Invented Story of the Week

The Sunday Mirror claim that Shaun Newton and Nigel Reo-Coker had to flee the ground during West Ham's game against Sp#rs after being racially abused and physically threatened by a group of West Ham fans.

Reo-Coker's current popularity with the fans means that it is very believable that he would be abused by the home support, but it would be more likely to do with his performances this season and his claims of being too big for West Ham than to do with his race.

Meanwhile the media's open season on West Ham continued in the News of the World who claim that Brown and Aldridge tried to to swindle more than £9m out of the sale of West Ham United. The allegations seem to centre around an e-mail from Brown to Joorabchian suggesting that he increase his original offer by nearly £5m in order to grant Brown a package worth £6m over the course of three years. Aldridge it is claimed would have stood to land more than £3m in the event of a successful takeover by Joorabchian - a £1m lump sum and a £1.1m salary for two years, representing a 400% increase on his salary at the time.