West Ham United assistant boss Alan Irvine has been deputising for David Moyes this week and he was pulling no punches.
Moyes to make three changes for Wolves as he manages West Ham from home
Moyes is currently self-isolating having tested positive for coronavirus before West Ham’s midweek win over Hull City.
The Scot will manage the Hammers remotely for Sunday’s crunch home game against Wolves.
But his assistant and fellow Scot Irvine stepped in for press conference duties.
Irvine fills with West Ham under a cloud as Moyes isolates
Most assistant managers would have batted away questions over transfers and the like.
Particularly at West Ham given the furore surrounding the east Londoners and the fact they are the only Premier League club not to have signed any new players in this window.
West Ham co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold have been pleading poverty due to the pandemic.
But West Ham fans are not stupid. And they have had to watch as their Prem rivals have splashed out over £1 billion on transfers.
Sullivan airs Hammers’s dirty linen in public…again
Sullivan somehow made a bad situation worse this week when he broke a long media silence with a toe-curling interview on talkSPORT.
West Ham’s dirty linen was once again on full display.
Sullivan played the blame game over West Ham’s predicament with Manuel Pellegrini, Mario Husillos, the fans and even Moyes in the firing line.
Sullivan even revealed the club’s supposed transfer budget was £40 million before going on to say he could not guarantee the Hammers would make any new additions.
Irvine puts the ball firmly in Sullivan’s court over transfers
But Irvine will have done his reputation with West Ham fans the world of good after he put the ball firmly in Sullivan’s court over transfers when pressed about interest in James Tarkowski and Wesley Fofana.
“It’s something that gets handled above us,” Irvine said matter-of-factly in the pre-match press conference, as reported by The Athletic’s Roshane Thomas.
“It’s probably something you need to go higher up to get those answers for.”
Alan Irvine on update on James Tarkowski and Wesley Fofana: “It’s something that gets handled above us. It’s probably something you need to go higher up to get those answers for.” #WHUFC
— Roshane Thomas (@RoshaneSport) September 25, 2020
Well played that man.
Sullivan knows Moyes’s targets. He either backs the manager HE employed. Or West Ham are in for a torrid season fighting relegation.