Former West Ham manager Sam Allardyce has admitted that protests from fans prevented him signing former Liverpool striker El Hadji Diouf, mirroring the recent situation with West Ham and Joey Barton.
Diouf went on trial with West Ham in 2011 hoping to link up with Allardyce for the 3rd time in his career after being released from Blackburn, where he was signed by Allardyce. However after it was announced that he was on trial, Allardyce suffered massive backlash from fans who condemned the then 30-year-old Senegalese striker’s past behaviour.
“The fan power is big. It is their money and they have a right to their opinion. You have to take some notice of that.” Allardyce told Sky Sports whilst promoting his new book.
“I had a problem myself, I was trying to sign one of my old players El Hadji Diouf as we were short of goals in the Championship. But for some reason at some occasion, Diouf had done something at Upton Park and the fans made themselves heard. I thought it was probably better not to sign him then.”
Diouf’s career in England has been blighted by controversy. The incident Allardyce was referring to was his alleged spitting at West Ham fans whilst he was warming up in 2002. He has also been caught spitting at Celtic fans, an 11 year old Middlesbrough fan and Arjan De Zeeuw, then of Portsmouth. He has also been charged with racially abusing a ballboy, brawling in nightclubs and fighting with opposition managers.
This is not the only time in Allardyce’s reign that a deal had fallen through because of fan protests. In 2013 West Ham pulled the plug on the deal for Ilombe Mboyo due to his previous conviction for gang rape. Recently, a deal for Joey Barton was cancelled after opposition from fans.
