Avram on Friday

Avram Grant has spoken to the media ahead of Saturday's Barclays Premier League fixture at Everton.

The manager discussed his position, the club's aim to bring in new players before the end of the January transfer window and his desire for the club to move to the 2012 Olympic Stadium.

Avram on the Olympic Stadium…

For me it is very simple - the stadium is in east London and West Ham is east London. I don't think we would build a stadium in Fulham because it belongs to Fulham, so I think the answer is very simple - the stadium needs to belong to West Ham.

I think life is moving forward and a new stadium is always good - new facilities and everything. If you saw the semi-final against Birmingham, the stadium was full and the atmosphere was great.

I think it will be good for everybody. I didn't see the stadium or the plans yet, but I know that in modern life you need a new stadium. Look at what happened to Arsenal when they moved to the Emirates. Everyone was against David Dein when he went to do it, but now everybody is happy.

I'm sure everybody will be happy and, again, it belongs to the people in this area. They need to decide.

Today, in the modern stadiums, as I saw in America, the running tracks don't disturb anything. I must tell you that a few years ago I was in the Champions League final [at the Luzhniki Stadium] in Moscow with a track and the atmosphere was great.

Avram on the past fortnight…

What has happened has happened off the pitch and for me it belongs to the past. Now, I want everybody in the club, especially the players, to concentrate on what will happen in the future.

I feel that I need to do my job in football and not to think about other things because my personal issue is not the problem. It's my problem - it's not the problem of everybody. We are not speaking about private business.

I think now that everybody is busy with January transfers. We don't have many days until the end of the transfer window and, as you know if you saw the team last week, we have a lot of injuries and we need players so that the squad will be stronger. That is what is important.

I think I have only to deal with football problems, nothing else.

Tomorrow is a game against Everton and it is important for the club. I feel that I need to do my job, that I am in the job here and that we need to take points because I still believe we can go out of the relegation zone. The team is more important than anything.

I still believe that this club can stay in the league and, with the project, can move forward and forward over the next few years to reach the targets that we want to.

Avram on the survival battle…

What is most important is the team and I want the team to concentrate on the game and the future of West Ham. It will not be easy but I still think that if we do the right things on the pitch and off the pitch, this club can be a good club and is a good club.

You saw that the fighting spirit of the players was good most of the time. Sometimes we played good, sometimes not, but they were always trying. The players are committed and showed a lot of spirit, but it's not easy because we go to pick the team on the day before the game and we don't know who is available and who isn't.

If you look at the last month, we have had good results.

We have a game tomorrow, we have a semi-final on Wednesday and we have other games. It's very important. I was a supporter and I know what it means to the supporters. What we can give them is to concentrate on football.

The future target is to stay in the league and then to think about our vision.

I say to the supporters that West Ham have had good days and bad days but it is still a very good club and we will do everything that it will stay like this.

Avram on possible transfers…

We have a few targets who we want to bring. We are dealing with this and I'm pretty sure that over the next week we shall see new players here.

I don't like to speak about things before they are done. You know, if we continue, we could spend the next three hours talking about names that have been in the newspaper. I think we need to wait and see because nothing is done until it's done, especially in England!

We need new players. We don't have any other choice. You saw last week when we played that we lost all of our midfield, so it's not easy to do things like this. Everyone knows we need new players and that's what we're busy about and I'm pretty sure that we will do it.

Avram on throwing his scarf into the crowd after the Arsenal match…

I don't know if you saw but I did it after the three matches before. The children were asking me and I threw the scarf. I must say it was very, very touching the support from the supporters at the end of the game. I felt in this moment that I needed to do this.

Avram on team news…

I feel a relief to talk about football! Scott Parker will play tomorrow, but other players I am not sure about but we will know after training.

Avram on focusing on the Barclays Premier League when playing so many cup ties…

It is not difficult because the players are experienced and they know that it is part of it. The semi-final is a big game because everybody wants to be in the final.

The most important thing is to stay in the league. I think it's possible. We are two points from safety, there are 15 games to go. They are not easy games but they are possible to win and we want to do what we did before against Fulham, Wolves and Everton, which is take points.