We’ve tried pie and mash Irons saviours – so what next?
By CandH’s top blogger Allen Cummings
The GSB dynasty will come to an end – as it was always going to – at some time!
Nothing is forever in this world – and certainly not in the football world. But when the famous three eventually walk out the door for the last time – whether that be sooner or later – the most important thing for West Ham as a club won’t be about what has been, but about what is to come!
This has too often been labelled a pro site, so maybe us discussing our current ownership termination issue comes as a shock. It shouldn’t because we are nothing of the sort. We are a site that loves this club – end of!
There are ways of doing and discussing things and some of the language used and sentiments echoed elsewhere are frankly abhorrent, embarrassing and do nobody any credit.
Those hoping for a cash-rich benefactor who is only too happy to cough up and buy our way to the promised land – the ‘next level’ – a coveted top six place, are actually living in a land of their own.
A local lad hero done good – someone who lives on pie mash, supported the club all their life and now wants to become our saviour. I think we’ve just been down that road haven’t we? So maybe not again.
What about an American billionaire, with more money than mouth. Manchester United have tried that one, and at the moment it’s becoming as toxic at Old Trafford as it is here. Possible Chinese involvement has met with swift disapproval and we certainly don’t want to experience the chill of any aspiring Icelandic owners again thank you.
Anyone who thinks it’s going to be as easy as just changing the name on the door is naive in the extreme. There’s no doubt money needs to be spent – life in the Premier League now requires millions just to stand still.
We need to forget thoughts that it might be good to drop a division to regroup. That could so easily be suicide not a solution. More than anything this club needs to rediscover itself. We need to define a new, up-to-date identity for the modern game. We need a proper plan. A firm direction – and that has to start from the bottom up.
The Academy is once again showing signs of producing genuine future prospects – which has to be a good thing. But it’s impossible to return to the ‘good old days’ of producing virtually an entire team of home-grown talent. It might mean at times we need to sell some of what we produce to provide funds. That’s the law of economics.
When we do buy it will need to be sensibly and constructively. And that will require the introduction of a proper scouting system – not a couple of agents on the end of a telephone. We will need players with the right attitude and the right abilities to fit into the jigsaw we want to create. Not big names with impressive looking stats and even bigger profiles, who turn out to be square pegs in a round holes.
Our re-invention isn’t going to be a quick fix. It won’t happen overnight! It will take time and patience – and it’s a certainty the waiting won’t be to the liking of everyone. The moans and groans we have become so used to will surface – it’s inevitable.
Those expecting to see West Ham eating at the top table simply because Gold, Sullivan and Brady have gone had better think again. That just isn’t going to happen. I firmly believe the majority of us will be prepared to wait if we see that progress is being made, bit by bit, season by season if necessary.
Little steps that are sustainable. But most importantly a professional approach that will offer us all genuine hope for the future.