West Ham United fans are pushing ahead with their controversial anti-board protest because they fear their club is becoming a ‘victim’ of its own poor decision-making at the top.
Nuno Espírito Santo’s first home game as boss on Monday will be overshadowed by a planned boycott.
Thousands of empty seats is arguably the worst way to welcome a new manager but fans’ group Hammers United are undeterred.
The long-running dispute between supporters and chairman David Sullivan and vice-chair Karren Brady centres around West Ham’s London Stadium.
West Ham Fans Make 'Remarkable' Offer
Angry West Ham fans
Widely derided as the worst in the Premier League because of the distance between the fans and the pitch among other things, supporters have now made a remarkable offer to help pay for improvements just to improve things.
The club have slashed ticket prices for the London derby to as little as £15 in a bid to fill their ground next week.
Andy Payne, spokesman for Hammers United told GiveMeSport: "We're trying to get West Ham fans to think about their physical support in the ground. It’s really important.
"If you withdraw it for one game you show there is a collective here. And on the telly, it ain't going to look great.
"The problem is that London Stadium has a very low rake and the fans are a long way from the pitch. It also doesn’t have any acoustics.
“They just keep kicking the problem down the line hoping it will go away and using the fact the stadium is rented as a way to do nothing. The answer we get every time is that there are no plans to do anything this season.
“We're becoming a victim club of ‘can't do this, can't do that, no one lets us do anything’. We're just becoming victims.
“But you don't make it better with a lick of paint or having a DJ, or giving out scarves. You ask fans, ‘what would you do?’ If you want safe standing, we'll give you safe standing.
“If we can't afford it, we might ask you to contribute. We might ask you to pay for it.
“We'll show the owners what we're made of. If they don't want to pay for something, we'll have to see if we can. Nothing's impossible.
“We don't need anybody's help. And if it is really about money and they don't want to put their hands in their pockets, then maybe the fans might have to go and take action to fund safe standing.
“By any means possible we've either got to get a new ground somewhere else, which is unlikely, or stay in this place for the next 90 years. We'll all be dead so we're doing it for West Ham fans of the future as well as the present.
“We've got to make this place better. Infrastructure costs are outside of PSR spending rules too, so they can’t use that one.”
“They've made Brentford kids for a quid. They made it kids for a quid once the boycott was announced.”
West Ham Pay £4m Rent Annually for London Stadium
General view of West Ham's London Stadium
West Ham pay an annual rent of just over £4million for the 62,500-capacity arena which was originally built to host the 2012 Olympics. It’s an incredible deal for the directors.
Rental means they do not own the complex and face restrictions over what they can do to improve the football fan experience.
The stadium is taxpayer subsidised so must diversify to offset any subsidy from the public purse.
It is complicated to build rail seating into the temporary stands installed behind the goals during the football season.
On the pitch, Nuno has taken one point from two away games so far and has made a point of acknowledging the travelling supporters each time because it does not need 20/20 vision to see that trust between club and fans has broken down.
West Ham have lost all three home games this season, conceding ten goals. Former Nottingham Forest coach Nuno is the third manager this calendar year.
Perhaps what he really needs is for the disgruntled factions within the fanbase to call a ceasefire and present a show of unity and solidarity to a man still settling into his job.
Payne said: “When the boycott was announced, Nuno wasn't even on the scoresheet. The club was 100% doubled down on supporting the brilliant decision to employ Graham Potter.
“When we were announcing boycotts, they were announcing how brilliant he was and what a fantastic guy he was at the training ground. It's funny how things change.
“That didn't last because they clearly had no faith in Potter. They've changed manager, which is a kind of admission of another error in their managerial appointments.
“So, we've continued with the boycott. But we put an open letter out there explaining we're 100% behind the team, 100 % behind Nuno. Our difficulty lies with the decisions that have been made by the football club.
“Our position has always been that the on-field stuff is a symptom of the way the club is run. The women’s team haven't won a game all season. They lost again at the weekend.
“Something's wrong, something’s rotten at that football club.”
West Ham Invest Record Amounts on Players
Jarrod Bowen in action for West Ham United
West Ham have invested record amounts in recent years on players. They have also been astute in the transfer market.
Winger Jarrod Bowen was signed from Hull City by previous boss David Moyes for around £25 million.
He is now the club captain, plays for England and is worth three times what The Hammers paid for him.
There have been dizzying heights in the past two years with victory in the UEFA Conference League - West Ham’s first significant trophy for 43 years. They currently sit second from bottom in the Premier League.
Payne said: "West Ham could solve a lot of their problems by admitting they got some things wrong.
"When the club left Upton Park we were promised a world-class stadium by Brady. They know what they've said in the past.
"They probably should have been more careful about what they did say. But when they were in selling mode, as in trying to sell to the fan base, this is going to be an amazing stadium with just like the most amazing views, sound, atmosphere. What was served up is somewhat different.
“It takes a special person to say we've got this bit wrong.”