Tony Cottee urges David Sullivan to ‘step aside’ as clear message sent to West Ham owner
Disaster is the word that springs to mind when speaking about West Ham’s current situation, and most of the blame falls on David Sullivan.
Only two-and-a-half-years ago, the Hammers were celebrating their Europa Conference League triumph under David Moyes, and now they’re staring down the barrel of relegation.
West Ham’s damaging 2-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest on Tuesday evening kept Nuno Espirito Santo’s side in the trenches of the bottom three, with seven points between them and survival.
A relegation to the Championship is, therefore, looking increasingly likely, even despite West Ham beginning January with investments in two new strikers, Pablo Felipe and Taty Castellanos.
West Ham fans protest against Karren Brady and David Sullivan during their Premier League match with Nottingham Forest 🟥 pic.twitter.com/Jm2gl2qWos
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) January 6, 2026
Tony Cottee urges David Sullivan to sell West Ham
Under their owner, Sullivan and vice chair, Karren Brady, the Hammers have been on a downward spiral since Moyes left the club via mutual consent at the end of the 2023/24 campaign.
Julen Lopetegui, Graham Potter and Nuno have all since managed West Ham, but failed to succeed at the London Stadium.
| Managers since David Moyes | Games | Wins | Draws | Losses | Goals for/against |
| Julen Lopetegui | 22 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 26/44 |
| Graham Potter | 25 | 6 | 5 | 14 | 30/41 |
| Nuno Espirito Santo | 16 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 17/30 |
Whilst some of that is down to the tactics and substitutions, most of it is due to the lack of direction and ambition shown by Sullivan.
The Irons have constantly struggled to address their problems in the transfer window, and poor investment has caused their downward spiral.
Simon Jordan even thinks Sullivan will sell West Ham if they get relegated to the Championship, an idea former striker Tony Cottee can get behind.
“David Sullivan is a rich man. He doesn’t have to sell, and no one’s making him. But what I would emphasise to him is that he’s a custodian of the club, not the owner,” Cottee said in an interview with the Daily Mail.
“The fans own that football club, not the chairman, not the board. And as a custodian, you should do what’s right for the football club and that means if someone comes along that he thinks is the right person to take the club forward, he should step aside.”
Cottee, who made 320 appearances for the Hammers during his playing days, is also a lifelong fan and knows what the supporters want to see.
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West Ham are awful at selling players
A major problem the club have had over the years is signing players and selling them on for profit.
In the last 16 years, there have only been three notable sales, the most recent being West Ham’s £55million sale of Mohammed Kudus to Tottenham in 2025, and before that, it was the exits of Dimitri Payet and Flynn Downes.
The Hammers very rarely sign a gem for cheap and make a huge sum of money, with Cottee slamming the club’s poor recruitment.
“Only three players in 16 years,” Cottee added. “That shows you how good the recruitment has been, doesn’t it.”
A lack of measured decisions in the transfer market and planning have contributed to West Ham’s demise, and these failures will surely end in relegation.
Stay up to date this winter with our West Ham transfer tracker. Click to see every done deal at the London Stadium, plus expert reaction from our team of writers.