Sky reporter Kaveh Solhekol may have put the cat among the pigeons with his latest column on Sky Sports in which he gives a strong view on his feelings about West Ham and its current difficulties.
Stressing that he is not a West Ham fan, he attempts to give both sides of an argument which has seen protests emerge over the running of the club by David Sullivan , David Gold and Karen Brady.
Writing under the the heading West Ham spending failing to heal the wounds of Boleyn departure – Kaveh Solhekol, The Insider, makes it clear that the fans anger has been well articulated in a series of recent articles and that they have every right to protest over the way the club is being run.
However, he declares that David Sullivan’s major cash input comes from property and that suggestions he is ripping off the club are incorrect adding that apart from loan repayments they have taken no money out of the club..
He adds: “Running West Ham is a full-time job for Sullivan. He is paid nothing and does not charge the club expenses.”
The piece is unlikely to change perceptions and MAYBE prejudices but it’s certainly worth a read at https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/11948999/west-ham-spending-failing-to-heal-the-wounds-of-boleyn-departure-kaveh-solhekol-the-insider
Fully agree with login!
The only issues I have with the board is loans ought to be interest free or at least very low unless financial fairplay rules state otherwise?.
Karen Brady should dump Sun column as it has clearly worked to the disadvantage of the club and she does comment on football matters despite stating she has nothing to do with the football side of business! Plus the Sun has left bad taste with football after Hillsborough!
The 3000 discontents are far outweighed by the 55000 who come every week despite all the aggro.
Lastly lot said about getting rid of board but no ideas put forward on next step other than the forlorn hope of someone anxious to spend billions. Need to do a reality check with financial fair play rules for that one.
Personally I am excited by the young academy players coming through and it’s our best chance of progressing in a sensible and sustainable way. Most other clubs are realizing this including the big money clubs.
I think its a great article because whether you agree or disagree with it, it shows how the board and the people supporting the board view the argument of their time in charge, from their side.
I have my own way of looking at these things. Take an argument and the extremes of each side of it, and the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. Basically meaning that they haven’t delivered on some things they said and need to make some changes to the way we do business, but it is nowhere near as extreme as rinsing the club dry.
I know its a hypothetical question but we’ve dropped 22 points from winning positions. If we’d held on to just 10 of those points and were sitting in 10th place, would all this be happening??
I fear that many people have become so entrenched in their hatred of the board that it is entirely pointless trying to evolve their views with those of others. They are right, everyone else is wrong, and that’s that.
Sad times and, to be honest, you can do one AspiEd, because there’s enough bitterness, anger and vitriol in the world already, thank you very much.
I appreciate that Saturday’s result won’t heal wounds, but wounds are typically always healed eventually, with love and care. Those who want to just keep opening them for the sake of attention and a sense of self-importance will find that they’re eventually consumed with negativity, and we don’t need that.
YOU didn’t earned the money. YOU didn’t risk it buying an ailing football club. YOU don’t sit there day in day out trying to make our club better (whether you succeed or not). YOU just sit there bashing at your keyboard. Well done. You must be so proud…
If our club is like a family, which we all purport it to be, then you will all appreciate that every family has its disagreements, it’s good and bad. No family is perfect, and neither is our club. What is certain, is that everyone to a man (or woman) wants the best for it. By all means cast an opinion, but try and lace the criticism with some balance and/or suggestion. Or just keep your mouth shut and stop wasting server space.
I’ve never been in the camp who believe GS are in it for the money. I’ve always said I think they genuinely love the club. However, the reason I want them to go is that they are simply out of touch with how football clubs should be run these days. They have made numerous terrible decisions and whilst I agree they are far from asset stripping the club, they’re not putting enough money in either (in terms of the promises they made on where the club was heading) and when they do it’s spent recklessly. They either need to replace Brady with someone who knows how to run a football club, or move on. Simple as that.
Your final sentence is a sad indictment of many who support the campaign to remove the current owners. The desire for them gone has almost reached a religious fervour. If you don’t support that view you are automatically a “non-believer” and will be cast out from the West Ham family.
Well I don’t support that view; the facts are that they are the best owners the club have had in the modern era. They have stabilised the finances; invested in the team and took advantage of a no brainer decision to move to the London Stadium.
They have expanded the fan base significantly and this will be their true legacy, not that they took the club from the Boleyn Ground, but that they enabled 25,000+ additional supporters to enjoy watching their team at reasonable prices.
Perhaps “An Inconvenient Truth” could be stolen as a title for a documentary on the current owners?
Legin, i fully agree with your point. I have made similar points myself on various comments sections. This is a question i would like answering by those who want the board out. If the protesters get their way and the club’s hierarchy decide to sell up and the people they sell to end up being worse than the current owners (which, when you look around at other clubs is a distinct possibility), which method should those of us who don’t feel the same about the current ownership use to voice our dissatisfaction at them for ruining our club?
Every time i say i support the board, although i believe they have made some mistakes (haven’t we all), i get abuse. Not vile abuse, but name calling and other childish remarks. I don’t give a damn what’s said to me but what it highlights is the nature of ‘some’ board haters, supposed lifelong fans. I have seen some saying on this website that they hope we are relegated as it might help get rid of the board. To me, that’s as smart as adding 2 + 2 and getting the answer ‘corned beef’. That’s a funny way of supporting.
I know, Hugh, you have to post items such as this, and i support you in doing so, but jeeze, i’m so bored of this ‘board out’ nonsense. We’ve just spent nearly £45m in January, the stadium is mostly full on match days, we got the manager we wanted in Pellegrini (the huge majority of us), etc, etc. I could list loads of positives here. Yet all i hear is whining about Upton Park and our league position. If we were in the top 6, no-one would be shouting so loudly about the board. Yet that is surely the managers doing, not the boards. Sheffield United didn’t spend millions and they’re doing ok. Wolves have a small squad but they’re not in too bad a shape either.
I want the board to stay, they clearly support the club. Maybe some of the fans should start too.
I’m entirely bored with it Saul. It’s the same thing over and over again Out. Out. Out without a clue what comes next. I’ve been told it’s the board’s job to come out with a plan once they have exited. I’m not the brightest bloke on the planet but the absurdity of that is just beyond anything. Mind blowing. Tom Petty came up with the classic line in one of his great songs: Rebel without a clue…make the rebels 🙂 And of course if uou don’t necessariluy agree with EVERYTHING they say you are the spawn of Satan
One of the most naive, apologetic pieces ever written.
Opens with an anecdote, allegedly from a few years ago.
Contains half-truths, too.
Sullivan’s current income might well be from property (+ loan interest!) but that’s not how it was amassed in the first place.
The article is an invitation to sympathise with Sullivan and family, as though sponsored by them.
We are left to think that, because someone ‘means well’, their waste of so much money and absolute mis-management of TWO football clubs should be ignored.
If running the club is a full-time job for Sullivan, what IS the point of Brady, at all? Perhaps just a means of Sullivan and Gold actually getting paid. Perhaps Brady’s company accounts should be analysed for incoming ‘management fees’.
Just in case anyone managed to miss the author’s attestation, he is not a West Ham fan!
Having listened to the ever more infantile Moore Than Just a Podcast, last night, it could also have been written by Mr Whetstone. When fence sitting, one should choose a fence where they do not to keep toppling off for the sake of self-interest.
If u are here in part to insult members of our staff you will be excluded in whatever capacity you are using to talk about them. We are not here to be insulted. Talk about football. It regularly amuses me that providers of porn are thought of more badly than those who use it (not that I’m suggesting you do so). It is sad that some people can only accept one side of an argument before reaching for some perceived moral high ground. And as for ignoring perceived mismanagement he actually says the protesters have every right to do so. Usual Groundhog Day argument refusing to accept any point of view other than your own. That you even imply AUDITED accounts are falsified shows what a ghastly little person you are. Libelous and very dangerous ground even for idiots.
Too funny.
Reminds me of a woman colleague who was describing how her 17 year old son was duped of a considerable amount of cash through subscribing to two porn sites.
Her husband was really angry. “Who pays for porn?!”
lol
lol lol