Julen Lopetegui, apparently, is not a signatory of the curious football convention that there is no talk of accepting a job while another coach is in that position. He is not the first to trample on that subtlety of behavior. And he won’t be the last.
Lopetegui, however, has managed to go a step further: his friends in the media reported that he had agreed to become West Ham’s new manager on Monday morning, long before the club made a hasty afternoon announcement of than David Moyes, the club’s most successful player. coach for decades, would leave at the end of the season.
“The selection process for David’s successor has begun,” West Ham’s official statement said. What he could have said was: “The selection process for David’s successor has been completed.” But that might have been too close to the truth.
The club’s board are lucky that Moyes decided to leave with only a few generous parting words. It was much more than they deserved. She feels as if Lopetegui’s mandate was born under a bad sign. This is not unusual given the way West Ham conduct business. Some might say Lopetegui and West Ham owner David Sullivan deserve each other.
“Show some class, West Ham,” former England defender Stephen Warnock had said yesterday morning as more unpleasant details of Moyes’ treatment began to emerge. I’m afraid there was never much chance of that happening.
Julen Lopetegui’s West Ham reign begins with a bad sign after agreeing to take charge while David Moyes remains in charge
Moyes is the best thing that has happened to West Ham and deserves better treatment after winning the club’s first trophy in 43 years
Unfortunately, class isn’t the first word that comes to mind for Sullivan or Lopetegui, but perhaps the former porn baron has found the boss he always craved. Perhaps this is a beautiful union of kindred spirits.
Mail Sport’s Oliver Holt writes that perhaps Lopetegui and West Ham owner David Sullivan deserve each other after the lack of class during the appointment process.
Eighteen months later, in December 2019, West Ham had to ask Moyes again to clean up the mess Pellegrini had caused. Moyes did that and much more. It was just 11 months since West Ham won their first European trophy in 58 years when they lifted the Europa Conference League final in Prague.
That victory made Moyes the only British manager since Sir Alex Ferguson to win a European trophy. He led West Ham to sixth place in the Premier League in 2020-21 and seventh place in 2021-22. This season they reached the quarter-finals of the Europa League before losing, as they all do, to Bayer Leverkusen.
But apparently that’s not enough. Many supporters clearly feel it is time for a change and many more point to recent results to back up that sentiment, not least the recent beatings West Ham have suffered at the hands of Chelsea and Crystal Palace.
I used to feel sorry for Lopetegui after he was sacked by Real Madrid, but I no longer feel sorry for him after being part of West Ham’s dirty handling of Moyes.
It seems pertinent to point out that, despite all the criticism directed at Moyes and his style of play, West Ham are two points ahead of Brighton & Hove Albion, managed by everyone’s favorite manager, Roberto De Zerbi. So Moyes must still be doing something right.
Interestingly, things seem to have fallen apart a bit for him since it became an open secret that the club were approaching other managers to take over at the end of the season when Moyes was still talking about his hopes of staying at the club and signing . a new deal.
What way is that to treat a manager like Moyes? Yes, of course we have to accept that there will be an element of realpolitik in the appointment of a new director. Clubs have to plan for the future. But West Ham should have told Moyes that they had decided to move forward with someone else. They should have been honest with him. When they finally got down to business last night, the damage had already been done.
By then, he had been subjected to the low-grade humiliation of his open and awkward courtship dances with potential replacements such as Sporting Lisbon manager Rubén Amorim and Lopetegui. That sparked criticism from club legends such as Tony Cottee and Frank McAvennie. Moyes and the club’s fans deserved much, much better.
West Ham have been criticized for their poor results, but they are still above Brighton, who have not received criticism.
West Ham and owner David Sullivan have humiliated Moyes after pulling the rug out from under him
A sign of the rancor the club’s approach was causing was that manager Tim Steidten, who was leading the search for a successor while Moyes was still talking about signing a new contract at the end of the season, was suspended. him entering the locker room for the remainder of the campaign.
It could easily be argued that Sullivan – and the club’s hierarchy – have cost West Ham a place in European competition next season by the way they have undermined Moyes’ authority over the last month. They pulled the rug out from under him.
Still, a tribute is being planned for Moyes ahead of his final home game at the London Stadium against Luton on Saturday. Let the fans give him a warm welcome because despite all the recent opposition from him, they know what Moyes has done for the club. Maybe Sullivan will get carried away by the spirit and give him a tin tack as a parting gift.
My career by Roger
No doubt you’ve read enough about me running long distances very slowly in recent weeks. On Monday I ran a short distance very slowly.
This time, it was at a brilliant mass participation event in Oxford to mark the 70th anniversary of Sir Roger Bannister’s first sub-four-minute mile run on the Iffley Road track. I was lucky enough to interview Sir Roger a few years before he died and speak to a man who achieved one of the great milestones of modern sport.
Monday morning’s race finished on the Iffley Road track and as we walked around it I remembered that Sir Roger had said that he decided to run that day in 1954 when he looked at the flag on the spire of St John the Evangelist’s Church in the distance and saw that the wind was blowing in a favorable direction.
The church is still there. The flag is still there. It was still floating in the wind.
I took part in a race in Oxford to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Sir Roger Bannister’s first sub-four-minute mile run on the Iffley Road course.
Never underestimate the power of sport
The wonderful thing about sport is that it gives you drama at whatever level you watch it at. On Saturday morning, before driving to watch Manchester City-Wolves, I stopped to watch the second half of a local under-16 women’s league title decider in which my teammate’s daughter was playing.
Charlotte’s team was down 2-1 and was generally kept out of the game by a fairly intimidating and generally skilled right back. With 15 minutes left, Charlotte took the ball away from her nemesis near the touchline, advanced a few meters and passed the ball over the goalkeeper. Cue chaos.
A few minutes later, his team scored again and took the title. I watched Erling Haaland score four later that day and was amazed by his power, his athleticism and his skill, but it’s Charlotte’s goal that will linger longest in my memory.
