Former West Ham United player Dimitri Payet was at the centre of a sly dig from vice-chairman Karren Brady when asked who the East Stand should be named after.
The Irons are planning on naming the East Stand at the London Stadium after one of their ex-players, but it seems like Payet is not the frontrunner after the ace departed the club in 2017 following tensions between himself and former boss Slaven Bilic.
To those of you saying “bants if they name the east stand after Payet” well clearly, no. Karren Brady was asked if it was going to be the Frenchman and she replied: “No, it’s someone we all have admiration and respect for.” Ouch.
— Sam Inkersole (@Sam_InkersoleTM) October 17, 2018
Payet told Bilic that he wanted to leave, and re-signed for Ligue 1 club Marseille in January of that year – and when asked if one of the stands was to be named after Payet, Brady chose to launch an attack on the Frenchman, stating (as quoted by Football London journalist Sam Inkersole on his personal Twitter account): “No, it’s someone we all have admiration and respect for.”
OPINION
It is no surprise that Brady has aimed a dig like this at one of the club’s former players. Payet did not leave the club in the most respectful of circumstances, and this clearly has not been forgiven by the vice-chairman. That is no wonder, as Payet subjected West Ham to some awful treatment around the time that he left. You have got to admit though, this is a rather clever response from Brady. She has obviously not forgotten what happened between Payet and the Irons, and has made it abundantly clear that he will never be honoured by the club. Yes, he performed well for them during his stint, but he is the one that ruined it for everybody with his behaviour. However, it will be interesting to see who will be the player that West Ham eventually name the stand after – one thing is for sure though, we definitely will not be seeing Payet’s name on it any time soon.
