Kretinsky in control

Well, it's got to be good news that David Sullivan is being edged out at West Ham. Daniel Kretinsky is buying more shares from the Gold family, which would take his stake up to 43 per cent through 1890 Holdings, which is part of EP. 

The club statement claims the board did not know the extent of the allegations against Sullivan — which he denies — until Monday's Panorama was broadcast. That statement from Kretinsky and Vanessa Gold says the right things: “We were deeply concerned by the revelations made by The Times and Panorama this week and our thoughts go out to those women who have fought so hard to make their voices heard. Any abuse of power is abhorrent, and it takes great courage and determination to speak up against it."

On a football level it seems encouraging that Kretinsky wants to, "stabilise West Ham United, retain as many of our key players as possible and, under the management of Nuno Espírito Santo, secure an immediate return to the Premier League." There is an encouraging line on finance, reading: "As the largest shareholder, group EP will be able to provide the additional financing the club needs."

Importantly all the shareholders, Kretinsky, Vanessa Gold and minority shareholders Tripp Smith, Daniel Harris and Terry Brown, have all said they will vote together, effectively sidelining Sullivan. We do have to remember that Kretinsky is an unknown quantity and gives very little away in public. But he does seem to be professional in his dealings, has never been a pornographer and must have surely despaired over the way West Ham has been run in recent years. There is still a risk David Sullivan could exert a "pre-emptive right" to buy some of the Gold shares to match Kretinsky's share, according to the Times. Yet he must surely realise that his time at West Ham is up. Sponsors will be horrified at what has gone on and the new powers want to unite fans and club and now say they are not going to be forced to sell players. There just might be some hope for the future.

Time for Sully to sell-up

Apart from Panorama's programme on our ex-co-chairman and front-page headlines for all the wrong reasons, plus relegation, no permanent chief executive, no director of football, a £104m loss last year and a likely fire sale, all is going well at West Ham. 

Now comes the news that after FA safeguarding concerns about an historical allegation, Sullivan has not been allowed to have contact with the women's side or youth teams for the past three years. Sullivan denies all the claims, made from the time when he was running the Sunday Sport. My first thought, beyond sympathy for the women involved, is what must the club sponsors and co-owner Daniel Kretinsky make of all this? Boyle Sports has already expressed concern and it comes to something when a gambling company is having ethical doubts.

Martin Samuel has a good summary of the situation in the Times. Sullivan's position is surely untenable after all this and also because he is being ridiculed every game by the fanbase. But the problem is that he still owns 38.8per cent of the club. Daniel Kretinsky is still in the process of trying to up his stake in the club to 40 per cent by buying shares from the Gold family. Sullivan is being investigated by the Football Regulator and it could force him to see his shares, though this might be difficult as he has not been charged by the police with any criminal offence. Otherwise Kretinsky or someone else has to make Sully an offer he can't refuse. Though there's still the risk that he might want to pass on his shares on to his sons.

As Samuel writes, we really do need to hear from the Sphinx, aka Daniel Kretinsky. My hunch is that he is after buying the London Stadium and the land around it and doing some lucrative redevelopments. But how interested is he in the football team and will he put money money into getting WHU promoted? If David Sullivan does sell-up and the Hammers get a new owner then we might at least be entitled to a little optimism.

Sully steps down, Nuno stays and the rebuild starts

Well, it's taken ten days in Italy to try and recover from relegation. Also been touting for West Ham talent in Serie Z with a budget of ten Euros. It was certainly interesting to see the Roman Arena in Verona, which is a little reminiscent of the London Stadium. It's hosted everything from gladiators to opera. No doubt the away fans chanted that the Romans sold their soul for this shithole. Perhaps there were some fans who preferred the old Arena to a corporate bowl, disliked the chariot racing track and wanted Caesar out. 

Sitting on the marble seats and standing in the concourse it's surprising to think how little stadiums have changed in 2000 years, though it's a bit less bloodthirsty these days unless Millwall are playing. Had my fellow season ticket holders Matt and Nigel been around two millennia ago they would have been seeking out obscure arenas for contests between non-league gladiators.

SULLIVAN QUITS

No sooner are we back in Blighty than the news arrives that David Sullivan is stepping down as West Ham chairman to fight "serious historical allegations", which he denies. It's hard to comment further until these allegations are aired on the BBC and in the Times, but in football terms Sullivan going as chairman will be celebrated by most fans. West Ham won a European trophy in 2023 as a positive, but against that must be set two relegations, a £104m loss last year, flip-flopping between contrasting managers and various directors of football, terrible recruitment, allowing David Moyes to go twice, appointing Avram Grant, interfering in transfers, moving the club to a rented stadium that isn't purpose-built for football and allowing the club to be overtaken by Brighton, Bournemouth, Brentford, Fulham and Crystal Palace.

Co-owner Daniel Kretinsky already appears to be taking a more active role by insisting that Nuno stays as manager. Continuity is no bad thing even if Nuno has a worrying tendency to tinker, as at Newcastle and when he played Soucek and Irving in central midfield and inverted the full-backs against Brentford and Leeds. Football is a simple game and sometimes playing people in their best positions is better than trying to go all Guardiola. But Nuno proved himself a decent manager at Wolves and Forest and undoubtedly improved the spirit and performances of West Ham in the latter part of the season.

There's a nucleus of promising youngsters that Nuno selected last season in Kante, Mayers, Scarles, Potts, Orford, Earthy and Marshall. Fernandes and Summerville seem certain to go and Wan-Bissaka, Diouf and Castellanos are attracting interest, while Todibo has to go after his fall-out with Nuno. But with Sullivan gone and Kretinsky or a new co-owner in charge could we keep a core of experienced players not least Jarrod Bowen? Retaining Soucek and the Greek Bloke would give us a chance in the Championship and without Sullivan we might even get a more data-driven recruitment department. Let's get some gladiators in. It's certainly never dull at West Ham.