It seems West Ham United have finally lost patience with Julen Lopetegui.
The former Wolves manager has been under pressure for many weeks at the London Stadium, having failed to win over the fans there, after succeeding David Moyes.
Hammers fans were hoping that Lopetegui would come in and do things a lot differently to David Moyes.
Many had wanted to see a more exciting style of play. And given that, Wolves fans knew instantly that this appointment was an odd one.
Because Lopetegui was very much a pragmatist during his time at Wolves. Granted, his sole mission was to keep Wolves up. But undoubtedly, the football wasn’t very enjoyable.
It’s being widely reported now that Lopetegui is set to be sacked – and they are already speaking to someone who actually turned Wolves down.
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Graham Potter could now replace Julen Lopetegui, after he turned down Wolves
Apparently, West Ham are now in talks with Graham Potter about him taking over as the new manager.
Journalist Alex Crook has claimed that contact has been made between the Hammers and Potter, with Lopetegui ‘set to be sacked’.
West Ham were thrashed 4-1 by Manchester City at the weekend.
Ordinarily, that’s a result that wouldn’t get a manager sacked. But with City nowhere near their best, it would seem the West Ham hierarchy feel a decision must now be made.
It’s interesting to see that Potter is their target to replace Lopetegui.
Of course, it was reported that Wolves held talks with Potter during the November international break about replacing Gary O’Neil.
But Potter turned down the opportunity, prompting Wolves to look elsewhere. And of course, their search concluded with the appointment of Vitor Pereira on December 19.
Wolves will be more than happy with Pereira, after Potter rejection
A lot of Wolves fans were keen for Potter to replace O’Neil a few weeks ago, given the brilliant work he did at Brighton and Swansea City previously.
But Potter – along with five other managers – rejected Wolves, seemingly holding out for a different project. The exact reasons are still unclear, but many Wolves fans have theorised some managers just won’t want to work under Fosun and Jeff Shi.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 13 |  West HamWest Ham | 19 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 23 | 35 | -12 | 23 |
| 14 |  Man UtdManchester United | 19 | 6 | 4 | 9 | 21 | 26 | -5 | 22 |
| 15 |  Crystal PalaceCrystal Palace | 19 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 20 | 27 | -7 | 20 |
| 16 |  EvertonEverton | 18 | 3 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 24 | -9 | 17 |
| 17 |  WolvesWolves | 19 | 4 | 4 | 11 | 31 | 42 | -11 | 16 |
| 18 |  IpswichIpswich | 19 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 18 | 33 | -15 | 15 |
| 19 |  LeicesterLeicester | 19 | 3 | 5 | 11 | 22 | 42 | -20 | 14 |
| 20 |  SouthamptonSouthampton | 19 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 12 | 39 | -27 | 6 |
If Potter does succeed Lopetegui as expected, then it’ll be really interesting to see how he gets on.
But Wolves fans won’t be too upset about him going there, given how Pereira has started at Molineux.
He’s not been in place for long but Wolves already look like a much better team, and hopefully, the Portuguese will get a few new faces through the door this month.