Cottee Questions Lopetegui’s Appointment and West Ham’s Stagnation

Tony Cottee, a legendary figure at West Ham, has asserted that the club “hasn’t kicked on” since Julen Lopetegui took charge. A decision regarding Lopetegui’s tenure at the Hammers is anticipated before the weekend. Cottee expressed his views during an upcoming episode of the BBC Sounds’ Sacked In The Morning podcast, scheduled to broadcast next week. He stated: “I wasn’t in favour of the appointment.” He elaborated: “I didn’t think it was following on from David Moyes. I was a huge David Moyes fan. He’d done an incredible job at the club – won West Ham their first trophy in 43 years.” Cottee further questioned: “Was the football free-flowing, attacking football? No, not really. But did West Ham win something? Yes, they did.” He then highlighted: “They played in Europe three seasons running. I think it was always going to be difficult to replace David. Really, really difficult. I didn’t think it was the right appointment, but that was only my own personal feelings. We are where we are now.” Commenting on the ongoing situation, Cottee remarked: “I don’t know why it takes 72 hours to conduct a board meeting. I think they’ve said within the next 72 hours.” He also noted the impending fixture: “I mean, by the time you’ve done that, West Ham have got Wolves – Lopetegui’s old club – on Monday night. So we’ll have to wait and see.” He concluded this point by reiterating his concern: “But the way the club’s going at the moment, it just hasn’t kicked on.” Cottee emphasized that David Moyes established “some really good foundations.” He added that the club should have aimed to build upon these, and that occupying “14th position at the moment, was not where the club wanted to be, bearing in mind they’d made a change of manager.”