West Ham United co-chairman David Sullivan has blasted the sale of James Collins to Aston Villa.

Sullivan has taken over transfer policy since he and David Gold took charge.

"Some of the transfers in and out were just appalling," he told the Guardian. "How they bought [Alessandro] Diamanti and sold [James] Collins is beyond my comprehension. If you could change those two players in the team, the team would be better. "We are not short of wingers. We're short of centre-halves.

"Collins is a fantastic player. It was a very, very poor decision to sell the player and use the money to buy Diamanti. A few decisions like that have been appalling. I didn't sleep a wink last night and I sympathise with [the supporters] 100%, and I know their frustrations. And as a team we have to do better."