This is more on-of-on-off than Ronaldo's move to Real Madrid. One thing's for sure, if it is going to happen, it is in everybody's interests to get the deal done sooner rather than later. We have seen before how Boardroom uncertainty can lead to indifferent performances on the pitch - and that was before the club faced the very real prospect of insolvency.
If you are looking for a parallel for our present position, you need look no further than Newcastle. I put money on them to go down last Christmas because, like a stick of Brighton Rock, no matter how far you bite down, they had the same word imprimpted through them, "Chaos". What was true of Newcastle last season is true of us now. The team is not playing as a team, the manager is pressing ahead with tactics which clearly do not work, senior professionals are probably thinking about their escape route, the club's top striker can't get onto the pitch, and foreigners and youngsters and being blooded in the midst of a relegation struggle. And to top it all, the owners don't want to own the club and are unwilling to finance new purchases. That is a catastrophic combination. You could even find a parallel between Shearer and Zola, a playing "great" with no experience of the management game - and so ill equipped to cope with the pressure.
Whether or not Sullivan would be "the best thing to happen to the club in 20 years", as Barry Fry claims (with characteristic hyperbole), is open to debate but ANYTHING has to be better than the present situation. I would even welcome a partnership of Brown and IKEA! Hopefully, what we are seeing is posturing, with both sides trying to negotiate the price to suit themselves. If we hit December and C&B Holdings are still in charge, we will go down. I won't have money on it because I could never bet on that, but anybody without a conscience would be mad not to put their mortgage on it!
kevin manchester writes..
ReplyDeleteI don't buy your cast iron paralells between Newcastle and West Ham , as an amteur historian I can tell you history rarely repeats itself as often as people believe.. a couple of wins and we'll all be wondering what the panic was about ..however... Sullivan and Gold, if they demonstrated anything at Birmingham, it was the ability to bring stability to the enterprise and right now that is more important than any fool dreams about champions league and europe, as I am sure you will agree
I agree with your final point Kevin, but as a historian, I can confirm that history always repeats itself. Leaders always have the same personality characteristics and so there is an inevitability that history will repeat. And it is not just leaders. Our own selfishness and greed recycles history. Please explain how the South Sea Bubble, the Double Miras Bubble, the Dot Com Bubble and the Banking Credit Bubble are not examples of history repeating?
ReplyDeletekevin writes..History will repeat itself every season, in that three teams will be relegated; that's what I would call an inevitability in the same way in the capitalist system there will inevitably be a period of correction that will arise from contradictions in the system or because a bunch of greedy gits over reach themselves. what I am mean, i suppose, is that it is always tempting when trying to unravel a contemporary crisis, to reach for a comparison in another; it is not that the Newcastle situation has no lessons for us ,it is just I believe that there are significant differences to make a carbon copy of events unlikely.(although of course we may still be relegated) I know you don't rate Zola but I do ( it's a matter of opinion)I know you loath Duxbury but you must allow for the possibility at least that you may be wrong and rather than screwing the club, he's doing a good job keeping desperate forces at bay. I'd take Nani anyday over Wise, I believe we have a better squad ( three england squad members, two wales, one switzerland , one DRC etc) and most importantly a good crop of youngsters.. in fact there are grounds to suggest it's the best ever because in the past they came in two's or three's .. Collinson, Nobel, Hines, Dixon, Tompkins, Stanislas, Payne, Sears, N'Gala Nouble, Montano, Spence, Fry .. that's a whole team and a bench of subs- all ( or most) of whom have been selected for their international team at one age group or another; now obviously not all will make it but it's an indication of the quality. That's a lot better than anything Newcastle had or indeed have.. finally we don't have Ashley or any number of Messiahs to make matters worse.
ReplyDeleteHistory certainly does repeat itself. Every post on here is self-opiniated pessimism.
ReplyDeleteHave yet to hear / read any Brum fan with anything good to say about Sullivan and Gold and once they're in, will we ever get them out if they're rubbish?
ReplyDelete1431, at least the club will still be alive! If we survive, Sullivan and Gold could be relied upon to cash in a profit should somebody come along and offer a £50m profit.
ReplyDeleteKevin, how did I miss the parallel between Nani and Wise? Savio and Franco? Do you think they were what Zola ordered? I wonder if Zola was invited to watch a YouTube video of the General?
ReplyDeleteBe careful what you wish for, it may come true.
ReplyDeleteIs history now repeating itself? Should we have stayed loyal to a West Ham legend instead of going for the plastic sheen of a Chelsea favourite? In Zola we trust, but on Curbishley could we depend?
ReplyDeleteDear God, on Turds we could depend for crap football and destroying everything our club stands for! Dyer, Quashie, Bellyache, Davenport, Boa-Morte, need I go on?
ReplyDeleteHello again Hammersfan. Haven't read your blog for a couple of months. Sth Aust,work,money,desert,
ReplyDeleteduststorms,more work,boring. I agree with what you have said above wholeheartedly. If we haven't got this sorted by christmas, deary me, i hate to think. The moratorium finishes mid December i think, & someone is going to want their money back. A camel in the hand is worth two in the bush i heard recently, & if Sullivan & Gold come in, better the devil you know than the one you don't. He will run a tight ship but he will clear our debt. Football unfortunately now, is run as a business primarily & cannot be separated from a declining economy. There has to be a leveling out & i think that it will be in players wages & unfortunately ticket prices will rise. I agree with the comment on Newcastle as much as i wish them well. Ashley has told Hughton that he has a shoestring budget. Ashley tried to sell again in June for 100mill but got no offers. If they don't get up before the parachute payments end, very difficult. We are not Birmingham, different club altogether, & seeing as he was a supporter, i don't agree with the Birmingham supporters comments that he will take us down. Doesn't add up. I hope that if their interest is genuine, that this is resolved quickly & we can get some stability & get on with life.
Cheers Winston, good to see you looking back in.
ReplyDeleteThat's probably the most shocking article(sorry sentence) you have ever written Brown back please no I'd rather go bust reform and start in the Southend Jnr Central league and if Curbishley is a fan lets hope he stays just a fan I think a worse manager than Roeder I recall seeing at least one entertaining match under that arrogant BLEEP
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