By Kris Gonzo | Senior West Ham Columnist (Follow on X)
I don’t know whether Steve Nickson would have been good, bad or indifferent as a Director of Football, but I do know West Ham were very keen to hire him.
Nickson, it seems, has decided to reject West Ham’s lucrative offer and instead join Welsh club Wrexham, presumably because he found the football project on offer more enticing.
That reality says everything about West Ham currently.
A Club Drifting
As things stand, the Hammers are listless.
We are a ship adrift, rudderless and, indeed, without any of the crew really knowing who the captain is.
For sure, the destination sounds promising, but at the moment we’re simply drifting.
More Than Just Missing Out
The loss of Nickson is significant because the 62-year-old is not somebody regarded as the finished article as a Director of Football.
In fact, he’s never done the job before.
He has an excellent reputation as a talent spotter, but West Ham were very much hoping he could make the step up and become head of football operations.
It’s one thing missing out on the master.
To be beaten to the apprentice by a much smaller club is not a good look.
Questions Need Answering
Presumably, Daniel Kretinsky and his shadow board have a second and third choice in mind, but losing their first choice will inevitably delay things.
I hope they not only act quickly to put somebody in place who can begin preparations for a crucial Championship season, but also identify whatever concerns stopped Nickson wanting to join after what, by all accounts, was a very positive first interview.
The fact that West Ham can be beaten to such a crucial appointment by a significantly smaller football club should have everybody at the London Stadium scrambling to find out what the hell has just happened.
Because somebody needs to take the helm and start steering the ship in the right direction very, very soon.
Kris , who cares if Stevie Nicks’ son joins us or not ? don’t know what , don’t know why , praps he was promised a ticket at the World Cup final or next years Superbowl by the maga’s , we’ll probly never know the real reason will we ! there’s plenty more head honcho’s in the sea , let’s just get behind the make West Ham United Great Again campaign WHUGA COYI x
So we have no Director of Football, “oh deary me”. Many, many great footballers were bought and sold without any such beings for years in the past, so why worry about it now ? If he doesn’t want us, we certainly don’t want him. Thanks for doing us a favour.
steve1963 is spot on, you have no idea why he has choosen Hollywood over East London. There could be many, many reasons. It could be the manager is too involved, it could be money, it could be location, it could be the size of the job, it could be he simply wants to be on Disney +. However I know you have to turn out repeated nonsense day after day in the summer when in truth there isn’t much to report and you have no idea if the ship is rudderless or not.
Maybe, if he hasn’t done the job before, he feels more comfortable with a smaller, less demanding side.
Newcastle have wasted nearly as much on transfers as we have and have gone backwards the last couple of years.
didn’t hear Newcastle putting up a fight to keep him….
Is Nuno a factor here? Just wondering if Nuno would have had too big a say in transfers for Nickson’s liking.
A big issue at West Ham is that it leaks like a sieve. We all love reading about it but it’s really not good business practice.
this is an article just for the sake it. you don’t anything none of us do. just try to wait and see and stop speculating for the sake of it. Nixson is going somewhere else nobody’s fault but his.when you have actual facts then let us know
Maybe the issue is implementation of improvements now would push up Sullivan’s share price expectations off the back of Kretinsky’s investment. Sullivan has to be expunged from the club before any major investment can happen if I’m right on that.
Personally I thought he was a bit on the old side to be taking on what should be a long-term project. Maybe he just didn’t want to move that far south..?