Despite the public backlash over his cat kicking, West Ham defender Kurt Zouma was picked to play against Watford less than 24 hours after footage of the widely-condemned incident emerged.
The France international was named in the starting line-up despite a police enquiry into a video showing him dropping, kicking and slapping his pet cat, and despite the club insisting that it “unreservedly condemns the actions of our player”.
He was booed by both sets of fans during the warm-up at London Stadium, and relentlessly targetted by the Watford supporters throughout the game. The away fans chanted, among other things, “RSPCA, RSPCA”, and when the defender hit the deck after a challenge with Joshua King, they sang “that’s how your cat felt”.
Former West Ham players Joe Cole and James Collins, at the match working as pundits, felt the club had made a mistake in refusing to drop the 27-year-old.
Cole told BT Sport “I think it’s a miscalculation by the club. He could have sat this one out,” while Collins said on BBC Radio 5 Live: “I think there is a lot of anger and rightly so. I personally don’t think it is the right call.”
But he was defended by manager David Moyes – who described himself as “a big animal lover”.
He said: “I’m really disappointed, and the club have taken all the action they can do at the moment behind the scenes. My job is to pick the best team and Kurt was part of that.
“I’m a big animal lover and it’s something that will have affected a lot of people.
“I was completely disappointed with what I saw and what I was told, but my job was to try and find a way to get a win for West Ham. Some people will be disappointed and I understand that.
“I’m someone who cares a lot about my dogs and my horses. The club are dealing with it as you well know.
“I’ve already spoken to him and we’ll move on as much as we can. We understand it’s not something everybody is pleased about. It’s a really poor situation.”
West Ham won 1-0.