The way that the West Ham United owners handled the Julen Lopetegui sacking really was very poor.
Julen Lopetegui was officially sacked as West Ham boss on Wednesday afternoon, and Graham Potter will be announced as the new manager this morning after he and his agents travelled to London to finalise terms with the Hammers.
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David Sullivan made the wrong decision from the start by appointing Lopetegui.
He was a terrible fit for the Hammers, and failed to implement a discernible playing style at the London Stadium after six months in the job.
The football was turgid and the results equally as bad.
Lopetegui spent heavily in the summer – around £120 million on nine new players – but somehow managed to oversee regression.
That’s quite the statement considering how bad we were during the second half of last season.
However, he is a human being who has been treated very badly by the Hammers board in my opinion.
Real reason West Ham handled Julen Lopetegui sacking so badly
Sullivan has repeatedly drawn criticism from the Hammers fans over the years for the way he goes about certain things.
He has even been called out by current and previous owners from opposing teams, including Simon Jordan.
Then there was the time when Sporting president Bruno de Carvalho labelled Sullivan and the late David Gold as ‘the Dildo Brothers’ (Evening Standard) – a nod to the pair’s history in the sex industry.
However, in the interest of balance, Sullivan does deserve big credit for backing Lopetegui in the transfer market in the summer, and David Moyes before him.
That said, he always seems to make a pig’s ear out of many situations he oversees.
The sacking of Lopetegui was no different. Sullivan began leaking to anyone who would listen that the Spaniard was a dead man walking.
The 75-year-old had Graham Potter lined up ready to come in and replace Lopetegui, but incredibly the Spaniard was still expected to perform his day-to-day duties at the club when he knew he would be sacked – including taking training!
Why didn’t the Hammers handle the situation with a bit more dignity, allowing Lopetegui some respect at least?
I think the answer is obvious.
David Sullivan hasn’t covered himself in glory with Julen Lopetegui
West Ham had to pay Lopetegui £3.3 million compensation in order to sack him.
In addition to that, Potter is allegedly due to receive around £2 million up until the end of the season.
In my opinion, West Ham co-owner David Sullivan was acting in an underhand manner in order to try and get Julen Lopetegui to walk away from the club before sacking him was the only option left.
It’s the only reasonable explanation in my eyes for acting with such poor form.
I feel really sorry for Lopetegui actually. He did a poor job at West Ham but he was the wrong fit from the start, and he undoubtedly gave everything he could to make it work.
I wish him all the best going forward.
Lopetegui sent a really classy message to the West Ham fans after his exit…maybe Sullivan could learn a bit from the Spaniard regarding how to handle himself.
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