West Ham United have had a bit of a bad run in form over the last few months, since the defeat to Liverpool at home really. I have seen, and heard, more and more West Ham supporters starting to press the panic buttons. With that panic, has come criticism of Sam Allardyce, and the West Ham Chairmen, David Gold and David Sullivan.
“You need to invest more money”, “Allardyce needs to sign better players”. Oh if only it was that easy. I think, since the Chairmen took over the club, they have backed their managers in the transfer market quite substantially. You would have also learnt that to try and reduce the debt of the club, left by the previous Icelandic owners, Mr Gold and Mr Sullivan have been financing transfer deals out of their own pocket. What an incredibly generous gesture to make to the club and it’s supporters. How many of you would give up your life savings for something as bankrolling player purchases? Not many I bet.
We all hope that one day, we will be taken over by a wealthy owner, like the Chelseas and Manchester Citys of this world. But it’s swings and roundabouts really, as you will see with what’s going on at QPR under Tony Fernandes. Fernandes has gone in, and splashed a load of money on players who have big ego’s, and high wages. Mark Hughes was let loose at Manchester City with loads of money, and he couldn’t do anything with them, same happened at QPR. QPR are currently a laughing stock, being bottom of the league having spent so much on transfers, and if they get relegated, then they are going to be stuck with a load of players on massive wages. The running of the club will not be sustained, and is likely to go into meltdown. Look at Leeds United ten years ago, splashing loads of money on a team that failed, and they ended up in League 1. Portsmouth were the same.
Remind you of anything? When the Icelandics took over at West Ham and splashed the cash on Dyer, Parker, Bellamy and Ljungberg, we were loving it. But it quickly turned sour when the owners realised they couldn’t carry on financing such big wages, in fact it nearly ended the clubs existence altogether!
I would rather do what we are doing now, spend money that we’ve got, reduce the debt within the club by running it efficiently, and gradually improve the playing staff so that West Ham finish comfortably in the Premier League, year in year out. The move to the Olympic Stadium will no doubt bring investment somewhere along the way, we just have to be patient. We have to follow the blueprints of the Evertons, Arsenals, Stokes and Swanseas of this world, who all run efficiently.
I also want the club to keep their identity. By that I mean we are a club with one of the best Academies in the country, maybe even Europe. We are known to bring in home grown talent, and play them in the first team. I don’t want a load of foreign mercenaries (Loic Remy at QPR) who come here because we are rich.
We have always been a working class club, a club which is connected to it’s local community, and stays loyal to it’s roots. A wealthy, British, West Ham Supporting investor is what I would like to see, someone who has the club and it’s supporters, in it’s heart. For me, nurturing the best young talent, in the local area, and making us successful with these players is what I would like to see more than buying a team of foreigners.
For now, Gold, Sullivan and Allardyce have all got our interests at heart, and are doing the best they can with the resources available. They are doing a pretty good job of it too.
Be careful what you wish for……
COME ON YOU IRONS