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Monday night’s win has seen the east London club qualify for the quarter finals of the competition and Grant wants to see his team go further.

“Of course we can do it [win the FA Cup]," Grant told ESPN. "I think the players need to see for themselves, sometimes when you play football and you see our team playing – most of the games we’re playing good [football].

"In 60%-70% of the games we were better than the other teams. They see that we can do it and now we are more efficient. We are more stable, [have] less injuries, though we missed Matthew Upson today who is very good for us, and with Hitzlsperger and others coming back it is easier for us.

“Our first priority is the league, but it’s always good to get in the quarter final of the cup.

“We are coming in to every game wanting to win. In the cup we know one game [lost] and we’re out. In the league there is always the next game to make things better.

"That’s how we deal with the cup, that’s how we dealt with the Carling Cup and I think we had a good run there and now we want the same run in the FA Cup. If we win the next game we’re in the semi-final and it’s always good to be at Wembley."

Grant knew his side were going into the clash as the favourites to progress, but before the match he was sure not to write off his opponents.

He said: “We are a Premier League team and we need to win but it’s always a difficult game against this team. They are playing very well and I think they are good. In the second half we played very well so it was difficult for them.”

The West Ham boss also used the game as an indicator of his team being undeserving of their current league position, as the Hammers fight against relegation.

“I always said from the beginning of the season when everybody’s fit we have a good team to play football," he said. "Of course it’s not easy to deal with all these injuries, but I totally agree that with everybody fit we deserve more than this.

“Sometimes the players feel more relaxed when coming into cup games, in the league we are in the bottom, it’s not easy. We want to win every game – it doesn’t matter if it’s in the cup or in the league.”

Grant puts his team's recent increase in form down to key players returning from injury, including Thomas Hitzlsperger, who scored West Ham’s opener in his debut game.

He added: “It’s very important, if you saw [Hitzlsperger] play in the preparation games before the league you can understand why he’s such a good player. He can score from everywhere, [plays] good passes, [he is a] very, very intelligent player – he’s not the same like he was before but it’s only his first game. He is a player that’s very important.”

Tactically Grant’s team followed his instructions this evening and the manager hails his team for their efforts in the tie

He highlighted the Hammers’ passing as being a key component of their win, helping them to exploit a high Burnley back line who couldn’t match pace with the West Ham players.

Grant said: “We spoke about this because the line of the [Burnley] defence was too high. We passed the ball very well in the first half but not so many times forward. We did it in the second half and we scored good goals.

“That’s how we wanted to play today, with three midfielders that can go forwards and pass the ball – this is our way and they did well. I think the forwards played well, the movement was good, especially in the second half.”

Grant conceded that on occasion his job can be stressful, but pointed out that he wouldn’t have it any other way and is looking forward to the rest of the season.

The ex-Chelsea and Portsmouth boss said: “We can choose whether to be in this job or not to be in this. I prefer to be in this job. It’s always good to win, it’s not an easy season for us but it’s a good challenge.”

Labels: Avram, Goalcom, Grant, Manager

In an article on Sports Illustrated titled "It's time for someone to depose Sepp Blatter as FIFA's leader" journalist Grant Wahl has announced his intentions to run for FIFA's presidency.

Current FIFA president Sepp Blatter is running for his fourth term, with elections falling on June 1. Wahl has focused his campaign as a FIFA outsider, with a potential slogan of "Cure the Blatter infection." He also dismisses potential competition from Qatar's Mohamed Bin Hammam as the inclusion of yet another insider incapable of the drastic revamping the world's soccer governing body needs.

"It gets kind of old hearing the world's soccer fans complain about Blatter without anyone trying to provide an alter­native," Wahl said in the article. "And make no mistake, FIFA needs to change."

Besides positioning himself as an outsider (Wahl does make sure to mention that three of FIFA's eight presidents were sports journalists), the author of "The Beckham Experiment" outlined his platform with a series of promises:

1. Video review for unclear goal-line calls.
2. No more limitations of referees per country in the World Cup, to ensure the best - not merely the most diverse - group officiates soccer's biggest stage. Furthermore, that referees must defend controversial calls to the media following games.
3. Taking off one's shirt will no longer be a yellow card offense.
4. A woman will serve as the secretary general.
5. All of FIFA's internal documents will be released to the public "WikiLeaks-style" and an external investigation will be commissioned to hound out the rampant corruption.
6. FIFA presidents, including himself, will be limited to two four-year terms.

As it stands, Wahl, at 37, has only seen two FIFA presidents in his lifetime. Incumbent Blatter is 74.

FIFA's presidency is voted on by member nations, with each country holding one vote. For Wahl to be eligible, one member nation must nominate him by April 1.

Though the April Fools' Day deadline and tongue-in-cheek tone of the video accompanying the article might suggest parody, Wahl maintains his legitimacy: "No, I'm not kidding."

Given the inherent corruption Wahl purports to take on, actual victory in the election is unlikely for the American. He'd likely content himself if any of the points in his platform are absorbed by the competing candidates and seep into the game in the near future.

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Labels: Goalcom, Grant, Journalist, President, Running