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Kaveh Solhekol shares which way West Ham board now lean on Lopetegui sack call
The West Ham United boardroom is split 60–40 over whether or not to sack Julen Lopetegui this week, according to Kaveh Solhekol.
Speaking on Sky Sports News (4 December), Solhekol said that in the wake of the Hammers' 3-1 defeat to Leicester City, the club's board are weighing up whether or not to show him the door.
Lopetegui's side have shipped eight goals across two games in five days, with a 5-2 home hammering by Arsenal followed up by them being 3-0 down at Leicester before Niclas Fullkrug's consolation goal.
Solhekol said the board is "60-40" and then added: "At the moment, I think it's more likely that Lopetegui goes than he stays, but this is a difficult decision for the board to make as he was only appointed in the summer.
"They have always tried to give managers as much time as possible – David Sullivan is always very reluctant to sack a manager during a season or during his contract.
"I don't think the board want to panic, but I think they are leaning towards parting company with Julen Lopetegui."
Julen Lopetegui teetering on the brink at West Ham United
Following up your best performance of the season – a 2-0 away win at Newcastle on 25 November – with two heavy defeats on the spin, suggests that Lopetegui's influence on this squad is minimal at best.
The Spaniard eased some of the pressure on himself, which has been growing since a very early stage in the campaign, with that convincing victory at St. James' Park, but is now firmly back to square one.
Despite dominating large spells of the match against Leicester, the facts state that the Irons still ended up conceding three cheap goals to a promoted, cash-strapped side under brand new management.
Cash-strapped is certainly something the Hammers haven't been since Lopetegui came through the doors, spending north of £130million in the summer transfer window to construct a new-look team.
That summer refresh is arguably the only thing keeping Lopetegui in a job right now, but with every passing game, it looks as if any othe manager would be able to get more out of this Hammers squad.