And like a bolt from the blue, it is confirmed that the man behind the JH To Spurz deal is none other than one Samir Hammam, the self-styled (ex) guvnor of WFC. How ironic. The man who has professed to love WFC as much as his own family has now been exposed as somebody who is prepared to sell his own grandmother to get what he (seemingly) wants.
So, how did this all come about? Well, rumours were rife after Drillo’s comments yesterday, and it transpired that R&G has got totally and utterly pissed off with SH making them look like liars, so they effectively stripped him of the right to “call the shots” until the end of the season. The fact that both BRG and SH were saying very little probably shows that SH really is out now.
I will also assume, unless someone tells me differently, that BRG’s original statement on the 29th Feb (see below) still stands – namely, we’re not in debt anymore, we’re not selling our players, and we can buy again if need be. Judging by todays events, Satan help anyone who veers away from that statement
So why did SH do it? Why did he totally damage his image by openly trying to undermine the club? There are two schools of thought, I’ll leave it to you to decide which one to subscribe to : firstly, it is thought that in return for JH signing for Spurz, SH was due to get a nice seat on the WHL board. Which does tie in with reports earlier this week regarding SH’s repeated discussions with Alan Michael Sugar.
The second, and perhaps just as feasible, is the fact that SH cared so much for WFC that he flipped (a story involving him and David Dein a couple of years ago may confirm this). This may explain attempting to sell JH. This may explain trying to get WFC to buy SP. This may even explain Dublin.
Sadly, to me at least, it doesn’t explain why SH tried to merge WFC with Palace in 86, or the repeated failures to get a ground, or why there has been a clause in every WFC managers’ contract that SH has the right to change the team up to kick-off (forced out Harry and Bobby Gould). Whatever the reasons, Sam Hammam is gone, more than likely forever. I would imagine that less people will miss him now.
Before I end with SH, I will very soon write an article explaining why my general attitude to him over the years has generally been less than supportive (to put it mildly). Whilst it is my own personal opinion, I believe it’s a justifiable argument, but I have decided to let the dust settle before I put it up for all to see. As the last few days have proven, we all know the importance of timing, and I’m thinking it’s a bit premature to write such an article (bearing in mind that a lot of people still hold – or held – SH with a certain amount of reverence).
I’m not trying to avoid the subject, far from it (in fact, I would really prefer to have written it tonight and get it out of the way) but after I write it, the SH bashing will probably cease, at least in its present form. Or until he joins Spurz.
The JH situation still rampages on, however, and his increasingly irritating agent (John Barrett, I’m told) is spouting his mouth off yet again, like a spivvy trader down Deptford market on a Wednesday. Today, he’s still claiming that WFC want him sold – which seems like bollocks now – though he does conceed that JH “will score loads for WFC”. Yeah, well, lets hope he scores loads for WFC this season….and next season….and the season after.
The fact that JH has said absolute zilch during this episode speaks more than a jumped up market trader ever could. From what Drillo said, he does want him to stay (which buggers up the SW19 theory put forward a couple of days ago). Also, on Monday the players themselves had a meeting as to why JH was being sold, reportedly it was a bit angry. My feeling is that Drillo told him exactly what had happened, he had nothing to do with it, and the players seemed to have accepted it.
I think Derby was a turning point in general WFC attitude – as VG of Norway put it :
“Yesterday [Monday] Drillo had a long meeting with the players, where the message was clear: – We have 70 days to save our place in the Premiership. 70 days to do an extra effort. After what VG has been told, Drillo asked the players to do extra trainings, and work extra hard during trainings, and to show more winning spirit during games. The following training showed that the message had been understood. Seldom have one seen such a termination as at the training ground yesterday”
Maybe the theory that when you reach the nadir, you immediately rise up, rings true? If so, watch out Leicester.
One final thing for tonight, and for once it’s not about ownership issues, players being sold or general WFC stupidity. All being well, I will be going to the CPFC vs Wimbledon reserve game tomorrow at the Crystal Palace National Stadium. The SW19 digital instamatic will be there, assuming I don’t forget it, so if you don’t get much of an update tomorrow, you’ll know why. Well, it IS the same distance as a “home” match.