" MY FORWARD TO MY NEW BOOK " "SAM HAMMAM"

Life is never simple. The "Elephant in the room" continues to be ignored; I mean of course the 'Sam' with whom old Wimbledon fans will be familiar. Sam left the club in a smoking heap though he called them 'His Baby.' At one time he was thinking of taking the club here to Cardiff or to Ireland. Not much hint of sentiment there is there?

Sam is very popular here and it's good to see that those who suspect that he is not all sweetness and light are given a fair go here. Life is not simple and neither are human beings. I hope that the new book by Annis will help to clear up the doubts some of us have as to his sincerity. As for Ridsdale-- well, all we need from him is to see his disastrous backside disappearing down the road for good.


CAL

Would we be where we are today without Sam? No he was absoultely vital to kick starting the rollercoaster with his own cash £20m of which he has written off.

On the other hand was Ridsdale vital to carrying on the job? No he has paid f**k all into this club and taken at least £2m out.

I aint knocking him at all Tony coz without Sam we will be God knows where by now but he left under a £24mil financial cloud based on " gambling " to get us promotions etc which isnt to dis-similar to the current chairman " gambling " for the same outcome . Dont get me wrong Riddler is a lying tw*t and his best rid off and I marched against him with pride ......... the trouble is that when Sam left ( without most of us knowing the truth ) we only remember the state of CCFC at the time and not where we may or may not have been without him

That's fair comment Martyn and I suppose most fans will remember how the club was when Sam left rather than what it was like when he arrived.

That said the overwhelming debt at the time was the £24m in loan notes which was owed to Sam/Langston. At no point has Sam Hammam or Langston said they were going to put the club into administration/liquidation and any suggestion that they did only came from the most discredited source in history Mr Peter Ridsdale.

In 2005 it suited too many people to paint Sam as the villain and as victors in the battle they got to write the history. It would be very interesting one day to here Sam Hammam’s full unedited version of what happened when he was forced out as I’m sure there are many involved at the top of CCFC with much to hide.

Life is never simple. The "Elephant in the room" continues to be ignored; I mean of course the 'Sam' with whom old Wimbledon fans will be familiar. Sam left the club in a smoking heap though he called them 'His Baby.' At one time he was thinking of taking the club here to Cardiff or to Ireland. Not much hint of sentiment there is there?

Sam is very popular here and it's good to see that those who suspect that he is not all sweetness and light are given a fair go here. Life is not simple and neither are human beings. I hope that the new book by Annis will help to clear up the doubts some of us have as to his sincerity. As for Ridsdale-- well, all we need from him is to see his disastrous backside disappearing down the road for good.


CAL

Moving Cardiff to Dublin was aired well before Sam bought CCFC and there was never any suggestion that would happen whilst he was Chairman.

One man's 'smoking heap' is another man's fortune. There have been a number of people who did very well out of Sam Hammam's initial efforts and that has never been recongised.

Fair enough Tony but I hardly think that what happened at Wimbledon suggests that any good for the club or the supporters came out of Sam's final moves. I'd like to see a book written by those who were close to him when he was their saviour. There's no doubt that he's a charismatic and dynamic man, nor can anyone doubt that his initial impact at our club was immense but, his plans were built on sand and the sea began to roll over him and us.

I have nothing against Hammam and I believe his part in our history is assured. I believe he should have a seat kept for him at the new stadium; but we have efficient and determined men apparently moving in and investing money into our club. I don't think they would appreciate one of Sam's shouting fits and it could affect the atmosphere throughout the club. Let's put all that behind us and base our future on solid ground-- if it's available.


CAL

We wouldn't be where we are now if it wasn't for Sam.
Ok we have heavy debt as do most clubs, but our club was on it's arse before he arrived.

He got the ball rolling and our increase in attendances is down to him.

His excile is totally unfair and I'd LOVE to see him back in some capacity.