AT HALF-TIME OF AN ENJOYABLY shambolic match yesterday, the axe was ready to fall on Glenn Roeder’s reign as West Ham United manager. A spirited recovery appears to have reprieved him temporarily, but this is not the time to be ailing, not with Mick McCarthy, Peter Reid and David O’Leary hoping to be spared from Saturdays at Ikea. Alan Curbishley may also be ready to make his excuses and leave Charlton Athletic, so Roeder must conjure his side’s first home win — and soon.

Cue the visit of Manchester United to Upton Park on Sunday, when Roeder must prove that he is not condemned, as has been the pattern of his leadership, to take one step forward and two steps back. He has six days to work out how the worst back four in the Barclaycard Premiership can hold off a team smarting from a derby defeat at Maine Road otherwise, as Roeder admitted, “we will be in serious trouble”. So will he.

Roeder’s downfall would not be celebrated because he is decent, well intentioned and a generally good influence on the young English players he has inherited, as well as popular among his peers. But it was he who signed Tomas Repka, the man doing the most to get him the sack, and he seems incapable of instilling sustained discipline and concentration in a dressing-room where Paolo Di Canio remains the best player and most disruptive influence.

“I am not contemplating walking away,” Roeder said in response to questions about his future, but he will have to turn results around quickly if the decision is not to be taken out of his hands. “I haven’t spoken to the board about anything and I am sure they will speak to me as and when they need to.”

A sixth defeat in eight league matches at home might bring that meeting forward after five days in which they were knocked out of the Worthington Cup by Oldham Athletic before yesterday’s hopeless opening 45 minutes when they fell 4-1 behind with what Roeder called “diabolical non-defending”. And he was speaking before Sunderland’s victory over Tottenham Hotspur dropped the club into the bottom three.

“I am not fearful of tomorrow,” Roeder said, but he might be when he rewinds the video and sees just how badly his team defended in the first half. It is no exaggeration to say that West Ham would have been better off if Repka had been sent off for his tedious feud with Mark Viduka rather than staying on the pitch.

Roeder hauled off the Czech at half-time, but the damage had already been done. Repka was beaten twice at corners by Harry Kewell, who does not normally even jump for headers. The centre half cannot possibly stay in the side, but not much better can be expected from Ian Pearce, Christian Dailly or Gary Breen.

Pearce gave away the first goal after 12 minutes when he allowed a long clearance by Paul Robinson to bounce and, after Kewell’s lob over the stranded David James, Nick Barmby headed into an empty net. Di Canio brought West Ham level in the twentieth minute, but then came Kewell’s brace, thanks to Repka’s negligence.

It was farcical and Dailly added his own flourish moments before half-time when he attempted a back-pass to James without checking who was behind him. James rushed out to clear but Viduka was on top of him and, after a lucky ricochet, the Australia forward slid the ball into an empty net for a 4-1 lead.

All the talk of Terry Venables rather than Roeder being the manager under pressure began to look nonsensical as Sky interviewed West Ham supporters heading home after 45 minutes, but the complexion of the match was to change dramatically after half-time when, as the Leeds manager said, the home team “threw everything at us, including the kitchen sink”.

With nothing to lose — they had long since shed their pride — West Ham could afford to take risks and they reduced the deficit to 4-2 when Di Canio fell over Gary Kelly’s challenge and then scored from the penalty spot. When Trevor Sinclair glanced in a header from Sebastien Schemmel’s 74th-minute corner, Upton Park began to dream of a famous comeback that was almost accomplished when Pearce went close with a header.

While Venables enjoyed the temporary release of pressure after a miserable run that had seen the club slip into the bottom half of the table, Roeder fumed over the individual lapses that have left him fighting to save his job. He came through a similar predicament last season to finish seventh, but that only makes the recidivism all the less forgiveable.

“They did not collapse, which some teams might have, but I am still very angry about the defending because it is very demoralising,” Roeder said. “There is nothing we can do in terms of players because the transfer window is closed.” But there is no ban on changing managers.

West Ham United (4-4-2): D James 6 — C Dailly 3, T Repka 1 (sub: S Schemmel, 46min 5), I Pearce 3, N Winterburn 5 — S Lomas 4 (sub: E Cissé, 50 6), M Carrick 6, J Cole 4, T Sinclair 6 — P Di Canio 7, J Defoe 5. Substitutes not used: R van der Gouw, S Minto, T Camara. Booked: Repka, Di Canio, Cole, Schemmel, Cissé. NEXT: Manchester United (h). FORM: LLLWWL

Leeds United (4-4-2): P Robinson 5 — G Kelly 4, L Radebe 4, T Lucic 5, I Harte 4 — N Barmby 6, L Bowyer 5, E Bakke 5, J Wilcox 5 (sub: J Milner, 85) — H Kewell 5 (sub: S McPhail, 90), M Viduka 5 (sub: M Bridges, 77). Substitutes not used: N Martyn, M Duberry. Booked: Bowyer, Viduka, Bakke. NEXT: Bolton (h). FORM: WLDLDL

Shots on target: (h) 7 (a) 8. Fouls: (h) 15 (a) 11. Offsides: (h) 1 (a) 2. Gavin Hadland, West Ham United

Referee: S Dunn 6. Attendance: 33,297