For many fans and observers, then news that West Ham United had decided to retain Nuno Espírito Santo for the Championship campaign was enough to signpost a change in the power balance in the Hammers boardroom. Kretinsky was known to see Nuno as a safe pair of hands to steer the Irons through the upcoming season after Sullivan’s duo of woeful Lopetegui and Potter misfired appointments.
The news today from insider ExWHUemployee that head of recruitment Max Hahn had resigned came a something of a surprise. However, the ‘In The Know’ source added an intriguing footnote, which may well herald the unofficial start pf the Kretinsky era at West Ham.
And here’s why.
Sullivan made it known earlier this year that he’d be running transfers himself during the winter window as – and here I paraphrase-..he’d used directors of football before, all of whom had cost the club a fortune.
All change with a Technical Director promised – pushing Sullivan into the background of day to day running of the football club. Hopefully.
So when exWHU employee confirmed that “The club are also expected to announce a new technical director to oversee the role [recruitment] in the coming week or so. ” West Ham fans should have a spring in their step – despite being distinctly down in the mouth following relegation from the Premier League.
A new technical director will need more mental agility- and transfer nous – than Tim Steidten showed during his tenure at West Ham
For if true, it seems 100% certain now that Sullivan will be relinquishing his grip on transfers and deal negotiations which have caused the club nothing but strife in the last few seasons. In terms of long term planning and transfer strategy, could it really be that West Ham are taking a leaf out of the likes of Bournemouth and Brighton’s corporate set up with professional recruitment teams in situ?
I hardly dare believe it to be true. We’ll wait to see confirmation when a new technical director walks through the door at London Stadium. Of course, he’ll then have to walk the line between Nuno, Mendes and the boardroom so it is a role that’ll call for more agility than Tim Steidten famously managed, falling out with both Moyes and Lopetegui before getting his own marching orders.
Never a dull moment at West Ham United but just, possibly, a new era on the way.
this is why you hire a technical director who then hires the coach and they pisck the players
The old way of running a football club worked best. You had the manager who oversaw transfers and kept a bit of a distance from his players to observe things while his coach/coaches took over training sessions and even sometimes gave orders from the touchline. The Brian Clough and Peter Taylor or Alex Ferguson and Brian Kidd (later Mclaren, Quieroz and Phelan) model worked well. These days you have the head coach and he is trying to do too many things instead of delegating. They get burnt out (Jurgen Klopp) or lose their energy and get sacked. Then you have the problem of the director of football and manager having a different vision of transfers and then coming to blows (Moyes and Steidten). The manager has to be the one making all the transfer decisions. How can he build a team if someone else is making the decisions? A DOF should only be implementing the will of the manager. Football clubs need a manager and not a coach. This is why Ancelotti has had so much success. He’s a manager and not a coach.
That’s interesting. Jemez strikes one as a hands on football coach, while NES is definitely manager. Perhaps NES needs to delegate more for it to be the kind of setup you describe. Perhaps this is what they are aiming to be and why Paco came back – supposition of course, but he’ll want a certain amount of responsibility given his background & experience.
NES would also work with a head of the recruitment team, while above them, you have a Football Technical Director or DOF (I think they are more or less the same?) who coordinates it all, oversees a long term strategy and acts as buffer between senior management/executives and manager/recruitment team/Academy and I do not know what.
Cheers James.
We have indeed been down this road before, only to find Sullivan back pulling the strings and things getting worse and worse. The differences now are firstly the relegation which shows up so glaringly Sullivan ‘s inability to run the club. Secondly Kretinski is obviously exerting his influence, notably by keeping Nuno on rather than letting Sullivan pick another cheap and available dud. Thirdly, and even less certainly, is the effect of the real fear that if things continue as they are there is the very real risk that West Ham will do a Leicester and end up in League 1. Sullivan’s dinosaur way will not hack it in the Championship either. Maybe even Sullivan can see that and will come to accept, albeit reluctantly, that there has to be radical change in the way the club is run. We can but hope.
With respect, all journos and websites dont do their research. West Ham have never had a DOF in name and definitely not in terms of autonomy. Talking again of Tech dir not a DOF WHICH IS WHAT steidten was and whats the betting Sullivan still has veto power on all decisions. Its all “window dressing”
Before, I thought DS + NES + Mendes + Max Hahn + a DOF would just mean too many chefs in the kitchen. Now have to say I understand better that this person must have a final, or at least a decisive say, in order to prevent Mendes/NES running the show from the backseat (NES brought in Traore for a relegation fight) or DS repeating past failings.
You do not get many opportunities to push through change against people’s wills, but right now that is exactly what is possible given the failings of senior management (including finances), the manager (we were relegated after all) and the departure of Brady.
I’m sure these changes are part of pre-conditions to Kretinsky putting in more money. I wonder where we would be, if club had not been relegated? A lot of comments said how they hoped for relegation.
We’ve been down this road before and Sullivan tends to lurk in the background, stirring the pot and looking to undermine any deals.being done. I predict that come next year sullivan will announce that once again he’s back in control of all transfers
Anything that reduces the input from Sullivan is an improvement. The role of Sullivan has no place in a modern football club.
Or his sons.