Antonio didn’t hold back during his appearance on ‘The Sports Agents’, openly criticising the club’s hierarchy, for what he sees as short‑term, reactive decision‑making that has dragged West Ham into decline. According to Antonio, the board think only one season ahead, never building the kind of four‑to‑six‑year strategy that modern Premier League clubs rely on.
He said: “In my eyes, this is the problem with the club. They never plan four, five, or six years ahead. They are always planning for the season ahead of them. I feel like there needs to be someone there who thinks over a four‑to‑six‑year plan, and things would be a lot better.”
Antonio also suggested that the constant chopping and changing at board level and the absence of a stable long‑term vision made life significantly harder for managers like Nuno Espírito Santo, who were expected to deliver results without the structure needed to succeed.
The club’s mixed messaging hasn’t helped. The appointment of Tim Steidten, followed by the termination of his role one year, seven months later, left many baffled, especially after Sullivan publicly declared that West Ham didn’t need a Director of Football. Yet this week, the club is expected to announce a new Director of Football. How that fits with Nuno’s authority remains unclear.
Tim Steidten grimaces as he sits alongside Julen Lopetegui at a West Ham Press conference
No long term strategy: Both Steidten and Lopetegui were hired, then fired, in short succession.
West Ham’s stated ambition has long been to emulate the success of Brighton and Brentford, two clubs with smaller stadiums but far superior organisation, recruitment, and long‑term planning. The contrast is stark. West Ham’s relegation was sealed during a disastrous run of three straight defeats, including a 3–0 loss to Brentford.
In fact, across nine Premier League meetings, West Ham have managed just one win against the Bees, a statistic that underlines how far behind the club has fallen compared to the modern, data‑driven models they claim to admire.
Some supporters now argue that Brighton and Brentford are bigger clubs than West Ham and by one measure, they’re right. They’re Premier League clubs. West Ham aren’t.
But relegation may have triggered a long‑overdue shift. With Daniel Křetínský 26 years younger than David Sullivan finally stepping up, it appears he is now moving to protect his investment by pushing for a long‑term strategy rather than the short‑term fixes of the past.
If that’s true, West Ham may finally be standing at a turning point.