WEST HAM chief Karren Brady returns with her weekly diary in The Sun.
This week it’s hats off to Antonio Conte, little Forest Green and Philippe Coutinho, and a message to the Premier League over proposed changes to its fit-and-proper test.
Sat, May 13
SO CHELSEA have won the league — with the deadly efficiency that is Antonio Conte’s trademark.
He was tossed in the air and squirted with champagne after beating West Brom 1-0 last night to seal it.
I wonder if Conte, like one of my previous managers, will put in a £20 expense form for the cost of dry cleaning his suit after it got wet celebrating?
Sun, May 14
OUTCLASSED — no better word for what Liverpool did to West Ham this afternoon.
They have players of the highest quality and, on the brink of a Champions League place after this 4-0 win, they will attract more.
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Jurgen Klopp’s spending this summer will surely be concentrated on one or two who will make a big difference. At the top level you can buy as many good players as you like — but they will never be as influential as a couple of VERY good ones.
How could Klopp ever replace a man of the character and talents of Philippe Coutinho, our destroyer today?
Or Chelsea’s Eden Hazard, or Spurs’ Harry Kane? In a way, all of them are priceless.
Mon, May 15
FOREST GREEN have just stolen into the Football League.
anager, Mark Cooper, is the son of former England full-back, Terry.
Mark played at 17 clubs and totted up eight managerial jobs before finally enjoying the sweet smell of success at Forest Green, where they use manure on the pitch.
Tues, May 16
AN £18million dividend paid to six Glazer siblings reminds us of their loans to takeover at Manchester United, while AC Milan have also been part of a controversial buyout from Chinese investors.
But Milan don’t have anything like as much potential. As clubs are discovering, some Chinese owners are experts at hiding their motives.
Wed, May 17
IT SEEMS ridiculous the destiny of as much as £200million may rest on a single kick.
But that’s how it will be if, say, Huddersfield repeat their victory in tonight’s penalty shootout against Wednesday — and secure promotion to the Prem by doing the same thing against Reading in the play-off final.
A much fairer way would be automatic promotion for the third-placed team but this is the lottery of football, not a court of law.
Thurs, May 18
THE Premier League plan to do their own bit for Brexit — by telling potential new owners with a sticky record to stay away.
Proposed changes to the fit-and-proper test will be put to the PL clubs next month.
It explicitly disqualifies any potential owner or director whose conduct constitutes an offence under UK law, whether or not there is a conviction.
Enforcing it may require an MI6 equivalent, men and women secretly operating in the dens of Italian Mafia, of Russian expatriate oligarchs, sly Chinese barons and Americans in extremely smart suits.
Not quite — but it is clear that some foreigners have been attracted to the English game like dicey prospectors at rumours of gold.
Too many of them are useless and it is the supporters who suffer.
I just hope the Premier League are as tough as they sound.
Fri, May 19
AS THE season draws to a close, so does our first year at the London Stadium — and the good news is that West Ham have a further 98 years there.
The stadium has been sold out for every match and we intend to raise the capacity to 60,000 next season.
Manager Slaven Bilic has to believe that experience in defence and greater consistency will move us up the table at least to where we were in 2016.
Meanwhile, the season drifts to a close for us at Burnley on Sunday.
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