David Sullivan to regret West Ham sack decision on David Moyes amid transfer clashes and possible walk out
David Sullivan must be starting to regret his decision to keep David Moyes as West Ham manager now that the transfer window is starting to unravel.
The Scot was under major pressure throughout last season as the Hammers badly underperformed for the majority of the campaign, until famously lifting the Europa Conference League trophy on 7 June.
The Irons board’s inactivity at the time was largely put down to a lack of viable alternatives, but Moyes’ job was on the line right up until the victory over Fiorentina.
His future was assumed to be safe and faded into the background as the Declan Rice sale to Arsenal took centre stage but now the £105million deal has been official since 15 July and West Ham have so far failed to sign any targets of their own.
According to increasing reports that is in no small part down to a split behind the scenes between Moyes and new technical director Tim Steidten.
The German only started in his role on 1 July but has already been tipped to resign in the near future after “clashes” over transfer targets, according to Graeme Bailey on 90min’s Talking Transfers podcast (25 July), with the manager aiming for older, and largely more expensive, Premier League veterans, while the former Bayer Leverkusen man has arrived with a list of overseas targets who may have more resale value.
Bailey said: “We do understand as well that there’s a chance that Tim Steidten walks away from this. He doesn’t want to be responsible, is what we’re hearing from sources at West Ham, there’s a chance that he walks away.”
The effect has been a scattergun transfer approach that has seen enquiries and offers made for a host of players without success, and with new competition coming in all the time threatening to hijack talks.
By appointing Steidten, only for it to result in a clash of styles and ideas with the manager, it is making Moyes appear old-fashioned and set in his ways.
That may be the case, but having made the decision to stick with the former Everton and Manchester United boss in an attempt to recreate the success of recent seasons it makes no sense for the club to then go in the opposite direction with the technical director when the Scot seemed so incapable of adjusting last season.
Being adventurous in the transfer market and attempting to evolve into a more forward-thinking team on the pitch was exactly the sort of thing fans wanted to see a year ago, but it fell flat last term as Moyes appeared not to trust most of his new arrivals and they largely struggled to adapt to his style.
The European glory may have papered over the cracks of a season that for a long time looked like it might see Moyes sacked and West Ham relegated, and ended with the likes of Gianluca Scamacca possibly leaving already.
Steidten’s appointment suggests an eye on the future but it doesn’t tie up with the choice to stick with Moyes in the dug-out.
Both methods could get results but they won’t at the same time, especially if they are actively detracting from each other in the transfer market, which would likely also translate onto the pitch.
Hard as it would have been after the final, Sullivan should probably have sent Moyes on his way with his head held high if he wanted to go down the modern, Steidten route, and brought in that sort of manager.
Now, all the available candidates have taken jobs elsewhere and it’s likely too late to make a change, leaving open the real possibility that a failure in the transfer market sees the technical director walk out and the manager get fired next season anyway if the Irons struggle in the Premier League again.
In other West Ham news, the Irons are reportedly now in a “head-to-head” race with another new rival to complete a £17m-plus loan-to-buy deal.