Ginger Pele climbs into crowd

Much gets written and said about a lot of players not being connected to the fans in this day and age but that is not an accusation that could ever be leveled at James Collins.

Yesterday the man affectionately known as ‘The Ginger Pele’ climbed into the crowd to donate items of his clothing for the second game running.

As always I was filming the finishing sequence to my vlog and watching to see which of the players would applaud the crowd (it’s never in doubt with Ginge) and there he was. He was walking over thanking the fans for turning up then climbed in for what can only be described as congratulatory hugs, selfies and handshakes.

We’ll get linked with a bunch of players this summer but none will ‘get it’ in the way that James Collins does. He understands what is required on the pitch, what the fans want and most importantly what the club is all about.

He might be a boy from the Valleys but Collins is West Ham through and through. I don’t know what his or the clubs future plans are but if he is taking that sort of commitment into the dressing room then surely there has to be a future role for him.

This has been the week which has seen us get linked with John Terry but in my opinion we already have one of our own.

He is a loyal servant, never complains when he doesn’t play and gestures like yesterday only serve to strengthen links between the team and the fans.

Well done Ginge. .  . . .  . . .  top marks mate.