Pay cut threat motivated players

The threat to cut player and management contracts at West Ham by 25 per cent has drawn the ire of Gordon Taylor of the Professional Footballers Association, but David Sullivan has claimed that it led to Wednesday's 2-0 victory over Birmingham City.

"...laying things on the line is a tactic I've used before. I did it in the last game of last season at Birmingham when they needed to beat Reading to get promotion. It worked then and it seems to have worked again."

The financial philosophy and plans of the new owners are set out in an extensive interview with David Gold in the Wall Street Journal.