West Ham are still fighting for their Premier League lives on the pitch but there is mounting speculation about the very ownership of the club off it.
Hammers fans have been protesting against the club’s owners and board all season.
Supporter ire has been predominantly directed towards David Sullivan and Karren Brady with the ultimate aim of their removal from West Ham United.
It was a case of one day, one to go for those fans when Brady suddenly stood down as vice-chair and left the club with immediate effect recently after 16 years.
Jordan aims dig at Kretinsky and casts doubt over West Ham interest levels
In the wake of her departure it was reported Brady’s last act was to oversee the sale of some of the Gold family shares to the club’s second biggest stakeholder Daniel Kretinsky.
It was suggested the news was the first step to Czech billionaire Kretinsky becoming West Ham’s majority stakeholder having initially bought 27 per cent of the club for £150m in November 2021.
How do you feel NOW about a full Daniel Kretinsky takeover? 💰
Sullivan out at all costs? Or has the Czech ship sailed?
Many Hammers fans have been enthused by the prospect of Kretinsky owning the club outright.
But now Simon Jordan makes claim about Kretinsky’s influence at West Ham.
West Ham fans have heard from the “Czech Sphinx” on club matters only a handful of times in the last four-and-a-half years.
Kretinsky confirmed he has no plans for full West Ham takeover in a rare TV interview in his homeland in the summer of 2024.
However, in that interview Kretinsky made it clear he would be interested in increasing his share – and that is what he is now doing to over 40 per cent.
David Sullivan has since confirmed his West Ham position, revealing he too is increasing his stake to match that of Kretinsky.
Jordan suggests Kretinsky is preoccupied with Royal Mail ownership
That news has not gone down well with many fans, especially as Amanda Staveley has been linked with a West Ham takeover too.
Given Kretinsky’s vast wealth and his success as a businessman, Hammers fans believe he could and would run the club better than Sullivan.
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But outspoken pundit Jordan has suggested Kretinsky’s silence in the background at West Ham speaks volumes.
“You’ve got an ownership model that’s got David Sullivan in it, which the fans are not having,” Jordan said on talkSPORT.
“Karren Brady was involved with David Sullivan and, God rest his soul, David Gold for a very long time from when she was at Birmingham through to West Ham. She carries out the wishes of David Sullivan because that’s who her pay-master is to some extent…
“But there’s a variety of reasons (West Ham are in such a mess), you’ve got a Czech billionaire that’s bought into this football club that you thought was going to be some sort of intellectual capital behind the way it goes.
“(But) he’s (Kretinsky) too busy running the Post Office to be able to run West Ham.”
Jordan is referring to Kretinsky’s ownership of Royal Mail, for which he has faced criticisms that service has declined under his stewardship.
Kretinsky has insisted that service has not declined under his ownership, despite heavy criticism of late deliveries and price rises. Appearing in front of MPs on the business select committee in March, the West Ham co-owner and Sparta Prague owner said he was “deeply sorry” for any letters that arrive late.
West Ham fans will care little about what he does at Royal Mail but Jordan makes a salient point.
Kretinsky has a huge and diverse portfolio in his business empire which ranges from energy to media.
So he is bound to be distracted, especially when some of those business interests make him more money than West Ham.
Hammers supporters want – and deserve – an ownership which is focused solely on West Ham United and improving all aspects of this historic football club on and off the pitch.
Until they get that, fans won’t be happy – and nor should they be.
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