Exclusive
Diafra Sakho’s absence from the team against Sunderland came as a result of him not being picked for the starting X1.
The player believed himself fit and ready to play but manager Slaven Bilic wanted to offer him a place on the bench rather than give him his first start of the season.
And the striker – who has been begging to make his claim in the struggling team for weeks – made it clear that wasn’t good enough and once again was involved in a fall-out with the boss.
We received the information after it became clear that there was a mystery surrounding the front man’s absence after Bilic had indicated earlier in the week the player should be available for the game.
Sakho and Bilic have a difficult history after a breakdown in the relationship which saw the player miss the close season tour following bust up after he was left out of the game against Arsenal.
That led to a failed medical at West Brom, further injuries this season, an operation and a gruelling recovery programme from which the player believes he has now emerged and is ready for action.
However, a source claimed there had been a fall out when Sakho was not picked and had then declared himself injured and unable to go on the bench.
Like I said below. The lad is a disgrace. First Payet and now him. Sick and tired of him.
You cannot have players refusing to play! But ….
I know that this won’t happen, but given WHU’s current predicament and the abysmal form of Ayew, Snodgrass, Ferghouli etc, I’d like to see him in the starting XI for the next game with the clear message to perform or your finished.
To have picked dud Callieri as a sub ahead of him last week was a joke as big as picking Randolph ahead of Adrian week after week.
Ayew has scored 5 on 8 games. That’s not really abysmal is it.
Abysmal lmao! I wish we had other players in abysmal form. I happen to think Ayew will turn out to be good buy and probably actually worth his £20M. Next season could be big for him
I’ve always believed Ayew will come good at some point. All players take time to find form after an injury, look at Cressie, shadow of the player we had last season. Next season Ayew will be an important player to us.
Have to agree with people here, I’ve always backed Slav and blamed the board but he looks like a man who has run out of ideas. He’s west ham through and through, haha he played 1 season. New ideas are needed along with some very strategic investment, plus a muzzle for the owners who just cant help getting over involved in everything. You dont see that from other clubs, it’s simply embarrassing.
If this is the naked truth, very unprofessional from Sakho, but also not very clever from Bilic. Bilic has been telling us for weeks he was looking forward to getting Sakho back in the team, yet when the player is begging to get running, Bilic holds hm back and plays Calamity Caller instead. You will have to admit those are mixed messages coming from the an in charge.
If Bilic wasn’t an ex Hammer we would have been shown the door a while back .
Lots of injuries , yes , but also lots of crazy decisions .
Time for a change , surely .
Bilic’s failure to sort out his problems with our best striker is nothing short than a shambolic disgrace.
Last season, we (more or less) lost Enner Valencia..
Now we will probably lose Sakho..
I used to have a strong belief in Slaven Bilic. Now, I feel he is given over to childish temper-tantrums, short on formation ideas, and not the man for West Ham.
Put all the facts together, and you don’t have to be a genius to work out why Payet left!
What right does Mr. Bilic. the lord of ‘furniture destruction’ and temper tantrums. have, to mis-treat Sakho in such an outrageously poor manner.
If he continues in this manner, Antonio will be the next to ask for a transfer request.
Give me BFS, Avram Grant, but not this labile fool!
Please please somebody turn the clock forward to the middle of May! Make the nightmare end. This time last year the future looked so bright, now it is a heap of *****
Why wouldn’t a manager play arguably his best striker when that player is ready willing and able to play?? Bilic in my opinion has some real issues in player management.
Seems like pure frustration from Sakho who clearly has a point to prove after basically being told last summer ‘we are going to replace you with a proper striker’. Always rated him and just for once would have been nice to see him and Carroll start together and see if there is something there to work with. Another player blind spot from Bilic who clearly has his favourites. Twist.
Agree Pablo.Bilic has a few blind spots when it comes to team selection and rating players.
I don’t approve of Sakho refusing to play but he is more of a threat than any of our other strikers including Carroll, when he threw his last tantrum he was playing really well yet was dropped for Carroll he can probably see history repeating, if you worked your socks off to get fit through some dark times during an injury you would want to get your chance, he has been sitting on the bench watching Callieri play instead of him which must hurt. Without knowing his fitness levels it is easy to sit on the sidelines making comments but personally speaking I would rather hevwas in the team than on the bench.
Bilic is clueless in my opinion. He is persisting with a goalkeeper who has been out of form for the past 4-5 games. He has not solved our RB problem. He was blind in all the purchases made during the summer i.e. no pace. He was blind to Obiang and Kouyate as our midfield two, He is blind to the fact that Carroll cant play as a lone striker in a 4-3-3 formation. He is blind to the fact that Sakho is our number 1 striker and has to play when fit at the expense of Carroll or Ayew. He is a really nice guy but has made awful decisions in the transfer market and in team selections that have cost us big time this season. Whether he stays or leaves depends really on one question who made the final decisions on transfers – if it was him he has to go. If you ask me would I prefer to see bilic or Sakho leave then it is Bilic.
If fit, he should have been in the starting line-up but he has to realise that, like it or not, Bilic picks the team. Sakho should simply work hard in training until Bilic finds it impossible to ignore him instead of acting like a petulant child. Bilic now has to decide whether he should again put him on the bench to show Sakho that he won’t succumb to pressure or to start him which will show Sakho that he only needs to strop to get his way. What will it say to the squad if Bilic decides to put him in the starting line-up? I think Bilic HAS to bench him and if he strops and refuses to play, he has to be sold in the summer.
I agree, he cannot now start him next game unless Ayew or Carrollre injured. It is poor management all around by Bilic. If he had started we would have had a better chance of winning the game. I would be very sad to see Sakho leave but not so sad to see Bilic leave. Calleri has also been treated awful and I firmly believe if he was given as much game time as Carroll we would see he is a very good player. I would drop Ayew and Carroll for next week’s game and start Sakho and Calleri in a front two against Everton.
No one at any club can demand to be in the starting 11. It doesn’t matter who it is or how good they are, it’s disrepectful towards every other player in the squad. The manager picks the team not the players or the fans.