Takeover talk as Big Sam nails Irons job

NEW West Ham manager Sam Allardyce may have walked straight back into another boardroom takeover battle after Malaysian entrepreneur Tony Fernandes claimed he had made an offer to buy the club.

Just hours after Allardyce was confirmed as the new Upton Park manager on a two-year contract Fernandes, who attempted to purchase the Hammers last year, wrote on his Twitter feed: “For all you West Ham fans an offer has gone to the present owners of West Ham. Let’s see if they accept.”

Hammers co-owners David Gold and David Sullivan claim no formal offer has been made to them and branded Fernandes’ decision to utilise social media to announce his intentions as “bizarre”.

Allardyce will certainly be hoping to avoid any boardroom upheaval having fallen foul of new owners when he was sacked by both Newcastle and Blackburn following takeovers by Mike Ashley and the Venky’s group respectively.

The 56-year-old said: “I’m bemused by the statement but my information, having spoken to David Sullivan, was that he was not wanting to sell West Ham because it’s his club, it’s the club he has always supported.

“That was one of the reasons why I took the job because I didn’t want any fractions in terms of change of ownerships because my reputation has already suffered, wrongly so, by new ownerships at Newcastle and Blackburn, disposing of my services when there was no real credibility in that other than the fact that they were new owners and they didn’t want me.

“It wasn’t down to results, it wasn’t down to how I’d performed as a manager. If that’s the case (that Fernandes has made an offer), and that materialised, then I’m surprised at that.”

Sullivan was dismissive of Fernandes’s announcement, claiming no serious bidder would use such a medium to make an offer, and Allardyce added: “It’s a dangerous thing, Twitter.!”

Gold was equally non-plussed by the news, although he admitted he would be happy to discuss any potential investment from the owner of the AirAsia airline and Formula One’s Team Lotus, who is a West Ham fan.

“That’s news to me, I certainly haven’t heard any information regarding this, it’s interesting,” Gold said.

“We’re interested in finances coming into the club, we would welcome it and I would be happy to sit down with Tony with a view to him joining the board and bringing in desperately-needed finances.

“You would think if somebody was going to buy a club they would approach the owners, sit down privately and discuss it.

“I’d find it quite bizarre anybody would make an offer through Twitter but let’s hope it’s serious, we would welcome another investor.’’

Allardyce, meanwhile, has vowed to win over West Ham fans unhappy with his appointment as manager.

The appointment has divided opinion among the Upton Park faithful, with many fans turned off by Allardyce’s direct style of play.

“I wouldn’t have taken this job if I didn’t think we could bounce straight back into the Premier League,” Allardyce said.

“More than that, I wouldn’t have contemplated the job if I didn’t think there was the opportunity to build something substantial at West Ham.

“I know there will be West Ham fans asking whether I’m going to abandon the style of play that’s been the club’s heritage over the years.

“All I’ll say is it will be a tale of home and away. At Upton Park we’ll try to play the kind of game the fans want.

“We will aim to continue in the same way on our travels but we’ll also be tough, hard to beat and utterly resilient.”