Mooro & Bilic was not the same as Payet request

Inevitably comparisons have been made by non West Ham supporters of the time Slaven Bilic wanted to leave West Ham for a ‘bigger club’ namely Everton and Bobby Moore tried desperately to leave West Ham for Spurs in 1966 before winning the world cup with England.

While both facts are true, both players were professional and stayed at West Ham when they were told no by the managers at the time.

In the case of Bobby Moore, he stayed for another eight years after twice being rejected a move to Spurs by Ron Greenwood. He was offered a £10,000 signing on bonus for joining the North London rivals. Did he sulk or go on strike? No, he kept his disagreement with Greenwood private even losing out again on a a signing bonus in 1974 when he joined Fulham for £25,000 instead of the free transfer that was promised him by West Ham.

The papers have dragged up a 1997 quote from Harry Redknapp how ‘bitter and angry’ it was after his highest paid player, Slaven Bilic wanted to leave for Everton. However, Slav went on to play for the remainder of the season to keep West Ham up. Bilic said at the time he had a debt of loyalty to keep the Hammers from relegation. The £4.5m the Hammers received from Everton allowed West Ham to buy John Hartson who ensured success the following season. Again Bilic didn’t strike or refuse to train, he stayed on another six months out of loyalty to the the West Ham badge and his manager.

We all understand that players careers are short and the majority do not have the same passion we have as fans for our great club but there are ways to leave and Payet’s demands and actions fall a long way short on what is considered acceptable in modern football for a professional.