Julen Lopetegui is surely on the brink at West Ham barring a miraculous turnaround and it will be fans who decide his fate.
When it comes to football club owners money is king and West Ham’s are no different.
Especially in the modern era where PSR plays a huge part in how a club operates.
So if something is threatening one of West Ham’s biggest – and indisputably their most important – sources of revenue then it won’t take long for the owners to act.
Hammers co-owners David Sullivan and Daniel Kretinsky have a £14bn fortune between them.
But they’re not philanthropists doing it solely for the love of the club and its fans.
They are billionaire businessmen. And you don’t get to that level without being ruthless.
West Ham made a big decision to appoint Julen Lopetegui in the summer.
It was supposed to be a cautious step towards the team playing a more exciting, entertaining brand of football.
But with a manager experienced enough to know being solid defensively is still very important if you want to be competitive in the Premier League.
So far there is no evidence of any of those things at the London Stadium under Lopetegui.
Now the Spaniard’s head is very much on the block.
After 12 games, 10 in the Premier League and two in the League Cup, many at West Ham have seen enough.
The owners backed Lopetegui after the 3-0 defeat at Forest.
But speculation has been rife since, that Everton is a must-win game.
Everton billed as make or break for Lopetegui at West Ham
And that should the Hammers lose, two managers have been put on standby to replace Lopetegui.
There has been claim and counter claim as to whether Lopetegui really will be sacked if Everton beat them at the London Stadium.
But forget all the inside information and permutations game-to-game.
Because something is happening among West Ham fans which puts Lopetegui on the brink.
On the whole, West Ham fans are a knowledgeable bunch. Always have been, always will be.
And contrary to popular misconception they don’t actually ask for much.
Like any football fan they want to see brave players – on and off the ball – work their socks off for the badge.
Ideally they want to watch aggressive, entertaining, attacking football.
But most of all, West Ham fans want hope.
When Hammers fans don’t have that feeling of hope, that feeling they might go and watch a thrilling game where they will take it to the opposition or do something special by qualifying for Europe or go on a cup run then they can become very restless, very quickly.
The West Ham faithful don’t expect to win every week or lift trophies each season.
That just want the hope that they have a manager and players who, with a fair wind, might be able to. Nothing more, nothing less.
With that in mind, the writing very much looks to be on the wall for Lopetegui. But the reason why seems to have gone under the radar thus far.
As cameras panned around to the away end at the City Ground with 15 minutes to go, it was all but empty.
What’s happening among West Ham fans puts Lopetegui on brink
Some may say there’s nothing too unusual about that with the team 3-0 down and reduced to 10 men.
But do you know what it takes for thousands of West Ham fans to leave an away game early?
It means they are completely bored, fed up and devoid of hope despite having travelled far and wide on a day out with their friends and family.
The problem for Lopetegui is that this has already become an all too regular occurrence. Like we’ve never seen before at West Ham. Certainly not under a new manager.
Since the 57-year-old took charge, West Ham supporters have now left en masse in five of his 12 games. Let that sink in. Five of 12.
When you have a new manager and an almost entirely new team – at great expense – it’s supposed to be the polar opposite.
West Ham fans feel what they are witnessing is so bad, so lacking in any identity or style they are turning their back on the manager and team in large numbers.
Mass walkouts are usually what starts happening towards the end of a manager’s tenure.
It tends to be the final straw for a reason. Supporters are essentially saying to their owners, we aren’t interested in watching this.
And that’s what really gets the attention of the likes of Sullivan and Kretinsky.
It’s not just the fact the stands have emptied long before the final whistle in nearly half of Lopetegui’s matches either.
West Ham have now announced tickets are available for the next three home games against Everton, Arsenal and Wolves.
If the Hammers hierarchy notice they are struggling to get supporters through the gates in the first place as well as losing them early during games, they will take action, make no mistake about it.
A lack of interest from supporters means a lack of revenue.
And that, more than anything else, does not bode well for Lopetegui at all.
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