West Ham finally pulled the trigger on Julen Lopetegui’s dismal tenure last week but it seems it may have been too little too late.
West Ham take on Fulham in the Premier League at the London Stadium on Tuesday night.
The game is being broadcast live on TNT Sports.
And it may not make a pretty sight in the stands for the Hammers.
When West Ham were dragging their heels over sacking Julen Lopetegui recently, Hammers News warned the club fan anger was turning to apathy.
While having an angry fanbase is far from ideal, it does at least show they still care passionately about what is going on.
Apathy, though, can be a club killer.
The harsh reality is that it was clear for all to see Lopetegui was the wrong appointment for West Ham from the get go.
All the signs were there, quite literally from pre-season.
When Lopetegui became the first ever West Ham manager – in 130 years – to lose his first three home games, alarm bells should have been ringing in the boardroom.
As results and performances continued to elude Lopetegui, the Spaniard should have been sacked after the dismal 4-1 defeat at Spurs in October.
If not then he should have gone after the woeful 0-0 draw at home to Everton before the November international break.
At least that would have given West Ham two weeks to make a change and give the new manager plenty of time to save the ailing season.
West Ham pay price for Lopetegui delay
Most would agree that having survived those, Lopetegui should definitely have been sacked after the 3-1 defeat at Leicester a month later in early December.
Especially as the away fans turned in that game, calling for the 58-year-old’s head.
Once you lose the hardcore away support, there is rarely any coming back.
And so it proved as West Ham’s board persisted with Lopetegui for another month before finally sacking him after 5-0 and 4-1 defeats to Liverpool and Man City.
By that point West Ham were cut well adrift of the European places.
Made all the more frustrating by the fact this is the most wide open Premier League season since 2013.
Now West Ham have paid the price for their Lopetegui delay as the empty seat numbers vs Fulham are revealed.
When the Hammers went out of the FA Cup at Aston Villa on Friday night, many fans were saying the same thing: ‘That’s our season over’.
It’s easy to see their point.
No European football, out of the League Cup after a 5-1 hammering at Liverpool, out of the FA Cup and 10 points adrift of the Euro spots in the Premier League down in 14th.
Most West Ham fans are enthused by the appointment of Graham Potter.
Especially after what they saw from his side in that first half at Villa Park.
London Stadium empty seat numbers vs Fulham revealed
But the feeling is West Ham’s owners left it too late to fire Lopetegui and as a result have wasted the season.
With 18 games to play, Potter would realistically have to oversee 10 wins and two draws for West Ham to qualify for Europe.
Not impossible but certainly improbable, especially given the injuries and poor squad composition – for which further heads may yet roll.
West Ham have Fulham and then Palace at the London Stadium this week.
It should be the perfect chance for Potter to build some early momentum.
After all three consecutive wins could literally transform the complexion of the table and what the Irons have to play for in the remaining four months of the campaign.
The injuries have cast doubt over any miraculous revival, though.
Potter has been talking about how excited he is to be leading the team out at the London Stadium for the first time.
But while the majority of supporters are happy about his appointment, it won’t necessarily be reflected in the stands.
Potter must work his magic to bring back hope
With the game live on TV, West Ham should be braced for chants of ‘Your ground’s too big for you’ from the Fulham end.
Because a whopping 5,700 tickets in the West Ham end remain unsold at the time of writing, five-and-a-half hours before kick-off.
Yes there are things to factor in such as travel to and from a Tuesday night game.
Ticket pricing has been criticised by fans all season too.
But the truth of the matter is, had West Ham sacked Lopetegui and appointed Potter sooner and kept their season alive, this game may well be banged out like most others have been since the move to Stratford.
As things stand there will be big gaps around the 62,500 capacity ground. Gaps which always stand out more due to the bright white seats.
It may have cost West Ham nearly £4m to pay off Lopetegui.
But the Hammers hierarchy may end up losing out on just as much in ticket revenue if Potter cannot get fans believing again.
It’s a shame for the manager and not a good look that so many are relisting their tickets for the match.
However, it should be noted it is certainly not a reflection on him.
When West Ham fans have hope, they can be a juggernaut. Take that away, though, and it is quickly replaced by apathy.
And 5,700 empty seats – bringing the attendance down to around 57,000 – is the result of that.
If Potter can somehow get two wins this week, despite all the injury issues, then hope may return and things will be different for the games to come.
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