Has West Ham progressed under Gold & Sullivan

The Fulham victory marked an anniversary for the ownership, it was their 300^thgame in the Premier league since they bought the club nearly 9 years ago. 

When they bought the club, they claimed there was a plan, to move west ham into the Olympic stadium and progress the club hopefully into at some point joining the elite in the top 4.

I don’t need to tell people how that has gone, We as west ham fans have all lived through their controversial ownership so to judge them as impartial as I can, being a dedicated Dave’s Out believer, the best way I thought I could see how we could have progress was to compare their ownership to the exact period before they arrived. 

So, I have looked as well at the 300 premier league games prior to their arrival and see if I am wrong in my belief that they in reality have taken us backwards, not forwards. 

I’m not sure there is any definitive way of comparing what came before them to what they have delivered, but as im a fan of West Ham football club, I concentrated on the football side, not the financial side, though you could argue one without the other does now not exist.

In the 300 games BD (before Dave’s) West Ham had won 100 games exactly, under the Daves we have managed 91, 9 less, so no progress there to be seen though its close enough to argue its not a definitive decline. 

Draws though possibly evens the balance up, BD there was 72 draws, Under the Dave’s we have 82, so slight improvement there, so its down to the losses to decide it.

Under the Dave’s we have lost 129 games but BD we lost 127 games out of the 300, virtually even stevens. 

In both 300 game periods West Ham had suffered a relegation from the Premier league, though BD we went down with 42 points, a record for a relegated team in the 20 team Premier league era. Under the Dave’s we had the worst ever season in top flight in the clubs History. In fact, if we look at the season they bought the club which half was in BD half in their ownership, that was the 2^ndworst season we had ever had in the Premier league. 

If football is a business, then that business is goals, so how do the 2 eras stack up. 

In the BD era we scored 352 yet in the UD that increases to 376, a definitive victory for the Dave’s. Not one I expected if im honest, but stats tell no lies, but with all that attacking flair does it mean defensively we have been exposed.

Yes it does, BD we conceded 434 goals yet UD it rises to 458, so can goal difference provide a winner, well no it cant, madly thanks to the 2-0 win over Fulham its -82 goal difference across both periods, another draw there but it could be argued that The Dave’s sneak it on the fact goals = entertainment.

You know what they say though, Points mean prizes. Well maybe not for us as we’ve won nothing of note for 38 years but still, BD we managed 372 where UD we achieved just 354 which is understandable considering under their watch we had the 2 worst Premier League seasons, though we also had the best ever PL season, Last at Upton park, which counters that stat.

So with it being virtually level I leave it down to the Average league position, across the roughly 8 seasons it takes to play 300 league games, BD we averaged 12^thposition in the PL, highest being a 7^thfinish, lowest being 18^th. UD we also had a 7^thspot finish, but we had a 20^thspot as well, that averaged out again as…..12^th, exactly the same. (I ignored the decimal points).

So there you have it, Under the ownership of Gold & Sullivan they have neither improved the club, nor have they taken the club backwards, On the pitch at least. Off the pitch is another question and maybe an even longer blog. 

You could argue that they have had a greater financial reward from the Pl to fund the club so they should of done better, but, you cant ignore the financial mess they inherited when they arrived on Jan 19^th2010. 

As with much of their ownership, antis can argue they have done nothing to further the club, the pro Daves can argue we haven’t gone backwards, ill leave it to you the readers of this, (hopefully more than 8) to choose what you take from this comparriosn.

I will end though in saying, at this moment in time, the club it seems is on the up, but ive seen this so many times in the past, I wont believe it till I see it.