Wednesday 9 November 2011

Doubts Over Move to Olympic Stadium Confirmed by David Gold

David Gold was on Talk Bollocks, interviewed by Gray and Keys. The link is carried below, and it is well worth a listen! The first thing to say is the guy is so disarming. He really does come across as a decent bloke, damn him! Do I trust him. No. Do I like him? Darn it, yes!

There's some fascinating stuff in the interview. Loved the bit where Andy Gray asks what type of underwear Karren Brady favours and when Richard Keys enquires about her tea making ability and the quality of her Sunday roast. Or were Gray and Keys asking whether she is up for spit roasting?

On the less serious side, the suggestion that there are now some concerns about the proposed move to the Olympic Stadium is very interesting. It seems that the 99 year guarantee to keep the running track may have thrown a spanner in the works. Is Gold maneuvering to get the retractable seating installed free of charge? Possibly. But there was no categorical commitment to the move, which is a huge change on a few months ago.

Will we increase the capacity at the Boleyn then? Definitely not according to Gold. Why? Well apparently our failure to realise our potential as the "eighth best supported club in the country" is all down to the stadium and its location. According to Gold, it is not the stadium that's the problem but the surrounding area and its dreadful transport links! That's a bit odd given there is a tube station just up the road. Has Gold ever tried getting to White Hart lane on public transport? Bloody hell, is it any further to the Boleyn from Upton Park than it is to Stamford Bridge from Fulham Broadway? What Gold means is it takes him an age to drive his Rolls home because of the awful road network!

So, we're not staying at the Boleyn and we may not be moving to the OS. So where are we going? Does Gold fancy ground sharing at the new White Hart Lane or after the asset stripping is complete, are we going to put down jumpers for goal posts and play in Plashet Park?

What else did Gold cover? Avram is a lovely man and interviewed very well. Zola wasn't mentioned. Allardyce is a tactician and the fans are warming to him apparently. Gold loves tweeting and the fans will be consulted over the move away from the Boleyn - although the consultation will probably take the form of, "Do you want to move to a new stadium or would you prefer that the club be wound up?"

Fair dos to Talk Bollocks, the interview is well worth listening to, particularly when Gray says to Gold at the end, "And tell Karren I prefer thongs and Richard likes his tea with milk and four sugars"!

For the full interview, follow the link below:

http://www.talksport.co.uk/radio/richard-keys-and-andy-gray/blog/2011-11-09/david-gold-sam-allardyce-olympic-stadium-and-west-hams-future

18 comments:

Sav said...

I do believe they mean well. They want to see West Ham be successful and I fully agree with David Gold that it is necessary to move into a bigger stadium in order to make that dream come true.

But they are also business men and they care as much, if not more, about making a profit. Sometimes the two do not go hand-in-hand. Ask Abramovic or the Arab owners of Man. City if you have any doubts about this.

So, I am not sure which comes first with the Davids, West Ham or making a profit. Would they sacrifice a portion of their own wealth in order for West Ham to be at the top? I don't think so. I can't say I blame them. I am not sure I would do so if I were in their place either.

But I do expect them to err on the side of taking a risk to save the Club rather than to save their money. That is exactly what they opted out for last January where because of their decision to keep Avram Grant despite having become abundantly clear to all that he was not up to it, we ended up being relegated.

PM24 said...

Hello hammersfan hope all is well, ur sight is still very interesting to read an long may it continue. Im not able to listen to the talksport interview on my phone but will do as soon as poss.
Hope u don't mind me commenting something unrelated here?
I used to post on the org all the time under paulmeaney24, west h fan from Hemel. I had a £10 bet with your old pal wrighty shanghai! I predicted we would accumalate 10 points over October, he predicted 5. We got bang on 10 so I'm well happy! Thing is I lost my phone which had my org password on there. I have tried sending off for a new password, I emailed the org directly for one aswel, I also tried to set up another profile using a different name an email but nothing seems to work?
So I'm hoping someone will see this and let wrighty no my circumstance and why I didn't get back to him, and I hope he donated the £10 to the bobby Moore fund like we discussed!
On another note, there was a terrible tragedy in Hemel over the weekend. A young lad called Billy dove, 21, was stabbed to death in the town centre. Although he wasn't a personell friend of mine, I knew him an he was a lovely fella. So many of my friends are distraught an it's hit the town hard as Billy was so popular. Plenty of celebs have tweeted respect for him including jack wilshere an RVP as Billy was a big arsenal fan. A rushden fan on soccer am will be mentioning him this Saturday. Any acknowledgement on your sight would be great, same goes for the org.
Cheers hammersfan keep up the good work!

Hammersfan said...

Wrongy pay up £10 for losing a bet? Hell will freeze over first Paul! He will argue that by 5 points he meant 10 because it was obvious he was working on a ratio of two, whilst your 10 points is inaccurate because on the ratio of two, that means you predicted twenty!

Mind you, he will CLAIM he paid the money to charity anyway, just to show what a big hearted tosser he is!

If you email me at scott.tracey38@yahoo.co.uk I will give you my Org password. Then you can sign in as bringbackcurbs and explain your dilemma.

Shame about the guy who was stabbed. I knew an 18 year old lad who was stabbed through the heart at Hampton Court railway station defending a girl who he didn't know when a guy started abusing her. A terrible, terrible waste of a life.

So, you are in Hemel, land of the magic roundabout. Have we chatted about that before and my back double route through Gaddison Row?

Hammersfan said...

Paul, I have put up a thread on the Org explaining your problem. Happy to share the password so you can contribute in the meantime.

PM24 said...

Sorry to hear about the lad you knew. I hear so many stories these days of similar incidents just makes me wonder what type of people this country is full of, I'm already worrying about what things will be like for my daughter an she's only 3!
Yea we had a short discussion about Hemel and it's magic roundabout being better than swindons! I think you asked if the monks still knock about in the town? Sadly they don't, they lived in this manor house type property in boxmoor, which has since been gutted out and converted into flats!
You sure about me logging on as bringbackcurbs? The pure sight of your user name will prob send shivers down a few spines lol

Hammersfan said...

LOL Wrighty has already tried to have a go. The twat! Email me and I will email the password!

PM24 said...

Hahaha brilliant! Really appreciate the help mate I'll email you now

Anonymous said...

"That's a bit odd given there is a tube station just up the road"?!?! if you'd ever been to a game you'd know that you have to queue for ages... if you followed West Ham news you'd know that the police and the council will not allow any further expansion of the ground because there is no infrastructure for parking and public transport to support additional numbers.

Hammersfan said...

Queue for ages? Haven't you clocked how to squeeze through the railing half way down? You can also walk to East Ham tube, it aint exactly the other end of the earth is it? Or are you such a fat f***r that you can't squeeze through a gap or walk three quarters of a mile?

Dan Tench said...

I don't think that there is any doubt that we'll move into the Olympic Stadium whatsoever. Gold was just keeping quiet after everything that has gone on with Spurs and Orient.

Its ours. Maybe the track has to stay but the ground around it might not.

I look forward to it.

Hammersfan said...

It cetainly isn't ours! We may be lodgers but it wont be ours!

the headmaster said...

Evenin Dan - regular visitor to TGGC? Haven't noticed you posting before!

RW4e said...

Hi Hammersfan. I just love your work. Hard hitting truth, nothing more and nothing less. Keep it up mate.

Hammersfan said...

Thanks RW4e

USA Dave said...

I listened to the interview yesterday, and you are right HF. Definitely worth taking time out to do.

While I still think we will negotiate terms of a lease at the OS, I would put the odds now at just a shade over 50%. We have all likely experienced a similar thing. I remember looking to buy an apartment in NYC. We saw ine we loved, made an offer that was accepted, and were 100% thrilled. Then one issue after another popped up. The first couple were OK. We were able to rationalize them away and remained excited about the purchase. But the issues kept popping up, which led to doubt. Doubt led to us rescinding the offer. So DG was correct to voice the reservations.

Anonymous said...

"Definitely worth taking time out to do." what the fcuk are you going on about you illiterate septic tank? Haven't you noticed that no one actually responds to anything that you have to say? Rescinding!?! it's nothing to be proud of.

John said...

I agree with you 100% Dave

Idahojohn said...

Why hide behind 'anonymous?' USA Dave's posts are usually quite informative and the drivel you just spouted was uncalled for.