So, there was another protest before the Everton game. Once again it was anti the board. But its effectiveness will be as great as the recent Moscow protests against Putin.
The similarities don’t end there. The citizens/fans have the impression that the leader/board have the main priority of enriching themselves. There is very little the citizens/fans can do to effect a change of power and, it would appear, the leader/board are there for ever. Citizens/fans have little say over who controls the club and what policies are enacted.
At least in Russia, the Prime Minister has just resigned, although he has been replaced with another flunky. Here we have the ‘Marvellous Mrs Brady’. For fans, she encapsulates everything that is wrong with the club. She epitomises the board’s philosophy of ‘ We know best’ and her main motivation is to increase the value of the club. The strategy has been a complete failure and, at present, you couldn’t sell the club for a tin of beans and a Mickey Mouse watch.
The fans at the protest ask for a more enlightened approach by the board. So, let’s try and be enlightened and suggest a way forward.
For a start, the Dame needs to go. She has lost the goodwill of the supporters. She is the Marie Antoinette of the regime. Whilst she describes the club’s sponsors as ‘ respected and responsible’, you can imagine her response to the protest before the game against Everton as ,’Let them eat cake’. Her salary, which is now reported to be £1.2 million a year is a joke.
And, don’t tell me she is a great business women. The developers who bought the Boleyn ground made a 50 per cent profit two years later without any development taking place. She got the club into a dispute with the owners of the ground over matters which would have cost peanuts. She thought she had negotiated a fantastic deal to take a lease on the London Stadium, whereas, in fact, we were sold a white elephant.
She resigned reluctantly as Chairman of Philip Green’s Empire after his groping scandal with the words that the allegations being made against the high street tycoon were ‘incompatible with being a feminist’. Hmmm! Or perhaps, it would be more appropriate to describe these words as humbug. How many feminists would work for Sullivan and Gold?
So, the first step in a more enlightened approach would be to get rid of Dame Karren. She could be replaced by a good business manager on a salary a quarter of what is being paid presently.
Then, as a positive step, the owners should appoint a small board of advisors. I would envisage a maximum of six individuals to include past luminaries of the club, a representative of the fans etc. You get the idea. They could split the remains of the Dame’s salary. Sullivan could chair the board and Gold could retire to look after his carp.
What is in it for Sullivan and Gold? First of all, it’s going to bring them a bit of peace and quiet. They cannot be enjoying the ridicule and hatred of the fans. Secondly, the did listen to the fans after the Burnley riot and brought in a top class manager and a Director of Football. However, the results were a disaster. But they can listen again.
I thought the Everton game would be the pivotal game of the season. Lose and we were heading for the depths. Win and salvation would be at hand. As it happened, we drew. David Moyes is to be congratulated as the team does now show commitment and effort. Noble and Snodgrass have been criticised for their lack of pace, but they showed determination and grit and had a good game.
Moyes went for a back two, instead of a back three, showing flexibility and we were lucky Everton were without Richarlison and Sigurdsson. They seemed more intent on giving us the ball back than us.
Unfortunately, our lack of thrust at the front was exposed. Perhaps, this will be improved when Antonio returns and we missed the flare of Anderson.
We have a tough fixture list ahead in the next month and life isn’t going to get any easier for the Hammers.