Co-chairman David Sullivan has give Slaven Bilic the dreaded 'vote of confidence' following Saturday's humiliating defeat at the hands of neighbours Arsenal.
Bilic's side conceded four goals in the space of 14 second half minutes as not for the first time this season, they ran out of ideas and energy as the game entered its final phase.Yet despite the embarrassing result - which followed a 4-1 defeat at Manchester United and defeat at Tottenham, despite leading 2-1 after 88 minutes - Sullivan insists the under-pressure Croat has his full backing.
"Slaven cares passionately about the football Club and this defeat will be hurting him as much as anyone," he told the club's website. "I have no doubts that he is doing everything he can to address the situation and everyone is working together to ensure we turn our season around.
"We cannot forget the amazing job that Slaven did in his first season. With a bit more luck he could have taken us into the top four. His passion, commitment and outstanding track record at the highest level were among the many reasons we appointed Slaven in the summer of 2015.
"Despite what some people have said, there is still a great spirit among the players and everyone is working towards the same objective. We all need to stick together and get behind the team. We are all part of the West Ham United family and in hard times families pull together."
Yet partly mitigating the team's dreadful opening half of the campaign was the sheer number of injuries that have been sustained since the summer, added Sullivan.
"You cannot hide away from the fact that we were missing a number of influential players through injury for the Arsenal game, including both our first choice wing-backs," he added.
"Michail Antonio and Aaron Cresswell are key members of our team and are players who make a big difference to the way we play.
"Just when we thought the injury situation is clearing up, we then lost Diafra Sakho for another six weeks and Cheikhou Kouyate damaged his hamstring the night before the Arsenal game.
"To make matters worse, James Collins then had to leave the field after just seven minutes and all the planning that Slaven and his backroom staff had prepared for the game had gone out the window."
"Hopefully we will see a few of these players back in action next week and the team will show a vast improvement as we prepare for a massive week with big games against Liverpool, Burnley and Hull."
* Something to say about this story? Please visit the KUMB Forum to leave a comment.
