31 March 2024 , 06:22
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Kalvin Phillips stuck his middle finger up at angry West Ham fans who were berating his "useless" display in Saturday's gut-wrenching 4-3 defeat to Newcastle.
Having come on as a second-half substitute, Phillips gave away a penalty by accidentally tripping Newcastle forward Anthony Gordon while West Ham were 3-1 up with just 13 minutes of normal time remaining. After Alexander Isak converted, David Moyes ' side conceded two more goals in the closing stages at St James' Park and suffered their first Premier League defeat in five games.
As Phillips, 28, and his deflated team-mates made their way back onto the bus after the loss, supporters were heard slating their performances, particularly that of the Manchester City loanee. In response to a shout of "useless" from someone off camera, footage showed Phillips blankly looking at the fans from inside the coach and then sticking his middle finger up at them.
The same supporters subsequently told the former Leeds star - who's now lost his place in the England squad off the back of multiple poor displays since joining the Irons in January - to "get out," but he continued to walk down the bus. West Ham fans fumed at Phillips' reaction on social media, with one saying: "Yep, Kalvin Phillips can f*** off back to Man City."
Another claimed: "That's it. He surely can't play for West Ham ever again after this."
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There were, however, some defending Phillips, as one supporter posted: "He's well within his rights to react like that when abuse is shouted at him. Yeah it's not smart but at the same time he's only standing up for himself." A second said: "Good on him, staying behind just to shout at him for something that wasn't his fault."
Moyes admitted post-match that his decision to take striker and goalscorer Michail Antonio off in place of the struggling Phillips "didn't work." "I actually thought at that time when we went 3-1 up, Newcastle were there better team and still were," the West Ham boss explained.
"I thought an extra midfield player would give us more control in the middle of the pitch. Obviously, it didn't work. We needed a defensive structure that could be steady and see themselves through. We tried to find it by the change.
Your turn! Was Kalvin Phillips right to stick his middle finger up? Give us your stance in the comments section.
Kalvin Phillips gave away a controversial penalty to hand Newcastle a route back into the game (Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)"We tried to find something that would give us more structure and a bit more organisation. But I have to say, before the penalty kick, Newcastle missed two big chances in the middle of the goal, so that was the reason we made the change, not because we were thinking we were winning 3-1.
"They had missed big chances and I was trying to make sure we weren't going to lose and make the change in a positive fashion. We tried to make it at that time, and obviously it didn’t work out. But I'm not going to say anything about any player. I wouldn't do that, it would be wrong."