AFTER a summer dominated by the Carlos Tevez saga, big-money signings and endless transfer speculation, the new season began in hugely disappointing fashion.

Gone was the vigour, verve and passion of the closing nine games of last term, seven of which were won as the Hammers pulled off a dramatic late escape from relegation.

Ninety-two days on from the Irons' salvation at Old Trafford, the East Enders had clearly not read the script, producing a performance devoid of direction, guile and craft as the latest series of the West Ham soap opera ended in characteristic tragedy.

Having watched their club invest nearly £25million in new talent for 2007/2008, the Upton Park faithful were rightfully expecting a lot better.

Instead, they saw another expensively-assembled team in Sven Goran Eriksson's Manchester City help the Swede erase the memory of his England side's shambolic defeat to Australia on the same ground in February 2003.

While Eriksson's men were confident in possession and quick on the break, Curbishley's own 11 appeared uncertain and nervous, struggling to maintain any sort of tempo to their play.

On this evidence, even the club's modest ambitions of a top 10 finish may be beyond them.

Afterwards, the West Ham boss was in apologetic mood, insisting that things could and would only get better from now on.

Curbishley admitted that a similar performance at Birmingham City on Saturday would see his side on the end of another defeat.

Should that happen, the alarm bells that rang so loudly for three-quarters of last season will, ominously, start sounding again.