West Ham United co-owner David Sullivan has outlined a new approach to transfers in a bid to appease supporters threatening a full scale revolt.
West Ham owners Sullivan and David Gold were full of promises to fans ahead of their move to the Olympic Stadium in 2016.
Issues at the new stadium have driven a wedge between factions of supporters and the two Davids.
Woeful transfer business has not helped either with fans left disgruntled over what they feel are broken promises when it comes to West Ham’s dealings in the transfer market.
Supporters were promised big money, marquee signings as they made the move to Stratford.
Indeed the ability to compete with the Premier League elite as a result of the stadium move was held up as a carrot to fans dubious over the decision to leave the club’s famous Boleyn Ground home of 112 years.
But Sullivan and Gold have left many fans – 52,000 of whom signed up to their vision by purchasing season tickets for their new home for the first two seasons, second only to Manchester United – reeling with their lack of ambition and terrible recruitment.
Head of recruitment Tony Henry was dismissed over controversial comments he made about African players last week.
And that came after supporters were left furious by the club’s January business with only Joao Mario arriving on a short-term loan deal, little known Championship striker Jordan Hugill signed from Preston and disgraced out of contract defender Patrice Evra brought in on a free transfer after the deadline just months after he kicked a fan and within sight of his 37th birthday.
“Going forward, we’re going to completely rejig the recruitment,” Sullivan told whufc.com.
“I’m going to delegate the whole thing to a huge analysis and scouting system with a new head of recruitment.
“We’re going to have a massive video analysis department, increase the scouting department, every player will be looked at five or six times and we will not be signing a player based on when the manager’s not even seen him play, the manager will go and watch him play.
“We’re not going to sign players just for the sake of it.”
So according to Sullivan the new West Ham transfer process and policy will follow a strict new structure to guard against the kind of failures that have dogged the team in the last two years:
1) Owners to delegate all transfer business controlled by a new head of recruitment
2) Bigger and better scouting system to be put in place to identify and analyse potential new recruits
3) Massive video analysis department to carry out thorough checks on potential new recruits
4) Every potential signing will be watched five to six times before being signed
5) The manager must watch potential new signings play live
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