West Ham being damaged by a culture of leaks, claims Moyes
David Moyes has risked putting himself on a collision course with West Ham United’s board just weeks before his future at the club will be decided.
Moyes claimed that West Ham have a culture of leaking stories, following a row with Andy Carroll that, according to the manager, went public within an hour.
Other than considering Moyes for the full-time post, West Ham are also admirers of former Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini, Newcastle’s Rafa Benitez and Burnley’s Sean Dyche.
With his future beyond the end of this season undecided, Moyes insisted the entire culture at the club needs to change, and that may not go down well with co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold, and vicechairman Karren Brady.
West Ham are one of the most publicly visible clubs in the Premier League. Sullivan takes a hands-on approach to his role and this season gave an interview in which he revealed his children begged him not to sign Jose Fonte, who was then sold in February. Brady writes a column for a national newspaper in which she questioned some of West Ham’s signings.
Moyes himself writes a column for the Evening Standard in which he revealed that news of him ordering Carroll to leave West Ham’s training ground on Monday after he had reacted badly to not being put on against Manchester City got out almost immediately.
Asked whether such leaks undermined his management, Moyes expanded on the subject at his weekly press conference by saying: “It does, it makes it very difficult. There are so many things at clubs that can happen daily, whether it be transfers, dealing with players or team selections, and you hope you get a bit of trust.
“I’ve had to come to terms with the culture of West Ham and the culture of West Ham seems to be that leaks are part of it.
“Can I change it? I’m sure every manager who has come in has tried to change it. I’ve tried not to waste any energy and get too wound up by it. I’d like to change it, but I think to change cultures of football clubs quite often takes more than just telling someone to stop leaking a story.”
Moyes confirmed Carroll would be part of his squad for today’s trip to Leicester after the striker was fined and apologised to the entire playing staff for his behaviour.
West Ham and Moyes have remained insistent that a decision on whether he will remain as manager next season will not be taken until the campaign is over.