By Kris Gonzo | Senior West Ham Columnist (Follow on X)
David Sullivan has every right to defend himself against what he believes to be allegations presented as fact by BBC Panorama.
As Claret & Hugh reported yesterday, the former West Ham chairman has now launched his fightback against the BBC, with The Telegraph reporting that Sullivan has lodged a High Court claim for libel and aggravated damages. Sullivan denies the allegations made against him.
I guess most of us always thought the former chairman would come out fighting in the case of the BBC failing to slam dunk their case against Sullivan.
Rumours suggest there is a second documentary on the way to follow up the first, so there is, of course, the possibility that Sullivan is seeking to stop that particular programme.
My concern is West Ham
However, what concerns me more than anything as a West Ham fan is the fact that Sullivan clearly feels aggrieved and short-changed by Panorama going for him.
And if that’s the case, and if he feels he’s lost out financially, you can bet that he feels he’s lost out from a West Ham perspective.
There was a point in June following Sullivan’s resignation and the damning stance from fellow shareholders who sought to distance the club from him that I thought his days at West Ham were numbered.
Unfortunately, since then, he has increased his stakeholding from 38% to around 40%.
Whilst he may no longer be the most powerful man at the football club, he is certainly the second most by some distance.
Sullivan is very much part of the West Ham furniture again
West Ham cannot go backwards
I just hope that however this plays out, we do not find ourselves in a situation where the club is again being run by the man who, completely separately from what Panorama and the BBC allege, has done incredibly poorly as a football chairman.
Despite anything I might think of him personally, the fact is that West Ham were relegated for the second time during Sullivan’s ownership, while the club’s previous accounting period produced losses of £104m and left significant debt.
It means it’s difficult to find any lucid football reason as to why he should be back in charge again.
Sulivan couldn’t run a bath let alone a footbal club. Just look at the club before us he was involved in, tells you everything you need to know. Get him out and keep him out.
For me his biggest crimes have been the awful managerial appointments, all bar Bilic have been the polar opposite of West Ham United true philosophy of football.
Between him and TB who appointed Roeder, Icelandics ( Curbs), it has completely eroded away of all what we had been renowned for.
Nowadays, there are generations of Hammers who have been completely denied.
Despite that, we’re still massive!
Just imagine, if the ownership could mirror the incredible loyalty and growth in the fanbase?
We really could be a real force!
He’s like the unflushable turd, let’s hope that Panoramas next expose on this embarrassment to the club, has a smoking gun.
I just want this embarrassing, clueless, cheapskate, imbecilic charlatan away from the club as soon as possible.
The same for his spoilt brat dimwit kids, too.
I’m absolutely sick of the sight of them. They’ve just driven our fans into a state of depression and apathy.
I do not like anything about the way that Sullivan runs a football club, while our current standing proves that it isn’t successful either.