Birmingham boss McLeish makes legal threat over West Ham push for Ridgewell, Larsson
Birmingham City boss Alex McLeish has warned West Ham United over their pursuit of Liam Ridgewell and Sebastian Larsson.
The Daily Mail says new West Ham owner David Sullivan has intimated that he is interested in luring both of his former players to Upton Park at the end of the season by trying to take advantage of a perceived loophole in their contract situation at St Andrews.
The contracts of Larsson and Ridgewell expire at the end of the current season, with Birmingham holding a further 12-month option on both players.
"This in the man that did the contracts in the first place. They used them year-in, year-out at Birmingham," said McLeish.
"I don't know why they think they are not recognised by FIFA, but if someone wants to challenge it it will be four or five years before it is resolved.
"There will be lawyers and all kinds of paper work. It is not going to be ratified in 24 hours after one call to FIFA.
"Our contracts are approved by the Premier League and for someone to challenge them it would be a protracted and drawn out affair. So they are welcome to try."
Join the conversation on 
Tribal Games
Tribalfootball Store
Results & Fixtures
Matches
| Home | Away | Score | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat May 19th | |||
| Blackpool | West Ham United | 1 - 2 | 14:00 |
Tables
| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 46 | 27 | 8 | 11 | 28 | 89 |
| Southampton | 46 | 26 | 10 | 10 | 39 | 88 |
| West Ham United | 46 | 24 | 14 | 8 | 33 | 86 |
| Birmingham City | 46 | 20 | 16 | 10 | 27 | 76 |
| Blackpool | 46 | 20 | 15 | 11 | 20 | 75 |
| Cardiff City | 46 | 19 | 18 | 9 | 13 | 75 |
| Middlesbrough | 46 | 18 | 16 | 12 | 1 | 70 |
| Hull City | 46 | 19 | 11 | 16 | 3 | 68 |
| Leicester City | 46 | 18 | 12 | 16 | 11 | 66 |
| Brighton & Hove Albion | 46 | 17 | 15 | 14 | 66 | |
| Watford | 46 | 16 | 16 | 14 | -8 | 64 |
| Derby County | 46 | 18 | 10 | 18 | -8 | 64 |
| Burnley | 46 | 17 | 11 | 18 | 3 | 62 |
| Leeds United | 46 | 17 | 10 | 19 | -3 | 61 |
| Ipswich Town | 46 | 17 | 10 | 19 | -8 | 61 |
| Millwall | 46 | 15 | 12 | 19 | -2 | 57 |
| Crystal Palace | 46 | 13 | 17 | 16 | -5 | 56 |
| Peterborough United | 46 | 13 | 11 | 22 | -10 | 50 |
| Nottingham Forest | 46 | 14 | 8 | 24 | -15 | 50 |
| Nottingham Forest | 45 | 13 | 8 | 24 | -17 | 47 |
| Bristol City | 46 | 12 | 13 | 21 | -24 | 49 |
| Barnsley | 46 | 13 | 9 | 24 | -25 | 48 |
| Portsmouth | 46 | 13 | 11 | 22 | -9 | 40 |
| Coventry City | 46 | 9 | 13 | 24 | -24 | 40 |
| Doncaster Rovers | 46 | 8 | 12 | 26 | -37 | 36 |
Related Stories
-
May 23 West Brom monitoring ex-Sunderland keeper Gordon
-
May 10 Delighted Holloway sees Blackpool make Championship play-offs
-
May 10 Blackpool boss Holloway 'almost' speechless after reaching another promotion playoff final
-
May 09 ENGLISH CHAMPIONSHIP: Blackpool to meet West Ham in play-off final
-
May 08 West Ham’s Cole preparing for ‘biggest day’ of his career
Popular Stories
-
May 28 Chelsea move ahead of Man Utd in Hazard battle
-
May 27 Hazard wants Man Utd: Glamour over cash
-
May 28 Ferdinand fears new Spurs battle to keep Chelsea, Man Utd target Modric
-
May 27 Man Utd threaten Chelsea hopes over Guardiola appointment
-
May 28 Louis van Gaal tells pals he's joining Liverpool
Comments (2)
the loophole is that their contract includes the optional year. so it will be the players decision if they want to stay or go, the contracts are legally up in the summer, but both club and player can take the optional year but it works mostly in the players favour, i think they will both leave. Bigger club/London etc, you cant blame them can you.
He's not threatening them with legal action he's telling them that their will be legal action if they tried to sign our players. I thought he was just going to try and sign them when they were 'free agaents' which is what they are in the Summer so what's this about a loophole?
Post new comment