Graham Potter appointment: Stelling & McCoist hit out at West Ham twist
West Ham United have acted poorly again as they prepare to sack Julen Lopetegui, Jeff Stelling and Ally McCoist have said.
Speaking on talkSPORT (7 January, 6:23am), McCoist and Stelling slammed the Irons’ very public courting of Graham Potter as Lopetegui’s replacement, despite having yet to officially sack the Spaniard.
Tim Steidten and David Sullivan held talks with Potter on Monday with Lopetegui still in post following a breakdown of relationship with the German, who also faced scrutiny.
McCoist said: “If you’re reading [in] the paper that [Lopetegui] hasn’t been told, that’s as poor as it gets that is.”
Stelling replied: “There were pictures in the Guardian yesterday of Tim Steidten, the technical director, in conversation with Graham Potter.
“I assume they were current photos and not from a previous meeting, but it’s not great for Lopetegui.”
McCoist replied: “It’s not a great look at all for anybody, is it really?”
West Ham rightfully slammed for Julen Lopetegui sack saga
It’s not as if the Hammers board hasn’t had enough time to line up a successor for Lopetegui in the London Stadium dugout, given they’ve seemingly been flip-flopping over sacking him for months on end.
Having been split over the Spaniard’s future for some time [Kaveh Solhekol, 4 December], and being on the brink of pulling the trigger before a recent four-game unbeaten run, the board have had plenty of preparation for this scenario.
And yet, the handling of the situation – with their soon-to-be-named new boss seen publicly with Steidten – has been woefully unprofessional, and this will come as no surprise to a fed-up fanbase.
Sullivan and Steidten’s overhaul of both the playing group and coaching staff last summer has been a failure by almost every metric thus far, and the attempt to cover their tracks has been amateurish at best.
Potter being appointed in Lopetegui’s place could prove to be the move which turns the Irons’ season around, but the way the Hammers have reached this point won’t earn them many plaudits.
In other West Ham news, an out-of-favour Irons star is on the verge of an exit with one club’s directors ready to sanction a deal.
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