David Sullivan and Daniel Křetínský… are they really as bad as each other?
There is a growing belief among West Ham fans that, should the club suffer relegation, it would hasten David Sullivan’s exit. I am not convinced that is the case. Any relegation would significantly reduce the club’s valuation, and that matters greatly when assessing the motives of those at the top.
Daniel Křetínský purchased his 27% shareholding for just under £200 million, valuing West Ham United at around £800 million. Relegation would represent a substantial financial loss, making it highly unlikely he would look to sell under those circumstances.
That brings us to the idea of Křetínský buying out David Sullivan and the Gold family to take full control of the club. The reality is he already had that opportunity. A window existed in which he could have acquired West Ham outright at a pre-agreed price. That window has now closed. Any future takeover would require him to meet whatever valuation the remaining shareholders demand.
Kretinsky’s is unlikely put any money into West Ham under the current model
Investors or Opportunists?
The current rumour is that both Křetínský and fellow shareholder Albert Tripp Smith are unwilling to invest further funds while Sullivan remains in charge. Some fans have welcomed this news, interpreting it as a vote of no confidence in Sullivan and Karren Brady, and therefore alignment with supporter sentiment.
Personally, I am far less certain. If Křetínský and Tripp Smith are content to stand back and allow West Ham to slide into relegation in the hope of acquiring a distressed asset, then they too are part of the problem. It is hard to believe that any investor willing to let the club fail truly has West Ham’s best interests at heart.
This is an extremely difficult time to be a West Ham fan. It is also worth remembering that these people pass through our club; we are the constant. They do not carry the history, the identity, or the emotional investment that supporters do.
Quite frankly, the sooner all of them are gone, the better, as far as I am concerned.
No point covering old ground on the ownership but I’ve never had anything against Sullivan owning West Ham but rather his continual interference on the footballing side. I think this is more evident following the passing of Gold who I am convinced kept Sully at least a little in check. After all it was gold who was against Moyes leaving the first time for Silly Pelly which was a vanity appointment by Sully. And it was Gold who wanted Moyes back the second time to steady the ship. Unchecked Sully has been able to rumble from mistake after mistake since then.
Gonzo – the bit that baffles me, and you alluded to this in your article, I can’t believe Kretinsky is watching all this unfold and doesn’t have a plan.
What that plan is I have no idea but if I were to guess I would imagine it’s WH relegated and Sully stepping away. Whilst Sully’s investment would diminish you have to remember his initial outlay 15 years ago and the money he has made since then so ultimately he is more than up on his investment overall.
I’ve seen 3 relegations in my lifetime and some of my fondest memories are from playoffs so it doesn’t bother me that much for the greater good.
As others have mentioned before, how is the club valued? It doesn’t own it’s own stadium. Beyond the value of the squad then it’s all about ‘the brand.’ In the absence of hard assets and actual success then I would value West Ham at about 300 million.
Yep, as you say Gonzo, they are only custodians (unfortunately for us).
Irrespective of whether we are in the Prem’ or Championship next season, supporters need to stay away while Sullivan is pulling the strings.
Time to say goodbye to this incompetent buffoon, Brady and all of the stooges.
They should all be imprisoned for what they have done to this club.
Sullivans going . Make no mistake of that .
I think we are getting to the point when we have to start thinking long term. Even if we do get a few decent players in, the odds are we are going down. Fan unrest will peak and I would guess that season ticket sales will tank. That is possibly the only time that Sullivan will accept a reasonsble offer for his shares. In amongst all the doom and gloom, we musn’t forget that we now have alot of young talent capable of performing at Championship level and we have a fanbase capable of filing a 62,500 seater stadium. Those 2 facts alone should make us an attractive proposition for an owner looking to the long term. I think the jury is out on whether Kretinsky and Smith are the ones to take us forward but they certainly have the resources if they are up for the challenge.
This is all sulivans fault. I welcome relegation, the other 2 have pointed out his flaws and he carried on. No blame on them. I wouldn’t invest a penny with that twat at the helm.
As you suggest Gonzo, Sullivan is going nowhere. The best we can hope for is he steps down from his chief executive role and we appoint professionals.
Right now with relegation being likely but not certain the club is in turmoil. I hope we lose the next 3 games which will bring clarity. It has been interesting to watch Wolves play so much better since they became certain to go down. They now look far more likely than us to start next season competitively. We can then sell those that want to go and plan properly
Sullivans going .
Pressures off Ted. I remember us beating Manure with a Kenny Brown half volley to stop them from winning the last Division 1 title after relegation had been confirmed for us. That was before the EPL ruined football….
If Kretinsky or Tripp Smith felt they could run the club better and could get Sullivan to sell enough of his shares to take over, I would take it, almost anyone but Sullivan am sure there are some worse ones there but he is pretty bad having wasted 100’s of millions.
If Kretinsky and Smith wrestle control from Sullivan after a relegation they could be following Napoleon’s tactic: “Reculer pour mieux sauter”. Trying to dislodge Sullivan whilst West Ham are in the PL would be harder.
Sorry Gonzo but they are businessmen not fans, and as you and I know, that makes a huge difference.