Betting Spy: West Ham not to blame for stadium costs

Now I’m pretty sure Karren Brady isn’t a construction manager and David Sullivan sports a Russian hat rather than a hard one.

But the West Ham board seem to be getting the blame from all angles for the latest rise in conversion costs at the Olympic Stadium.

Now regular readers will know Betting Spy is hardly unbiased in this matter as a lifelong Irons fan and season ticket holder.

But the whole undercurrent of most coverage of the latest stadium developments is that West Ham have ripped off the taxpayer and should be held to account.

The Hammers wanted to buy the stadium originally but are tenants now because of legal challenges and bickering by London rivals.

As a tenant your landlord pays for structural changes so the spotlight should be on the stadium’s owners.

Obviously West Ham negotiated a great deal in terms of rent and running costs but that’s hardly their fault.

If you walk into a shop expecting to pay £20 for something and the assistant offers it to you for a fiver you are hardly going to say no.

And the West Ham deal makes you wonder how hard the bargaining has been with contractors as costs keep ramping up.

Now I’m no expert but the revised cost of £8m to install and operate retractable seating seems a tad steep compared to the original quote of £300,000.

A lot of things don’t add up but none of that is West Ham’s fault.

The club just happened to be the only viable tenants for what would have been a white elephant of a stadium and had a negotiating team who danced rings around their public sector opponents.

But that’s enough of off the pitch matters.

Let’s get to the real business of this column and try and pick a winner this weekend.

It’s the North London derby and we can keep things nice and simple by backing Arsenal at even money.

The Gunners are in great form while Spurs are struggling to score goals.

I can’t see Tottenham keeping a clean sheet and Arsenal should win with a bit to spare.

But if the form book goes out of the window and it’s another loser just blame West Ham.

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Running total of all bets to a £10 stake for 2016/17 season: £-75.00

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2016/11/03/betting-spy-west-ham-not-to-blame-for-stadium-costs/

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