West Ham respond in style to Julen Lopetegui’s comments on his sacking. West Ham have responded in style to Julen Lopetegui after he spoke out about his sacking for the first time.
When West Ham finally pulled the trigger on Julen Lopetegui last month, many felt it was two months too late. Hammers fans had been calling for his head as far back as the 4-1 defeat at Spurs in October.
West Ham stuck by the Spaniard then and again going into the November international break when calls for change grew louder.
Shambolic 5-2 and 3-1 defeats to Arsenal and woeful Leicester at the end of November and beginning of December saw West Ham fans fully turn on Lopetegui.
After the loss at the King Power, West Ham’s away fans chanted ‘you’re getting sacked in the morning’ at Lopetegui. He wasn’t as West Ham gave him yet another chance to turn things around.
But that day Graham Potter was spoken to – at the King Power – and put on standby for the job.
An extremely fortunate run of four games unbeaten, which included incredibly lucky wins over Wolves and Southampton, kept Lopetegui at the Hammers helm.
Massive defeats to Liverpool and Man City at the turn of the year were the final straw, though. Lopetegui didn’t agree with West Ham sacking. Lopetegui became the shortest-serving permanent manager in West Ham’s 130-year history when he was fired.
That process was controversial as the decision had been leaked 48 hours before the deed was finally done.
The Hammers board were heavily criticised for the way they handled the sacking. Especially after the 58-year-old had put the club first when privately dealing with the death of his father.
Lopetegui sent a classy farewell to West Ham when he was sacked. But he has this week opened up on his London Stadium departure for the first time in detail.
In a lengthy interview with The Guardian, Lopetegui says he does not agree with West Ham’s decision to sack him.
West Ham respond in style to Lopetegui’s comments on sacking. He revealed majority owner David Sullivan and vice-chair Karren Brady eventually relieved him of his duties via a three-way phone call.
Lopetegui says the Hammers should have showed more patience with him and that he felt they were starting to get somewhere.
That’s despite conceding nine goals in his last two games in charge. Lopetegui then said that “exemplary clubs see it through” and keep faith with the manager until they “hit oil”.
He admitted the noise around his position made it difficult for the owners to stick by him.
But he was still “surprised” when they sacked him, saying he should have been judged in May. Hammers react with class to Lopetegui claims
Potter has since come in and performances, on the whole, have been much more aligned with what West Ham fans expect.
Now West Ham have responded in style to Lopetegui’s comments on his sacking. The top spokesman for West Ham’s owners has spoken exclusively to Hammers News about Lopetegui’s comments.
And – some may argue for a change – the club has handled it with class.
The Hammers hierarchy still rate Lopetegui as a person and manager. But they insist a change had to be made as morale was through the floor.
They believe Lopetegui will go and do well in his next job and pointed to former Hammers target Ruben Amorim as an example of just how difficult the Premier League is. “I’m sure he feels that he was on the right track and should have been given more time,” the top spokesman for West Ham’s owners exclusively told Hammers News.
“But in reality there was no improvement in results and team morale was low.
“But we’d never criticise him publicly.
“He’ll go somewhere else and do well. “The Premier League is a tough league, just look at the Manchester United manager struggling.”
