Sullivans statement on West Ham transfers means one of two things
West Ham’s Join-Chairman David Sullivan released a statement yesterday on the club’s official website.
With many West Ham fans not too pleased about the way the transfer window ended, there was bound to be fallout. The board were taking the brunt of it, despite landing some big names early on in the window. But that all changed with a disappointing deadline day and the statement that followed it.
With no players brought in, it wasn’t the ideal end to a window in which we scored no points. But the joint chairman wanted to point out that it wasn’t the fault of the board. Did he throw his underfire manager under the bus? Or was it just a case of trying to put the record straight?
More from Green Street Hammers - West Ham
- Brighton vs West Ham predictions: Can James Ward-Prowse help end the curse?
- West Ham and two Premier League rivals made huge transfer stand
- Lucas Paqueta bet allegations discussed in West Ham and Man City transfer talks
- Bournemouth vs West Ham predictions: Premier League opener amid transfer chaos
- West Ham near Denis Zakaria transfer after final James Ward-Prowse bid
Words on their merit
If you take the words on their merit, as I know many fans won’t, it doesn’t seem too awful. Here is a man who is trying his hardest to run a club and make signings, and getting the manager’s top picks. However when offered further picks the manager was not interested.
If true then it does seem the board did their best to get some players. When offered some other players the manager simply decided the squad was already good enough. But there is one point that I think is just plain wrong. Sullivan said this about William Carvalho:
"“Late last night Sporting Lisbon made contact to accept the original offer, but unfortunately it was just too late in the day, and we simply did not have enough time to put the player through a medical.“We were not prepared, as a club, to buy a player for that amount of money without him having gone through adequate medical checks."
This is not an excuse. As long as the paperwork is submitted, the medical can be issued after the deadline. It is a deal that is conditional on the medical being passed. So if the transfer had been agreed, the medical could have taken place today. The deal could have been done and everything sorted for William Carvalho.
A Cynical Swipe
As such, i’m inclined to believe that this publication was a manoeuvre in order to put pressure on Bilic ahead of a potential sacking or resigning. Whilst the message regarding Bilic refusing the players may be true, there was no reason to put more on him.
He is a manager that is having issues with his players that’s true. However when the players are coming in it seems to be a message of unity and togetherness in the decision, however when it the players weren’t it’s suddenly all to do with the manager and the other clubs, no fault of the board at all. It’s something I am not sure of.
Next: Deadline Day Fiasco Highlights Hammers Issues
Given the manager was under pressure this is not the message they should be spinning. This is a divided club and one I’m not happy with right now. I hope that by Christmas this is all sorted out and things are back on track. Whoever is in charge.