After last week's 5-0 defeat at Newcastle took West Ham back to the bottom of the Premier League table, reports stated Grant faced the sack immediately or after Wednesday's board meeting. The Hammers manager insists he has the backing of the club's co-owners David Gold and David Sullivan and that all three are busy working on strengthening the squad during the transfer window. But Grant was clearly unimpressed that director Karren Brady revealed in her newspaper column why the club had pulled the plug on signing Steve Sidwell. Grant had decided not to comment on the deal but it is understood he was disappointed to miss out on Sidwell, believing the midfielder he worked with at Chelsea would have helped West Ham's battle against relegation. He said: "I didn't read the column so I don't know what she said. Maybe I will have a column in a newspaper and say what I think. "All the things I have to say to the people at the club I say to them directly. "We (Grant and Brady) don't have a problem but I speak with the owners. I'm dealing with the owners and that is the most important." Grant continued: "When the rumours are coming from inside the club, it doesn't create much stability. "Of course I know where the rumours come from and I know there's people trying to hurt the club but if I put my energy on this, it's no good. "Sometimes there's situations you don't like you just have to deal with. "I want to put my energy on the team and the players. I can solve it but not now." What grates Grant is that talk of his exit persists despite West Ham enjoying their best run of the campaign and on Tuesday night they face Birmingham in the Carling Cup semi-final. On Saturday, the Hammers reached the fourth round of the FA Cup with a 2-0 win against Barnsley courtesy of goals from Jonathan Spector and Frederic Piquionne. West Ham may be bottom of the table but Grant argues correctly that only five points separate the bottom 10 teams in the division. "Last period was the best of our season, we've had some good results over the past few weeks and played good football. We slipped up at Newcastle but we had a good game yesterday," he said. Grant is aware the semi-final draw has extra significance for Gold and Sullivan, who used to own Birmingham, but for West Ham it is the chance of a first Wembley appearance in 30 years. "There's a certain way to say things at West Ham. I know it's important for them but even if it's not Birmingham they still want to be in the final," said Grant. "When I saw the faces of the fans after beating Manchester United it was great. A semi-final is good but a final is better."
