If this summer has confirmed anything it is that there is not much harmony at West Ham United.
Performances on the pitch have been way below expectation with the club propping up the Premier League table after defeats in each of their opening three games.
Whether it is an early season blip, a slow start or the sign of much deeper rooted problems only time will tell.
The relationship between Slaven Bilic and co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold seems rather one-sided.
Bilic has spent the summer lavishing praise on his bosses, thanking them for the signings of Javier Hernandez, Marko Arnautovic, Pablo Zabaleta and Joe Hart despite a net spend of just £10million – the seventh lowest in the league.
Sullivan has reciprocated by failing to land the player Bilic desperately wanted to complete his jigsaw, William Carvalho.
The unpopular owner then effectively threw his manager under the bus by publicly claiming – on the club’s official website no less – Bilic rejected the chance to sign outstanding young player Renato Sanches, who instead joined Swansea, and classy Poland midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak from PSG.
That came just a couple of months after it was leaked that Bilic pulled the plug on a deal to sign striker Kelechi Iheanacho from Manchester City – as reported at the time by the Evening Standard – with the Nigerian joining Leicester City instead.
The fact a deal for Iheanacho ever reached the 11th hour when the manager was not sure on the player highlights the alarming disconnect at West Ham.
It is now galling for Hammers fans to contemplate the team they could be watching this season if there was some harmony at the club.
A midfield boasting Sanches, Carvalho and Krychowiak and Iheanacho to partner the lonely Chicharito up front.
That would have been a hugely successful window for West Ham, instead it could be the straw which breaks the camel’s back for Bilic in East London.
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