In defence of David Sullivan (and his hat)

I enjoy reading the various opinions of supporters as it constantly shows the glass half full/half empty emotions of us, the West Ham fans.

One thing i don't understand though is the stick that is used to beat Sullivan and Gold with, namely money and what they want out of West Ham United Football club.

I can only state "allegedly" as I really don't want a legal bill from a Scandinavian family looking to top up what granddad blew, but our finances were a total mess. We had foreign owners who were billionaires but ran out of money quicker than Brewster.

We had players on five-year deals who were injured and didn't seem to care (Kieron Dyer, Freddie Ljungberg etc). We had crazy clauses where players matched new signings on wages and we were a laughing stock, because the turnover of managers and players was becoming increasingly alarming.

The stories that Scott Duxbury came out with about loans here, there and everywhere just to keep the club balanced ring true - as do the crazy payments for the Tevez affair. (I still don't understand how we had to pay Sheff Utd when they were sh*t all season - I still hate them.)

I think back to some of the Terence Brown dealings; you don't have to be a foreign owner/chairman to line your own pockets and sell the family silverware.

In Sullivan and Gold, we have British owners; English owners, East End owners. self made millionaires. One has a lot of money and a genuine affection for his local club/area and the other has a lot of money and a silly Russian general's hat. Both enjoy social media; DG deserves credit for the stick he gets, but still puts out the positives.

Perhaps it wasn't the best PR move for our future owner, Jack Sullivan, to tweet that our captain is sh*t - but at least 20,000 of us inside the stadium were shouting it at Nolan, so it wasn't a revelation.

Sullivan is heavily involved with transfer dealings and this is where I respect him most. Instead of getting mugged off by the Bond-baddie Levy at Spurs, or seeing all our Rio money spent on the contents of Liverpool's dustbin, we now have a chairman who is looking for return on his investment.

DS pressed ahead with the Diafra Sakho transfer when (allegedly) Sam didn't want him. A signing (of approx £3.7million) who scores lots of goals, works his socks off and celebrates in a way we haven't adored since Carlos Tevez has made me very happy. I expect even more out of him next season. To his (Sakho) credit, so does he.

Sullivan also pushed the boat out to get Valencia for £12million and although his goal return is paltry, he also works his socks off and defends from the front admirably like it's his last game on earth. Whenever we sell him and whatever we sell him for, he will be a popular Hammer and one on which we will clearly turn over a profit.

Aaron Cresswell came in for approx £3.75m and six months later was linked with £20million transfers. I hope we don't sell him as he is the best left back we've seen for years (actually as far back as my personal favourite, Julian Dicks).

If and when we do, he too will turn over a large profit. The Board have already shown some shrewdness by signing up young Stephen Hendrie, so we are not then quoted a daft £20m fee for a Championship left back to replace Cresswell with.

The Board backed Sam by giving him the money to sign Carroll and then Jarvis to feed him. Roughly £25million for those two. Sam can't be blamed for those two failing to justify their transfer fees as on paper both looked good, but stats are misleading - and so is Carroll's fitness. (DS did publicly state afterwards that he preferred £8million Wilfried Bony, but let Sam go ahead - and in came AC on a big fee with big wages)

Sullivan also claimed to have tracked and signed Cheikhou Koyaute, who immediately improved our team. Now Pedro Obiang has signed; he stated that he felt wanted as West Ham had chased him for some time.

It's prudent to scour the market for seasoned professionals on free transfers and shrewd to implement performance-based bonuses. This enables us to compete for the players who carry a larger fee, but will fit the way we want to play.

On that note alone I want Charlie Austin. I truly have never recovered from losing Dean Ashton and I'm not saying Austin is as good because i haven't seen that much of him, but he scored goals for QPR up front alone and also looks good when paired with another ex-favourite, Bobby Zamora. It may take over £10million to get him but if we can use Jarvis and/or Nolan as make-weights, it will be a good deal and a reduction in the wage bill.

I would expect Bilic to have his own targets and I like the sound of the young Croat Alen Halilovic at Barca, who could be available for a loan. Credit must go back to DS for getting Song on loan while Barca watched one of their non-playing assets suddenly refresh his credentials and put money in their bank when they sell him.

We stand a better chance of securing loans because we have proven ourselves with Song (if you're going to be a feeder club, let it be to Barca!) In regards to whoever else Bilic wants, I think he will get them because the owners have shown they do care and they have put their money where their mouth is.

* West Ham United London may ruffle a few traditionalists' feathers, but I've tried explaining to an overseas visitor that our ground is named the Boleyn Ground and that West Ham is closer to East Ham - but the tube is called Upton Park. (You should've seen their face deal with that one, whilst wondering why it started raining in June.)

It will bring money into the club and fans into the Olympic Stadium and that will all help us push on and evolve. For the record, I vote for the stadium name 'Ann Summers' Car Key Bowl' because all the away teams and fans are going to get f****d when we fill that ground with passion. Hopefully by a Bilic-led team fighting for the higher places in the Premier League.

Either way, if you want the stadium name then you're going to have to pay for it. That's the point Sullivan is trying to make. It is a business and he wants to make money, but he will listen to our views on anything that changes our club. He can do whatever he wants as it's his money, but I'd rather be asked to vote than be told: "It's done, deal with it".

Or like the Hull owner, threaten to sell up because he can't have his way.



* Like to share your thoughts on this article? Please visit the KUMB Forum to leave a comment.

* Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the highlighted author/s and do not necessarily represent or reflect the official policy or position of KUMB.com.


More Opinion