Despite the jeopardy for Julen Lopetegui being temporarily removed, the Hammers’ head coach is still under pressure. A shaky victory against lowly Wolves last Monday was deemed sufficient to keep him in -post for the time being, but another couple of banana -skins await as matches come thick and fast: Next up are Bournemouth and then 7th placed Brighton and Hove Albion await five days later.
Lose them both and West Ham could again be teetering on the brink of firing the hapless Spaniard.
The positive news for West Ham’s management -apart from Lopetegui himself, that is- and for supporters is that the top candidates to replace him have renounced other options and are now queued, all three waiting for the call from David Sullivan.
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Graham Potter, as discussed by Matt this morning is keen to step in to Lopetegui’s shoes and is not interested in the Wolves’ vacancy if Gary O’Neil is fired: As givemesport.com report today:“*Massimiliano Allegri is not interested in taking charge of Wolverhampton Wanderers, [The Athletic has reported]:..The Italian tactician, along with ex-Chelsea coach* Graham Potter, reportedly has no interest in the Molineux role,”
And the news for West Ham gets better:”*Former Porto boss Sergio Conceicao... has also been ruled out.”*
So, many people’s top trio of candidates to become West Ham’s next head coach are all still in the frame and unlikely to be out of the picture in the next two weeks.
So, the way I see it, it could be a ‘win-win’ – for Hammer’s fans: Either the club grabs points and heads away from the lower echelons of the league, or Lopetegui is replaced by a top, top candidate – any of those three will do nicely, thank you Santa.