Just another week in the fantasy world of West Ham football. Is the coach going? Is the technical director going? Are the players revolting?
And so we just sit and watch as the people entrusted with running our football club fight, bicker, pass the buck, throw people under buses and any other insulting cliché you can come up with.We once had a football club in the top six, playing in Europe, with players that cared. That was just one year ago, the decline of West Ham since then is criminal. Back in November last season, we started a run of 17 games in league, cup and Europe that saw us lose just three times and finish in mid January in sixth place.
Now there were plenty of issues by then, terrible defending, wheels falling off the system and a mounting campaign against the manager and the style so many hated.
All valid reasons to discuss and consider David Moyes’ future, and after a dreadful January transfer window and the collapse that followed, it didn’t matter if there was a new contract on the table, it was never going to work out. I had no issue with those decisions, just with the disgusting personal attacks on him regarding his religion, nationality and age by some folk who should know better.
And there’s no going back to Moyes a third time, nobody is daft enough for that considering the toxic atmosphere when he left in the summer.
But from then on we have seen an embarrassing shambles from the people in executive positions at the club. We have no Europe after three decent seasons and a trophy, we are 14th in the Premier League and out of the league cup with just three league and one cup win this season in 12 games.
It's a team lacking direction, leadership, tactical understanding, an identity and seemingly without heart. It’s a mess and Julen Lopetegui’s job is on the line.
Some observers say he will not be sacked even if we lose at home to Everton on Saturday. Elsewhere there are claims a defeat will see him axed, others suggest he needs a “convincing performance” to avoid - for now - David Sullivan having to waste upwards of £5m to get rid of the Spaniard and his mates.
Take your pick from that, but my view is that if we lose to Everton he’s finished. The home fans will not stand for it. It’s hard to believe that the club have not already got a contingency plan - and if they haven’t, they are a disgrace.
There’s been plenty of names linked already, but none that really inspire me. Sullivan, though, dare not get it wrong again or the decline of this club will continue. It’s only 18 months since the triumph in Prague, hard to believe the club has changed so much.
And that’s down to the people that make the decisions, nobody else, not the players, not Moyes - who if nothing else engineered the platform to take the club further.
The buck passing has been hilarious. It seems the board are concerned about the transfer dealings of Tim Steidten, our technical director with an ego. It mustn’t be forgotten that it was leaked a while back that Moyes and Sullivan didn’t want such an appointment, Dan Kretinsky it seems insisted.
What is bothering is that one of Sullivan’s siblings was on his feet saying that all transfers were agreed with the board, it was a collective decision. So how come, in October, the board have the nerve to start questioning those decisions - not just Steidten’s - but their’s too?
The German has been the subject of a cynical, insidious campaign to undermine his position. I’ve never been his greatest fan, far too much over-promotion for my liking. But we’ve seen pictures circulated of him celebrating with the team on the pitch after the victory at Crystal Palace, not something that impressed me because that’s not the way Premier League technical directors behave.
But it’s nothing to get that excited about. Then he was ‘outed’ for wearing white trainers in the technical area . I mean, such a crime. Almost as bad as shaking hands with Erik ten Hag on the touchline, then worst of all, being spotted in the tunnel at Spurs patting Jarrod Bowen on the back. Again not somewhere a technical director should be, not even coaching staff do that.
So there seems to be a campaign from someone inside the club, or at the very least, someone on the fringes of the club, who think these things are important and maybe worthy of scrutiny.
And now we hear that Steidten may not be around much longer, gone by the end of the season it seems after internal clashes, differences with Lopetegui and a reassessment of that summer transfer window.
The now questionable signings of free transfer Guido Rodriguez, the patchy form of on loan Carlos Soler, £25m spent on largely unseen youngster Luis Guilherme and the £27m on injury-jinxed Niclas Fullkrug, signed when the Jhon Duran deal collapsed. None of that has helped Steidten’s cause.
The issue with Lopetegui is far more pressing, with new names being linked by the day. Fans are increasingly dissatisfied with performances as well as results, plus a worsening disciplinary record with three red cards already this season. The latest being Edson Alvarez’s second of the season for an unnecessary tackle at Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
Fans are disheartened by Lopetegui’s failure to stamp his authority, style and system on an expensively assembled squad, with rumours of player unrest at the current situation.
And then we have the Ruben Amorim issue, with the Sporting Lisbon coach having orchestrated a 4-1 Champions League win over Manchester City ahead of his move to take command at Manchester United shortly.
It could have been us, is the feeling amongst our fans. Amorim’s flight to meet Sullivan in the summer shows he was clearly Steidten’s first choice to replace Moyes.
The stories are endless. Amorim now says he only came for a chat and had already decided to stay at Sporting. A long way to come for just a chat. If you believe that you’ll believe anything.
The £10m buyout clause would not have impressed Sullivan, as well as Amorim’s well-known attitude to having full control over every detail at the club. Transfers, staff, everything, the guy has a reputation as a control freak. Someone, somewhere didn’t like much of that.
The suggestion that West Ham were concerned about his lack of experience outside Portugal is questionable. Amorim was known as one of Europe’s brightest young coaches, destined for a major club. Manchester United had sorted the deal less than a week after Ten Hag’s departure.
Many coaches have come to work in the Premier League without any experience of the game here. Chelsea didn’t seem to be concerned that Jose Mourinho had never managed outside Portugal when they appointed the former Porto coach in 2004.
It seems Sullivan was warned not to employ Lopetegui, despite the Spaniard being out of work and therefore with no need to sort any buy out. True or not, West Ham missed the boat, only time will tell.
Sadly the bottom line is that our ownership is responsible for this mess, they have utterly wasted a hard earned, decent European position. Our decline is criminal.
We are now wide open to our star players being picked off by rivals. There is no European football this season or next, and top players will not tread water for two years. The mistakes the board have made are slowly killing our club, it’s as simple as that.
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