David Sullivan will be glad he didn’t listen to West Ham fans as manager faces axe. Julen Lopetegui was not West Ham’s first choice to replace David Moyes in the summer but he impressed David Sullivan at interview.
More often than not football fans know what is best for their club and West Ham’s have proved that time and again down the years.
Hammers supporters have helped the club make UEFA’s 1 million club over the last year.
But they don’t always get it right. West Ham very publicly met with Portuguese manager Ruben Amorim before David Moyes left the club.
The Scot was so irked by the situation he banned West Ham’s technical director Tim Steidten from being around the first team. In the end Amorim remained with Sporting.
Hammers fans were yearning a more modern manager with fresh ideas and an exciting brand of football.
So there was huge disappointment when their Amorim hopes hit the buffers. A plethora of other bosses were then linked from Thomas Tuchel to Hansi Flick and Paulo Fonseca.
Sullivan will be glad he didn’t listen to West Ham fans. Fonseca was a name that very much interested West Ham fans.
The Hammers had interviewed the then Lille boss for the job previously but opted against it. Fonseca, like his compatriot Amorim, was a name that excited West Ham fans given the good job he’d done at Lille.
At that stage Julen Lopetegui was also said to be on West Ham’s final shortlist alongside Fonseca. But the Spaniard looked set to join AC Milan instead.
That was until the Italian giants withdrew their contract offer following a large scale protest petition from the club’s fans. Many West Ham supporters were convinced Fonseca was the next best bet after Amorim.
And they too launched their own smaller scale petition when it emerged Lopetegui was the leading contender to be their new boss following Milan’s withdrawal.
Fonseca then joined AC Milan instead.
It’s been an inauspicious start for Lopetegui in east London. But there have been glimpses of progress and improvement. Now David Sullivan will be glad he didn’t listen to West Ham fans as manager faces the axe.
West Ham-linked Fonseca already facing Milan axe. Milan have won just once so far this season, a 4-0 victory at home against Venezia. They drew 2-2 with Torino and Lazio before that and were beaten 2-1 at Parma.
They were also beaten convincingly by Liverpool in the Champions League this week with the 3-1 result kind on Milan. Now reports from the likes of Football Italia claim the situation is now coming to a head.
It is stated former West Ham target Fonseca could be sacked this weekend if he does not oversee a convincing victory against Milan’s big rivals Inter Milan. The chances of that look slim given Inter are unbeaten so far in all competitions and held Man City to a 0-0 draw this week.
Lopetegui’s start to life at West Ham may have been somewhat indifferent thus far. It has been a lot brighter than Fonseca has managed at Milan, though.
West Ham fans are a knowledgeable bunch on the whole. But with the axe looming, Sullivan will be relieved he followed his nose by appointing Lopetegui over Fonseca.
Perhaps Milan now feel the opposite.
