West Ham’s relegation was confirmed today but in all reality the club had been stumbling, zombie-like, towards the Championship since Graham Potter’s terrible start to the season put the Hammers deep in trouble last year. As the West Ham web site put it succinctly:
“The Irons collected 25 points from 17 games from mid-January, but ultimately taking just 14 from the opening 21 matches condemned us to a place in the bottom three.”
Nuno’s January rally fooled us into having hope – and the Portuguese manager could have pulled it off had it not been for a dramatic drop in form, some kamikaze selections and a tough fixture list.
Potter’s appointment was the start of West Ham’s relegation journey even after Lopetegeui’s chaos-ball left the Hammers struggling.
“If, if if…’
Too late now. The Championship kicks off on Saturday August 14th which is just twelve short weeks away. By that time West Ham will have to appoint a new manager (if, as expected, Nuno walks next week), a new back room coaching team, oversee the biggest turnover of first team players since 2002/3 and recruit a squad capable of putting together a championship promotion push.
At present all of that falls into the lap of Chairman David Sullivan, a 78 year old who has failed to keep the club in the top flight and has run up debts of over £190 million still owing on player transfer fees. Plus the small matter of £105 million loss last year.
West Ham fans are likley to have something of a reality check if they expect their unwanted Chairman to disappear: Sullivan is, in all likelihood, here until his share values increase again with something approaching £300m having been wiped off the clubs value today.
So the Chairman needs to make the right call and appoint a Director of Football – preferably one who can start at 9 am tomorrow morning.
Enough is enough. Spectacular failure from Sullivan after all the hot air of promises over the years means he is not the man who should be left at the helm to do anything further to destroy the club: Pay experts decent money to run it properly.
Stories have suggested that West Ham were interested in Bundesliga’s Paul Wagner: Fans will be praying that ‘anyone other than Sullivan‘ oversees the club’s transition from Premier League basket case to Championship contenders.
The clock is ticking. There’ll be a lot of tough ‘goodbye’s this summer but, like a painful tooth extraction, it’s best done and dealt with as soon as possible so that in twelve months time this pain is a distant memory.
You would think that having spent 16 years at Birmingham and another 16 years at West Ham that Sullivan and Brady would have some clue how to run a football team.But obviously not!The results of their mismanagement is now clear to see.Millions in debt,relegation achieved and vitually a whole team about to leave.Congratulations Mr Sullivan,you have now missed the boat if you thought about selling because the club is now worth a fraction of what it was.How this man ever became a billionaire is beyond me.
give Pep a 10% stake in the club if he manages for 5 years and then develops a club structure plan for the next 5. then he can do whatever he wants with his 10%
No-one wants David Sullivan or any of his equally moronic sons anywhere near the running of this club. They need to go. Immediately.
Small-time mentality for a colossal-sized fan-base.
We have been going downhill for a few years now, not just this season.
Every season for the last 3-4 years have just been papering over the crevice’s that this club has been balancing on.
Sulley and Kretinnksy needs to sell
A chimpanzee appointing a monkey won’t help Westham . It’s been amateur night for years now at Westham , Professional owners NOW please ,
Great piece Martin.Yes Sullivan and Gold promised us the world to justify the selling of Upton Park and now a geriatric chairman still pulling the strings as we drop into the Championship.One glimmer of hope is a report that Bowen will stay.What I found extraordinary is how quiet the other major shareholder has been in all of this that being Kretinsky.Brady stands condemned on her role as well.I am sure in the weeks to come there will be better credentialed opinion than mine.
I absolutely agree with you Martin, however my fear is he will double down on his view that he is better than anyone else at the job and simply take more control rather than stand back and allow others to move the club forward. My prediction is that he will appoint either Sean Dyche or Steve cooper as the new manager then oversee a summer window where we get old has beens looking for a final payday preferably from preferred agents and underwhelming loans. This is the way he works and I don’t think he will change, I just hope he’s aware that fan fury is palpable and he will face a huge amount of criticism especially if we do go down the tried and failed route I fear. Cheers
There are no words that I could use here about Sullivan that might not prove problematic, so I’ll refrain. Suffice to say that I have an extremely low opinion, on every level. The rest of the Board surely has an obligation to ensure that someone who has failed so dismally and comprensively is no longer allowed to make sole executive decisions.
I second that sentiment entirely.
No rhetoric or hyperbole required.