Not much has made sense at West Ham during the past 24 hours of the Julen Lopetegui saga.
The misguided, muddled, and indecisive thinking that has plagued the club for years appears to have taken grip, with the Hammers board seemingly in a state of paralysis.
However, there was one decision I was in total agreement with: offering Graham Potter a short-term deal. Reportedly, it was the short-term nature of this agreement that Potter rejected, but it was what was best for the club.
The former Brighton and Chelsea manager is damaged goods, having failed miserably at Stamford Bridge, and he needs the chance to resurrect his career. In much the same way as David Moyes during his first stint at the London Stadium, Potter would benefit hugely from performing a rescue job. If he is half as good as he thinks he is, he’d probably get the gig full-time.
Potter was a big hit with Brighton
Potter needs to prove himself again
Potter could well be an excellent manager, and his stint on the South Coast suggests he is. However, his time at Chelsea has raised doubts, and understandably, West Ham are uncertain of his pedigree.
One accusation levelled against Potter is that he is weak and unable to lead, and that is not a quality anyone needs in the Claret and Blue part of East London. Whoever ends up in the Hammers hot seat will need to be incredibly strong to lead a club in absolute disarray and lacking identity.
Strong leadership and character are a must for anyone daring to take the top job at West Ham, which is why the club are right to negotiate a “try before you buy” option.
West Ham have a director of football who has fallen out spectacularly with the last two coaches he has worked with. Now, it could be that Tim Steidten is completely innocent and both David Moyes and Julen Lopetegui are at fault, but if I were the next Irons coach, Iād be sleeping with one eye open.
Then thereās the utter mess at boardroom level, which often makes the club seem rudderless. A large percentage of the clubās shares remain up for sale, Daniel Kretinsky is wielding increasingly more influence without having the time to get involved, and David Sullivan still oversees everything.
Potter is nobodyās fool, as his degree in psychology demonstrates, so he must be aware of the fractious nature of West Ham, yet he still wishes to join. That in itself is commendable, but the London Stadium is no place for a shrinking violet.
Apparently, Potter has been put off by the lack of a long-term contract, but he may well find that, once heās peeked behind the curtain, a six-month stint in Stratford will suit him just fine.
This situation has got to be brought to a end we are now a laughing stock whatever the board decides to do it needs to happen sooner rather than later JLo is clearly not the man to take the club back to where we should be we are now worse than we were under the last months of David Moyes I have watched West Ham ups and downs through the years but most of the time we have played with a passion despite weather we won or lost the fight that our teams have shown in the past is just not there now this has got to be JLo fault his failure to inspire the team is a very worrying thing his falling out with players is unbelievable there is no way he will win over the players and the fans with his attitude I would have more respect for him if he was to say it as it is then just maybe he could earn some respect from the players and the fans his after match interviews leaves pundits fans etc thinking was he watching the same game as the rest of us bottom line is he needs to go and a manager that knows how to inspire the team how to talk to players about what ever the issue itās just people skills which Iām sorry to say JLo doesnāt have we are dangerously close to the relegation zone which will be were we are at the end of the season if JLo remains in charge
How many English managers are at the top half of the premiership. Iām afraid the hammers need to expand the search for a top foreign manager.
Typically a coach that’s brought in to prevent relegation is a lot different to a serial silverware winner . Relegation survival specialists play simple park the bus ‘ small team tactics ‘ ( keep it tight and nick a goal ) as opposed to more complex systems that sometimes require 10 or 12 games to implement and might require more specialized players . This is now Westham’s dilemma given Sullivan’s procrastination over what should have been the simple task of sacking LOSEpetegui . Failure to sack him means no European football and consequently loss of decent players as well as an inability to sign decent players . Westham will end up with mediocrity throughout the club and struggle to stay in the Premier League on a long term basis even if they should survive this season .
Potters the right man and I think he could come in quite soon if we lose against wolves. Whatās more I have a feeling he will be bringing Kevin Nolan with him as assistant. It will all be arranged quite quickly through Mark Noble, Steidten and Sullivan.
When a coach is currently employed he has near total power regarding contract negotiations and even an unemployed coach once he’s being pursued can name reasonable terms which means either smaller lump sum or continued payments until end of contract or such time that he gains new employment . Nice racket . Short term contracts are great but any coach who thinks he’s good will say no because of the risk of failure and damage to his reputation . Potter takes a lot of time to get results and Westham don’t have time due to procrastination by Sullivan over what should have been the rapid sacking of LOSEpetegui . Get Conceicao , he’s won a tonne of silverware .
I think Potter got a bad rap because of Chelsea. They were a shambles when he joined them, and his record wasnāt much different than Pochettinoās was in the same number of games after replacing him. What interests me about the strong Potter rumors is that Sullivan has said previously (through this site) that he doesnāt rate Potter. If Potter gets the job, it makes me think Sullivanās influence might be diminishingā¦?
A slight worry….
In 15/16 JL got booted out of Porto 16 games in to their 34 game season.
In the remaining 18 games the 2 caretakers that took over actually got a lower points per game than JL had as the damage had already been done for that season despite a big budget increase & influx of players that JL had chosen during his tenure.
Irons should either use qualitative factors in assessing an unproven new manager such as Leverkeusen did with Alonso or to an extent Bayern have done with Vincent Kompany. They have outstanding personal qualities that means its worth taking a punt on them not working out. If the risk had failed they would have been sacked without a golden handshake.
However, if a candidate has years of experience the Stats People should have their say by looking at how the clubs of a candidate did before, during & after the time a manager was at that club.
For example with JL it would be Real Madrid did really well before & after his time as Manager but rubbish when he was there. Sticking with JL, at Seville they won the Europa League 3 years out of six before JL was appointed so 50% of the time. When JL took over it was 1 year out of 3 so again a decline. At Porto they won the Portugese League 10 times out of 12 years before he joined! Then none with him. Since he got booted out of there theyĀ“ve resumed winning.
Do you spot the pattern?
Its a bit like Xg on Opta. IĀ“ve not looked at those scenarios for the names in the frame for a JL successor but my gut tells me that it would not look great for Graham Potter at Swansea, Brighton or Chelsea. He didnĀ“t set the world alight compared to his predessors or successors. IĀ“ve not looked at wins / game or points per game but it feels with Brighton the next 2 managers have outshone him. If anyone has looked at that perhaps you could post your findings. With Chelsea, IĀ“m sure their fans prefer their new manager who has them 2nd in the League. Was Potter ever going to achieve that?
Annette is bang on, and would seem a clause that most well run football clubs would have in a contract, especially with a serial loser like Lopsy.
Then again, there is incompetence everywhere at board level in the West Ham Circus.
I agree with Annette. For a manager to be paid millions then damage a club & then get a golden handshake is crazy.
I never wanted Potter for all of the above
But why cant these football owners make a deal instead of a big pay off when they employ a coach something like
if you don’t win at least 6 times and 3 draws then you leave with nothing or a small redundancy type pay off enough for them to resettle elsewhere
If anyone does a bad job and gets sack you don’t get a golden handshake why should they expect it