Richard Keys blasts David Sullivan in x-rated rant over West Ham United ‘disgrace’
Richard Keys has delivered a scathing assessment of the West Ham United board’s treatment of David Moyes, branding David Sullivan and Karren Brady’s actions a ‘disgrace’.
It has been confirmed this week that Moyes will leave the London Stadium after five years in charge, with the club opting to bring in Julen Lopetegui.
The news has come as little shock due to West Ham’s public nature of the developments, and Keys, speaking on his website [8 May], brands the club’s board a ‘disgrace’ for their treatment of Moyes.
“The way he’s been treated is a disgrace and the main reason why the players have now got their flip-flops on. They know Moyes is leaving. We all know he’s leaving. And West Ham will know it when he has,” said the beIN Sports broadcaster.
“Whose fault is that? Obviously David Sullivan’s and Karren Brady’s. Never before have West Ham enjoyed an era like the one Moyes has delivered. Never. Yet the brains-trust continue to prevaricate on whether to offer him a new deal.
“If I’m Moyes I would tell them to [expletive] off – just as Big Sam [Allardyce] did.”
Have West Ham been disrespectful to David Moyes?
Keys’ assessment here is that Lopetegui and the other candidates scouted by the board – headed up in their recruitment by technical director Tim Steidten, banned from the West Ham training ground – are also not on Moyes’ level.
This was also touched on by Tony Cottee on X [5 May], who claimed Moyes was hung out to dry and that other managers, publicly courted by the club, are not as good as the former Manchester United and Everton boss.
Broadcaster Tom Rennie was among those to disagree, claiming West Ham would have been negligent not to plan a successor in advance once deciding they wouldn’t be extending Moyes’ contract. Rennie described reaction in the media as ‘faux outrage’.
Whilst there’s an element of both here, it has to be said that the public nature of the dealings has been disrespectful to a manager who progressed West Ham the way he has.
Moyes’ shaky relations with Steidten and the board won’t have helped matters, and succession planning is just an unavoidable part of business.
But the idea of so many replacements being linked weeks and months before Moyes’ departure was confirmed, due to the actions of the directors, has undermined a figure whose achievements appear to be lost on many in football.
Moyes’ players may have one foot on the beach, but he deserves a worthy send-off from East London.
In other West Ham news, Moyes’ former player has tipped him for an international job.
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