It remains to be seen whether the ‘must – win game’ with Everton really is that. Sean obtained the ‘high ranking’ source at London Stadium’s straightforward comment yesterday: “Everton is a Must Win Game”. Or Else? (My words, the ‘or else’). No messing about there. Or is there?
The full cost of sacking Julen Lopetegui if, as many of us suspect, the Everton game sees a repeat of West Ham’s disastrous form of last time out at Nottingham Forest, is a closely guarded secret as the full details of his contract have never been published.
But from research since Saturday it’s possible to work out from reports on-line from a few weeks ago, that the exact amount can be more or less nailed down: MSN.com earlier on 19th October, published ” West Ham Transfer News: How Much would It Cost West Ham To Sack Julen Lopetegui?
And continued with:”..assumed that Lopetegui is earning €4 million a season over the duration of his contract, which is significantly less – less than half if reports are to be believed – than he was earning at Wolves.
That means that if West Ham were to sack him at the end of October 2024 [when the report was written for MSN] they would have to pay around €6.7 million in outstanding guaranteed wages.(About £5.5 million).
Will David Sullivan sanction this? Knowing the experiences we had with ‘three more games’ David Moyes who seemed to be on an ultimatum every month, it wouldn’t surprise me for these ‘must win’ games to being repeated week after week as Sullivan shies away from the decision to pull the trigger on Lopetegui’s employment. Of course, owing solely to the associated five million plus quid that will be due to pay off the head coach.
I could see The West Ham board just hoping Lopetegui picks up another couple of wins to save face and the small matter of five million quid. The damage it might do to the team’s confidence and the morale of supporters in the meantime (and the small matter of the club’s standing in the Premier League) would be devastating.
I hope I’m wrong and ‘must-win’ on Saturday means ‘lose and you’re fired’ on Sunday.
