Gloom deepens at West Ham as loss to Crystal Palace follows protests
LONDON: West Ham United fans staged demonstrations against the club’s owners before their home Premier League derby against Crystal Palace on Saturday and a 2-1 defeat at the London Stadium only added to the early-season gloom at the club. West Ham’s fourth defeat in five games left them third from bottom and with manager Graham Potter under increasing pressure. Since being appointed as Julen Lopetegui’s successor in January, Potter has overseen only six league wins from 25 games. By the final whistle there were swathes of empty seats and the cheers of the Palace fans was in marked contrast to the dejection of the home fans who had stayed to the end. Thousands of them had gathered two hours before kickoff for two separate protests against the running of the club by chairman David Sullivan and vice-chair Karren Brady. Many carried banners calling for change at the club which has been under the control of Sullivan and Brady since 2010.