Hammers close in on Curbishley
West Ham are closing in on Alan Curbishley after positive talks between chairman Eggert Magnusson and the former Charlton manager.
Magnusson spent several hours with Curbishley and an announcement could be made tomorrow confirming him as Alan Pardew’s successor as the Hammers’ new boss.
Curbishley, 49, is a former West Ham player and it is understood the negotiations have taken both parties close to an agreement.
Pardew was sacked yesterday after a string of poor results which saw West Ham slide into the bottom three.
Curbishley has been a free agent since stepping down as Charlton boss last season but his track record made him Magnusson’s first choice.
The Icelandic businessman is keen to appoint someone with years of experience of English top-flight football.
Curbishley has made little secret of his feelings, describing the Hammers’ interest as “a massive honour“.
He said: “Of course I’m interested. Perhaps having the chance to manage them, five years after they were allegedly seeking me to replace Harry Redknapp, is a massive honour.
“Once you are brought up in a background like West Ham the affection you have for the club never goes away.”
League Managers’ Association chief executive John Barnwell said he would be pleased to see a high-profile British manager return to the Premiership.
Barnwell said: “We want British managers to be at the top level. There are plenty of high quality, top managers around and we would hope that would be the way they [West Ham] would go.”
