Hammers board to discuss takeover

The West Ham board were today meeting to discuss the latest developments in a proposed takeover.

The Barclays Premiership club have had to seriously consider the interest from Iranian-born businessman Kia Joorabchian and his backers, who are reportedly ready with an offer worth around £70m (€103m).

However a source close to both the club and Joorabchian insists ownership is unlikely to change hands imminently.

West Ham have been upset by reports stating manager Alan Pardew has threatened to walk out unless the takeover talks cease.

Five defeats in a row have followed the arrival of Argentinian World Cup stars Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano, a deal which was engineered by Joorabchian.

Pardew admits to telling chairman Terry Brown that settling the matter quickly would be desirable.

The manager has yet to see the best of Tevez and Mascherano.

Both were signed from Brazilian club Corinthians which is run by Media Sports Investment (MSI), a company in which Joorabchian was involved until June.

Despite their current form, defender Christian Dailly insists Hammers will soon climb the Premiership table.

The Scottish international said of last weekend’s 1-0 defeat by Reading: “I don’t think we’ve had another game this season where we’ve played as well as we did against Reading over the entire 90 minutes.

“That was definitely a step forward, especially after the way the game started.

“It (Reading’s goal) was a real sucker-punch in the first minute, but they didn’t have another chance in the whole game and if we can restrict teams to a single 30-yard shot and play with that sort of tempo and desire from now on we will be totally fine.

“There were a lot of near-misses and situations where the ball just didn’t run for us against Reading, but there’s nothing you can do about that, you just have to keep working hard.

“There is no point in pressing any panic buttons.”