AS a devoted Gooner, I've got to admit I've always had a bit of a soft spot for West Ham as my second, third or fourth club.

Growing up during primary school age, when you're making those tricky decisions about which club you should support for the rest of your life, the red and white sleeved shirts of Arsenal helped sway the verdict for me.

That and the fact my eldest brother was a big Tottenham fan at the time.

But there has always been something special about West Ham's famous claret and blue strip I've liked as well.

I suspect - in pre-Premiership days when there was a more level playing field at the top of English football - a lot of children in the seven to 11 age bracket would also have warmed to the colour of that kit and chosen to follow the Hammers as well.

If not as their main team, as one of the other' sides we all have a tendency to favour when our own clubs are going through a tricky spell.

But, no matter how much I have a soft spot for West Ham, I've got to get something off my chest.

I believe they should be relegated from the top flight with immediate effect, with luckless Sheffield United promoted from the Championship in their place.

That's right, I'd like to see the Blades take over the rest of the London club's fixtures for the remainder of the season, and vice-versa, West Ham complete Sheffield United's programme at the lower level.

Pretty controversial stuff I know. And it's probably something the Premier League would never have the guts to enforce.

However, I feel such radical action would appease most fair-minded football fans who have looked on in astonishment at the Premier League's woeful handling of the Carlos Tevez-Sheffield United' relegation affair.

Hand on heart, is there anyone out there, apart from dyed in the wool Hammers fans, who actually believes that West Ham would have stayed up if Tevez had not been scoring goals for fun at the tail end of the 2006-07 season.

Remember, Tevez, who has since moved on to Manchester United, cracked seven goals during the run-in to that campaign, a crucial tally that edged the London club to safety at the expense of Sheffield United.

A three-man Premier League arbitration panel fined West Ham £5.5 million in April 2007 for acting improperly and withholding vital documentation over the ownership of Tevez and Javier Mascherano, who they signed in 2006.

In my opinion, what they should have done then was dock the Hammers 10 points to make sure they went down for breaking the rules.

Instead, Tevez scored West Ham's winner at Old Trafford on the last day of the season, while Sheffield United lost 2-1 at home to Wigan and fell through the top-flight trap door.

Now a Football Association independent arbitration panel, whose verdict has not yet been officially published, has ruled that Tevez was not eligible to play at the end of the 2006-07 season.

The panel also deemed the player had played a key role in West Ham's Premiership survival.

Hammers have argued they do not accept that one player's contribution can be placed over that of the team as a whole nor used as the basis for judging the results of a 38-game season.

It appears, however, they won't be able to appeal against the independent decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) because of FA rules.

So the independent tribunal will decide on the amount of compensation that the Hammers should pay Sheffield United at a further hearing, to be heard early next year.

The Blades, as a club, are demanding £30 million in compensation, while there is talk of some of their players, who suffered financially after relegation in 2007, launching new individual claims for loss of earnings.

But, in my opinion, no amount of money can make up for the unfairness of Sheffield United being relegated when they broke no rules.

No amount of money can make up for ex-Blades manager Neil Warnock and their players losing out on an extended Premiership career, after they had worked so hard to get promoted in the first place.

Finally, no amount of money can make up for the misery Blades fans have had to endure since their club lost their place among the elite.

So I feel the switch should take place forthwith.