TalkSport’s Alex Crook has revealed that West Ham vice-chair Karren Brady led the search which resulted in Nuno Espirito Santo’s appointment as Graham Potter’s successor.
Ordinarily, this would be unremarkable at most clubs. But when you factor in the context—that it was Baroness Brady who also pushed for Potter’s appointment—the picture becomes almost laughable.
Leaving aside my own view on Espirito Santo, who I believe is a capable coach West Ham are fortunate to have available, the real issue is Brady’s involvement in the process at all.
Nuno has been appointed new Hammers head coach
Brady should never have been at the West Ham wheel
Considering Brady pushed for Potter and his right-hand man Kyle Macaulay, should she really have been given such a prominent role? Only last week, the club issued a statement boasting of the infrastructure Potter and Macaulay had supposedly put in place to safeguard West Ham’s recruitment for the foreseeable future. Now, just days later, that very infrastructure is being torn down at the foundations.
The whole saga reeks of reactionary thinking rather than the forward-planning approach West Ham so desperately need—something that has become synonymous with this board.
Potter is a family friend of Brady
For clarity, I’m not suggesting Potter should have been given more time. I’m saying he should never have been appointed in the first place, and the person responsible—Brady—should not be the one hiring his successor.
Shocking managerial appointments
It also brings to mind Julen Lopetegui. The quickfire appointment of Potter last January overshadowed what a poor decision it was to hire the Spaniard in the first place.
Thankfully, Daniel Křetínský is understood to have had some say in the decision-making this time, although I’m reliably informed he wanted to go in a different direction.
I hope Nuno can deliver the kind of success he managed at Nottingham Forest last season, and I certainly feel we’ve upgraded on Graham Potter. But to hear that Karren Brady was once again front and centre of the appointment process feels strangely ironic. Forgive me if I don’t congratulate her on “fixing” an error which should never have happened in the first place.
Karen Brady should not be subjective to the bully boy coward attacks. She is a highly talented person. Leave her alone.
I largely agree with you Gonzo though to be honest I thought Potter was just the man we needed, a project manager that long term would turn us around and sadly was wrong, McCauley though I am happy with the young talent we identified and as for Brady I feel it’s hard to be sure, the evidence I have is we got the deal of the century on rent of the soulless bowl, that’s good though what else ???
My biggest grievance is Sullivan, his appointments are generally poor and he is not professional from what I have seen.
Let’s hope he has made a good decision with Nuno COYI!!!
I totally agree Gonzo, the super rich are excellent at criticising and firing their employees yet they get chance after chance to continue screwing it up. It’s true the world over sadly
The idea that anyone running the club comes out of this with any credit is ridiculous. Who do they suppose is responsible for the chain of events that’s led to the current situation?
It’s absolutely laughable that a person like Brady who knows nothing about football is charged with bringing in new managers.
I wish Nuno all the good luck in the world to try and drag us out of this nightmare and I for one will be getting behind him, but I sadly feel he is a sticking plaster appointment not for the long term
Agree Gonzo with what your saying But at this moment the important thing is to get it right and I think thankfully the club have done that
Managerial appointments in the GSB era have been either pragmatic or bad or both. Gran FFS. The one exception being Bilić who was inspiring, fun a decent guy but ultimately not a managerial genius.
Nuno, like Moyes and Allardyce before him, fits the pragmatic mould and we’ll like him more than Allardyce. But this is all so sad – another four years without the fun football we want to see. I feel so alienated from the club.
Well said Gonzo.
Brady’s hypocrisy in the last 2-3 weeks has been painful to hear.
We stand by our managers…….yeah, right
Moyse, Loppy, Potter and now Nuno in 16mnths.
We’ve built the recruitment on Potter/MacAuley so we can focus on youth development…….um, so what now?!
The protests need to continue.
I agree she should be doing what she is told not doing the ordering that’s why VICE comes
in the title
Bloody 🤡’s the pair of them. Can Baroness Brady whose stolen so much money from our club for very little input or knowledge pay off Potter’s contract as it was her who championed him?
Lopetegui… What on Earth were they thinking.
Potter… Most would not have gone there.
Nuno… The best available at this time if you’re not going to pay compo.
Nuno has achieved, seventh place with both Wolves and Forest getting both into the Europa league.
Now Nuno needs some time to sort out this mess. If the squad is divided over Potter’s departure, it won’t be an easy job. And he will need some new players in the January window, if there is any money available.
Whether we like it or not, Nuno has a certain style that worked well at Forest. Let’s see what happens. I don’t expect miracles any time soon.
Its Brady that put Potter into this position he wasn’t the right man… and she made a bad error… now the club has suffered , the fans have really suffered and sadly so has Potter I dobt wish his no malice but he just wasn’t the right guy… Brady should now be shown the door… she lost us how much??? In severance payments due to the bad error to appoint Potter…
I can agree with every word.
Although, how much ‘searching’ did she need to do?