In August last year, freebie newspaper Metro ran a story about the Learning Disabilities World Cup - a football tournament for players below a certain IQ level. Among England's stars were a number of non-league footballers whose careers had begun promisingly at top flight clubs, but who were farmed out because the clubs were unable to cope with the 'stigma' of their emotional difficulties. One of these was former West Ham youngster Bertie Brayley, who played a key role alongside Joe Cole, Michael Carrick and other current England stars in the Hammers' FA Youth Cup success. The current predicament at Upton Park, with a squad of prima donnas who care only about their stupendous salaries, flash cars and nightclub exploits, is a perfect demonstration of what happens when clubs recruit first-team players on *je-ne-sais-qois* rather than talent; the likes of Brayley possess the latter in abundance, and would clearly play with all the passion in the world while staying out of the media spotlight (are you going to tell me Anton Ferdinand *doesn't* have severe behavioural difficulties?!) West Ham's inevitable relegation will therefore be a fitting punishment for out-dated, discriminatory HR practices.
