David Sullivan, to quote an increasingly demob happy Slaven Bilic, likes to talk. West Ham’s co-owner wants to have his say, regardless of what his manager thinks. He makes headlines by not holding back in interviews. Just this past week, with the dust still settling on the non-signing of William Carvalho, Sullivan released a statement on the club’s website detailing how close West Ham had been to a swoop for the Sporting Lisbon midfielder on deadline day. He also revealed that Bilic, under fire after an awful start to the season, had turned down deals for Grzegorz Krychowiak and Renato Sanches, who joined West Bromwich Albion and Swansea City respectively.
Plenty has happened since that statement, much of it bizarre even by football’s standards. Sporting responded by denying receipt of any offer for Carvalho, prompting West Ham to hit back at accusations of dishonesty by announcing, in a tweet from one of Sullivan’s sons, a lawsuit against their Portuguese sparring partners. The sorry episode reached a farcical peak when Bruno de Carvalho, Sporting’s president, livened up the international break by calling West Ham’s owners “offended virgins” and “the Dildo Brothers”.
“It’s funny,” Bilic said on Friday. “It made me laugh.” Speaking in an atmosphere reminiscent of an unruly classroom, Bilic did not exactly rush to defend the honour of his bosses when Carvalho’s disparaging comments about Sullivan and David Gold came up. If loyalty is a two-way street, what was he supposed to make of Sullivan’s comments about Krychowiak and Sanches? The suggestion that he rejected midfielders from Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich hardly spoke volumes for his judgment. Unless there were shades of grey. “That is not exactly what happened with those two you mention,” Bilic said. “I wanted Carvalho.”
Bilic went on to question why Sullivan could not have spoken to him in private and already there is a sense of the PR war beginning, of hands being washed of blame and battle lines being drawn. It is not hard to see which way the wind is blowing. There is little prospect of Bilic’s contract being extended beyond this season and he knows that losing to Huddersfield Town at the London Stadium on Monday night could be the end. He had fears of being sacked at the end of last season and West Ham’s links with Rafael Benítez refuse to disappear.
What cannot be lost in this debate is how poor Bilic’s side have been in their first three league matches, even though they have all been away. The bottom side have conceded 10 goals in defeats by Manchester United, Southampton and Newcastle, and after more than two years in charge it remains difficult to work out what Bilic wants from his players. What is their style of football? Are they solid and physical? Are they a counterattacking team? Do they favour possession? One thing is indisputable: they cannot defend. There are concerns about a lack of tactical planning and intensity in training.
Bilic finished seventh in his first season but inspiration often arrived from Dimitri Payet, a mercurial talent motivated by the challenge of making the France squad for Euro 2016. West Ham have floundered since Payet returned to Marseille for £25m in January, winning six out of 21 league games.
At the same time, there is a sense that Bilic is being made a scapegoat to deflect attention from the questionable recruitment strategy that has held the club back since the move to the London Stadium. Payet’s replacement, the £10m Robert Snodgrass, joined Aston Villa on loan last month. José Fonte, an £8m 33-year-old centre-back, has struggled. The search for a top striker in the summer of 2016 brought links with Carlos Bacca, Michy Batshuayi and Alexandre Lacazette. All proved unattainable. Jonathan Calleri, Ashley Fletcher and Simone Zaza arrived instead but none of that trio wear claret and blue any more.
West Ham’s business was initially encouraging this summer. They recruited Joe Hart on loan from Manchester City and bought Javier Hernández for £16m, while Marko Arnautovic is their record signing at £24m. But Bilic had spoken about needing more pace and power. They were short-term buys, while the 32-year-old Pablo Zabaleta has yet to impress after signing on a free from City. An ageing defence has looked cumbersome against fast attacks.
What Bilic wanted most was a top defensive midfielder. Carvalho was expensive – Sporting wanted £37.5m – but Bilic let go of squad players in order to make room in the budget for the Portugal international. Come deadline day, West Ham had signed four senior players and sold nine. Their squad looked short of depth, but they signed no one. Carvalho stayed in Lisbon.
Sullivan has assumed the role of director of football, which means he shares culpability with Bilic for the mess. Bilic is on borrowed time. It is no secret that West Ham hope to prise Benítez away from Newcastle, where the Spaniard has grown tired with working for Mike Ashley. Yet their treatment of Bilic, who is experiencing what Sam Allardyce and Gianfranco Zola went through, runs the risk of putting off prospective hires.
Sometimes the quietest person in the room is the smartest. For all the noise coming out of east London, how much of it is worth listening to?