Saturday 24th September 2016.

Rather than waiting until December as expected before they host the first London derby at their new home ground it turns out West Ham have just a month to get things right before arch rivals Chelsea visit in a potentially explosive EFL Cup 4th round tie.

Recent skirmishes with visiting fans and in-fighting amongst the Hammers faithful over standing up in the London Stadium while the game is in progress have led to some die-hard supporters vowing to give the more ‘juicy’ matches a miss.

This is all down to a virtual absence of police presence both in the ground itself and perhaps more worryingly en-route from the station. Fans report the walk is extended considerably owing to the denial of access to fans through the Westfield Shopping Centre that lies between the station and the ground.

To be fair to the club, it appears they are somewhat compromised in their attempts to manage ground safety by the terms of their lease which places stewarding of events in the hands of the landlords and the apparent inability of the police to communicate with each other because of technical problems with their walkie-talkies at the new venue.

Whatever the case, action needs to be taken swiftly as the rather unwelcome draw of Chelsea in the next round extends beyond the currently beleaguered Bilic and his players to the boardroom. More here.