Hammers owner explains Grant decision

(GSM) – West Ham United owner David Gold has explained that appointment of Avram Grant as Hammers’ manager was purely based on the reasons of his ability to bring stability to Upton Park.

Former Hammers boss Gianfranco Zola was relieved of his duties following last season’s completion after public disagreements with West Ham’s co-owners – Gold and his partner David Sullivan.

But the Hammers hierarchy are now hoping for a more harmonious approach under Grant.

“After an hour, we knew we could work with this manager. We are very optimistic,” Gold told BBC Sport. “I think it’s time for the football club to get some stability with people that have been there, done that and got the T-shirt.

“The bottom line is the relationship between the manager and the chairman is critical. In our case it’s two chairmen so it’s even more difficult as you need to have a relationship between three people.

“We can’t put our fans through what happened this again. We want to put together a team that was better than last year. We were very fortunate. Normally 35 points gets you relegated.

“What we need is a manager who has achieved, has experience. We are not in a position where we can take on young, inexperienced managers. We did ask Franco to keep us up and he did that, but I think we need to move on from that. New owners like to choose their own people.”