West Ham manager Alan Curbishley has revealed he regularly replies to letters from disgruntled Hammers supporters.Curbishley often has a bulging mailbag awaiting him at work and he is quite happy to write back - providing they have made a valid point.

"I got shown a letter from a player that was unsigned and anonymous - I used to get them signed so I wasn't too fussed about an anonymous, unsigned nasty letter," said Curbishley.

"Some people do write nice things and some people feel free to write what they want. I do write back, but only if I think they have a good point.

"You can't think: 'That's a critical letter, so I'm not going to take on board what they've just said'. Some things are perfectly true."

The toughest time of Curbishley's managerial career came last season after he took over a West Ham side that was spiralling towards relegation from the Premier League.

Eventually, West Ham pulled themselves clear in an astonishing climax to the season but the nadir for Curbishley was when he took the Hammers back to his old club Charlton - and they lost 4-0.

"The West Ham fans were having a go at me at Charlton - and the Charlton fans were having a go at me as well! That wasn't very nice," said Curbishley.

"And all on the same day as getting beat 4-0."

Grant may find himself under greater pressure following the defeat by Tottenham than at any point in his time at Chelsea, but Curbishley insisted West Ham will not be taking pity on their fierce London rivals.

The Hammers lost ground in the race for European qualification after dropping points against Wigan and Birmingham, and Curbishley said: "I don't feel any sympathy, because I am sure Avram knows that some criticism goes with the territory when you're managing one of the top-four clubs.

"Chelsea may not have succeeded last Sunday but they're still fighting on three fronts and I know they will be determined to bounce back against us this weekend."

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