The recent injury to Dean Ashton is just the latest in a long line of woes for West Ham manager Alan Curbishley.

 "I have £28m worth of player sat on the operating table," said Curbishley, who'd previously had West Ham pushing for an improbable top-10 finish.

As it stands, though, West Ham have more to worry about than injuries.

Yes, both our record signings out, and yes, we have two England senior internationals on the shelf...but my foremost concern is with our aging, mediocre regulars.

Why play Carlton Cole when you have Hogan Ephraim? Why play Matthew Etherington when you have Kyle Reid?

West Ham has too many eager youngsters languishing in the dugout. Wasn't it Harry Redknapp who used to "give the kids a chance"?

 A.C. needs a January reshuffle to clear out the dead wood and either a) bring in some better veterans or B) give the youngsters more time.

It's not rocket science when you see Lucas Neill trying his hardest to give Aston Villa five penalties. A useless aging Aussie surely doesn't make a good captain.

That said, I hate to be pessimistic—and I truly hope A.C can pull one out of the bag against Sunderland.

Otherwise, West Ham could be meeting their old enemies down in the hellish realms of Championship Football.

Please feel free to leave any comments. I'm a new writer and would love to hear what you all think. Thank you.