MONDAY NIGHT PREVIEW: WEST HAM v SOUTHAMPTON
Despite the increasing pressure being heaped on Glenn Roeder by his under-achieving stars, the West Ham boss continues to present a cool image to the media and he's even confident enough to talk publicly about his plans for the future - and they don't involve looking for another job. Only looking for new players to turn his and the club's fortunes around.
Along with Terry Venables, Roeder is right up there in front of what the tabloids like to call the sack race, but despite the continued speculation about his position as manager at Upton Park, he has been working tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure that the transfer targets he has drawn up arrive at the Boleyn in the New Year.
Whether or not Roeder is there to greet them is open to conjecture, but in the build-up to tonight's crucial Premieship clash with Southampton he didn't carry the air of a man under siege and his message to the club's fans remains positive. Confident he can 'turn things around' even before the transfer window opens, Roeder insists: "We have been working hard for the last two months on targeting players and we have certainly got a decent list.
"It is no secret that I would like to bring in a striker with some physical presence so that when Freddie Kanoute is unavailable we can maintain that physical presence in the attacking part of the team. If I can bring in more than one player and also bring in a defender, that would not go amiss. Our position in the table at the moment doesn't help, but I still think there are players who would come, particularly on loan, with a view that if things went well then they would stay with us after that."
Revealing that there is a 'certain amount of money' available for him to spend, Roeder also went on the offensive as he attempted to explain why West Ham have picked up just one point - against Manchester United - from their last five games. A brave and bold stance given that the Hammers go into this game on the back of a 4-1 reverse at Villa Park last week.
Despite the comprehensive nature of the scoreline, Roeder wasn't totally dismayed by the performance and said: "That's the most chances we have created away from home in a single match this season and we should have taken them. But we also paid for some very poor defending and we need to improve to get out of this situation.
"I have been here before and I am sure that will help. I've got a lot of belief in myself. I made it happen last year when we had a bad start - and I will again. I am confident that I will turn it around."
No such problems for Saints boss Gordon Strachan at the moment and he's hopeful his side can build on their morale-boosting win against champions Arsenal and transfer their impressive home form - they are unbeaten at St Mary's - to their travels, starting tonight at Upton Park. Strachan said: "Our results have not been as good as we would have liked away from home and that needs to improve.
"Some of the performances have been very good and we have not got the points that we've deserved. We played very well at Tottenham only to lose in injury time and then conceded another late goal at Bolton. But we've had a great week in training after the win against Arsenal and we hope we can follow that up against West Ham."
TEAM NEWS: Good and bad for West Ham because whilst Glenn Roeder welcomes back Freddie Kanoute after being deprived of his first team services for nine weeks with a groin injury, Edouard Cisse is suspended and Steve Lomas is doubtful with an ankle injury. Don Hutchison will be on the bench for the first time since suffering cruciate ligament damage in February. Gordon Strachan has injury doubts over midfielder Anders Svensson, who is recovering from a thigh strain, and striker Marian Pahars who has a foot injury.
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