Departing fans earn Grant praise

Avram Grant praised the West Ham fans despite seeing hundreds of them leave during their 3-0 capitulation to Liverpool on Saturday.

Glen Johnson, Dirk Kuyt and Maxi Rodriguez scored in the first 40 minutes as Liverpool cruised to victory against a poor Hammers side.

Sections of the away support turned their backs on Grant’s men at half-time and left Anfield but the West Ham manager was pleased with their support overall.

“The fans were great and they supported the team,” he said.

“It was not easy for them. I don’t know why we played so badly in the first, we wanted to succeed. We conceded a goal from a corner and it hurt our confidence.”

“We conceded goals from nothing and it affected us. We haven’t played well in the past few weeks.”

“We didn’t turn up but in the second half we played better and we will take heart from that.”