David Moyes’ influence is being felt very much off the field as much as on it right now!
The 57 year old has briefed everybody inside the London Stadium with information on sensitive team issues that he will not stand for the condition of his players and team selections escaping into the public domain.
With Michail Antonio undergoing scans he is doing everything in his power to ensure nothing gets out and there will be the witch hunt of witch hunts should it happen.
His demand goes from board members down to academy level with numerous individuals coming into possession of such information.
He was well known at his previous clubs for the same attitude but has his work cut out at West Ham which is widely regarded as one of the leakiest clubs in the Premier League.
He is particularly focused on team selection matters. Whereas Manuel Pellegrini, and other managers were and are, unconcerned if crucial news got out, Moyes has been known to hand out brutal dressing downs.
Pellegrini’s attitude – on the record from the bloke himself on team selection matters in particular – was that it made no difference and that oppositions should worry about his team rather than vice versa.
He was entirely laid back about that as he was in most matters but Moyes is a different kettle of fish entirely and believes that any information of that kind gives an advantage to the team we are playing on a particular day.
He is currently having his work cut out to keep things quiet on key man Michail Antonio’s injury or otherwise in order to give Jurgen Klopp no clue on what to expect at the weekend.
It’s going to be interesting to see how successful he is on a matter that has caused plenty of issues at West Ham in the past.
Claretandhugh says: Moyes’ hard line approach – despite it working against the media’s interests – is actually to be welcomed. Michail Antonio’s position will already be known to three or four people inside the club and in the past this will have been passed on to their media contacts. Thus far nothing has appeared and we at Candh have decided we will not be publishing such information as we believe it unhelpful to the manager and the club as is the case with advanced team selection news which we stopped four years ago. Nor do we fancy confrontations with a Scotsman who apparently has a fearsome temper. Good luck to those who choose otherwise 🙂
Good on you C&H!
Ex West Ham employee ? Not what is wanted one would have thought.
Great to see. Maybe not taking things as far as the likes of Bielsa at Leeds, but this is the mind and the attitude of a winner. Finally we have a manager who will try and gain every competitive advantage possible.
Approve completely of your decision.
Respectful and responsible.
Well done.
Goodbye West Ham Way podcast then! That’s the only reason that anyone ever listens to it!
We have our ways of finding out
Trouble is when the ITKs and usual sources can’t give or get their insider information anymore there is a risk the media may decide to just make stuff up instead. We have seen a fair bit of this in recent times. Someone makes up a story and every other news source blindly copies it. Sometimes the club denies it, or a player denies it but this gains little attention in comparison. The rumour is already out there and people believe what they want to believe. I would much prefer it if a trusted news source such as claret and Hugh for instance made it the goal not to not reveal insider information but instead, to discount the false rumours, and untrue information that is circulating from other news sources.
I agree with other posters that this is an excellent decision – I see two recent posts originating from Ex_WHU employee recently – one today on Antonio and one on Benrahma’s medical – and no way should such information be public knowledege. I am happy to wait for an hour before kick-off to learn of the line-up
I cant see how anyone who is a true supporter of West Ham could leak information – so well done C&H
Who leaked this information 😉 ? It’s an admirable aspiration, good luck though in reality, as you say we are one of the leakiest clubs around, perhaps we should be sponsored by a plumbing firm ?
Fully agree with DM. No news of injuries or squad line up’s should ever be made available. It clearly gives the opposition the upper hand knowing this. MP was the opposite but we saw the kind of guy he was in the end – so anything he did, I’d suggest DM do opposite! I never understand why people get rewarded for failure – it’s rife in football and it’s making the game more and more of a bore. Anyway good on DM and Sully needs to remember this and keep his trap ****. Good that CandH are of same opinion as DM too…the team comes first before anything else when it comes to footballing matters…
Good policy decision Hugh. I assume all sorts of rumours and gossip comes your way that never makes it on to the site as you’re a professional journo who checks sources, substantiates any real story and disregards the rest. No problem with posting other stuff reported elsewhere in the media as it’s in the public domain and it means we get all the Hammers news here. Also, I like the fact that you post C&H opinion which is clearly marked as such – you’re all passionate fans too, so why shouldn’t we hear what you think and feel? And you’re not too big to change your minds about something – a player or manager etc. We all do – we’re football fans. We can all get carried away with a rant or off-hand comment but overall I think the standard of the editorial and the comments on here is pretty damn good. I’ll probably get slagged off by some as a brown-noser …don’t really care, just giving my opinion. COYI
Zahamoore says it all for me. Completely agree. Well done C&H. More power to your elbow.
Seems that all ‘news’ people need to know what’s happening now and what will happen and when, exactly, in the future. Most events involving people are not programmable and expectation is always disappointed. I, too, am happy to wait and see when the announcements are made rather than anticipate.
Well done C&H – again.
COYI