Whichever way you look at it David Moyes is facing one of the toughest moments of his 1,000 long management career.
You have to feel a tad sorry for the man whichever side of the Zoumergate affair you sit – this is not something that club bosses have ever faced before.
Do you put personal feelings and those of many fans first and leave him out of games or instead do what you are paid to do – win games.
We are never likely to know what was said behind closed doors between the board and their manager but the outcome appears to be that having played on Monday, he will again on Sunday as the Irons look to capitalise on their top four position.
Never before has there been a situation like this and the Hammers have been left to write the script as they have gone along and that’s never going to suit everybody.
And Moysie – discussing it – declared: ‘I’ve never had one (an incident) like this. As a football manager it shows you never know what you’re going to get. That’s part of being in this job.
‘We’ve got a really good side. I’m sad the focus has been taken away from what is, at the moment, a really good season.’
Zouma was fined two weeks wagesand the money has since been given to animal charities. West Ham released a statement condemning the player’s actions and said the player is co-operating with a RSPCA investigation.
Hi Hugh. This article states Zouma is fined 2 weeks wages which is 250k. Earlier today you quoted a source saying he “is not on that sort of money,” talking about 125k per week. Which one is correct? It don’t matter much to me, but to a charity this will hopefully be donated to, it surely does
Thanks mate – missed that – grateful. Now deleted
The Manager has truly showed his colours here, he has no values or moral. There is no question about it Zouma should not have played against Watford and should have have punished and suspended and Moyes should not have picked him until the appropriate investigations have been completed. It is a sad reflection on the club. I was clear as alot of fans were that Moyes should have signed Milenovic during the summer, a far better defender and more technical ability. A cheaper option and less salary but no Moyes was not prepared to make the right call and he ended up signing a player I did not rate as highly as Milenkovic who I have lost all respect for and I cannot bear to watch him play for the club. I am really wondering despite his brilliant acheivements with the team over the last two seasons is he really the person to give 100-150m in the summer and trust he will sign the right players. He will again go after Lingard and Phillips, just horrendously lazy recruitment showing absolutely no ambtion.
Note to Moyes:- Don’t waste time and money assembling a recruitment team. Don’t listen to your carefully assembled coaching staff. Disregard yours and their untold years of experience of the game. All you need do is phone Johnham1. He’ll regale you with his expertise when it comes to signing players. After all, he’s invariably correct. Just go back to last year when he didn’t stop slating Moyes for signjng Dawson. PS, if you cannot stand to watch Zouma in our colours, does that mean you won’t be constantly posting criticism of our players?
95% of West Ham Fans were critical of signing Dawson a player who could not get into a Watford team so I think I could be forgiven for that, he has performed far greater than I ever expected as most other West Ham fans would be in agreement with. I have been critical of a few players probably one more than any other in Fredericks who again the majority of West Hams would agree, yes I have said I cannot trust players like Masuaka but again most fans also agree and comment exactly on here but to suggest I am constantly critical of our players as a rule of thumb is so wrong. I am constantly critical of a few players as their performances have not been up to standard. In general I support 95% of the squad. Moyes has been brilliant but his recruitment last summer has been poor and the recruitment or should I say lack of recruitment in the last window is hugely disappointing and completely down to poor planning so Moyes and the recruitment team have to take the accountability for that.
Nah. 95%? Don’t think so. I think you’ll find the majority were willing to give him a chance as they trusted the manager. You just went straight on the offensive without even giving him a chance. You seem to go in cycles. At the moment it’s the turn of Fredericks but you’ve made concerted attacks on others for weeks at a time before moving on to the next one.. Your constant drip, drip of crticism is caustic and I hope the players don’t read your comments. Your conviction that you know better than the experienced professionals at the club would be comical if it weren’t so ridiculous.
Moyes is acting like a disappointed parent when they find out one of their offspring has been up to no good. In a way he is using it to his advantage by closing ranks against the world. The current squad is like a family they all say many times in interviews and they are sticking together. Moyes says he is getting Zouma help. Counciling of some sort maybe? Anger management? Who knows but this is what families do to help or protect their own in times of adversity.
Irrespective of a fine and rehabilitation in the form of an RSPCA course the player has gone relatively unpunished, the public will never find that acceptable because it is fundamentally unfair and disproportianately small when compared to the consequences for the poor kitten who might have been killed had this idiots shoe hit it and will be emotionally scarred for some time as a result. Not forgetting that now while with the RSPCA they will feel confused and unsettled by being moved out of what they thought was their home. I have no sympathy for Moyes or the Club, they made a judgement call which is out of step with how the majority feel about this based imho on the form of the replacement Diop who has lost all confidence. The outcome would have been very different had we suspended the player instantly, if you look at Mason Greenwood Utd suspended him instantly, we should have done the same with Zouma pending the club investigation.
Agree 100%
I look at this whole sad saga from possibly a different view point:
The fact that Kurt committed an act of cruelty against one of his cats was not for once the Board’s fault. It was not David Moyes and his coaching team’s fault. It was not the fault of the entire playing squad. Lastly it was certainly not us the long suffering supporters fault This was entirely down to Kurt Zouma which re readily admits.
Therefore why should the club suffer the consequences through not playing one of our key players. No Zouma and we quite possibly lose games and the club suffers. The only person who should suffer the consequences is Kurt and so far he has by maximum financial penalty under his contract, potential prosecution and another large fine. We play him and as a major high profile sports figure he has been and will be subject to humiliation from opposition supporters and judging by last Tuesday some of our own.
In my view this keeps the punishment where it belongs. Lastly Kurt Zouma must be allowed forgiveness and redemption at the end of the ongoing legal process.
I agree completely Budgie. I cannot, for the life of me, see how giving Zouma a few weeks off is a punishment. He gets to put his feet up and hide away from any criticism from fans and opponents. The only ones punished would be the club, the rest of the players and the fans. People comparing his treatment to that of Mason Greenwood need to get a grip and note the disparity of their situations.