Filed in Football, England, Premiership.
I was hoping my next post was going to be about some nice, unfortunately it’s not especially so for West Ham fans. Dean Ashton, who was going to get his first cap for England broke his ankle.
What I did find odd was West Ham’s lack of outcry at how it was unacceptable / unfair / etc. and that they want significant compensation. Instead from West Ham boss Alan Pardew we get:
We are absolutely devastated. It’s a massive blow for Deano and his family, and for everybody here at West Ham United.
We are extremely disappointed by the news but, on a positive note, we still have four quality strikers at this club, which will suppress the blow somewhat.
We look forward to a speedy recovery from Deano and hope to see him back in action very soon.
Not a single statement of outrage or call for compensation made in public so far (they are probably speaking direct to the FA about compensation).
I began to wonder is this part of their media policy, which changed lasted year to be more friendly and foster good stories. There is an article about Phil Hall the man behind this change at West Ham that was in yesterday’s Independent for anyone that’s interested.
It would certainly make sense if it was part of their media strategy, although the tabloids and the rest of the media would probably love nothing more than for West Ham to whip up the Club vs Country question but it certainly wouldn’t endear the club or manager to the average England fan and would produce a lot of negative press, something which West Ham are keen to avoid.
Last season West Ham earned a lot of friends from their performances on the pitch and their conduct off. It looks as if they have continued where they left off and credit to them I say.
