The fans were right to protest

Wonderful footballer or not, I think West Ham’s decision to sign Lee Bowyer was a bad one.

There’s a big Asian population living around Upton Park, who are going to feel very let down that the club has brought in somebody with his reputation. I’m not normally in favour of supporters giving players stick, but in this case I think Bowyer deserved it.

Realistically, his past sins are likely to be forgiven by supporters once he starts banging in goals, but for the time being he ought to be reminded that certain types of behaviour are unacceptable. The demonstration outside Upton Park before the Newcastle game would have underlined that.

Privately, I’m sure there’ll be a few lads in the West Ham squad who won’t be happy about having him as a teammate, but on the pitch they’ll treat him like they do everybody else. The number one priority as far as they’re concerned is avoiding relegation, and Lee Bowyer is talented enough to help them do that. There are a lot of teams in Division One who, in theory, were “too good to go down” from the Premiership, but with him, Joe Cole, David James, Jermaine Defoe, Michael Carrick, Gary Breen, Nigel Winterburn and Trevor Sinclair in the side, you’d expect West Ham to sort themselves out and beat the drop.

That said, given the terrible start they’ve had, I’m quite surprised that Glenn Roeder hasn’t been sacked – especially when you’ve got experienced managers like Mick McCarthy, David O’Leary and George Graham all looking for work. But since no one’s going to be keen on taking the job once the transfer window’s closed, it looks like Glenn and a few others are safe for the time being.

Going back to the demonstration outside Upton Park, I’m glad that fans are standing up for themselves, and letting clubs know that they’re not prepared to be dumped on from a height. It’s cruel on the players, who are doing their best, I know – but it’s good to see supporters boycotting Wimbledon games. It’s not just the home fans either – opposition ones are staying away from Selhurst Park as well in solidarity.

Now that the F.A. have agreed to Wimbledon going to Milton Keynes, what’s to stop Crewe Alexandra becoming Newcastle Alexandra? Or Middlesbrough deciding to move to London because it’d make it easier to attract foreign players? Where a team is based and draws its main support from is where it should stay. Otherwise we’re going to end up with the sort of franchise system they have in America.

There was an excellent piece in The Observer last weekend about lower division players who’ve been forced out of the game because clubs are strapped for cash. A year ago Richard Edgehill was helping Manchester City win promotion, now he’s a part-timer in the Conference. As tragic as it is for him on a personal level, players have to accept some of the responsibility for the state the game’s in at the moment.

Nationwide clubs simply can’t afford the wages they’re paying out. I’m amazed that it’s not written into contracts that players take an automatic pay-cut if they’re relegated – 25% would seem a reasonable figure. Derby County are a prime example of a club who’ve almost gone bankrupt as a result of paying Premiership wages out of a First Division budget.

Getting back to the glamour boys, Ruud van Nistelrooy may have been a little premature in saying that Roy Keane should be the next Manchester United manager but, I tell you what, there are people on the board who wouldn’t be adverse to it happening in the future. They know the respect he commands in the dressing room and have made it clear that there’s a role for him at the club when he stops playing.

Knowing Roy as I do, I think he’d make an excellent coach, assistant manager or manager. A lot will depend on who’s in charge when he decides to hang his boots up, but don’t expect him to settle for a quiet retirement!

I know that Stuart Clark’s claiming that they were all offside, but I thought Robbie Keane’s hat-trick for Spurs against Everton was absolutely superb – and the perfect riposte to those who say he doesn’t score enough goals. His cartwheels look a bit tame compared to the gymnastics of some of the African lads, but his finishing was spot on. Mick McCarthy’s successor – whoever he is! – will also have been delighted by Stephen Carr’s performance. It’ll be an enormous boost to Ireland having him back in a green shirt.

On the race for Mick McCarthy’s old job – while the contents of the list he’s given them is still secret, I believe it was an inspired decision on the FAI’s part to entrust the managerial screening process to Bryan Hamilton. Bryan’s a great guy and a very highly thought of in footballing circles.

Two names that I’m almost sure will be on that piece of paper are Frank Stapelton and John Aldridge. I don’t see any point in going for a foreign coach when those two have made it known they want the job.

What I would say to the FAI is, “Make your decision soon.” The quicker the new manager’s in place, the better prepared he, and the team, will be for those crucial European qualifiers that are coming up.