West Ham welcome Ipswich Town on Saturday in the last game before the international break. For the Hammers it is a vital chance to get three points on the board at home after their disastrous run of losing three on the bounce. For Lopetegui it will be a vital first rung on the ladder he needs to climb out of bad form as surely as West Ham need to climb the league table.
The game assumes even greater significance for Ipswich Town’s Kalvin Phillips who had a disastrous loan spell at London Stadium last year.
Phillips, who had one of the most public failures of any loanee – being sent off in his first game, being branded by former referee Mike Dean as ‘stupid’ and having West Ham fans go public begging Manchester City to take him back – has been speaking to eadt.co.uk about his loan spell.
By his own admission:“When I went to West Ham I felt like there were quite a lot of eyes on me because it was my first loan move since going to City. Obviously it didn’t work out well and I got quite a bit of stick. Sometimes you can handle that well, sometimes you can go the other way and handle it not so well!”
Agreed. The ‘middle finger gesture’ reported by the media would be classed as ‘not so well’ then! eadt.co.uk highlights the game well: He came on at Newcastle when the Hammers were 3-1 up, gave a penalty away and David Moyes’ men ended up losing 4-3. When getting on the coach after that match, Phillips responded to abuse from his own fans with a choice gesture.
So I wonder what kind of welcome awaits Phillips, who claims he is ‘comfortable’ now at Ipswich. Please, just don’t let him score against us on Saturday. That would be too ‘West Ham’ even for my sense of pathos.