Taking time off from his focus on the World Cup to ponder on how his club side can progress, he insists: "We have got a great chance of breaking into that top six."
And, in response to the summer stories linking West Ham's finest with moves elsewhere, he reveals:
"The general feeling of the boys is that we want to stay here and we want club to push us on and bring in more players - that would be nice.
"It is maybe not for me to say, but all I'm explaining is that it would be nice if it did happen, because we have got some great players here, and it's good, so hopefully we can stay together and push on next year."
While he is currently thinking about getting into Sven-Goran Eriksson's thoughts, he says he is so happy for his 'other' boss, Glenn Roeder.
"I am very happy for Glenn; he is a great manager and he deserves all the praise he is getting," says Joe.
"We felt we owed him a lot and to get where we did is a great achievement; but we have quality in the side, it wasn't a dream, and we want to push on."