Former West Ham United midfielder Paul Ince has slammed the London club's board for their recent comments surrounding the summer transfer window.
West Ham co-chairman David Sullivan claimed earlier this week that Hammers boss Slaven Bilic turned down the chance to sign Renato Sanches from Bayern Munich this summer, with the Portuguese ultimately moving to Swansea City on loan.
Ince has slammed "the comments coming out from the owners", and insisted that it is unfair that Bilic continues to take the brunt of the criticism after a poor start to the 2017-18 campaign.
"I really dislike the comments coming out from the owners," Ince told reporters. "They've been talking about how they wanted Renato Sanches, but Billic didn't as he was happy with his squad.
"It's his team and it's down to him which players they sign. Whether or not the board wanted Sanches, that's something which should be kept behind closed doors.
"It's totally unfair of the board to go broadcasting that – I'm not sure what they are playing at. When you see stuff like that, it's not really a surprise that the team are struggling.
"I find it pretty miserable to see what's going on there at the moment. It also makes you wonder whether he will get the axe if he doesn't pick up results pretty quickly. It looks that way to me. If I was managing West Ham, and the board came out and spoke about me that way, I wouldn't be too pleased about it."
West Ham have lost each of their three Premier League matches at the start of the 2017-18 campaign. On Monday, the Hammers will welcome Huddersfield Town to the London Stadium for their first home game of the season.
Matt Law
