Great post, well said. It expresses how most of us Irons fans feel.
But as a club, since the Brown era, we seem fated to be run by owners who crap on managers: Pardew, Zola, Curbishley, now Grant. The current regime under the 'Toxic Trio' have inflicted heavily negative reputational damage on the image of our great club in the way they've handled Grant's "departure". SuGo are reclames: they are publicity seekers vying for attention, but crawl back to their cushy manorial retreats in silence when things are going badly wrong. Midnight calls to journos on the day of a big London derby are a cowardly and craven way of dealing with the Grant management issue. The Toxic Trio aren't fit and proper persons to be in charge of West Ham United which was once known for its values in treating managers with dignity and respect. Shame on them for bringing shame and ridicule on our club.

The problems started over 10 years ago when Brown sacked Redknapp, Apart from the odd bit of giant killing, not seen much good since then except for the 2006 FA Cup Final. It's been a decade of sliding down a slippery slope and we've reached rock bottom with Gilbert & Sullivan's mock opera and Grant as the hapless, inept villain. It's actually a tragedy for all Irons' fans. Last night watching our gutless performance my mind wandered into the past and Pardew's first season in the Premiership. Halcyon days! Usually I'm an irrational optimist when it comes to supporting West Ham but after last night, cold rational pessimism is taking over... unless we get rid of Grant now (certainly after the Wigan game, whatever the result) we will be relegated. We need to bring the youngsters through this season to prepare for the drop and rebuild the future of our precious club, and its football reputation. These are dark days but sacking Grant and appointing Pards + DiCanio will be a chink of light... ooops, irrational optimism is back again.

And Hitzlsperger too.

Okay Soldier Tom, points taken. You make a decent case for Avro's lack of tactical nous and the opposition's subs which played in our favour. Yet, and yet.... like you, I see the glass "half full". There is a need to believe that November can deliver more than 5 points (5 is better than nothing, so the glass is 1/4 full). I am a simple Bubbles Optimist. I go for 11 pts this month, and will settle for 10. Why? Just 'cause we're "getting there" based on recent performances. I can't give more logic than that. The rest is quiet, irrational hope, and prayers!

Owen is a has-been. He's history. We have too many examples of digging up old stars who never perform for us and hope - against hope - that they come good. They never do. Same goes for all the PR nonsense about Beckham. Gold should put that one to rest.

Agree. Diamante was what we needed: a genuine creative player. He was unpredictable. But that's what creatives are. And he kept the opposition off-balance. He had his bizarre moments, his truly forgettable ones (Row Z) yet showed passion and coruscating brilliance at times. Seeing him rip his own shirt in frustration was magic. Leonine passion. It was stupid to have sold him. Has Obinna the genius to fulfil this role, if not better? I think potentially, he has. He's different and creative, certainly. The best we have right now filling the 'creative' cachet. Midfielders must feed him.

In some respects you're right, Soldier Tom, but what you refer to is all history and not about the way we've played in the past few games (okay, the inept 2nd half against N'castle excepted). Go on what we've seen against Stoke in the CC win, against the Arse (except for one lapse of concentration), and other recent matches (we should have won the Wolves game, if it weren't for a referee who again, this weekend, proved he should be fired for sheer, utter, juvenile, incompetence). No Hammers fan likes where we are in the table (but we're getting used to this bottom-basement crap) and yet, we have to keep faith on the strength of what we've seen these last two months. And WHTID is right: November is our defining month, the tipping point of our season. I predict, insanely (and aren't all Irons fans underneath?), that we'll end up with 10 points at least if we can keep up the 'fighting spirit' we've shown recently. Give the team a chance, and Avro too.

If we want to remain optimistic, focus on the performance, not the result. We did well against the Arse to hold out until the 87th minute. There was plenty of team spirit and spirited individual performances. After our AET victory against Stoke and yesterday's Maginot Line discipline, I expect at least 11 points in November: Birmingham (3pts), WBA (1), Blackpool (3), Liverpool (1), Wigan (3). Irrational optimism, maybe, but doom and gloom, never. It's not over until it's mathematically impossible to stay up. And we're a very, very, long way from that finality (and awful thought) yet.

Let's not be defeatist. We can pull this one off and get one over them. For chrissakes, it's at Upton Park, no happy hunting ground for ManU.

Why is it that WHTID always express in words what I'm thinking? If you were me, I'd be you. Though I'd not be half as clear.

Though if the Hammers were anything else but unpredictable, they'd not be the Irons we love and hate in equal measure.

This is another thoughtful post with a piquant (okay, word association: is Piquionne back tomorrow?) of passion. I've come to look forward to reading the blog each week prior to our weekend game (courtesy of Friday reminders from @westhamfootball on Twitter.. Friday is still busy where I am).

About this particular blog post and the Stoke match. I'll get straight to the point: Scotty turned us around last Wednesday with his late goal, and Noble assisted with sublime technique in finishing off the Potters. Underneath their skill and performance is a determination, and a 'never surrender' attitude. They have passion as well - they play for the club, and no-doubt for their innate sense of professionalism in wanting to do as best they can (reputation is a spin-off).

Both Parker and Noble are the keys to solving a current problem within much of the team: overcoming a lack of fighting spirit and instilling a team spirit of "all for one, one for all" no matter whether we're losing. Often there isn't even a hint of 'quiet desperation' which would be better than the negativity we see on the park. How often do we watch Cole's shoulders drop, Behrami clawing thin air to pull down an opponent, or Boa Morte's self-frustration and lunging tackles, when we're a goal behind, and yet the game isn't yet lost? (Not to mention Quadruple MacBurger practising air shots from 6 yards... can we afford the time to give him time to come good?).

Parker, Noble, and to a lesser extent our new duet P&O (but let's see how they fare over a season), have the inner courage and technical skill to turn defeat into victory. Just wish the other players supported their efforts over 90 minutes. I do think that Grant should get the sports shrinks in (indulge in a bit of neuroscience fMRI brain scanning too): diagnose why a team of such decent mid-table (or greater) potential should become so poor and defeatist in the face of pretty ordinary teams like Newcastle. Then put Avram through the scanner to determine why he and the backroom staff can't motivate the players to a winning mentality, every game.

Like most claret & blue Hammers fans, I'm a counter-intuitive Bubbles Optimist, more heart than head. Tomorrow's prediction against the Arse: a 2-2 draw (penalty and OG in our favour). A decent enough result under our current circumstances. Not placing a bet though (the head tells me otherwise).