By Kris Gonzo | Senior West Ham Columnist (Follow on X).
With the Panorama documentary on former West Ham chairman David Sullivan set to air tonight, it’s fascinating to look back over the events of the last few days because one thing has become abundantly clear.
Sullivan’s exit was hurried and unplanned.
It’s important to remember that only two weeks ago, on 25th May, it was Sullivan conducting meetings with Nuno Espírito Santo at his Essex mansion to determine whether the head coach would continue into next season.
At that point there appeared to be no indication whatsoever that Sullivan was preparing to step away from the club.
In fact, quite the opposite.
He remained heavily involved in all major decision-making at West Ham and was clearly still operating as the club’s leading figure.
Certainly not the actions of somebody who knew they were about to leave.
The Sullivan Family Were Still Driving Decisions
Just a week earlier, following relegation to the Championship, Sullivan’s partner Ampika Pickston had taken to social media with a message aimed at supporters.
“It’s easy to point the finger and blame. This serves no merit. Lessons are learnt. You learn from experiences. Life shapes us all. The only way is up now.”
At the same time, Jack Sullivan was playing an active role in the search for a new Director of Football.
David Sullivan and son Jack at West Ham
It was also something of an open secret that Jack had become increasingly involved in identifying transfer targets for next season, with several names appearing in media reports over recent weeks.
So when the BBC and Jacob Steinberg reported at the weekend:
“Industry figures say Jack and Dave Jr have taken more of an active role in West Ham’s recruitment in the past two years.
Jack has been involved in the club’s search for a new sporting director, with an appointment soon.”
They were absolutely correct.
Jack’s influence had grown significantly and, as things stood late last week, the existing structure at West Ham looked set to continue.
Kretinsky Has Moved Quickly
What now appears obvious is that a rapid decision was taken behind the scenes once it became clear that the Panorama documentary would not be stopped.
Since then, we have seen a dramatic weakening of the Sullivan family’s position at the club and a corresponding strengthening of Daniel Kretinsky’s.
Events are moving so quickly that the picture seems to change almost daily.
It now appears increasingly likely that Vanessa Gold and Albert Tripp Smith are aligned with the Czech billionaire as he moves closer to becoming the dominant figure at West Ham.
It really has been an extraordinary few days.
Power plays, shifting alliances and behind-the-scenes manoeuvring on a scale I can’t remember witnessing before at the football club.
As for Sullivan, it looks very much as though Kretinsky has taken full advantage of a weakened position.
For West Ham, however, it may also present an opportunity.
Because for the first time in a long while, there is at least the possibility of the kind of reset many supporters have been wishing for… and dare I say a little hope?
The hubris of the Sullivan clan to only a few weeks ago, continue to act as though everything was going to roll along as normal astounds me, I didn’t think that it was humanly possible to think any less of them but life always surprises you
Chickens comeing home to roust now for Sullivan
The prospect of young Jack getting more involved with his clueless dad as guru promised a succession of further disasters for the other share holders. I think we all thought this would happen sooner or later. Just delighted that it was sooner Gonzo! I imagine you’ll enjoy talking more now about football and the future. We were all so stuck with these clowns in charge.
It feels right, why would Gold and Trip smith or Kretinski for that matter want to risk their investment in West Ham – David Sullivan is a big risk, he might be the majority shareholder with 38 to 40% but the others can all out vote him.
What would you do with your millions invested? Let it all play out with David Sullivan running the football club whilst getting trashed in the press, distracted fighting his corner or even potentially being found guilty and jailed. Or would you group together with the other investors and put a CEO in charge and stabilise the club.
There might be power plays etc. But relegation and a £104 million loss in the same year is about as bad as it gets, short of actually going into administration. In any self respecting company that experiencies such a level of mismanagement heads must roll, starting with the chief executive — in this case two of them. West Ham has a history of putting up with inadequate chairmen and with boards appearing to largely comprise cronies and yes men. But they haven’t had anyone like Kretinsky or Smith on the board before. It would have been a dereliction of duty by the board not to see off Sullivan, and whether or not he jumped before he was pushed, that has been accomplished. It’s easy to say ‘be careful what you wish for’. But after three successive poor seasons in the league, numerous poor recruitment decisions of managers and players, and a dreadful financial result last year, it’s difficult not to conclude that surely any change must be an improvement. At least we now have hope, with Sullivan we had none.
Anything that sidelines Sullivan has to be a positive.
I’ll be glued to the gogglebox at 8pm
This is great news, cannot wait to see the back of the goblin and his family. A new dawn awaits us, hopefully Kretinsky is the saviour we have all been waiting for. And once Sully has completely relinquished control, we may be able to purchase the stadium and turn it into a proper football stadium, with the right investment and naming rights.
Well said. Amen to that!