Sling them out, says Hurst

  • by Staff Writer
  • Thursday, 23rd February 2017

West Ham legend Sir Geoff Hurst believes West Ham are a better team since Dimitri Payet left the club.

The former World Cup-winner, now 75, told Standard Sport that he believes West Ham have improved considerably since parting company with the wantaway French international last month.

"When the player says he's not playing it's going to generate an awful lot of unease and hostility in the dressing room," said Hurst. "Hence some of the results were reflective of that.

"Subsequently, since he's gone, results have improved. In football or life, the team is always better than one individual now matter how good they are - and this is a classic example of that story."




Hurst, who 50 years on remains the only player to score a hat-trick in a World Cup Final admiited that he understood why Payet felt he had to leave - but disagreed with the manner in which he forced through a return to Marseille.

"You can’t defend Payet’s actions, but you could at least say his family seemed to want to go back to Marseille," added Hurst. That was going to be difficult to overcome.

"But if you've got a player in the club not talking to anybody - no matter who they are - that needs to be sorted. If you've got somebody within the group who doesn't want to be part of it, get them out."


* Something to say about this story? Please visit the KUMB Forum to leave a comment.



More News