The idea of changing the carpet surrounding the pitch to claret was rather lost amid all the reaction to the terrible home defeat against Brighton. Slaven Bilic wrote about it in his Standard column and said the club had offered to pay the £200,000 cost of conversion, but so far the landlords at the London Legacy Development Corporation have refused. Slaven pointed out that it works for Paris St Germain at the Parc des Princes where there is a blue surround.
It's a good plan and would offer a clear contrast between the pitch and surround and make it easier for players to judge how close they are to the touchline. The green carpet doesn't work — a claret surround would make it feel more like home and it could, in any case, be moved for athletics events. Whoever the manager is, it could make a psychological difference.
If we can't get claret though, there is an alternative suggested in my book Goodbye to Berlin — we could change the surround to leopardskin or perhaps zebra stripes to make it a bit more Essex. Or failing that some deep shagpile.
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