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Gold grew up as a West Ham fan

Things have changed in the last two months though. West Ham are hardly in a position to be picky about their suitors and Bernhardt might have to seriously consider Gold and Sullivan's offer, or one like it.

Much has been made of a court hearing which will take place in Reijkavik on Friday, at which , who own 70% of West Ham, will try to stave off liquidation.

Some newspapers have billed this as D-Day for the club but in truth little of consequence will happen because of the hearing. Straumur are almost certain to be granted a further nine-month "moratorium" protecting them from their creditors.

Of greater concern is the fact the Hammers are 17th in the Premier League, on a poor run of form and leaking goals. Manager Gianfranco Zola is unlikely to have the funds to avert the slide with January purchases and could lose stars such as Carlton Cole, Matthew Upson and Robert Green.

We shouldn't expect a firesale, because the priority of West Ham's owners, CB Holding, is to keep the club in the Premier League and maximise the value of their "asset".

Then, if and when economic conditions improve, they hope a buyer will come along and meet their £80m valuation for the club.

But it's also true that every player in the squad has a price. For example, the Hammers were willing to sell Upson in the summer if anyone could meet their £8m valuation for the England defender.

That offer never came, but they did and their defence has looked wobbly ever since.

So, in short, West Ham will struggle to sign quality players in January and might lose some of their stars.

This is where Gold and Sullivan come in. Their assessment is that the club probably only need three new players - a centre-back, right-back and a striker - to climb the table.

If they survive in the Premier League this season, the duo might then hope to exercise an option to buy the club outright.

They want a deal to be in place by Christmas though and are wary of being treated as a bargaining tool by the current owners.

Sullivan is keen to get back into football

I've spoken to Gold several times and he is a colourful and engaging character. He argues he has extensive experience of running a football club, kept Birmingham solvent and has laid the foundations for them to become an established Premier League force.

A glance at the Birmingham City message boards on this website will tell you that many of their fans are less than enamoured with the work the two Davids did at St Andrews though.

They were relegated to the third tier of English football shortly after the duo took over and went on to become something of a yo-yo club, bouncing between the Premier League and Championship.

Ticket prices went up sharply and much of their recent success has been based on loan signings, mainly from Arsenal, such as Fabrice Muamba, Nicklas Bendtner and Seb Larsson. Hardly the recipe for sustained success.

Gold is a lifelong Hammers fan though, who grew up opposite the ground in East Ham and played for the club's youth team. His passion for the Hammers is in contrast to the feelings of the current owners, who have come into football reluctantly.

As creditors of former chairman Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson, the men involved in CB Holding simply see West Ham as an asset.

Gold also argues that, unlike other Premier League owners, we know who he is, where he lives and we can look at the accounts he files with Companies House every year.

Right now, his offer to West Ham could be very hard for them to turn down.

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