Reid disappointed with closing defeat

Winston Reid admitted the Hammers have not been good enough in the season's closing straight after defeat at Newcastle

Winston Reid admitted Sunday’s final game defeat at Newcastle United was a continuation of West Ham United’s recent poor run.

After sitting inside the Barclays Premier League’s top four at Christmas, the Hammers have dropped down the table over the second half of the season, much to the disappointment of Reid and his teammates.

He says ending twelfth will leave a sour taste in the mouth over the summer, but insists the east Londoners will return stronger next term.

“The last twelve-odd games have been poor from our point of view and we’ll go off on holiday really disappointed,” said the No2.

“It just hasn’t been good enough in the latter part of the season. It’s something that we need to correct for when we come back in after the summer and get back to what it was before Christmas time.

“We started the campaign really well. We’ve always been safe throughout the season, but it’s just unfortunate that we couldn’t push on in the second half of the season. We just didn’t hit the form that we had before Christmas.”

Sunday’s 2-0 defeat on Tyneside also marked the end of manager Sam Allardyce’s four years in charge and Reid is grateful for the chance given to him by the 60-year-old

“As players we’ve always backed him,” he explained. “I’ve worked with him professionally for four years and he’s been brilliant for me and brilliant for the Club.

“He brought the Club up from the Championship and has been in the Premier League for three years  so it’ll be sad to see him go but that’s the decision.

“Thank you to him, all he has done has been brilliant and now we all look forward to a new coach and new season.”