Hammers chairman backs Curbishley '100 per cent'

LONDON - WEST Ham chairman Eggert Magnusson has given his '100 per cent backing' to manager Alan Curbishley, insisting there is no deadline for him to turn the club's fortunes around.

The Icelandic businessman has been infuriated by reports that he has given Curbishley three matches to get the Hammers back on the winning track.

West Ham have won only once in 10 Premiership games since Curbishley replaced Alan Pardew as manager.

But Magnusson is adamant he has the right man for the job, reported The Daily Mail.

He said: 'To put the record straight, Alan has my 100 per cent backing.

'He has had it since day one and he has it going forward. He is the right man for this job, and he will take us through this difficult stage.

'Talk of a three-game deadline is nonsense, I hope that Alan is here for the long-term.'

Magnusson, who celebrated his 60th birthday yesterday, insists his ties with Curbishley have been strengthened by working together during the January transfer window.

He added: 'We spent a lot of time with my deputy Scott Duxbury - often until very late in the evening - sitting together and working out our plans.

'It was a learning experience for me, and I feel it made our ties that much stronger.

'I have experienced that life is not always easy. There are always difficulties to overcome, but the only way to get past them is to fight to turn them into advantages.

'That is how I have directed my life and that is what we will do at West Ham.'

Magnusson has, however, slammed Pardew, claiming there was dressing-room unrest while he was in charge.

He sacked Pardew in December after a disastrous run.

He will come face-to-face with Pardew on Saturday, as West Ham travel to Charlton for a crucial relegation battle.

The Icelander has already stoked the fires ahead of the clash by suggesting Pardew had lost the dressing room at West Ham.

'There was no purpose to talk about it publicly at the time,' Magnusson told the News of the World.

'But the key factor was that something was just not right in the dressing room.

'Tension had been building between the players and the manager for a while.

'There was a cancer we had to cut off.'