Reo-Coker received hate mail - Agent

West Ham captain Nigel Reo-Coker has received hate mail during the club's recent slump.

The England Under-21 midfielder has come in for more criticism than most for not reproducing the form of last season - which many feel has contributed to the Hammers' slide into the Barclays Premiership's bottom three. And it culminated with hate mail being sent to the training ground last week ahead of their match against Manchester United.

"It got to a boiling point for a young man," said Reo-Coker's agent Tony Finnigan. "That was the latter part of the week. I just told him to stick it in the dustbin and get ready to go to war against one of the best teams in Europe."

Ironically, Reo-Coker scored the only goal as new manager Alan Curbishley celebrated his first match in charge since replacing Iain Dowie with a 1-0 victory of the Premiership leaders.

Speculation has linked Reo-Coker with a number of top clubs and Finnigan revealed he would be requesting "clear the air" talks with Curbishley.

"He is under contract and he is happy there. But I don't know how long he wants to play in front of boos," he told Radio Five Live.

"We will be sitting down with the manager to talk about him in a clear-the-air meeting.

"If you got approached by one of the top sides in Europe then of course you would be flattered but I don't want to talk about something that is hypothetical."