West Ham fans have a right to protest against club, insists ex-Hammer Julian Dicks
Hammers’ former left-back understands anger that led to ugly scenes during their 3-0 defeat to Burnley on March 10
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JULIAN DICKS felt deja vu when a West Ham fan put a corner flag on the centre spot during trouble at the London Stadium.
The Hammers’ then left-back was confronted by a similar scene in 1992 when a supporter staged a one-man protest at the club’s Bond Scheme.
Frustration at the West Ham board, the stadium and the plight of the team led to ugly scenes during their 3-0 defeat to Burnley on March 10.
And Irons legend Dicks said: “I don’t agree with the fighting, the coin throwing and the violence — but fans must be heard.
“They are deeply frustrated with the way things are going and want to get their point across.
“The Burnley incidents have been dismissed as mindless hooliganism.
“Yes, some of it overstepped the mark but some of it was more out of frustration than anything else.
“The guy who ran on the pitch with the corner flag was no yob.
“I remember the same thing happening when I was playing for the club.
“We were at home to Everton and fans were up in arms about plans to charge them just for the right to buy a season ticket.
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“A guy came on with the corner flag and sat in the centre-circle. He wasn’t aggressive, just determined.
“I tried to reason with him and took the flag off him. I left Martin Allen talking to him but he didn’t want to budge.
“It was done out of frustration because West Ham clearly meant a lot to that bloke. It’s their lives. He wasn’t a thug.
“At the moment, West Ham fans don’t like what is happening to their club and feel nobody cares what they think. They are making a point.”
Dicks, 54, was sidekick to boss Slaven Bilic until both were sacked in November.
He is now out of work but looking for a fresh start, at any level of the game.
West Ham hover two points above the relegation zone ahead of their six-pointer at home to Southampton on Saturday.
With eight games left, it is set to be an anxious climax to the season.
Dicks added: “I take my share of the responsibility for the situation the team is in.
“But I didn’t want to move to the London Stadium all along. Even two years before the move I was having reservations about it.
“Upton Park was a horrible place to go as a visiting player and that gave West Ham an edge at times.
“It wasn’t a fortress by any means but at times it helped us with the intimidating atmosphere.
“I used to look at Slaven when he was manager, standing 25 yards out from the dugout, exposed.
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“At the London Stadium you’re alone out there.
“The board has to back managers in the transfer market. That was the whole point of the move.
“It was said it would lead to the signings to challenge for the top six and European football. But talk is cheap.”