Karren Brady confirms David Moyes rumours in brutal West Ham reveal

Karren Brady has thrown Tim Steidten under the bus for the way David Moyes left West Ham at the end of the 2023-24 season.

In his second spell in charge at the London Stadium, Moyes had steered the Hammers away from relegation to have them regularly qualifying for Europe.

In 2023, the Irons won the Conference League title, just weeks before Steidten was hired as the East London club's technical director.

West Ham are now a Championship club and that behind-the-scenes appointment could be reasonably pointed to as the turning point between winning European silverware to lost at home against Charlton Athletic in the second tier.

During Steidten's time in charge, it was widely rumoured that he and Moyes clashed over transfers, with the German director seeking full authority over the ins and outs at the club.

It eventually led to Moyes leaving a year after his Conference League triumph and ex-West Ham vice-chair Brady has shared details about the breakdown.

Karren Brady seems to blame Tim Steidten for West Ham collapse

In a column about sporting directors, Brady wrote about how having someone try to rule over transfers who isn't the manager can end badly.

Writing for The Sun, she said: "I know how this can end. At West Ham, Tim Steidten arrived in 2023 to modernise recruitment but clashed with David Moyes, who had delivered three successive top-ten finishes and a European trophy.

"Moyes quite rightly wanted a say in signings; Steidten favoured a director-led approach. By May 2024, relations had collapsed so badly that Steidten was told to stay away from first-team areas.

"Moyes left that summer. Julen Lopetegui arrived, the club spent heavily and the dysfunction resurfaced. Lopetegui was sacked in January 2025; Steidten followed him out.

"Two managers, two breakdowns, one sporting director.

"At some point, you have to stop blaming the man in the dugout and start questioning the man responsible for recruitment. The irony is sporting directors are supposed to provide continuity. West Ham failed to achieve it."

What have West Ham learned since Steidten's exit?

Everything's been quite messy behind the scenes at West Ham, with Brady and David Sullivan both stepping down amid historic allegations made towards Sullivan.

Daniel Kretinsky is now the largest shareholder of the club, while there's been speculation that former Newcastle chief Amanda Staveley is trying to lead a consortium in buying into the Hammers.

In January 2023, Mark Noble was hired as sporting director at West Ham and he's retained that role since.

He's basically someone who can do no wrong in the eyes of Hammers fans, but his appointment pre-dated Steidten's arrival.

Kyle Macauley was hired as West Ham's head of recruitment in January 2025 at the same time Graham Potter joined, but left in October 2025.

Another case of failed continuity that Brady pointed to in her column.

Nils Koppen was hired as the director of player recruitment in July and has so far been working fairly well alongside Nuno Espirito Santo.

Earlier this season, Koppen said he thinks "the collaboration with Nuno has been very good", but that's obviously his opinion and not that of the West Ham manager's.

However, retaining Jarrod Bowen - if Koppen had any involvement in that - was huge and West Ham did receive some big fees in the summer.

In terms of incomings, the jury is still out on some of the arrivals but there have been some encouraging signs regarding Manor Solomon and Edvin Austbo's form.