Rebuilding The Boleyn Wall

Ever since the first religious leaders realised the power that could be achieved by harnessing man’s natural concern about his mortality, fear has been at the heart of all population management systems. For fifty years the Berlin wall protected us from the threat of the bankrupt, inefficient and corrupt Soviet block. With its demise came the rise of the Muslim plot to take over the world and more recently we, as individuals, have been informed that if we don’t reduce our mileage by five miles a week, then blame for the death of the planet will be laid squarely at our door.

In truth it doesn’t matter whether the threat is real or not, the perception of a threat is what allows the powers that be to behave in ways that may attract more scrutiny in other circumstances. David Sullivan has recently bought himself a brickie’s trowel and has been laying it on thick in the press as he builds the Boleyn wall.............. to protect us from Armageddon.

The excesses of the previous regime, the scale of debt, the carnage that would have ensued if Gollivan had not come to our rescue. The decision to buy West Ham made no business sense but...........the two Davids are fans. Sullivan was very quick to tell us how he galvanised team spirit and achieved almost single handedly a victory over Birmingham by suggesting an across the board 25% pay cut. He has been less vociferous about how he is preparing the fans for this summer’s activity.

The high wage earners will go in the summer, most have already accepted that and there is no doubt that the club needs to be run on a more sustainable basis, but what happens after the sales? Are we being prepared for several years of mid table mediocrity with a return of Curbishley or his ilk?

The current economic climate in football means that it is unlikely that we will achieve the sort of prices for our top players that we may have done even a year ago. But it also means that it should be possible to buy good players on the more realistic wages that are the theme of new contracts everywhere.

Birmingham was sold for £80 million, the stake in West Ham was bought for £50 million. The transfer market this summer will be such that if that spare £30 million is invested wisely we could expect to have a squad every bit as strong as this year but with much lower overheads. But perhaps that money had to be used to pay back loans? Well if Gollivan were prepared to borrow that sort of money to facilitate the running of Birmingham, no doubt they would be prepared to do the same for West Ham, after all, we are constantly being told that the decision to buy our club was made entirely because................. the two Davids are fans.

By El Martillo

(And mate, that is the best headline I have ever read! Hope the picture does it justice!)