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14th Jan 2017

West Ham so worried of fan trouble they have security guarding a picture of Dimitri Payet

Are things really that bad at West Ham?

Nooruddean Choudry

Dimitri Payet has gone from hero to zero at the London Stadium.

The mercurial Frenchman, who has been hailed as better than Zinedine Zidane by Hammers fans since joining the club in 2015, is now being condemned as a disloyal mercenary for demanding a transfer away from the capital club.

An ashen faced Slaven Bilic admitted to the media this week that Payet no longer wants to play for West Ham, with his head well and truly turned by former club Marseille’s interest. Thus far the French side have offered a paltry £19m for the playmaker.

But so concerned are the club that their supporters will express their anger at the 29-year-old with matchday trouble ahead of their home game versus Crystal Palace, that they’ve given one security guard a very important job – guarding a picture of the player.

That’s right – a dedicated steward is on red alert as he guards a larger than life image of Payet on a stadium billboard. As you would expect, this has tickled fans of other clubs at the sheer hilarity of goings on at the state-subsidised Hammers home…