During preseason, I was listening to a prediction show on TalkSport when it got to the segment where the presenters had to select the teams likely to get promoted and relegated from League One.
Charlton Athletic was put forward as one of the teams expected to gain promotion to the Championship, upon which someone pointed out that they were too good for the third tier of English football.
Now, I have to be totally honest; I was only half-listening to a radio show that really had little to do with me as a West Ham fan. However, one of the presenters chimed in by declaring that Charlton had once been a Premier League club and then began to criticise their fan base for pressuring the club to find a replacement for then-manager Alan Curbishley, who could take the South Londoners to “the next level.”
The underlying tone of the observation was that Charlton deserved to be in the lower echelons of the English football pyramid because those pesky, deluded Addicks fans dared to want a replacement manager.
Whether or not the decision to replace such a successful manager as Curbishley was irrelevant to me, the fact that it was being used as a stick to beat Charlton fans with 18 years later was somewhat surprising.
Therefore, it should come as little shock to see the likes of Chris Sutton & co. making digs at the West Ham fan base. Much like Charlton before us, they believe we got it very wrong, and they will continue to remind us.
The fact that Moyes himself has admitted he rejected a contract at the London Stadium last season and that Julen Lopetegui barely featured on any West Ham fans’ hit list as Moyes’s replacement is irrelevant to the “be careful what you wish for” clan. These people are unlikely to let facts and nuanced debate get in the way of giving Irons supporters a patronising telling off at every opportunity.
Whether it’s Jeff Stelling, Paul Merson, Alan Shearer, or Sutton himself, the condescending mainstream Media Mafia seems intent on reminding and punishing Hammers fans whenever the chance arises.
I suspect many of these so-called media personalities who have come out in defence of Moyes will be hoping that West Ham continue to struggle just so they can say, “I told you so.”
If Sutton is completely honest with himself, he will admit that he is articulate enough to make a score-line prediction on the Brentford vs West Ham match without taking a dig at the fanbase, but he chose to do it anyway.
Just don’t expect these jibes to end anytime soon, particularly while West Ham is struggling… just ask Charlton.