This is an outrage!

By: Ted | September 23rd, 2008

What an absolute disgrace. Two years ago West Ham broke a rule that few people knew existed and paid the biggest fine in Premier League history because of it. Fair enough, I can bite the bullet here. However, because a certain team that finished three places below us have been unable to come to terms with the fact that they weren’t good enough on the pitch to stay up, they have endlessly appealed to any authority from which they can get revenge. West Ham indulged them and in an attempt to draw a line under the entire incident accepted a final tribunal on the matter. This tribunal, made up of three people with no football knowledge have essentially decided that Tevez was worth at least three points to West Ham that season, which would have seen us relegated in the other team’s place. Well, following that logic, he was worth a lot more than three points, so why not get Charlton in on the act who were also relegated that year. The entire argument is ridiculous anyway, as no one player’s worth in points can be measured. Every player played a huge part in our survival including Zamora, Noble, Collins, Neill and Green to name but a few. Furthermore, this completely overlooks the disruption that the arrival of Tevez caused which resulted in our poor form that led to relegation worries in the first place, and that fact that he didn’t score for the first seven months of the season anyway. Lastly, this sets a dangerous precedent. Simply by endlessly whining, this club has been able to force West Ham to go through various stages of legal battles until they finally give in. Why should a team be able to try and whine their way back into the Premiership. That team weren’t good enough on the pitch, so they went down. The chairman of that club, not content with a potentially huge payout, has already been suggesting that now he can nag his way back to the top flight as well. Anything other than performances on the pitch will do for this man. I for one hope that before this whole affair is settled, that they end up in the third tier of English football, and I would gladly see us pay them the extra money they would lose for not playing in the second level of the league pyramid.

P.S. Respect to Charlton Athletic for moving on and trying to get back to the Premier League by playing football, and shame on Dave Whelan and Al Fayed, who promised that club their support, for abandoning them as soon as their own teams managed to stay up.