West Ham co-owner David Sullivan spoke exclusively to the Evening Standard, and suggested that hiring Manuel Pellegrini in place of David Moyes 18 months ago was a mistake.
But in doing so, he totally missed the point, and confirmed just how out of touch he is with reality.
The Hammers have regressed over the past year-and-a-half.
The east London outfit brought in Manuel Pellegrini on a three-year deal in the summer of 2018, having just parted ways with Moyes.
And the hope from the board was that the Chilean would lead West Ham to great things.
Sullivan told the Evening Standard how things haven’t worked out as planned, however:
“I would like talk about what we have achieved on the pitch but unfortunately, despite our investment and best efforts, we have not made the progress we all expected under the club’s most high-profile and proven manager [Manuel Pellegrini], having brought in a director of football. What happens on the pitch is what matters most to our supporters and is our main focus. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and perhaps it was a mistake to have let David Moyes go the first time. The easy option this time around would have been going for someone new but we feel David is the right manager for West Ham.”
The 70-year-old’s comments prove that he is totally out of touch with the modern game, however.
Before the Hammers appointed Pellegrini, he had been jettisoned to China. He was 64 when West Ham appointed him. And it was clear for everyone to see that the modern game had left Pellegrini behind.
There were fans who were happy with the former Manchester City manager getting the job. But in truth, it was a really lazy appointment. And to think that bringing the South American to the London Stadium was a ground-breaking move is completely wide of the mark.
Whilst suggesting that perhaps they should not have sacked Moyes makes it even worse.
Look at some of the young, innovative managers in the game today – Marco Rose, Julian Nagelsmann, Mikel Arteta and Niko Kovac to name a few.
They are the kind of leaders who could have transformed West Ham as a football club.
But the Hammers went with a washed up hack in 2018, got rid of him 18 months later, and replaced him with another washed up hack.
And the worrying thing is that Sullivan is totally oblivious to that concept.
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