West Ham 2017/18

geoff clipp said:
Sullivan and Gold blaming the stewards for what happened on Saturday is pretty appalling my opinion.

They've created a toxic atmosphere at the club via their own mismanagement. Furthermore, when faced with the possibility of a demonstration by some of their own fans, they then decided to try and manage that situation by getting into bed with a fan group led by the leader of a well known hooligan firm with links to the far right. Having been given preferential treatment by Sullivan and Gold, this group seem to have then started behaving like a protection racket. They called off the march and began publicly threatening other groups who decided they still wanted the demonstration to go ahead. Sullivan and Gold did nothing to condemn these threats. So having created an environment that has given legitimacy to thugs and allowed threatening behaviour to go unpunished, they then blame the stewards when tensions boil over at the match?

Feel genuinely gutted for the West Ham fans caught between a bunch of violent yobs and a pair of villains like Sullivan and Gold.
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^^^
 
geoff clipp said:
Sullivan and Gold blaming the stewards for what happened on Saturday is pretty appalling my opinion.

They've created a toxic atmosphere at the club via their own mismanagement. Furthermore, when faced with the possibility of a demonstration by some of their own fans, they then decided to try and manage that situation by getting into bed with a fan group led by the leader of a well known hooligan firm with links to the far right. Having been given preferential treatment by Sullivan and Gold, this group seem to have then started behaving like a protection racket. They called off the march and began publicly threatening other groups who decided they still wanted the demonstration to go ahead. Sullivan and Gold did nothing to condemn these threats. So having created an environment that has given legitimacy to thugs and allowed threatening behaviour to go unpunished, they then blame the stewards when tensions boil over at the match?

Feel genuinely gutted for the West Ham fans caught between a bunch of violent yobs and a pair of villains like Sullivan and Gold.
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A few days ago, I wasn't sure where the ICF - or rather, some of the ICF - fitted in with all this when reading about threats to other fan groups. Now I do, I actually find it very surprising that they'd be on the "side" of Sullivan/Gold/Brady. Hooligan firm or not, I'd have thought they would be on the side of the fans rather than the club. It's downright bizarre.
 
KentBlue said:
Wasn't there an issue recently about the West Ham board not wanting to pay for a police patrol during games? If so, then Gold/Sullivan/Brady are putting profit before safety.
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Or are willing to dish out their own justice to keep the police.
 
KentBlue said:
Wasn't there an issue recently about the West Ham board not wanting to pay for a police patrol during games? If so, then Gold/Sullivan/Brady are putting profit before safety.
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It seems that the cut price deal for the stadium does come with stewards and WHUFC are forbidden to add to or use some of their old staff from the Boleyn ground - so the stadium owners decide on the stewarding inside the stadium which is a little odd. Presumably to maximise the profit take on the rent they get stewarding is kept too a bare minimum and the Police are not welcomed inside by the stadium owners.
 
M18CTID said:
A few days ago, I wasn't sure where the ICF - or rather, some of the ICF - fitted in with all this when reading about threats to other fan groups. Now I do, I actually find it very surprising that they'd be on the "side" of Sullivan/Gold/Brady. Hooligan firm or not, I'd have thought they would be on the side of the fans rather than the club. It's downright bizarre.
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True, but it's amazing how people are willing to drop their "principles" (use that term very loosely in this case) once they get a sniff of power. Apparently the leader of the Real West Ham Fans Action Group (i.e leader of the ICF) has been to Sullivan's house lately and he was also given complimentary tickets to distribute amongst members of the group (he has admitted this himself and West Ham have not denied it when asked.)

Sounds like the situation has been allowed to get completely out of hand and reminds me of the awkward relationship the italian clubs have some of their ultra groups (coincidentally, this is a really interesting read https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...ltras-the-dangerous-fans-who-control-the-game)
 
geoff clipp said:
True, but it's amazing how people are willing to drop their "principles" (use that term very loosely in this case) once they get a sniff of power. Apparently the leader of the Real West Ham Fans Action Group (i.e leader of the ICF) has been to Sullivan's house lately and he was also given complimentary tickets to distribute amongst members of the group (he has admitted this himself and West Ham have not denied it when asked.)

Sounds like the situation has been allowed to get completely out of hand and reminds me of the awkward relationship the italian clubs have some of their ultra groups (coincidentally, this is a really interesting read https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...ltras-the-dangerous-fans-who-control-the-game)
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Yeah, I've just read the Guardian article about the rumoured visit to Sullivan's house and the 40 complimentary tickets. I still find it odd because when you visit the RWHFG home page, it doesn't exactly scream out that they're in the Sullivan/Gold/Brady camp. The threats against the WHUISA guy are really sinister though (am I right in thinking that the target for that abuse is our resident Hammer?), and dragging politics into it is out of order - the only politics that should matter here are football politics and fans should be putting on a united front at times like this rather than singling out an individual's own personal political views.
 
M18CTID said:
Yeah, I've just read the Guardian article about the rumoured visit to Sullivan's house and the 40 complimentary tickets. I still find it odd because when you visit the RWHFG home page, it doesn't exactly scream out that they're in the Sullivan/Gold/Brady camp. The threats against the WHUISA guy are really sinister though (am I right in thinking that the target for that abuse is our resident Hammer?), and dragging politics into it is out of order - the only politics that should matter here are football politics and fans should be putting on a united front at times like this rather than singling out an individual's own personal political views.
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I agree they shouldn't be bringing politics into it or attacking Mark Walker's politics, however it's hard to see how you can separate the two as far right politics seems to be an integral part of the identity of this particular group. They seem to have an agenda that stretches beyond that of the interests of West Ham United.
 
geoff clipp said:
I agree they shouldn't be bringing politics into it or attacking Mark Walker's politics, however it's hard to see how you can separate the two as far right politics seems to be an integral part of the identity of this particular group. They seem to have an agenda that stretches beyond that of the interests of West Ham United.
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That's the other surprising thing Geoff - that far right politics would even be an issue for those with links to the ICF - when you consider who their most famous member is:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cass_Pennant
 
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