‘Football’s biggest cock ups of the season”: That’s a long list, even if limiting to just the crass stupidity of Premier League football 2024-5. Looking at this season with a claret and blue bias, the Niclas Fullkrug recruitment fiasco would be my suggestion as West Ham’s most massive recent cock – up: The ‘flagship’ of the front line is supposed to be the blue riband or marquee signing.
Recruiting a 31 year old injury – prone player of ‘super sub’ calibre to add to two other ‘thirty-something past it forwards’ would have been enough for me to reach for the ’emergency exit button” on Timmy Steidten’s chair in the boardroom.
But according to the people at football365.com in their article ‘Manchester United, Amorim, Arsenal and West Ham feature heavily in ten biggest cock-ups this season’ they have awarded West Ham United a healthy -if slightly below expectaion- seventh place own the list, for the West Ham board’s decision to hire Julen Lopetegui as Moyes successor.
Seventh? Surely that should be worth a top five finish in itself? The ‘hapless Hammers head coach’ fell out with his own players, coming to blows on more than one occasion, and oversaw a slump in the side’s performance and playing style that almost put West Ham in a relegation battle. Five players wanted to leave including Todibo who West Ham hadn’t even paid for and Mohammed Kudus, one of the club’s most valuable assets, is still only just finding his form again after the Spaniard’s departure.
Summing up his brief stay at London Stadium, the report awards Lopetegui’s introduction with a meritous seventh spot:
“for his lack of any discernible football principles, a tactical approach so fluid as to have the consistency of stale water and man-management skills acclaimed enough to include two high-profile arguments with first-team players in seven months to play a part in his eventual and inevitable demise.”
Thankfully the West Ham board didn’t double down on the daft decision to appoint him by refusing to recognise the error.
And in second and first place? I know you want to know – Manchester United’s recruitment and appointment of Amorim covers a delightful first and second place in this season’s top ten cock-ups list. Which should be consolatory reading for the Hammers board who nearly recruited Amorim at West Ham!
If mistakes on the job meant immediate dismissal Martin, you for one would be on the dole queue. More digs at your favourite whipping boy Steidten, strangely even more so than Lopetegui. I wonder if there is anyone, Manager, Coach, D of F or TD anywhere, responsible for finding and signing players, that never made a bad call?
I can’t see MU taking the risk with Lopetegui, because their standing in world football has taken a battering and they cannot afford to throw another season away on a poor decision like that.
Flopetegui is often given credit for coaching Real Madrid , however he was sacked by them after just 14 league matches and now he’s a candidate to replace Amorim of Man United . No due diligence will cost Man United their place in the Premier League . Ha Ha .Flopetegui is the worst ever with no clue whatsoever .
There´s a Portugese League correlation here between Amorim & Lopetegui as Lopetegui was at one time manager of Porto.
There are 3 big clubs, Porto, Sporting & Benfica. For 20 years since the emergence of Mourinho, clubs expect managers from the Portugese League to perform well if the club they managed there finished in the Top 3. However, this doesn´t transfer to success in the Premier League as managing one of the Portugese Big 3 and finishing in the Top 3 is not a sign of managerial excellence. Its a foregone conclusion as the other teams are also rans, just making up the numbers.
A true indication of potential would be if a manager from outside the Top 3 did a Leicester & won Liga Portugal. That would be an achievement.