David Sullivan's backing of Avram Grant has been hailed as too little, too late by supporters.
West Ham's co-chairman was forced to comment on the ongoing Grant 'will he stay/will he go' saga after the club were criticised for tacking their only previous message of support for the under-fire Israeli on to the end of an article at whufc.com regarding Karren Brady.Talking to journalist Harry Harris yesterday, Sullivan said: "The entire board is 100% behind Avram. He is a really decent person who deserves our support. West Ham United is a club that does the right thing and the right thing at this time is to support the manager.
"We will do all we can to bring in players over the next 12 days and, once we have achieved that, we hope it will keep us up. I urge all supporters to rally behind the club at this difficult time."
Sine Sullivan's comments were published, Hammers fans posting on forums around the web have criticised the timing of his statement which only came after Grant's chosen successor, Martin O'Neill, had ruled himself out of the running after his involvement was leaked to the press last weekend.
It is argued that Grant's position is now virtually untenable, having failed to receive the backing of his employers at any stage during last week's flurry of speculation regarding his job.
And although the club's owners would reply that to deny such speculation every time it occurs would be a waste of resources - and rightly so - the intense interest should have been either confirmed or denied in some kind of statement by the club, say some.
Meanwhile Grant continues to prepare his threadbare squad for this weekend's difficult trip to Merseyside, where West Ham take on Everton.
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