Julen Lopetegui carries the look of a man who has been told he’s got to pay for all three of his daughters’ expensive weddings in the same year.
Bar the victory over Ipswich and the second half performance against Newcastle, West Ham have been awful this season.
They’ve struggled to find a new identity under their Spanish manager, unless you count getting thumped regularly as an identity.
As expected the victory over Newcastle papered over the cracks, and Arsenal gave them a good slap back down to earth on Saturday evening.
Lopetegui now finds himself as favourite to be the next Premier League manager for the sack and needs to pull off some good results against Leicester, on Tuesday night, and Wolves, next Monday, to save his own skin.
Here we look at some of the names that could be lined up to replace him, the odds will appear when bookies wake from their slumber.
Michael Carrick
Former West Ham midfielder who made over a hundred appearances for the club, and then like so many others left and became even better.
He’s done a solid job at Middlesbrough without taking them back to the promised land, and is considered a manager with a great deal of potential.
The problem here is that the West Ham board aren’t fans of buying managers out of their current contracts and also aren’t known for appointing young up and coming managers.
For this reason Carrick might hang around the top of this market for a bit, but will eventually far away.
Maurizio Sarri
Sarri certainly fits the mold.
He’s managed in England, albeit for one season – tick.
He won some silverware with Chelsea and Juventus – tick
He’s experienced with over 1,000 games under his belt, even at some clubs West Ham’s owner David Sullivan has heard of – tick.
He currently unemployed and doesn’t come with a buy-out clause – massive tick
Sarri is certainly an interesting option and has recently been telling the media it was a mistake to leave Chelsea, perhaps he wants to return to the capital.
West London is very different from East London me ole china.
Eden Terzic
This is where you start to spot a theme. Terzic is currently unemployed.
The 42-year-old took Borussia Dortmund to the Champions League final and lost the league title on goal difference to Bayern Munich on the final day of the season.
Terzic has previous with West Ham having been assistant coach to Slaven Bilic between August 2015 and November 2017 and Sullivan knows West Ham fans like a person with a club connection – see Michael Carrick.
The only problem was he was so anonymous at West Ham he could have gone into any pub around the ground after the match and nobody would have noticed him.
Massimiliano Allegri
Also unemployed after leaving Juventus in the summer, Allegri being given the West Ham hotseat looks like a big step down for the Italian.
For a start he’s won the Serie A five times with Juventus and once with AC Milan, plus multiple Coppa Italias and two Champions League runners’ up medals.
No offence to West Ham but why would Allegri want to slum it at West Ham in a potential relegation dogfight.
It would take a serious clump of cash to lure Allegri to East London and that’s just not the West Ham way.
Sergio Conceição
Won the Portuguese title with Porto three times and collected four domestic cups, and yes, you’ve guessed it, is currently unemployed.
Portuguese managers are the flavour of the month and he could be a cheaper option than someone like Allegri.
However, the 50-year-old has attracted interest from Everton and returning to his old club Nantes, so West Ham would have to move swiftly if they went down this path.
Graham Potter
Seemingly the most unemployed manager in Football, Potter is linked with every job but never crosses the threshold.
He left Chelsea in April 2023 and was clearly so scarred by that experience he’s yet to return to management.
The Chelsea fans treated Potter terribly, so he might think twice about throwing his lot in with West Ham’s supporters, who are all charming, measured and not prone to knee-jerk reactions in the slightest…cough cough cough.
David Moyes
Surely a third coming of the Moyesiah can’t happen…can it?
The Scot came from nowhere when he first joined West Ham, and it was a little more telegraphed the second time round. A third return would be surprising, but not totally out of the question.
West Ham fans are still split on Moyes, he brought them some of the best times in recent years, but without the sparkle they demand.
However, under Moyes it’s unlikely that West Ham would have had their bottom spanked as much as they have under Lopetegui this season.
Sam Allardyce
Oh c’mon now this is getting silly.
READ MORE: Next Premier League manager to leave odds
READ MORE: Who are the best football tipsters and who has the the best strike rate?
******
How do we create our tips?
Planet Sport has a rich history of providing quality, engaging and creative user-friendly content across a wide range of sports.
The Planet Sport team has more than twenty years’ experience working in the sports industry and use their knowledge, experience and statistical analysis to bring you the very best tips possible.
We specialise in clear, informative, data-driven tips, predictions and guides that will steer you in the right direction, whether you are a part-time bettor or consider yourself a bit of a pro.
Our experts have worked across some of the biggest and much-loved sites across the Planet Sport network, including Football365, TEAMtalk, PlanetF1.com, Planet Rugby, Planet Football, Tennis 365 and Love Rugby League.
