Julen Lopetegui has been a man under fire for most of this season: From the sketchy pre-season results and peculiar team selections, playing styles and haphazard selections, all has not been smooth running under his tenure. But it seems, West Ham’s management have no intention of giving him his marching orders any time soon, however much the media pressure or supporter dissatisfaction ramps up.
West Ham are not a ‘sacking’ club.
From Roshane Thomas’ excellent summary in TheAthletic it is clear that on past form, Lopetegui has a loooong way to go yet before the West Ham board pull the trigger – hoping as they do that results on the pitch will turn around. As Thomas surmises:
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“Of the eight managers hired since the current ownership group bought the club in January 2010, Grant, Slaven Bilic and Manuel Pellegrini are the only ones to leave midway through their contracts — and of those, Grant only left when relegation was confirmed. The financial implications are an obvious factor, but West Ham’s hierarchy are now inclined to give managers time.”
Thomas concludes that West Ham have only parted company with a manager mid-season on 7 occasions – the lowest of all Premier League clubs. On average, when these managers were dismissed, 23 games had already taken place before judgement was passed.
So, Lopetegui has a way to go yet before the West Ham board lose patience with him. Only Slaven Bilic – after two full seasons – was dismissed after eleven games with the club deep within the relegation zone.
West Ham are currently 14th: Anyone hoping for change any time soon can look to the club’s history and expect to be disappointed at least for another couple of months until nearer to that 23 games average is hit: In, or near the relegation zone at the end of February and Lopetegui will be history.