Short-changed?
Filed: Friday, 29th August 2008
By: Staff Writer
West Ham United's Icelandic owners have spent approximately £10million less on transfer fees since taking over the club than previous Chairman Terry Brown did in his final two years.
Brown, who was often criticised by supporters during his tenure for failing to invest sufficiently in the squad spent a total of £24.15million net on players in the last four transfer windows his regime oversaw - an average of £6.04million per window.
That total net figure is almost £10million higher than that which the current Board - led by banker Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson - have committed since purchasing the club almost two years ago. As we revealed earlier this week, just £14.8million net has been spent by the Icelandic board on transfer fees in the four transfer windows since they gained control of West Ham United.
In contrast to Brown's average window outlay of £6.04million, the current administration have spent an average of just £3.7million per transfer window.
Brown's highest transfer fee paid was the £7million Norwich received in exchange for Dean Ashton. Gudmundsson's is higher, though not by much - Craig Bellamy being the club's record signing from Liverpool at £7.5million.
Although the current transfer window remains open for another three days, the club are not thought to be planning any further major outlays.
Brown's Transfers - Ins
August 2006: Carlos Tevez/Javier Mascherano - £5m* (Corinthians, fees paid to agent); Robert Green - £1.5m (Norwich); George McCartney - £600,000 (Sunderland)
July 2006: John Paintsil - £1m (Hapoel Tel Aviv); Carlton Cole - £2m (Chelsea); Tyrone Mears - £1.9m (Preston)
June 2006: Jon Spector - £500,000 (Man Utd)
January 2006: Dean Ashton - £7m (Norwich); Yaniv Katan - £100,000 (Maccabi)
July 2005: Clive Clarke - £275,000 (Stoke); Yossi Benayoun - £2.5m (Racing Santander); Danny Gabbidon - £2m (Cardiff); James Collins - £1m (Cardiff); Paul Konchesky - £2m (Charlton)
Brown's Transfers - Outs
July 2006: Carl Fletcher - £400,000 (Crystal Palace); Clive Clarke - £400,000 (Sunderland)
June 2006: Elliott Ward - £1m (Coventry); Chris Cohen - £250,000 (Yeovil)
January 2006: Luke Chadwick - £100,000 (Stoke); Gavin Williams - £300,000 (Ipswich); Tomas Repka - £750,000 (Sparta Prague)
Totals
Expenditure 2006: £19.6m
Expenditure 2005: £7.75m
Total Expenditure: £27.35m
Receipts 2006: £3.2m
Receipts 2005: £0m
Total Receipts: £3.2m
Transfer Expenditure 2006: £16.4m
Transfer Expenditure 2005: £7.75m
Total Transfer Expenditure: £24.15m
* Best estimates of undisclosed fees.
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by JMan
06:06PM 29th Aug 2008
''The five year plan looks farther away than ever though I am lead to believe Appiah plus two loan signings will be in before the transfer deadline.
It is quite simple; in order for this five year plan to be realised they are going to also have to compete in the investment arena as well or you can forget it, so either invest BG or sell to someone who will.''
by Jake
05:26PM 29th Aug 2008
''This does anger me, however you can't help but think that the West Ham board are preparing for a massive pay out to the Blunts, which is why there is a lack of funds.''
by Mark Hewes
03:52PM 29th Aug 2008
''Yah. Very poor. And what is even more frustrating is looking at other clubs.
I always saw Villa as comparable to our Hammers. Look at the people they are getting. Milner appears to have been added to that today.
Very concerning how we have gone from such positive excitement back to fear of failure. I do worry where we are heading.''
by Richard Bridge
03:37PM 29th Aug 2008
''This makes interesting reading - however, I think that without defending the present regime, the key difference between this era and the Brown era is the wages being offered to players and in particular to non-performing and injured ones at that. So in reality, transfer fees make up only probably 50% of the story.
It would seem that Eggy was overly generous in the wages being offered but he seems to take all the blame - surely, BG must have been aware of what was going on and it would seem that Eggy is the scapegoat for the current woes which go beyond the finances.
I have no doubt that most West ham fans would have preferred the team to play attractive flair football last year with a di Canio or Tevez and to finish say 14th than to play bland effective football and finish 10th.''
by Paul Grech
03:24PM 29th Aug 2008
''Why should we be surprised about this? After all, Brown was a West Ham fan and am I being naive to think the money side was secondary? I accept he drew a very good salary but it looks like our new owners are in it for the money, first and foremost. The grass is always greener...''
by James
02:59PM 29th Aug 2008
''I think this is a bit misleading. We have too many players, so some of them have to be sold. We got good money for some of them, but they were replaced.
For example, we sold Reo-Coker, and replaced him with Parker. This provided us with a net transfer gain of £2million, and we also got a better player, so whilst the numbers look intereting, clearly the West Ham squad is better today than it was two years ago.''
