The Takeover - what do the journos know?

We are now right in the middle of the bidding war that Rothshilds were hired by Straumur to make happen. And (I hope) there is more than a good chance that a deal will go through as "deadlines" are extended and the haggling seem to have reached a fairly detailed level. Still there are widely different guesses about the outcome!

Either the parties have pulled strings yesterday to make sure that their respective "contacts" have published pieces saying they are in the lead, or the situation is too hard to call.
Or both.

Jason Burt of the Telegraph, has held Fernandes as the favourite ever since Fernandes appeared on this scene. He has throughout this dire process touted any non G&S bidder as the best option. I can honestly see that as a valid standpoint but Jason is also known as the Duxbury Bugeler ("West Ham have, certainly, been indebted to some shrewd husbandry from chief executive Scott Duxbury who, throughout all of this, has stuck as much as he could to a business plan") and If Duckers is worried for his existence at West Ham he certainly wouldn't want G&S to install Karen Brady would he? So even though Burt is close to the pot this also means that his info/judgement may not be without bias.

Simon Cass of the MailOnline considers Intermarket to be in pole position despite the unfortunate death of front figure and head negotiator Jim Bowe. I confess to not knowing anything about any connection to Intermarket and considering Simons previous writings he seem to have better contacts at Arsenal and Chelsea. Actually, the piece is so short that one is led to believe that he has no knowledge to share with us - just had "write something on the West Ham takeover!" shouted at him by his editor.

James Nursey of the Mirror has yet to put anyone else forward than Gold&Sullivan. He has said that G&S are about to take control previously, but who hasn't? He has not been totally pro the Davids and recently wrote a short piece on Yeung saying Birmingham had been run like a bootcamp. Still, the Mirror has not yet published an article where they see anyone else in the driver seat. Even though they seem not to have any inside info they could be right you know.

I have previously posted my thoughts on these parties HERE, so I'll spare you my comments for now.