Ouch! There has been a Hammer blow to the solar plexus. The vultures are hovering  over Upton Park and for West Ham United the writing is sadly on the wall. For those who know this script backwards, West Ham are a step closer to relegation from the Premiership. The tragedy, of course, is that this season will surely go down as one of the worst in the club's history.

From the end of last August, the club have stumbled from one catastrophe to the next and for some of us the season can't end quickly enough. At the start of the season, an unknown Iranian businessman promised the East Enders abundant riches and a guaranteed Premiership title. Mega-rich businessmen who get involved in football are rather like dodgy car dealers. They'll tempt you into buying the latest model when the reality is that it's an old banger with no engine.

The day when Javier Mascherano and Carlos Tevez strolled into Upton Park was the day some of us smelt a barrel of fish. It seemed that both Argentinians had arrived in the country under a horrible cloud of suspicion.  When Tottenham introduced their gauchos Osvaldo Ardilles and Ricardo Villa, both players became besotted with English football. They picked up the language almost immediately, showed off all their glorious South American ball skills and then scored a hatful of goals.

But for Mascherano and Tevez,  walking into West Ham has been the nightmare of nightmares. Mascherano has just joined Rafa Benitez's high-flying Liverpool and poor Tevez doesn't know whether he's in Buenos Aires or Barking. He has yet to score for the hapless Hammers and must be wondering whether his judgement was impaired when West Ham came calling.

West Ham's last victory can be traced back to the week before last Christmas. A single goal from the much-maligned captain Nigel Reo-Coker was enough to send runaway Premiership leaders Manchester United packing. Since then, the Hammers have been sucked into the Premiership relegation swamp like explorers in a jungle.

It is hard to know why things have gone so desperately pear-shaped for the club. After all, here was a club that had just reached the FA Cup Final against Liverpool and finished a respectable ninth in the Premiership.  Admittedly, they did sell the family silver when Joe Cole, Frank Lampard and Glen Johnson were moved on to Chelsea. But the Hammers had established a settled new-look outfit and everything was hunky-dory.