Bubble is burst: West Ham fans have given themselves a bad name
Shamed: One of two West Ham fans arrested for making Nazi salutes is banned for life
West Ham have banned a season-ticket holder for life after the shame of White Hart Lane.
Hammers chairman David Gold promised to back that banning order with “swift and robust” action against any other fans caught making vile anti-semtic chants.
It is believed seven arrests were made, which included two for making Nazi salutes and those supporters were ejected from the ground.
The other five can also expect bans if found guilty as the FA launched their own probe to coincide with police action after several complaints were made by Spurs fans to stewards.
Gold urged fans to be “ambassadors for the club” and to stop anti-semitic chanting, while he also went on Twitter to remind them about the damage the Nazis did to the East End of London in the Second World War.
Fans were also heard to chant songs about Lazio just three days after Tottenham supporters were attacked in Rome, leaving two nearly dead.
Spurs are understood to have supplied CCTV footage, while Sky and the BBC will also be asked for their pictures and sound.
West Ham issued a statement promising to clamp down on fans and bring them to justice.
It said: “West Ham United will take the strongest possible action against any of their supporters found guilty, including enforcing life bans from the club.
“During 46 games in the Championship last season, West Ham had zero arrests for racism or violence, so while we are surprised to see such reports, we will examine any available evidence and take the appropriate action.”
The FA added: “We encourage clubs to ban for life individuals involved in abusive chanting.”
The police have also confirmed that a member of the public had made a formal complaint over anti-Semitic chants directed at Spurs supporters.
The complaint was made by telephone and police will now meet with the complainant before deciding whether to proceed with a formal criminal investigation, according to the Telegraph.
Peter Herbert, chairman of the Society of Black Lawyers, told Sky Sports News that his organisation had also made an official complaint to the Met Police.
West Ham fans were heard to sing 'Viva Lazio' and 'Can we stab you every week' in reference to Tottenham fan Ashley Mills who was stabbed in a clash with Ultras before a Europa League game in Rome last Thursday.
So-called fans also chanted "Adolf Hitler, he's coming for you" and made hissing noises, apparently mocking the mass execution of Jews in gas chambers during the Second World War.
Herbert said: "As far as we're concerned there has to be zero tolerance of this. If these people can be identified on camera and prosecuted then that is something we'd like to see happen."
West Ham's Israeli international Yossi Benayoun has spoken of his disappointment and embarrassment at hearing the abuse.
Benayoun tweeted: "I have a great relationship with the West Ham United supporters, from my first spell at the club and again now I am back on loan here.
"This why I was very disappointed to hear some of the songs yesterday and it was embarrassing."
Earlier in the day, West Ham confirmed they would assist Tottenham with their investigation into the apparent abuse and vowed to take the strongest possible action.
Leyton Orient chief Barry Hearn: Deal is stupid if we share division with West Ham
Leyton Orient chairman Barry Hearn believes it would be “stupid” to block the club from sharing the Olympic Stadium with West Ham if the two clubs end up playing in the same division next season.
A judicial review is being held at the High Court tomorrow to look into the decision by the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) to award sole tenancy to West Ham, who will get to move into the site in 2016.
Hearn claims the LLDC’s rules were not followed during the process and is refusing to give up the fight. He believes Orient’s chances have improved because they have genuine hopes of promotion to the Championship following their perfect winning start to the season, which they extended to seven games with a 5-1 victory against Notts County last night.
While West Ham are currently 10th in the Premier League, Hearn wouldn’t be surprised if they were relegated this term to the second tier of English football.
He said: “That adds another dimension to it [could be playing in the same league next season]. The whole thing is so ridiculously lacking in common sense.
“Let’s just share it, let’s get the maximum value out of the taxpayers’ pound. Of course, it makes it even more stupid if we were to get promotion to the Championship.
“I don’t want to see West Ham get relegated but it’s a tough League and if they went down, you could have a local derby with both teams in the Championship.
“We have built this fantastic stadium, let’s just share it like they do everywhere else in Europe. I don’t understand the rationale of turning us down.”
The LLDC rejected Orient’s bid after claiming it would cost more money to the public sector to open the stadium for their games because the club offered to pay only £500,000 a year in rent if they remained in League One, while West Ham had promised £2m a year.
Hearn has rejected the LLDC’s findings but is now also promising to donate the profits from any potential sale of the club in the future to convince them.
He said: “What we have said to the LLDC is that we are serious about this community club aspect of Leyton Orient, so we will be making an additional undertaking to you.
“If in the future we should ever sell Leyton Orient, every penny of that profit will go back to the taxpayer.”
Steve Lomas finally has his first league win as Millwank manager.
Agent Lomas talk has freshened up Millwall v West Ham rivalry
MILLWALL columnist MATT LITTLE reckons whatever you think about Steve Lomas, his appointment as Lions boss has at least introduced a new dimension to the historic rivalry with West Ham.
WELL, I did say this season would be anything but dull - and so it has proved.
Only a betting pervert would have included Millwall in their accumulator last night, but low and behold the team sitting bottom of the table, having got thumped 5-1 at home to the mighty Derby County in their previous game, came from behind to thrash league leaders Blackpool 3-1.
Whatever your thoughts are of Steve Lomas the ex-West Ham United captain, or of Lomas Millwall manager, you must at least be pleased for his family, who probably genuinely feared for their son/husband/dad’s safety as he left his house to face the baying Bermondsey hoards.
Perhaps that's overstating it, as there certainly weren’t hoards at The Den last night.
Only 8,500 were able to put the horrors of Saturday behind them to show up and witness the game that may very well be the turning point in Lomas’ professional life.
You can only assume those that turned up are the local, hardcore Millwall fans still holding out in the ever shifting landscape of inner-city south London.
I find it hard to imagine many went to the effort or cost of travelling in from the suburbs or even further afield, given our horrific home form over the last two seasons cumulating in Saturday’s humiliation.
Indeed, out of the five of us in my family who go regularly it was only the season ticket holder who lives just down the road from The Den who was confident that he would ‘more than likely go’ to the match.
As for myself, having avidly followed the game via Twitter (and as a result am now optimistic that we will almost definitely make the play-offs), well I would have laughed in your face if you’d offered me a free ticket, programme and pint to go to The Den before kick-off last night.
Football fans fickle?
Never.
The 45,000 Millwall fans who go to Wembley picky, bandwagon jumping charlatans?
Not on your nelly.
One Millwall fan who did make the effort to travel in from outside the immediate area was the chairman, whose presence seemingly had an effect similar to that of an Ofsted inspector turning up to observe a failing teacher.
This analogy can be pushed even further, what with the formerly under-performing players pulling out all the stops to show that they do respect the manager, much like poorly behaved pupils suddenly becoming focused and responsive under the gaze of the head teacher.
John Berylson must have wondered what all the fuss was about as Millwall completely dominated the league leaders from our equaliser onwards.
And on that showing he would have given the manager a 'Good', with the simple target of 'achieve consistency' as feedback, with another observation scheduled for this Saturday at The Valley to confirm the grading.
Millwall's record against Charlton is so strong that despite the morale boosting victory against high-flying Blackpool, the pressure is straight back on Lomas to show last night was no fluke by coming away from SE7 with no less than a point.
I don't think it's a coincidence the return of club captain Paul Robinson into the fold saw the team produce a much more Millwall type performance, and he will be a key player in Lomas’ quest to prove he is the right man for the job.
Whether Lomas turns it around or not, one thing his appointment has done is add an interesting new dimension and lease of life to the famous Millwall v West Ham rivalry.
For so long the exchanges between the two sets of fans have focused on tedious arguments about who 'run' who, or who 'showed' where, nonsense that only a tiny percentage of both sets of ‘supporters’ can really comment on with any meaningless authority.
Now, though, there's a topical and football related dialogue bouncing back and forth between the two sets of fans via social networking sites, work emails, texts and over pints in the pub.
And just like their wild celebrations at equalising against little old Millwall in the League Cup back in 2009 demonstrated, it proves West Ham still care very much.
You only have to type Agent Lomas in to Twitter search to see that!
The reason I bring this up now is because what with our very short trip to The Valley coming up, it just highlights to me the fact Charlton never get our juices flowing in quite the same way as that lot from over the river do.
I've sometimes wondered why this is, after all a lot of Millwall and Charlton fans live in the same areas such as Bexleyheath and that's why so many of those Millwall fans (the type that go to Wembley but miss Barnsley at home) turn out for this fixture in big numbers.
But I just think that for the hardcore, every-game Millwall fan, the majority of which are still based in SE London, most Charlton fans simply seem too disparate from their own football philosophies to ignite any real feelings of antagonism.
A big part of Charlton’s modern identity since leaving The Valley in 1985 and then returning in the early 1990s is they've been obsessed with crowd figures.
A significant number of their modern fan base has been recruited from places as far ranging as Faversham and Folkestone via ticket offers and promises of seeing players from the big clubs live in their relatively successful stay in the Premier League.
This is a totally alien concept to Millwall fans, because for us the team you support is something passed down to you through your family, not something that you are bribed in to doing.
Yep, there’s bragging rights to be won at The Valley this Saturday, but for most Millwall fans it will be about who gets to send out, rather than be on the receiving end of, Agent Lomas abuse - or 'banter' as the youth call it - and not who is the best team in Bexleyheath.
pretty much sure i started agent lomas
West Ham Fans? Selective Memory!
Prompted by a survey currently running on the official site that has Matty Etherington polling almost as many votes as Jarvis and Lazaridis combined in terms of the best left sided midfielder in the EPL era to wear the shirt, it got me thinking. Is that fair? Is it just that I like Jarvis? Maybe it is too early in his WHU career to properly evaluate? Don’t get me wrong, I was a big Etherington fan as well. It is just that the disparity seemed marked, added to which I recall Ethers got his fair share of stick on occasions, particularly when he cut inside as opposed to taking on the full-back on the outside.
My theory is that sometimes, time dulls the senses and blots the memory, semi-erasing the perpetual underachievement and disappointment. Do you think that’s a fair theory?
Take a look at the table below. I’ve only picked a few comparisons as opposed to the entire teams – players who played in roughly the same mould in different sides; 1994, 1999, 2002, 2006 and the current crop. There are some illustrious names in this selection, no doubt.
There are a few different responses to this thread. You may wish to just pick a player and tell us your views on him, you may wish to pick a position and compare and contrast the players from the different teams, or you may want to pick an entire group from one team and argue why they were so much better than any other.
It’s a trip down memory lane but also, consider that it is sometimes difficult to recognise what you currently have. On that score, I might argue that I’d take Nolan all day long against Martin Allen, Steve Lomas, Lee Bowyer or Christian Dailly. I said I might do……
Enjoy.
Talking to the Opposition: West Ham Fans
1. Four games in and nearly time to judge how teams have started. How well do you think you have done, performance and results wise, so far this season?
wizzo_66: Solid, if unspectacular, but happy given the injuries to key players. Cardiff was a very good performance, Stoke was dreadful…so it’s been mixed but certainly not all doom and gloom.
HammerMan2004: We’ve done as well as we can hope. We’re toothless upfront. Solid at the back. We could’ve taken a point from the Stoke game even though we were shocking. We could’ve beaten Southampton late on. Equally we could’ve been beaten late on at Newcastle.
Claretdave: We are very blunt up front, but quite hard to break down. Pretty miserable to watch, but results wise it’s not a disaster.
hammer2192: Superb defence, but we obviously lack goals and the opposition we’ve played against are going to be in and around us so we should have got at least another win.
shammy: Boring performance, predictable results.
2. What are you expecting of the season?
Hambrosia Stu: Something similar to last. Or at least I was before a ball was kicked. Our lack of options up front have tempered any thoughts of improving on last season’s 10th place, although I do think we’ll be alright and finish midtable somewhere.
denzel: It all depends on who we can keep fit. With Carroll starting and on form along with Downing and Joe Cole I believe we are easily a top 10 side. Without them, Carroll in particular, we could be in for a long season and should probably finish around 14th.
Aceface: Another midtable finish between 12th-8th would be the target. Below that and I’d consider it a minor disappointment, but given our bumpy history, staying out of relegation would be enough.
3. With that in mind, is Sam Allardyce the man to maintain PL status and then progress?
Tommy Taylor’s Jockstrap: Look, there’s generally a lot of b*llocks spouted about BFS, and I’ll be the first to admit that I wasn’t that enamoured when he got the gig. But **** it, I’m happy to hold me dukes up and admit I was wrong. Top bloke and the only man for the job – imagine having Di Canio here at the moment – shudders…
sanchoz: Yes. Sam is the first manager we have had in a very long while (note – not first team coach like Zola or whatever title
Avram had). Bolton and Blackburn always progressed as your question asks by improving on their status in the league every season. After the first few years in the top flight under Sam, Bolton were always punching above their weight.
kitthehammer: Yes he is, it’s not his fault Carroll is injured or that we didn’t bring in a nother striker or let Carlton Cole go without more effort to keep him. He has made us solid and generally difficult to beat and depite the constant hoofball claims from the media and other fans, we’ve been playing some nice football when we need to.
4. Have there been any stand out performers for you this season? Or any surprising new faces in the first team?
Hammertap: Our defence and Jussi have been outstanding. 1 goal conceded, a free kick at that, tells you everything you need to know. Jussi was on top form against Southampton. He’s getting better with age! Looks like this is going to be Morrison’s breakthrough season too which is very exciting for us all.
Doc H Ball: Reid’s a class player and Noble makes us tick. Surprised to see Maiga still there as he’s very poor. Ravel Morrison is our wild card and our one bright new spark.
the wren: Jussi on Saturday the best. Collins and Reid have done very well. You can see there is a pattern to this…
5. Who will be the biggest threat to Everton on Saturday?
bspur1: Noble (via a penalty) the only way we have looked like scoring lately is to win a penalty.
De Niro: Jarvis. After a very poor game on Sunday, I think he may be key in keeping Coleman/Baines pinned back.
Sanchoz: One of your defenders scoring an own goal.
mywhufc: Everton
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On to Everton…
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6. Have you seen any/many of our games? How do you think we have done so far?
Iron George: Decent start, I thought you were excellent on Saturday against Chelsea. Unfortunately i think that performance will kick start your season
smarthammer: Saw the Chelsea match (nicked a good win) and clearly you’re difficult to break down.
Estuary: Just one, Chelsea, they had long periods of possession and lost 1-0, had they played Ba or Torres I think it would have been a different result.
7. What do you make of our fairly new manager Roberto Martinez? Do you think he’ll have success at Everton?
HammerMan2004: I know coaches in the game who’ve worked directly with him and his academy over in Spain, and they absolutely love him and the way he works and can’t speak highly enough about him and I completely trust their judgement when it comes to football. Yet I can’t say I’m massively convinced. I don’t know why.
fmgod: Nope, he’s tactical innept, I think when he was has to start bringing players in you’ll struggle, when your back line gets a year or two old, you may stay to fall then, as he has no idea of how to setup a defence, currently he’s just inherited a very good one.
prophet:marginal: I’ve always liked Martinez, even when he was bossing Wigan (not a popular team with us, not at all). Will he succeed – in terms of silverware – where Moyes did not? I think that you may dip a touch in the short-term future, but that he will maintain your top half status over time. You won’t win the league, but a cup isn’t out of the question. I doubt you’d qualify top 4 any time soon.
8. If you could take one Everton player, who would it be and why?
richneal: Same as everyone else - Baines. And, like all your fans, you already know why. Other than that, do you have any extra strikers you could lend us?
The Lone Hammer: Honestly, just about any of your strikers.
Iron George: Lukaku and Baines. One scoring the other making
thewren: Lukaku. Anybody over 6ft who can look like scoring…Please?
smarthammer: Barkley – looks like a proper talent.
9. Who is Everton‘s worst player or weak link, in your opinion?
Estuary: Oddly, the lad who scored the gaol v Chelsea, up to that point he had given the ball back to them every time he had it, other than him the team is very solid, no obvious week links. I will be relying on Martinez to make a tactical error in trying to play to much football. So I guess my answer is Martinez.
bspur1: Jelavic looked attrocious last time we played (que a hatrick this time)
De Niro: Naismith. I know he scored the winner on Saturday but I’ve always thought hes looked poor. A hard worker but not much else.
Aceface: At the moment, probably Jelavic. Think even Maiga has scored in the PL more recently than he has.
10. Who do you expect to threaten your Hammers side most come Saturday?
denzel: Leighton Baines, consistently one of the league’s best full backs for years and we’ll need to double up on him and Coleman on the other side.
hammer2912: Osman, I think he’ll dictate the game.
Claretdave: Nobody stands out, you have a solid team and keep turning up good youngsters.
fmgod: Mirallas running at our defenders, Baines and Coleman on the overlap wil cause problems.
11. Where do you see us Toffees finishing?
wizzo_66: I originally predicted bottom half, but Martinez has started better than I thought he would. Still think 7-10 is realistic, but I can see a tail off to the end of the season, I’ll stick my neck out and stick to my guns….13th!
fmgod: 12th
HammerMan2004: 6th-9th
Claretdave: About seventh. Ideally above Spuds and Liverpool and one place below ourselves. (you would take that, wouldn’t you!)
shammy: About 8th
smarthammer: 6th – 8th
Aceface: I think there’s a solid top 6 which you’re probably just slightly weaker than, but probably comfortably finish “best of the rest”. So 7th.
Tommy Taylor’s Jockstrap: I reckon you’ll be in and around the same positions as us, but with probably a slightly stronger squad helping you to finish above us in around 8th ish
Doc H Ball: 6th or 7th. Even after a good season I don’t think you’ll be higher than Manure, L’Arse, Totts, Citeh, Chelski.
thewren: Between 8th and 14th. But hopefully above Liverpool…
Finally…
12. Predictions?
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wizzo_66: 1-0 WHU. Won’t be pretty but I think Big Sam can set up to win this one off Nolan’s arse.
fmgod: I think Big Sam may be able to outsmart Martinez, 1-0 – Noble Penalty
HammerMan2004: 1-1.
Claretdave: 2-0 your mob.
shammy: 3-1
Hambrosia Stu: A fairly dull 1-1 would be a decent result, considering our lack of firepower.
hammer2192: Really cant see us scoring again so either 0-0 or 0-1 Everton
denzel: 2-1 West Ham, I’ve got my claret and blue specs on.
smarthammer: WH 0 Everton 1
Aceface: West Ham 1-2 Everton.
De Niro: 0-0
bspur1: I am going to say 1-0 to us , but if i had to put my life savings on it it would be 0-0
Tommy Taylor’s Jockstrap: Time to sort it out against your lot. 3-1 WHU
sanchoz: 2-0 to Everton
Estuary: 1-1
thewren: If Vaz Te or Petric play then a tight one. Doubt if it will be a classic though…But do come and enjoy it.
Iron George: think our clean sheet record is about to finish and we never do well against you so 0-2 or 0-3.
The Lone Hammer: My heart says 1-0 to us. My head says 2-0 to you.
kitthehammer: 1-1
Hammertap: 0-0. Unfortunately…
Doc H Ball: 2:0 to your mob
prophet:marginal: 1 – 0 Irons (Noble, pen)
mywhufc: Anyone for 0-0
richneal: it’s fairly obvious to everyone right now that we couldn’t score in a brothel. So the score will be Everton (pick a number between 0 and 3) – West Ham 0.
What West Ham pay Football Agents
Back in 2008 the premier league agreed to publish fees paid to football agents by clubs. This is now published on 30th November each year.
In the past three years West ham have paid £13.2 million to football agents.
In our season in the Championship we may have finished 3rd in the league but we topped the agent fees we paid in the league by a mile! We outspent everyone else in the division with regards to agent fees paid out clocking up £4,314,270 on 69 deals. The closest club to us was Leicester who spent £1,812,371 on 78 deals. Barnsley by comparison spent the least with £124,888 outbound to agents.
In 2009/2010 West Ham spent £3,419,089.99 in agent fees
In 2008/2009 West Ham spent £5,527,548 in agent fees
In August last year David Sullivan told the Daily Mail he had no concerns about the continuing close links between manager Sam Allardyce and controversial agent Mark Curtis. Mark Curtis is agent for Sam Allardyce, Kevin Nolan, James Tomkins, Jack Collison, Matt Jarvis and Andy Carroll. Mark Curtis was warned as to his future conduct by the FA in 2008 over his Luton transfer dealings gained fame for the number of deals he did at Bolton while Sam was in charge.
In the same interview Sullivan confirmed Willie McKay received more in agency fees than Mark Curtis in the summer of 2012. He revealed ‘Mark [Curtis] receives five per cent of the player’s wages over five years, which is a lot of money but the standard rate’. Willie McKay was investigated by Lord Stevens into allegations of bungs in football but was later cleared. He was also arrested in 2007 by City of London police alongside former West Ham manager Harry Redknapp & Peter Storrie but again he was never formally charged and the case was later dropped. Last year he was stopped driving while disqualified with a bag of cocaine in his car.
The third agent often involved with West Ham dealings is Barry Silkman who was involved in Demba Ba & Thomas Hitzlsperger arriving at West Ham. He was also instrumental in bringing Ravel Morrison to West Ham from Manchester. More recently he has been involved in the attempt to bring Carlton Cole back to West Ham. Barry Silkman was also named in Quest’s final report into alleged Premier League “bungs”, At the time he said he will not cooperate with the further inquiries being pursued by the Football Association’s compliance unit because he believed they were unreasonable.
In 2011 former agent Peter Harrison admitted to the Daily Mail he freely took advantage of the naivety of the then West Ham chairman Eggert Magnusson to pocket £900,000 in commission in the deal to sign Lucas Neill. He claimed that when he took Lucas Neill to West Ham instead of Liverpool he earned £900,000 and we put Neill on £72,000 a week. He said ‘He was going to Liverpool but West Ham wouldn’t take no for an answer. It was incredible. At the time I thought it was just business – I had bills to pay, office, telephone, travel – but when I look back on it now I’m embarrassed. Harrison was Andy Carroll’s former agent who fell out with Mark Curtis over Carroll’s £35M transfer to Liverpool.
Earlier this year just after the January transfer window ended, David Sullivan called for the FA to look into agents’ conduct and cap fees. He said “I can see it spilling over into violence in the future, unless there is legislation from the FA. I had an agent threaten me and one of our players with physical violence, because he thought he was being cut out of a deal.”
Sullivan claimed the financial demands by agents had got out of control adding: "We are talking millions of pounds here around a transfer and not enough deals to go around. There are too many agents and not enough transfers to feed them. Agents who would once demand £50,000 for their part in a transfer now want £500,000 to £1m to either bring a player or keep a player. It is quite outrageous and the FA should cap the amount paid to agents for their work”
I agree with David and think it is staggering how much we pay in agent fees and the power they appear to now have on the game. I would like to see much more transparency with individual transactions published each year. The latest figures will be published on 30th November and with the arrival of Joe Cole, Stewart Downing and Andy Carroll I am sure they will make interesting reading with regards to West Ham’s most recent dealings with these football agents.
Tottenham will make another attempt to sign Chelsea midfielder Juan Mata, 25, in January, but will face competition from Italian clubs Juventus and Napoli.
Daily Express
Liverpool are stepping up their pursuit of Derby midfielder Will Hughes, 18.
Daily Mirror
Norwich goalkeeper John Ruddy, 26, admits he was flattered to be targeted by Chelsea in the summer.
Daily Express
Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers is considering fielding striker Luis Suarez, 26, at Manchester United in the League Cup after his ban ends next week.
Daily Mirror
Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale, 24, is on the verge of signing another multi-million pound contract - with Adidas - less than three weeks after he became the world's most expensive footballer.
Daily Mail
Striker Wayne Rooney, 27, admits he had to swallow his pride and deliver for Manchester United after being denied a move to Chelsea.
Daily Mirror
On-loan QPR defender Benoit Assou-Ekotto, 29, denies he was up all night playing computer game Grand Theft Auto V ahead of a big game for his club.
Metro
Manager Michael Laudrup jokes his Swansea side could become the home team in Valencia on Thursday - by fielding five Spanish players to their opponents' four.
Full story: Daily Mirror
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