Trevor Brooking shares what he’s heard about West Ham board

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West Ham United return to Premier League action this weekend for the first time since ugly scenes marred their last game at the London Stadium.

Trevor Brooking has told the London Evening Standard that opposition managers will be telling their players ahead of games with West Ham to go all out to score the first goal following the scenes during their recent defeat to Burnley, while he insisted that he has heard that the board are determined to change things this summer.

The Hammers return to action this weekend with an absolutely vital game against Southampton. It is their first game since the clash with the Clarets when ugly scenes marred the fixture, with fans running onto the pitch while other supporters began a protest in front of the Irons hierarchy.

It was a culmination after years of frustration with the current owners, with many supporters feeling that they have taken the club in a poor direction – with the London Stadium arguably the symbol of the separation between the owners and fans.

But ahead of the game against the Saints, club legend Brooking has insisted that the board are ready to listen, while he also suggested that supporter discontent will only benefit the teams that West Ham are playing.

“The scenes of anger and violence displayed at the Burnley match will act as a boost for the opposition if they are repeated,” he told the London Evening Standard. “Our rivals’ managers will be instructing their teams to go all out for the first goal, knowing that could turn our crowd against us.

“From what I have seen and heard around the club, the board are listening and they have committed to change this summer. Until then, the only priority is to keep our club safely in the Premier League. On Saturday, against Southampton, West Ham fans have to become that 12th man again.”

While some of the behaviour from an apparent minority was inexcusable, the board can surely have no arguments with the fans being angry given the promises and claims that were made before the stadium move and the subsequent lack of tangible progress that has been made in recent years.

But Brooking is surely right to suggest that frustration boiling over is more likely to benefit the opposition. However, the board cannot expect the fans to keep that frustration under wraps if they go a goal down on Saturday to the team directly below them in the table whose only victory in the league since the end of November came against West Brom.