No News Is Bad News

Am I the only one getting more and more worried as the days then weeks roll by with no news of a buyer for West Ham? The out of court settlement with Shafting United was supposed to have tied up the loose ends and cleared the decks for the sale of the club; instead, it has opened the door for more and more compensation claims, with no apparent limitation on what we might yet have to shell out because of the Tevez fiasco. Who in his right mind would buy the club given this scenario?

Now look at this situation from the point of view of BG's creditors. When they got together this month, they were no doubt told about the impending settlement. Suddenly the propects of finding a buyer looked so much brighter. With an end to the Tevez affair in sight, and the damage quantified, prospective bidders could put a value on the club and that value would inevitably be higher with West Ham's position in the Premiership secured for next season. Why enforce administration on that basis and, in so doing, cut off your nose to spite your face by triggering a points deduction and so plunging the club deep into the relegation mire?

But suddenly everything stinks if you are one of those creditors. Far from quantifying the financial damage of the Tevez affair, the settlement has encouraged a pack of jackals to snap about our heels. Fulham want money, Warnock wants money, Horsfield wants money, Sanchez wants money, the whole bloody world wants money - and we have accepted that we were in the wrong by agreeing to stump up the dosh to Sheffield United. Where does this stop?

Well there is a frighteningly simple answer. The creditors simply say 'stuff this' and wind up the holding company, seizing the assets and putting the club into immediate administration. They will have first call on the money and there will be none left for Warnock and co once the first charge debts have been settled.

What they do from there is anybody's guess. Do they sell the club as a going concern or liquidate the assets? The playing staff would realise them approximately £88 million (Green £8m, Upson £8m, Parker £8m, Savio £5m, Collison £5m, Collins £4m, Behrami £12m, Noble £6m, Tomkins £5m, Ashton £8m, Cole £8m, Dyer £2m, Spector £1m, Davenport £2m, Faubert £3m and £3m for the kids) and I would guess the ground to be worth £50m for redevelopment as housing. That figure of £138m may well seem more appealing to the merchant bankers than the bids rumoured to be in the region of £100m which, to date, have not materialised. It might just make financial sense to shut the club down!

We are not out of the woods yet and as each day goes by without news, so the worry increases.