Slipperduke
The Camden Cad
I hate reporting from Upton Park. I've had enough bad jobs in my life to know that I shouldn't whinge about this one, but I really can't stand the place. I'm no shrinking violet, I've done an away trip to Millwall, but that lot down Green Street are horrible. On Saturday, I heard one of them call Gianfranco Zola a child molester. Zola! The nicest man in football! And it was only one-nil at the time!
Gary Neville suffered too. Granted, the West Ham fans don't have much to celebrate these days, but did they really have to reserve their biggest cheer for the moment when he pulled up with a groin strain? That's just mean. Neville is no stranger to abuse, and he brings it on himself sometimes, but even he looked shocked. There are different rules at Upton Park nowadays. They'll boo anyone. You get the feeling that if Bobby Moore was still playing, they'd boo him for not getting his shorts dirty.
But the fans should save their bile for people who actually deserve it. The club's owners keep using a loophole to delay filing their accounts at Companies House, fueling speculation that they're deep in the brown stuff. The lunacy of the Icelandic era has holed the club beneath the water-line. The new owners may have promised to run the club 'sensibly', but many of those responsible for this financial armageddon are still there, picking up their wages.
On the pitch and off it, West Ham are in serious trouble, so it might be time for a change of strategy from the fans. Instead of calling Zola 'a nonce', they might want to give him some support. Instead of screaming abuse at their youngsters, they might want to encourage them. It's not everyone. At least half of their fans stayed behind until the end, singing about bubbles and hoping against hope for a consolation goal. It's the other half that are letting them down. It's the other half that make Upton Park such a thoroughly depressing place to visit.
Gary Neville suffered too. Granted, the West Ham fans don't have much to celebrate these days, but did they really have to reserve their biggest cheer for the moment when he pulled up with a groin strain? That's just mean. Neville is no stranger to abuse, and he brings it on himself sometimes, but even he looked shocked. There are different rules at Upton Park nowadays. They'll boo anyone. You get the feeling that if Bobby Moore was still playing, they'd boo him for not getting his shorts dirty.
But the fans should save their bile for people who actually deserve it. The club's owners keep using a loophole to delay filing their accounts at Companies House, fueling speculation that they're deep in the brown stuff. The lunacy of the Icelandic era has holed the club beneath the water-line. The new owners may have promised to run the club 'sensibly', but many of those responsible for this financial armageddon are still there, picking up their wages.
On the pitch and off it, West Ham are in serious trouble, so it might be time for a change of strategy from the fans. Instead of calling Zola 'a nonce', they might want to give him some support. Instead of screaming abuse at their youngsters, they might want to encourage them. It's not everyone. At least half of their fans stayed behind until the end, singing about bubbles and hoping against hope for a consolation goal. It's the other half that are letting them down. It's the other half that make Upton Park such a thoroughly depressing place to visit.
