Last summer, in the aftermath of the Blades' shambolic end
to the season and in the midst of an elongated (and ultimately misguided)
managerial search, I poste an article to this blog called Reasons
to be Cheerful.
It garnered thousands of hits, was linked on West Ham
discussion forums and ended up as the second most read article on A United
View. You can read it here. It won't take long. The post was blank.
No words. No pictures. As a United fan I could see no grounds for optimism.
That this caused so much happiness amongst Irons fans caused
me much amusement. They really do hate United and some of the 30+ comments
left on the kind of defy logic and seem to be based on fantasy and fallacy. Before
I share a selection of the comments it is probably worth remembering a few
facts regarding the Tevez case which causes much of the hatred and venom.
To start with. Let’s be clear. There is no mystery, there
was no simple mistake. The rules were clear and West Ham lied about breaking
them. At the time of the transfer agreements for both Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano (right
on the transfer deadline in August 2006), and until January 24 2007, West Ham
United failed to disclose the third party agreements to the Premier League and
deliberately withheld these agreements from the Premier League.
When West Ham signed the Argentinian internationals from
Brazilian club Corinthians, the players were contracted to four offshore
companies via agent Kia Joorabchian - a fact that, according to the commission,
Hammers bosses deliberately concealed from league authorities. Both Scott
Duxbury and Paul Aldridge denied the existence of the contracts.
"[West Ham] knew that the only means by which they could acquire
[the players] would be by entering into the third party contracts," said
the commission. "Equally, they were aware that the FA Premier League, at
the very least, may not - and in all probability would not - have approved of
such contracts. They determined to keep their existence from the FAPL." –
Independent Commission statement.
On April 27th 2007 they were found guilty by a FA Premier
League Independent Commission of breaching rules B13 and U18. Rule B13 states
that all Premier League clubs should act in good faith, while U18 relates to
third party influence. A Premier League Commission fined the club £5.5m,
stating that a points deduction would have virtually condemned West Ham to
relegation which would have been unfair on the fans and players.
At the time of the fine the Premier League added that if
they were found to be breaching the same rules again, a heavier punishment
would be in order (points deduction/relegation implied). The club claimed
(and this was accepted by the Premier League) that the agreement was ripped up
and Tevez was free to play in the final three games.
Despite legal action between Joorabchian and West Ham over
the economic rights of Tevez, the Premier League saw fit to agree to the
Argentinean’s move to Manchester United the following August. But if such a
valued asset was under West Ham’s ownership they must have been gutted to
receive a fee of just £2m from the Red Devils.
Following relegation The Blades pursued action to try and
force a more standard punishment on West Ham and also financial compensation.
They were unsuccessful in appealing the original decision with both a Premier
League independent commission and the High Court. They were even told that the
appeal commission could not reverse the original decision, but if they had made
it in the first place there would have been a points deduction.
United then took the matter up through the FA's arbitration
procedure and there was a ruling in United’s favour in March 2009. Lord
Griffiths, who headed the committee, suggested that
West Ham had not “torn up” the offending contract after the initial
tribunal had required them to do so, but instead simply told the FA Premier
League that they had done so whilst executing a verbal side agreement with Kia
Joorabchian to confirm to him that they were not intending to simply walk away
from that contract. This alleged deceit then enabled Carlos Tevez to play in
the final three games of the season. This was a key element in reaching
the final verdict.
There was a belief that the Premier League had been further
misled, so where was the further investigation and action promised two years
earlier? The Premier League remained quiet. By quiet I mean whistling in the
corner, eyes darting around, making no contact, hoping no one would chase up
the further action required.
The thing is, despite
their cheating, despite the ongoing fantasy of their fans where they see
themselves as the wronged party, I don't feel any real anger towards West Ham
any more. Only despair at their blinkered, partisan and misguided views, which
their fans continue to espouse. They were, in the words of the commission,
dishonest and deceitful, but it was the Premier League commission's failure to
adequately penalise them that still rankles.
A decision partly
based on whether it would disproportionately punish fans, whilst welcome in some
areas of the game (I am sure Wimbledon fans would have liked this applied by
the committee reaching a verdict on their move to Milton Keynes), had no place
here. The delay to the hearing which led to the decision not to deduct points,
was down to on-going West Ham deceit over the nature of the contracts.
I
accept United should have stayed up that season under their own steam. It is
not about blame for relegation. It is about fair play, abiding by the rules and
trust in the authorities to adequately manage these issues. As members of the
Premier League you contractually sign up to abide by the rules. If rules are
broken which ultimately lead to financial loss for another member club, then it
is perfectly rational for them to pursue financial recompense. The fact is
whichever club was relegated would have pursued a claim against West Ham. Fate
meant that we ended up being that team.
It galls me whenever
I see other, often much smaller clubs, punished by points deductions for
administrative oversights and registration issues. Take last season when AFC
Wimbledon were deducted three points for fielding an ineligible player, Jake
Nicholson, in the Sky Bet League 2 fixture with Cheltenham Town on 22 March. He
came on as a substitute at half-time, before scoring his side's second goal in
the 4-3 victory. He had an impact in one game and they were penalised the three
points.
Further down the
pyramid the Conference board punished Alfreton's failure to register an
emergency loan keeper; a blank fax causing the lack of registration. The three
point punishment was consistent with deductions issued to Conference North
sides Oxford City and Harrogate Town.
Yet the so-called
“Greatest League in the World” – the FA Premier League failed to apply such
punishment to a more blatant breach of rules, breach of trust and the use of
illegal contracts. In a world where reference is made to tarnishing the
product, damaging the integrity of the brand, surely an instance that Richard
Scudamore described as ranking “up
there as the number one act of bad faith that any club has ever done towards me
during my time here” deserved a similar, if not stronger punishment?
Scudamore’s further
comments only lead to the conclusion that finances are all that matters in the
moneyball league, fair play, legality and abiding by the rules are just mere PR
puff.
"It is quite
simple - you are completely undone by an act of bad faith. If a club, through
its executives, chooses to lie straight to your face, there is a great deal of
damage that can be done from that.
"Ultimately,
the Tevez saga goes down to people not being honest. With any regularity body,
if people are not honest there is very little you can do about it and that is
why the whole thing unravelled.”
Yet this deceit and wrongdoing doesn’t seem to register with
Hammers fans who see only United doing wrong. Their argument perpetuated by
members of the London based media, such as Hammers fan Martin Samuel who
perpetuated myths regarding the transfer of Steve Kabba from United to Watford.
In this instance both clubs were investigated and it was found that there was
no case to be answered.
So in this mire of denial, anger and abuse, many amusing
statements are made. Here are some of the comments made on this blog and a few
responses.
“Reasons to be Cheerful: Reason #1: Payments of the money the Blades swindled out of West Ham for not being
good enough to beat the drop will stop after this summer.”
Swindled? I seem to recall West Ham settled the claim as
they knew they were guilty and before the tribunal set an amount?
“I found a reason to be cheerful, you'll still be in League 1 for a
long time.”
“Unless you end up in League 2 ...”
Well we had a good go last season.
“One Carlos Tevez.”
Yes, you are right, there is.
“Where did all the money go? The money that the blunts stole from West
Ham? Fairness in Football!!!!!”
Capital B on Blunts if
you don’t mind. And as for stole. Steal according to the Oxford Dictionary is
to take (another person’s property) without permission or legal right and
without intending to return it. I think West Ham settled a payment of their own
volition and in negotiation, therefore there was permission and legal right.
“What did McCabe do
with the blackmail money? He certainly didn't spend it on the team.”
Unfortunately he did, giving it to Bryan Robson and Kevin
Blackwell wasn’t the best use, granted. As for Blackmail – “The action, treated
as a criminal offence, of demanding money from someone in return for not
revealing compromising information which one has about them”. I only wish we
had more compromising information on West Ham, however I think West Ham
themselves had revealed enough to compromise themselves, once they had stopped
lying to the FA Premier League.
“Phil 'handball' Jagielka is doing rather well at Everton.”
He is. Well done to him. Always good to see your young
players develop into the international players you thought they would be.
“Karma”
“Total and utter karma”
“You make me happy every day, I revel in your appalling situation, all
bought on by your attempt at a contrived result that went wrong. Karma.”
“Oh deep joy. May you continue unrestrained on your descent into
oblivion, it is no more and no less than you deserve. All that ill-gotten dosh
and nothing whatever to show for it. It’s really hard to think of a better example of karma in action.”
Karma? In Hinduism and Buddhism this is the sum of a
person’s actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding
their fate in future existence. A sort of retributive justice. Given that West
Ham cheated and have only suffered financial penalty in the cash fuelled world
of the Premier League you could actually argue that karma is yet to exert
itself on them. As for us, we got some reward and blew it all. That’s life. That’s
football.
“Do they have a word for shaudenfreude in blunt-land?”
Yes, it is spelt schadenfreude. I presume it is the same
word you are referring to?
“Can't even get out of League 1 despite our charity payments hitting
your begging bowl every year, dread to think where you will be when your
wealthy, cockney, top half of the Premier League, still watching the big teams,
spending £10m+ on single players, moving to a massive new ground benefactors
stop subsidising your shambles of a club. Still at least Avram is is reportedly
on his way to make it all better. COYI”
“Every time I think about your nasty little clubs plight I am filled
with an enormous sense of satisfaction. Who can you sue to try and get out of
this one? It must be someone's fault?”
Acts of charity are voluntary. I don’t recall you being too
willing to make this payment. Nice to see the fan here gloating over the
Olympic stadium farce that is not just bad for the tax payer but Leyton Orient
to. Another example of football’s rules being ignored to the Hammers’ benefit.
And finally it is no one’s fault but ours, well the people
running the club. You may well gloat, but with the twists and turs of football,
just remember the next team mismanaged could be you.
So then a couple of weeks ago, it finally happened. The Blades were drawn to meet The Hammers in the second round of the Capital One Cup; the first meeting since that Premier League season. No doubt the tie will get the media talking and
it got the fans of both clubs talking when the draw was made. United's visit to
Upton Park immediately generated plenty of social media comment, but with very
different levels of animosity from the respective sets of fans.
United fans mockingly joked about facing the Shammers, Wet
Sham or some variation thereof and the fact at last, some 7 years later we
would face each other at last. Hammers fans immediately started with a
#BlameTevez hash tag on twitter and seemingly couldn't wait to put the Blades
to the sword and give a “warm” East End welcome to United fans.
The interest in the match can perhaps be best summed up by
the relatively low ticket sales to United fans. A midweek date doesn't help. Some fans
have openly said it just isn’t worth the potential hassle and trouble. The other
factor is many just don't really care about West Ham or the match being against
them. If we win, fantastic. If we don’t then, to be honest it is not unexpected
given relative league positions. We move on and focus on the league.
So, while Hammers get excited and prepare a hate filled
welcome, many United fans will reserve their ire for those who let the
situation happen; Richard Scudamore and the Premier League. We don't blame Tevez, many more were culpable and in a greater sense.
Enjoy wearing your Tevez masks lads. The only impact it will
have is improving the looks of the average Upton Park crowd and the bank
balances of entrepreneurs and street hawkers in the East End.
