‘Ridiculous, Don’t Be Stupid’ – Jim White & Simon Jordan in explosive West Ham controversy row

Jim White and Simon Jordan have been caught in an explosive row live on air after a West Ham controversy has emerged.

Speaking on talkSPORT on Wednesday (13 March), host White named the Hammers as part of the 10 clubs who have blocked the £900million deal for the EFL as he noted that the teams in question have a responsibility to protect the English football pyramid.

Jordan certainly didn’t agree with those claims as he told the presenter to not be “stupid” as he questioned how the situation can be brought to the point where all of the clubs that don’t have something can receive a financial boost from the sides that do.

The pair then went on to argue over the government’s stance on the issue, with White claiming that it has told the top-flight sides that they have a responsibility to provide funding for the EFL, while the pundit bit back that parliament has “no jurisdiction” over football in this country.

“Put aside sentimentality, put aside socialistic views and look at the business world of how people hold things together,” said Jordan.

“What do you mean socialistic views?” asked White.

“It’s not about distribution of wealth, it’s about what you have to do, not what you think you should do” replied Jordan.

“By whom?” asked Jordan.

“Obviously, the pyramid,” raged White. “They have a responsibility. The haves and the have nots, have you never heard of that?”

“Don’t be stupid,” replied Jordan. “How do we extrapolate that up so that everyone that hasn’t got something should be given something by someone that does, that’s ridiculous.”

“You just said they have a responsibility,” said White.

“No, I said once upon a time if things were constructed properly, they would have a responsibility,” added Jordan.

“What’s that meant to mean?” asked White. “They’ve still got a responsibility to do it. They’ve been told by the government they’ve got to come to a deal.”

“No, they haven’t, they’ve been advised by the government,” said Jordan. “The government has no jurisdiction, no legislation over English football. They’ve been advised by the government ‘if you don’t take care of this yourself, we’re going to put an independent regulator in there, we’re going to give them legislative powers and they’re going to do it’.”

West Ham and Premier League clubs have responsibility to EFL

This is an argument that has divided several stakeholders within the footballing world after the Premier League clubs have failed to reach an agreement over EFL funding.

Charlton Athletic co-owner Charlie Methven took aim at West Ham on Tuesday (12 March), claiming the club are one of the two ring leaders alongside Crystal Palace in holding up the deal.

The fact of the matter is, those top-flight sides do have a responsibility to distribute their wealth and help out the rest of the pyramid.

The football league is more than 130 years old and needs protecting at all costs, with more and more sides struggling to keep the pace as the associated costs within the sport continue to increase.

That is something that is largely being driven by those sides at the top.

It’s incredibly disappointing to hear that the Hammers aren’t doing more to help out as we’ve been in the Championship twice in the past 20 years alone and should really know that our place in the Premier League is far from guaranteed in the future.