West Ham chairman David Gold has told Sky Sports News that he is looking to make a swift appointment to replace Avram Grant.
Hammers supremo looking for right man to replace axed Grant
West Ham chairman David Gold has told
Sky Sports News that he is looking to make a swift appointment to replace Avram Grant.
The Hammers parted company with the dour Israeli immediately following their 3-2 defeat at Wigan on Sunday which confirmed their relegation to the Championship following a miserable campaign in the Premier League.
A host of names have already been linked with the Upton Park hotseat, including former England manager Steve McClaren, and Gold is determined to select the best candidate as they target an immediate return to the top-flight.
Gold and fellow co-owner David Sullivan will spend the coming days checking out the credentials of various candidates and it is clear the club are keen to have a new man at the helm in the immediate future.
Sooner the better
When asked about the timeframe for appointing their new boss in an exclusive interview with
Sky Sports News, Gold responded: "The sooner the better, that is important.
"There is lots of work to do, an enormous amount of work. But at the same time we mustn't be rushed.
"This will be a very, very important appointment. We are choosing a manager capable of getting us out of the Championship and continuing once we've achieved that.
"We are looking at everybody. It's important that we have time for CVs to come in to us. I'm sure that there will be many managers who will see the West Ham job as challenging and exciting.
"It's important that we pick the right person."
Interfering
There were widespread suggestions earlier in the season that Grant had lost the support of the players in the dressing room and that contributed to their eventual relegation.
Gold claimed he had not seen any indication of problems between the squad and the former Chelsea and Portsmouth boss, but admitted he was possibly not privy to all the information.
Gold stated: "You'll have to ask Avram that or you'd have to ask the players.
"Everything seemed OK to me when I visited the training ground. Remember, my visits were quite short because I didn't want to be accused of interfering.
"I'd be in the dressing room for minutes before a match and at the training ground for half a day. And what I saw was professionalism, but that's only what I saw."
