The Premier League roars back this weekend, West Ham being the last to re-commence with their trip to St James’ Park on Monday night against a hugely challenging Newcastle United. Julen Lopetegui’s ‘two games to save his job’ would seem a mission impossible based on everything we’ve seen this season.
Chairman David Sullivan appears to be clinging onto the notion that West Ham might actually achieve anything other than ‘nil points’ in this and the following game against Arsenal at London Stadium, even being branded as ‘delusional’ by Paul Merson for expecting anything other than heavy defeats in both.
Remember, Lopetegui was a David Sullivan pick – and so what is at stake here is largely the Chairman’s pride at having to make the public admission of what we can all see for ourselves – Lopetegui is a retrograde step and the team is now performing worse than in David Moyes’ last months.
How heavy a defeat do West Ham have to endure before the chairman steps up and puts Lopetegui out of his misery?
Will a 5-0 thrashing utterly destroy team morale in the meantime? I actually feel sorry for the players who must be waiting for the inevitable. I’m almost tempted not to watch.
Well said Dave. Sadly the world of Social Media ‘experts’ and the constant stream of nonsense and misinformation is here to stay.
In 1984/85 we stayed up by the skin of our teeth and started the next season, which turned into our best ever league performance, with crowds of just 12 and 14 thousand. The Boleyn atmosphere was certainly not present then ………but we were down to our real supporters! Thankfully there was no Social Media platform for the part-timers to sound off on.
As for this particular article, it is the usual negative sensationalist stuff from C&H. The inference is that Sullivan overruled everyone else to sign Lopetegui. That is pure speculation twisted to support a particular stance. Although, taken literally every signing could be deemed Sullivan’s pick as he holds the purse strings!
Also, it is not statistically accurate to suggest that the team “is now performing worse than in David Moyes’ last months”. In the 11 matches played in the league we have a better return than in the equivalent matches last year. Also, this year’s return is better than that from David Moyes’ last 11 matches.
As Dave has intimated too many people getting out of bed each morning with the sole aim of trying to be negative. How about we just get behind Lopetegui and the team and then see how we do?
Not all of us are fortunate enough to support the team week in week out due to the cost of living crisis Steve.
You make some valid points about the crowds and the respective atmospheres. Agree also on the 84/85 followed by 85/86 seasons too.
Even as a die hard supporter as you obviously are tho Steve, you’ve got to admit that currently the team has regressed drastically?
C&H are guilty of sensationalist stories, as are Sky Sports, Talksport and the various Social Media platforms.
It’s the world we live in.
Hard to disagree with any of that Matt.
There is clearly something not right this season but whether that is due to incompetence from Lopetegui or just a general loss of confidence following a tough start to the season I am not really sure. It certainly looks like a good few of the players are scared to get on the ball at the London Stadium.
Has the team regressed? From 2 years ago the answer is obviously yes. Based on the back end of last season we are probably about the same. In the overall scheme of things, I can assure you that I have endured a lot worse over the years!!! 😂
Read your own piece objectively and you are just contributing to the subject of your own criticism. Most people are simply offering their opinion, some are venting (presumably out of frustration) and some are just here for the wind-up. None of it should be taken too seriously, but I do believe most of us want the same thing regardless, and that is to enjoy watching West Ham play, and the anticipation that, on a good day, they could just beat anybody.
Ray, a perceptive observation.
My trouble is two-fold. Firstly there is a burning desire to defend my club and all who sail in her……. and, secondly, I get roped in far too easily by the negative ‘click bait’ articles that emanate from C&H all too often!
We are all passionate about the club we love which is why we get so frustrated.
C&H are no better / worse than other fansites but I respect them for allowing us to vent or celebrate by voicing our opinions.
Some fans do love a wind up / some might not even be Hammers with ridiculous comments about potential next manager appointments?
When we get the right coach to lead our team, playing with a positive attitude, win / lose or draw the fans will be united.
COYI ⚒️
Don’t watch, let’s get down to the die hard supporters and maybe do what we used to do 20 years ago, it was called supporting and backing your team no matter what.
All the people who have forgotten what support your team means – Jog on and go to spurs…
I was there in the 80’s and 90’s so longer than 20 years!
Doesn’t mean I can’t voice my discontent, if anything it adds weight to my opinion.
Watch Spurs, do me a favour!
So its Sullivans pride is it , don’t they say pride goes before a fall , if we ever get relegated and the tourists don’t watch any
More that half empty bowl will like playing in a morgue and his little empire will come crashing down, and that will be his legacy
The disconnect is growing and relegation would lead to the ultimate disgrace for Sully!
When we got relegated previously we had the fortress Upton Park and the hostile atmosphere to lift our spirits.
The LS will be a soulless bowl and look equally as ridiculous as Sully’s appointments if fans decide enough is enough!
Fortress Upton park? I watched 3 relegations there in my time.
The atmosphere was toxic each time, no fortress …
I was there through all of them.
At least we had an atmosphere back then!
You must have picked your games very carefully then 😂. There was many a time when it was so quiet that from the ‘Chicken Run’ I could have held a conversation with someone in the West Side!!
I too used to have a season ticket in the Chicken Run. Might not have been banging every game but at least it was affordable back then.
Anyone who was at those European nights against Seville, Lyon, Eintracht will know that the Olympic stadium can in fact be rocking and atmospheric. The main problem with it is that for the most part the football that has been on display has been turgid. Give us some exciting football to cheer and then you’ll hear some noise.
And as others here have pointed out Upton Park could be just as quiet at times, people are looking back with rose tinted spectacles.
Agreed.
If we were being entertained it would make the experience worthwhile.
Success isn’t a given and isn’t expected as we are too long in the tooth for that.
Its not unreasonable to hope for a coach and project we can believe in tho!
“puts Lopetegui out of his misery?”
Or put us out of Lopetetui’s misery.
I will watch because I always do, I’ve never left before the end of a game regardless of how bad we’ve been. But that doesn’t mean that I’m expecting to enjoy watching, the next two games have a sort of inevitability about them, a futility even. I’ve seen no sign of any improvement and only a souring of the situation so I’m expecting nothing positive until the appointment of a new manager who I hope rather than believe will be Hoeness after the Arsenal game. What do the next two games prove, like really.
Like you we hoped Sully would upgrade Moyes with a manager we could get behind.
There is no belief anymore. Not in the coach or the owners.
I admire you going & staying until the end of games. Personally I can’t justify getting taken for granted and being thoroughly bored by decisions made my Sully.
Sullivan has to go in my opinion sell up! hes waisted so much money on so called strikers he thinks he knows more than the coaches & managers he only uses his so called top agents its laughable hes an embarrassment to our Club
Sully won’t go! He like many other billionaires likes the power to feed his ego (Musk & Trump)
I do believe Sully appointed JLo to flex power over Tim. I don’t think he likes his powers being diluted by Kretinsky hiring Tim. By vetoing key coaches & players and then using propaganda in the media he is trying to drive Tim out.
Until he goes we won’t progress as a club until he stops using West Ham as his play thing!
Sully has been out barrow boyd by a Spanish barrow boy. Ha frickin ha!! Suck it up you mug. Pay him off now. Open your wallet get out the white fivers and do it. Then leave the appointment of the new manager and striker to someone with a bit of football nouse. Certainly the dead opposite of yourself. You muppet.
Avram Grant got Portsmouth relegated and was sacked.
Then Sully hired him straight after and stayed loyal to Avram Grant and we got relegated.
Take a good look in that low level mirror and stop going for low level managers and coaches!
I cannot agree that Sullivan has histroy of going for low level managers.
Even Avram Grant (The lowest hanging fruit under Sullivan/Gold), before he came to West Ham had been an International (And Chelsea) Manager, before he demonstrated to be the worst manager/coach in West Ham history.
BFS, Bilic, Pelle & Moyes were all high profile managers.
How many Top 6 clubs would have appointed any of these managers you mentioned?
Pellegrini after West Ham didn’t have big clubs interested in him did he?
Avram Grant got Pompey relegated and was sacked just a month before we hired him!
With the exception of Slaven, all of these managers were past their sell by date.
Sully has nothing to feel proud about but we all know he has no shame and as stubborn as they get!
JLo should never have got the job and would’ve been sacked by most clubs after the Everton performance.
My only hope is that we are the Premiership club who have initiated talks with Hoeness at Stuttgart.
Maybe the delay is so that they can line up and agree a replacement for Hoeness.