Glenn: Let's Be Winners

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Glenn Roeder says that nothing will interfere with the good spirit at West Ham - and that there will be no let up from now to the end of the season.

Although the first objective of beating last season's points tally has been achieved, Glenn says there is more to be done, and that complacency will not creep in.

"That would be the wrong thing to do, because we are trying to produce a team spirit at the club where everyone is fighting for the cause, working hard for each other, sticking together tight, trying to change the mentality - and get a winning culture going," says Glenn, who feels that the foundations for next season can be laid in the next six games.

"To do that we have to be consistent and grind out results away from home more than we have done this season, that's for sure," he adds.

"Okay, we will be a little bit more cavalier, if you want, at home - and maybe a little bit more entertaining, which you have to be.

"But working with such a small squad we want to make sure the environment they work in, and the atmosphere they train in and play in, is the way you'd want it, and that everyone is pulling their weight and prepared to give a little bit more for the cause.

"The spirit is excellent and since the Fulham win some of the players have commented on that to me; I am not going to name names, but two or three of the seniors have said how much they enjoy the training ground environment and general atmosphere round the place and are all looking forward to the next game, which is good.

"The important thing is that we take these feelings into games and convert them into good results, because we want to finish the season strongly, and we want our suppoorters to look back on this season as a relatively successful one."

Glenn is blending the obvious individual talents that the team possesses and adding a work ethic to it, and he explains:

"Football is a team game, not an individual one, and there has to be a framework in which everyone has got to know their job; at times players have to sacrifice themselves in order for the team to get the result that they want.

"If we can bring that culture to the club that is only going to help us and move us on a couple of stages."

Glenn says that Sebastien Schemmel's willingness to play left back after Vladimir Labant went off on Monday typifies that, and says:

"That just showed how willing the players are to fill in wherever they are asked to fill in; everyone has got their favourite position and the way they would like to play in an ideal world, but you have to have players who are prepared to sacrifice themselves in order for the team to get a result - and that is exactly what Sebastien Schemmel did when Vladimir Labant unfortunately got injured.

"I had made my mind up that Ian Pearce was going to come on at right back and Sebastien was going to go the left, but before I had even given instructions Sebastien was already signalling from the pitch did I want him to go and play left back, so he had already read my thoughts.

"In actual fact he didn't look out of place playing left back and Ian did really well after 10 minutes when he adjusted to the pace of the game.

"I am so pleased to have Ian Pearce back around the place fit and healthy and I'm sure that he will be involved in all the last six games and as long as he has a good preseason I am sure he will be fighting hard next season to make one of those defensive positions his own."

Glenn feels that the old cliche of 'a good mix of youth and experience' applies to the playing staff and he adds:

"We have got a nice blend of age in the squad, with three young players in Michael Carrick, Jermain Defoe, and Joe Cole, and Richard Garcia is breaking into that group, making four young players.

"We have a good group of experienced players in that 25 plus bracket, and one or two what you would call senior players.

"The only thing I would like to do, but I won't be able to do it as quickly as I would like, is to increase the size of the squad up to 17 or 18 of what you would call senior first team players, capable of putting on the sort of performance that we all want."

Meanwhile, Glenn admits that he is keeping an eye on Ivory Coast born international Abdelkader Kieta, who plays for Etoile du Sahel in Tunisia, and says:

"We took the African Nations Cup in like the majority of Premiership clubs would have done; we have highlighted three or four players that have impressed us and Kieta was one of those, so we will be monitoring his progress between now and the end of the season."