West Ham have been plunged into power struggle chaos as David Sullivan and Karren Brady clash over a potential manager change.
There is serious tension at West Ham following yet another defeat, this time at home to Crystal Palace.
Nobody is feeling that heat more than majority owner David Sullivan and vice-chair Karren Brady.
The unpopular duo are the primary targets of fan protests which saw supporters line the street on the entrance to the director’s box ahead of West Ham’s 2-1 loss to Palace.
Hammers supporters issued a vote of no confidence in West Ham’s owners and followed it up with a public show of force by protesting in their thousands.
While sympathetic of the mess above him, West Ham fans are also deeply unhappy with Graham Potter too.
Power struggle chaos at West Ham as pressure mounts
The Englishman has failed to turn the Hammers around as he approaches nine months in charge since replacing Julen Lopetegui.
The Spaniard was only given six months before he was sacked by Sullivan and Brady.
But Potter’s record is even worse, with just six wins in 25 matches.
West Ham’s clash with the Eagles was billed a must-not-lose for Potter.
The likes of Nuno Espirito Santo, Kieran McKenna, Slaven Bilic, Gary O’Neil and Sean Dyche have been linked as potential replacements.
The Hammers are looking relegation certainties after losing five of their opening six games.
Supporters are furious with the owners and the manager over the mess the club finds itself in.
And there is even tension within the West Ham boardroom as uncertainty grows over the future of the manager.
Power struggle chaos is unfolding at West Ham as Sullivan and Brady clash over a manager change.
Sullivan and Brady’s faces were a picture when the cameras zoomed in on them in the director’s box during West Ham’s defeat to Palace.
When Lopetegui was sacked Hammers News revealed the West Ham boardroom was very much divided over the club’s next manager.
Sullivan and Brady clash over West Ham manager change
Sullivan reportedly wanted Max Allegri or Christophe Galtier.
But Brady championed appointing the ex Chelsea boss, who is good friends with her husband Paul Peschisolido.
At the time Sullivan was reluctant to hand Potter any more than a six-month deal, with a view to reviewing it at the end of the season.
Brady got her way but late apparent interest from Everton forced Sullivan to hand Potter the same two-and-a-half year deal the Toffees were offering.
Potter signed on the dotted line, David Moyes returned to Everton instead and the rest, as they say, is history.
Earlier this week, Hammers News revealed former Hammers boss Slaven Bilic is of interest as Potter’s replacement.
Nuno Espirito Santo has emerged as the leading candidate to replace Potter at West Ham in the build-up to the Palace clash.
Brady held talks with Nuno about the Hammers job this week.
Then ex-Forest boss Nuno was pictured near Sullivan’s Essex mansion after those Hammers talks.
It looked like all systems go for Nuno as West Ham fans turned on Potter during the defeat to Palace.
But the big split at West Ham is not limited to the fans and the owners.
Sullivan pushing for Bilic but Brady disagrees
Because Sullivan and Brady are now at odds over what to do next according to talkSPORT’s Alex Crook.
The reporter claims Sullivan is pushing hard to bring back Bilic, who recently put on record he gets on well with the Hammers chief.
But Brady wants Nuno having held talks with the Portuguese this week.
Crooks says Potter is on the brink after yet another defeat.
He states that Bilic is now Sullivan’s current preferred option to step in but Brady likes the idea of Nuno, while O’Neil is another ‘live option’.
Whatever West Ham’s board decide, it is a huge call for the club’s future.
Hammers supporters have been campaigning for Sullivan and Brady to sell up or at least step aside from the day-to-day running of the club and hire specialist professionals to make these kind of decisions.
Many will point to the fact West Ham are only looking at out-of-work managers as proof the hierarchy are not fit for the role.
But it seems they have at least one big call left in them – and they’re at loggerheads over it.
‘Only at West Ham’ cynics would suggest.
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