Back in the summer when possibilities were endless and things were oh, so much brighter all round, I left a particularly cheeky thread on WestHamOnline.net under the heading 'Relegation!' I hoped, correctly as it happened, that some of the doom merchants that inhabit those pages would see the heading, assume I was talking about West Ham and join the discussion on the assumption I thought that was where the club was heading.

That was not the argument in the thread at all; in fact I was quite bullish about West Ham's prospects for the season. As Christmas approaches, you're probably wondering - as I am - if it was a joke that may turn in on itself.

The whole gist of the thread was that, this season out of all of them, there was good reason to be positive about the Hammers ambitions even if the arguments were based on the shortcomings of others. Certainly, the spending wasn't what the Upton Park faithful wanted and the loss of Lucas Neill looked - correctly, as it happened - as if it would impair the defence but, and I realise this is not a good way to base your team's intentions, the fact was that the lower half of the table contained many teams that looked ripe for struggle and, out of all of them, the Hammers had the better squad.

Portsmouth, I argued then, had all the attributes of a relegation side; sold all their players, bought few in and were under the leadership of an inexperienced manager who looks as if he is being set-up to be shot at. Six months down the line Paul Hart has gone - there's a surprise! - and Avram Grant brought in, but the other problems still persist and you have to wonder if even the experienced Grant has enough to work with to avoid the drop.

Hull and Stoke, I felt, could and should suffer 'second season' syndrome. Hull were lucky to gain enough points in the first half of the season to just avoid the drop last time out but were unlikely to be as lucky second time around and Stoke, for all their endeavour, would probably find the Britannia wouldn't be such a fortress this season. Added to the mix were the three clubs coming up which history tells us, should provide at least one - perhaps two - of the eventually relegated sides.

All three had the element of surprise which seems to accompany these forays into the Premiership but, even so, Burnley and Wolves looked under prepared for the top division. I felt Blackburn would struggle and Bolton, again, looked like a side whose manager might find his time has come while Wigan should suffer without Steve Bruce and an inexperienced boss at the helm.

So what's changed? D'you know, not a lot I reckon. Most of the above still applies and the only difference is that West Ham have struggled even more that I thought they would. I view the transfer window as the opportunity to fill a few gaps or even, if the red tops are to be believed, use the cash from one of our - hem-hem - 'stars' to get some more money into the pot.

As last year, the management are insisting they don't have to sell despite the rumours and, although truth and football are uneasy bedfellows, I like to think that is still the case. Naive? Perhaps: but I generally feel as I did in the summer that the Hammers are in a better position to strengthen even if it does mean the sacrifice of a high-profile player - a luxury most of our fellow strugglers don't have. Who knows, we may even get some players off the treatment table and onto the pitch. Speaking of which, sad though it is, the retirement of Dean Ashton at least puts away those 'when Dean's back' scenarios that have dominated squad talk for the past two or three seasons. I am assuming the club can buy with the money saved from Dean's contract and the likelihood of an insurance payment together with compensation from the FA.

The Sunday rags didn't do the Hammers any favours at the weekend but I had to laugh at some of the crazed assumptions made by the reporters; one hack suggesting the club would need at least £20m to ensure Premiership survival while, a sentence later, praising Birmingham for picking up former Hammer Lee Bowyer from Upton Park in the summer for nothing. Funny how these things reverse, isn't it? Why do WHU have to spend £20m while Brum survive on a free player who has transformed their season - does this not work both ways?

I just don't follow the argument that insists that Gianfranco Zola can't now pick up his own 'Bowyer' for next to nothing. Hell, we've probably got one in the Youth team now. Bowyer said at the weekend he wanted to stay at West Ham 'until he retired' but the fact is he looks twice the player he has ever looked for us and whether that says more about Bowyer or West Ham I'll leave you to decide but, long term, I think it was the right decision and all Zola and Clarke need to do is find a suitable replacement and preferably one that actually performs on the pitch for us because, take it from me, Bowyer rarely did for us.

In short, grim though the table looks at the moment, I really believe West Ham shouldn't be involved in the drop zone come May although I do expect a messy struggle for points up until spring. However, the Hammers should have enough both in the squad and in the boardroom to be able to put something together and, loath though I am to suggest it, it might start with just a little luck for a change

Will I regret this thread in much the same way as I did the one I wrote before Christmas 2008, a piece that was virtually redundant by the end of January 2009? Let's all meet back here in May and have a laugh, shall we?