In the relatively foreseeable future our fans will remember Avram Grant's tenure at Upton Park as a forlorn episode, soon to be cast into dark oblivion as a sore but not too significant tiny detail in our history.
We love the club so much, that we were a bit negligent in our duties as critics. We knew all along that Grant's approach to the game of football was dour and conservative, and his temperament was alien to our ideals and tradition, but we tried to allay our anxieties with feeble excuses.Every West-Ham manager is by definition Ron Greenwood's spiritual heir but Grant is obviously an antithesis to this heritage. His appraisals in the aftermath of our numerous defeats lack intellectual integrity and sound like summaries for the defence in a criminal court.
Old Horace Rumpole would have been proud of him but for us he is a source of shame mixed with a certain amount of guilt. We wanted Grant to succeed despite knowing everything about him, but his was an impossible mission. The wrong man at the wrong moment has predictably (and inevitably) failed to deliver the goods.
As an Israeli, I feel somewhat embarrassed without any rational justification. We are internationalists, and don't believe that the Dutch people, for instance, bear responsibility for the blatant brutality of Nigel Jong. Some Israelis, notably Eyal Berkovic and Yossi Benayoun, did very well for us in the past. But Grant is simply not good enough, and he must go forthwith.
This is not only a matter of personalities. The new manager must accept a detailed mandate to rebuild the club in accordance with our traditional principles. They entail a level-headed management and a clear orientation on home-grown players even if the dividends are to be paid only in, say, 2015.
We don't want to see a new Chelsea here, and despise short-lived glories based on dubious money. Therefore, an old Hammer at the helm would be very suitable. Once we know our aims and the means to achieve them, the selection of a new manager is going to be quite easy.
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