Daily Mirror...
ROBERT GREEN has laid bare the lack of fight in the West Ham dressing room by admitting the team had simply 'gone missing' far too often this season.
The club which reached last year's FA Cup final is now stuck in a desperate relegation struggle after last weekend's 4-0 humiliation at Charlton.
And England keeper Green, a pounds 2million summer signing from Norwich, reckoned the failure has been down to a lack of effort from a talented group of players.
"If you look at our squad, we have got one hell of a team," he insisted.
"If you put that out in any game then we give ourselves a chance as we have proved this season, but what we need to do is achieve that more regularly.
"It is one hell of a league to play in, and what we have found is that if you don't turn up, even against teams in the middle of the table, then you get turned over. That has all been too evident on a regular basis this season."
Since the sacking of Alan Pardew in December, West Ham have beaten - Manchester United but failed to win another Premiership game under Alan Curbishley.
And Green said he was reliving his relegation nightmare with Norwich in the 2004-05 season - though on a much bigger scale.
"The season we had at Norwich was a difficult one, there was a lot of injuries there as there is here," he added.
"But the difference at West Ham is the level of expectation here and the size of the squad and the club. No disrespect to Norwich, they are a big club, but it would have been a massive achievement just to stay up. At West Ham, the expectations are a lot higher and so the disappointment is that much greater."
Green has played in West Ham's last two games but he is still smarting at being dropped from the side by boss Alan Curbishley following the thrashing at Reading on New Year's Day.
"If there was ever going to be a game when I was going to be left out it was after a 6-0 defeat," he added. "I was still disappointed to be dropped, though.
"I thought - bar the Reading game, when nobody played well - my form had been good."
Calum Davenport last night begged fans to back the side when his old team Tottenham visit on Sunday.
He said: "The Charlton game was unnacceptable. All the players and staff are aware of that.
"We need the fans behind us from the start, then we can show them that we're going to turn up this weekend."
Scunthorpe, Colchester, Plymouth and Stoke .. places they WILL turn up to next season
Posted By: Ralph, Mar 1, 10:41:06
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