Alan Curbishley seemed to have a habit of getting on the wrong side of full-backs during his two-year spell in charge of Premier League outfit West Ham United.
Paul Konchesky was not exactly pleased to see Curbishley take the place of Alan Pardew in the Upton Park dugout in December 2006.
After all, it was under Curbishley at Charlton Athletic when the former England international handed in a transfer request, on the back of a falling out between he and his manager. Predictably, when they were reunited in East London, it did not take long for Konchesky to fall out of favour.
Luke Young, in contrast, would be denied the chance to work with Curbishley for a second time in the colours of West Ham United.
Young, who earned seven caps for the Three Lions himself, came within a failed medical of a move to the Hammers ahead of the 2006/07 season.
Luke Young explains why he didn’t leave Charlton Athletic for West Ham United
Speaking on the More Than A Name podcast, Young admits that – while it was Pardew who initially lured him to West Ham – he was disappointed not to get a phone call from his old Charlton boss once Curbishley took the reins at a club his old Addicks stalwart came so close to joining.
“Alan Curbishley had resigned from Charlton, and I just felt like it was probably a good time [to leave],” Young says. “I had spent six years there, and probably needed something fresh.
“West Ham had come in for me. Alan Pardew told me what he wanted from me. I go there to do the medical thinking the ankle might show up because I’d had an ankle injury, but [I wasn’t] worried about too much, to be honest with you.
“Then I get a phone call to say I failed the medical. I think they decided there was maybe issues with the hip that they could see in the scan, which they felt might come back to haunt them regarding the monetary value of the deal.
“‘They are buying me for X amount, my deal is worth X amount, there look like there’s a little issue with his hip. Do we want to take the risk?’ I think they decided not to.
“My only real problem with the whole thing was that Alan Curbishley never called me up to say, ‘Really sorry that we haven’t gone ahead with it, these were the reasons why, and I hope you understand that’.
I never even received a phone call.”
Young suffered relegation with Charlton in the 2006/07 Premier League season
Young was forced to make a rather awkward return to Charlton, then. After handing in a transfer request and trying to seal a move to a London neighbour, it is no wonder he felt a little conflicted about accepting the captain’s armband after it was offered to him by Curbishley’s successor.
A certain Iain Dowie.
“You never know what is going on behind the scenes. I think it’s better now with agents going in on your behalf, sounding out what is going on. I felt like that was probably the right time to have left the club but, when I went back to Charlton, Iain Dowie was in charge,” adds Young, who worked briefly under the former West Ham striker at the Valley.
“[Dowie] said, ‘you are going to be my captain’.
“I went into his office and said, ‘I don’t know if that’s a good idea. The fans know I was about to leave to West Ham, everyone knew I failed a medical and was happy to go.
“‘For you to now give me the armband at Charlton, the fans are going to be like; He wanted to leave a week ago and now here he is captaining the team!'”
Joe Cole tips Nuno Espirito Santo to turn West Ham around
Young did eventually accept Dowie’s offer. Not that his leadership skills were enough to save the Addicks from relegation.
While West Ham would turn their attention to Tyrone Mears, signing Young’s fellow right-back from Preston North End, Charlton dropped out of the Premier League in 2007. Nearly twenty years on, they are still yet to return.
Flash forward to 2025 and, after West Ham defeated Newcastle to claim Nuno’s first win since taking over, the Hammers’ own survival prospects have been handed a very timely boost.
Upton Park icon Joe Cole can see West Ham staying up now, provided that long-awaited victory is not a flash in the pan.
“Before the weekend, I didn’t think [West Ham] had a chance of staying up,” Cole said.
“But they showed me something. Nuno showed me something at the weekend. [Now] I think they have a chance.”
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