Opinion: More should have been done for James Collins earlier

West Ham have offered James Collins a role as a club ambassador, according to Football Insider.

The Welshman represented the Hammers as a player for an accumulated 10 years, playing 214 games for the club, as per Transfermarkt.

He recently spoke on BBC about his disappointment at the way things ended with the club, as he was not given the chance to say goodbye properly.

Considering his service to West Ham over the years, that is the very least that he deserved.

The move to give Collins an ambassador role and let him go on the pitch to say goodbye is designed to smooth relations with him, according to the report.

While it is good that they are doing this, it has taken far too long, while a prompt such as Collins’ words on air should not have been required to push this through.

The Welshman, who is now 36-years-old, has not made his decision on whether to accept the offer, which is completely understandable – after all, he may be without a club, but he hasn’t officially retired as a professional footballer.

They could have waited until his playing career had completely come to an end to make his decision easier, as it now feels like this could merely be a move to save grace following the Welshman’s comments – this could, and should, have been handled better from the very start.

It is a real shame that this has happened, as Collins is a player who will be fondly remembered by many West Ham fans for the continued dedication he showed the club – he deserved a bit more effort in return.