Cottee should have condemned the foul mouthed abuse

Former Hammers striker Tony Cottee recently tried to explain on Sky Sports the frustrations West Ham fans are experiencing right now – citing the move from the Boleyn and the board’s claims to move us on to bigger and better things at the LS as part of the reason.

Here ClaretandHugh Faceboook group member Allen Cummings  takes issue with TC on a couple of things he didn’t say! 

Tony Cottee is a typical favourite son of West Ham and West Ham fans.

He’s a local lad who came up through the ranks to make it big! (And he scored on his debut against the Spuds).No wonder he’s still a big favourite. He was a player. He’s now a pundit. And he’s still clearly very much a fan.

But I have to take issue with his attempt on Sky Sports to explain why some so called fans are reacting the way they are. TC says we’re all frustrated. We are. He says we’re angry. He’s not wrong.

But we’re not all acting like the vile, foul-mouthed morons who are spitting out their abuse at games and peddling it across social media.

In his role as a pundit, Cottee must be fully aware of what’s being put about in the name of West Ham. And in my opinion he should be condemning it out of hand. Not seeking to justify it. He had to opportunity to state emphatically the kind of vile, vicious personal abuse being bandied about has no part in the game. But he didn’t.

He chose to ignore it. He didn’t seize the opportunity to differentiate between justified criticism, of which there is plenty to say, and disgusting, derogatory personal attacks. In choosing not to make that divide clear by condemning it, he has left himself open to being accused of doing the opposite, and condoning it.

Challenged directly, I’m sure he would claim that isn’t the case at all. But if that’s true then why didn’t he make that crystal clear? He had an opportunity to establish a line between what’s acceptable and what’s not. I’m hugely disappointed he chose not to take it!

The views expressed here are solely those of the blogger and are not necessarily shared by ClaretandHugh