Curbishley 'in limbo' as owner calls for wage cut

West Ham manager Alan Curbishley faces a major headache this summer following the club's decision to cut the wage bill.

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.

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.