West Ham United co-owner David Gold kept his composure in the face of a Twitter troll to praise Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson.
West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic
The Hammers were one of the busiest clubs of the summer transfer window bringing in 13 players off the back of the club’s best ever Premier League points total last season.
All the while Gold, fellow co-owner David Sullivan and vice-chairman Karren Brady were negotiating West Ham’s migration from Upton Park to their new 60,000 seater Olympic Stadium home.
West Ham United’s new signing Edimilson Fernandes
Only Edimilson Fernandes of those summer signings has made a positive impact so far while the stadium move has been fraught with problems and safety concerns.
The team has been struggling on the pitch with six defeats from their opening 10 games leaving Slaven Bilic’s side a lowly 16th a quarter of the way through the season.
Middlesbrough manager Aitor Karanka
Meanwhile newly-promoted Middlesbrough have the same number of points as the Hammers on their return to the top flight but sit two places higher after drawing at Arsenal and beating Bournemouth in the last two games.
It was put to Gold by a Boro-supporting Twitter troll that their chairman Steve Gibson was a better owner than him because he was not keen on publicity and did not make his money in the adult industry.
West Ham co-owner David Gold
And Gold, who built a multi-million pound empire despite an impoverished childhood, handled the situation well.
“I agree that that Steve Gibson is one of the finest chairman in football,” Gold replied on Twitter.
Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson in the stands
Gibson has been rewarded for his brave decision to invest large sums in playing staff for head coach Aitor Karanka with the likes of Gaston Ramirez, Stuani and Stewart Downing all playing key roles throughout this season and last.
The self-made millionaire has been with ‘Boro for 30 years having stepped in when the club was on its knees and facing the very real prospect of going out of business.
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