Could Have, Should Have And Would Have!

Yes, Hammers COULD have dealt with the Declan Rice saga better, yes they SHOULD have got the deal done sooner and yes they WOULD have if the club wasn't in 'suspended' animation! Let's look at the latter first, since the sad passing of David Gold any decision by Daniel Kretinsky with regards to a full take over of the club WOULD have been put on hold.

Sadly David Gold's death was followed painfully quickly by that of his daughter Jacqueline, a situation that obviously could not have been predicted. Unfortunately, David Gold died without leaving an official will and as such his assets became intestate meaning that until clarification by a Government appointed notary of law, their destination cannot be confirmed.

Unless there was a pre-dated agreement with third parties Mr Gold's wealth would be distributed to the remaining members of his family, minus any taxes owed to HM Revenue and Customs. Essentially until the matter is dealt with, West Ham United CANNOT be sold off!

Despite some hair brained reports in the media about majority shareholder David Sullivan being a 'control freak' who will never relinquish his holding or control of the club, the fact is that Mr Sullivan is not a young man and privately his life has taken a different direction as a result of his new relationship.

Running a Premier League football club is a demanding and brutal task that has very little discernable reward and the word is that David Sullivan 'cannot wait' to rid himself of most of the burden of running the club, preferring instead to retain a 20% share of the club and selling the remaining shares he currently owns to.....quote "the highest bidder" unquote.

This does NOT mean that the owners of El Hilal will suddenly rock up at the Stadium with no name at anytime soon, but there is a distinct possibility that the 'Krertin in the Sky' will have to fork out considerably more than originally planned if he were to proceed with a full take over of the club.

We'll get to the COULD and the SHOULD in the next article, starting with who the club SHOULD be retaining! Ed