The FIVE Worst Irons Managers…EVER

The Hammers have been blessed with their fair share of great managers over the years, however to find those great managers you do have to sift through several others, that can really only be described as shocking. Our writer Chris Henry gives his opinion on his worst ever Irons managers.

Avram Grant.

Who else but Avram Grant, to not include this man in a list of the worst West Ham managers would be a crime. For all of West Ham’s managers, each have had their fair share of ups and downs and suffered terrible fortune and struggle in their tenures. But no other manager comes close to the pain and misfortune Avram Grant inflicted on West Ham United and particular its fans. I can happily proclaim Avram Grant to be the worst manager that West Ham have ever had in their history.

Strange really, upon his arrival last summer, there seemed to be a wave of optimism that surrounded the club and the slate had now been cleared and the poor campaign of last season under Zola was a past memory. Surely after such a poor season last year and now with the arrival of new recruits to strengthen the team further, fans could look forward to a better year and a fresh beginning. How naïve were we, a tough start to the season with four straight defeats didn’t bode to much hope for the Hammers and critics were already betting on our relegation. Our season finally kicked off with points again Stoke and Spurs (ironically the former fixture being one which Avram didn’t attend for religious reasons) and the early shout of crisis seemed to go away. However, for some reason, the Hammers season never got going and the team could never put together a nice run of results to put them in a strong position. Whenever the team had a chance to give themselves a real shot in the arm and build upon a result, they would lose or throw a game in a rather tame fashion. That was to be the story of West Ham’s season that year, West Ham threw away a record 23 points that season when they found themselves in a winning position and these points were usually thrown away in the second half. This summed up Grant as a manager, tactically unaware and naïve, Grant was unable to consolidate results from a winning position and react to tactical changes from the opposition when momentum swung in their favour. One notable example of this was the Carling Cup semi-final second leg against Birmingham. Leading at half time and in cruise control, the tie looked to be tied up for the Hammers. However the introduction and physical presence of Zigic gave Birmingham a new dimension, one which West Ham were unable to deal with and ultimately led to them surrendering goals and ultimately the tie and a trip to Wembley.

Avram Grant’s presence as a manager on the touchline was one to be questioned, constantly casting a lone, dreary figure that was devoid of passion. His team selection was also confusing to some with his employment of a 4-3-3 formation with striker Freddie Piquionne playing out wide on the right. The Hammers amazing comeback away to West Brom from 3-0 down was thought to be down to the work of Scott Parker and his inspirational half time talk, wasn’t that supposed to be Avram’s job? Form improved though with the return from injury of Thomas Hitzelsperger and the arrival of striker Demba Ba with great results against Liverpool, Stoke and Spurs. However a devastating yet typical result against United (typical being a typical United result as well as typical West Ham result) appeared to be the catalyst for the poor form that West Ham would once again incur for the rest of the season. Leading 2-0 at half time, Man United staged an amazing yet typical comeback to snatch the game 2-4. The second half resurgence of Wayne Rooney and the introduction of Berbatov and Hernandez was something that Grant’s tactical plans could not deal with and the team surrendered in lame fashion an important and morale boosting three points.

More and more defeats came for the Hammers and their fate looked bleak. There was a lifeline though in the form of their penultimate game against Wigan away. If the Hammers could win this, they could give their chances of survival a slim but still realistic hope. Remarkably other results were going the Hammers way and even more remarkably they were leading 0-2 at half time. Half time you say? Cue the inevitable, Wigan of course were in the fight for survival and had to change it round and of course tjey did. The introduction of Victor Moses and Connor Sammon gave the Latics a fresh injection of blood and put the match back into Wigan’s favour with them both scoring and tieing the game 2-2. With both team set for relegation, in the dying seconds, Wigan midfielder Charles N’Zogbia fired a low shot past Rob Green making it 3-2 to Wigan and sending Wigan’s fans into a state of ecstasy and Hammers fans into a state of disbelief as they saw their team condemned to relegation and the promise of Championship football next year.

This result summed up West Ham’s season and showed Grant to be a first half manager who lacked real tactical integrity who had most likely blagged his way as a manager with past clubs the likes of Chelsea and Portsmouth. As N’Zogbia’s goal fired itself in and as the plane flew over the DW stadium with the message “Avram Grant : Millwall Legend” attached to it, Grant’s P45 was surely waiting for him; it was, a decision that was perhaps made five months too late. With relegation confirmed and the team rock bottom with a points tally even lower than Zola’s reign, this is enough evidence to give Grant the title of the worst manager the Hammers have ever had.

Never again please, here’s to Big Sam.

Glenn Roeder.

Glenn could have pipped the title of being West Ham’s worst manager ever had we not witnessed the more recent reign of Avram Grant., however, he does come a close second. Glenn had a monumental task of succeeding firm fans favourite Harry Redknapp, but with his football past being firmly rooted with the Hammers as youth boss, fans were to give him the best support available in what is frankly a big role in your first serious managerial job.

Inheriting a very strong squad that had a mix of youth and experience, West Ham’s early fortune under Roeder was quite mixed and the team produced some very out of sorts results with them being hammered 7-1 by Blackburn and 5-0 by Everton in successive games. Results soon picked up, one which included an impressive 0-1 victory against United at Old Trafford (something Redknapp never has achieved in the league) and the team eventually finished in a respectable 7th position.

The next season however was a different story and Roeder’s honeymoon period with the Hammers was over. A poor start to the season and continuous erratic form with the Hammers continually conceding important points at home suggested that there was a cloud of uncertainty that hung over Upton Park. By Christmas, the Hammers were bottom and past statistics had suggested this was something that didn’t bode well in their favour with no team ever surviving come May after achieving this position at this time in the season. Relegation fears were continually laughed away with the suggestion of the team being too good to go down, were they? What an excellent team of superstars that Roeder had inherited, surely they wouldn’t suffer the fate of relegation? Of course we were wrong, in true West Ham fashion, the Irons almost pulled off a miraculous recovery towards the end of the season – no thanks to Roeder though. It was Sir Trevor Brooking who came in as caretaker manager (due to Roeder’s sudden ill health) and tried to pick up the pieces and salvage back any chance of survival with a string of impressive victories, most notably against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. This wasn’t enough and the Hammers were resigned to the prospect of playing Championship football next season.

What should also be mentioned was the breakdown in relations with Roeder and key player Paolo Di Canio. Both individuals we’re wary of each other with Roeder dropping Di Canio for his poor attitude. A good idea in theory but when you’re team is in a relegation fight, sometimes its best to put principles aside which is what Sir Trev did in Glenn’s absence. Roeder can not just be named one of the Hammers worst managers for the fact that he was responsible for the relegation of the Hammers after such a long period in the top flight, but he is also guilty of breaking up one of the finest and most promising teams that the Hammers had. The team’s drop and eventual stay in the Championship for another year heralded a series of player exits from the club that included Joe Cole, Glen Johnson, Jermain Defoe, Michael Carrick, Trevor Sinclair, Paolo Di Canio and David James. Roeder was eventually sacked after a poor start to the Hammers Championship campaign and found mixed success at clubs such as Newcastle and Norwich.

Lou Macari.

Included not for the results or form that he produced at West Ham, but more for the type of football and philosophy he instilled around Upton Park. Macari had a tough job on his hands when he arrived at West Ham. Anyone having to follow in the footsteps of John Lyall is going to find it hard winning over fans and with the man having no real past association with the Hammers, a lot of fans felt Macari didn’t quite fit into the make-up of the Hammers. Known for his more strict and no-nonsense approach, Macari won himself the nickname Blue Lou (he was known to be one for bad language) and won himself no fans in his short tenure as boss amongst the press, fans and even the players. Rumours of player bust ups with Macari spread disenchantment around the Irons camp as his methods were seen to be a bit of a culture shock for some of the players.

Macari was known to be strict with his players over things such as dieting and calorie intake, something that didn’t go down well with the team with one notable instance being Mark Ward apparently eating a large slice of chocolate gateaux in front of Macari in protest. Runs in with the law did not help with Macari being involved in a string of illegal bets over football games he had been involved with as manager for Swindon. The style of football Macari tried too adopt was something that didn’t go down well. With the team now finding themselves relegated from the top flight, Macari felt a new approach was needed to get them back to the big time and with this ‘Blue Lou’ adopted a more direct approach to the Hammers play. Instead of nice, short and tidy passing mixed with creativity; long balls and getting in the opponents face was now the way to go for West Ham. Of course, this type of football was not welcomed by fans and went against the true ethos of West Ham United.

The pressure soon piled on Macari and after months of erratic form on the pitch and a £1,000 FA fine for his involvement in an illegal betting scandal, Macari took the decision to resign as Hammers boss thus ending his ill and short-lived period as boss. This was a dark and depressing chapter in the Hammers history, one which fans don’t look back on with fondness. Billy Bonds soon came in after Macari’s departure and the rest, as they say, is history.

Alan Curbishley.

Ok yes I know its a bit hypocritical to include this man in my best and worst managers list but I suppose there is some comfort in the fact that there is dearth of bad West Ham managers to pick from that I have to resort to including someone who made the top managers list. My reasons…three…style, desire and signings.

Style, well it was pretty boring wasn’t it? Lots of 1-0s, big Carlton Cole up front, long balls and so on. Ok so he had some trouble with injuries, but still sometimes it was like watching paint dry and the conservatism in the Hammers play sometimes, you were hoping for a sending off just to spice things up a bit. I recall one fixture being a 0-0 home draw against Birmingham which allegedly involved both teams kicking the ball from end to end in a high long ball fashion. This summed up the English game and this was also a game that Mr Capello had the fortune of watching, much to his frustration as England manager and general national scout for English talent.

Desire, alright we were pretty safe and tenth was a welcome change to flirtation with relegation. However a successive string of 4-0 results made the West Ham faithful believe their team were already preparing for their summer holidays. This included a rather embarrassing 4-0 thrashing by rivals Spurs – not a way to win over fans. I also recall a 4-1 thrashing by Man United where it was clearly quite evident the team couldn’t care less and were not even trying. A bad philosophy to adopt as manager and shame on Curbishley for letting his team slack.

Signings, Boa Morte for £6 million at £70,000 a week, its signings like that that suggest you shouldn’t always give your manager carte blanche when it comes to your cheque book. Harry’s been doing it for years though but somehow seems to get away with it though. Anyway Boa Morte, need I say more? Oh wait, Kieron Dyer. But then there was Scott Parker so I can slightly forgive him a bit there.

Kevin Keen.

Wanted the job, fluffed his audition with a 0-3 home defeat to Sunderland. 100% defeat rate, doesn’t look good. Nice to meet you Kevin but its four no’s from us, maybe come back as a duo next year? Sorry, I know this one’s harsh but that’s how difficult I found it to find a fifth.

Think Chris has missed anyone off the list? Let him know via Twitter @bloggingbubbles

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