Former owner reckons fans forced Hammers spend-up

Former Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan believes the Hammers fans can probably take credit for the major spending spree seen at the club this season.

Jordan – a oustspoken observer of the game from the sidelines these days – isn’t convinced it would have happened without fan pressure.

The arrival of Maneil Pellegrini has attracted the biggest spend in club history but Jordan takes the view that the fans forced it on co chairmen David Gold and David Sullivan.

And he believes the new manager will have made his own position on the job clear too before stepping into the role.

He told talkSPORT: “Pellegrini will have put it on Gold and Sullivan that I will have a decent amount of money to spend or get someone else.

“I don’t know if Gold and Sullivan would’ve wanted to spend this, but they’ve been put into a situation where the adverse reaction from the fans has forced their hand.”