Barmby on... West Ham United

A spiky Nick Barmby faces the press after his Hull side went down 2-1 at the hands of West Ham at the Boleyn Ground - and takes great umbrage to the opening question of the day...

Nick: A strange afternoon for you. You came here as the support act really, didn't you?

No.

No?

No. I don't think so. I think that's a very disrespectful thing to say, that we came here as a support act. Professional players are out there and professional people. So I don't think we did.

We knew that West Ham would come out of the blocks, we knew that. You look at the two goals, they are cheap goals that we gave away so I'm frustrated and disappointed with that. But I think the last 25, 30 minutes when we started to believe in ourselves and got our passing going we created a number of chances. But as a support act? No, I don't think we did that.

[long pause]

How do you look back on the season?

A mix really. I'm frustrated because I genuinely believed in the ability of the lads and that we could have been in the play-offs. We fell short; we haven't scored enough goals, we know that. But for me, I think, another year on with the experience the young lads have had this season, they've come on, they're getting better with each week that comes.

Look at Corry [Evans] in the second half; a very talented player and he's good in that midfield position. So I'm pleased with the lads overall and their attitude. They're better for it. They know that they were close but in certain games when we've been winning, we've got to close the game out and we haven't managed to do that. Hopefully we'll learn from that this season.

What you did do was nearly get a draw...

Well that's the thing, we kept going. We really only started to believe in the last half-an-hour that we could put a dent in West Ham, but we need to do that for longer periods of the game.

Sam Allardyce and West Ham are quick to point out that when teams come here they play for their lives, they rise up to their surroundings and make it very difficult for West Ham almost more so than at any other ground. Is that fair comment?

No, I disagree with that. When you look at Reading, I think they have had that. They've gone up as Champions, I believe. Southampton have had that, I think. In this division there's no given in any games and there's been some funny results. A club like West Ham with all its tradition, teams are not going to come here and roll over - but teams are not going to go elsewhere and roll over. That's the way the Championship is.

Do you think West Ham are going up?

I'm sad to say because there's some good teams in the play-offs, some really good teams so it'll be interesting. But again that's not my concern. My concern is Hull City, getting us right and bringing the right players to the club so we can add to it and keep hold of our better players for next season.

What do you take away from this season? What are the high points for you?

Like I've said, the players are growing, they're getting better each week. I won't stop the way that we play because I think it's the right way to play. Other people might not but I believe in the way we play. I think it suits the style of players we've got at the club. I enjoy the workload; we've had some good results on the road and at home. I've enjoyed the majority of it but obviously when you lose you don't enjoy it. But it's been a good all-round experience.