Avram Grant has been the granted vote of confidence by the West Ham United board. His motive for lingering at the edge of the technical area may have been to pass on instructions, but its effect was to make him a sitting duck for the away section at the Anfield Road end.

They opened fire with ‘You’re getting sacked in the morning’ and, as Liverpool cruised into a 3-0 lead inside 38 minutes, followed up with ‘It’s just like watching Brazil’ and ‘Ole’ at any semblance of a passing move.

Finally, when Victor Obinna ballooned a shot yards over, just before half-time, a refrain of ‘That’s why we’re going down’ filled the air.

Gold interpreted a solitary chant of ‘Avram, Avram give us a wave’ as a flicker of hope for Grant but misread what was, without doubt, more mischief-making.

It came within seconds of another taunt about facing the sack and was delivered in mocking tones. His job now appears to be safe with the win over Wigan