David Sullivan blamed for West Ham's slide to relegation
David Sullivan is being blamed for West Ham’s slide toward the Championship after years of poor planning, recruitment errors and leadership turnover. The critique is blunt: the club’s problems did not arrive overnight, and nothing changes until Sullivan sells up.
West Ham and David Moyes
West Ham’s league form under David Moyes began to slide in January 2022, and the drop never fully stopped. The club still beat Fiorentina in the Conference League final in June 2023, but that success sat beside a sharper warning sign in the league and a wider sense that the project was moving the wrong way.
That gap between one trophy night and the league table is part of the case against Sullivan. West Ham left Upton Park for the London Stadium 10 years ago after promising the move would take the club to the next level, yet they are now facing the Championship.
Steidten and Lopetegui
Tim Steidten arrived shortly after the Conference League final and became central to the dispute over how the club was run. The criticism is that bringing him in widened the internal problems rather than fixing them, and one line in the assessment is especially direct: “Bringing in Steidten was one of Sullivan’s biggest mistakes.”
Julen Lopetegui joined in 2024 and lasted six months before being fired. By February 2025, Steidten had departed too, leaving West Ham with leaders gone and not replaced. That churn is one reason the blame lands on Sullivan rather than on any single manager.
Rice money and recent moves
West Ham received £105m from Arsenal for Declan Rice, then spent £91.8m on Konstantinos Mavropanos, Jean-Clair Todibo and Maximilian Kilman. The spending spree did not steady the team. Edson Álvarez has spent the season on loan at Fenerbahce, Niclas Füllkrug scored three goals in 26 league appearances before joining Milan on loan last January, and Mohammed Kudus was sold to Tottenham.
Those moves sit at the centre of the argument that Sullivan ignored warning signs since 2022 and listened to the wrong people. Graham Potter has also worried about a quiet dressing room, while Jarrod Bowen has been weighed down by the captaincy, leaving West Ham with a squad that looks thinner in leadership than it did on paper.
The case against the ownership is simple enough: West Ham are not dealing with one bad spell, but with years of drift that have left them fighting relegation. “This is David Sullivan’s mess.” “Nothing will change until Sullivan sells up.”
