1:05pm Wednesday 3rd February 2010
WEST HAM joint chairman David Sullivan has slammed the club's previous owners' strategy as 'madness' after he launched a scathing attack on the state of English football.
In an interview with BBC, Sullivan suggested a wage cap would be the best solution to keep clubs solvent, while he claimed billionaire owners Roman Abramovich of Chelsea, and Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour were 'bad for football'.
In a damning assessment of the British game, Sullivan insisted 'greedy' players had too much control in some clubs.
Sullivan, with business partner David Gold, purchased 50 per cent of West Ham United last month, achieving a controlling stake in the club.
The Hammers previous owners, Eggert Magnusson and then Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson, lavished massive wages on players like Freddie Ljungberg and Lucas Neill, before one of their major assets, Icelandic bank Straumur, went bust in the recession.
Debts at the club have spiralled to £110million, according to Sullivan, and he and Gold have stepped in to sort out the mess.
“There was a reality coming in until Chelsea, then West Ham broke the line and now Man City,” Sullivan said. “After Chelsea there was some levelling off then the Icelandics come to West Ham and it was madness what they paid people relative to what they're worth.”
Now, huge wages have become the norm at Stamford Bridge and Eastlands, and Sullivan was critical of the impact they have on the game.
“I think they (Roman Abramovich and Sheikh Mansour) are bad for football. The ultimate solution would be a wage cap. I've always been against it but I'm starting to swing towards it, like they have in America in American Football. My partner David (Gold) doesn't believe it. But I think it's the only way of putting a cap on and keeping clubs solvent.
“There could be a formula that could work. The wages are out of all proportion with the turnover of the clubs and I think, somehow, there should be some control.”
Sullivan believes the 'greed' of modern players is largely to blame and he called on changes to be made to give the clubs back control.
“We always stand up to the players all the time. I think players are driven by their agents. Some are very nice people but some are greedy. They know they have very short careers and they want to maximise their income. There is no loyalty to the club they play for. Most of them, particularly the foreign players, will move for money.
“It makes you ill when a guy is on £20-30,000 a week. Some players, there will be nothing wrong with them but he says to the manager 'I'm not feeling right today, I'd like to just be the sub.' Had I been the manager I would have gone potty but they tend to stand for it.
“I think it's out of order and they need to be told a few home truths. I think you have to take the players off the pedestal and just realise they are employees of the club. They're doing a job that every supporter wants to be doing and they need to give something back to the badge.”
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