Derby Accuse West Ham of Tapping Up

The Times say that Derby County are considering whether to report West Ham for tapping up Giles Barnes.

They quote Derby chairman Peter Gadsby as saying,

"There is a history of this club being pillaged. With the Barnes situation, we’ve got a particular club that has been very busy – his father’s very influential in his life – but they’d be mistaken if they thought Derby County were a soft touch. Giles Barnes is an important part of the progress of this club and my advice to him would be to keep his head down and progress with it.

“If we have any evidence that things are going on, we’ll look at it. We’re watching the Barnes situation very closely as to how the business is progressing. We have formed an opinion and we’ll wait a little while. We’re waiting for some facts before we decide where to go with this.”

Obviously this quote doesn't mention West Ham and Gadsby goes on to say that Derby have had several enquiries about Barnes but I assume that The Times know it is West Ham or they wouldn't have named the club directly.

Newcastle have openly stated that they were unhappy about how West Ham conducted themselves in trying to sign Kieron Dyer. Up to now I have been sceptical of that claim and have wanted to believe that Newcastle just wanted to screw some extra money out of West Ham. However a little voice at the back of my brain has been nagging about why Newcastle would deliberately scupper a deal for a player they are desperate to lose.

We all know tapping up goes on. Man United didn't just tap up Carlos Tevez but laid down a thirty mile exploratory field with a trans-Siberean pipeline attached and Liverpool have hardly been discreet in their tapping-up of Heinze. The big difference is that West Ham are in the dog-house and need to work on restoring their reputation.

I am not saying that West Ham are guilty of this charge but it is apparent that we are about the easiest target for the media at the moment and we need to make sure that all our dealings are as spotless as Eggy's noggin.

(There are 2000 bonus points available to the first person who makes the connection between the picture and the last word in this post)