Q: What Are Your Thoughts On The Appointment Of Glenn Roeder As The New Hammers Boss And, With A Budget Of Around £15million, Who Do You Fee

YOUR REPLIES

Kaye Foskett, London
Harry did his best to do an honest job and got better as time went by after buying some of Europe's worst players. Now we have a few really good young players (even after selling Rio and Frank). What we needed was a manager with a good track record to show them that we have serious ambitions and don't want to remain a small club. Glenn doesn't have that track record. Why couldn't they have got a good European manager? I didn't renew my season ticket, says it all really!

John Wilkins, Harlow, Essex
I must say that I haven't been happy with the way the whole thing has been handled over the last few weeks, and the club have unfortunately set themselves up for criticism.
However, I have thought long and hard about this whole situation, and I really can't see any real reason to go mad about what has happened.
I think most people agree that Alan Curbishley was our first choice, and I have no reason to doubt that the board felt that way too, and tried to get him. For whatever reason, Curbishley has decided to stay at Charlton, so we've had to look elsewhere.
Steve McClaren was next on the list, but considering that so many fans are screaming for a 'big-name manager with experience and credentials', I hardly think that McClaren fits that bill. He has been a coach at the most successful club in the country - a job that, to be honest, anyone could do. McClaren just simply happened to be flavour of the month, as I recall Brian Kidd being a couple of years ago, and we all know what happened there.
Then I look at the managers who are available and may have been interested - George Graham, Terry Venables, Stuart Pearce - no thanks to any of them.
Then there are the managers at other clubs who were linked with the job - Sam Allardyce, David Moyes and Alex McCleish. Again, none of those choices would inspire me.
I consider Glenn Roeder to be no worse than any of those. And he has an advantage in the fact that he has been at the club for two years already, knows all the players, and has seen where Harry went wrong with certain situations.
He was a stylish player at the top level, and the fact that our best two young players are delighted that he has taken over says a lot to me.
Okay, it would have been more high profile to get Marcello Lippi or Frank Rijkaard, but let's be realistic about the whole thing and rememember that we aren't one of Europe's biggest clubs. And also, who's to say they wouldn't have problems in settling, as Claudio Ranieri did?
And remember, when George Graham left Leeds a couple of years ago, they wanted to appoint Martin O'Neill but couldn't and in the end had to go for the inexperienced David O'Leary. He gave the kids a chance and look what happened!
At the end of the day, we have got a squad of players at West Ham who have the potential to be a top six side. They need someone in charge who can organise them into a system and coach brightly to keep them on their toes and improving.
After Curbishley, I would say that Glenn Roeder has just as much qualification to do that as any other name mentioned.
Neither he nor the board need reminding that they will face the firing squad if this all goes wrong, so let them get on with it and let us get on with supporting the team. Results are the only thing that will determine the outcome, so let's look forward now.

Heath Monk, London
I'd like to wish Glenn all the best, although it's not the forward move I'd hoped for. The suspicion has to be that Glenn is the only candidate who'd take the job on the Board's terms, ie, no money for developing the squad.  Relegation in a distinct possibility - I'll be spending the weekend deciding whether to keep my season ticket.

Richard Carpenter, Frimley
Give the guy a chance - has he done anything wrong yet? I would go for youth, with a smattering of experience for balance. Gareth Southgate in, Di Canio Oout, maybe look to Harry's 'new' charges for fresh blood - they've got a couple of decent strikers!

Samuel Liyanage, Phoenix, USA
I am a lifelong West Ham fan now living in the US. I was shocked when Harry left and very dissapointed but the club comes first. That is why I thought it would be the ideal opportunity to bring in a big name. The board obviously tried but failed (for whatever reason) to get the man they really wanted. Now Glenn Roeder is in the hot seat and only time will tell whether the board went for an easy option. I personally have my doubts. For your sake and the club's I will only be too glad if you prove me wrong Mr Roeder.

Ian Rudder, Chafford Hundred, Grays
I am somewhat dissapointed by the appointment of Glen Roeder. I feel that we should have gone for a higher profile manager, if it was deemed that Harry Redknapp had taken the club as far as he could. Will Glenn be able to bring in players of Paolo Di Canio's quality? I think not and he will be under tremendous pressure if we have a poor start to the season. Glenn would have been better served being an assistant to someone like George Graham or even a top foreign coach.

Jake Bull, Chelmsford, Essex
Players for Glenn to go for: Robbie Savage, Muzzy Izzet, Lee Hughes, David Dunn.

Dal Supreme, Berkshire
With £15million at West Ham's disposal, I feel that Glenn Roeder, who I hope has a successful campaign next season, should be targeting at least three players, in a bid to prove his worth. He should spend around £6million on Michael Ball, who should bring in solidity to our defence. Also, the purchase of Seth Johnsen for £7 million, should enable the attacking skills of our other midfielders to flourish. Mihalis Konstantinou should be another transfer target, who could be available for £2-3 million and should help sort out our striking issues.

Mike T, London
A disaster, and totally indicative of the lack of ambition and direction at the club. Does anyone study past managerial records before making such appointments? In two years this club has gone from one with pretensions towards Europe, to a small-time selling club faced with the trapdoor of relegation - despite having a huge population catchment area on its doorstep. In today's highly commercial football business if you think small, you'll be small.

Barry, Dagenham
I would have preferred a high profile manager, someone who has been there and done it! But they are hard to get nowadays if you ain't got the dough...so lets just wait and see how Glenn does!

Ian Jobling, Basingstoke
I have to be honest and say that Alan Curbishley was my first choice. However, now that Glenn has the job I hope that everyone involved with club, from fans to the MD, get behind him and give him all of their support. As to who to buy, well we didn't get their manager, but what about their centre half. By that I mean Richard Rufus - an ideal replacement for Rio at a third of the price. That would leave about £10 million for a world class centre forward, a 20 goal a season player with a proven track record.

Darren Kelly, Buckhurst Hill
The rot started with selling Rio (players like that don't grow on trees, ask Leeds), was compounded by sacking Harry Repnapp and is now complete with the appointment of the long promised 'man with the big CV' Glenn Roeder. No other takers for the job because of the enormous £4m (+ £11m from the sale of Frank Lampard) to spend on players perhaps. Our humiliation is complete; we are the laughing stock of the Premiership but not for long because we are sure to be relagated. As a company director, if I had presided over a farce like the board's attempts to sign a manager I would be sacked. This is our lowest point.

Matt Dynan, Camberley
I think that Glenn will be a success. He has the respect of the younger players and that's what we need if we are going to go forward. I wish him all the best and hope he can bring in some quality players. Robert, the French winger, has to be a target - he played very well during the Confederations cup and would fill a void in our squad.

Alex Fenby, Singapore
I don't think Roeder will be as bad as most fans think, but I am still amazed at the lack of ambition on the board's part. Now, to appease fans they've announced that there will be £15m to spend. but they've created such turmoil that I think Roeder's first priority will be to keep the squad together, never mind look to buy new players. Players he should target include Southgate, woodgate (in trouble at Leeds?), Arca, Cruyff (alaves), Conte (juventus), Luccin (PSG), Hadji, Silvinho (sitting on the bench at Arsenal), Butt (Man Utd), Hughes (WBA), Elliott (Leicester), Lambert (Celtic). Get going Glenn, get some big names, show the club has ambition!

John Wenner, Belfast
Congratulations to Glenn, I'm sure he will do his best and all true fans should support him. He has worked with Terry Venables which I think is a good thing. What I do hope is that old Pearcey is able to join in and add his weight with the staff, as I'm sure that this combination would be really good.