A Hammer blow

Curbishley: leaves West Ham

It's not just what has happened with George McCartney, I think this has been growing for the last year or so.

Scott Minto
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Scott Minto feels that if Alan Curbishley was not in control of transfer policy then he had little choice but to leave West Ham.

Speaking moments after the news of Curbishley's departure broke on Sky Sports News, Minto said he was disappointed to see his former Charlton manager walking out of the Upton Park hotseat.

It is thought that Curbishley was upset by the sales of high-profile players such as Anton Ferdinand and George McCartney before the transfer window and Minto feels the decisions may have been taken out of the manager's hands.

"It's disappointing because I feel Alan Curbishley could have done a good job at West Ham," said Minto who played for the Hammers between 1999 and 2003.

"I played under him at Charlton and it has been a difficult time for him at West Ham, there's no doubt about that.

"When it gets to the point when the players you want to keep are getting sold and you don't have the choice of the players in your squad then there comes a point where you've got to say 'have I had enough here?' He certainly has.

"It's been going on in Europe for years with sporting directors bringing in a lot of the players, not the coach.

"It's a very English thing for the manager to want to choose who comes in and I think it should stay like that.

"The owner or the chairman or the president should take a long time over who they choose and once they've done that they should give the manager everything he wants.

"It seems to me there's a growing number of people taking over English clubs and saying 'we've put a lot of money into this, we want to have a say over who comes in and who goes'."

Factors

However, Minto feels that transfer policy was not the only factor behind Curbishley's decision.

He pointed to overspending by the previous regime, as well as disgruntlement among the fans over Curbishley's style of football as further explanations for the resignation.

"When Eggert Magnusson was the chairman he spent a lot of money on wages as well as signing on fees for certain players and I think the owners are now saying they need to rein that in a bit.

"I'm disappointed for Curbs because although my first love is Charlton, West Ham is a much bigger club. A lot of the press are West Ham fans and there's a lot of pressure down there, also from the supporters.

"The supporters want to see entertaining, exciting football. Alan Curbishley is a manager who would rather have the 1-0 win - and most professionals would agree with that.

"West Ham fans want to see a 3-2 win or a 4-3 loss and they'd be happy. They know they're not going to be winning major trophies every year so they want to see exciting, entertaining football.

"Perhaps they haven't seen that in the last year or so under Alan Curbishley.

"It's not just what has happened with George McCartney, I think this has been growing for the last year or so."