ALAN Curbishley issued an ultimatum to Carlton Cole in the summer - "Get fit or get out".

Luckily for the West Ham striker, he chose the former and Cole's hard work has been rewarded with a series of impressive performances.

The 23-year-old was fifth-choice when Curbishley arrived at Upton Park last December behind Carlos Tevez, Bobby Zamora, Marlon Harewood and Teddy Sheringham.

And in January, the arrival of Spanish targetman Kepa Blanco pushed Cole even further out of the picture.

Suffering from a lack of both fitness and form, the ex-Chelsea, Charlton Athletic and Aston Villa man looked to be on his way out of East London after just one season.

However, Curbishley - who had been impressed by an "explosive" Cole during his season-long loan at The Valley from Chelsea - decided to give the forward one last chance to turn his career around.

"I know Carlton quite well because we took him on loan when I was at Charlton," revealed the Irons boss.

"When he joined us he took an injury so it took us a couple of months to sort him out, but he had a really good run in for us.

"Charlton finished seventh and I think he played 10 games and scored four goals."

Curbishley wanted to keep Cole for a further season but the striker had other ideas, choosing to join Aston Villa instead.

A frustrating year at Villa Park was followed by another wasted season back at Jose Mourinho's Chelsea - and the Hammers manager believes Cole would not have "got a little bit lost" if he had stayed with the Addicks.

Last year, Cole made just six starts under Curbishley, scoring twice, and neither the manager nor the majority of West Ham's fans were overly impressed with the forward.

"When I came here last Christmas he hardly played a game and wasn't looking fit," he said.

"The senior players didn't play in the reserves so when we had (an FA) Cup game against Brighton I threw about five players in to assess them and their fitness levels.

"He was one of them and he scored, but looked shattered."

Having failed to cement a place in the side, Curbishley warned Cole that he would have to shape up or ship out of the Boleyn Ground.

"In the summer we sat down and said to him If you're going to have any chance you're going to have to get yourself right, get yourself fit so that when you're called upon you are right'," said the boss.

"I think he was getting games few and far between, not just here but at Chelsea and Villa, so that when he was called upon he was not in position to take advantage of it.

"So, we got him working really hard in the summer.

"He obviously knew he had people in front of him - Bobby Zamora and Craig Bellamy started and Dean Ashton was in the wings to come back - but the main thing was that when he got a chance he was fit enough to take it and that's what he's done.

"He's had to win over a lot of people. He's had to win over me, the staff and some fans because they have not seen the best of him, as he would freely admit.

"But he's getting to grips with that now and he's grown up a bit."