Tony Cottee, Julen Lopetegui, West Ham badge
Tony Cottee slams behind-the-scenes decision at West Ham. Credit: Imago / talkSPORT
Carla Devine
Thu 5 December 2024 22:55, UK
Tony Cottee is baffled as to why it took the West Ham board so long to a meeting in relation to the future of boss Julen Lopetegui.
It was reported by Jim White on talkSPORT (4 December) that the board would take a couple of days to discuss the future of the under-fire manager following the 3-1 reverse to Leicester City.
Ex-Hammers striker Cottee, speaking on the BBC Sounds’ Sacked In The Morning podcast (5 December), said he would not have chosen Lopetegui as David Moyes’ successor in the first place but is at a loss to explain why the meeting will take so long to be held.
He said: “I wasn’t in favour of the appointment. I didn’t think it was following on from David Moyes. I was a huge David Moyes fan. He’d done an incredible job at the club – won West Ham their first trophy in 43 years.
“Was the football free-flowing, attacking football? No, not really. But did West Ham win something? Yes, they did.
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“They played in Europe three seasons running. I think it was always going to be difficult to replace David. Really, really difficult. I didn’t think it was the right appointment, but that was only my own personal feelings. We are where we are now.
“I don’t know why it takes 72 hours to conduct a board meeting. I mean, by the time you’ve done that, West Ham have got Wolves – Lopetegui’s old club – on Monday night. So we’ll have to wait and see.
“But the way the club’s going at the moment, it just hasn’t kicked on.
“David put in some really good foundations. You need to try and build on that, you know, and being in what is it, 14th position at the moment, was not where the club wanted to be, bearing in mind they’d made a change of manager.”
West Ham need to part ways with Julen Lopetegui
If the Hammers are going to save their season then the board needs to make a quick decision to part ways with the 58-year-old rather than this being a saga that continues to run on while the team continue to drop points.
Although supporters were not impressed with the football they were playing under Moyes, he did provide the club with stability and guided them to a trophy.
Therefore, as Cottee alludes to, a change following that reign had to be an appropriate one that would not see the club suffer and also improve the style that was being delivered for the fans to watch.
Julen Lopetegui
West Ham United head coach Julen Lopetegui [Credit: Imago]
However, the appointment of the Spaniard has failed on both counts with the club struggling in the league while also failing to play more attractive football and perform consistently.
If David Sullivan is going to make the decision to part ways with Lopetegui then he needs to be prepared when it comes to bringing in a replacement which could explain why no concrete decision has been made yet.
Either way, the pressure will be on the Hammers’ hierarchy to bring stability back to the London Stadium and give the supporters something they can get behind.
In other West Ham news, Simon Jordan hit back at supporters who said Lopetegui would be a transformational appointment at the London Stadium.
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