Alan Curbishley admits nothing he does will please West Ham fans at the moment, but he will not shirk the challenge of turning jeers to cheers.Hammers fans turned on Curbishley again last week against Derby when he took off youngster Freddie Sears for Carlton Cole and the boos continued at the final whistle even after the substitute scored the winner.

"Whatever I (would have) done, they would not have been amused," said Curbishley. "It seemed a bit pre-meditated.

"That is the way that it is at the moment - there is no use crying about it at the moment."

Despite staring at relegation this time last year, supporters were expecting more this season following survival and also want attacking football from Curbishley.

Newcastle, who visit Upton Park this weekend, have similar demands of entertainment and Kevin Keegan has been appointed to replicate the exciting days of the 1990s when he almost took them to glory.

Curbishley has defended himself when accused of negative football but his philosophy is to pick up points.

He said: "Sometimes games pan out a little bit different from what you expect but my philosophy is winning games. You have got to win games."

The Hammers are stabilised in mid-table under his leadership and he is now determined to strike up a more positive relationship with fans.

"Whatever happened on Saturday I have not been subject to before," he said.

"I don't think that many people have. Winning 2-1 at home and getting booed.

"But it is there and I have to get on with it. It is not going to stop me wanting to be as successful as I can and I think that West Ham throughout the years has been a bit volatile, the crowd, whoever has been in charge. It is up to me to turn it around."

Curbishley feels success is achievable with everyone at the club pulling in the same direction.

"We all know about Newcastle, when they start rolling on it becomes a juggernaut and everyone gets on board," he said. "In that respect, we are a little bit similar.

"What I wanted was a nice solid season. People took that wrongly in some respects. The year before we were on the back pages for all the wrong reasons and I wanted a solid season and be on the back pages for the right reasons.

"Sprinkled with that, I was hoping with the players we had available we could play some decent football. That is still what I am after.

"If we start well next season, get players back, with the squad that we have, it could be a lot different."

Curbishley has had a huge injury list to contend with, making the jeers against Derby even harder to take.

"I must admit that I felt disappointed for the players on Saturday," he said. "We had 15-16 players and got on with it, people playing out of position again.

"Whatever people may think it was a great result for us.

"One other person was happy. It was (Derby boss) Paul Jewell. He got off lightly. He thought he was in for a bit of stick and obviously thanked me enormously after the game."

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