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Sullivan and Gold set to stay in position

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David Sullivan, David Gold and Karren Brady look certain to be back on their director box positions for the match against Southampton.

The trio are determined to face up the threat of any abuse believing it would be a dereliction of their duties to make themselves invisible for the afternoon.

There have been strong claims that Sullivan – who became the main target of the fan fury as the protests grew during the Burnley match – was hit by a coin.

And he was the first to be shepherded away to the safety of a room behind the directors’ box to be followed by the remainder of the party.

And although there has been much discussion as to where and when they will appear during the relegation crunch match against Southampton there’s a growing belief they will be back in their normal seats.

Sullivan is set to confront and answer questions from members of the West Ham United Independent Supporters Association this week indicating that he is ready to face the issues as they arise.

And that suggests that neither he or Gold will back off from the directors box when the all important match kicks off on March 31.

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Hugh Southon is a lifelong Iron and the founding editor of ClaretandHugh. He is a national newspaper journalist of many years experience and was Bobby Moore's 'ghost' writer during the great man's lifetime. He describes ClaretandHugh as "the Hammers daily newspaper!"

Follow on Twitter @hughsouthon

0 comments

  • The WestHamWay/ExWHUEmployee Twitter poll by 4,721 Shows 70% believe they should stay away, 12% say No and 18% say Don’t care

    Again horses for courses, 52,000 season ticket holders and 52,000 different opinions

  • Innocuous Sparrow says:

    duncanio, What do you base that comment on? The poll on here suggested that almost )0% of fans thought they should attend the rest of our matches. While that is not conclusive, I expect that majority is even bigger over the whole fanbase. So, the poll provides one indication, what evidence do you have for your position that fans want them to stay away?

    • Innocuous Sparrow says:

      *almost 60% of fans

      • Troy says:

        The poll on here was far from conclusive, and this site is mostly pro-board, so that skews the results somewhat. Put a poll on a site with more members, like KUMB, and I reckon you’d have a far smaller percentage wanting the board there. In fact, if you had a straight board in vs. board out completely poll right now among the fans, I’m sure the latter would win comfortably.

        They are only going for their egos. If they cared about the club more than themselves, they wouldn’t go. Their mere presence is an insult to some, and if things go south on the pitch you can guarantee something will happen.

        Stay away GSB if you still care about the team staying up.

        • If we were pro board we wouldn’t be running such polls knowing it wouldn’t necessarily be favouraable

        • Innocuous Sparrow says:

          Troy, the thing is, there are a lot of incredibly stupid people about talking of sacking the board. How do you do that? Directors are elected by shareholders and the shareholders are…? Likewise, if we took your suggestion and someone ran a poll on board in or out, who would be replacing them if an “out” vote was implemented? I am not a fan of the board but I can recognise that too many people want change but have no idea what they want to change to, given the realities of the current situation, although they have plenty of pie in the sky notions.

      • gingham says:

        Sparrow all that poll showed was that it was almost 60% of people on this site, I’m surprised it wasn’t much higher considering some of the views I’ve been reading.

        Blakey, you’re no West Ham United supporter, either that or you’re a board member, some of the things you have been saying are disgraceful.

        • Innocuous Sparrow says:

          Gingham, thanks for stating the obvious. I already acknowledged that the poll was only on this site, wasn’t conclusive and didn’t involve the wider fan base. Could I have made the constraints any clearer?
          The poll did, however, provide an evidential reference point for saying the owners should continue to attend. I was merely asking if duncanio had alternative evidence for his position that fans don’t want the directors to attend matches.

          • The C&H poll showed almost a 50/50 split 52.5% out of 2010 fans said they should stay in their box, 6.5% say they should move and 41% said they should stay away.

            A poll on KUMB might bring a different result. Their forum polls attract around 600 and a Twitter poll might bring yet another result.

            Many of us live in a social media bubble which is disconnected from reality, we believe we know what other fans think and feel but often we just get our feeling amplified back from the social media contacts who follow us because like-minded people group together.

            From the 52,000 season ticket holders many don’t follow social media, some don’t read papers or read websites so are isolated from the current turmoil.

            I met a match going supporter the other day who no idea there was a planned march, didn’t know about the Real West Ham fans or why fans were angry.

            If we could reach these people I personally think we would all be surprised with the results of a poll, in my view as many as 75% could support the board’s continued attendance.

            The truth is, we don’t know and will never know the true feelings of the 52,000 season ticket holders with any accuracy.

  • duncanio says:

    Again showing that their egos come before the team, the fans and their safety, the fans wishes and the result.
    If they want us to win games and stay in the premier league they have to stay at home.
    But they are too stupid!

  • mooro66uk says:

    When and where would that place be Blakey? Seriously. I genuinely wish to find out.

  • Clive says:

    Good. It’s important they stay strong. They can’t be seen to be cowards. In the same way a government can’t give into the demands of terrorists, neither should old men be forced from their seats by bullies.

  • danbee says:

    Doesn’t matter if they are there or not, can Moyes pick the right team and get the tactics right??? We have a poor manager let’s just hope Hughes,Lambert and Pardew are slightly worse!!!! Pick a team to win Arnie and Chico with Ant just behind them and Cresswell as only a left back not in a back 3, play Rice he is our best defender. All on Moyes to get us out of this mess,he has the players.

  • nikbud says:

    Its totally correct for our board of directors to show a united front for the most important game of this season. I would expect every supporter of the team to do exactly that , support the team, looking to blame the board, behaving with a negative attitude will only increase the chances for Southampton.
    We are West Ham United and we all must stay united from the chairmen to the ball boys, Lets fill every seat with positive supporters and it will filter through to our team. The two Davids can put a West Ham United flag on every seat so the team come out to a sea of claret and blue. We need all to believe in the team and really support the team. we will beat Southampton we will survive if we all stand together
    COME ON YOU IRONS

  • Stratford E20 says:

    Good! They own the club, they have more rights to be in their seats than anyone else.

  • hammers64 says:

    Get ready to baton down the hatches.New manager at Southampton and in the semi finals of FA cup so it could be tricky.Really need to beat them and Stoke.

  • iateublakey says:

    just have proper security and police on hand and arrest any troublemakers that try and
    disrupt the game or take away the support for the team. these idiots are in the minority and bring negativity to the team, theres a time and a place for accountability and its not during the game. arrest them and ban them for life.

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