Optimism appears to be breaking out at London Stadium despite West Ham United’s recent relegation from the Premier League. The departure from his executive decision of David Sullivan has given rise to siihificsnt hope that the football club will be heading in a new- as yet unknown – direction..
Inside a month the duo of Brady and Sullivan have left the director’s box: Hopefully never to return. Whilst it is enough, for now, that change is afoot whilst the club ‘rebuilds’ itself in the Championship, clearly there is an appetite for wholesale change to decision making at London Stadium.
Insider ExWHUemployee has made his own hopes clear on the future direction of West Ham:
“A new badge, better stadium experience, less corporate focus, trying to get back some of the old school supporters who felt disassociated with the club that we love would be great steps.
“I would also like to see football people making football decisions for the club so a revamp in that way too could be small steps to getting us on the right path“
Indeed, dozens of comments on Claret and Hugh’s comments section last season spoke of disaffected supporters who were walking away from the support of the football club which had lost its identity.
An end to Protests at West Ham.. that’ll feel odd.
The news of Sullivan’s departure will hopefully signal to many that the time will come when they feel welcome once again: Not being at loggerheads with the ownership will be something of a peculiar sensation for a fanbase that has spent most of the last fifteen years at odds with someone or other in the boardroom. A brave new world indeed.
Does Sullivan not qualify as a ‘football person’, having first held a 20+% shareholding in West Ham in the late eighties (when Martin Cearns denied him a seat on the board), then owning Birmingham for fifteen years before buying West Ham when they were on the brink of going out of business?
I’ve seen plenty of ‘football people’ who were totally clueless. Most of our current century managers and a few directors of football fit that description. Sullivan hasn’t been plucking appointments from griddle duty at Maccy Dees – they’ve all been ‘football people’.
sufficiantly so
‘football people making football decisions for the club’ would be a nice start. PL is a playground for business and the unrestrained greed and egos that come with it.
Indirectly, it is why I prefer somebody like Kretinsky be involved, since he knows what football clubs are about and he is a fan of his own Sparta Prague, add to this family ownership and you might have a better chance of staying out of the clasping claws of american/foreign consortiums. Maybe, I’m wrong, but feels more likely in this setup that football people might become more involved, selected with looking after the club.
Whilst awaiting arrival of a DOF I’m glad K and Jack Sullivan (hopefully he is good) are involved in recruitment, so that NES/Mendes are not taking decisions or control, but hopefully happens as a round table.
Since everyone talking of the future of the club, Craig Bellamy will be available in 2028 at the end of his Wales contract, by when he will have gained even more experience.
Never too soon to plan ahead😊
Relegation will sort the wheat from the chaff in fan support so will be interesting to see what happens. My family have supported since 1908 so no change for us!
The problem is that this turmoil comes at a time when the club has financial problems. Sullivan and his family still own a significant part of the company. Them investing into the club, or the club being able to borrow money are both questionable at this point in time. Notably there is no noise of any potential buyers of the club, presumably because the world thinks that with each passing day the cost of taking over the club gets cheaper. Also we don’t know what the Panorama/Times expose will cover. At this point there’s no talk of direct financial shenanigans involving the club but even the whiff of that would make life very difficult for West Ham at an already difficult time.
All true MT, but our spotlight shone towards the board began with TB, who is still a board member and chief culprit of the original demise, from which we have never properly recovered from.
After TB sold his majority shareholding, the wheels came off, our footballing principles completely compromised from Roeder, Pardew, Curbishley, Zola, Grant, BFS, Slav, Pellegrini,
Moyes, JLo, Potter, NES.
What a sorry looking list that is.
The football in GFZ 1st season was ok, Bliic 1st season.
So by my reckoning that is one score year, plus four of utter dross that we have endured.
You bet that we need real football people making informed intelligent footnalling decisions.
I couldn’t of put it better myself .
I truly hope we do have a new dawn and the restructure begins very very soon.
COYISSSSSS ⚒️ ⚒️