West Ham United interviewed Paulo Fonseca last Friday as a potential replacement for Julen Lopetegui, according to Claret & Hugh sources.
The former AC Milan manager reportedly flew in to meet David Sullivan before the club began negotiations with Graham Potter.
Potter is believed to remain West Ham’s first choice, although there is still a sticking point regarding the length of the contract being offered. Negotiations are ongoing today.
Claret & Hugh also understand that Tim Steidten was present at Fonsecaâs interview, indicating he remains involved in the process of finding Lopetegui’s replacement.
Fonseca is now seen as the Hammers’ second choice. Should negotiations with Potter fail, the Portuguese coach would be offered the role. However, having seemingly missed out on the West Ham job, Fonseca may explore other opportunities rather than wait on the outcome of talks with Potter.
In an ironic twist, Fonseca was previously appointed AC Milan manager after a fan petition blocked the Serie A giants from hiring Lopetegui.
As others have said, itâs a total farce. There has been a complete lack of diploma and decent manners and at the bottom of it surprise,surprise is Sullivan. He is totally lacking in class and always looking for someone on the cheap. We donât want Noble,no experience. We donât want Carrick,no premier experience. We donât want Christophe Galtier as all his trophyâs have been won in Lige 1 and no disrespect itâs not the Premiership. Certainly donât want Paul Cooper(cheap) or Moyes(dinosaur) which would be a huge backward step. Conceica would have been my choice but we hung on with Jlo for far too long and Milan grabbed him. So do the decent thing,stop insulting Graham Potter and give him a proper contract. Donât embarrass yourself further by corner cutting, look where it has got us today.
I agree with that.
Stop messing about and appoint Potter, if he wants the job!
I’ve not been able to find any solid news anywhere today. There’s no shortage of wooley stuff appertaining to both us and Everton but no definite facts anywhere.
This whole episode is the height of incompetence and the one ultimately to blame can only be Sullivan. Lopetegui should have been sacked after the Leicester defeat and then getting Potter would have been no problem. Incompetence of the highest order.
Fonseca was my 1st choice, but would be happy with either himself or Potter
This has developed into an absolute farce!
Itâs simple if Lopetegui is still in charge for the Villa game we are out of the cup if heâs not we have a chance of progressing
If this report is true then it is clear they decided to sack Lopetegui after Liverpool game so my question would be why our spineless chairman didn’t pull the trigger then and put a caretaker in place for the Man City game. This is a total mess made worse by not appointing Sergio Conceicao who wanted to come to us and instead has just won silverware at the club that Fonseca failed at.
Seriously cannot write such a shambolic soap opera. Lopetegui is the guy on death row that has now been taken several times to the electric chair and each time Sully has reprieved him because he has no money for the meter!!………Clueless
Nice one Pop!
How true Pop….it’s a shame the board can’t sack themselves !!
AC Milan fans obviously know their stuff! !!
Actually thatâs a sensible approach especially if Potter decides to accept another offer instead. If that happened we would be left with Lopetegui until another candidate was interviewed and then right back to square one with time running
out to bring in new players this month.
I totally get that feelings are running high but for once they have put in place a strong back up plan. I donât think it sends the wrong message to Potter at all as he has worked at many clubs and knows he canât be the only one in the running for any top job.
Potter would be my first choice but he can play the field and has turned down several offers already. He may find Everton, with new owners and stadium, more attractive, particularly after the public humiliation of Lopo while mourning his father’s death. Who wants to work for people with those kind of standards? If Potter doesn’t happen, Fonseca has an impressive track record, and looks to be a sensible alternative.
Noble. You are crazy. Hasn’t been able to do any of the jobs he’s been given since retirement
WHAT THE HELL THEY PLAYING AT THATS A GREAT INDICATOR TO SEND TO POTTER ISNT IT WE EITHER WANT HIM OR DONT I REALLY AM OFFENDED AND EMBARRISED WITH OUR CLUB NOW
If you actually bothered to read the article youâd see that they spoke to Fonseca BEFORE Potter.
Not true they actually spoke to potter weeks ago Fonseca last week your obviously not updated 41
Iâm sorry but all these rumours should be taken with a pinch of salt. If these talks were true, Lopetegui would surely have gone, especially with a cup game pending
This is the man Sullivan wants no doubt so expect this drama to go on and on with the board and sullivan bitching and arguing among themselves……how childish do they look
I don’t proclaim to know must about Fonseca, but this screams ‘free, cheap and available’ rather than the right appointment.
Potter should rightly be first choice, and there’s a plethora of reasons why that’s the case. Should he not want the job, then I’d rather let Noble take over until the end of the
season when I’d approach the likes of Thomas Frank, Andoni Iraola or Keiran McKenna.
HOWEVER, because we have a cheapskate useless Chairman who refuses to spend money on a manager (yet happily splurges over ÂŁ20m on the likes of Danny Ings), we’d never approach a manager who is actually the right fit for the club
Noble doesnât have his badges nor has he ever claimed to be interested in being a coach, let alone a head coach. I donât know why fans have this perverse obsession with seeing fan favourites in the dugout? As if his passion for the club will translate to tactical brilliance on the pitch. Because it worked for Alan Shearer at Newcastle didnât it? Laughable.
41 – Alan Shearer is completely irrelevant in terms of circumstance. Newcastle were in the bottom 3 with a dreadful team.
I’m also not in any way saying Noble would be any good, but I’d rather have someone who cares about the club in charge for a few months in a season which has already died of death then a Sullivan appointed washed-up nobody who he’ll then keep up on for another year because they’re cheap and available (e.g., a Steve Cooper).
My point is, is that a good chairman hires the best person for the job, NOT the person who costs the least. If the right man is deemed to be a Thomas Frank etc., then I’d be happy to wait until the summer. I’ve also got zero hope of that happening because we’ve got the worst chairman in the league…