David Sullivan has found a very unlikely new ally as the behaviour of West Ham’s majority owner is defended amid recent claims.
If there is one thing West Ham majority owner David Sullivan is already realising, it is that four-and-a-half years of relative tranquillity are over.
For now at least.
When speaking after the announcement that he will be leaving West Ham, David Moyes made a point of mentioning the London Stadium.
The Scot said he felt the job he has done has been so good it’s been reflected in the fact noise from Hammers fans unhappy about the Stratford arena had quietened right down and capacity increased.
What he really meant was the owners are no longer getting in the neck from supporters about a stadium many simply cannot warm to.
The progress West Ham have made under Moyes has shielded Sullivan and co from fan criticism.
Gone are the days of protests, marches and pitch invasions.
But by electing to move on from the Scot and appoint Julen Lopetegui – who has not been a universally popular choice – Sullivan’s head is on the block once more.
Sullivan under fire over Moyes situation
Not least because of the way the Moyes situation is perceived to have been handled.
Particularly in the eyes of Moyes’ many backers in the media, who feel Sullivan and co showed a lack of respect and class towards a man who has done so much for the club.
As pointed out on Hammers News in the interests of balance, though, there are two sides to every story.
Firstly Moyes insisted it was he who was initially stalling on signing a new West Ham deal.
With results not going well, discontent among fans over the manager’s style of play and the fact his contract was up at the end of the season, West Ham had little choice but to do due diligence on potential replacements.
Had Sullivan and technical director Tim Steidten sat back and waited until the end of the season fans would have hammered them for not being proactive.
In many ways the Moyes situation left them between a rock and a hard place.
Yes undoubtedly elements of the situation could and should have been handled better.
But it must also be pointed out that Moyes was backed by Sullivan and co on several occasions when he would almost certainly have been sacked at other clubs.
Jordan is Sullivan’s very unlikely new ally as behaviour defended
That seems to have counted for little, though, amid something of a media and fan pile-on in the last couple of weeks.
But Sullivan has a very unlikely new ally as the West Ham owner’s behaviour is defended.
If Sullivan has friends in football, former Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan is not one of them.
Love him or loathe him, Jordan is a superb football analyst and more often than not is very much in tune with the goings on at West Ham.
The outspoken pundit has admitted in the past he is not the biggest fan of Sullivan or the since passed former Hammers co-owner David Gold from his time as the owner of Palace.
Jordan famously launched a stinging attack on Sullivan a couple of years ago when he accused him of ‘phantom transfer bids and faux ambition’.
So if Jordan is willing to break the habit of a lifetime to speak up in defence of Sullivan then one would think that is certainly worth listening to.
And that’s just what Jordan has done as he spoke up for the billionaire when his handling of the Moyes situation was being criticised by Graeme Souness and reporter Alex Crook on talkSPORT.
‘I’m the last person to defend Sullivan, but…’
“I mean I’m the last person to defend Sullivan but (qualify) how Sullivan could have handled the situation with David Moyes better.” Jordan said on talkSPORT, which you can see in the video below.
“Given that they offered David Moyes a contract in February that David Moyes didn’t sign, so how could Sullivan and West Ham have handled David Moyes’ exit better?
“So if the club sat on its haunches until the summer, everyone would say ‘What are you doing? Why are you not interviewing people, why are you not preparing?’
“The observation about the courtesy that was extended to David (Moyes). I’m going to bristle at this idea that a football should sit back and extend this wonderful courtesy of not interviewing people because of this “optics for the media”…
“It’s a very curious position. First of all most managers like stability. So it’s a ridiculous observation that people leave it until (the end of their contract to discuss a new one).
“Then he’s (Moyes) a bloody fool then isn’t he? I mean who leaves a contract to expire before you negotiate a new one? Nobody in their right mind, least of all a football person!”