Has anyone else dared to dream?

[snooperpooper]

2014 Premiership status secured, a new 60,000 seat stadium close to full every other Saturday, a club with as much history & provenance as any other in the Country & aspirations to hit the big time again..............

And along comes the Qataris to add an English club to their ever growing portfolio!

[westham,eggyandchips]

2014 Premiership status secured, a new 60,000 seat stadium close to full every other Saturday, a club with as much history & provenance as any other in the Country & aspirations to hit the big time again..............

And along comes the Qataris to add an English club to their ever growing portfolio!

I think that is bordering on a 'wet dream' mate!

[fjthegrey]

I dont want Qatari moneybags owners. I'm anti them to the point where I don't think I'd be able to enjoy professional football anymore.

[snooperpooper]

I think that is bordering on a 'wet dream' mate![/quote]

But as I seem to remember wet dreams were the best dreams!

[Halfwhere]

Yeah. I dream about staying up next season!

[Doc H Ball]

Yeah, I really want our 'family' Club in an anodyne retail park run by a fiefdom 4,000 miles away with zero connection to us.

I fully accept that my own dream of a Supporters' Trust in conjunction with West Ham money in our own ground based on self sufficiency and the Academy is out of date and I should move on. Strange thing is, it sort of did us ok for the first century of our existence.

[LeeWHU88]

I dream that we stay up next season and gradually build up from there, signing good young players and promoting the ones through the acadamy and slowly building into a team that can challenge for things without having to buy success.

It's a dream that is very far from reality

[Yea Why Not]

I dont want Qatari moneybags owners. I'm anti them to the point where I don't think I'd be able to enjoy professional football anymore.

I'm of the same view but then I bet Man City fans felt the same when their owners took over. I doubt many City fans are wishing them away now though

It's how football is these days. You cannot under any circumstances challenge in the Premiership without huge investment

[SiamHammer]

It feels like things are finally on the up but as we all know being WH fans that's a dangerous fate-tempting assumption to get carried away with, as we've always seemed to be just round the corner from another wounder.

Hopefully this is the beginning of a exciting new era for our great club.

TBH I'm quite optimistic that we can cement our place in the PL this year and then make progress up the table each season thereafter.

Then again I am hopelessly deluded......

[ParisTheHammer]

It feels like things are finally on the up.Then again I am hopelessly deluded......

People said thing were on the up when we sacked Zola, look what happened their

[The Old Man of Storr]

Let's face it , apart from a couple of seasons , we've never come near being Champions of England , but we did win an European Cup Winners Cup , the odd FA Cup , and that was good enough for us , it kept us dreaming from season to season .
Being Champions was within our grasp in those days , teams like Derby County , Nottingham Forest and Leeds United could do it , why not us ? If we'd signed Gordon Banks instead of Bobby Ferguson , it might have happened , who knows ?
Then the Premier League happened [ who's idea was that ? ] , and the playing fields became a little uneven , though Blackburn [ with their millions ] did manage to keep up with the big boys .
Now , unless you've got a huge ground and a billionaire owner , you play in a league within a league , and do your best to avoid Armageddon . No dreaming of winning the league any more for us plebs , not a cat in hell's chance .
We never really thought we could , but we did dream , now we can't even dream ........... unless you win the Lottery like our friends in the North , but how often does that happen ?
Well the way Manchester City did it was by moving away from Maine Road and into a brand spanking new stadium [ was that something to do with public money , I can't remember ? ] , and marketing their product to a rich Sheikh , well not any old rich Sheikh , a very very rich Sheikh .
We could be emulating the Mancs very soon if things go the Daves' way , by moving into a big new ground at least , whether the Sultan of Brunei is interested , I don't know , but if he was , would I be happy , do I want West Ham United to be the next manufactured footballing product , with the latest ' big name ' playing for us ?
The honest answer is , I don't know .
Mainly because it seems very artificial , an instant gratification , like a lottery win instead of earning your way in Life .
I know that footballers are bought nowadays , and not brought through a youth system , hell , the big clubs are forever on the hunt for boys who are still in Primary Schools these days . There's something morally wrong about that , but that's footie for you in these money driven times .
Sorry boys , I'm rambling , would I like West Ham United run by a rich Sheikh , playing Barcelona in the Champions League ?
Yes !!! Of course I would !!
Life's too short .

[snooperpooper]

Let's face it , apart from a couple of seasons , we've never come near being Champions of England , but we did win an European Cup Winners Cup , the odd FA Cup , and that was good enough for us , it kept us dreaming from season to season .
Being Champions was within our grasp in those days , teams like Derby County , Nottingham Forest and Leeds United could do it , why not us ? If we'd signed Gordon Banks instead of Bobby Ferguson , it might have happened , who knows ?
Then the Premier League happened [ who's idea was that ? ] , and the playing fields became a little uneven , though Blackburn [ with their millions ] did manage to keep up with the big boys .
Now , unless you've got a huge ground and a billionaire owner , you play in a league within a league , and do your best to avoid Armageddon . No dreaming of winning the league any more for us plebs , not a cat in hell's chance .
We never really thought we could , but we did dream , now we can't even dream ........... unless you win the Lottery like our friends in the North , but how often does that happen ?
Well the way Manchester City did it was by moving away from Maine Road and into a brand spanking new stadium [ was that something to do with public money , I can't remember ? ] , and marketing their product to a rich Sheikh , well not any old rich Sheikh , a very very rich Sheikh .
We could be emulating the Mancs very soon if things go the Daves' way , by moving into a big new ground at least , whether the Sultan of Brunei is interested , I don't know , but if he was , would I be happy , do I want West Ham United to be the next manufactured footballing product , with the latest ' big name ' playing for us ?
The honest answer is , I don't know .
Mainly because it seems very artificial , an instant gratification , like a lottery win instead of earning your way in Life .
I know that footballers are bought nowadays , and not brought through a youth system , hell , the big clubs are forever on the hunt for boys who are still in Primary Schools these days . There's something morally wrong about that , but that's footie for you in these money driven times .
Sorry boys , I'm rambling , would I like West Ham United run by a rich Sheikh , playing Barcelona in the Champions League ?
Yes !!! Of course I would !!
Life's too short .

That's what I'm saying!

[Doc H Ball]

Sorry boys , I'm rambling... Life's too short .

No need to apologise Old Man, it was a beautifully put post and summed up the dilemma.

I have been tormented this past week following a trip to the Somme. As I stood over the grave of an 18 year old relative who died after only 6 weeks service in a battle that was 'lost', I initially pitied him for his wasted life. Now, however, I think he rests in Glory content that he did what he could for the sake of others.

We have to be comfortable with ourselves and who we are and not go chasing dreams to be something else.

[sendô]

Not sure I'd really want us owned by an Arab oil baron. I'd much prefer to go back to the days when we could win the odd FA cup and have the odd good season where we might have a chance of challenging for the title.

I'm realistic enough to know that'll never happen though. I'd take West Ham at the top of the league playing the best teams in Europe if it meant suffering the whole "buying the title" stuff etc.

[FrostyLemon]

I think I would be happiest with West Ham being owned by people who care about the club and who will invest wisely. We would be lingering around the Europa cup positions and consistently be a top 10 side. I'd want us to focus on bringing through kids from our academy and introducing them into the first team. I don't care if they eventually get snared away by 'big' clubs, thats just how it works. But it does give us bragging rights that a lot of other teams just don't understand. Seeing an England team made up of five or six West Ham products is a different sort of pride. I would love for West Ham to be the best team in the country, but not the way Man City or Chelsea has done it, it's too dramatic and isn't satisfying, but unfortunately it seems to be the only way to do it these days. If we can be a reasonably successful team, (an Everton or Tottenham) and do all of the above, I don't see why we can't fill out a 60,000 seater stadium every week.

I don't want to West Ham to lose that thing that makes us special, (being **** probably) and even my Chelsea and Man U supporting mates notice it. I was in my student union pub and my Chelsea mate said '****ing hell there were four West Ham supporters in here earlier for the POF and they were making more noise than a pub full of Chelsea fans for the Champs league final'.

[Heysel76]

2014 Premiership status secured, a new 60,000 seat stadium close to full every other Saturday, a club with as much history & provenance as any other in the Country & aspirations to hit the big time again..............

And along comes the Qataris to add an English club to their ever growing portfolio!

Yes Tottenham had a nightmare about this!

[The Old Man of Storr]

I suppose what we are dreaming of is either total economic collapse or a mega rich takeover .

Sorry to hear about the fate of your relative , Doc , it was a terrible time to have to live through .

I have a song in my collection of cds , sung by Davey Arthur and the Fureys which sums up that time perfectly , it would bring tears to your eyes every time . I'm sure you've heard it .
It's called ' The Green Fields of France ' .
Listen to it and think of the boy who fell all those years ago .
I'm nearly in tears myself now thinking about it .
Puts football into perspective .

[the oldham stripper]

2014 Premiership status secured, a new 60,000 seat stadium close to full every other Saturday, a club with as much history & provenance as any other in the Country & aspirations to hit the big time again..............

And along comes the Qataris to add an English club to their ever growing portfolio!

only since about 1959

[Doc H Ball]

I suppose what we are dreaming of .

Mate, thanks, I hadn't heard that before. I do wonder exactly those same things about him...

[Irish Iron]

Maybe we should start backing internet censorship in the hopes that internet porn gets blocked and people are forced back to more conventional means propelling the Daves to billionaire status?