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England's premature, but inevitable, exit from the European Championships in France has paved the way for out of touch manager Roy Hodgson's resignation, not before time but sadly not soon enough. Little sympathy, if any at all, will be shown by West Ham United fans irked by the omission of their players who should have been there representing England on pure merit rather than meritocracy, however "these things happen", and Hammers have ended up as beneficiaries in that none of their players will have been tarnished with the same brush as those who underachieved in france.

Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane has re-iterated Hammers mid field maestro, Dimitri Payet, would "Improve any European team", he went on to say "He's always had the talent, but now at 29 years of age he's getting the recognition he deserves," Zidane added, "When he was not in the national team he never gave up and is now showing that he's one of the most important and talented players, not only in France but in Europe. "He's had an incredible season with West Ham and is now at the European Championship.

At 2pm BST the Parc Olympique Lyonnais will be the venue for the France against the Republic of Ireland Euro Championship knock out match, a match which sees West Ham United team mates Dimitri Payet and Darren Randolph line up against each other. Surprisingly, apart from a cameo appearance by Angelo Agbona for Italyand some bench warming by James Collins for Wales, Payet and Randolph are Hammers only representatives at the Euro's, rather strange considering West Ham finished 7th in what is supposed to be the best football league in the world!