I often wonder whether, in their quieter moments, David Sullivan and Karren Brady reflect on the fact that almost all of their contemporaries are simply better at running football clubs than they are.
After yesterday’s defeat to Aston Villa, I made the point that the Midlanders were in the Championship as recently as 2019. Since then, Sullivan and Brady have watched Villa gain promotion and operate at a far higher level than West Ham. Somewhat embarrassingly, Sullivan was even offered the chance to appoint Unai Emery — and rejected him because of his failed spell at Arsenal.
That decision alone tells you plenty.
So I find myself asking: do the West Ham board not notice that almost everyone else is now miles ahead of them?
Sullivan has never really bought into outsourcing recruitment
Knowing the Right Way — Then Ignoring It
I remember Sullivan being asked about appointing former Brighton director of football Dan Ashworth. Speaking to Claret & Hugh at the time, he said: “I don’t think so. It’s the owner who has put the recruitment structure in place — that’s what they do so well.”
He wasn’t wrong. Tony Bloom’s data-led StarLizard recruitment model, powered by cutting-edge analytics, is legendary. But that wasn’t really the point. By acknowledging it, Sullivan demonstrated that he knew there was a better way — but struggled to fully embrace recruitment heads and directors of football.
Then there’s West Ham’s dreadful record in appointing managers. Yes, some will point to David Moyes, but let’s remember he was dismissed after his first spell. His second stint only happened because Sullivan’s real choice — Manuel Pellegrini — failed. Moyes’ later success was accidental, not strategic.
I often wonder if the Irons hierarchy ponder how Bill Foley at Bournemouth even knew about Andoni Iraola. I’m fairly certain West Ham wouldn’t have been aware of him — or many of Europe’s top young coaches — until after they’d already been snapped up elsewhere. It’s just not how we recruit, waiting to see if a manager can perform in the Premier League first puts us years behind and means we often miss the chance to hire them at all.
Overtaken by Smaller, Smarter Clubs
On an even more basic level, do Sullivan and Brady not question how Brighton, Fulham, Bournemouth and Brentford have all achieved promotion during their ownership — and then overtaken West Ham on significantly smaller budgets?
I’ve thought long and hard about that, and if I were in their position, I’d be embarrassed. Especially given Karren Brady’s much-vaunted ten-point plan, which promised that moving to the Olympic Stadium would allow West Ham to compete with the big clubs.
The reality has been the opposite. We’ve been overtaken by smaller ones.
That brings us neatly to Sunderland and Leeds United — two recently promoted sides who are already better run than West Ham. Sunderland, in particular, managed to appoint a new director of football almost immediately after promotion and built a slick recruitment model in a matter of weeks. That is utterly damning.
The uncomfortable truth is that the game has moved on — and West Ham haven’t.
Karren Brady’s selection of Graham Potter is a perfect example. The vice-chair’s family friend has turned out to be the worst full-time manager in West Ham’s long history. Potter failed at his previous club, West Ham were warned off appointing him, and yet he was sanctioned anyway. His appointment may well be the catalyst for relegation.
Brady reportedly pushed for the appointment of Graham Potter
Not that Julen Lopetegui was much better. Sullivan is just as culpable, if not more so. Those two decisions were disastrous, and when combined with years of poor recruitment, they created a mess the club simply could not afford — especially while rivals continued to improve.
And that’s the core issue.
West Ham’s so-called success relied on rivals not getting better and the status quo remaining intact. Everyone else modernised. West Ham stood still.
Everyone really does do it better than West Ham.
And quite frankly, Sullivan and Brady should be ashamed of themselves.
I totally agree Gonzo. There is no long term plan, like politicians just planning until the next election. They sacrificed our best manager for years, on the altar of a DOF who would control transfers. You may not have agreed but it was a plan, yet as soon as our manager had left and the DOF blew the best part of £150m they sacked him. Did they replace him with another DOF? No, the strategy was abandoned and we ended up with a pound shop version of David Moyes playing the same counter attacking football. On this particular example they could have left things unchanged and we may have still been in Europe, they really can screw anything up
Very good article Gonzo and right on the button 👍
Not hopeful we will survive, but if we do then what happen’s next season ? We try and survive again which is the limit of these parasites ambition…….
They have to go, not even open for debate as otherwise we will disappear without trace.
Going forward, hope the fans protests make it very uncomfortable for them.
Was watching “The Wicker Man” the other night, interesting !
It would be good to have some sort of league performance table over the years to lay out in black and white what an abject failure Sullivan and Brady have been. Those 2 massive egos need to be punctured and shown how poor they are in black and white. Kritinski shouldn’t get off with it either as he is like the other 2 he just wants to get a return on his investment no feeling for the club or fans
Well said and written Gonzo, the nail has been hit and it has a headache.
That is what’s so alarming, they have no self awareness and pride is their biggest downfall
Gonzo I completely agree with you here but you will not see a change in this area. You see some people who get a position of power let the power go to their heads thinking they are always right, be it governments, owners of large companies or in this case a football club. Love the piece you’ve written but it won’t change a thing.
Nicely put Gonzo.👍
We all feel your frustration
A great piece Gonzo. You are spot on!
I’m always baffled how Baroness Brady – we must address her by her full title – is portrayed as some expert businesswoman.
She’s never even owned a business. She was born with virtually a silver spoon in her mouth, and she’s only ever worked for Gold and Sullivan. It’s not exactly a glowing CV.
On top of that, she seems more concerned about cosmetic surgery than actually trying to do her job properly for which she’s grossly overpaid for.
As for Sullivan, just look at how he made his money. It says it all. He managed to buy Birmingham on the cheap, when they were about to fold, and that’s how he unfortunately got into the football game.
Sadly, he then managed to buy us on the cheap when we were going through a financial crisis ourselves. He should be nowhere near a football club as big as us.
The sad thing is that they think they’re good owners. They relegated Birmingham countless times, and they’ve done so with us once already.
All they’ve won is one third-tier European trophy in over three decades of being in the football game. Our average finish is just 13th since they took over.
They promised that the move to the London Stadium would take us to the “next level”. It’s going to be the next level down, by the looks of it.
They’re two bob. Tinpot. Incompetent. Clueless. Classless. Embarrassing.
Not only that, but they’re out and out liars and they’ve only invested their own money into the club when they were forced to do so during COVID times.
All they care about is their own wealth. Nothing more. They need to be forced out of the club as soon as possible.
Yep, the reason for it is that much of our decision making has been as if deranged. It’s all in house cut the ground out from under your own feet stuff.
Nobody but nobody thought that Lopetegui was the right man, not a soul. Few thought Potter was. £40M for Kilman to appease Lopetrgui, really. The Duran fiasco. Rodriguez ?
The problem is that the goofs and gaffes start to compound, a few might be taken in stride but not when they happen time and again.
They are a disgrace. And they won’t even put their hands in their pockets to sort this out.