Hammertime: Freeze Payet Out

West Ham should freeze Dimitri Payet out.

The ice cold, frozen tundra, leave him to the polar bears type of freeze. This is a grand opportunity for the club. In recent weeks Dimitri Payet has displayed a worrying lack of respect, perspective and maturity and only made life harder for his team and the larger club. Today, Dimitri Payet decided to go on strike despite signing his 125k a week five-year contract with West Ham only last February.

West Ham cannot allow themselves to be treated this way. I have been going on about this in recent week when it comes to transfers but it also related to how a club manages its own players. West Ham quite frankly need to act like the big club they are. This kind of behavior cannot be tolerated. Would Real Madrid tolerate this sort of behavior? Absolutely not.

It is astounding to me, truly unbelievable even, that a player earning 3.5 times the average yearly salary of a typical East London West Ham supporter per week could behave this way. It is another example of the rather alarming disconnect between players and the supporters who make them into the idols they are.

Modern Football?

In most football players’ contracts there are minimum participation clause or stipulations in regard to behavior. By going on strike Dimitri Payet is walking all over the agreement that he made less than a year ago. West Ham should fine Payet an equal portion of his salary for every single day that he decides to carry on with this childish nonsense. If he doesn’t come to his senses and issue a public apology to his teammates, the supporters and the club then the club will have to bite the bullet and suspend him indefinitely without pay.

West Ham cannot cave to these sort of demands. In life opportunities will always arise in which you will be tested. There is a right and there is a wrong. Sometimes you need to stand up for your principals regardless of the clamor in the outside world or the noise people want you to hear. West Ham cannot sell Payet. If he does not return to training immediately with the above-mentioned apologies made then he can spend the rest of his contract rotting at home and accruing fines. Eventually if necessary West Ham should sue him for not fulfilling his contractual agreements the same way Chelsea did Mutu (though the reasons are obviously different).

Where next?

There is only a hard line to take here on this issue and simply no room to negotiate. Had Payet behaved like a gentleman with even a semblance of maturity things wouldn’t have to be this way. He has now made the choice to throw his toys out of the designer pram essentially. The sad thing is that he probably isn’t even embarrassed. He’s holed up at home with his agent whispering in his ear. Probably thinking this is the right thing to do even though it is so, so wrong.

It may be expensive but now West Ham cannot accept any offers for Payet no matter how large. Until Dimitri Payet decides to act like a big boy Bilic has no choice but to cut him out. It’s unfortunate because he is a great talent but this kind of behavior cannot be tolerated. Hopefully it doesn’t come to this but West Ham would be better served for the next fifty years as a club by just waiting out every single year of Payet’s contract than selling him.

Next: Board Continues To Alienate Fans

When the contract is over he’ll be 34, then he can go sign for Marseille if he wants. People need to see that the club will not be taken lightly and they will not be walked over. Anything less than the hard line and West Ham will see repercussions in everything from transfer negotiations to player discipline for a long time and it is the name on the front of the shirt that must always come before the one on the back.

West Ham should freeze Dimitri Payet out.

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Modern Football?

Where next?