O,Neil replaces Grant..No He Doesn't!..Grant Stays

Always thought O'Neil would make the perfect Liverpool Manager

Why would O'Neil want to go West Ham...interfering owners and no money...no not us West Ham

Will he buy back the wetspam players he signed for Villa?

yup, he must know that he will not get the united job!

Grant wouldn't talk to ESPN after the game, he threw his scarf into the crowd and clapped them.

Arse fans were singing, sacked in a minute, youre getting sacked in a minute.

He'll go and then be DOF at Chelscum.

O'Neill is a nutter anyway and probably wants to work/earn some dosh.

A 6 month deal for O'Neill and then replaces Dalglish in the summer?

The People says today that O'Neill is not happy about the leak and may well turn them down.

This isn't entirely relevant, but nice to see a picture of the Pack!

I've lost a lot (more) respect for West Ham

Guardian

West Ham fight to keep Martin O'Neill in their plans

• Irishman unimpressed by leaks about Grant 'sacking'
• Deal to take over until end of season still on table *

* Stuart James

West Ham United were tonight trying to keep alive their hopes of landing Martin O'Neill as their new manager after it emerged the Northern Irishman is understood to have been unimpressed with reports yesterday morning claiming he would be named as Avram Grant's successor later that evening.

The West Ham board have been involved in discussions with O'Neill's representatives since the start of last week and he was warming to the idea of taking over at Upton Park on a short-term contract until the end of the season.

A potential agreement has, however, been thrown into doubt after it was reported on the morning of the game against Arsenal, when Grant was tasked with taking charge of the team, that O'Neill would be appointed immediately after the match.

O'Neill is believed to be disappointed with the way the story has been leaked and in particular the idea that he has accepted a position before the manager in post has been dismissed. There is an unwritten rule among managers that they should not pursue a job while someone else is still in place, and although it is fact of life that clubs will nearly always make soundings before sacking the man in charge, those discussions are generally kept private. West Ham's failure to do so has made the whole episode look undignified.

It remains to be seen whether the damage is irreparable or if David Sullivan and David Gold, West Ham's co-owners, can talk O'Neill around and convince him to take over a club anchored to the foot of the table. The former Aston Villa manager has been their first choice to resurrect West Ham's season ever since they gave serious consideration to replacing Grant and it would be a blow if a deal fell through.

Sam Allardyce, the former Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United and Bolton Wanderers manager, was the only other contender on West Ham's original short-list, but O'Neill, who has been out of work since he walked out on Villa on the eve of the season, would be a much more popular choice with the club's fans. He is a charismatic figure, is renowned for being an excellent motivator of players and has an impressive track record.

Although there has been a feeling of surprise within football that O'Neill is interested in becoming the West Ham manager and is not targeting a higher-profile position, he is understood to be eager to return to the game after a five-month break. He has missed the day-to-day involvement and would welcome the chance to manage at a traditional club again and embrace the challenge of trying to keep West Ham up.

Should O'Neill choose to take over at West Ham, his appointment would almost certainly be until the end of the season, with the aim of dragging the club clear of the relegation zone before reviewing his position in the summer. West Ham had been considering brokering a similar agreement with Allardyce after the club's owners decided to shelve talk of a long-term strategy and focus on the short-term priority that is survival.

All the while Grant continues to resemble a dead man walking as he clings on to his job. "I prefer to talk about football rather than answer questions about other things around, especially when I am not the man you need to be asking," the Israeli said after the 3-0 defeat at home against Arsenal.

"I had two choices and chose to focus on football. I want to focus on the thing I can control and this is the team."

www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/jan/16/martin-oneill-avram-grant-west-ham-united

Mirror

Brady's text shame adds more mayhem to Hammers madness

Published 23:00 17/01/11 By Martin Lipton

Deceit, back-stabbing, chaos and attempted insurrection.
Forget EastEnders, you could not devise a more crazy soap opera than the one Avram Grant has endured for the past few months.

With Grant left dangling, seemingly hanging on only because the West Ham board cannot find his replacement to let them cut him loose, any claims about the moral authority of the Upton Park owners have disappeared.

The events of the past few days have served to ­crystallise the feeling West Ham is a club riven by internal feuds and not fit for purpose.

Dressing-room sources cannot hide their disbelief at what the players, staff and of course their manager have been put through, at a time when the club publicly talks about pulling together to escape the relegation zone.

But with Martin O’Neill turning down the chance to inherit what increasingly resembles a madhouse, and Grant looking likely to stay in charge for the foreseeable future, the scale of the underhand dealing that has turned the Hammers into what former local hero Julian Dicks called a “laughing stock” can be revealed.

The worst and most ­extraordinary act of all saw Karren Brady texting a number of internationals in Grant’s squad to effectively ask them to rise up against the Israeli.
One dressing-room source revealed: “When the texts came in, asking some of us what we thought of Avram and whether we felt he should go, none of us could believe what was happening.

“As far as I know, no one replied to the texts, which seemed to be asking us to go to the owners and ask for a change of manager.

“But the players who received them showed the texts to the coaching staff and pretty soon everybody knew what had gone on. It simply wasn’t right.”

That attempt to undermine Grant, at a point when his fortunes were at their lowest ebb, was just the beginning of what resembled a ­destabilisation campaign.

Yet the problems were running even deeper, as cost-cutting measures began to eat away at morale at the club.

One well-liked member of staff at the Chadwell Heath training ground, paid just £200 a week as a general helper, was told he would be fired because his wages could no longer be afforded. It was only after the board were told the players were furious at such callous ­treatment was the decision ­overturned.

Secretarial staff have had hours cut to save money. In one case that saved £300 a month at a club which has an annual wage bill of tens of millions of pounds.

It is understood joint owners David Sullivan and David Gold and the board were shaken when all their preferred candidates – among them Sam Allardyce and Martin Jol – warned that up to six ­signings before the end of January would be the minimum requirement to keep the club in the Premier League. That would need money that is not there.

Grant – whose record of four wins and one defeat in the seven games before the home match with Arsenal on Saturday was better than 17 of the other top-flight bosses and beaten only by Sir Alex Ferguson – was still trying to line up transfers despite Brady pulling the plug on a deal for Steve Sidwell.

Ten days ago, Wayne Bridge was told West Ham could not afford to pay even £60,000 of his £90,000-a-week salary.

Remarkably, after Tottenham’s ramped-up efforts to land the Olympic Stadium sparked claims the Hammers were unable to come up with the cash needed to make the project viable, Bridge was signed until the end of the season – on £90,000 a week.

As speculation over Grant’s future grew last week, as “crisis” board ­meetings came and went and whispers emanated from within that he was to be sacked and replaced by O’Neill ­irrespective of the result against Arsenal, the players’ anger boiled over.

They awoke to the “news” of Grant’s imminent ­departure and spent much of the day brooding about what was happening. Messages were left on the answer-phones of Brady, Sullivan and Gold without reply, while the players rang each other for information.

“Nobody had a clue what was going on and the fact we were all left out of the loop made it worse,” said another dressing-room insider.

“It was still going on when we were arriving before the game and it was no way for any of us to prepare for playing Arsenal.

“After the game a few of us told Avram he shouldn’t go and face the press and that he should let the board take the flak but he said it was his job and went and spoke.”

No wonder former Hammers left-back Dicks claimed: “We’re becoming a laughing stock. They need to come out and end all this speculation and say, ‘We support you’ or they should sack Grant.

“They must get this sorted out so everyone can start concentrating on football again. They need to bring in four players quickly, a central midfielder to play alongside Scott Parker, a striker who is going to score goals, a right-back and a centre-half too.

“It would be ­financially catastrophic if West Ham were relegated.”

A catastrophe that Grant, despite everything, is left to try to avert.

A West Ham spokesman declined to comment on the record although the club insisted no such texts were sent from board members to players, that the number of analysts and coaching staff at Chadwell Heath had increased and that the training-ground worker was due to retire on age grounds, but a ­“compromise” was reached which enabled him to stay on.

www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/West-Ham-mayhem-deepens-after-revelations-Karren-Brady-sent-text-messages-to-senior-players-effectively-asking-for-an-uprising-against-manager-Avram-Grant-article675881.html

Nah F*** them, I'd stay and await payment. if he quits he gets nout, make them fire him.

INDEPENDENT

Grant given lifeline after O’Neill rejects West Ham

Ex-Villa manager spurns £3m bonus as desperate owners to talk to Allardyce

By Mark Fleming

West Ham United are running out of options after it appeared last night that Martin O'Neill was to turn down a lucrative offer from the Premier League's bottom club to replace Avram Grant as manager until the end of the season.

The club's co-owners, David Gold and David Sullivan are fearful of the potential cost of relegation, and had offered O'Neill a huge bonus of around £3m should he keep the club in the top division.

However, sources last night indicated that O'Neill had decided to turn down West Ham's remarkable deal. Now Gold and Sullivan are to reopen talks with Sam Allardyce, who remains an unpopular choice with the club's supporters, who fear he would turn them into a long-ball team.

The other alternative is to keep Grant in the job until the end of the season, although the vice-chairman Karren Brady is among those at the club who have lost confidence in the Israeli, who was appointed last summer on a four-year deal. Their relationship would appear to be beyond repair.

Sources last night indicated, however, that the former Chelsea and Portsmouth manager may be asked to remain in his job, despite the events of last weekend, when it appeared that he would be sacked immediately following Saturday's 3-0 defeat to Arsenal.

Grant clearly believed his time was up, and tossed his scarf into the Upton Park crowd at the final whistle in what appeared to be a farewell gesture. However, now it seems he may be asked to stay on.

Since arriving in June he has led the side to a Carling Cup semi-final against Birmingham City, but they are also bottom of the Premier League by a point, having played one game more than their nearest rivals.

Grant is biding his time, refusing to resign while waiting for the club to act so he can pick up his pay-off, which is expected to be in the region of £5m, or stay on. However, if he is going to be sacked, Gold and Sullivan need to act quickly and bring in a new manager as soon as possible, because the January transfer window closes in two weeks' time.

O'Neill, the former Leicester City, Celtic and Aston Villa manager, had been the club's preferred option and he appeared ready to come, with Steve Walford as his assistant. But O'Neill was unsettled by premature reports at the weekend that he was to replace Grant immediately after Saturday's home game with Arsenal. He was unhappy that the stories suggested he had accepted a position before the incumbent manager had been dismissed. With O'Neill ruling himself out, Allardyce remains an alternative, as does Martin Jol, who was recently sacked by Ajax.

Relegation would have terrible financial consequences for West Ham resulting in a drop in revenues estimated at around £30m a year, although there are parachute payments of £48m over four years.

The stakes are high for co-owners Gold and Sullivan, who claim to have have pumped £30m into the club they bought a year ago, which has already been eaten up in trading losses. That is on top of the £50m they jointly spent buying more than 60 per cent of the shares.

The situation clearly demands a swift resolution. The former West Ham captain Julian Dicks yesterday accused Gold and Sullivan of turning the club into a "laughing stock". Dicks said: "I heard one minute that Avram was leaving, then the next I hear it's Martin O'Neill who's coming in, and then he isn't. We're becoming a laughing stock really.

"They [Gold and Sullivan] have the best interests of the club and the supporters at heart, I'm sure, but they need to come out and end all this speculation and say, 'We support you', or they should sack him."

Grant last night received support from Mick McCarthy, the manager of fellow strugglers Wolverhampton Wanderers. McCarthy said: "It is just a bizarre situation. It can't be fair on him or the players or anyone else. You try and focus on the job in hand but people chipping away at it makes it hard."

www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/grant-given-lifeline-after-orsquoneill-rejects-west-ham-2186925.html

Managing to outdo even QPR!

West Ham Official Site

West Ham United statement
The club have on Tuesday morning responded to a report in the Daily Mirror newspaper
18.01.2011

West Ham United categorically deny the allegations made in today's Daily Mirror with regard to Karren Brady, the club's Vice-Chairman.

Karren has worked tirelessly to improve all aspects of the club's operation and is extremely disappointed by the nature of these unfounded allegations. West Ham fully intend to identify the source of these unhelpful and untrue comments and remove them from the club. West Ham have placed the matter immediately in the hands of their lawyers.

The club are committed to retaining Avram Grant as manager and have identified potential transfer targets to give us the best possible chance of retaining Premier League status.

www.whufc.com/articles/20110118/west-ham-united-statement_2236884_2269527