Hammers boss Curbishley 'in limbo' as owner calls for wage cut

Curbishley has been told by owner and chairman Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson to trim the players' wage costs at the end of the season but a catalogue of long-term injuries means that it is impossible for the Hammers boss to make any long-term plans with his squad.

Billionaire Gudmundsson, who bought out Eggert Magnusson's five per cent stake in the club earlier this season, is also chairman and major owner of Icelandic bank, Landsbanki which, like most major financial institutions, has been hit by the credit crunch in recent months.

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When Magnusson was chairman of the East London club, they paid big fees and offered huge wages to attract high profile players to the club, such as Freddie Ljungberg, Craig Bellamy, Kieron Dyer, Luis Boa Morte and Matthew Upson.

West Ham, who meet FA Cup finalists Portsmouth tonight, have been plagued by an horrendous list of injuries all season though and Curbishley admitted: "I still haven't had a return date on when some players will be fit again so it's very difficult to assess what we've got.

"We're in limbo in that respect. The list of injured players is still in double figures and I don't know when some of them will be back, particularly those with abdominal trouble.

"I was hoping that most of them would be back before the end of the season and then we would have a good idea of where we were but that's not been the case.

"I need some of these long term-injuries to clear up so we know where we are. It's difficult to plan anything at the moment."

Curbishley still hopes that Welsh international striker Bellamy could be back before the end of the season but for others, such as Welsh defensive pair James Collins and Danny Gabbidon, plus French midfield player Julien Faubert, Lee Bowyer, Calum Davenport and Kieron Dyer, the immediate future looks less optimistic.

Curbishley was hoping that Dyer, who broke his leg back in August, would be back in contention before the end of the season but the former England player is suffering from irritation in the area where a pin was inserted in his leg.

Better news is that teenage striker Freddie Sears, who missed the recent defeat at Sunderland with a groin injury, is fit again, as is fellow front-man Bobby Zamora.