Ruud van Nistelrooy has emerged as a surprise contender for the West Ham job and now there’s proof he’d take it.
West Ham have given Julen Lopetegui yet another vote of confidence this weekend.
There have been growing calls for the Spaniard to be sacked after a terrible start to his Hammers tenure.
Lopetegui has overseen just three Premier League wins in 11.
Two of those – against Palace and Man United – were extremely fortunate.
West Ham have suffered some thrashings too, notably losing 4-1 to Spurs, 3-0 to Chelsea, 3-0 to Forest and 5-1 in the cup at Liverpool.
The club’s owners have been urged to act after the dismal 0-0 draw with Everton last weekend.
The result leaves West Ham 14th in the table, and closer to the bottom than the European spots in terms of points.
Speculation has been rife Lopetegui may not survive the international break.
It seems he will, though.
A growing number of journalists and fans believe the writing is now on the wall, though, with games against Newcastle and Arsenal next.
Especially now the owners have publicly stated they do not expect to see two bad defeats.
A host of managers have been linked as replacements for Lopetegui should he be sacked.
One of those is Dutchman Ruud van Nistelrooy.
talkSPORT mooted Van Nistelrooy to West Ham earlier this week.
Van Nistelrooy named ‘serious contender’ for West Ham job
A journalist then claimed Van Nistelrooy is a ‘serious contender’ for the Hammers after leaving Man United.
Van Nistelrooy has left Man United after four games as interim boss.
The 48-year-old former striker made way for ex West Ham target Ruben Amorim at Old Trafford and is now a free agent.
One that could be in demand too after the fine job he’s done at PSV and during his brief stint at Man United to start his senior managerial career.
The links to Van Nistelrooy have stirred debate among West Ham fans.
Many are craving a manager with a more attacking and exciting approach.
Van Nistelrooy’s teams certainly bring that.
His PSV and Man United sides have scored a staggering 137 goals in his 55 games during his 13 months in charge at two top clubs.
That’s an average of 2.5 goal per game.
With his stock currently high, a host of other clubs have been linked with the former Real Madrid star too.
It’s not been clear whether Van Nistelrooy wants to now continue his managerial career at another club.
Now there’s cold hard proof that Van Nistelrooy would bite David Sullivan’s hand off for the West Ham job.
Should Sullivan decide enough is enough with Lopetegui soon – as many predict will be the case should the Irons suffer two chastening defeats next – he does at least know Van Nistelrooy would take the job if offered.
As long as he’s still available.
Proof Van Nistelrooy would bite Sullivan’s hand off
Because Van Nistelrooy is so keen to continue his managerial journey, he’s made a surprise application for a vacant job post.
At none other than Championship side Coventry City.
According to talkSPORT and other sources, Van Nistelrooy has applied for the job after the departure of Mark Robins.
Ironically Van Nistelrooy could face competition for the job from West Ham academy graduate Frank Lampard – who was also rather ridiculously touted for the Hammers job by Richard Keys.
“We’ve received a huge amount of CVs from high-quality people, of which Frank is one,” Coventry owner Doug King said this week.
“We’ve done nothing on that process… but clearly we’re in the international break, we’ll be assessing everything. We’ll work out who’s going to make the shortlist and we’ll go from there.”
With respect, if Van Nistelrooy is applying for the Coventry job – then he’d take the West Ham hotseat in a heartbeat.
It seems highly unlikely Sullivan would take a punt on what is still a relatively rookie manager.
But that is one of the biggest grievances Hammers fans have with the owners, that they don’t look to break the mould and try someone young with fresh ideas.
Lopetegui has been labelled a ‘Spanish Moyes’. And the feeling is that it’s been more of the same rather than the revolution in style they craved.
Van Nistelrooy’s teams certainly know how to attack. And he boasts a 65 per cent win rate in 55 matches as manager of PSV and Man United so far.
If Sullivan does fancy something fresh, new, exciting and different in Van Nistelrooy, then at least he knows he’d take the job.
Unless someone else snaps him up first of course.
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