I’m writing this fresh off the back of an unconvincing 2-1 win at home to Wolves. The result was what we needed but the performance has not gone any further in convincing the fans that Lopetegui is the right man for the job.
The game against Wolves was billed as “El Sackico” and one that we had to win and we did. So this means the manager gets a stay of execution and lives another day.
After the defeat against Leicester, the following day was greeted by a lot of media speculation on the manager’s future with the board saying a decision would be made later that day.
A decision was made and that was to talk to a number of potential targets but let the manager stay on for one more game. These game deadlines are a tactic we have used before but one that I think is misleading.
In reality we should be beating a very poor Wolves side and so can you really judge the manager on that Likewise the following games against Bournemouth is a difficult fixture.
In my opinion we either need to make a decision that he is the right man and back him at least until the end of the season or we need to sack him now. My gut feeling feels like we are delaying the inevitable and that there are too many disgruntled players and fans to come back from this.
But if you look at the league table, we are not in a major crisis. In fact you could argue, with the transition of so many staff and players this year, we are roughly where to be expected.
The problem we have with replacing managers is that we rarely pay compensation for a manager and we rarely pay for anyone without any Premier League experience, which rules out a large number of potential candidates.
It does appear that Graham Potter leads the chase as the candidate to replace Lopetegui, should he go. The manager hasn’t been in a job since he left Chelsea following a successful spell at Brighton.
He has turned a number of other options including Ajax and Leicester whilst waiting for the right job. It seems that the West Ham board are already split on him.
I have been told that the board previously doubted his credentials and felt that the top quality recruitment at Brighton flattered him. It seems that because of this, we are only prepared to offer him a six month deal to the end of the season with the possibility of an extension should he do well.
Potter was a former player for Sullivan and Brady at Birmingham and a former teammate of Brady’s husband. It is felt that they are prepared to give him a chance to the summer.
This again seems an unconvincing stance, whilst I get they want to guard against another poor appointment, you either trust your judgement or you don’t. It continues the uncertainty that we have had about managers for the last few years.
Also if you are only prepared to give Potter an initial six months surely the same argument could be made for giving it to Lopetegui until the end of the season and then reviewing them.
As I write this the day after the Wolves game, the last communication I had from the club on the manager situation was this: ‘For now. We do not want to make a change, but we are not stupid and realise we have to improve. Last night was not a great performance and long term we have to do better.’
I do think our uncertainty on managers and their futures does create a difficult background for the players and managers to operate in. By the time you read this article it may be that we know what the manager situation will be for the remainder of the season but I’m sure whatever happens it will be a rollercoaster ride.
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