TONY GALE played 368 games for West Ham, spanning two decades at the heart of the team in defence.
He played during the Bond Scheme crisis of the 1990s when fans protested against the board.
Here, he gives a unique insight into what today’s players will experience when they run out to play against Southampton with the team in grave danger of relegation and in the middle of a full-blown civil war.
WEST HAM’S players simply cannot afford to be frightened at any point during today’s match.
This doesn’t mean frightened that a supporter is going to run on the pitch and give them a right hander because fans don’t hurt their own.
It is more about the tension in the atmosphere making them scared to play their game and express themselves.
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There is more than enough individual talent in the squad to keep them up, but there will be extreme pressure on them.
If they get sucked into the wider issues in the stands and at the club as whole, it might make them think twice before making a split-second decision.
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And if they do that, it might lead to drastic consequences in terms of the result.
They have to hit the ground running.
Nothing less than 100 per cent right from the start but with energy channelled in the right direction.
I experienced this kind of thing back at Upton Park in 1992 with the hated Bond Scheme.
The players have to be men about it and play with their heads and not their hearts.
Mark Noble, the captain, knows this.
He is the one who has been fronting up after games recently and he feels the situation more than any other player there.
Sometimes it can go over the foreign players’ heads for understandable reasons.
Mark is a West Ham fan born and bred in East London and was spot on when he said the fans MUST get behind the team, that it is vital.
He is the leader and passionate.
We saw that with the way he wrestled with a pitch invader at the last game.
He might not choose the same course of action if he had the time again but he really cares.
West Ham have had three weeks to prepare for this game tactically, so what they need is a cool team-talk from the manager before kick-off and Noble to lead them in the same manner during the game.
The fans will surprise everyone and get right behind the team, turning a poisonous atmosphere to their own advantage and using it against Southampton, who will turn up hoping to exploit the divides.