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ID: Would it be an exaggeration to say that almost for the first time since the days of Harry Redknapp that it’s a happy club?
SD: I have been at the club ten years and it’s the happiest I have seen it. There is a genuine belief that there is a permanence to it.There’s a clear structure. This isn’t just ‘we’ve signed a particular player who’s performing very well, and as long as he stays fit, happy days’. There’s a clear – I’ll use it early on – The Project – there’s a clear business plan…
ID Very New Labour. [laughs]
Exactly! Spin, spin spin! [laughs]. There’s a clear direction that has a certain longevity to it. I believe in it. Gianfranco believes in it. Gianluca [Nani] believes in it. I think the supporters have every right to be cynical and wary but I think they want to believe. They see a structure and a long term future.
What reaction have you had personally from supporters over the last few months? I don’t think many people believed you when you came out in January and said you wouldn’t sell players, but you delivered.
The death threats have reduced a little bit, but they haven’t completely gone away. Joking aside, I used to look at the unofficial sites. I stopped doing it but Greg Demetriou, my head of media keeps me informed of the general views. There can be quite emotive comments and some of them quite personal. I used to go home at night and I couldn’t sleep. I remember when McCartney left and we signed Ilunga, but we couldn’t announce it because of various red tape we had to get through, I really was getting death threats. One said that if I left the club they knew who I was, where I was going and I would be killed. It is quite disturbing. The danger is that you start to make decisions that aren’t rational because you are conscious of a personal perception. So I try to ignore it and make the right decision for West Ham. There have been lots of incidents throughout my ten years at the club but I can honestly say I have always done what is best for West Ham United. So I can sleep at night and I believe in my own ability so I am not here for my own personal gain. I am here because I do believe I can contribute to this football club and I believe we can achieve success.
Do you think that your comparative youth in running a club like West Ham means that people haven’t taken you as seriously as you might have liked them to?
I think yes, there is a danger of that, but the fact I have been here for ten years means I don’t look particularly young any more! Maybe. I make decisions that someone who is a little more conservative wouldn’t – Zola, for instance. But I have a team around me now which is a young team at all levels. I think that’s an advantage for us. It’s supplemented with experience. I think especially after the last year and a half I am taken seriously. We are negotiating CEOs of Inter Milan, Barcelona. We are on a very very high stage. They respect what we as a club, and me as a smaller part, have done. I don’t think that’s an issue any more. In the past ten years I have probably experienced more as a CEO than many others do in a lifetime.
When you talk about “The Project” what is a realistic ambition to emerge from those plans?
I am the wrong person to ask because I am ambitious. My answer will be to win the league. It’s not a stupid remark because we are in a league, it’s a race and if you’re not in it to win it, why on earth are you taking part? Simply to exist is not what I am about. If we get the right set of circumstances and continue to grow as a club, why not? Why can’t we achieve the ultimate? I was with Gianfranco just before the season ended and I said, well, if we sign these players we’ll definitely finish seventh and qualify for the Europa League next season. And he said: “Only seventh? No way, we’ve got to finish much higher than that”. He shares my ambition and my view. Of course I am aware of the financial constraints on the club and the perceived financial requirements to compete at that highest level, but we’ve got our vision and we believe in it. If we continue to develop the players, who knows where we can end up. We are certainly not going to limit ourselves and say we can never finish at this level because we all believe we can.
Moving on to the ownership question, it appears there is now a degree of stability but the owners are effectively the creditors of the former chairman. They are not in it for the long haul so they will want to maximize their return at some point. It’s not an ideal situation, is it, if you want to launch a bid to get into the top four?
I disagree to be honest. It’s a perfect scenario. The past year and a half has shown that if we can run the club without interference… It’s not just my decision, it’s Gianfranco, Gianluca, the three of us. Our decisions are not questioned and we can push the club forward. Straumur allows us to do that. Their vision is that over the next three years the world economy improves. They do intend at some point to invest in the club and grow the asset and then realize it in three years time. Three years is a lifetime in football. If the three of us can work together during that time and grow the club, wonderful. The one thing I cannot control is ownership issues. My big fear is that tomorrow a new owner comes in, doesn’t want Gianfranco as the manager, wants some high profile individual, doesn’t believe in the ethos of the project, wants us to sign the most high profile midfielders and centre forwards and it’s all destroyed. We have seen the impact of owner led issues at Newcastle. We have seen what it can do to a football club. We have had a year and a half of the football club being run on footballing principles and Straumur will hopefully allow us to continue that for the next three years. Then Straumur – and this is where I will try to be involved – will hopefully sell to someone who believes in Gianfranco, believes in The Project and simply continues the development. But unfortunately that’s out of my control.
Do you on a personal level feel quite sad about what’s happened to the previous chairman and indeed Eggert Magnusson in some ways? They clearly were not the kind of people who wanted to come in and rip the club apart, they seemed to me to have a vision and the world economic circumstances meant they weren’t able to realise it.
It’s dreadful. BG and Eggert are invited back to games. They had the best interests of the club at heart. I hope BG comes back to games next season. He personally has been dreadfully affected by the world economy. Individually he is a bankrupt. He’s lost everything. He loved West Ham. He really did. Again, during his personal troubles, and I am not saying he would have done this, but it would have been easy for him to say Scott, sell Upson, sell Green, sell Parker and I’m having that money. That pressure was never put on me at all. On the contrary. He completely endorsed the plans I had and backed me when I was having some pretty difficult conversations with the banks. Their place in history should be remembered fondly, and they have really contributed to a club that has improved during difficult times. It’s no small thanks to them.

Part Three to come soon!

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