I have been one of the Cons longest and most vocal critics from day one .But even I had a wry smile on me, at the sheer brazenness of the perfect transfer heist of Said Benhrama .It was alongside Ronnie Biggs's great train robbery of1963 and the Hatton Gardens Heist, by the a group of ageing lags as far as heists are concerned .The whole summer, Benhrama, had been linked with a whole host of Clubs .One of my closest mates ,Aaron Poole,a huge Aston Villa supporter, was absolutely desperate for Villa to sign Benhrama ."We've got the money mate, and 'Deano' (Dean Smith) was his manager at Brentford" he championed.
A while back I had been on twitter, and said out of all the utter BOLLOCKS and lies leaked to the media, about 'closing in ' on this player or that player. There is always ONE player the Cons really fancy, and go all out to sign. I said Benhrama was that player .I thought they would fund it by player sales ,Sullivan hates paying players anything near a £100 000 per week.With the constant bile published on the Pravada ,regards Moyes wanting to get rid of "the fancy dan foreigners" .And daily pops at Felipe Anderson in particular, as well as Manuel Lanzini.It was clear who the Cons wanted off the wage bill.
It was crystal clear that if we could not get rid of at least one player, no one was coming in. When Anderson went out on loan instead of being sold. My first reaction was that we would not be signing anyone on a permanent basis,but we would sign a centre back on loan. But then the media got played by the Cons. West Ham had agreed a deal with Brentford to sign Said Benhrama. And were discussing personal terms with Benhrama tomorrow. Fareham was unmoved. Not happening was my reaction. Next day the frenzied media ,said that personal terms had been agreed with Benhrama. However ,the first indication that Sullivan did not want to cough up the dough happened that afternoon.
Sullivan ,got onto the blower and handed out a 'exclusive' to his mate Darren Lewis of The Mirror ."Benhrama deal close to COLLAPSE "said Lewis .Explaining that Benhrama had been owed a £2.5 million 'loyalty' bonus by Brentford .So Benhrama gave the 100 Brentford staff £2.5 million ?ABSOLUTE BOLLOCKS .In days gone by The Cons would of got away with it, and simply walked away from the deal. West Ham fans would of said "We don't need greedy players like Benhrama ". But after 10 years of lies and more lies .West Ham fans know all their 'party tricks', as a result a furore broke out amongst the fan base .By the end of the evening, we got told that The Club was confident the deal would go through. With everything settled there was excitement as Benhrama was going to do his medical.
Fareham was STILL not convinced. I remarked that the Cons would probably make sure, that Benhrama would fail his medical. Benhrama passed the first part of his medical we were told .How anyone can fail a West Ham is beyond me !After all Jack Wilshere ,Andy Carroll and Kieron Dyer passed theirs !Two days for a medical ?Christ on a bike !Javier Hernandez landed in the country at 2pm and was unveiled at 8 that evening .Something was not right I said to myself. But the Board lackeys said, Benhrama would be presented as a West Ham player the next morning.
Next morning fans waited and waited but no Benhrama . My Aston Villa mate was wild with excitement !Villa had HIJACKED the deal he said .Entirely possible was my reply .Then it happened ,Darren Lewis, said the deal was OFF !As Benhrama failed his medical !Which was ABSOLUTE BOLLOCKS. Footage later emerged on the internet of Taggart(Moyes) coming up to Benhrama and says :"How are you ??Did you pass?( medical)"A smiling Benhrama said "Yes "Taggart replies :"Good !Good !"Taggart kept the pressure on the Cons at his pre match press conference :"No the player had not failed his medical and we are hoping the deal still goes through "said Moyes .With Benhrama already having done the media interviews, had the strip on, and his Mum being with him at the training ground. There was no way in hell Benhrama was not going to sign for West Ham
.Which he duly happened at 6:56 PM
Much has been said about the Cons behavior, towards Brentford , in concluding the deal .Look Brentford's Director Of Football ,Phil Giles, had his pants pulled down by the Cons. Yes, The Cons basically shop lifted a highly gifted player and Brentford's crown jewel, and walked out !But let us not be naïve here .Both Clubs had been working on this deal for a couple of weeks, mainly working on the structure of the deal .Seems like the last two days Brentford demanded more cash up front .West Ham said no and as a result they attempted to up the price .The next thing we heard was that, Benhrama, had a issue with his blood tests.
As Brentford found out, you can't out con the Cons! Leaving them with no option but to accept the deal ,the Cons always wanted .We are giving you five million and we will pay you the rest in a years time !Just after Benhrama signed ,Aaron phoned me and was FURIOUS that we had "Stolen Benhrama "My reply tongue in cheek was :"With all your dough surely your owner could of bought Benhrama ?Or has he run out of money ?"His reply was unprintable :).Some you win ,some you lose .The transfer window as a whole ?It could of been far worse believe you me .
So when are we getting rid of the Cons ? And all these takeover bids ?Absolute bollocks !All these takeover 'bids' are nothing but 'phantom bids', leaked on their behalf by their lackeys. They don't plan to go anywhere .The bulk of Sullivan's dough is tied up in Real Estate. Which post Cov -19 is in big big trouble. The porn industry is for free now on the internet .People no longer visit Sullivan's sex shops, and pay two quid for his cubicle and the rest is history .So are West Ham doomed, should they stay ?No we are not doomed .Look I never wanted them and still don't, but one must look at the facts regarding The Club. Even if we lose to Man City and Liverpool ,even the most hard hearted amongst us, can see Taggart and his very experienced Coaching staff are attempting to build something special.
We have a group of players, who both like and respect Moyes and his staff. There is pride in wearing The Claret and Blue again, as was all too obvious against Spurs .A tremendous team spirit exist amongst the lads .We have some really talented players. When someone like Graeme Souness says :"West Ham could easy be top 6-8 "Then you know the Club is heading in the right direction .Apart from Dawson ,Moyes has made crystal clear to the Cons, that he only wants players at The Club who will improve the Club. Long may it continue !You can only progress as a football Club if there is stability .Things are far from perfect, but it is time to show a bit of patience towards Moyes and his backroom staff .So that they can complete a full overhaul of the Club,from top to bottom. Optimistic Fareham ?I like what I have been seeing so far .The future is bright, the future is Claret and Blue! We are more than a football Club ,we're a way of life !COYI!!!!
