Daily WHUFC News - 8th March 2018

Noble: It's time for us senior players to stand up and take responsibility
WHUFC.com

Mark Noble believes West Ham United's senior players will step up and take
on the responsibility of keeping the Hammers in the Premier League. The
captain and his teammates have nine games remaining to secure their
top-flight future, kicking-off with the visit of Burnley to London Stadium
on Saturday. And with thousands of Premier League appearances under their
belts, Noble believes the Hammers have the experience, knowhow, resilience
and ability to handle pressure required to collect the points required to
stay up. "They are all big games now and we just need to knuckle down and
get the results we need to get ourselves out of trouble come the end of the
season," said the skipper. "I don't think we will wilt because we're at
home, which is a big plus for us at the minute, because we're playing well
at London Stadium. "We need to get points, it's as simple as that. Do I
think we'll be fine? Yes, because I think we've got enough here and we will
pick up results. "For us now, the season is to get safe and then to rebuild
in the summer and start again from next season."

With six of West Ham's nine outstanding matches to be played in Stratford,
Noble knows home advantage will also be key to the Club's survival hopes,
and says the team and the supporters can inspire each other. "We need to
play with an intensity that we didn't play with at Swansea last weekend. We
need to play with high intensity and go back to how we played against
Chelsea and Arsenal before Christmas, with a real desire not to concede
goals. If we do that, we'll be fine. "I'm sure the fans will be behind us on
Saturday. After the Swansea game I said, and I'm sure they are sick of me
saying it, that it was a poor performance from us and every mistake we made
got punished. "I know a lot of the fans weren't happy, but they were still
there at the Liberty Stadium, despite all the snow and weather around, and I
am sure they will be there again at London Stadium this weekend, and we'll
do all we can to give them all something to shout about."

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Pearce calls for character in Burnley clash
WHUFC.com

West Ham United's players must display heart and character if they are to
get a positive result in this weekend's match with Burnley, according to
assistant manager Stuart Pearce. The Irons head into a home game with the
Clarets on the back of disappointing losses away to Liverpool and Swansea
City, but have the chance to return to winning ways in front of the Claret
and Blue Army at London Stadium. Pearce knows that it is vital the side make
a marked improvement in Saturday's contest and is calling on the team to
step up their efforts against a Burnley team that sits seventh in the
Premier League. "I think we've got to show some character, especially at
home," Pearce told whufc.com. "We're playing a well organised Burnley side,
and a side who galvanised a victory last weekend. They've been playing
particularly well. Their results have probably not turned around and shown
us the whole picture. They are a good side with an outstanding manager.
"It's a game that we've got to look to get on the front foot in. We've got
to look to play better than we did in the last two matches. One or two
things we felt we didn't do particularly well, like conceding cheap goals,
we're going to have to improve on that."

Although back-to-back losses has ended a strong start to 2018 for the
Hammers in the league, Pearce believes there are still positives to take
from the side's last two contests. Pointing to the development of young
defender Declan Rice, who has become a regular in the first team since his
promotion from the West Ham Academy, the former West Ham player knows that,
even in defeat, there are lessons to be learned. He continued: "Every time
you take to a pitch, there's a learning curve to be had. We had young Declan
in the side and every minute he gets in a Premier League match, and bear in
mind he played at Swansea for 90 minutes, every minute he gets is a bonus to
us as a football club. It's money in the bank for us as a football club in
regard to his knowledge. "There's always positives there. Sometimes when you
get beaten in any individual game, you're very downcast, because it's a
result driven business. But you've got to look and drill deeper than that
and say there's fantastic learning curves all the time."
Just seven points separates 11th and 19th in the English top flight, meaning
every contest is vitally important in the race to Premier League survival,
and Pearce admits the significance of every single match is the one thing
that has surprised him since returning to top flight coaching with the
Hammers. The coach recognises that three points this weekend is critical for
the Irons and has pushed the team to bring the winning feeling back to the
West Ham dressing room. "I think they are always important, three points in
the Premier League. The profile of the Premier League is extending year on
year, week on week even. That's probably the one thing that has surprised me
a little bit – the profile of each individual game and how the media
spotlight every individual game. "The profile of the Premier League is
enormous and with that come the pressures accordingly. The feeling when you
win, in the dressing room afterwards, makes everything worthwhile."

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Loan watch: Snodgrass stars in another Villa victory
WHUFC.com

Robert Snodgrass provided his eleventh assist of the season as Aston Villa
maintained their challenge for automatic promotion back to the Premier
League.
The winger's corner was headed in by James Chester as Villa won 3-0 at
Sunderland on Tuesday evening, collecting three points which kept them third
in the table and four behind second-placed Cardiff City. Villa have won nine
and lost just one of their last eleven league matches, with Snodgrass
scoring five goals and providing five assists in that period. The
30-year-old will hope to keep his run going when Villa host leaders
Wolverhampton Wanderers in a mouth-watering teatime clash on Saturday
evening.

Elsewhere, Martin Samuelsen played the opening 53 minutes for
relegation-threatened Burton Albion in their 2-0 home defeat by Brentford.
The game was still goalless when the Norwegian left the pitch. Burton will
hope to return to winning ways when they host Bristol City this weekend.

There was a better result for Reece Burke, who returned to the Bolton
Wanderers team and helped the Trotters secure a 1-1 draw at Reading. Bolton
remain 19th in the Championship table, five points above the bottom three
ahead of a trip to Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.

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Antonio: It's about time I scored a London Stadium goal to celebrate!
WHUFC.com

Michail Antonio hopes there will be no place like home when West Ham United
host Burnley in the Premier League on Saturday. Amazingly, after bagging ten
of his first 13 goals for the Club on home turf, Antonio has not netted at
London Stadium since scoring two headers against Watford in September 2016.
Exactly 18 months on, the No30 is aiming to end his 24-match run without a
home goal when West Ham take on the Clarets, securing three vital points in
the process. "I haven't scored at home since September 2016? Wow!" exclaimed
Antonio, who has scored consolation goals in the Hammers' recent 4-1 defeats
at Liverpool and Swansea City. "I thought I was a 'home scorer' and scored
most of my goals at home, but clearly that hasn't been the case for quite a
while. "I'm on a little run now, though, and hopefully I can continue that
by scoring at London Stadium on against Burnley on Saturday. "I scored three
at home at the start of last season, so it's weird to hear that it's been 18
months since I scored there. It's crazy, in fact, but this Saturday that
curse will be broken!"

Having not scored a meaningful goal since netting the opener at Burnley back
in mid-October, Antonio has also not had an opportunity to expand on his
repertoire of popular celebrations. Having treated fans to the Homer, the
Worm and the Carlton Banks in recent seasons, Antonio was so excited to
break his duck at Turf Moor that he forgot his pre-planned routine. Should
he put his side in front against the same opposition on Saturday, the
27-year-old has vowed to put on his dancing shoes again. "I've not had a
chance to bring out any new celebrations, as I'd not scored for a long time,
then my last two goals have come when we've been behind, so it definitely
wasn't the right time to be celebrating. I'd have looked stupid if I'd
started dancing. "I did score at Burnley earlier this season, which I could
celebrate as it put us 1-0 up. They are going to be hard to beat, as they
were that day, as they are a regimented team, but we can break them down. We
have got to match their work-rate and deal with the crosses we know they are
going to put into the box. "Hopefully we can score some goals against them
on Saturday, pick up some points and go from there. That would be something
we can all celebrate."

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West Ham: Premier League club fined £30,000 over anti-doping breach
BBCco.uk

West Ham have been fined £30,000 after admitting to breaching the Football
Association's anti-doping regulations. The Hammers failed to ensure 'club
whereabouts' information was accurate on three occasions within 12 months.
Clubs must provide details of training sessions and where players are
located, so they are available for testing. "The club accepts the charge and
we will endeavour to tighten our procedures to avoid this happening again,"
said a club spokesperson.
"The breach related to administrative oversights on the FA's whereabouts
system, where for example a player's address had been registered and the
house number digits transposed. "We would like to reiterate that the breach
was a club administrative matter and did not concern any of our players."

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West Ham defender Winston Reid ruled out for rest of the season
BBC.co.uk

West Ham defender Winston Reid has been ruled out for the rest of the season
because of injury. Reid, 29, was taken off on a stretcher with an oxygen
mask over his face after being knocked unconscious and twisting a knee in
Saturday's defeat by Swansea. Full-back Sam Byram, 24, could also miss the
rest of the campaign after injuring his ankle in the 4-1 loss. David Moyes'
side are currently 14th in the Premier League, three points above the
relegation places. Defenders Angelo Ogbonna and James Collins, who missed
the Swansea game through illness and a tight hamstring respectively, should
be available for the game against Burnley at the London Stadium on Saturday.

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Swansea 4-1 West Ham (And Other Ramblings)
KUMB.com
Filed: Wednesday, 7th March 2018
By: HeadHammerShark

"Sometimes I fantasise, when the streets are cold and lonely
And the cars they burn below me"
- The Stone Roses, "Made of Stone"

I've spent the last two days in my loft. Shuffling boxes to my garden shed
in preparation for a loft conversion, morosely staring into the gloom and
pondering a great many things. Predominant amongst them is a question that
boomerangs around my consciousness. What, I ask aloud, has happened to my
club?

Early entry for that new club crest

I ponder my youth and the first time my dad took me to a game at Upton Park
in 1986. Ipswich under the lights. An electric dreamland. We went behind and
I nearly started crying. We came back to win and I think I did start crying.
We were going to win the league and my football supporting life was going to
be spent in the Elysian fields, watching a style of play from another world.
You can keep your archangels, for I have seen Alan Devonshire. I pitied my
school friends who supported Arsenal. What did they know of life or love? I
had seen Valhalla and it was claret and blue. Plus Geoff Pike was there,
oddly.

My cousin was with me that night, and now we sit next to each other each
week with our own children. A gift passed through the ages from generation
to generation, repeated everywhere through the stadium. I often think the
gift that football gives us is not the game itself, but the time we get to
spend with our loved ones. Our children's experiences don't yet match ours,
but they have the great gift of youthful optimism to tide them over. They
think their day will come and who am I to deny them such a dream.

I urge you to find your own similar place of quiet repose. If, like me, you
had the stuffing knocked out of you this weekend, then it will help you. At
a time when our club seems so devoid of an identity and so bereft of hope, I
found it helpful to look inward. For you it might be Trevor Brooking or Pop
Robson or perhaps Bobby Moore if you're truly lucky. Those names are echoes
in the wind to someone of my age. I settled instead on Ian Bishop, Trevor
Sinclair and Scott Parker - each of them a marker on my emotional journey
supporting West Ham.

All of this, you might think, is a bit melodramatic for a 4-1 loss at
Swansea, especially considering that this result was literally not even the
worst 4-1 defeat we have suffered at the hands of Swansea in the last three
seasons.

But that's not the cause of my malaise. I'm down here in the gutter because
I feel like I lost something this weekend. I can take your 4-1 defeat and
raise you a 6-0 FA Cup slaughter at Old Trafford, a 3-0 disaster at Notts
County that sparked the first sit down anti Board protest, or even a 9-0
aggregate League Cup semi final defeat to Manchester City where I think I
saw a football team declare for the first time ever. We all knew the drill
when we signed up - if you wanted to win every week, go somewhere else. But
this was something different. Something much deeper.

***

"See the lonely boy, out on the weekend, trying to make it pay
Can't relate to joy, he tries to speak, and can't begin to say"
- Neil Young, "Out on the Weekend"


So even as Winston Reid threw himself at a Swansea attack like a walrus
falling off a glacier and knocked himself unconscious, and the home side
swept into a two nil lead before our makeshift backline had even woken up,
nobody was really batting an eyelid. It turns out that David Moyes has
achieved the exact same results as Slaven Bilic in their last eighteen
matches in charge. Plus ca change, perhaps.

I think that's probably a bit unfair as Moyes has had tougher fixtures, and
didn't get the benefit of that soft looking start that Bilic wasted, but
it's undeniable that any gains are being measured in inches and not in
miles. I think we look better organised, fitter and more structured under
the Scot, but here we are, deep in a relegation battle with a squad that
isn't remotely fit for the task. Like I said, now might be a good time to
close your eyes and think of Metz.

After the Reid injury, Moyes probably should have found a way to get Antonio
on to the pitch given our very obvious lack of pace, but instead brought on
Sam Byram and shifted Zabaleta infield, and somehow now we were playing five
defenders and the only one who was a natural central half isn't old enough
to drink on the end of season beano to Vegas. West Ham, baby - next level.

I used to be quite enamoured of Swansea, as I felt that they were at least a
side with a distinctive pattern of play that made them entertaining for
neutrals. Now, rather like us, they are in that indistinguishable pot of
lower half teams who look alright when they win and very Mrs Brown's Boys
when they lose. Here, they battered us by pressing with energy and drive and
taking their chances, which mostly arose as a result of comedic West Ham
defending. They are in the ascendancy while we are hurtling down like a lead
lined corpse in a river.

After a rousing half time team talk from Moyes, the team emerged as if in
that upside down dream sequence from Inception, and immediately conceded a
third when Adrian palmed a corner directly into Javier Hernandez's face, and
watched as it dropped perfectly for Andy King to score against us. That was
King's fifth goal in seven games against us. Imagine Andy King being your
nemesis. Close your eyes. Payet. Old Trafford. Breathe.

That half time team talk

After that, everyone went to sleep and Cheik Kouyate fouled Andre Ayew to
concede a penalty, before Antonio popped up with a late consolation. Prior
to this, Marko Arnautovic should have opened our account when put through by
Manuel Lanzini but took far too long and eventually dithered for so long
that even Theresa May started mocking him. I wonder if Jordan Hugill should
be introduced? What of £39 million pound man and European Champion, Joao
Mario? And then I wonder if the passengers on the Titanic thought umbrellas
would save them.

And thus the team wandered off, humiliated and having repaid absolutely
nothing of the efforts shown by the travelling fans to make the trip through
the springtime snow. I think we'll escape relegation because I think Moyes
has the nous to navigate his way through the icebergs, but then again I once
thought Paul Jewell would make a good West Ham manager. You can't trust me.

As you left Wales, I hope some of you were able to gaze fondly towards
Cardiff and dream a little dream of Bobby Zamora in the hazy sunlight of a
Play Off final. You deserved it.

***

"Outside, I'm masquerading
Inside, my hope is fading"
- Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, "Tracks of My Tears"

But as I sit here now, writing and rewriting this piece, I can't shake the
nagging feeling that is eating away at me. What happened on the pitch on
Saturday was shambolic, but it was just football.

What happened off the pitch disturbed me far more.

Most of you will be aware that a variety of fans groups had banded together
under the moniker of West Ham Groups United with a view to engaging the club
on a variety of points. The lead focus of this was the Real West Ham Fans
(RWHF), an organisation put together at staggeringly short notice just
before Christmas, with a large Facebook following and an ability to organise
numbers in a way that I don't recall seeing before at West Ham. The lead men
were former ICF faces, but were at pains to distance themselves from that
era.

Other groups joined them - KUMB, WHUISA, Hammers Chat among them - and
before long they had an audience with Karren Brady. I thought the demands
that were made of the club were curiously low level, but accepted that a
stratagem of starting slowly and building was more likely to succeed than
simply demanding the owners sell up.

Before long, that wasn't moving swiftly enough and RWHF announced a march.
Again, I thought that was strange as it seemed to be an over the top
response, but again indicative of the pressure cooker atmosphere among fans,
as the team stumbled along with a typically enormous injury list and an even
more typically useless January transfer window.

So, with me being in the very small minority who didn't fancy a march, huge
numbers were mobilised for a protest on 10th March. Whatever I might have
thought of the tactics I couldn't argue with the effectiveness of it all.
Kids, women, disabled fans and all comers were welcome. I might not have
been flying the plane, but it didn't mean I wasn't keen on the destination.

And then, talks proceeded and suddenly, RWHF cancelled the march. Leaving
aside what impact that might have on future attempts to galvanise West Ham
fans into public action, it left a gaping hole. Fans wanted to march, and
the concessions seemingly drawn from Karren Brady didn't seem to amount to
much more than asking the landlord we routinely sue to uphold his agreement
with us for a few favours. It was, in short, baffling.

Now, I wasn't in the meetings and have only read the same notes as all of
you. Who knows what really happened but one point to note is that the Club
will be making a contribution to the fund for cancer patient, Isla Caton, a
cause dear to the West Ham heart and something that surely transcends club
badges and retractable seating and half time beer queues. Before you quibble
about that, and the ethical element of the club making that offer is highly
fucking questionable, it's probably worth asking how easy it would be to
look her family in the eye and tell them you turned down that money.

But that doesn't excuse what happened next.

Fans still wanted to march, and as the group with the best links to the
council, Football Supporters Federation and the Police, WHUISA stepped into
the breach. The feeling was that the march would still happen, with the RWHF
group stepping aside to pursue their apparent links to the Board, and others
putting forth their objections on the streets.

And then, on Saturday night the RWHF Facebook page went fully
hallucinogenic. It was announced that the group was now under the control of
the ICF, and that anybody marching would be met with violence. Suddenly, the
march was apparently under the control of Antifa activists and would now be
political in nature, and would thus be forcibly stopped from entering
Stratford. This was news to the thousands of West Ham fans still planning to
march, but in this instance the lie was twice around the world before the
truth even knew there was a race to be run.

Leaving aside for a moment the concept of Antifa being used in a pejorative
sense, the entire episode was odd because it amounted to the organisers of a
march threatening anyone who then wanted to go on it. Eventually, it was
cancelled on the grounds of safety. Go find your happy place. Brooking.
Wembley. A white Admiral kit.

More sinisterly, the chair of WHUISA, a guy called Mark Walker, was being
described as a political activist with links to Sadiq Khan. The evidence for
this seems to have amounted to Walker once working for the Labour Party and
having the temerity to vote for Khan in the Mayoral election.

Unable to process any of what was happening, and finding myself distressed
like the liberal snowflake I am by the sight of West Ham fans being
threatened by West Ham fans, I decided to ask around. First up I messaged
Walker and asked about the notion that he was a lefty activist. He explained
that after the meetings with Brady he had taken her public comments and fact
checked them with the landlord. I'm pretty sure that sounds like the kind of
thing an Independent Supporters Association is supposed to do. When you're
in a negotiation you don't take the word of the other party at face value.
You robustly check it. Other people have told me that Brady isn't especially
happy that WHUISA have been doing this. Good.

I also asked Walker how he was. He replied that he had been physically
threatened and wasn't sleeping. An away season ticket holder, he doesn't
think he'll ever attend another game. Just process that for a moment.

I understand the allure of the RWHF group and I can see the progress they
have made. But this is reprehensible. I can't in good conscience support it
and I don't know how anyone else can. If our fan representatives are just
going to threaten us when public opinion moves in a different direction to
their own then I struggle to see how that is representation. I was told I
could take my daughters on that march, and then suddenly we were at risk if
we were marching with WHUISA. Well, I would have been under their banner,
and that is terrifying. And suddenly that thought boomerangs back again, and
no FA Cup win over Everton or three goal Wembley comeback at Spurs can shake
it from my mind. What has happened to my club?

When you next make that little list of West Ham heroes, you should probably
add Mark Walker to it.

***

"Shake your fist at him, tell him it's alright
Say it's alright"
- The Flying Burrito Brothers, "Down in the Churchyard"


As a kid, one of the single most thrilling sporting events I can remember
watching was the World Athletics 4x400m relay in Tokyo.

Watch this. You will stand a little taller in your shoes (if you're
British).

But what was especially thrilling to the twelve year old me, was that the
hero of the British team - Kriss Akabussi - was a West Ham fan. And there it
was. That indelible connection. An invisible rope between us. That feeling
that if ever we were to meet I would be able to look at him and he at me and
we would have a shared bond that only a few could understand. And in the
end, isn't that what football is supposed to give you? An entrance to an
exclusive club that only the privileged few get to see? When I say Oldham,
Valentines Day - you all know what that means. It's a link forged without us
even knowing.

I think of the friends that West Ham and this blog have made for me. The
Princeton graduate, the soldiers, the writers, the taxi drivers, the
comedians, the accountants, the ones who have jobs with consultant in them
that I don't really understand. And above it all. Claret and blue. West Ham.

I've never met Mark Walker and yet when I hear about a West Ham fan being
threatened by others it runs completely contrary to all of that. It doesn't
just break a code, it smashes it. I was never in thrall to the ICF as a kid
because I was too young for it, but I understand why others are. There is a
mythology to that time, and when there seems to be so little of our club
left, I get why people look backwards. Hell, I suggested it myself at the
top of this article.

But this can't happen. Marches can't be cancelled because of threats of
violence. I once climbed a huge hill in the Marlborough Sounds in New
Zealand and got to the top to find the only other human being within a five
mile radius was a West Ham fan from Manor Park. I don't want to have to
wonder if he is with "us" or "them". I just want to nod and say "Joey
Beauchamp, eh?" and leave it at that.

I doubt that the Tory commentator Iain Dale and I will ever agree on
anything politically but I respect his love for the club, respect his
opinions and would be proud to stand next to him at a game. His politics
don't matter to me, and I doubt mine do to him, when we're both stood at the
ground wondering exactly how Liverpool managed to score from our corner.

I want West Ham to be the most inclusive club in the country. I want to see
more women in the ground, more ethnic minorities to better reflect our
natural catchment area, I want to be the most welcoming place for those in
the LGBT community and above all a safe place to watch football for anyone.
And I don't give a shit if that makes me that liberal snowflake again.

As someone who supported the move I've done a lot of soul searching over the
last couple of months and I can't help but feel that I failed West Ham by
not doing a better job of interrogating the specifics of the new stadium.
Not that my opinion carries any weight but more in the sense that each of us
should now be asking ourselves that question. I still believe that moving
could and should have been the springboard to a new era but it is becoming
increasingly clear that moving under these owners and to this stadium has
damaged the club, possibly irrevocably.

As I look down at the club crest on my shirt I keep returning to a single
thought - "I didn't do enough". It's not a great feeling to say out loud
that you have failed, but there is no doubt that I have. I certainly failed
to heed those who didn't want to move. I believed them to be dinosaurs
unable to see obvious progress when it stared them in the face. To you, I
apologise.

I believed the hype, believed that modernity and progress were more
important than tradition, and could not possibly be mismanaged, and for that
we have paid the highest possible price. While West Ham is run as it
currently is, the soulless husk of a football club that is currently
traipsing around the country will be our weekly reminder of that solipsism.
I can't speak for any of you, but I should have done better by this football
club I have loved my entire life.

And that is the great danger of all this. Something changed for me on
Saturday. I'm not sure I will ever view my club in the same way again. The
owners might be delighted that the march is off, and the divide and conquer
approach has worked, but there is a cost to all of these things. While they
remain, I will view West Ham like a lost love. After all, this isn't the
club I fell for all those years ago.

I'm devastated tonight.

Julian Dicks. Forest away. The free kick into the top corner. Pandemonium.

What the hell has happened to my club?

***


Oh yeah, and if you agree with any of that, then you too should join WHUISA
today. Sometimes it's not enough to just nod your head and murmur agreement.
They need your numbers so that they can keep holding the club to account.
Help them.

Please note that the opinions expressed in this article are those of the
author and do not necessarily represent the views of, nor should be
attributed to, KUMB.com.

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Psycho backing Rice
KUMB.com
Filed: Wednesday, 7th March 2018
By: Staff Writer

Stuart Pearce believes that teenage central defender Declan Rice is
benefiting from receiving more first team action than he may have expected.

As a result of a string of injuries, loans and player sales, the 19-year-old
has featured 23 times for Slaven Bilic and David Moyes thus far in West
Ham's first team this season.

And with the latter having only Rice and team mate James Collins currently
fit and available from his pool of centre halves, the Irish-born talent is
likely to feature extensively between now and the end of the season too.

However that is not likely to be a cause for concern according to first team
coach Stuart Pearce, who told whufc.com that Rice was improving with every
game. "Every time you take to a pitch, there's a learning curve to be had,"
said the former England full back.

"We had young Declan in the side [at Swansea]; every minute he gets in a
Premier League match is a bonus to us as a football club. Bear in mind he
played for 90 minutes [on Saturday]. It's money in the bank for us as a
football club in regard to his knowledge."

Pearce also called for the squad as a whole to regroup and secure a
much-needed victory against Burnley at Stratford this this weekend - West
Ham's final match before a three-week break.

"We've got to show some character, especially at home," he added. "We're
playing a well organised Burnley side, and a side who've been playing
particularly well. Their results have probably not turned around and shown
us the whole picture. They are a good side with an outstanding manager.

"It's a game that we've got to look to get on the front foot in. We've got
to look to play better than we did in the last two matches. One or two
things we felt we didn't do particularly well, like conceding cheap goals,
we're going to have to improve on that."

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Double disaster for Moyes
KUMB.com
Filed: Wednesday, 7th March 2018
By: Staff Writer

Winston Reid and Sam Byram have been ruled out for the remainder of the
season after picking up knocks against Swansea.

The New Zealand international spent around ten minutes receiving treatment
for a knee injury during the first half of Saturday's 4-1 defeat, before
being carried off the field on a stretcher.

Meanwhile Byram - who replaced the unfortunate Reid on Saturday - is also
expected to miss the rest of the campaign after sustaining a fresh ankle
injury during the same game, despite remaining on the field until the final
whistle.

The news will come as a massive blow to David Moyes, who lost Angelo Ogbonna
to injury before the Swansea trip and can no longer call upon the services
of Jose Fonte, who was sold to Chinese Super League side Dalian Yifang last
month.

That leaves an aging James Collins and the inexperienced Declan Rice as the
club's only fit central defenders - and veteran Pablo Zabaleta as West Ham's
only available right back for the final nine matches of the season.

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Why are West Ham's board holding meetings with self-professed hooligans?
Hooligans from the notorious Inter City Firm have sat down with
vice-chairman Karren Brady in recent weeks, and have since threatened other
fans planning on marching against the board
Miguel Delaney Chief Football Writer @MiguelDelaney 40 mins ago2 comments
The Independent Sport

Around West Ham United right now, there is a toxic atmosphere of proper
nervousness and tension, and it goes way beyond what happens on a football
pitch.
There was first of all the advice from Newham Council to postpone a planned
protest march against the owners ahead of Saturday's crucial home match
against Burnley, with "safety" cited as a primary reason. Some involved
still feel in outright danger. Really, there's no other way to feel, given
the online comments of members of a fans group called Real West Ham Fans
(Real WHF) – until last week known as the Real West Ham Fans Action Group –
who were founded by the 1970s Inter-City Firm members and who multiple
sources have claimed want a Lazio Ultras-style relationship with the club.
The Real WHF initially announced the march, only to call it off after what
they cite as "positive dialogue with the board" (when they also dropped
'Action' from their name). Some members then aggressively spoke out against
the West Ham United Independent Supporters' Association (WHUISA), who took
up the baton on the protest, with coarse and politically-charged language
used.
"All your left wing fucks you ain't passing through our manor," one posted
on Facebook on Saturday. "The ICF won't allow it don't cross us." "No your
not your left wing c**t your not passng [sic]." "March if you want but if
you march with WHUISA it ain't happening we ain't left wing I'll not left
Anifita pass so now ICF you stand with me or your against me your choice
[sic]."

These are just vignettes of how ugly this situation has got. This is also
who West Ham have been in dialogue with, in meetings that involved other
fans' organisations. It is a situation that people who work in the Football
Supporters' Federation (FSF) have described as "one of the worst come
across", and "wild-west stuff" that raises some serious questions for the
club.

Mark Walker, the democratically elected head of WHUISA – an FSF-recognised
body – is said by those who know him to feel "distraught", hugely concerned
for his physical safety and will probably never return to a game again. He
had his Facebook account posted on the Real West Ham Fans own page, where he
has been described as a "traitor to London" and had his support for Sadiq
Khan brought up. The mayor himself is described by one member as a
"terrorist sympathiser".

For his part, Real WHF founding member Andrew Swallow initially responded to
a list of questions emailed by The Independent, insisting it had "all been
blown out of proportion" and stating that he would explain all in an
interview at an agreed time. Swallow did not ring back, and did not respond
to repeated phone calls.

Beyond those questions, it is a story that also cuts to the core of what a
club represents, of who it represents, of its identity and soul.

It is also a story with some genuinely eye-opening elements, not least the
bizarre and aggressive political allegations, but one that stems from
widespread and general fan concern at what many West Ham supporters describe
as "the worst-run club in the Premier League".

"We have been failed," supporter Jim Kearns wrote in his 'The H list' blog,
an account that also describes a "tinderbox atmosphere that exists between
us and the owners."

Fan groups just feel misinformed, and let down.

Some of the reasons for that are well known, some are not, some range from
the remarkably pedantic to the rigorous fundamentals of a football club's
identity.

Among the concerns that have been brought up in recent meetings between fan
groups and the club are: the ongoing situation with the move away from the
Boleyn Ground, to a stadium they feel is not fit for football; who is
actually running the club, given co-chairman David Sullivan's recent illness
and co-chairman David Gold's age; how much money is actually being invested
in the team; what kind of process exists for signing players; ticket prices;
media comments by the owners; appropriate recognition of the club's history;
stewarding – where it was cited that one wears a Charlton Athletic jersey
under his jacket; Boxing Day home fixtures; the memorial garden at the
Boleyn; "amnesties" for supporters ejected from the stadium and not charged;
and the club badge.

The last point has been of particular importance to the Real WHF group, as
it is felt the use of the word "London" in the crest is an abandonment of
the club's east-end heritage. Those wider concerns for identity underlie a
lot of this, and directly fire the situation. Kearns is one fan who feels
some of this is wrapped up in the "distinctive mythology" about West Ham, a
willingness to embrace "glorious failure", and "a fetishisation of one of
the few things they've ever been best at: hooliganism", and principally
through the ICF.

This is where Swallow and Micky Morgan come in, two individuals involved in
the founding of the firm, and then the Real WHF – called the Real West Ham
Fans Action Group until last week.

It was in the first few months of this season that the latter emerged,
ostensibly out of all these concerns. A Facebook account was set up, and
16,000 people 'liked' the page. It was an impressive mobilisation. This also
reflected the strength of feeling around the club. Sullivan was due to meet
with the Real WHF, but that was subsequently cancelled.

Swallow has a colourful history, that he has willingly spoken about.

"We originally formed the EELF [Essex & East London Firm] and we made our
name in the South Bank cage," Swallow told the 'Knees Up Mother Brown' West
Ham supporters' website when things properly started to gather pace in
January. "That's where the ICF was born around 1976.

"The ICF name was the idea of me, Grant [Fleming] and Micky [Morgan]."

"In 1987 we got nicked for the ICF and Cass Pennant did the film
'Hooligan'," Swallow himself admitted. "Then we got into acid house. I came
back [to West Ham] in around 91/92 and we carried on the Inter City Firm as
it was. I had two or three court cases with the ICF and spent
three-and-a-half years on trial in three different trials."

He also confirmed: "So I've never left the Inter City Firm."

With the 40th anniversary of the ICF approaching, multiple sources say
Swallow has been involved in trying to set up a fund-raising match between
former West Ham and Lazio players, and many sources close to the situation
have suggested he ultimately wants the Real WHF group to emulate the
organisation of the Serie A club's Ultras.

Swallow has also been involved with the Football Lads Alliance, an
"anti-terrorism" group, that is being monitored by many anti-racism groups
and viewed with concern among football authorities. As many as 2,500 West
Ham fans are estimated to have taken part in an anti-terrorism march last
year, with the 'Knees Up Mother Brown' interview crediting Swallow for
mobilising that number.

Swallow has a previous relationship with Sullivan, too, as his involvement
with non-league Grays Athletic temporarily saw the club play at West Ham's
training ground, Rush Green. That ended acrimoniously when Sullivan pulled
the plug, and Swallow referenced this in one of the recent meetings, when
vice-chairman Baroness Karen Brady asked why he doesn't trust the club.

The minutes of that meeting state that Swallow said "personally it goes back
to [Swallow] being let down when he was at Grays Athletic FC." The minutes
then go on: "KB [Brady] listened to AS [Swallow] comments as to having
effectively been kicked out of rush green and finding out from man at
turnstiles. KB apologised for those circumstances and gave various reasons
behind that situation ie manager wanted that venue as training ground and
that nothing was going to stop that happening."

Swallow's trust in the club appears to have been rebuilt, though, and the
road to that is where so many of the questions lie.

The Real WHF group – at that point called the Real West Ham Fans Action
group – then began holding meetings through December, and came up with a
five-point plan. It is the first time a march is mentioned, but does not
raise the concerns around the stadium or running of the club. Taken from the
group's own posts, it reads:

"1 [club] Must take up full away ticket allocation

2 : Memorial [garden] to be maintained regularly

3: The Hammer and Castle badge to be reconised [sic] with immediate effect
on match programme and in future in the stadium

4 : The owners to be more proffesional [sic] on social media ie remove the
sullivan [sic] kids from speaking on the clubs behalf :

5 The 15 minute interval must be addressed its impossible to get to the
toilets get a drink and be back for the restart a for the second half .

They club have 7 days to respond if they fail to deliver a full demo / march
will take place ."

With West Ham still refusing to meet Real WHF, and the group generally
unhappy at the lack of progress, a march was then called for 10 March. It
was estimated that over 10,000 would turn up, and that was what finally gets
a response from the club.

Brady called for a meeting with supporters groups for 19 February, that
involved Swallow, his Real WHFG, the WHUISA and a number of websites.
"You'll begin to recognise the Judaean People's Front element of West Ham
supporters groups by this stage," Kearns quips, and the amount of acronyms
sums it up. All groups are however united on the need for action and
supportive of the march.

When asked about that meeting and a number of other concerns raised, a West
Ham statement to The Independent said the following:

"West Ham United met with representatives of 15 fans' groups to try to work
together to give our supporters a better match-day experience at the London
Stadium. In our talks we agreed a number of action points and we are working
to deliver them.

"All the groups chose their own representatives which we accepted in good
faith.

"All of those who attended expressed a desire to achieve the same ambition.
The meetings were cordial and constructive. Many of them had travelled long
distances to meet with us.

"We will in future be working with the long-standing Supporters Advisory
Board to achieve those common aims on behalf of all supporters."

For that first meeting, Brady had initially suggested both Sullivan and Gold
would attend, but it was in the end only the vice-chairman that did.

She later sent a nine-page letter to all involved, going through the various
issues discussed, and thanking everyone for a "highly constructive" meeting.


The letter however also references that it "followed a three-and-half-hour
meeting David Sullivan had with the lead representatives co-ordinating these
groups".

The WHUISA however claim no-one from their groups attended such a meeting.
One source says that "as far as I can tell, this was solely with the Real
WHF group. No minutes are available of that meeting".

Other sources claim Swallow has been saying he "met with Sullivan in his
house". West Ham deny this meeting ever took place.

The various supporters' groups then gathered again on 26 February and agreed
to release the letter in the interests of transparency.

It was at this point something else changed. Swallow wanted to call off the
march. It was felt Brady's commitments were insufficient to prevent it.

Brady then called a second meeting for 28 February. The Independent
understands WHUISA only found out about the meeting on the day, but still
managed to attend, along with Swallow's Real WHF and Hammers Chat website.

The meeting went through the points of the letter, and after 90 minutes came
to a discussion of what it would take to prevent the march. Brady pointed to
how it would be "damaging to employees that work hard thinking they are not
appreciated. Damage to team.. damage to sponsors."

From a Swallow question, Brady said the club would reimburse those who had
made arrangements to travel for the march, and "look at providing match
tickets".

Most of those who attended the meeting still felt West Ham's commitments
were insufficient, and that they wanted to march.

It was on Thursday 1 March that Swallow's Real WHF group then unilaterally
announced the march was off, without consulting other groups.

Many were baffled because there had been no promises from the club, and few
concessions, beyond making the stadium more "homely". As one source puts it,
"all hell broke loose"

"Wild" debate broke out on the Real WHF Facebook page, as so many people
were still desperate to march.

It was in this situation WHUISA were pushed into a leading role, since they
are the only FSF-affiliated group, and due to the absence of anyone else
willing to organise. There was also the fact that Walker was democratically
elected, and felt a responsibility. The WHUISA were also conscious of the
possibility that people would just turn up anyway, and that the lack of any
proper planning could lead to disorder.

That concern was all the greater because of the posts made on the Real WHFG
Facebook account on Saturday night. This was when the group stridently
declared themselves against the protest, and the WHUISA were accused of
left-wing agitation and involvement in AntiFa, amid threats of physical
obstruction.

It is believed the accusations arose because of Walker's history of work for
the Labour Party, and his Facebook declarations of support for Sadiq Kahn.

Concerned friends say this has left Walker "distraught", and fearful of his
safety.

The Real WHF group's sudden oppositions to the march – and the possible
reasons for it – were not the only striking curiosities to the situation.

There was also what happened when Walker and the WHUISA began to plan for
the protest, and is alluded to in the correspondence sent by Newham Council
asking for the protest to be delayed.

"Unfortunately it is not simply a case of 'taking over the existing plan'
because there is no existing plan to speak of," the Council wrote. "We had
one brief meeting last week with the previous organiser where a couple of
alternative routes were discussed and we were awaiting a detailed route plan
and event management plan but have not received anything since."

In other words, the Real WHF group hadn't gone through the process required,
raising one of many pertinent questions about the situation – whether they
ever intended to march.

It is an uncertain atmosphere, as well as a toxic one.

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