Premier League / David Croft / 13 June 2009 / Leave a comment

With new owners preaching parsimony Gianfranco Zola will be hard pressed to replicate last year's good Premier League performance, says Hammer David Croft.

It was the news all West Ham fans should have been expecting and last Monday it came. The least exciting takeover in football history, as one observer described it, but a very necessary one as, had it not taken place, The Hammers may have been docked nine points before the season begins.

Before Monday, West Ham's parent company were an Icelandic organisation called Hansa. They had an arrangement protecting themselves from their creditors which came to an end at the start of the week, meaning that in theory any one of those creditors could have requested liquidation, hence the threat of point docking.

So CB Holding was set up by the Hansa creditors to take over West Ham and so ensure its short- to mid-term future. The club is now 100% owned by Icelandic banks which is handy I suppose, because if the Premier League is no longer the licence to print money it once was, at least West Ham now have the facility to print off a few notes of their own should the need ever arise.

Officially, the club are still up for sale, rumours of interest from the US abound but so far they haven't materialised into firm offers and no one has come close to matching Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson's valuation for the club, which started at around £200 million but has since halved. I feel a bit sorry for our former Icelandic chairman, once upon a time we were a badly run club under a chairman we couldn't stand, eventually we became a better run club, under a chairman we couldn't pronounce.

Still the credit crunch has bitten deep in the land of the cod so he had to go, leaving a man called Andrew Bernhardt in charge. A man who in typical West Ham fashion, Eggert Maggnusson aside, has already stated that "We are not going to throw money around left and right. We don't run businesses that way"

These are good intentions, but somebody needs to remind him that those Icelandic banks are owned by the Icelandic government who can, when pressed, run off a few million Krona for a good cause. He expects to be around for a couple of years in the current economic climate, which is about the average life expectancy for a West Ham chairman in the post-Brown era.

Now whilst I'm generally happy with what's taken place this week, as a fan I'm just a little concerned that the people now in charge of MY club don't seem to be in it for the football or seem to be excited by the prospect of running MY club. When pressed, will they be able to recite 'I'm forever blowing bubbles'? Somehow I doubt it, although should they need teaching they could do worse than pay a visit to my son who two months before his second birthday reduced me to tears of admiration and pride this week by singing the aforementioned tune in his cot one morning. This was one of those moments that will be forever imprinted on my brain, like Trevor's header in the 1980 Cup Final, Ince's two goals against Liverpool in the League Cup, Paulo beating the offside trap at Old Trafford and the first time Julian Dicks left his mark on an opposition winger!

However well run West Ham are these days, I'd like, and I don't think it's too much to ask for, some talk of new signings. Some talk of how West Ham intend to build on what was a decent season last year. We could have qualified for Europe, in some respect I'm glad we didn't as we haven't got the squad yet to cope with the extra demands placed on you by the new, and sadly not improved, Europa League. But with the right squad investment, under a partnership that are clearly the right managerial team, we could make Europe this coming season.

But we need players; a striker to come and in cover for the 42 games that Dean Ashton won't be fit for; another quality midfielder; a right back to replace Lucas Neill, unless that's where the manager sees Valon Behrami slotting in; and a centre half alongside Matthew Upson, not that I don't like James Tomkins but some extra experience wouldn't go amiss.

The new board say that money is available and that West Ham don't have to sell. Good, now don't let me down, YOU might only be in it for the short term, but I've dedicated MY life to MY club and whilst I'm prepared to trust you, I can't stand many more knock backs.

The eternal optimist in me sees some good times ahead under Zola and Clarke, some stability at board level, and a club that are on the verge of something special. [7.4] is the current price for a top 6 finish, you can lay the club at [18] in Betfair's relegation market too, this season I don't expect The Hammers to fall!