had won. Faith had in him quickly diminished. [LNB]"Also, in Portsmouth I came for many, many years, but, what happened with the club, I couldn't stay," Grant added. "So I hope now I will stay and I will do the positive things that I want to do here."[LNB]Nevertheless, West Ham's future has been in jeopardy. Debts are still estimated by the owners at £100 million and the Sullivan-Gold regime is grappling with the balance sheet they inherited. [LNB]Sullivan said: "The club is trading at a £30 million loss, which myself and David Gold have both funded, but both the trading loss and debts will be reduced gradually with the support of ourselves, hopefully new investors, and the banks."[LNB]It has meant, however, that "there are restrictions on what we can pay for players and what wages we can pay", Sullivan claimed. [LNB]"But we have added eight players to the wage bill only two came off, so a net increase of six players and some of the new players are highly paid. As we work down existing contracts, so we will become more ambitious in our spending. [LNB]"Our problem is our wages budget has contractually been spent on players we inherited. Some players' wages are so high it's impossible to give them away, let alone get a fee for them." [LNB]Certainly Grant has felt the pinch, though he maintains there have been no surprises, and that he has a "happy" squad. [LNB]"It's not a secret that we wanted to do more things but also we need to remember that the financial situation is a problem because the owners saved the team, maybe, from bankruptcy," he said. [LNB]"This is the reason I signed for four years. We went for a long-term programme. We know the problems, we cannot solve it in one year. At Portsmouth we spent more money than we have here. We tried £5 million, £6 million, £4 million deals here but we couldn't do it. Anyway, we have a good team and we have targets." [LNB]Overseeing the club's worst start to a season in 33 years does not help. [LNB]There are mitigating circumstances not least the unavailability of key players such as Thomas Hitzlsperger and Talal Ben Haim. [LNB]Grant, however, is unperturbed by the start, claiming he should be judged after "15 or 20 games", not three, and "guaranteeing" that West Ham will not be relegated. [LNB]"I think we don't need to speak about this now but after three months," he said. [LNB]"If, after three games, we are on zero points, we are maybe four or five points only from fourth place, which means if you win two games you can be in a much better position."[LNB]Sullivan is clear in what he expects this season. "Mid-table, with a cup run," he said, "though I accept we have to start picking up points soon." [LNB]He is aware of the odds being offered. "Chelsea are 1/3 and we are 8/1," he said. "I believe luck goes in runs it's time that West Ham United's luck changed." [LNB]
