Controversy is never far away at West Ham. Dressing room bust-ups, want-away players and nose diving results on the pitch. Off the pitch there has been a dramatic turn of events too. Gonzo’s headline article last night entitled “glorified scout Steidten has gone from transfer god to naughty step‘ alluded to the eyebrow-raising situation at London Stadium, which has developed further today.
It would seem that history is repeating itself. As with David Moyes, so with Julen Loetegui.
Expanding on Claret and Hugh’s piece of last night with his own exclusive in todays’ telegraph.co.uk , Matt Law writes: ‘West Ham Technical Director Tim Steidten has decided to step away from the clubs’ training ground as manager Julen Lopetegui attempts to improve performance and results”.
In a rather ominous explanation, it is suggested by Law that :“…rather than sticking closely to Lopetegui and working side-by-side with the Spaniard, Steidten has decided to spend more time away from West Ham’s training ground, where he has an office”.
Fans will remember how David Moyes famously banned Steidten from the dressing room and training ground in a move that didn’t end well. Quite how this will affect team morale, when several of the first team are ‘Steidten recruits’ can only be imagined.
It certainly hints at ‘massive’ turmoil behind the scenes at West Ham just now.
Replace TS with Mark Noble immediately get back to playing attractive football
At Leverkusen Tim did work harmoniously to great effect with the Head Coach.
At West Ham there was never going to be harmony with DM as DM is opposed to working with any Director of Football not Tim personally. DM insists on the job title Manager rather than Coach.
If there is disharmony with JL it might not be Tim´s fault! JL has fallen out with every previous employer & half of the Hammers 1st Team.
Tell them both to stay away from the training ground,results will improve immediately
IMO the key quality of a Director of Football should be the ability to work harmoniously with the head Coach – and on that score Tim is not doing too well
he could argue that neither Moyes nor J Lo were his choice – but if we now get rid of J Lo (as I feel we should) then Tim will be on his last strike with the new Head Coach
I was interested by a comment from Adolf on an earlier thread:
“Steidten was never the messiah in Germany. He worked under Simon Rolfes at Bayer Leverkusen. Steidten was scout. Rolfes was the sporting director who masterminded everything.”
I reckon Adolf knows what he´s talking about but still think Tim has a lot to offer if he stays & is listened to even though Rolfes was probably more significant at Leverkusen. Sometimes bringing in a number 2 to fill a number 1 role works but not always. Apart from Tim´s scouting ability & data mining he has proved persuasive at getting in major talent such as Kudus who could have gone to a very big club. That shows negotiation skill as well as scouting ability. Qualities that the number 1 needs.
Before Tim we had that number 2 scout from Man City to be our number 1. He went on months of gardening leave & then brought in no one of true ability unless you count Pacqueta & I don´t! Where was his due diligence on that player? Tim is far more impressive than that guy. If Tim was a Kretinsky appointment then Kretinsky now needs to insist to Sullivan that Tim is backed on his decisions. Kretinsky might only be a minority share holder but Sullivan will be aware of the consequences if he´s ignored.
Look we had a big turnaround of players in summer and in all likelihood used up what budget there was which means we cannot bring anyone in until we have offloaded so to me it makes sense that Uncle Tim isn’t at the training ground and instead is holding meetings with agents/clubs and anyone else who will listen in a desperate attempt to get rid of all the dead wood some he wasn’t responsible for but quite a lot he definitely was.
Let’s breathe let him get on with it and see how good or how bad he is at the end of the window.
Also if as we all believe Jlo needs 2 wins from the Villa, Fulham and Palace fixtures then distancing yourself and letting the coach get on with it is the correct strategy.
Stiendten seem to be the one causing all the upset with 2 coaches along with other teams abroad from what i have read Sullivan has taken over his role so make him redundant No pay out required
Where would you expect him to be during a transfer window? Sounds like a non-story to me.
Distancing himself from a ship on the rocks and sinking fast.
it’s not good, is it…
All is not harmony and light, but that’s the value in moving those who are not cutting it on quickly, it reduces the propensity for increasing acrimony. I suspect more than one or two of the playing staff would be happier had Lopetegui been moved on earlier.
Lets be honest he’s done for, he didn’t even acknowledge the travelling support at Man City. That’s plain professional PR even if it’s not heartfelt. Sod the punters is not on whatever way it’s looked at, he should be going over and acknowledging them because he wants to.