Late David Gold, Sullivan and Brady

[Faithless]

Alright, seems I finally got it!

Top man

[Up the Junction]

[HamburgHammer]

Thank you guys, I hope I remember that the moment I need to...)

[CMNinja]

This is in no way me standing up for Gold and Sullivan but when was the last time we were a well run club? For the last 20 years at least money seems to have been spunked, lost and spent on ridiculous wages for old/injury-prone players. I understand the Icelandics had good intentions but we were still very poorly run under them and I can't recall Uncle Terry having too many fans. The Rio money, Savio, ineligible players, rubbish sponsors and sponsors who go bust ... Iffy managers and iffier signings have been par for the course for a longtime. The previous disaster to the stadium move was the huge fine for the Tevez/Mascherano deal but nobody seemed to march on what was obviously a staggeringly inept board who lost us what was probably the equivalent of £150,000,000 in today's football money. With all that cheeriness out the way, back to my original question - when was the lat time we were a well run club?

[ageing hammer]

Thank you guys, I hope I remember that the moment I need to...)

It took me 6 months to get it

[spod]

Cue Bristol with his "back on topic please, gents."

[Faithless]

The previous disaster to the stadium move was the huge fine for the Tevez/Mascherano deal but nobody seemed to march on what was obviously a staggeringly inept board who lost us what was probably the equivalent of £150,000,000 in today's football money. With all that cheeriness out the way, back to my original question - when was the lat time we were a well run club?

Never in my lifetime. We are and have been one of the worst run big clubs for a long time. Doesn't mean I'm going to let GSB off the hook though. From what I can remember none of the previous appalling owners claimed they were fans and they'd be investing to turn the club into a force by selling our home to increase revenue, only to then say it only gives us an extra £10m pa and makes no real difference.

West Ham ballsing up transfers/wasting money/having terrible owners = The West Ham way
West Ham selling our soul/home to achieve nothing =

[Faithless]

Cue Bristol with his "back on topic please, gents."

Shhhhh...i think we got away with it....

[Up the Junction]

From this year's KUMB Awards 'Hackett of the Year' category.

1. Karren Brady
2. David Sullivan
3. Bobby Madley

Gold came fourth. Almost a clean sweep. Is the message getting through yet, though?

http://www.kumb.com/awards.php

[Kialos]

Never in my lifetime. We are and have been one of the worst run big clubs for a long time. Doesn't mean I'm going to let GSB off the hook though. From what I can remember none of the previous appalling owners claimed they were fans and they'd be investing to turn the club into a force by selling our home to increase revenue, only to then say it only gives us an extra £10m pa and makes no real difference.

West Ham ballsing up transfers/wasting money/having terrible owners = The West Ham way
West Ham selling our soul/home to achieve nothing =

Exactly

There is a huge difference between the general incompetence of previous West Ham owners and the deliberate and calculated actions of Gold Sullivan and Brady.

[Bury Me @ The Boleyn]

Posting this here because I don't want to hijack the transfer thread anymore

re: ownership investment

I have a mate who has a few connections at the club. If you'll recall, a couple years ago when Tore was about to sign on loan I mentioned that my mate confirmed he was at SR having a medical before the papers got to it. I'm not claiming he's a great source for information but he told me some explosive things last night about what GSB's plan is for the future. Take all of this with a MASSIVE grain of salt, but I trust the lad, so there's that:

First, he's said that the reason the club had a negative net spend in January was because doing so brought the club's value up over the 500m mark. That figure creates a good benchmark for GSB to begin seeking out bids to sell the club. My mate says the asking price is starting at 800m.

Second, he said that the plan the entire time has been for the club to purchase the London Stadium. The deal was so one-sided by design as a way to upset taxpayers and eventually force the town council to sell the stadium to us in order to appease the taxpayers. GSB would be the ones buying the stadium. That way they can offer a package sale of the club and the ground. He said they would NOT be renovating at all, though. They'll buy the ground from the city and then give the renovation decisions to the new owners.

Third, he said that once that sales happens (and he's 100% confident it will happen, he says), the plan is for GSB to immediately turn around and sell the club, leaving all renovation expenses up to the new ownership. He says the goal is to have a club worth over 500m in assets and a stadium we own. Once those two things are accomplished GSB will sell.

I actually asked him about the reports we're actually going to invest this summer and he said Pellegrini's added value to the club at the moment and Sullivan knows that giving him some investment will likely payoff in the long run. He also said it'd be a PR nightmare if Pellegrini didn't get investment from Sullivan and ended up walking before managing a match. He said that Pells and Sullivan butted heads pretty much from the go, but Sullivan backed down out of fear Pellegrini would walk if he didn't get what he wanted. That would set all the other plans back considerably.

Burnley changed some things. That whole fiasco scared Sullivan. If he loses the fans, the value of the club will go down. Same as would happen if we were relegated. Sullivan brought in the best manager we've ever had (on paper, bless Greenwood and Lyall both) with the thought being if we can hold onto him until the stadium is sold to us, he'll only add value to the club. Sullivan has to back him financially in order to keep him around that long, though.

Again, please take all of this with a grain of salt. I'm not claiming my mate is 100% reliable, but he has some connections to the club and I trust him not to be leading me along for no reason.

[HamburgHammer]

I don't get why the board would not spend in January in order to push a temporary club value over the £500 million threshold, especially if their masterplan involves buying the OS.
Surely that will take another 3-4 years.
So what good is it to present a certain club value NOW ?

And make no mistake, the price to buy the OS will still be high. Would Sullivan and Gold want to buy if the price is 150 million or so ?

[Miles Standish Proud]

Like I said over there, the mayor's office is on record saying the LS will not be sold. Which would seem to put a major hole in Sullivan's grand scheme for as long as Khan remains in office.

[HamburgHammer]

And Sullivan is 69 years old, time is not on his side. He cannot afford to wait another 8 years until the situation may allow him to buy the OS before selling West Ham.

[Bury Me @ The Boleyn]

Like I said over there, the mayor's office is on record saying the LS will not be sold. Which would seem to put a major hole in Sullivan's grand scheme for as long as Khan remains in office.

The most shocking thing he told me was the bit about the sale of the stadium. He's basically said that the whole "the city is keeping it permanently" thing has been a farce from the get-go. He said the deal was designed to be one-sided so that the public outcry would "force" the city to revisit their decision and end up determining that selling outright was the best option.

That is a somewhat shocking accusation and the one I find hardest to believe. I trust my mate, but that is some conspiracy nut type stuff. Only time will tell whether or not that is indeed the case.

Again, take everything I posted above with a massive grain of salt. I'm not claiming to have first hand knowledge of any of it. My mate, however, is tangibly connected to the club and I've known him a very long time. I can't say whether or not he's been fed bad information, I just don't know.

[Miles Standish Proud]

No criticism of you, your mate or your post intended., BM@TB.

To my mind the mayor should be open to selling the stadium off - it's the right thing to do on many levels and I was surprised with how dogmatic his office were. You would have thought that had that been the cunning plan all along then the mayor's office would have left themselves some wriggle room.

Unless the plot was actually hatched with the previous mayor in some nefarious Tory carve-up. Just imagine ..

[e17]

BM@TB - I think your mate has the wrong end of the stick, at least for certain on some of the above, unless people were telling porkies.

That bit about Sully giving it 5 years that came straight from the horses mouth? I was told the same story in person by the foal of a certain horse at a charity event earlier this year.

5 years if they can’t get it right, 5 years and then the young uns move up if they do

Probably not wrong on the stadium stuff though.

[goingunderground]

Like I said over there, the mayor's office is on record saying the LS will not be sold. Which would seem to put a major hole in Sullivan's grand scheme for as long as Khan remains in office.

Looking at it from the Mayor's point of view - i.e., political - he/his office are going to say that, aren't they? Doesn't mean they won't sell it. The government and opposition lie all the time without being held to account.

Khan taking on Boris/Brady while "protecting the Olympic legacy" and the local community is a quick and easy win from a political standpoint, not to mention the potential windfall of cash from the sale + tax payer money saved that can be "pumped back into the community".

It's the interests of everyone that it's sold.

[Miles Standish Proud]

Underground.
I agree. Selling it, with caveats, is the right thing to do. But if that was their intention then Khan's office need not have been so categoric in their denial. Even the most unscrupulous politician should know better than to tell a bare faced lie that, in the modern media age, is likely to come back to haunt them.
In my opinon, Khan is being badly advised.

[Ozza]

I didn’t think it was possible for me to hate them anymore than I did, I was wrong.