David Sullivan has given a wideranging interview to Jonathan Northcroft in the Sunday Times, which you can read in full HERE (£). Here are some of the key quotes…
“Long-term, there’s no reason we can’t be one of England’s leading six clubs, pushing for the Champions League. You have to dream. Otherwise what’s the point of being an owner or supporter? And we [he and co-chairman David Gold] are both owners and supporters.
“We have no desire to sell West Ham. We hope to pass it to our kids and grandkids. While the [stadium] deal is confidential, if we sell before 10 years most of the money would go to the government. We happily signed that, because we’ve no intention of selling. We’re only renting it for 25 matchdays. They [LLDC] have 340 days a year to get income off other people.”
“We’ve given up virtually all the naming rights, which are worth a lot of money. The catering income — and we make vast amounts from that at Upton Park — will be shared between us and LLDC. The base rent? We’re giving a lot more back than has been said."
“We’re not here for a quick buck. We were the best bid. Tottenham were going to knock it down, this iconic stadium, which would have been horrendous. With us, the legacy lives on.”
“This season and next are vital. This season, I’m looking to not be fighting relegation. I want a season where everyone feels good about supporting West Ham.”
“We collapsed at the end of last season [West Ham finished 12th, having been third in December]. Three wins in 21 was worse than relegation form. We knew we needed changes. There were a lot of warning signs. Fulham had similar the season before, didn’t do a lot, stayed with their manager and got relegated. Sam wanted a break. In January or this time next year, he’ll go somewhere and do a very good job. Slaven was probably the fans’ choice and has many admirable qualities. He’s an incredibly hard-working fellow, he’s really whacking in the hours, and he’s smart, a trained lawyer. He’s got stature. I think he’s got the fear factor like Mourinho and players will respect that.”
“Every manager we approach, we say that’s the deal. If you don’t believe you’re going to keep us up you shouldn’t be coming. To go somewhere and get relegated then want a couple of million quid is a joke. Slaven’s bonus structure is geared to success. Success isn’t surviving in the Premier League and it isn’t finishing 14th.”
“I don’t pick the players. “We [Sullivan, Gold and Bilic] all talk then jointly decide. At this stage, you back your manager. Maybe in a year, if a few signings haven’t worked out, you say, ‘OK, I’ll pick a few’. The only one where I had input,” says Sullivan, “was Dimitri Payet. He was an equal pick with the manager. I really fancied him. He had the best assists in France and the third-best assists in Europe. And he got nine goals. He’s done well year in, year out. Marseille didn’t want him to go. He’s 28 — if he was 21 he’d be a £30m player.”
“It’s a bit like crosswords. There’s a player available now but one you prefer might be available in two weeks. So you wait but then the first one has gone and the second might not be available after all. It’s a crossword where one wrong answer means the whole thing doesn’t work. I look at [Andre] Ayew, who went to Swansea. Huge wages but, as a Bosman, not expensive overall. A very good player. Maybe we should have taken him.”
" [Andy Carroll] could be back by September 1, maybe September 14. People think he’s out partying all the time. He’s not. Our fitness guys will tell you he’s doing the hardest training of his life. You may see an Andy Carroll you’ve never seen before. He could be devastating.”
Top six? “It isn’t easy because you go down the list — Chelsea with Roman Abramovich, Manchester United with the best brand in the world, Man City with Abu Dhabi, Arsenal with a great system and having paid off their stadium, Liverpool with commercial income way ahead of ours. Then you’ve Tottenham — maybe we can pick Tottenham off. Tottenham are bigger than us at the moment but within striking distance.”
A very revealing and upbeat interview. The Arsenal result rather backs up everything he says. Interesting that he thinks we will fill the Olympic Stadium at every game.