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The Ice Man Cometh

Premiership West Ham United
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Apart from it being the place where Eidur Gudjohnsen and Bjork come from, and the name of a supermarket, most West Ham fans would probably be hard pressed to tell you much about Iceland.

But that is all about to change, as it looks like West Ham's ship - a Viking longboat, perhaps? - has finally come in.

Having had his £85m takeover of the club accepted, Icelandic biscuit millionaire Eggert Magnusson is to replace Terence Brown as chairman, backed by billionaire financer Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson.

And judging by the picture on the wrapper, West Ham fans are in for a tasty treat.

What sets Magnusson apart from many investors - or potential investors - in English football is that he is not just a rich businessman, he is a football man through and through.

For the past 17 years, he has been the president of the Icelandic Football Association and on Uefa's executive committee since 2002.

And he does not just talk a good game.

The 59-year-old still plays regularly, and says he has been "immersed and captivated by football's magnetism" since childhood.

Boss Alan Pardew was certainly impressed by him when the pair met, and Magnusson has promised there will be money to spend in the January transfer window, and that he wants Pardew to be the manager spending it.

Initial signs are that there will not be huge change, but one thing that looks very likely to happen is the departure of Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano.

The exact nature of their presence at the club has always been slightly confusing, but given their connections to Kia Joorbachian, who had been linked with a bid for the club, it would be a major surprise if it continued much longer.

Gift horses' teeth should always be checked, however - in 1999, an Icelandic consortium bought Stoke and made all the right noises about restoring the glory days, but earlier this year former chairman Peter Coates repurchased the club.

Wimbledon's takeover by a Norwegian consortium was the beginning of the end for the club, and the on-going soap-opera at Hearts since Vladimir Romanov's takeover remains the biggest cautionary tale of all.

Even by their own masochistic standards, over the last few years, being a West Ham fan has required a peculiar amount of faith.

Seeing the club's brightest crop of home-grown talent in years fly the coop and flourish elsewhere, relegation and frustration, coming within seconds of winning the FA Cup and then being deprived of their first-choice striker for half the season - no-one ever became a West Ham fan because they wanted an easy life.

Iceland's geographical position means that in winter, the country experiences near-24 hour darkness, and in the summer, the sun never fully sets.

But as winter 2006 sets in, West Ham fans will be hoping the arrival of Eggert Magnusson heralds the dawn of a whole new era of optimism in London E13.

Latest 10 comments

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posted Nov 22, 2006

Hang on a moment! i think that Pards will be fine with money, he cannot be worse than Harry, e.g. camera & song. he has made some good buys, Harewood and Benayoun was great business, £3mil for the both of them. the young players that he has let go haven't gone on to great things cohen, ward, nowland or mcanuff. i think we need another winger and two players to replace tevez and mascherano when they go off to italy or where ever.

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posted Nov 22, 2006

At last we have a chairman that is making the right noises about moving this club forward. Terence Brown has lined his own pockets and has done nothing for our club except sell our best players. Hopefully we can challenge for Europe this season still

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posted Nov 22, 2006

In reply to hammerbod; everyone is entitled to a view because that's what makes our great club what it is, us, the fans! I do however, strongly disagree and think Pards is the right man fo us. We are a club who gives managers a chance and don't change them everytime the club have a slump. Yes the start of the season was poor but I watched us at Chelsea and against blackburn and the gooners and we battled and showed character. I believe that character comes form Alan Pardew. I really hope he makes you eat your words by leading us into a briht future.

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posted Nov 22, 2006

I love Pardew so give him a chance! He is a bright, young manager who will lead us to good times and we are a club that give our managers abreak when the team has slump. I hope this takeover spells good times for West Ham because we deserve it

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posted Nov 22, 2006

bothered

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posted Nov 22, 2006

Sorry, Hammerbod, do you watch the same West Ham as the rest of us? Pards made good use of limited funds, getting in Mullins, Zamora, Harewood, Etherington, Benayoun, Gabbidon - all of whom have proved themselves more than capable at Premiership level, then as soon as decent money was provided bought Ashton (whilst other teams ummed and erred about him) who is absolute quality. In addition he transformed a lazy and divded dressing room into a very tight-knit unit. Form comes and goes, class is permanent and Pards is class. Come on you Irons!

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posted Nov 23, 2006

Lets not get carried away to quickly, remember how we all looked forward to games in the sun and ended up going out in the first round of the Uefa.

There are some really tough games to play before we get a chance to see who Pards wants, if we don't win most of them before Jan 1st, it could be too late and all the money in the world won't help.

Remember we earned champions league quantity points after Xmas in 2002-3 yet still went down, lets nuckle down for the next 6 games and see where we are then.

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posted Nov 29, 2006

The arrival of The Eggman can only be a good thing surely?!?! i mean Brown didn't have a clue, all he wanted from West Ham was profit, sold all our bright young stars and never took the club forward! thank god the take over went through, onwards and upwards!
cumon u irons!!!!

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posted Nov 30, 2006

For pity's sake give Pardew a break - we don't need a big name manager, we just need to support a good manager who I believe could one day go onto coach England. he has made good signings with a mixture of youth and experience. he hasn't had to spend big, although he may well do now, but I bet he'll look at bringing in young English players to the club (ie SWP)not those fostered onto him!
Look at the facts, he united a team, reduced a wage bill got us promoted, to a cup final and established us in the premiership, what a rubbish manager!!!

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