Friend Or Defoe?

‘JERMAIN Defoe’s decision to put in a transfer request only 24 hours after West Ham was relegated is akin to a widow getting remarried the day after her husband’s funeral.

You could wait until you got off the pitch, Jermain

In other words, it is indecently hasty – and it is no great surprise that the board turned down the request.

That is not to say that the young striker will still be at Upton Park next year, which must be very unlikely.

But had the board acceded to a request (which was leaked to the Sun on the morning of the final game), it would have sent a message to the other players – and other clubs.

Defoe is only 20 years old and has understandably probably got a bit caught up in all the speculation linking him with Manchester United.

But whoever is advising him really doesn’t know what they’re doing.

West Ham fans accept that they will lose many of the better players.

The career of a footballer is short and they cannot be blamed for wanting to play at the very top level.

When Trevor Brooking was a player, he would still get picked for England when West Ham were in the old Second Division.

Those days are probably gone, just as we are unlikely to see non-top flight teams win the FA Cup as Sunderland, Southampton and West Ham did.

What the fans find harder to accept is a scramble to the door by players, many of whom are responsible for the club’s dire plight today.

Paul Ince has never been forgiven for moving to Manchester United, not because he left but the manner (being pictured in a Man U shirt while still a West Ham player) in which he did it.

Had Defoe bided his time, he could have returned to Upton Park (when the Hammers return to the Premiership) and received a warm welcome.

By the indecent haste in which he has put in this transfer request, he is likely to get a similar reception to the one he gets at Charlton.

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Posted: 14th, May 2003 | In: Back pages Comment | TrackBack | Permalink