Forum | Non-Football Related

Having of late overseen some of the worst transfer dealings the club has ever experienced, the current owners are exploiting the lack of live fans in attendance by making 'cost cuttings' that resemble massive surgery! You have to give them some form of inverted praise for the way they have managed to alienate fans and players alike in equal measure, it appears that the unholy trinity of David Sullivan, David Gold and the 'Sun writer' are hell bent on revenge for having actually spent a few quid for a brief couple of years, entirely contrary to their usual business model.

So as part of their 'final solution', the Hammers hierarchy are now attempting to 'expunge' any rays of hope that may have been generated under the 'Pelligrinophile', and indeed under previous manager Slaven Billic. Hot on the heels of selling Albian Ajeti and Jordan Hugill at a massive loss, and then 'sacrificing' Grady Diangana in a transfer that moved club captain Mark Noble to say "“As captain of this football club I’m gutted, angry and sad that Grady has left, great kid with a great future!” Grady himself said "West Ham was all I had known before last season and I’m sure people will understand that I felt some sadness at leaving."

Of course the club trolled out the usual excuse "The decision to sell Grady has been made reluctantly but – ultimately – in the best interests of the Club and with the aim to strengthen the squad in different areas at this time. The money received for Grady will be reinvested entirely in the team, in line with the manager’s targets. We believe that this will give us the best possible chance of ensuring we have a balanced squad to compete in the Premier League and capable of reaching our objectives and ambitions this season."

So to compound a truly appalling week, the club have now 'leaked' information via their pet unofficial website that Felipe Anderson is being offered, or more accurately touted, to the club's London rivals at a knock down price, with a £5 Million loan deal to Arsenal being 'floated', with the Irons to pay HALF of his wages!

The thing is in life chancers usually get found out eventually, and the saying "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time!" If the powers that be think they can hide behind the lack of crowd demonstrations against their ownership then they are mistaken, because people do NOT have short memories and will remember the assorted 'treacheries' commited with a vengeance that will not diminish but will grow and eventually come back to haunt them.

Surely their 'mission' as agents for the consortium that represents all of London's football clubs is nearly over, as per the remit, they have taken a once proud club and turned it into a 'freak show', they have made it 'homeless' and are now nearly finished at making it soulless, all that is left is for them now is to mortgage the hell out of the club, and then sell up leaving it well and truly fucked! -Ed

Without the possibility of selling season tickets at the full rate as opposed to the '30% option' that most fans have elected to take, the powers that be at West Ham United have come up with a 'cunning plan' to make up the difference, so cunning that it defies a 'normal' person's logic but never the less is 'totally' practicable. The 'normal' need to 'flog' season tickets with future 'aspirational' or potential marquee signings has been somewhat obviated due to the Covid-19 pandemic, so in a way the co-owners have been let of the hook, no one in their right mind thought that there would be investment any where near the levels of when the 'Pelligrinophile' was in charge.

To make up for the loss of revenue from season ticket sales and from match day catering and club shop sales, the club needed to find around £20 Million, then there is the loss of revenue from the Broadcasters as they sought a rebate for 'live games' that couldn't be shown live! The need for additional future 'adapted' finances was obvious since the beginning of April, and it was assumed that the club had taken the necessary precautions to avoid financial meltdown. Two factors now come in to play, as we have mentioned in previous articles FFP is not in contention for the coming season, so clubs are at liberty to spend 'beyond their means' to help them through what has been and will continue to be a set of unique circumstances.

So with FFP no longer an obstacle, why are the Hammers co-owners strangling any attempt that their 'incumbent' manager David Moyes may have of picking up players, even those from the 'bargain basement' provided by clubs even less fortunate? It is well known that West Ham United, along with several other Barclays Premier League teams, take a 'payday loan' annually against future TV revenues, and although such loans are now not acceptable when factored in to 'current' accounting, they can still be taken as long as they are paid up within a 12 month time frame.

West Ham's hierarchy and their accountants will have set their various fiscal limits prior to the Covid situatuion, and as such were victims to the crisis, unfortunately the timing could not have been worse as the club was reeling from the effects of trying the 'luxurious option' in the form of Manuel Pellegrini, his scatter shot approach to signings almost made those of the two Davids' seem logical! Teams that are essentially 'state owned' like Manchester City and other 'elite clubs' with massive financial backing, will be able to 'ride the wave' and look forward to prospering, with the distinct possibility of 'acquiring talent' at pernicious rates.

Neither David Sullivan nor David Gold, nor even 'Tripp' Smith are particularly wealthy by Football owners standard's, in fact they are relative paupers when it comes to Barclays Premier League clubs, and their 'minor wealth' is tied up in long term investments and as such they do not have the financial liquidity needed in the short term in order to keep things afloat. David Sullivan's wealth is based on a large property portfolio, much of which is 'prime' office and reatail space based in the West End and City of London.

Now faced with a massive drop in income, Sullivan is not currently able to 'bale the club out' as he has done in the past, albeit with loans that made him a decent profit. The 'panic' costly sales of Roberto, Hugill and to some extent that of Ajeti go to show just how bad things really are. The culmination of the 'fiscal issue' is the sale of Grady Diangana, the stark choice the board had, and we in no way sanction their eventual action as we believe they are mistaken, was to sell at least one of the club's home grown jewels.

This course of action was deemed necessary because the club has been unable to shift ANY of it's 'luxury' players at anywhere near a half decent price, there has been the odd loan offer for them, but the only players of interest to other clubs are the ones the club simply cannot afford to release. So it was going to be either, Grady Diangana, Issa Diop, Pablo Fornals or Declan Rice who was going to be the 'sacrificial lamb', fans well aware of how the co-owners have been known to behave in the past, particularly when they owned Birmingham City FC, will be fearful that it won't only be Diangana to exit the London Stadium.

Diangana's departure is a shameful and damning indightment of previous failures at the club, failures that are coming back to bite with a vengeance, the club is broke, the only honourable thing to do would be for the owners to sell up, they would still make a 'killing' even in today's depressed market, because either they make a killing or they might just 'kill off' a once proud and great club. -Ed

According to the Telegraph West Brom have had a bid of £12 Million for Grady Diangana accepted by West Ham United, more news to follow Normally, well at least for the last ten years, West Ham fans have become accustomed to the usual "We've backed the manager to the hilt, but in order to comply with FFP we are unable to fund any more acquisitions without player departures". This season is different in many ways, obviously the Covid-19 Pandemic has had an acute effect on club finances right across the board, however in order to 'negate' the issue of short term financial difficulty FFP has been suspended for TWELVE months!

So the old FFP chestnut cannot be rolled out as an excuse for a lack of investment, in fact a quick and envious glance at most of the other teams in the Barclays Premier League, and indeed particularly those who have just been promoted from the Championship, reveals 'significant' player acquisitions and further intent. So what are the options for David Moyes and the West Ham board? The sell to buy mantra is falling on the 'deaf ears' of most fans who cannot believe the club's lack of transfer activity compared to everyone else's.

If, and it is a very big if, there is NO money available then the club's options are clear, (a) * The fans' favourite choice, the co-owners sell the club (b) The club sells Pablo Fornals (c) **The club sells Grady Diangana (d) The Doomsday option, the club sells Declan Rice. Sadly option (a) Isn't going to happen any time soon, if at all, option (b) the sale of Fornals would generate much needed funds, however his value will be so much higher next season, the same applies to option (c) The sale of Grady Diangana, Grady is another player who will only go up in value, selling him now will be a short term benefit but a long term loss.

Finally we reach the Doomsday option, the sale of Declan Rice. Ahead of discussing Declan's possible departure from the club, it is worth thinking about what would happen if Fornals and Diangana were sold, their combined sale would release around £40-45 Million. David Moyes could use up every penny in order to fill the gaping chasm that is the Hammers defence, the need for two full backs is clearly obvious as is the need for a back up striker and a midfield enforcer.

Of course the beginning of the season is just a few days away, although the transfer window has uniquely been extended until 11pm on Monday 5th October 2020 for clubs to complete their dealings, however, Premier League and EFL clubs will have an extended exclusive window from 5th October until 11pm on the 16th October. During this period, only transfer deals between one Premier League and one EFL club can take place. Premier League teams cannot do deals with each other or foreign clubs in this time.

So, with around five weeks left in the window there is still plenty of time for things to happen, unfortunately most of the early 'bargains' have already been snapped up, consequently the next phase of the window is usually all about 'brinkmanship' and who blinks first. West Ham will probably sell Rice, it is only a question of when not if, but it would be a business 'folly' of the highest order if the club's hierarchy accept anything less than Rice's true value which is around £80 Million, talk of Chelsea knowing that West Ham will eventually crack and thereby lower their price is common place.

Rice isn't too good for West Ham, he is in the mould of Rio Ferdinand, and where might the Irons be if they hadn't taken the 'shilling' from Leeds United when they sold Rio for £18 Million? Of course Leeds then nearly doubled their investment when they sold him to Manchester United! Business is business, and if the club end up selling their prized asset, it had better be for top dollar otherwise there will be hell to pay, when you are stuck between a rock and a hard place sometimes there is no where else to go other than the fastest exit. -Ed