Perhaps we need a new slogan to sum up the Olympic Stadium legacy competition.
“Slower, Lower, Weakly Run” springs to mind as the “race” to find a new tenant for McAlpine’s magnificent 2012 stadium stretches from a sprint into a marathon.
The authorities revealed this week that 2016 is now the likeliest date for the stadium to reopen – that will be four whole years after the last Paralympic medal ceremony.
The feelgood factor of a great summer of athletics is now being replaced by the dead hand of bureaucratic bumbling leaving the stadium standing as a white elephant in the heart of east London.
We all know there is only one viable tenant – West Ham United.
This latest delay is just to allow Olympic officials to horse trade with the club over who should pay for the £100m plus stadium conversion bill.
The men from the various ministries think West Ham will cave in and stump up for the work.
But why should they?
The club will only be leasing the ground so it would be like you paying for a massive makeover of a rented flat when it’s the landlord’s responsibility.
Civil servants think they can outfox the Hammers’ hierarchy and screw a better deal for the Government.
Good luck with that one.
If it comes down to a game of bluff I know my money would be on Davids Gold and Sullivan and Karren Brady rather than the civil service team.
West Ham have a perfectly good home at Upton Park already so are quite prepared to wait while the legacy bods dither.
Let’s just award the thing to the only viable bidder and get on with converting it or the mistakes of Athens will be repeated in the heart of London.
Our bet this week is another chance to oppose Liverpool.
Luis Suarez sunk our Newcastle bet last week – and without his goals the Reds would be in deep trouble this season.
Yet again the bookies have priced them up on history rather than current form with Chelsea a sliver of odds-on to beat Liverpool at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues should be nearer two to one on so lets double our stakes and have £20 on Chelsea at 10/11 with Paddy Power.
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Running Total for all 2012 bets to a £10 stake: +£181.00
