The under-fire owners of Wolverhampton Wanderers have put West Ham’s board to shame by offering fans a major apology while admitting serious failings.
Wolverhampton Wanderers now look absolute certainties for relegation from the Premier League but West Ham may not be too far behind them.
Wolves are in danger of becoming the worst team in Premier League history as they sit marooned at the bottom of the table on just two points approaching the halfway stage of the season.
The Hammers occupy one of the other relegation places right now, 11 points better off than Wolves.
It is looking increasingly like a straight shootout between West Ham and Leeds to avoid following Wolverhampton Wanderers and Burnley into the Championship.
Alarming regression leaves West Ham and Wolves on the brink
The regression at the London Stadium and Molineux has been alarming.
Both clubs have competed for – and in – Europe in the not-too-distant past and West Ham even won a first major trophy since 1980 just over two years ago.
Imagine YOU have just taken over West Ham?
What is the very first thing you do?
Now they stand on the precipice of disaster, falling off the Premier League gravy train at the worst possible time.
Both clubs have sold key players and failed miserably and consistently to adequately replace them or reinvest in the team in a coherent, structured manner geared towards long-term sustainability and success.
The way West Ham and Wolves have been run from the top down in recent years has formed the cornerstone of protests by fans about their respective owners.
West Ham’s issues also revolve around their move to a stadium most supporters despise – and so their activism has been more militant and vociferous.
But there has been a huge difference in how those running the Hammers and Wolves are handling the situation.
As West Ham fans still await an apology from their board, Wolves’ owners put them to shame.
West Ham’s Fan Advisory Board issued a public vote of no confidence in the club’s owners in September.
In meetings with leading West Ham officials – including vice-chair Karren Brady – since, supporters have made it clear they want wholesale changes at the club.
Many fans want majority owner David Sullivan and Brady to depart or, at the very least, stand down from the day-to-day running of West Ham United.
West Ham fans await apology from board as Wolves’ owners act
There has been little tangible progress in terms of supporters seeing any of the changes they have demanded.
And a new club leak has revealed Brady is ignoring fans and has no plans to leave West Ham anytime soon.
Rather than engaging the Hammers faithful and looking to build bridges by making changes and improvements – or even simply admitting failings – West Ham’s owners have instead been on the defensive about their record at the club while trying to downplay and undermine protests.
The Hammers board pre-empted an announcement from West Ham’s Independent Supporters Committee with a 1,382-word statement listing all the good things they have done for the club.
The club’s hierarchy then reportedly ordered anti-board flags to be confiscated at away games while also drowning out chants for the sit-in against Newcastle and telling Match of the Day only 3,000 fans joined a march before the Burnley game, when at least 10,000 were in attendance.
West Ham are staring into the abyss of relegation with record £100m plus losses on the way in the club’s accounts this month.
Yet while the Hammers seemingly refuse to come out and even offer so much as an apology to supporters, Wolves’ owners are at least showing their supporters a certain level of respect.
Not only has Wolves’ technical director Matt Jackson held his hands up and apologised to fans over the club’s transfer mistakes, under-fire executive chairman Jeff Shi even insists he empathises with protesting supporters.
West Ham fans will barely believe what they are reading as Wolves’ bosses make a series of admissions of failure.
It, at the very least, shows a willingness to try and save or mend relations.
West Ham’s matchday income has doubled since 2016
But is there any amount of money that would let you accept the London Stadium?
“The players who were brought in were brought in for the right reasons, but when you have a return of two points at this stage you have to say it’s wrong because whatever starting XI we have put out has not been good enough,” Jackson told BBC.
“We have a great belief in those players developing. The ability and will to improve has been excellent – but you want immediate returns.
“For the way we can go into the market for our players, it’s tough. We don’t have endless resources so we are trying to find players in markets where others aren’t necessarily looking.”
Executive chairman Shi then conceded they have got things wrong over player sales and recruitment.
And he even defended the right of Wolves fans to vent their anger at him and the board.
“It’s a very natural feeling from the fans,” he said.
“Five or six years ago we were at some heights, the semi-final of the FA Cup and quarter-final in Europe.
“When you have reached those heights fans don’t want to let it go. I feel it myself. When you lose something like that it’s a tough blow – for this I have empathy.
“I’m not only a fan, I’m the CEO and chairman in the club. I have to think about how to judge the last decade in a more factual way and think about the next 10 years.”
Jackson even appealed to fans to continue to express their views to him and the ownership, insisting they do ‘get it’.
He added: “Come and talk to us, express those views. Hold us to account. Protest – we understand, we get it. Try to give your energy to the team but we will listen, we will learn and try to be better.”
The big question remains: do Sullivan, Brady, Daniel Kretinsky and co really ‘get it’ when it comes to West Ham fans and their grievances?
All the evidence so far suggests not.
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