Surely there must be an easier way of doing things? The brinkmanship going on at London Stadium, whilst it is no surprise, can hardly be in the best interests of the football club. The transfer window is in full swing, four weeks left to go, and West Ham United is in a state of paralysis with the whole focus, instead of being on player recruitment, is now on the ‘will – he – won’t – he’ Graham Potter contract negotiations.
And it could all have been avoided.
Some on the Claret and Hugh ‘comments’ section suggest that David Sullivan is letting Lopetegui swing on the end of a rope, hoping he will walk away instead of being fired with the resultant loss of a compensation package. Quite what the lawyers would say about that is another matter.
In the meantime Graham Potter, we are told, is still to sign on the line to take over. The club is in a state of limbo with an FA cup fixture, our last chance for a competitive finish to the season, just two days away.
You couldn’t make it up.
And it is all so unnecessary. This could all have been handled in private before one of the many ‘must-win’ games which Lopetegui failed to win in November, or December, leaving a successor to have the run in to Christmas, or even this FA cup game as a starting point. But then, true to form, nothing is straightforward at West Ham United. Maybe, just maybe, today Lopetegui’s contract will be terminated and Potter will sign on the line.
We can but hope. In the meantime, David Sullivan walks a tightrope with the possibility that the whole thing could come crashing down around his ears with Potter rejecting the move, Lopetegui walking and Steidten exiting too.
Chaos is seemingly just one day away at London Stadium. Another extraordinary day awaits.
I think everyone is over reacting here. I don’t imagine that it’s Sullivan leaking these stories. The world of journalism, especially down south, is full of West Ham fans and they all have contacts within the club. Lopetegui gets paid millions for what he does and although i’m sure, with his dad’s passing, this timing is pretty horrendous for him, and my heart goes out to him if he is suffering, he will be very well remunerated for his departure and every manager knows the fickle nature of the business.
What galls me more is the pretty severe slating of him by most West Ham fans on this site and now all of a sudden you all feel sorry for him. What’s more, most of the posters on here vent fury and hatred at Sullivan and yet, from my perspective, he’s saved this club (alongside David Gold) from years of yoyo-ing, has contributed to providing us with some excellent players, helped put a trophy in the cabinet and all whilst providing the cheapest tickets to watch football in London (maybe not including this season, i’m not 100% sure on that). Plus, he’s a West Ham fan!!! What more do you guys want? Seriously…
Leave the way free for Mark Noble to take over. First job get the loanees back to put some fire into midfield
Thanks to Claret and Hugh for speaking out on the classless way in which Lopetegui’s firing has been handled
Unfortunately it is nothing new – Zola fired by Brady and offering journalists cups of coffee outside his house, Avram Grant fired in the tunnel at Wigan, Sully saying “we should have fired him last season” after firing Slav, the long soap opera with Moyes last season
Wolves seem to have managed to fire O’Neill and get in a new manager with a minimum of fuss
Hopefully Potter will work out and stay a long time so that we are spared from another episode of this
COYI
You nailed it in the one liner Martin, it could not be made up.
Obvious wrong appointment made the problem in the first place, it was a problem that did not need to happen.
Then the nettle wasn’t grasped allowed the situation to become worse and worse. If something is cut short then it has limited opportunity to deteriorate.
Then the end hasn’t been swift allows journalist friends of Lopetegui to point out home truths.
All of this is 100% down to it could not be made up poor running of an organisation.
Best of luck to Lopetegui, he should never have been here.
RADIO RENTALS SUCCESSION POLICY
It would have been better to have appointed an interim manager ages ago & that´s not an expensive option. You either temporarily promote from within or you go for a former coaching staff member such as Stuart Pearce.
If none of those guys want the gig you cast your net wider and if you have previous Premier League experience as one of your criteria then there are 269 former EPL managers to choose from most of whom are still alive & unemployed.
Most are saying it will be done today..but true to form this article is suggesting it may still not .the press conference has been cancelled for the fa cup game so think that suggests it over for jlo
Sullivans only interest is Money he has no interest in football and he hopes someone will meet his wildly over the top price tag and buy him out other than that he will stay pay bare minimum required to keep us up and keep raking in the money…… Kretinsky is the same he made an investment and that is all he has no affiliation or love for the FOOTBALL club just the money he can make out of it…. Billionaires have no soul.
You can take the Hammers out of the Boleyn but you can’t take Sullivan out of the gutter.
I’m no fan of Sullivan and agree that a lot of the senior management activity at the club is amateurish, but surely the issue here is the “mole” who is leaking this information out? Whilst it makes good press, surely the answer is to identify and remove the source? If it is a deliberate club tactic, then they are even more clueless than I ever thought.
Graham
I definitely wanted Moyes out and although unconvinced hoped Lopetegui would work out, it absolutely hasn’t. Moving him on and bringing someone new is the right thing, his selection and tactics have been truly awful. It’s not his fault he was given the job and he must be suffering now with all the well leaked stories, he’s looked pretty destroyed over the last couple of months already and must be furious and depressed at the same time. Constructive dismissal claims can’t be far away if he doesn’t get a decent termination payment. Gutted it’s the club I love that’s behaving this way but it’s no longer a surprise.
Sullivan is s scum bag. No class and no humanity. Hope he falls off the tight rope and is no more ! Moyes and Loopy have both been treated like dogs . Both failed dismally to do their jobs but do not deserve to be treated like shxt.
I am no fan of Lopetegui and wanted him out long ago. The way in which he is being treated is an absolute disgrace and I can’t help but feel sorry for him. Sullivan really is an appalling human being and I look forward to the day he departs. I am happy about Potter but wish the whole saga would have been dealt with differently. New owners please step forward and save our club from the poison that is seeping through from the top down.
He’s an embarrassing classless joke. Why anybody players or managers would want to work for him is beyond my comprehension. Its always just a matter of time before the next crisis crops up.