West Ham offered Avram Grant's job to six other managers months before he was sacked
Avram Grant's postion as West Ham manager was undermined at the start of this year when six managers were approached by the club's owners David Gold and David Sullivan about replacing the Israeli, according to Grant.
End of the line: Avram Grant has told close friends he should never have accepted the job at West Ham Photo: AP
By Telegraph staff 8:53AM BST 18 May 2011
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According to a close friend, Grant, sacked at the weekend after it was confirmed West Ham had been relegated to the Championship, ignored advice urging him to snub the job at Upton Park but almost immediately recognised the error of his ways.
"Avram was advised not to take the job by several people in football but he wanted the challenge," a close friend of Grant's told the Guardian.
"He feels almost from the moment he took over the situation was virtually impossible.
"Avram points to January when Martin O'Neill was offered his job [when Grant's dismissal was expected to be announced]. He says six managers were asked by the club to take over, including Steve McClaren and Sam Allardyce, but they would not do it because they knew the situation there.
"Avram feels frustrated. If he had not been sacked he believes he could have steadied the club and taken it on to much better things next season.
"He actually said that despite all the financial difficulties at Portsmouth, where players were not being paid and the club faced liquidation, that job was far easier than the West Ham."
Expanding on the frustrations and pressures put on Grant by Gold and Sullivan, the source added: "He [Grant] was concerned about the lack of a strong midfield-enforcer type when he arrived so he wanted to sign Marc Wilson, who was a player for him at Portsmouth.
"Wilson wanted to sign for Avram and Portsmouth would have sold him for £3m but the owners would not go beyond £2.5m and so he ended up joining Stoke [City].
"Another example is Yakubu [Ayegbeni, the Everton striker]. West Ham were willing to pay £6m for him – David Moyes [Everton's manager] wanted £10m so the deal could not happen, but Avram was not allowed to spend [that] money on other signings, which he could not understand.
"He regrets not checking out the club properly to find out the true situation about the budget. His vision was for the club was to be a mini-Arsenal, developing their own players and style. He knew it would be difficult in the first season, fighting relegation at the same time. But if he knew then what he knows now he probably would not have accepted the job."
Grant's apparent admission that he was wrong to have accepted the role at West Ham is a view shared by his wife who added that while her husband found joy with the fans and players he faced unimaginable pressure from behind the scenes.
"Maybe there was a mistake on Avram's part to accept the job," said Tzofit Grant. "There were so many people who were offered it but turned it down because they thought they wouldn't be able to manage. But Avram wanted to rise to the challenge.
"There are so many things that we can't talk about – so many things he had to deal with that people don't know about. He found no joy except only with the fans, players and his assistants."
martin o neill, avram grant, sam allardyce, steve mcclaren, telegraph staff, david gold, marc wilson, david sullivan, west ham, upton park, postion, financial difficulties, midfield, close friends, frustrations, everton, bst, portsmouth, 5m, liquidation
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