Former midfielder Don Hutchison has likened West Ham United co-chair David Sullivan to " a kid in sweet shop" - while calling for the septuagenarian to step down from his role at the club.
Hutchison, speaking in conversation with BestBettingSites was asked to give his thoughts on the recent departure of Karren Brady and future prospects of the one final remaining member of the GSB collaboration, Sullivan.And the ex-Scottish international slammed Brady's London Stadium project as a failure - while insisting that Sullivan's time was up.
"I've got a relationship with David Sullivan although it's very much ‘emaily’," said Hutchison. "We're not mates or anything, but over the years we've bounced one or two things back and forth.
"My take, from the little bits that I know of Sullivan, is he's like a kid in the sweet shop. He's got the sweet shop, and he wants to try and do everything—he wants to have an input on signings, he wants to have an input on not so much who plays, but he wants to try and do everything.
"It's like he wants what's best for West Ham, but the best thing for West Ham now, I think, is to sell up and sell to the right owners on the proviso—again, I don't know the details on how long the lease is at the London Stadium—but sell on the proviso that you have to build West Ham a home in a stadium."
And Hutchison also slammed the move that saw West Ham leave its beloved home in Upton Park for the former Olympic Stadium in Stratford.
"It's ludicrous, really," he said. "I feel sorry for West Ham fans that they're the only ones that are now renting a stadium. How can you rent an athletics stadium in the Premier League in these days? Someone's got to build them a home. Honestly, it breaks my heart, really, to think West Ham fans are turning up in a stadium that's leased.
"I played at Upton Park, I know what night time games under the lights are like there. They're amazing. I've seen some famous results. I played the last game of the season against Man United when we stopped them in the league.
"I've played in games where they're memorable, and for fans, they'd go to work, it was a night time game, and then coming into the stadium, the atmosphere was crackling. Now, it's like a stadium next to a shopping centre. It breaks my heart, really. "
And Hutchison accused Brady, who led the project to move West Ham from E6 to Stratford, for leaving the club without a "home" of its own.
"I don't think she's left a legacy," he insisted. "I don't think she's got a legacy. You know, the whole taking West Ham from Upton Park to the London Stadium—that hasn't worked.
"Fans hate it. It's an athletics stadium. West Ham are the only team in the Premier League that haven't got a home. It never happened at Man United, it would never happen at Liverpool, and it would never be allowed at Newcastle.
"So how on earth have Karren Brady and the owners thought that taking West Ham out of Upton Park into an athletics stadium was ever going to be a good idea and work? Because if West Ham go down this season, that'll be empty next season; fans won't turn up.
"So, to be brutally honest, she hasn't left any sort of legacy."
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