The news about the Eggert Magnusson takeover bid has hotted up to a new level and it's now looking like the regime of Terry Brown is finally coming to an end. I have to say that I'm not as enthusiastic about this as I might have been a couple of years ago, as Brown has recently done well in supporting the development of West Ham, as he should. The rot that began with the Rio sale seems to have been cut out of club and things have been looking up (early results of the season notwithstanding). It looks like Magnusson and his backers will take on the club's debts, so it's not all rosy, but they say that there will be transfer funds available for Pardew in the January window and of course the return of Ashton will be like a new major signing anyway.

The good news is that Magnusson is making the right noises - short of claiming to have stood on the North Bank as a kid. "West Ham is a great club with a great history. They have a good manager with good players and a very strong fan base. I have always had a soft spot for West Ham - their trademark for many years was good attacking football, and that's what I like. It is also unbelievable how many good football talents they have honed in east London. They have a lot of history, which is important for a football man like myself who has been interested in the game for a very long time. They have had so many good players - Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters were the basis of England winning the World Cup in 1966, and they had a great manager at the time in Ron Greenwood. I have been involved in football and business all my life and this is something that just came up and like everything you get interested and I decided to look into this."

It seems he's a true football supporter from way back, and not just some business man who's looking to make a quick krona. Time will tell but I'd be surprised if West Ham fans saw much difference in the way the club is run.