West Ham’s board face the tensest six weeks of their ownership with the American consortium ready to mount a new hostile bid for the club given if things go entirely wrong during a hugely sent of difficult fixtures.
The Irons are off to Arsenal tomorrow and then take on Wolves (home), Leicester City (away), Spurs (away), Manchester City (home) and Liverpool (away) on the last day of October.
The Americans are reported to have made two bids of £300 million and £450 million and know it’s conceivable the club could have zero points by the end of next month.
And they know that would spark major fan protests on top of what we have already seen over Grady Diangana’s sale, giving them a real opportunity to ramp up huge pressure as they bid to take control should the club be in the bottom two or three.
They are playing a canny waiting game having made their intentions clear and have noted David Sullivan’s response to his Talksport mate Jim White when asked if he was going to sell.
The chief shareholder’s response was: “Not at the moment” – the first half hint that he may be ready to do so at some stage although he is privately denying it.
In the meantime, the Hammers will be desperate to bring in players but that’s unlikely to happen until much closer to the end of the window with David Moyes apparently uncertain of his major priorities beyond James Tarkowski.
And that in itself is likely to wind up fans even more as they look for him to fulfil his self proclaimed ambition of bringing in defenders.
Hugh, do you think it’s now the case that the owners won’t sanction any transfers, aside from loans, due to an imminent takeover?
I THINK IF THIS IS SERIOUS TH BIDDERS WOULD PAUY WHATEVER THE OWNERS WOUILD HAVE TO PAY OR LOSE RATHER
So in that sense incoming transfer funds shouldn’t be affected. Thanks Hugh, just trying to understand why we’re in the situation we’re in
Feel as though I’ve got a part in the remake of One flew over the cuckoo’s nest. Not sure who the lunatics are. Is it the Dave’s for the way the running the club or us fans for coming back for more every season?
I agree that the fixtures are tough – but this is the premier league and if we want to remain in it we have to look at getting some points off Arsenal, Wolves, Leicester or Spurs – if we add Man Utd and Chelsea to Man City and Liverpool – we cannot afford to write off fixtures against 8 teams
Last season we got 6 points off Chelsea and 4 points off Man Utd – without which we would have been relegated
So the challenge is there for Moyes and the players to make sure that we get something from the next 4 games
If someone does want to buy the club then they should not depend on us losing heavily to make it happen
COYI
If the £450 million bid is true, Sullivan, Gold and co. should snap their hands off. Zero points by the end of next month is a real possibility, but even if they managed 3 or 4 points they would almost certainly be in the bottom three, with relegation a real possibility. With relegation, they would get nowhere near that sum.
If Gold and Sullivan were REAL West Ham fans, as they proclaim, surely they would do whatever is best for the club and sell up and let someone else sort out their mess.
Gold and Sullivan have proved over the last few seasons that they are NOT concerned with what happens to the club. They have very little idea on how to run a premiership football club. They have brandished all sorts of promises, none of which have been kept and when and if they finally leave, they are like ly to leave behind an angry fan base, disgruntled players and captain, a team likely fighting relegation and a team with no home. Makes me wonder why they are still here unless it is to feather their own nests, which they obviously need to do with Sullivan only worth £1 billion, Gold struggling on just £500m and the poor relation, Lady Brady with only £97m.
So the new owners want to take over when we are in big trouble and in the bottom 3. Is that because they want to save a bit of money for their pet project and make as much money out of the club as possible? Or would they put the money they save into an overhaul of the squad in the next transfer window? It certainly begs the question of their intentions.
The two Dave’s are clearly now financially out of their depth and the constant talking to the media hasn’t stopped despite their previous assurances. They are no other PL club owners calling into Talksport and commenting on Twitter etc etc. They put their money where the mouths are and do it quietly.
All I would ask of Hammers fans is – be careful what you wish for. The ‘two Daves’ are not perfect but before baying for the US takeover, fans should be asking, why do the US consortium want to buy West Ham . When it comes to club takeovers many clubs’ fans have discovered , too late, the truth in the old maxim ‘better the devil you know’.
BryanH