'The players at West Ham don't work hard enough'

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<div class="track"><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/92241?ns=guardian&pageName=%27The+players+at+West+Ham+don%27t+work+hard+enough%27%3AArticle%3A1499987&ch=Football&c3=Guardian&c4=West+Ham+United+%28Football%29%2CFootball%2CSport&c5=Premier+League&c6=Jamie+Jackson&c7=10-Dec-31&c8=1499987&c9=Article&c10=Feature&c11=Football&c13=&c25=&c30=content&h2=GU%2FFootball%2FWest+Ham+United" width="1" height="1" /></div><p class="standfirst">Julian Dicks, Tony Cottee and Ray Stewart on what has gone wrong at West Ham and whether things can be turned around</p><h2>Julian Dicks<br /></h2>The players don't work hard enough. I watched them on Tuesday against Everton [which ended 1-1] and in the first half they did OK, but then they didn't get close enough to Everton to stop them playing. If you're struggling you need people who are going to put themselves about, make tackles, and pressurise the other team. Only Scotty Parker does this on a consistent basis.</p><p>They've got England internationals – Rob Green, Matthew Upson, Parker and Carlton Cole – and some other good players, Frédéric Piquionne, Victor Obinna. But it is no good if they're not willing to work hard. You can't have one player carrying the team. Everybody has to bust their $$$$$$$$ to win the game.</p><p>I know the West Ham supporters. If they see everybody work as hard as Parker and they get beat, they'll hold their hands up and say: 'Fair enough.'</p><p>Is this problem down to the manager or the players? The manager can tell you but if you're not willing to do it then you're not going to do it.</p><p></p><h2>Tony Cottee<br /></h2>David Gold and David Sullivan buying the club in January was a good move. It's fair to say they rescued the club. The reason being that if they hadn't the club would have gone into administration, lost nine points, and then would have definitely been relegated. They went close with 35 points anyway [last season].</p><p>Gianfranco Zola went because I think the owners wanted to get their own manager in pretty much straight away. So when the team only finished on 35 points which normally gets you relegated – it certainly will this season – then they felt they need to make a change.</p><p>But I don't think the club has progressed since Avram Grant was appointed [in June]. Under Zola it was acknowledged that we played good football and the players were certainly behind the manager in terms of his philosophy and beliefs. Unfortunately, since the [new] manager was appointed we've been in the bottom three all season.</p><p>Great, we're in a [League] Cup semi-final [against Birmingham City], I'm looking forward to that, all the fans are. But the Premier League survival is key and I'm certainly not confident that we'll stay up.</p><p></p><h2>Ray Stewart<br /></h2>The year's not been great, really. Respect to David Sullivan and David Gold as I'm sure they're hurting inside as things are not going well. With the backbone of Green, Upson, Parker and Cole the team&nbsp;should&nbsp;be doing better than they are. Lately they've had a few results and I'm hopeful they can come clear as I'd hate to see them in the Championship&nbsp;again.</p><p>The supporters have been fantastic. Avram Grant has been getting abuse but not colossal stick. I'm sure he is a lovely guy but I don't know if he is a motivator for the club. There seems to be no motivation there – Wally Downes [the defensive coach] has come in recently and done a bit more than Avram's done all season, to be fair. I just don't think there is any togetherness there at the moment.</p><p>Wolves is a massive game. Mick McCarthy might be in the relegation zone with his team [too] but he's motivated, positive and energetic on the sidelines. I'm sure Avram Grant is positive but he just doesn't show it to the people.</p><div class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/westhamunited">West Ham United</a></li></ul></div><div class="author"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/jamiejackson">Jamie Jackson</a></div><br/><div class="terms"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds">More Feeds</a></div><p style="clear:both" />
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