WHZ View: West Ham were wrong to sell James Tomkins
In hindsight, moving from Upton Park to the London Stadium in 2016 was one of the toughest times in the history of West Ham.
That last season at the Boleyn was something special. Super Slav, Dimitri Payet, the race for Europe. How it went so wrong in the years following. Relegation scrap after relegation scrap, fan protests and big money signings that flopped.
At the time, what the club truly needed were a group of players who understood what it meant to play for the club. Mark Noble aside, none knew better than the Basildon-born centre-back James Tomkins.
Mistreated
In his eight professional seasons with the club, Tomkins played 126 times in the Premier League for West Ham. He came through the academy ranks as a Hammers fan, and always wore the claret and blue shirt with pride.
Tomkins’ loyalty to the club is best demonstrated in the 2011/12 Championship season. With West Ham in the second tier, the ex-number five had one of the best seasons of his career.
He played 44 times in the Championship, scoring four goals as we came third in the league and went up via the play-offs. Tomkins performed so well that he was voted into the PFA Championship Team of the Season, and was runner up to Noble for Hammer of the Year.
Most telling of all was a decision he made in January of that year. QPR, at the time, were back in the Premier League and spending like never before. Tomkins rejected a £4million move, signed a new four-year deal and got us back in the top-flight.
Tomkins, like all West Ham fans, simply loved the club. How we could have done with this sort of devotion and grit in our first couple of calamitous seasons at the London Stadium.
Much like Noble told the Evening Standard in 2019, there is definite regret on some level at the club that we were able to let him go. Especially to Crystal Palace, who until this season, have been a rival of ours in years prior.
It was one of Slav’s most costly mistakes, letting Tomkins go. By the time he eventually left the club himself, it appeared some of the players had stopped trying for him. He’d brought in individuals with the wrong attitude, which is why we were in the trouble that we were in.
Tomkins still very much splits the opinion of the fanbase. You only have to check the comments from the club’s ‘happy birthday’ tweet to see this. In all honesty, we struggle to see why?
He was a fantastic servant to the club who proved in 2012 he didn’t want to leave. As defensive cover, we’d have him back in a heartbeat.
In other West Ham news, this young Championship star could be a Hammers star of the future should we sign him.