The nature of Antonio\u2019s eventual departure from West Ham United<\/a> has left a sour taste in the mouths of many supporters. <\/p>\n Particularly with another 30-something centre-forward arriving to replace him; Former Newcastle striker Callum Wilson joined<\/a> on a free-transfer over the weekend. <\/p>\n Potter shut the door on Antonio\u2019s potential return<\/a> to the London Stadium just 24 hours later. \u2018No\u2019, was his straightforward response when asked if the club\u2019s all-time Premier League goalscorer could yet don the claret and blue again.<\/p>\n And the aforementioned Alan Pardew knows how it feels for a manager to find himself in such a tricky situation. Potter is not the first Hammers boss, after all, to make an unpopular decision with a fan favourite footballer.<\/p>\n Pardew took over at Upton Park all the way back in 2003.<\/p>\n Steve Lomas was captain of West Ham at the time. But with Pardew unconvinced about the fitness and longevity of a 33-year-old midfielder who had suffered his fair share of injuries \u2013 including a nine-month absence with a serious knee issue \u2013 he made the difficult decision to push the long-serving Lomas to the periphery.<\/p>\n The 1999 UEFA Intertoto Cup-winning skipper would later join Queens Park Rangers on a free transfer, much to his disappointment.<\/p>\n \u201cI wouldn\u2019t call them legends but [men like Michail Antonio and Steve Lomas] are players who have been at a football club for a long time,\u201d Pardew tells talkSPORT<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cAnd you are inheriting them [as a new manager], kind of saying their time is up at the football club.<\/p>\n \u201cI can tell you one story about Steve Lomas, when I went to West Ham. An experienced player, he was very angry with the way he got treated by me. <\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t think where he was physically was how I wanted to play the game. I left him out of the team and he was really angry about it, and angry about the way he had been moved on. And he made that very clear to me.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have since met and put that behind us. We shake hands and look each other in the eye, no problem. But it was a very, very difficult time. And when you have a senior player who has been a big player at a football club causing you problems on the training ground, it is very, very difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n Lomas, who also represented Manchester City and the Northern Ireland national team, returned for a brief spell as a reserve-team coach at West Ham in 2011.<\/p>\n Now 51, the former Millwall and St Johnstone manager has not worked in coaching for over a decade. Speaking to the official West Ham website<\/a> back in 2023, however, Lomas admitted that he was enjoying life as a pundit and a matchday ambassador at his old stomping ground.<\/p>\n As for Michail Antonio, Callum Wilson spoke to the West Ham favourite<\/a>, and close friend, before putting pen to paper on a one-year deal on Saturday.<\/p>\n![\"Alan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-1205705143-1024x683.jpg\")
Photo by Laurens Lindhout\/Soccrates\/Getty ImagesAlan Pardew says West Ham United exit left Steve Lomas \u2018very angry\u2019<\/p>\n![\"Frederic](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-1864951-1024x762.jpg\")
Photo by Phil Cole\/Getty ImagesMichail Antonio helped Callum Wilson decide on West Ham transfer<\/p>\n