Another in what is an irregular feature, as Blagg discovers a batch of old floppy discs containing all the old Blagg columns dating back nearly ten years and posted on what was then known as the 'Ironworks' (now WestHamOnline.net).

This time out, laugh loudly or smile ruefully as I take a look at a column I wrote when Glenn Roeder was given the job. I really did give him the benefit of the doubt, didn't I? (This article also later became part of the book 'Nightmare on Green Street')

This is a Billy Blagg Public Service announcement to all West Ham Online readers yet to go on holiday this year. I feel it only fair to inform you of a new greeting sweeping mainland Europe - and probably by the time you read this - the Americas too. Lacking a name for this new acknowledgement I have decided to call it ‘Los Glenn’. The greeting starts with the normal cry to attract the attention ‘Oy Mate’, ‘ ‘ere Gezza’ or, possibly, ‘Hey Cockernee Bastardo’. Once your attention has been gained the assailant will then shout at the top of his voice ‘Glenn Roeder!’ this will then be followed either by a signal resembling the world-famous thumbs-down gesture or, on occasion, a final flourish involving peals of laughter.

As I decided to sport the rather natty new Fila kit on the Costa Dorado last week, I was subject to this new greeting on several occasions and I can assure I never tired of the warm feeling of belonging that it invoked. You’re going to enjoy this one on holiday all summer so do try and wave and grin back, won’t you?

In my scrapbook of West Ham memories, I don’t think I will ever forget the morning that I discovered the identity of our new supremo. Following a heavy session at an all-night salsa bar, Lady Blagg and I decided to round the evening off nicely with a huge barney involving lots of bad language, tantrums and childish posturing (the good lady is not a person improved by the consumption of a few cold beers). We both stormed off to bed, subsequently overslept and found ourselves in a post-breakfast situation the following morning. Now the good woman and I are normally fairly kultured travellers and we tend to shy away from places such as Salou's Big Ben Breakfast Bar. However, to coin a cliché, beggars can’t chose their breakfasts, so it was a swift stagger over the road for a ‘Full Monty and don’t spare the fried bread’.

Ploughing through the assorted English papers that came with breakfast, I noted Arsenal’s purchase of one of my pre-Harry recommendations, Francis Jeffers, quickly spotted that Frank Jnr had gone to Chelsea and was quietly perusing a picture of our lad in a Chelsea strip when the face on the opposite page caught my eye. Was that Glenn Roeder in a suit and a hard hat? And was that pile of rubble an indication of West Ham’s aspirations this season? Surely they haven’t, have they? They can’t have! But they had…

Lady Blagg will confirm my initial response was “That’s relegation sitting there” before flinging the paper across the table, narrowly missing Lady B’s’ Tea like Muvva makes’ and restarting the previous evenings row again. However, if nothing else, the good lady knows that where me and West Ham are concerned there’s no arguing, and she wisely elected to leave me to stew for the rest of the morning.

I ached to get onto the Internet, call up Online and see what the immediate responses were from you lot. I must have written a dozen columns in my head as well - and none of them were without bad language! However, a few hours in the sun and a couple of cool cerveza’s later, I managed to calm down and view things rationally.

The fact is that the appointment of Glenn Roeder is disappointing. Obviously, the man wasn’t the first choice otherwise he would have been appointed the day after Harry left. It’s seems incredible that we couldn’t attract a bigger name but, when push comes to shove, should we be surprised? I think I’ve almost fallen victim to my own press and believed that this time West Ham were really going to get a grip and push us in the 21st Century. But the fact is that Glenn is no bigger name than Harry was when he took over, no more a certainty to succeed than Billy Bonds, more likely to be accepted than Macari and, possibly, may be the best real coach we've had at the club since John Lyall. In short, this may lead us into the fairyland of relegation but maybe, just maybe, we might get a break for once.

I was initially annoyed that I was away on the one week that West Ham appoint a new manager but reading through Online on my return I wonder if it might not be a blessing in disguise. It’s given me time to sit back and think about the real situation rather than the one in my head. If I’d been here I would have blasted off an offensive piece blaming the board as usual but now I can take some time out to reflect on the bigger picture (I sound like a Middle Manager in the City). I won’t pretend I wasn’t excited by a the mooted arrival of a French World Cup winning manager or a Euro winning Italian boss but, in truth, outside of the ‘big boys’ who can lay claim to one of these men? The rest of the Premiership stumble on with a Reid or a Burley so why should we think we are being hard done by? Glenn Roeder has a lot to prove and his desire to succeed may even work in our favour. He’s young. He’s keen. Apparently, Glenda Doddle appreciated his coaching acumen. Hey! I’m starting to even get enthusiastic about it, aren’t you? No, I though not…

At the moment it seems that Glenn Roeder has been handed a poisoned chalice but I think it would be nothing less than plain mean spirited not to wish the man all the luck in the world. It’s so tempting to add the caveat ‘you’re gonna need it’ but I’m not going to go down that route. I don’t think I’m going to get a real feeling for what we can expect until a few transfer deals have been tied up. I know the cry is up already that Glenn is nothing more than a puppet of the board – and I can certainly see that argument being difficult to argue against. But the fact is that the man has been appointed, given the FLJ £11m plus £4m from the Rio transfer (whaddya mean what happened to the other £14m – haven’t you seen Titi Camara, Rigobert Song, Christian Dailly and that nice new Castle turret on the Boleyn forecourt?). He seems to have some ideas. He seems to have the respect of most of the squad and I’ve even heard that he’s a disciplinarian with a dim view of poor training methods. So, who knows? Perhaps we have taken a step forward.

Whether it’s a step over a precipice only time will tell.