Soccer: West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady has pledged not to interfere with team matters at Upton Park amid mounting speculation manager Avram Grant will leave the club.
Former Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill has been linked to take over from Grant who, according to reports, will leave Upton Park today.
The Hammers face Arsenal in a Barclays Premier League match this afternoon but it has been reported that under-pressure Grant will leave the club regardless of the result.
Brady has vowed not to interfere with team matters after recent comments annoyed Grant. But she has also vowed not to be silenced.
In her column in The Sun, Brady wrote: "Despite recent criticism - and there's more today - never in 17 years have I tried to interfere with management or running of the teams.
"I don't score that kind of OG (own goal). But I do believe in airing an opinion."
Brady, who helped David Gold and David Sullivan transform the fortunes of Birmingham before they sold up to buy West Ham, had previously annoyed Grant in her column when she revealed why the club had pulled the plug on signing Steve Sidwell from Aston Villa.
Grant said: "I didn't read the column so I don't know what she said. Maybe I will have a column in a newspaper and say what I think."
But with West Ham lying bottom of the Premier League table it appears the time has come for co-chairmen Gold and Sullivan to take action.
O'Neill's odds to become West Ham manager have shortened dramatically.
The 55-year-old Israeli arrived in England in 2006 when he was appointed director of football at Portsmouth.
In September 2007 he took up the director of football post at Chelsea.
Following the departure of Jose Mourinho he took over as manager but defeats in the Champions League and Carling Cup finals in 2008 as well as finishing second in the Premier League to Manchester United saw him sacked on May 24.
In October 2009 he returned to Fratton Park as manager, leading Pompey to the FA Cup final where they lost to Chelsea and they were also relegated from the Premier League.
Grant resigned after the end of the season and later moved to Upton Park but a poor season so far sees the club at the bottom of the table.
A 4-0 Carling Cup quarter-final win over Manchester United and a 2-1 home success over Birmingham in the semi-final first leg provided some respite for Grant, but that has not stopped speculation over his future.
