It is no secret that Simon Jordan, the former chairman of Premier League outfit Crystal Palace, does not often see eye to eye with West Ham United owner David Sullivan.

And, no, this is not a dig at Sullivan’s height, by the way.

Though Simon Jordan had sympathy for the West Ham kingpin back in September as fan fury boiled over, the relationship has been strained really ever since David Sullivan tried to lure Andy Johnson from Crystal Palace to Birmingham City.

Big, bombastic statements off the pitch have seldom translated to success on it at West Ham United in recent times either.

Back in 2023, Jordan accused Sullivan of displaying ‘faux ambition’. Of promising to do things that ‘look good on paper’ while rarely following through. The despised London Stadium is a prime example of that. A supposedly ‘world-class’ arena the fans would trade in an instant for even a rusted Upton Park.

Speaking on talkSPORT after West Ham United secured only their second win of a miserable Premier League season, though, Jordan believes there is one way the East London outfit could be free of Sullivan’s clutches.

Simon Jordan explains how West Ham United can escape David Sullivan

Unfortunately for the Hammers faithful, though, Jordan feels that they would have to accept a return to the Championship in order to force through a change upstairs. Though it speaks volumes about Sullivan’s reputation these days that this is a trade-off some may be tempted to accept.

“I think if West Ham were to get relegated, West Ham would be in play [for new owners to buy],” Jordan says. “And I think it would be a good buy. A London football club.”

Jordan was sitting alongside former Newcastle, Sunderland, Birmingham City and Sheffield Wednesday coach Steve Bruce.

The Owls were hit with a 12-point deduction for entering administration recently. That did not spoil the party atmosphere at Hillsborough though, following the long-awaited departure of Dejphon Chansiri.

“There are football clubs up for sale right now,” Jordan adds. “There is one which is in administration, a big football club which [Bruce] managed previously that needs to be re-energised, and probably will be.

“And then you’ve got a club like West Ham where, if they were to fall out of the Premier League and I hope for the fans that they don’t, I don’t think that Sullivan would want to be there much longer.

“I think the challenges [relegation] brings about…

“We know David. [At Birmingham, Bruce] worked for him. I think that there is a point in everybody’s life where [you must weigh up] the value of what you get economically against the value of the misery heaped upon you.”

Jamie Carragher explains why West Ham have fallen behind Brighton and Brentford

Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher summed up the fury towards Sullivan very well following West Ham’s 2-0 home defeat by Brentford last month. This, he said, is a huge football club which has fallen behind much-less historic institutions simply because they are still stuck in the past.

Burning their favourite songs onto blank CDs while Brighton, Brentford and Bournemouth shuffle their Spotify.

“West Ham are shocking and they’ve been shocking for a while, a long time,” Carragher said on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football. “It feels an awful long time ago since they won that European trophy under David Moyes.

“The ownership at West Ham is completely different to what we’re seeing at the club that have just absolutely battered them on their own patch.

“[How West Ham are run by Sullivan] is almost like a throwback in terms of how they go about transfers. It doesn’t feel a modern way of doing things, and that’s where the frustration comes from in that support.

“They feel like they look at other clubs who are not a patch on West Ham – and that’s not being disrespectful to Brentford and maybe a Brighton, we look at those two as forward-thinking, modern football clubs the way they run themselves.

“West Ham are a far bigger club than those two clubs I’ve mentioned. But the way they are run right now means they can’t actually compete with them on the pitch.”