Moyes Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea

Any sympathy being felt for Hammers manager David Moyes should be tempered by the fact that he does receive a salary most fans can only dream of, he is also in a situation that has given him the chance to completely rebuild and re-invent himself as a Barclays Premier League manager of some distinction.

That said Moyes has operated with one hand behind his back when it comes to receiving financial backing from the board, however if viewed pragmatically things aren't quite as bad as they first seem. David Moyes has gone to great lengths to ensure that everyone knows that it is HE who is in charge of transfer targets, NOT David Sullivan.

Now anyone who has had any business dealings with David Sullivan, directly or indirectly, as has this writer, will confirm that 'Sully' is a control freak, which is nothing new for a self-made man. It must pain him considerably not to be seen in charge at the helm of the club, after all 'why did he become a football club owner in the first place?' he might argue.

Make no mistake, unless you are a de facto government or a dodgy regime trying to 'sportswash' other less than pleasant aspects of your country, owning a Barclays Premier League club is much more a 'vanity project' than a means of making money. Despite opinions to the contrary, Sullivan's 'investment' in West Ham would have yielded a far greater profit had it been channelled in to the property or stock market, but like other owners he takes a particular pleasure in arriving to take his VIP seat at the Stadium he presides over, in his case the London Stadium.

The main bone of contention regarding Sullivan is the move from the 'beloved Boleyn' to the London Stadium, had that not occurred how would fans be viewing Sullivan now? The answer is most likely with the same disdain as they have now, club owners are never popular and will rarely ever be, remember the Cairns family and how they milked the club dry for year after year, over seeing a policy of sell, sell, sell when it came to the Academy production line of talent, they sold of a whole generation of English talent including, Rio Ferdinand, Joe Cole, Frank Lampard Jnr, Michael Carrick, Jermaine Defoe and a bunch of others who went on to do really well for other clubs.

So in a way David Moyes is stuck between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, because he needs to be at West Ham to cement his return to the elite managers of the League, so he has to put up with having no money to do it, much the same as it was for him at Everton.

Given time, and even just a little 'positive' funding, Moyes has the ability to work miracles, but then the Devil doesn't like the "M' word does he? - Ed