In the midst of this crisis at London Stadium and amongst reports, rumours, and rhetoric, occasionally an article stands out as being balanced and well considered, unlike the predicament in which the West Ham board of directors have left Lopetgui dangling.
‘Must-win’ games follow one another in quick succession whilst the board actively undermine their appointed head coach to offer jobs to potential successors.
Lopetegui is on ultra- thin ice.
Today’s dailymail.co.uk runs an article entitled:“What insiders say Julen Lopetegui’s situation is really like at West Ham – and why he isn’t the only one who should be questioned”.
The article goes on to insist that “there are still some at the club who have nice things to say about Julen Lopetegui.”
Reading on, the thrust is clear where author Riath Al-Samarrai believes the blame lies: “To watch West Ham this season is to be in no doubt that their failures should be apportioned as much to the figure who oversaw £125million in summer spending as it is to Lopetegui.”
Indeed, succinctly he adds that Steidten:” has helped supply a defence that conceded three or more on seven occasions this season, across league and cup. A midfield with no pace. An attack with three men aged over 30, serving within a wider squad where no fewer than 10 players who fall in the same age bracket and rank as the oldest collective in the Premier League this season.
“They are the opposite of Chelsea, who, for all their sins, bet on the future and are enjoying the here and now. West Ham simply reek of bad judgement. Of a mess that will require an expensive fix”.
That’s less on Lopetegui and more on Steidten. He is the director of this shambles. A man who was never knowingly shy in posing alongside the signings he picked, such as Luis Guilherme (£25m, 11 minutes of playing time) and Niclas Fullkrug (£27m, 31 years old, shredded by injuries since his arrival), but has gone curiously quiet since.
Lopetegui would therefore be in the right to question if he should be absorbing the flak alone. He could also make an argument that 14 league games is hardly a fair crack of the whip.
And I’m not going to argue with that: Lopetegui may be the whipping boy who will carry the can this time around for this seasons’s failings.
Next Summer, Steidten’s head will be on the block if the situation hasn’t improved
I have always felt Steidten gets an easy ride on this site. Players underperforming were signed by the manager or chairman, yet any proving good value were the work of King Tim
So another anti Tim post on C&H what a surprise not. So an article in the Daily Lie merits an anti Tim post. It’s getting really boring now. A DOF can’t do his job with one hand tied behind his back. With Brady and the unofficially DOF’s in Salthouse and Mendes interfering if you go by other West Ham sites. Perhaps C&H doing a couple of posts about that for a change. Also Sullivan is the man with the cheque book and we all know he just can’t let the power go nor will he’s ego. Anyway you look at it the problem always comes back to Sullivan. He’s the blockage. A few posts on that front would be interesting.
Stiedten has provided good players it’s down to the manager to get the best out of them and provide the playing system that applies to all clubs
If Sullivan had given us a progressive coach instead of this defensive, slow possession based ineffective clueless clown we wouldn’t be in this mess with our players.
It’s not the players it’s Sullivan, Brady & JLo!
The defence is crap because the defensive coaching is crap. Simple as that. Killman, Emerson AWB etc are more than good enough. If Sullivan didn’t screw up the striker deal with Aston Villa we’d have a young gun striker. If Loppy integrated some youth in midfield we’d have some much needed pace. Steidten really isn’t the problem at this club and journalists looking in from the outside have never and will never understand the issues at WHUFC
Well said.
Tim would improve us as steam if allowed to do his job. Sullivan vetoes transfers, hires coaches that are not aligned with recruitment team and then uses media contacts to scapegoat Tim.
The problem has and always will be Sullivan.
The defence is crap because the defensive coaching is crap. Simple as that. Killman, Emerson AWB etc are more than good enough. If Sullivan didn’t screw up the striker deal with Aston Villa we’d have a young gun striker. If Loppy integrated some youth in midfield we’d have some much needed pace. Steidten really isn’t the problem at this club and journalists looking in from the outside will never understand WHUFC like we do.
No swearing but valid points against our owners being under moderation by C&H?
Are we no longer allowed to vent against the sole person responsible for the current plight of West Ham?
Think this says all we need to know as there was not a single swear word which dismisses previous deleted posts voicing discontent at Sully & Brady.
Mark, I have noted your complaint.
Last night we blocked all comments because people were posting false information about Michail Antonio’s medical condition. We initially attempted to close down the comments section individually on the Antonio update but instead people started posting about it on other blogs. As a result, we closed all comments down overnight as was stated on the Antonio update.
It wasn’t as an attempt to shut you down as you insinuated, but I would point out that C&H is one of the few West Ham news websites that allows comments.
Yet despite many websites not allowing people any sort of reply at all, it’s C&H that somehow gets grief for denying people free speech. I would point out that posting on C&H isn’t a human right mate, we closed it down for good reason but this isn’t social media, it’s a news and opinions site with a editorial.
I’ve noted your complaint and will happily close down your account but honestly, last night was about being respectful to Antonio and not about you personally.
People were posting updates of the most inaccurate and distressing kind about someone who was in hospital, we had to deal with it and said as much on the site and on our social media.
It is not about YOU being stopped from writing about David Sullivan so I sincerely hope you’re not as offended and affronted as you seem.
Gonzo, I stand corrected and apologise 100%.
Lots of Mine are cut out alot as well bud ..still good to get it of my chest ..even if there not put up …sometimes they just don’t like certain things we write swearing or not …with me thsts alot..maybe sometimes the truth hurts ….I saud I hope we lose against wolves if that ment he got sacked …
I think in long run it would help …beating wolves tomorrow.will make things worse as this will just drag on and on
We had disabled all comments this weekend as some pretty sick people decided to show their vile pond life mentality with posts regarding Antonio. Such is human nature. So, don’t take it personally, there are some tighter filters just now but hopefully ‘normal comments’ can resume under a bit of supervision.
As the fury and discontent reaches boiling point against Sullivan the scapegoating continues of Tim.
How predictable!!!!
Tim has been given a job title but vetoed by Sullivan on signings and coach appointments. Perfect scenario for Sullivan to deflect the blame for his mistakes.
Moyes vetoed Tim’s signings and JLo got his way with players like Kilman, Soler and Rodriguez.
ItWhen C&H continue the propaganda against Tim, along with all the media friendly outlets of Sully & Brady, but fail to hold polls about a leadership change (Sully & Brady) it’s obvious who they side with.
Would Hurzeler, Amorin or Hoeness been better choices to replace Moyes – all Tim picks – 100%
Would we have signed Rodriguez without JLo?
All well and good IF Steidten was allowed to do his job. However the midfield fiasco is not down to Steidten. Let’s look at the players brought in, Summerville was a Sullivan pick. Soler and Rodriguez were both picks by Lopetegui. The rest were Steidten but let’s not forget Lopetegui wanted Killman and was not averse to the others joining. The transfer should be left to Steidten as that is one of his main areas. As for Füllkrug he looked pretty sharp when he scored the goal the other night. If he makes a hash of things then blame Steidten, but it is unfair to blame it all on him when others have insisted on hiring players as well.
Couldn’t agree more on Füllkrug, good goal and I’m sure he is not homesick as most players want to play in the Premiership.
Our Brazil kid doesn’t get a look in either so it’s totally unfair to write off players who’ve not had time on the pitch!
Steidten as DoF is supposed to have full control over all football matters but clearly doesn’t . Lopetegui clearly had significant input into signings as did Sullivan and worse still Sullivan picked Lopetegui against Steidtens wishes a coach incapable of coaching the possession based tactics that all of Steidten’s player picks were signed for . Total debacle that’s not at all Steidten’s fault
Anti Tim rhetoric only benefits Sullivan & Brady!
Unfortunately for them, our fans are not buying the blame being pointed at Tim when it’s clear and obvious who is responsible for this season
👉 Sullivan 👈
Absolutely rubbish! Only 3 months ago we were praising Steidten for the brilliant players that he brought in. These players don’t become bad from one minute to the next. Take Killman, best player at Wolves last year, average at best with us. What is this telling you?
It’s the manager that gets the team together not the director of football. We started against Arsenal without a defensive midfielder, but with 3 attacking midfielders instead! Then we blame the defence for conceding 5 goals. Play a high line against Leicester and concede 3 goals…and it goes on and on.
We have no team spirit, simply because no-one can understand what J-Lo is trying to do. Dressing room unrest with 5 players threatening to leave if he stays
Do we really believe he is the man for the job???
Spot on George. The issue is a lack of tactical model, slow starts, inconsistent messages and a lack of a cohesive approach – that’s down to the coach and his team. Our squad isn’t the issue, albeit like every other it would always benefit from some additional quality.
George & Chicken I couldn’t agree more!
It was essential to hire someone like Tim to parent the 100’s of millions wasted on bang average players that were picked by Moyes, Sullivan and now bad picks by JLo.
If Sullivan could get past his ego and had any vision we could have had Amorin, Hurzeler or Hoeness and this squad of players would be achieving so much more!
Nothing will change until Sullivan steps away from footballing decisions. Never should have any say ir get near the interview process when we replace yet another coach we don’t want.
Most of the people I talk to west about west ham has said that Tim should be the one being looked at.
Moyes turned down Fulljrug last season, but he went back.
Still trying to work out his credentials, he’s never managed so what makes him a good pick of a player.
He’s wasted tens of millions on a load of bang average players.
Nearly all West Ham fans I speak with can see that Sullivan is the main reason we are in this mess.
Tim just has a job title but is prevented hiring the coaches and players on his list of targets.
Tim wanted Duran but Sully wouldn’t pay!
Sully has wasted 100’s of millions and doesn’t like the fact Tim has his own terrace chant.
There is a similar problem occurring at Spurs.
They have a good manager but Levy is holding them back by not signing quality players for the starting eleven.
Owners, Directors of Football (Recruitment) and coaches must be fully aligned for success.
Levy delivered a great stadium for them, such a shame Sullivan & Brady took the cheaper option of the London Stadium instead of giving us a stadium we could be proud of.
That being said, Spurs never winning anything and constantly being Spursy is not a bad thing 🤣🤣🤣
Look at the comments on this post 👀
You appear to be in the minority sharing your view. 99% of fans know this is all down to our toxic chairman.