Rebel Ravel

After the Millwall game passed off without anyone stabbing anyone else, I expressed my hope that we could now concentrate on matters on the pitch. Sadly, the pitch in question was frozen solid and as a result 5,000 West Ham fans woke on Saturday morning to the news that they would have to entertain themselves this weekend.

Having arrived in Peterborough the night before and experienced first hand the tortuous -10 temperatures, I cannot help but feel that London Road’s lack of undersoil heating was a blessing in disguise.

Postponement or not, my hope that West Ham’s football could do the talking between now and the end of the season was dashed almost as soon as it had been stated, due to a man who lets his Twitter account do the talking: @RavelMorrison49.

The FA have asked Morrison to explain himself after he posted the following charming message to an idiot who successfully tempted him in to taking the bait: "Go suck out u little faggot your a guy that talks if u see me you try slap me I'm in manchester every week".

At the risk of belittling the issue of homophobia – faggot is a vile word and I cringe every time I read Morrison’s tweet – my immediate concern was the reputation of my football club.

For various reasons – the Tevez saga, the financial mismanagement of the Icelandic owners, the disastrous rein of Avram Grant – West Ham has been talked about over the last five years for all the wrong reasons.

Since Sam Allardyce took over as manager, the focus has been solely on returning to the Premier League. As we approach the final furlong of the season, needless distractions are unwelcome. There is a very simple way to nip this particular issue in the bud. Ban Morrison from using Twitter.

In a recent interview, Joey Barton argued that controlling what footballers can and cannot tweet infringes their "freedom of speech". Apply this concern to Syrian dissidents, and the argument holds. Apply it to millionaire footballers with nothing better to tweet about than Take Me Out or The Only Way Is Essex, and it seems ever so slightly laughable.

And there’s the rub. Based on the contents of Morrison’s Twitter timeline, this is a man of limited intelligence with nothing noteworthy to say. Even after faggotgate blew up, his tweets still include pictures of people (friends, hopefully), with captions such as: "Loook like a pedo on this hahahaha."

Is the more private medium of Facebook not a better platform for what Morrison and his mates would presumably describe as “banter”? The club would not allow Morrison to display his immaturity like this in a television interview or in a national newspaper, so why let him do it in front of 67,000 followers and millions more onlookers?

Football clubs seem to have failed to grasp that Twitter is not a niche fad, but another mass medium, one that has a far greater reach than any newspaper or television channel.

Sam Allardyce’s response was worryingly complacent.

"We've had an eye on Twitter this season but mostly the concern is divulging anything about the football club ... all [Ravel] needs to do is learn his lessons."

Judging by Morrison’s retweeting of a supporter bemoaning the FA’s interference on this matter, it seems fair to say that no lessons have been learned by an angry young man who thinks the world is against him.

Doubtless, Allardyce would respond by saying he has enough on his plate without having to worry about Twitter. Which is exactly why the club should shut down Morrison’s account.

West Ham’s Care in the Community programme should not be extended to its own players. If Morrison needs someone to explain to him why he shouldn’t call someone on Twitter a faggot, then he should be prevented from repeating the mistake. For it is inevitable that he will.

Morrison would do well to revisit a tweet he wrote when he first joined the club: "Appreciate the people who have wished me luck with the move to west ham just need to get my head down and play now and show everyone." Quite.

In April 2012, the writer of this blog will be running the London Marathon with the aim of raising £2,500 for the Anthony Nolan charity. To donate, please click here.