West Ham United co-owner David Gold has hit back at disgruntled fans and defended the club’s much criticised summer transfer business.
West Ham United’s Adrian, Dimitri Payet and team mates look dejected
A woeful start to life at their new home has left morale on the pitch and in the stands at a new low.
Fighting amongst fans and safety fears at the ground as well as a perceived lack of the famous intimidating Hammers atmosphere from Upton Park has seen the stadium switch cited by many as a reason for the club’s contrast in fortunes compared to their fantastic campaign last term.
Five defeats from the first seven Premier League games is the club’s worst ever start to a season and leaves Bilic’s side in the relegation zone.
They were also unceremoniously dumped out of Europe in qualifying too.
The stadium issues have driven a wedge between factions of supporters and the club’s owners.
And some poor summer transfer business has not helped either.
West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic
The club signed 13 players – including a series of loans – none of which have so far improved the first team.
Supporters are seriously disillusioned with the direction the club is heading and the bizarre sale of homegrown Hammer James Tomkins to London rivals Crystal Palace for £10 million has also led to a mistrust between board and fans.
Co-owner David Sullivan’s son Dave recently deleted his Twitter account after growing fed up of abuse he received on the social networking site.
Karren Brady
Vice-chairman Karren Brady, who was allegedly spat at by her own fans during a recent 4-2 home defeat to Watford, has also been vilified this week after comments she made to business leaders about rebranding the club were reported out of context.
Gold’s presence on social media and both owners’ penchant for talking about club matters in the public domain polarises opinion among the club’s support.
West Ham co-owner David Gold
Now Gold has hit back at supporters who have been critical of the club’s summer business.
“For your information we were the 8th biggest spenders in the PL we also broke our transfer record with the signing of Ayew,” Gold said on Twitter.
“(AC Milan striker Carlos) Bacca wouldn’t come for love nor money and the only other option was to kidnap him which of course is illegal.”
Quite why Gold feels being the eighth biggest spenders in what was such a crucial summer for the club in terms of recruiting is puzzling.
Woeful: Gokhan Tore
Him and fellow co-owner Sullivan promised big name, marquee signings – pledging to spend over £30 million to snare the 20-goal a season striker the club needed to push on in their new 60,000 seater home and challenge the elite.
Instead Bilic’s squad has been diluted with mediocre players such as Havard Nordtveit, Gokhan Tore, Simeone Zaza and Sofiane Feghouli.
And Ayew’s signing for a club record £20 million raised eyebrows throughout football with the majority of pundits and supporters feeling the club paid well over the odds.
The Hammers opted for quantity over quality and the board could well live to regret that for years to come if Bilic fails to turn things around.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
