This morning, Scott Duxbury resigned his post as Managing Director of West Ham. The following statement has been released on the cllub website.

West Ham United have today announced the resignation of chief executive
Scott Duxbury. Duxbury said: “I am proud of my work at West Ham United but
feel the time is right for me to pursue other opportunities. “I wish Mr
Sullivan, Mr Gold and Karren great success in driving this wonderful
football club forward, and I know under their stewardship the club will
prosper. Thank you to all the supporters who have kept faith with the club
through good and bad times.” Vice-chairman Karren Brady said: “We thank
Scott for his valued contribution and wish him every success in the future.”

I know Scott arouses strong emotions on this site, but I for one wish him well for the future. Whatever people think of some of his decisions, he has kept the show on the road since the Icelandic owners’ finances hit the buffers. He also instituted a much more open regime at Upton Park, his interview with this blog in the summer being a good example.

Perhaps the biggest fear I have over his departure is that it will destabilise Gianfranco Zola, who may now feel somewhat isolated. Zola was very much Duxbury’s appointment and the two have been very close, I understand. I hope the new owners have squared Zola on this, otherwise there may be unfortunate consequences. On the plus side, it seems that Zola and the new owners have got off to a good start in their relationship. I just hope this decision doesn’t have an adverse impact on that.