Why the alarm bells should be ringing at West Ham - Darren Lewis' Big Lunchtime Read

By Darren Lewis in Mirror Football Blog

Published 13:48 28/01/10

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The alarm bells are ringing.

When David Gold and David Sullivan took over at West Ham last week, my initial thought was that they would be excellent custodians.

Why West Ham fans should embrace Gold and Sullivan - The Darren Lewis Column  

It struck me that with the mess at Notts County and Portsmouth proving that foreign is not always better, Gold and Sullivan would be a refreshing antidote.

Indeed, when they spoke about their passion for the club on sealing the deal (Sullivan wept, Gwyneth Paltrow-stylee, on national radio as he told of his joy) they won West Ham hearts everywhere.

They went on to tell of the financial wreckage they were picking through with Eggert Magnusson et al throwing money around as if it were confetti.

This would not happen under the new regime, we were promised.

Only for Gold and Sullivan first to tell the world they had offered a a staggering £100,000-a-week to try and secure Ruud Van Nistelrooy. They failed, with the Dutchman opting instead for Hamburg.

But out came the Chuckle Brothers' chequebook again, this time to offer Eidur Gudjohnsen £60,000-a-week to quit Monaco for Upton Park. Spurs beat them to the punch.

Now, get this, they have handed a two and a half year contract to 32-year-old Benni McCarthy - who has scored just one goal in the League this season.

Not only that, they have trebled the South Africa striker's wages, meaning that unless they can offload him before then, West Ham will be paying him around £50,000-a-week when he is 35.

Is this the brave new world financial world into which Gold and Sullivan are leading the club? Because if so it should worry West Ham fans to the core.

They spent long enough planning and executing their strategy in buying the club. Why didn't they spend as much time on injecting some imagination into their transfer policy? Where is the rabbit-out-of-the-hat signing?

They are fortunate that another of their targets, Benjani, could well be snaffled by either Blackburn or Portsmouth - both of whom are interested - because he won't come down much from the £60,000-a-week he is picking up at Manchester City.

Yes, I know, you get what you pay for and West Ham certainly do need an injection of experience to keep them up. (To be perfectly honest, I think they could stay up with what they have).

But why not nick Aruna Dindane from Portsmouth, take him on loan until the end of the season and then give him back? Saving the club a wedge of cash in he process.

A loan move for Landon Donovan before Everton nipped in would have been inspired. Particularly given the way he has exploded onto the Premier League stage.

Instead Gold and Sullivan opted for the lazy option. Yes, they know the Premier League. Yes, McCarthy - and Benjani if he arrives - will provide experience. But is either move cost-effective (which is the way in which West Ham should be thinking right now)? You'd have to say no.

And talking of cost-effective, didn't Gold and Sullivan say that they didn't believe Carson Yeung, the man who replaced them at Birmingham, would succeed at St Andrews by slashing ticket prices?

Yes they did. And yet what do they want to do? Move to the Olympic Stadium so that ticket prices can be reduced.

To be fair to Gold and Sullivan, they have stuck to their promise not to sell players during this month and to back Zola with cash.

Their plan to move to the Olympic Stadium per se has also been met with widespread approval from fans and makes sense.

But I just go back to McCarthy. How is he worth £2.25million when Eidur Gudjohnsen, 32 in September, moves to Spurs on loan? (ie, for nothing).

The feelgood factor may be slowly returning to Upton Park. But there remain questions to be answered.

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