David Gold famously forgot that Declan Rice was an Ireland international when he tipped him to play for England a earlier during this summer.
His comments immediately felt the full fury of Roy Keane who reminded him in no uncertain manner that he was talking rubbish given the circumstances and pointing out which nation he actually represented.
But Gold may like to believe that he had a psychic moment given the young Hammer is now very much in the running to switch his allegiance from Ireland to England.
That in itself had drawn fierce criticism from former Irish international Kevin Kilbane but has emboldened Gold to enter the fray on the subject once again.
He tweeted: “My hope all along has been that Declan first becomes an England player and then follows in the footsteps of the great Bobby Moore by becoming the captain of England.”
“Born in England made in West Ham United.”
As much as I can see where DG is coming from my hope is that Declan sticks with his original plan and words.
The common perception is that it is his agent that is causing all the unrest first contractually and now internationally and I tend to go along with this at the moment. What worries me is that this could potentially be down to a change in Declan’s attitude and thinking. I hope that he isn’t developing a Prima Donna ego and believing the hype.
He has the potential to be a true star but he needs to walk before he can run. My advice to him would be to get Zaba as a mentor, get his contract sorted (Dave’s offer a bit more), give Martin O’Neill a positive phone call and knuckle down to achieve his dreams.