As transfer policies go, no wonder Avram Grant wishes to keep owner David Sullivan away from the one at West Ham United. Here is Sullivan explaining why the purchase of Germany's World Cup striker Miroslav Klose did not go through: "We had a deal in place before the World Cup after Klose had a bad season with Bayern Munich. However, as a result of what he has done in South Africa, it is unlikely to happen."
Now there is a plan. Had Klose continued playing rubbish, West Ham would have signed him, but as he turned out to be good, the deal is now off. This would certainly explain why Robert Green and Matthew Upson are no longer on the market.
Maybe the words came out wrong; maybe the sentence sounded good in his head. Either way, Sullivan inadvertently flagged up why owners - who are nearer to fans than professionals - are not to be trusted with their own money when it comes to buying players. Klose is a big name, an impressive name, but he is 32 and this season has been poor for Munich, scoring six goals in 38 appearances, compared to previous tallies of 20 in 38, and 21 in 47. He looked a busted flush, a great talent who had lost interest in the game and was destined to be replaced by younger, hungrier players. So why would anyone want to buy him? On club form, it would have been a vanity purchase, a celebrity purchase, much like that of Thierry Henry, another player West Ham have been linked with this summer.
Klose and Henry could be Grant's preferences, too, who knows? Yet somehow I doubt it. West Ham are likely to be fighting relegation next season and the last thing the club needs right now is another big-time Charlie swanning about as if he is doing everybody a favour just being there. They had enough of that with South African Benni McCarthy last season.
The only reason any coach would be interested in Klose is that he looked rejuvenated at the World Cup, although Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal manager, has correctly identified acquisitions based on tournament displays as folly.
Just because Klose got himself in the right frame of mind to represent Germany against Argentina, does not mean he would be similarly inspired by a trip to Blackpool in West Ham's colours on a wet Wednesday night.
Managers know this. Some will still gamble on a waning talent but Grant has spent the last season fighting a lost cause at Portsmouth, and knows the rigours of the battle for survival. Silver superstars are most certainly not the way forward here.
Sullivan wants to be hands-on – he once said if Wenger was his manager he would 'probably' let him get on with it – but the best owners soon realise that the vision at a football club has to come from an employee, not the employer.
The board can have its business strategy, but the real success stories of the last 20 years in English football, Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, Wenger at Arsenal, Jose Mourinho – initially – at Chelsea, have come when the manager has been given his head. All thrived because no owner tried to do them a favour in the transfer market, however well-intentioned.