West Ham on alert after Leeds defender's strike
Published 22:26 20/11/11 By Jeremy Butler
West Ham are on alert after Leeds defender Andy O’Brien went on strike.
The defender refused to play in his side’s 2-1 win at Burnley on Saturday and told boss Simon Grayson he wants to quit Elland Road.
That news will bring further interest from Hammers chief Sam Allardyce, who recently had a loan bid knocked back for the 32-year-old former Republic of Ireland ace.
O’Brien (above) can expect a financial penalty after Leeds hold an investigation into the matter this week.
And boss Grayson insists O’Brien has played his last game for the club. He fumed: “Andy O’Brien came to me on Friday and said he didn’t want to play for the football team again.
“It was a massive shock to the system because over the last few weeks I’ve privately and publicly backed him.
“I’ve said over the last four or five weeks that Andy O’Brien has trained really well but my bottom line is that he will never play for me again at this football club.
“He will face the consequences of his decision not to play as he would have probably played – but I won’t be trying to talk him round.”
