West Ham go top of Championship - are they ready to leave past behind?

It was a night to remember for West Ham and their 4,500-travelling support.

Skipper and club talisman Jarrod Bowen opened the scoring early, then secured victory late in a five-goal thriller at Bolton.

The result took West Ham to the top of the Championship. It was their third successive league win - the first time they have done that since December 2023.

That was the run which prompted a contract offer to David Moyes that went unsigned and was eventually withdrawn prior to the Scot's departure six months later. The decline continued and ended in relegation last May.

With elation in short supply recently, West Ham's fans made sure they enjoyed this night, staying to acknowledge their team after the final whistle, delaying departure on a journey that, for many, won't end until the middle of the night.

Amid homage to Bowen, singing about bubbles and West Ham being 'massive', the visiting supporters also chanted repeatedly about former chairman David Sullivan. None of the songs about him were complimentary.

Bowen double helps West Ham beat Bolton to go top

Have things changed behind the scenes?

Sullivan was not at Bolton for the Championship encounter. He has been at all of the Hammers' home games so far this season, though. He was also at Watford for a 1-1 draw last month.

For some, this involvement is a surprise.

When the 77-year-old resigned as chairman in June, saying his intention was to fight allegations made against him in a joint BBC Panorama and Times investigation, there was an expectation it would eventually trigger his exit from the club.

That and Karren Brady standing down as managing director in April, had been cited as a significant factor in West Ham selling a remarkable 50,000 season tickets for their first campaign outside the top flight since 2011.

Their average home crowd in the league so far tops 60,000. The 53,369 who watched their EFL Cup first round victory over Portsmouth was a record for that stage of the competition.

But Sullivan remains. Providing the complicated agreement announced on 3 September goes through as anticipated within the next few weeks, he will end up with 40% of the club. Sullivan has clearly not disappeared from the West Ham picture.

He is nowhere near as influential, though.

Talk to people inside the club and they will tell you how much has changed since the summer.

Czech billionaire and Royal Mail owner Daniel Kretinsky is now chairman. It is intended he will become the biggest shareholder with 46%.

Karim Virani is making a positive impression as chief executive. He has earned praise for his willingness to engage with supporters and confront issues important to them, not least the club's badge, which was changed in 2016 to coincide with the move away from the Boleyn Ground.

Director of football Nils Koppen has influence in recruitment discussions. Recruitment as a whole is now a transparent affair involving the right people within the club rather than deals being executed without adequate discussion.

In a summer of huge change, 12 players were sold - including Crysencio Summerville and Mateus Fernandes - and, eventually, nine came in.

West Ham paid an EFL record £22m to Celtic for Belgium international Arne Engels. But it is the arrival of Edvin Austbo, the 21-year-old named Norway's young player of the year for his role in the Viking's shock Eliteserien title triumph, that they view as evidence of change. Austbo had been tracked for a decent period of time before West Ham executed the transfer, for an initial £10m.

Nuno feels unity at West Ham

Yet, this being West Ham, the situation is not quite so straightforward.

Uncertainty remains over the intentions of Amanda Staveley. It was the former Newcastle director's deal with former co-chair Vanessa Gold in July that triggered the pre-emption rights process at West Ham which eventually led to the deal that not only sees Kretinsky and Sullivan increase their stakes, but also fellow shareholders Tripp Smith and Terry Brown.

In theory, if Staveley agreed a deal with Sullivan and Smith, who will have 11%, she would own over half the club.

Yet that would also be subject to pre-emption rights.

Sullivan talks positively about Kretinsky privately and is unhappy the recent process diverted attention away from the transfer window. His words do not seem to be those of someone about to create even more turmoil at the London Stadium.

"It seemed Sullivan was going when he stepped down, but that hasn't happened," said Simon Lane, a Hammers season ticket holder from north Wales, who stopped for a chat 90 minutes before kick-off.