David Sullivan cited the ‘incompetence’ of Birmingham City’s owners as a reason why West Ham United voted against a new payment arrangement for Football League teams.
The 75-year-old Hammers chairman, who invested in Blues in 1993 before selling his position in the St Andrew’s club in 2009, slammed Birmingham owners Shelby Companies Limited for dismissing John Eustace in October and replacing him with Wayne Rooney. He said the club’messed up’ that decision, with the former England and Manchester United star leaving in January after a catastrophic 15-game reign in command.
And he says that Championship teams’ incompetence is what deterred him and other Premier League owners from giving EFL clubs a cash boost that might have provided the league’s 72 clubs with an additional £900 million over the following six years. Instead, top flight clubs focused on implementing a substitute for the contentious profitability and sustainability regulations (PSR) at their most recent meeting in mid-March, a decision that has since been criticized.
In an interview with The Sun, Sullivan stated, “The flaw in the system is the Championship.” These clubs are struggling financially because they pay excessively high wages and agent fees, with some managers earning £1 million per year.
“If you look at Serie B (Italy’s second tier), neither coaches nor players earn £30,000 or £40,000 per week.
“If the EFL can’t work with the money we give them right now, what makes you think they’ll be able to work with another £50 or £100 million? They should learn to handle their finances better and quit spending unnecessary money. However, they are hesitant due to their desire to advance to the Premier League.If we give the EFL what they want, we will be right back where we are at in five years.
“Some EFL owners are wealthier than those in the Premier League.” However, some clubs have run into problems because their owners pursued promotion then were dissatisfied.
“Then there’s my former club, Birmingham. They fired a good manager, John Eustace, as they were on the cusp of the play-offs to bring in a marquee figure in Wayne Rooney. It fouled everything up. “Why should we fund their incompetence?”
Birmingham were sixth in the table following a 3-1 victory against West Bromwich Albion when they decided to cut parts with Eustace. Blues then found themselves 20th in the rankings when they decided to fire Rooney at the start of the year. They are presently 21st in the table following Friday’s defeat to QPR.
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