David Moyes has been criticised far and wide for his decision to include Kurt Zouma in West Ham's 1-0 win over Watford on Tuesday night.
Zouma was not expected to be named in the team after a video was published of him kicking and slapping his pet cat, yet when the team news broke at 6:45pm he was at the heart of West Ham's defence.
Reaction to Zouma's inclusion was of surprise from supporters, former players and sponsors alike with many criticising Moyes for the decision.
Prior to kick-off, Moyes defended his decision when asked if the video had impacted his team selection: "No, because he is one of our better players. But it is certainly ongoing and the club are dealing with it, so that is a separate matter," he told BT Sport.
The manager doubled down on the defence of his selection post-match: "I am really disappointed, the club have taken all the actions they can do at the moment and are working on that behind the scenes," said Moyes.
"My job is to pick a team and pick the best team to give me the best chance at West Ham and Kurt is part of that team. Of course there will be people who are disappointed with that and I understand that totally.
"For me yes [there is a moral side to it], because I am an animal lover and I think it is something which will have affected a lot of people."
Moyes has watched the video and was shocked aback by the actions of his player.
"We’re all of the same feeling that it was something that was completely out of order and something we didn’t expect from Kurt," Moyes said.
"We really didn’t. We didn’t see that in his character, we’ve not seen that from him in anything we’ve come across with him."
Despite seeing the footage and expressing his displeasure with what he saw, Moyes still included Zouma and has drawn strong criticism for the decision.
In a tweet now pinned to the top of their Twitter page, club sponsor Experience Kissimmee said: "It was disheartening to learn that the player Kurt Zouma was part of the starting line in West Ham United’s game tonight. As we wait for further information from WHU, we will be evaluating our relationship and sponsorship with the club."
Zouma's personal sponsor Adidas are investigating the incident and Essex Police are making "urgent enquires" into Zouma's actions.
Gary Lineker was amongst a host of former players to slam Moyes for Zouma's selection with the former England star saying he was "shocked and appalled that West Ham played Zouma last night. A tone deaf decision."
The London mayor, Sadiq Khan, and Becky Thwaites, the head of public affairs at national pet charity Blue Cross, have also expressed their disappointment with Moyes' decision to select Zouma against Watford.
By Wednesday morning more than 100,000 people had signed a petition for Zouma's pets to be removed from his home and for a police and RSPCA investigation into the incident to be launched.
Zouma has apologised for his actions and Moyes has accepted his defender's words.
"My feeling was Kurt has apologised and I understand that a lot of people will not just accept an apology I understand that," Moyes said. "But to me, he came out and he said that very honestly and as I said before I had to do my job then and that was to pick the best team I possibly could."
