Just occasionally in the world of football something comes along which makes me stop, pause and reflect. And in this instance, reflect on the decency and kindness of some individuals and how this crazy football existence throws up incredible contrasts.
Today I was lucky enough, as part of my daily search for news and rumour – to come across West Ham United’s twitter /X feed and the club’s video about: ‘The story of Elliott – the special boy that joined Jarrod in leading the team out in his first match as a Premier League captain’. I have added a link here: Go watch it at the end.
We spend many days writing about Lopetegui’s ‘difficult decisions’ and ‘ruthlessness’ – there is, indeed, another side to our Basque Supremo which he has not as yet displayed:
When he heard Elliot’s story, the Hammers Head Coach invited the youngster -who is suffering from multiple organ failure -to the training ground: The compassion shown by Julen when meeting Elliot for the first time was sincere and incredibly warm.
In fact, members of the Hammers team spent time with the youngster and Jarrod Bowen walked out with Elliot leading the way last Sunday before the start of the season match against Aston Villa.
I found myself reflecting that it was a stark contrast to the behaviour of loanee Kalvin Phillips last season and a refreshing sign of decency and human kindness shown to a very poorly young Hammer, that those ‘privileged’ like Phillips would do well to watch before ‘giving fans the middle finger’ as reported.
Actually it made me proud to be a supporter of this club and have even more respect for the Head Coach, our Captain and those players who showed such genuine affection for Elliot and in fact everyone at the club who was involved in making this happen. Hats off to you all.
Go watch the video, it will restore your faith in our ‘United’ if you are a bit cynical about footballers, coaches and their lifestyles.
Thats a really class act and so West Ham – ‘Jules’ Loputegui my estimation of you has gone up ten fold Well done West Ham
Lovely way to star my day (down ‘ere in Aus). I feel I should defend Phillips mind. Yes he did react badly to fans who abused him, yes his time at the Hammers was far from a success … however when signing he did a similar thing with a young hammers fan which he had already connected with in the past, giving his time and sharing genuine and heart-warming attention to the youngster, almost like re-connecting with an old mate.
Thank you for sharing that link. It has made me so proud to be a West Ham fan. That the boss afforded the brave Elliot so much genuine time on such an important day – his first competitive game in charge – is admirable. Well done West Ham. This is class.
So good to see our guys demonstrating what decent people they are. It’s always a joy to see children, sick or well in awe of what’s in front of them. A real heart warmer.
Let it go with Kalvin. He did the wrong thing which we all do from time to time, and wish we hadn’t. I’m sure he’s done plenty of good things too over his career.
I watched it earlier today, there’s not much that moves me but you’d have to be made of stone not to get emotional. I also felt really proud of how they looked after Elliott, what a smashing little lad x yeah massive well done to everyone that made him feel so welcome/special a credit to the club. Not all heroes wear capes ⚒️⚒️⚒️⚒️xxxx
What on earth does Kalvin Philips frustration and “middle finger gesture” have to do with Lopetegui’s Compassion?
Desperate, pathetic piece of journalism.
What on earth is this about 😂
This might just be the worst ‘article’ I’ve ever read on this website
I watched this video as well and saw a man who has a great deal of compassion.
What struck me most is when he told Elliot that he would be coming back.
Another example of the Hammers Family
If that is your reaction Burch I’m actually surprised you can read. Stop dragging your knuckles across the floor…….
Fans who abuse any player getting on the team bus are deserving of the middle finger. We have some real scum who follow our team away, boozed and coked-up.
I know it was a stupid thing to do, but by all account KP is a decent guy probably made a mercenary by football and perhaps the wrong people advising him. He’s not the only player who became a party boy after joining Man City. Go look at the evidence.
I remember him being kind to one of our young fans that didn’t look insincere to me and the young lad was chuffed.
No fan of KP at all but why single him out?
Back in the day I remember one of our respected players calling a fan, who’d been telling him he was ‘rubbish’, a f*cking c*nt! We were all stunned but the guy snapped and later apologized.
Oh how I miss Upton Park and those players!!
Comparing these two things is totally classless and, frankly, idiotic. Get some standards please