Why relegation is too costly to contemplate

The West Ham crisis: Brooking takes charge knowing a famous club's future is at stake

"I cannot see management as an ideal job for me, mainly because of the insecurity." Thus wrote Trevor Brooking in his autobiography, some 22 years before taking charge of a team for the first time, away to Manchester City this afternoon. That the team should be West Ham United, the only club for Brooking as man and boy (he signed for them as an apprentice in 1965), is no surprise, nor is the fact that they are in trouble, for such opportunities rarely arise in times of good fortune. That Kevin Keegan, a good friend who used to home in on his crosses to score goals for England, will be in the opposite dressing room trying to ruin his day is one of the sport's many ironies.

Brooking, a West Ham board member for the past 21 months, provides a familiar face but a new voice, though not one that will be raised any louder than that of Glenn Roeder. As manager over the past two seasons, Roeder has not been one for throwing teacups or tantrums, believing that the "hairdrier" was for drying hair, rather than dressing down footballers. Sadly, bottling up frustrations may well have contributed to the minor stroke that put him in the Royal London Hospital last week. His assistants, Paul Goddard and Roger Cross, are in the same mould, which may have been part of the problem, so it is unfortunate that Brooking does not bring a new dimension in the way that, say, Billy Bonds, another reluctant manager but audible motivator, once did.

"Anyone who's played at professional level won't succeed without a bit of aggression," he insists. "In all walks of life there's a time and a place when it's needed. You've got to be committed, otherwise no one else will be. I remember watching my son play when he was little and being pretty passive, but there'll be moments when you're not passive."

As a media pundit, the amiable Brooking has attracted the same label that Brian Clough famously attached to his football on the eve of the 1980 FA Cup final against Arsenal: "floats like a butterfly and stings like one". He remembers being "a little hurt" at the time, and responded by scoring the only goal to win the Cup for the underdogs.

At 54, that is no longer an option – even against City's defence – but he believes motivation will not be a problem, given Roeder's illness and the team's parlous position. Regardless of yesterday's results, West Ham's target to avoid relegation has to be to follow last Monday's victory over Middlesbrough with three more; not since February 1996 have they managed four wins in a row.

The pundit in Brooking would see a notoriously erratic City, like Birmingham a fortnight today, as a team with only pride and prize money to play for, whereas Chelsea, who visit Upton Park on Saturday, will be after the huge incentive of a Champions' League place. So he will need an improvement in performances, for even the 1-0 success over a Middlesbrough side as impotent as ever on their travels was an edgy affair, full of misplaced passes and dreadful, overhit crosses – this from the club that gave English football the near-post cross, after Ron Greenwood saw Hungary score from one at the 1966 World Cup.

Although the defence has improved since conceding 13 goals in a week in January, when supporters chanted "We need a new back four", Ian Pearce will be playing his last game before a three-match suspension. Further forward, Michael Carrick is unlikely to appear again this season, Lee Bowyer remains doubtful, and Paolo Di Canio now has "a gastric problem" – which should not necessarily be interpreted as having no stomach for the fight.

Brooking has experienced relegation at the club, in 1978, but there was no sense then of impending financial crisis. With a foot in the boardroom as well as the dressing room, however, he is conscious that times have changed.

Whether from balance sheets or anecdotal evidence, there is an air of football's financial madhouse about the place. The most recent annual report by the accountants Deloitte & Touche had West Ham spending no less than 83 per cent of their turnover on wages, the highest figure in the Premiership. From a tale told by Roeder's predecessor, Harry Redknapp, it is not difficult to see why: early in September 2000, Di Canio suddenly announced that another manager (Redknapp strongly suspected Chelsea's Gianluca Vialli) wanted to buy him and would double his salary; after threatening to strike, the Italian was persuaded to accept a rise of £14,000 a week for two years. The very same day Vialli was sacked; so there was no longer a rival bid anyway and West Ham's annual wage bill had just risen by £728,000.

Debts are now put at between £35m-£40m, which is quite an achievement for a club that received £29m for Rio Ferdinand and Frank Lampard, two players who had not cost them a penny. Getting Di Canio and either Les Ferdinand or Frédéric Kanouté off the wage bill will still make only a small dent in the debt, which is why relegation, at an estimated cost of £15m, would mean it became impossible to resist selling at least one of the younger stars.

"There are some talented individuals in our squad who I'm sure will attract bids," Brooking admitted. "The club don't have to get rid of all those players. But they're only decisions to make when you have to. We'd have to see what happens and what came in. It would make it harder [without them] but a few of the lads do have a good feeling for the club. We'll face that one if and when."

It is a grim prospect for the club's chairman, Terry Brown, who will also be aware that of the last nine clubs to be relegated from the Premiership, eight – Sheffield Wednesday, Watford, Wimbledon, Bradford City, Coventry City, Derby County, Ipswich Town and Leicester City – have suffered severe financial problems, and several have gone into administration. Only Manchester City kept their heads above water, by taking out a huge security loan, wangling a new ground out of the local council and – most importantly – immediately winning promotion again. Conversation in the Maine Road boardroom this afternoon might even take in the fact that to do so, City deemed it necessary ruthlessly to sack a manager (Joe Royle) who had brought them unexpected success only 12 months earlier.

To do the same to Roeder while he was still recovering from a life-threatening stroke brought on by the stress of the job would be callous in the extreme, but a significant proportion of the home support would prefer a new man to be in charge for the start of next season. The dilemma will have to addressed, along with a number of equally painful considerations, as soon as the club's fate is determined. "When" is clear favourite ahead of "if", and the time could be as early as Saturday.