{"id":5367,"date":"2024-12-09T07:16:19","date_gmt":"2024-12-09T07:16:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/betwealthsuretips.com\/blog\/west-ham-v-wolves-lopetegui-or-oneill-who-is-closest-to-getting-the-sack\/"},"modified":"2024-12-09T07:16:19","modified_gmt":"2024-12-09T07:16:19","slug":"west-ham-v-wolves-lopetegui-or-oneill-who-is-closest-to-getting-the-sack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/betwealthsuretips.com\/blog\/west-ham-v-wolves-lopetegui-or-oneill-who-is-closest-to-getting-the-sack\/","title":{"rendered":"West Ham V Wolves: Lopetegui Or O’Neill – Who Is Closest To Getting The Sack?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Two managers go into Monday’s game between West Ham and Wolves – but there is the feeling only one may come out.<\/b><\/p>\n

Hammers boss Julen Lopetegui and Wolves’ Gary O’Neil are the managers with the two shortest odds – by some way – to lose their job next.<\/p>\n

So much so the game has been dubbed ‘El Sackico’ on social media.<\/p>\n

Both managers received chants of “you’ll be sacked in the morning” from their own fans last week as Wolves lost to Everton and Leicester beat West Ham.<\/p>\n

BBC Sport looks at why the pair are deemed to be on the brink.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Could Lopetegui’s final West Ham game come against his former club? The Spaniard left Wolves on the eve of last season after being frustrated at not being able to sign anybody.<\/p>\n

After almost a year out of work he became West Ham manager on 1 July, taking over from David Moyes.<\/p>\n

Moyes had led West Ham into Europe for three consecutive seasons, and won the Europa Conference League, but some fans believed his football was too negative. <\/p>\n

Former Real Madrid and Spain boss Lopetegui was meant to improve that – but the Hammers are 14th place with only four Premier League wins so far.<\/p>\n

A morale-boosting win over Newcastle a couple of weeks ago was followed up by a 5-2 home loss to Arsenal and 3-1 defeat at struggling Leicester.<\/p>\n

West Ham rank ninth for amount of shots in the Premier League but only 16th on goals (below Wolves) – with a shot conversion rate of 8.74%.<\/p>\n

Lopetegui told journalists on Friday he “was not thinking this” when asked if Monday’s game could be his last.<\/p>\n

“We are not happy and for sure the fans are always right,” he said. “Until now I think they give us much more than we give them and we have to change this. We are working for this.<\/p>\n

“I am focused on the things in our control. The only focus in this moment is to come back tomorrow and be focused on Monday.”<\/p>\n

Spanish football journalist Guillem Balague said: “West Ham played really well against Newcastle and Leicester, but they seem to lack the confidence. That’s not impossible to correct. <\/p>\n

“I do see him tired, stressed and not being himself because the team has not clicked yet. But he is convinced that he can turn things around.<\/p>\n

“He was the Spanish national team manager, Real Madrid manager and won the Europa League with Sevilla, but some people think he cannot be good enough for a team that finished ninth in the Premier League last season.”<\/p>\n

Lopetegui’s future was debated by senior West Ham figures last week – but the decision was made to keep him in place for now.<\/p>\n

West Ham legend Tony Cottee said on the BBC Sounds Sacked In The Morning podcast: “I wasn’t in favour of the appointment.<\/p>\n

“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.<\/p>\n

“Was the football free-flowing, attacking football? No, not really. But did West Ham win something? Yes, they did.<\/p>\n

“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.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Hammers fan Holly Turbutt from West Ham Network told the BBC: “I don’t think Lopetegui will be able to turn it around. I have a feeling the Wolves game could be the final straw.<\/p>\n

“He doesn’t know his best starting XI and is continuously changing team selection and formation. It feels like desperation for something to work. <\/p>\n

“The amount of chopping and changing makes it impossible for anything to click.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

O’Neil did a good job in keeping Wolves safe last season, after Lopetegui’s departure three days before the campaign started threatened to derail things.<\/p>\n

They finished 14th, 20 points above the relegation zone.<\/p>\n

But this season they are 19th with just two wins from 14 games – and were demolished by fellow strugglers Everton during the week.<\/p>\n

With 22 goals, they have scored more than some teams in the European places going into the weekend – but their 36 goals conceded is a league high.<\/p>\n

Despite that he was nominated for November’s manager of the month award.<\/p>\n

BBC Radio WM reporter Mike Taylor said: “With exquisitely painful timing, the Premier League announced that Gary O’Neil had been nominated for the November manager of the month award, an hour or so before he was due at a press conference that most Wolves supporters assumed he would not still be in a position to take.”<\/p>\n

However O’Neil was not sacked in the morning as fans predicted.<\/p>\n

Speaking on Thursday, the manager said: “I don’t think about me personally, I think for the team and where we are in the league.<\/p>\n

“I can only keep going until things change. As far as I am aware, I took training this morning, players that started have recovered, players that didn’t play have trained.<\/p>\n

“The criticism is part and parcel. Maybe two weeks ago at Fulham [when we] scored four away everyone was happy to take the plaudits, but when it doesn’t go well you need to stand up. My mentality won’t change, I’ll always front up.”<\/p>\n

Taylor added: “O’Neil remains in post – despite reports that Wolves are considering alternatives and the expectation of many supporters that the club should already have done so.<\/p>\n

“In time, we shall see whether this is an act of indecision or faith.<\/p>\n

“Simply changing the coach will not repair the squad’s weaknesses or stop the unpredictable errors.<\/p>\n

“Few things cost a club more money than a change of manager – relegation is one of them.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The Wolves fans that travelled to Everton last week made their opinions clear with their ‘sacked in the morning’ chants.<\/p>\n

Dave Azzopardi from Talking Wolves told the BBC: “While Gary O’Neil is still in charge I can’t see things improving quickly.<\/p>\n

“I believe we have the players to be higher up in the table but under the current ideas it’s not quite working out.<\/p>\n

“Big changes, big shake-ups needed to be had for Wolves.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two managers go into Monday’s game between West Ham and Wolves – but there…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5368,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-epl-breaking-news"],"yoast_head":"\nWest Ham V Wolves: Lopetegui Or O'Neill - Who Is Closest To Getting The Sack? - Football World<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/betwealthsuretips.com\/blog\/west-ham-v-wolves-lopetegui-or-oneill-who-is-closest-to-getting-the-sack\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"West Ham V Wolves: Lopetegui Or O'Neill - Who Is Closest To Getting The Sack? 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