The Daily Telegraph reports this morning that former Hammers chairman Terry Brown has launched a High Court writ against the club for £5 million. Read the full story HERE.
The key passage is this…

Brown, who was the target of fans’ protests at Upton Park, claims he was sacked without notice and is seeking damages for the loss of his £492,000 yearly salary and chauffeur. He is also seeking recompense for loss of pension contributions and mileage allowance, as well as the use of eight seats in the directors’ box, hospitality places, and car parking for the rest of his life…. Brown says he agreed that he would resign as a club director and executive chairman in November 2006, becoming deputy vice-chairman, and a non-executive director, and would be given the title of honorary life vice president.He claims he was to be given eight seats in the directors’ box, eight hospitality places in the chairman’s suite, two tickets in the directors’ box and boardroom at away matches, two on-site parking spaces, and one parking space at away matches.

I hope the club contest this vigorously. How Terry Brown has the bare faced cheek to issue these proceedings is anyone’s guess. Through his mismanagement of the club, West Ham nearly faced forced relegation last year. Terry Brown did very nicely out of West Ham. If by any sheer fluke he wins this case, I trust West Ham fans will give him their customary welcome if he ever shows his face at the club again.

I just got the latest issue of Hammers News, together with a cheque for £20.65 from the publishers. It appears that the club has decided not to renew the contract with M Press, who have been publishing it in recent years. I presume the publication will still continue. Anyone know any more details?

I must admit that I have long felt that HAMMERS NEWS had lost its way. It was too obsessed with glossy pictures to the detriment of the writing. I suspect the number of words has halved, with some pages only having a few paragraphs on them.

I’m not sure how far Paul Doyle’s tongue was stuck in his cheek when he wrote THIS in today’s Guardian. He speculates that West Ham are interested in signing Louis Saha and El Hadhi-Diouf. Saha is a good player but do we really need yet another injury prone striker? I think not. We should have signed him when we had the chance eight years ago. As for Diouf, all I can say is Nooooooooooo!

As you may know, your Hammer of the Year and mine, Rob Green is climbing Kilimajaro this summer in aid of charity. If you’d like to make a donation and help him achieve his £10k fundraising target you can do so HERE, as well as reading more about his adventure.

Sky Sports News is reporting that Manchester United have tabled a £10 million bid for Dean Ashton. I think most of us would put money on the fact that they will, in the end, succeed in prizing him away from Upton Park. However, surely £10 million is a joke for a player who has scored 10 goals in 13 outings this season? We’ll be a laughing stock if he leaves for anything less than £15 million. Why on earth would Man U want a player who was valued at less than that anyway? Have we learned nothing from the past? What a joke it was to let Joe Cole go for £6 million … and any number of other players for less than their true worth.

I want Deano to stay. He and Bellamy would be a fearsome duo next season. But I fear it’s a partnership we will never see…

I’ll do a full match report tomorrow but here are some interesting facts about Deano…

He’s scored 10 goals in 13 starts this season, plus another one from 11 appearances off the bench.

And people moan about him. Dear oh dear.

If he can score at this rate when he’s not at full fitness, just imagine what he’ll achieve next season.