West Ham United are in the process of appointing a director of football as part of an overhaul behind the scenes, but is he right under their nose?
West Ham will appoint an experienced director of football at the end of the season in a bid to head off criticism from fans of their recruitment strategy.
Supporters are angry over what they feel is a string of broken promises from transfer spending to their move to the London Stadium.
Hammers fans aired their frustrations during the 3‑0 home defeat to Burnley last month when some supporters invaded the London Stadium pitch to protest against co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold and their vice-chairman Karren Brady.
One of their biggest bones of contention has been the club’s transfer policy since the big move to Stratford which was used by the owners as their raison d’etre in leaving Upton Park.
Sullivan, who has been directly involved in signings and dealing with agents, has confirmed he will take a step back and hand the responsibility to an experienced figure when revealing the recruitment overhaul, as previously reported by HITC.com.
Speculation has been rife over who will be appointed to the Hammers role with the likes of Harry Redknapp and Barry Fry linked.
But is the answer right under West Ham’s noses in the form of club legend Sir Trevor Brooking?
Sir Trev as he is affectionately known by supporters, ticks all the boxes.
One of few true one-club men, Brooking is West Ham through and through, arguably nobody knows the East End club and its principles and expectations better.
He is vastly experienced having played for and briefly managed the club.
He played for England and was even the director of football for the FA, so has all the knowledge and know how required for the role.
Brooking was the last person to give the club silverware, his goal handing the Hammers the 1980 FA Cup in a win over Arsenal.
Brooking also has the best win percentage of any manager in West Ham’s history of 64.3% with nine wins and four draws from his 14 games in charge and just the one defeat.
Brooking is respected throughout football and knows the type of player Hammers fans want to see representing them on the pitch.
It says it all that when fans invaded the pitch and turned on co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold and their vice-chairman Karren Brady last month Brooking was remained unmoved as the directors box emptied.
West Ham have been criticised over the years for failing to make the most of their ex-players and their experience.
They should not make that mistake again if of course Brooking is interested in the role.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
