Eggy steps down, sells stake

There's a baseball writer in Chicago who frequently -- too frequently in my opinion -- uses allusions to movies and television shows in his articles. These references are a stretch in most cases, as far as I am concerned. TMG has heard me complain about him many times. So I feel a bit hypocritical in writing that Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson's moves to buy out Eggert Magnússon's stake in West Ham and take greater control of the operations of the club remind me a lot of the movie Fargo. Maybe it's just all the Scandinavian names.

In Fargo, as you may recall, Jerry Lundegaard (brilliantly played by William H. Macy) is a bumbling car salesman who tries to cover his losses at the dealership owned by his father-in-law (I thought that I had forgotten what led to those losses, but IMDB says that the losses are never explained in the movie) by hiring two men to kidnap his wife, with the idea that he will pay them off and keep the rest of the ransom money. When it comes time to give the money to the kidnappers, the wealthy father-in-law, Wade Gustafson, and his right-hand man, Stan Grossman, tell Lundegaard that they'll be handling the rest of the deal.

I couldn't help think of this turn of events as I read the stories -- particularly the ones in Friday's paper that followed up on the scoop by Jason Burt of the Independent -- that told of Gudmundsson's concern at the reckless wages granted by West Ham under Magnússon. (It's only partially because his name is Swedish that this makes me think of Freddie Ljungberg.)

The Guardian reported in Friday's edition:

But a number of decisions [Magnússon] took as chairman, most particularly in player-wage negotiations, did alarm Gudmundsson and may be considered to have contributed to his departure.

The Times's Friday story also suggests that Magnússon was too free with the wages:

It is believed that his handling of the Carlos Tévez affair, culminating in the Argentina forward's sale to Manchester United, did not impress fellow members of the board. Neither did the glut of new players signed this year, many of whom were handed lucrative contracts in the region of £70,000 a week.

Burt reported that Gudmundsson will invest £30.5 million in the club, not for the transfer kitty, but on new training facilities and the expanded scouting network that Gudmundsson wants. Other reports suggested that the money would also go towards the planning and development of West Ham's proposed new 60,000 seat, £250 million stadium on the Parcelforce site near the West Ham tube stop.

The Times also mentions that West Ham are looking to hire a technical director, something that has been reported before. Manager Alan Curbishley will have great say over this hiring, the Times says, and it will be clear that the technical director has no say over the first team, the report says.

From a wire story on the changes:

Gudmundsson has appointed his trusted aide Asgeir Fridgeirsson as vice-chairman and Mike Lee, the former Premier League, UEFA and London 2012 Olympic bid communications director, to be a board member.

The new board will comprise: Gudmundsson (chairman), Fridgeirsson (vice-chairman), Lee, Thor Kristjansson, Gudmundur Oddsson with executive directors Scott Duxbury (chief executive) and Nick Igoe (finance director).

In the Telegraph, David Bond writes that the moves ensure that Gudmundsson has a much tighter control over the club. It dissolves three boards who oversaw the various goings on at West Ham with a single board. Perhaps I don't understand exactly how these football PLCs are set up, but I have to wonder how much of a difference it makes when one man increases his stake from 95% to 100%. Wasn't Gudmundsson already in full control? I supposed that these moves may further cement his direct involvement with the club, especially with the appointment of his right-hand man, Fridgeirsson.

I'll say this: If Gudmundsson's ambitions are to be met, then players like these two will have to be bought and kept by West Ham, rather than snatched out of the club as soon as they "prove" that they can play in England.