BBC.co.uk
Martin O'Neill is being lined up to replace Avram Grant as manager of West
Ham after Saturday's match against Arsenal, BBC Sport understands. The
Hammers are bottom of the Premier League, although Grant has lost only one
of his last seven games in charge. O'Neill, 58, quit Aston Villa out of the
blue on the eve of this season. "O'Neill and West Ham have been in talks
over the last week and it seems he will be the new manager," said BBC sports
news correspondent Dan Roan. "My understanding is Avram Grant will be sacked
following West Ham's match against Arsenal at Upton Park. "We haven't had
anything official yet from the club but this is what sources are indicating
to us. "There was a board meeting on Wednesday after which club owners David
Sullivan and David Gold refused to publicly back their man and it seems a
decision has been taken and this will be Grant's last match in charge."
Israeli Grant, who succeeded Gianfranco Zola in June, led West Ham to their
worst-ever start in the Premier League, with his side winning only two games
before the end of November. However, recent positive results, including the
2-1 defeat of Birmingham in the first leg of their Carling Cup semi-final on
Tuesday, suggested he might have won a reprieve. And on Friday the
55-year-old declared himself unworried by speculation concerning his future
at the club. "It doesn't concern me. I have a job here and I have to focus
on that. I love the vision of the club. It's a big, big challenge," he said.
"We have made progress on the football side. We are at the bottom but we are
not worse than any of the seven teams down there. "We are two points from
14th place. I think we are doing the right things. I do not think we will be
bottom at the end of the season. If I thought that I would not be here."
BBC Sport's Jonathon Pearce told Football Focus that West Ham were making no
official comment about Grant's future. "I spoke to a club official and he
says as far as he's concerned nothing will happen today [Saturday]," Pearce
said. "I did speak to another club source very, very close to Avram Grant
though who says events took place on Thursday night where a deal was struck
with Avram Grant. "Now whether he steps now today, is sacked today or in the
next 24 or 48 hours, it does seem that Martin O'Neill is the man who is
going to West Ham - which is a surprise. "We know talks have taken place
with the club over the last couple of weeks but as yet, the coaching staff
officially have not been told anything about Avram Grant. "But how unseemly
a mess is this for a club with the tradition of West Ham United?"
Pearce also believes O'Neill would be a popular choice with supporters.
"When Avram Grant was appointed in the first place West Ham had money issues
and he wouldn't have been the most expensive option," Pearce said. "Martin
O'Neill is a manager with a higher pedigree in terms of success in Scotland
and in England and might well have been waiting for higher jobs to come.
"But as far as West Ham fans are concerned he would be ideal. He is
charismatic, he's a cheerleader, he does have that proven record and would
have high hopes of keeping West Ham in the Premier League."
Northern Irishman O'Neill made his name as a manager at Wycombe Wanderers,
leading them into the Football League for the first time. He had a short
spell at Norwich before landing the top job at Leicester in 1995, where he
won the League Cup twice. O'Neill's next stop was Celtic, where he won the
domestic treble in his first season, led them to the 2003 Uefa Cup final and
won three League titles and three Scottish Cups in total. After a brief
period out of the sport to care for his sick wife, O'Neill joined Villa in
2006, leading the Midlands club to sixth in the Premiership for three
seasons running. However, he resigned in August 2010, five days before the
start of the new season, reportedly because he was unhappy with the transfer
funds available. "The understanding from sources close to him is he's not
finished with football and he still believes he has the desire and hunger it
takes to manage at the top level," added Roan. "I wouldn't be surprised if
West Ham offered him some kind of short-term contract, perhaps a six-month
contract, highly incentivised, trying to ensure that they do survive."
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Brady: don't blame me
KUMB.com
Filed: Saturday, 15th January 2011
By: Staff Writer
Vice chairman Karren Brady insists that any decision to fire Avram Grant has
nothing to do with her. West Ham United's vice chairman went on the
defensive after Avram Grant accused Brady of using her weekly column in The
Sun to influence matters at the club. Speaking after last weekend's defeat
of Barnsley in reply to a question regarding the decision to pull out of the
deal to sign Steve Sidwell - something that Brady had commented on earlier
that day - Grant retorted cheekily: "Read my newspaper column next week and
perhaps I will have my say."
But Brady has hit back today, insisting that despite her lofty position she
has nothing to do with decisions regarding the team or the manager. Speaking
via her column in The Sun this morning, she said: "Despite recent criticism,
never in 17 years have I tried to interfere with management or the running
of the teams. I don't score that kind of OG. But I do believe in airing an
opinion. "The more I'm involved in controversial decisions, the more I get
the she's-only-a-meddling-woman treatment. If only I had meat and two veg it
might be different. "
Whilst Brady may cite misogyny as the reason for her current unpopularity,
it would appear that other decisions - such as constantly commenting on the
team's poor performances via her newspaper column and rescinding season
ticket privileges from the likes of the Lyall family and the club's chaplain
- are rather more likely to be the root cause.
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Always a circus…
KUMB.com
Filed: Saturday, 15th January 2011
By: Paul Walker
Is it just me who hates transfer windows? The uncertainty, the constant
flicking onto Sky Sports News, the expectation and the constant
disappointment.
And at West Ham all these emotions are amplified. But I was told it would be
like this with the current owners. I've a few Birmingham pals who were quick
to tell me that transfer times are a circus when Gold, Sullivan and Brady
are involved. And that's how they turn out.
At Birmingham, I'm told, there was always plenty of big names suggested and
the resulting publicity. It's the same here. We are told that Beckham and
Henry are being chased, and we end up with Lars Jacobsen. No offence, Lars,
you've done a decent job here--when you are fit--but you don't sell too many
replica shirts.
The reasons are obvious. We don't have any money, we can be out-bid by
almost anyone and we are always left scrambling around for unknown, untried,
mickey mouse foreigners. When you are as broke as we are, it will always be
like this, sadly. We've even got Stoke City outbidding us, and I hope Ray
Winstone is happy with himself!
Now I love the man and his cartoon cockney image. He's a great actor, a
loyal supporter and he has to make a bob or two. But does he realise that by
fronting the Bet 365 advert, he is helping Stoke City? Bet 365 is owned by
Stoke chairman Peter Coates and his family and has been funding the
Potteries club for years, in effect Bet 365 owns the club.
Coates and his daughter Denise own Bet365 and are worth over £400m between
them. I'm not seriously blaming Winstone for doing the advert, everyone has
to make a living, but it has done plenty to boost Bet365's coffers - I bet
Ray would wish that collapsing pitch in the ad could swallow him up every
time Stoke sign a player we have been chasing.
It's not his fault we can't compete in the market. But it's such a circus,
and embarrassing too. Take the Steve Sidwell debacle. That deal was up and
running before Christmas, 99 per cent done we were told, and it must have
been run past Gold and Sullivan by Avram Grant.
Then it all goes quiet. First we are told it was because of the 25-player
limit, then that Roma couldn't come up with the money to buy Behrami, money
that would be used to sort out Sidwell. In the end it was all down to Karen
Brady putting the stiletto in.
Now I believe she actually got it right. Why did we need another midfield
player with Mark Noble fit, and Parker, Kovac, Spector,Dyer, Boa Morte,
Stanislas, Sears, Hines etc all able to play across the middle? But for
someone who is only working part-time, and is paid by the owners and not the
club, to have that much power over the manager's decisions was a surprise.
Even if her decision was right, in my view.
And while we are on Ms Brady. Is it only me who is fed-up with seeing our
business constantly used in her newspaper column to entertain the masses?
Carlton Cole and his agent had a meal with Ms Brady to discuss some
non-football related problem. That was in the Sun - I bet he was chuffed
with that. She also slaughtered the previous regime for a massive club
mobile phone bill, and then told the world that she could sense fear from
the players when she visited the training ground - that must have made
interesting reading for our opponents.
All big companies give mobiles to their staff, and private calls are usually
paid by the employee. Her point would have been better substantiated if she
could have explained maybe what Birmingham's mobile phone bill was, or
another club so we could see just how bad ours was. That little snippet
smacked of the way new owners - or new governments for that matter - rubbish
the previous regime to make their own efforts look better.
Birmingham boss Alex McLeish was coaxed into a comment on Ms Brady by the
Midlands journalists she would know well, ahead of the Carling Cup
semi-final first leg. He said he had asked her not to keep talking about his
team when she was in charge at St. Andrews. The same attitude should be
encouraged at the Boleyn. We are becoming a laughing stock every Saturday
morning.
The same could apply to the Grant saga. I felt he should have been sacked
well before Christmas to give time for a new man to be in place long before
the transfer window. But we are in the window now and Grant's position has
not been sorted out and must be having an effect on transfers, such is the
on-going uncertainty.
His position has just added to the circus. It seems clear that candidates
for his job are being sounded out. And that's just the way it's done, not
just at our place.
Managers can say they have not been approached and will not do anything
while the present boss is still in place. But that does not stop advisors
and agents doing all the chat-up stuff.
My view now is that Grant should stay, mainly because at last some of the
players have been moved to support him, Scott Parker and Noble the most
recent. But you sense this will just trundle on until he has to be axed or
someone says privately they will take the job.
God hope it's not Sam Allardyce. His style is so opposite to everything this
club stands for, the fans just won't accept it. Many Irons fans I know are
openly saying they will stop going to games if Sam gets the nod. And if
Martin O'Neill is letting it be known that he does not think we can stay up,
and that he wants a job further up the table, then he clearly lacks
confidence in his own ability to take us on.
Frankly we should go for Roy Hodgson or Chris Hughton. Hodgson has not
become a bad manager overnight just because the Scousers don't like him, and
Hughton did a decent job with little money at Newcastle. Hodgson has made a
career from taking over smaller clubs and even small national sides and
making them better than they are. He did it with Fulham, he would be a safe
pair of hands now.
And finally… It's no surprise that Spurs' bid for the Olympic stadium has
taken on a more aggressive stance since Mike Lee went there as publicity
expert. What a turncoat. He was a director at the Boleyn not so long ago.
Now his sleeping with the enemy.
We'll know soon whether the Hammers will get the nod. But it's clearly a bid
that Spurs fans don't want and the majority of Hammers fans feel the same.
Having worked around the football industry for 40-odd years, I understand
the financial needs of a move to a bigger stadium and would accept a move
although I'd hate to leave the Boleyn.
But the thought of having Spurs just down the road would really impact on
our club, a takeover by stealth. Deep down I don't want to go there, but I
do not want to see them there instead, particularly with their new sneering
attitude about us being a 'failing club'. Cheek.
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Take it for Granted , Av's out
The Sun
Published: Today
AVRAM GRANT is set to be axed as West Ham boss today - even if his side beat
Arsenal at Upton Park. And former Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill is hot
favourite to replace the Israeli. West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady
pledged not to interfere with team matters ahead of the vital London derby.
But with West Ham lying bottom of the Premier League table, co-chairmen
David Gold and David Sullivan look set to take action straight after the
match.
Grant arrived in England in 2006 when he was appointed director of football
at Portsmouth. In September 2007 he took up same post at Chelsea before
taking over as manager following Jose Mourinho's departure. In October 2009
he returned to Fratton Park as manager, leading Pompey to the FA Cup final
where they lost to Chelsea and they were also relegated from the Premier
League. He took over at West Ham at the start of the season but despite
reaching ther Carling Cup semi-finals - and holding a first leg lead over
Birmingham - it has been a disappointing campaign so far.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Martin O'Neill set to take over at West Ham today
Published 10:15 15/01/11 By MirrorFootball
The Mirror
West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady has pledged not to interfere with team
matters at Upton Park amid mounting speculation manager Avram Grant will
leave the club. Former Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill has been linked to
take over from Grant who, according to reports, will leave Upton Park today.
The Hammers face Arsenal in a Barclays Premier League match this afternoon
but it has been reported that under-pressure Grant will leave the club
regardless of the result. Brady has vowed not to interfere with team matters
after recent comments annoyed Grant. But she has also vowed not to be
silenced. In her newspaper column, Brady wrote: "Despite recent criticism -
and there's more today - never in 17 years have I tried to interfere with
management or running of the teams. "I don't score that kind of OG (own
goal). But I do believe in airing an opinion."
Brady, who helped David Gold and David Sullivan transform the fortunes of
Birmingham before they sold up to buy West Ham, had previously annoyed Grant
in her column when she revealed why the club had pulled the plug on signing
Steve Sidwell from Aston Villa. Grant said: "I didn't read the column so I
don't know what she said. Maybe I will have a column in a newspaper and say
what I think."
But with West Ham lying bottom of the Premier League table it appears the
time has come for co-chairmen Gold and Sullivan to take action. O'Neill's
odds to become West Ham manager have shortened dramatically.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham chief Karren Brady: I won't tell Avram Grant what players to pick
but I will have my say
By SPORTSMAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 1:02 PM on 15th January 2011
DaIly Mail
West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady has pledged not to interfere with team
matters at Upton Park amid mounting speculation manager Avram Grant will
leave the club. Former Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill has been linked to
take over from Grant who, according to reports, will leave Upton Park today.
The Hammers face Arsenal in a Barclays Premier League match this afternoon
but it has been reported that under-pressure Grant will leave the club
regardless of the result. Brady has vowed not to interfere with team matters
after recent comments annoyed Grant. But she has also vowed not to be
silenced. In her column in The Sun, Brady wrote: 'Despite recent criticism -
and there's more today - never in 17 years have I tried to interfere with
management or running of the teams. 'I don't score that kind of OG (own
goal). But I do believe in airing an opinion.'
Brady, who helped David Gold and David Sullivan transform the fortunes of
Birmingham before they sold up to buy West Ham, had previously annoyed Grant
in her column when she revealed why the club had pulled the plug on signing
Steve Sidwell from Aston Villa. Grant said: 'I didn't read the column so I
don't know what she said. Maybe I will have a column in a newspaper and say
what I think.' But with West Ham lying bottom of the Premier League table it
appears the time has come for co-chairmen Gold and Sullivan to take action.
O'Neill's odds to become West Ham manager have shortened dramatically. The
55-year-old Israeli arrived in England in 2006 when he was appointed
director of football at Portsmouth. In September 2007 he took up the
director of football post at Chelsea. Following the departure of Jose
Mourinho he took over as manager but defeats in the Champions League and
Carling Cup finals in 2008 as well as finishing second in the Premier League
to Manchester United saw him sacked on May 24. In October 2009 he returned
to Fratton Park as manager, leading Pompey to the FA Cup final where they
lost to Chelsea and they were also relegated from the Premier League. Grant
resigned after the end of the season and later moved to Upton Park but a
poor season so far sees the club at the bottom of the table. A 4-0 Carling
Cup quarter-final win over Manchester United and a 2-1 home success over
Birmingham in the semi-final first leg provided some respite for Grant, but
that has not stopped speculation over his future.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Martin O'Neill linked with West Ham manager's job amid reports Avram Grant
will quit
By Telegraph staff 11:22AM GMT 15 Jan 2011
Telegraph.co.uk
Martin O'Neill is being lined up to replace Avram Grant at West Ham amid
mounting speculation that the Israeli will leave the club. West Ham United
face Arsenal in the Premier League today though it has been widely reported
that Grant will leave regardless of the result. West Ham sit bottom of the
Premier League table and pressure has built for co-chairmen Gold and
Sullivan to take action. O'Neill's odds to become West Ham manager have
shortened dramatically. However, a 'very senior source' at the club this
morning told the Guardian newspaper that such reports were wide of the mark.
"I can categorically say that it is not correct. I do not know where that
[the report] has come from," the paper quote their source as saying.
West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady has vowed not to interfere with team
matters after recent comments annoyed Grant. However, she has also vowed not
to be silenced. In her column in The Sun, Brady wrote: "Despite recent
criticism - and there's more today - never in 17 years have I tried to
interfere with management or running of the teams. "I don't score that kind
of OG (own goal). But I do believe in airing an opinion."
Brady, who helped David Gold and David Sullivan transform the fortunes of
Birmingham before they sold up to buy West Ham, had previously annoyed Grant
in her column when she revealed why the club had pulled the plug on signing
Steve Sidwell from Aston Villa. Grant said: "I didn't read the column so I
don't know what she said. Maybe I will have a column in a newspaper and say
what I think." The 55 year-old Israeli arrived in England in 2006 when he
was appointed director of football at Portsmouth. In Sept 2007 he took up
the director of football post at Chelsea. Following the departure of Jose
Mourinho he took over as manager but defeats in the Champions League and
Carling Cup finals in 2008 as well as finishing second in the Premier League
to Manchester United saw him sacked on May 24. In Oct 2009 he returned to
Fratton Park as manager, leading Pompey to the FA Cup final where they lost
to Chelsea and they were also relegated from the Premier League. Grant
resigned after the end of the season and later moved to Upton Park but a
poor season has made his spell in east London an uncomfortable one. A 4-0
Carling Cup quarter-final win over Manchester United and a 2-1 home success
over Birmingham in the semi-final first leg provided some respite for Grant,
but that has not stopped speculation over his future.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
O'Neill In & Grant Out By the End of Today
West Ham Till I Die
Sorry to be late with this, but I have only just woken up – late night on
the radio last night!
Sky Sports and the BBC are reporting that Avram Grant will be sacked today
regardless of the result, and will be replaced by Martin O'Neill, as
predicted on this blog. While part of me feels rather sorry for Grant, I
have absolutely no doubt that this is the right move and will give us a far
better chance of avoiding the drop. Yes, we have played better of late, but
he was never the right man for this job. Let's hope he is treated with
dignity and moves on with our good wishes.
UPDATE: Jonathan Pearce on Football Focus: "I think we were first with the
news on Tuesday that West Ham were considering appointing Martin O'Neill as
a replacement." No you weren't. I had the news last Saturday. Remember THIS?
The Martin O'Neill Rumours Gather Pace
I've thought long and hard about posting this, but here goes. A normally
extremely reliable source has just told me that Martin O'Neill was at the
ground this morning. I have no other information other than that. Normally I
wouldn't post something like that, but like I said, this source is a very
good one.
There is a lot of money going on him in the betting markets apparently. I am
also told that one or two very senior (and popular players) are extremely
unhappy with Avram Grant. If they have made their views known to Brady, Gold
and Sullivan, it surely makes a Grant exit next week more likely. There is a
board meeting on Wednesday. Of course, if we beat Birmingham, it makes it
very difficult to sack the manager that might have helped us reach our first
Wembley final in five years.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Grant not yet out at West Ham
Harry Harris
January 15, 2011
ESPN
West Ham's clash with Arsenal is live on ESPN at 5.30pm. Click here to
ensure you secure your front-row seat. West Ham boss Avram Grant will face
the sack should he fail to lead his side to victory over Arsenal on
Saturday, with the Hammers lining up former Aston Villa manager Martin
O'Neill as the Israeli's replacement. ESPNsoccernet understands that no
final decision on Grant's future has been taken ahead of the game with
Arsenal, though a defeat would likely see the end of his reign at the Boleyn
Ground. Despite leading his side to a Carling Cup semi-final first leg win
on Wednesday, Grant's Upton Park tenure is hanging by a thread as the club's
hierarchy wait for the slip up that would represent the end of the line. The
speculation that Grant will leave sooner rather than later has been mounting
and should a weakened Hammers side be put to the sword by Arsenal, Grant
will likely be forced out immediately. Should West Ham defeat the Gunners,
though, Grant would likely be given another stay of execution, though the
Hammers will continue to work on persuading O'Neill to return to football
management. Odds on the former Celtic and Leicester boss taking the reins at
Upton Park have shortened dramatically over the last 48 hours, and it is
believed that he is ready to answer West Ham's SOS call. But reports that
Grant's sacking is a formality and that he will be axed no matter what the
result of Saturday's game are wide of the mark. An ESPNsoccernet source at
the club said: "No, it is wrong to assume Grant's last game is against
Arsenal, and he will go irrespective of the result. "Of course if the team
suffer another hammering like they did at Newcastle, then perhaps he will
go, and the board will think, 'enough is enough'. "But not irrespective of
the result. If Grant can keep going and save the club from relegation, then
fair enough, but if not then something will have to be done."
However, ESPNsoccernet sources have confirmed that O'Neill is far and away
the leading candidate to replace Grant. It was significant, that after
Wednesday's board meeting, the club declined to make any comment about
Grant's position - not even the usual dreaded 'vote of confidence'.
While the cup has been a distraction, the Hammers board feared that the club
were being cut adrift again at the foot of the Premier League. But Grant
survives to take charge of the team against Arsenal. The board, led by
owners David Sullivan and David Gold, have a short list of candidates that
includes Sam Allardyce, Martin Jol and Chris Houghton, but O'Neill is the
overwhelming favourite. O'Neill had been sounded out about the possibility
of becoming West Ham manager before, but had wanted a minimum of a £10
million transfer budget, at a time when the new owners had taken over a club
with £110 million of debt. That debt has been worked on relentlessly and is
currently down to £80 million, with co-owners Gold and Sullivan willing to
invest heavily in new players in the January transfer window.
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Exclusive - Martin critical of lack of time given to managers
TalkSport
By Michael Wade
Saturday, January 15
West Ham legend Alvin Martin has told talkSPORT that the current trend in
football for sacking managers after a few months in charge is destabilising
clubs. Martin was speaking in the wake of speculation that Avram Grant is on
the verge of being dismissed as West Ham manager after just over six months
at the helm. The Hammers sit bottom of the Premier League, a position they
have held for much of the season, but dismissing Grant would see the club
appoint their fifth manager in three years. Martin said: "The game in
general saddens me, it's not just West Ham. We've got to acknowledge that
West Ham aren't the only club that is changing managers regularly. "Apart
from the Manchester Uniteds and the Arsenals and the teams that have got
decent managers in place at the moment we are going to have a turnover of
managers and it saddens me that managers don't get at least a year or two
years.
"If they don't actually start off well and hit the ground running they're
under pressure straight away."
However Martin was also critical of Grant's reign at Upton Park due to a
lack of leadership from the former Chelsea and Portsmouth boss. "The
position we are in at the moment we need leadership and that is the one
doubt I have about Avram," he added. "I don't want to be disrespectful to
him because I know he's a big football man but I don't see him rallying
troops, I don't see him leading. "And one of the problems we've got is we
don't have many leaders in our team and that's the worry for me. You want
five or six leaders in your team and I don't think West Ham have got that at
the moment. "I think we've got a squad of quality that is a lot better than
bottom of the table. I think it should be at least mid-table. "If you
haven't got the leadership on the pitch then you have to have it from the
manager and I just don't see Avram as a leadership role model type mana
ger."I want to see somebody who is not just passionate but who is strong and
going to get the best out of the team."
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