West Ham hero hails fans for what they’ve done to David Sullivan and Karren Brady – ‘You can tell the difference’
Ade Coker is thrilled to see West Ham fans fighting back against the club’s ownership.
West Ham supporters protested against David Sullivan and Karren Brady for the way they’ve been running the operation at the London Stadium, with the Irons once again in a Premier League relegation battle.
The West Ham Fan Advisory Board wrote a letter of no confidence to the board in September, prior to Graham Potter‘s dismissal.
Fans then boycotted their loss to Brentford in October and staged a sit-in protest against Newcastle last month, before organising a march on 8 November before the 3-2 win over Burnley.
While Nuno Espirito Santo did oversee a handful of good results in the autumn, the Hammers now find themselves back in the Premier League’s drop zone ahead of the busy festive schedule.
Ade Coker: Move from Upton Park was turning point
Coker made history for black footballers during his time as a West Ham player in the 1970s.
Alongside Clyde Best and Clive Charles, he was part of the first trio of black footballers to play together in the top flight of English football in 1972.
That happened at Upton Park, when Ron Greenwood masterminded a 2-0 victory over Tottenham, with Coker getting on the scoresheet aged just 17.
Coker is set to feature in an upcoming documentary film about his former teammate Best, titled Transforming the Beautiful Game: The Clyde Best Story.
Speaking exclusively to West Ham Zone at the film’s tour announcement at Cambridge Beaches Resort & Spa in Bermuda, Coker said that the turning point for the Irons was “without a doubt” their move from Upton Park to the London Stadium.
He continued: “When the announcement came that they were going to do that, the first thing I said was, ‘why?’.
“You can tell the difference from there to what it is now. It’s nowhere near the same as it used to be – and it never will be because of how everything has gone.
“But the thing I will always give West Ham fans credit for is that they have done so well for sticking with that club. They deserve more, and I’m so glad they’re now trying to do something about it.”
How West Ham fans might have come out on top
Since the protests against the ownership restarted properly in September, West Ham have sacked Potter and replaced him with Nuno, a manager who seems capable of steering this club out of trouble.
Unfortunately for the Irons, other teams in the relegation dogfight have picked up some favourable results in recent weeks as well, making their march up the table a tad more difficult.
One of the major bones of contention for fans has been the way the club’s recruitment has been run in recent years, with too many cooks essentially spoiling the broth.
But the club has recently announced plans to overhaul the way they recruit and identify players, using an AI-powered scouting platform with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Crayon.
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