Martin Tyler: West Ham and Everton fall under same bracket over transfers
Martin Tyler claims West Ham and Everton are two clubs whose managers may have the final say on transfers.
Most Premier League clubs operate where a director is in charge of ins and outs while co-chairman David Sullivan has had a bit of a stranglehold on transfers at the Hammers in recent years.
However, speaking during Everton’s 0-0 draw against Brighton on Monday night, Sky Sports commentator Tyler likened the Toffees’ approach to their dealings to that of West Ham and manager David Moyes.
“It was quite a coup for Everton to get [James Rodriguez],” said Tyler on Sky Sports Main Event on Monday night.
“You do get the feeling, and this is more opinion than fact, that Carlo Ancelotti is one of the rare breeds of Premier League managers who has the final say in who comes into the club.
Alan Smith agreed by saying: “That’s an increasingly rare breed these days.”
Tyler then added: “I wonder whether David Moyes may also be in that bracket with how well his signings have worked out.”
Stay away, Sullivan
We’ve seen West Ham sign some truly dreadful players due to Sullivan.
The co-chairman had been sticking his nose in affairs for years at the East London club, who had stagnated horribly in between their final year at Upton Park and this current season now.
According to the Evening Standard, Sullivan became “disillusioned” by failed efforts in the transfer market towards the end of Manuel Pellegrini’s unsuccessful spell in charge and ceded the final say to Moyes.
Jack Rosser wrote that “there is a good balance between the co-owner, sometimes impulsive and erratic, and his manager’s considered approach” – and that sums it up perfectly.
Speaking in the last summer transfer window, Sullivan told talkSPORT that West Ham wouldn’t be adding many players to the squad because Moyes didn’t want to. While it wasn’t what a lot of us wanted to read at the time, it’s worked out to be a very good approach.
Moyes still has a fairly small squad at his disposal, especially when you consider there are a few injury-prone players in the mix. But on the whole, there’s no denying that Moyes’ decisions in the transfer market have been inspired since he returned to the London Stadium.
Tomas Soucek, Vladimir Coufal, Craig Dawson, Jarrod Bowen and Jesse Lingard have all been superb additions to the squad while we’re still expecting the deal for Said Benrahma to work out well eventually.
Sullivan actually deserves some credit for taking a step back from the transfers and realising that his approach wasn’t working.
Long may Moyes be in charge of things in East London, especially with where the club sits in the Premier League table right now.
In other West Ham news, Frank McAvennie claims this Irons ace has spent the last two-and-a-half years partying.