Fan power rules supreme as Hammers rule out Mboyo move
West Ham are believed to have decided against a move for Gent forward Ilombe Mboyo after stern criticism from fans on Twitter.
Belgium international Mboyo was jailed in 2004 for his involvement in the gang rape of a 14 year old girl in his home country while a member of a notorious Brussels street gang, before resurrecting his career and turning professional with Belgian outfit Charleroi.
Irons boss Sam Allardyce is in the market for a right sided forward and was said to be considering Mboyo, who scored 20 goals in Belgium last season, as a potential signing. However, the backlash from supporters on Twitter is thought to have put the manager off targeting the powerful forward.
One angry fan tweeted this morning: 'If West Ham sign #Mboyo then I will be chucking my season ticket in the bin! #boycott A convicted rapist I don't think so! #WHUFC'.
Another supporter tweeted: 'I've never been one of those fans who claim they'll stop going west ham (sic) if so and so signs, etc, but signing Mboyo would really test that.'
West Ham co-chairman David Sullivan's son Jack appeared to side with the dissenting fans, tweeting '99% of you have said no to MBOYO. I'll pass it onto my Dad. I'm sure we won't sign him. We respect your views.'
Sullivan's co-chairman David Gold had previously ruled out a move for QPR striker Loic Remy, on the grounds of the rape charge hanging over the France forward.
This is not the first time that fan power has scuppered a potential signing under Allardyce's management of the club- in March 2012, former Bolton winger El Hadji Diouf revealed that he had been set to become a West Ham player the previous October after a successful trial period at the Boleyn Ground but was told by the club that he 'had a problem with the fans,' after allegedly spitting at Hammers fans while a Liverpool player in 2002.
The club were unavailable for comment this morning, but this afternoon a club spokesman said that the club were not going to comment on speculation.
By Alex Shilling, News Editor
@alexshilling on Twitter
