One of the few benefits of having your contract terminated is that you can be on the ball with exciting developments at Upton Park. So it is that within minutes of Messrs Gold and Sullivan opening the door this morning I can confirm that Avram Grant has been offered a four-year contract to take over the manager's hot seat at West Ham.

In a secret that hardly was, Grant joins the club fresh from leading Portsmouth to the FA Cup final and replaces former Chelsea favourite Gianfranco Zola, who was sacked at the end of the season. It will be interesting to see if Grant suffers the same anti-Blue backlash that Zola did.