Lopetegui relieved of duties as West Ham manager

- Summer hire won just seven of 22 games
- Graham Potter lined up as replacement
West Ham boss Julen Lopetegui is fighting to save his job with the club’s board weighing up his future, the PA news agency understands.
Wednesday morning’s (AEDT) 3-1 defeat at Leicester was the latest in a string of poor performances under the Spaniard.
Lopetegui’s future was first brought into question in early December after a miserable start to the campaign, only for a 2-1 win over fellow strugglers Wolverhampton Wanderers to buy him more time to try turn things around.
Since then, however, West Ham’s only win has come against bottom side Southampton, with Lopetegui’s final two games being 5-0 and 4-1 thumpings at the hands of Liverpool and Manchester City respectively.
“West Ham United can confirm that Head Coach Julen Lopetegui has today left the Club,” a statement read.
“The first half of the 2024/25 season has not aligned with the Club’s ambitions and the Club has therefore taken action in line with its objectives.
“The Club can confirm that Assistant Head Coach Pablo Sanz, Head of Performance Oscar Caro, Head Analyst Juan Vicente Peinado, Fitness Coach Borja De Alba and Technical Coach Edu Rubio have also left with immediate effect.
“The Board would like to thank Julen and his staff for their hard work during their time with the Hammers and wish them every success for the future.”
Chairman David Sullivan usually affords his managers time to ยูฟ่าเบท turn things around, but alarm bells are ringing among the club’s hierarchy.
The board is expected to discuss this week whether Lopetegui will still be in charge for West Ham’s next match, at home to his former club Wolves on Monday.