Former West Ham manager Slaven Bilic claimed he told Karren Brady not to turn Rush Green into a five star hotel.
He told the Daily Telegraph “I was very much involved in [West Ham’s new training ground] with Rush Green with Karren Brady and I was always saying: ‘Don’t make it a five-star hotel. This is a training ground’.”
Bilic will return to the London Stadium this weekend as West Brom take on the Hammers in the FA Cup and the former Hammer said of the stadium “It’s not an excuse but if you ask me was it better to play at Upton Park or not then there’s no discussion, it was more home, it was 
more hostile.
Not one opposition player enjoyed it when they had to go to Upton Park! That’s a fact. The Olympic Stadium is very different for an away team. You enjoy it more. It’s not that you were afraid for your life at Upton Park, but everything was there!”
“Look at Arsenal. You saw what Wenger said: ‘We left our soul there [at Highbury].’ And it’s true. Even Atletico Madrid – their new stadium is too nice. Upton Park made you do this,” he says, vigorously rolling up his sleeves. “Highbury made you do that, the old Atletico stadium made you do that. Everything is on top of you; everything is close. Also you have those memories and those responsibilities. ‘This is what we did there and there’. It’s different.
Of course I would have preferred the original Upton Park but we had to go all seater, Bilic won’t know but that was a much more hostile environment than the redeveloped Upton Park. That ground lost some of that soul, thanks to Maggie T using Hillsborough as an excuse and maybe needn’t to have happened if the real truth come out that as usual for that era it was the policing that caused them problems all over the country. So we had to move on and David Sullivan saw an opportunity to move to the LS for cheaper football and bigger crowds, sold the same deal as the Arsenal fans and no doubt any other club that rebuilds. Please make no mistake David Sullivan owns and runs our club.
Totally agree. Upton Park was never the same after it went all seater. But I’d still take the redeveloped UP over the LS and it’s popcorn munching half ‘n’ half scarfers.
Half and half scarves were on sale at UP, who the hell came up with that idea? Popcorn with and I get there early for chicken Balti pie but there never there but popcorn, yes
Amazing that we didn’t have a 100% record at the Boleyn isn’t it? I have heard from so many ex players in the last five years who found it so terrifying and I wonder how come they usually managed to end up winning? When I started watching I think I had to go about 6 times before I saw a win there! Maybe I was just unlucky. My third game we got held up & got in 20m late. We asked what the score was. We were 4-0 down. And no there wasn’t a happy ending with us coming back to win 5-4 with the last kick because the other lot were all crapping themselves!! It ended 5-1.
Judging by some of our results I would say it was our players.