Hammers promote from within

West Ham manager Alan Pardew has promoted two of his backroom staff in the wake of the departure of former number two Peter Grant who has taken over as boss at Championship club Norwich City.

Pardew, whose side have suffered six consecutive defeats and dropped into the bottom three of the Barclays Premiership after Saturday's 2-0 defeat at Portsmouth, has promoted coach Keith Peacock to assistant manager and Kevin Keen, the reserve-team manager and former Hammers midfielder, to first-team coach.

Pardew said: "I have always promoted from within, and I am delighted to be able to offer these new roles to Kevin and Keith. It will enable us to move on very quickly from Peter's departure and ensure that the transition is a smooth one."

He added: "Kevin is West Ham United through and through. He cares deeply about the club and has proven himself to be a very able coach during his time here.

"Keith and I go back a long way and, having been involved with us since the start of the season, he is now fully settled in here.

"I am sure both will play key parts in helping us to get back on track, and I am certainly looking forward to working with them more closely as we aim to bring more success to Upton Park."

Keen will take charge of the reserves for their match against Aston Villa at Upton Park on Tuesday before an announcement about his own successor with the second XI.

Pardew insists it is just a matter of time before the Hammers, last season's FA Cup finalists and top-10 Premiership finishers, climb out of their slump but admits that "any manager with six consecutive defeats must have a certain amount of fear about his job".

He added: "But I have good people around me here and I have to be strong to stand up to any pressure. I hope the players are, too.

"We know the fans have been patient but that patience won't last very long unless we get a win soon. We will just come in, work hard and hope something drops our way."