A quite magnificent analysis of what’s happening at the London Stadium appears in today’s Daily Mail guided by the word processor of West Ham fan and top football writer in this country by a million miles – Martin Samuel!
Martin never pulls punches and places perspective on puzzles which confuse the minds of those too close to issues to see them clearly. And in today’s piece he gets right down to the nitty gritty with brilliant words and the passion of a man born into the Irons tradtition.
Among the many points he makes are that ” a right load of old twaddle talked about West Ham” saying : “The club that puts tradition, passion and trying to play the beautiful game ahead of success. The club that has lost touch with its fanbase by trying to build, rebrand and improve. Rubbish. (our italics)
He elaborates the point by saying: “No team draws 54,000 to a Europa League second-round qualifier against NK Domzale of Slovenia if the punters don’t care what the score is or where the club is going. Nobody thought West Ham would fill this new ground. They did because last season was a good one.
The London Stadium is not ideal but most fans know why the club took the leap. The alternative was not to remain the old West Ham, but to end up the new Fulham, or Queens Park Rangers. The poor relations, the never-will-bes.
He declares that this is the team he grew up following “not some bunch of Cockney caricatures happy to have a sing-song, a plate of mash and liquor and their arses handed to them by Chelsea.”
And he is totally damining of those who seem intent on wrecking this great club’s name saying: “They are thugs besmirching one of the greatest chances for advancement a football club has had.
They are scaring off the next generation and risk dragging their fellow supporters down, limiting West Ham’s ambition, and undermining their best efforts.
And the biggest lie is that it was all somehow inevitable. Because stadiums don’t kill football; hooligans do.”
We yrge you to read the full article at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3880214/After-trouble-West-Ham-against-Chelsea-don-t-blame-stadium-blame-hooligan-fans.html#ixzz4OM6vLm7R
I agree with a lot of what he says.But hooligans haven’t disappeared, they have behaved because of segregation, Policing, and tight security. Something that the LS is lacking right now,and so heavily written about in the media. The red tops should be in court for incitement to riot. COYI