Darren Gough took a dig at West Ham after Danny Kelly claimed the current top-ten teams in the Premier League would improve the standard of the Champions League.
The talkSPORT host said that the likes of Everton, Wolves and Leicester City were all better than some teams from other countries in Europe that were competing in the Champions League.
“I believe you could put through the top ten teams in the Premier League to the Champions League and it would actually improve the standard, just talking about the quality of the teams,” said Kelly on talkSPORT (Tuesday, April 23rd 16:09).
“I’m sorry but Wolves, Leicester, Everton are better teams than some of other teams from Europe playing in the Champions League.”
This claim about the Premier League’s top-ten then prompted Gough to take a cheap shot at Manuel Pellegrini’s side.
“And West Ham would still miss out on the Champions League,” said the retired cricketer.
OPINION
Gough had no right to take a dig at West Ham, as they weren’t even one of the teams Kelly referenced. It’s unclear why the cricketer felt the need to make a negative remark about the Hammers and it surely won’t be appreciated by their fanbase. Whether Gough believes that West Ham fans have dreams of their side being in the Champions League, which they likely do, and was trying to get a rise out of them so they called into his show is debatable. However it was such a throw-away remark, you feel some Hammers fans if they were listening likely missed it. As for Kelly’s claim about the Champions League, he may have a point even though his remarks will raise some eyebrows. Given the money circulating in the Premier League, clubs like Everton and Wolves clearly have squads capable of competing in the prestigious competition. Yet with the way qualification works right now, the Toffees and Wolves’ chances of being in the Champions League are very slim.