West Ham’s dismal recent form has left them in a three-way battle with Hull City and Burnley for the EPL’s two remaining relegation places alongside Portsmouth.

After a run of games against the EPL’s top four, the Hammers continued their losing ways at home to fellow-strugglers Wolves and mid-table Stoke.

The former result, a convincing 3-1 defeat against the EPL’s lowest scorers, led to public confrontations between manager Gianfranco Zola and chairman and co-owner David Sullivan.

 

Publicity-hungry former pornographer Sullivan posted an open letter to fans on the club web-site, using words such as “shambolic”, “disorganised” and “appalling” in a no-holds barred attack on the team.

Zola, who had no prior knowledge of the letter, reacted as angrily as he has ever done in public.

And he refused to refute suggestions that Sullivan was trying to force him to resign, in order to avoid paying-off his contract.

Zola said: “That is a good question. I don’t know,” before adding: “The owner is entitled to have his opinion and express it because he is the owner.”

It was a view echoed by captain and centre-half Matthew Upson, who added, pertinently: “I wouldn’t say, from a player’s point of view, that it helps.”

Zola’s position was hardly helped by the 1-0 loss to Stoke last Saturday. But the Hammers other co-owner David Gold, gave Zola his full backing after of the defeat.

Zola, who returned to his native Sardinia between the matches to consider his future, added: “The owners have backed me and I am grateful for that. I am determined to carry on.” The Hammers visit in-form Everton this Sunday.

West Ham have formally registered their long-discussed interest in moving into London’s Olympic Stadium after the 2012 games.

The Olympic Park Legacy Company began accepting registrations of interest last week. And in order to boost their bid, the club have accepted that the stadium will have to be used for athletics.

Both owners had been rudely dismissive of athletics but vice-chair Karren Brady signalled a politically-wise, if dubiously sincere, change of tack.

She said: “We acknowledge the need for the stadium to host world-class athletics, and so it should. But it can accommodate football, too.”

Meanwhile, Brady accompanied Sullivan to Dubai recently for talks with potential investors in the club which they hope will generate interest in the 50% still owned by Icelandic bank Straumur-Burdaras.

West Ham were the subject of one of the more imaginative April Fools’ Day articles in the English press, when the Daily Mail newspaper published a “picture exclusive” of next year’s “new Hammers’ kit.”

The club, the report read, “will brave ridicule next season by wearing pink on their home shirts as part of a saucy new sponsorship deal with erotic retailers Ann Summers, the chain of high street stores owned by David Gold.”

Other West Ham reports said that the club were threatening to sue Fulham for up to £500,000 for fielding a weakened side at Hull City recently. Surprisingly, these reports were for real.