"We have two weeks to live with this, not just us but every West Ham fan," he says.
"We will be open to criticism from every quarter and we will have to take that; it will hurt inside us as we go into our next game which is Watford away.
"We have to make sure that our frustration doesn't boil over into an unprofessional display and that is what I am working on in these next two weeks - to get my own ideas across."
There were, of course, positives from the display against West Brom, and Alan says:
"I thought in that first period of the game we played some of the best football any team I have managed has ever played.
"So the signs are that we can do it, and that what I am trying to get into the team is going to get through."
But Alan is realistic enough to know that the wins have to start coming soon, and he adds:
"Ultimately anything you do at a football club as a manager, especially as a new manager like myself, is that you need a win to back the ideas and everything up.
"To keep that belief ultimately now we need a win - and we need it quick."
Alan is hoping to lift the mood as the week goes on, and he adds:
"Everyone was pretty negative on Monday morning and that is understandable; we are all disappointed and there was a lot of frustration at the training ground.
"We have to get rid of that and then we have to move on; sometimes in life you have to take a step backwards before you go forwards and it certainly looks like we are in that process at the minute."