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I attended the fans forum on Monday night and in addition to the points already noted I thought it was maybe worth just adding a few more and clearing up the general atmosphere of the whole night.

Firstly, the situation of Pardew was one that disappeared off the agenda for the most part of the evening after Aldridge had opened with his position of ‘current’ support for the ‘current’ regime, although he did concede the results weren’t good.

Throughout the evening, as discussion continued apace about what had been wrong with some ill fated managerial regimes including that of Pardew, Aldridge insisted that such talk was ‘jumping the gun’ and reminded all of us a couple of times that “Pardew was still the manager”. He also insisted on repeating his desire to retain “continuity” within the club, and that that could not be achieved with a frequently changing manager.

As much as I was endeared by this objective, I asked Aldridge at the end that in striving for continuity as we had done with Roeder, we had arrived in a situation where we were relegated. I asked him if this time, when it was recognised a manager was not working, whether a move would be made to correct this before we had wasted the season. Aldridge insisted that this time, the board would recognise when the time was right.

The subject of season ticket prices rattled many present, and indeed the discussion that followed detrimentally impacted upon the ‘one question each’ rota that was in place. One fan suggested a system currently in place at Crystal Palace whereby fans can buy next season’s season ticket now at a reduced rate, a reward for their loyalty.

It was at this point that Alridge asked those present if they would be prepared to lose a player worth around £500,000 for this, at which point I voiced my unhappiness at Aldridge’s speed to fund anything through player sales. Alridge retorted that it was just an example, but I feel and felt perhaps this is indicative of the current regime.

Which moves me on to another hot topic of the night; West Ham’s current lack of funds. Nick Igoe who was present, came across as an open, knowledgable, and honest man who seems more than capable of being in charge of our finances. He admitted that since relegation, repayments on our loan had been accelerated, this being a condition of the agreement; presumably as relegation had made us a more risky investment.

Yet as mentioned before he insisted categorically, West Ham will never go into administration under his reign as Financial Director, although he did later stipulate this would be the case “as long as I sign the cheques”, a reference to Aldridge’s comments about the irresponsibility of going out and signing Ronaldo.

The despair for our current situation was apparent amongst all those present, and the question of external investment occurred frequently. Paul Aldrige stated somewhat bluntly that West Ham “have never experienced any investment from the board” and also that “no dividends have ever been paid out”. When asked whether investment in the club from the board was ever likely, Nick Igoe sobered the heated discussion by confirming “they simply aren’t wealthy enough”.

I asked whether money could be raised from other areas of the club; Igoe commented that it may be possible to loan money secured on the World Cup medals in the museum which could generate £1m yet insisted the medals wouldn’t be sold, but couldn’t offer any guarantees as to the future of Robot David Essex, currently inhabiting the museum.

However the possibility of promotion’s impact on our current financial situation produced a rare smile from the understandably glum Igoe, who beamed “we would be in a better position and could therefore spend in excess of £14m given we have a lower wage bill than our last promotion attempt”.

The absence of Terry Brown from proceedings also didn’t go unnoticed, Aldridge suggested that Brown has been chairman for a long time and was not really from an era where chairmen find themselves in the spotlight and preferred to be somewhat anonymous from national attention. He did stipulate that Terry has done interviews with newspapers and magazines in the past, but feels that the manager and the players should be “the stars of the show”.

I asked why West Ham were one of few clubs in the country, and indeed the only one I’m aware of, not to have someone from the board write a few notes in the programme. Aldridge commented that he felt his time could be better spent, and that he would find it hard to find something to write about that often, in addition to reiterating the shared belief that players and not board members should be the stars.

Although heated at points the atmosphere was generally quite respectful and ultimately everyone was very thankful for being given the chance to meet and ask some questions. A problem that I picked up on was the numbers, around 25, often meant constructive debate often degenerated into anecdotal discussions as to whether “there is any one like Billy Bonds these days” or “how nice the white away kit with claret and blue hoops was” as opposed to utilising valuable time with members of the board for more crucial concerns.

Yet as someone who entered that room with pessimism and ill feeling toward our board, past, and future, I left relatively pleased with what I had heard. Nick Igoe reassured me best in mentioning our income being far ahead of anyone else in this division. He also mentioned our hospitality department turning over more money than the majority of clubs total turnover in the Championship.

Yet the words that stuck in my mind in leaving belonged to Nick Igoe. He insisted that we had the facilities to be in the top eight earners in English football. This twinned with the fact we would consistently generate income vastly greater than anyone else in the Championship for the foreseeable future, it seems as though eventually things will balance out. It may not be this season, or next, or the one after. But eventually when the great day comes, and we return to the Premiership, we will be more than able to punch our weight rightfully within the top eight and thus normal service resumes; we will be great again.

Given our size, tradition, and fan base as explained by Aldridge and Igoe within English football, it would appear to me that our ascension to greatness is an inevitability far more than it is a possibility. And all of this from a guy who at 7pm yesterday was a complete pessimist.

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