Julen Lopetegui is not my first choice to replace David Moyes as West Ham manager. My main concerns are his overly cautious (albeit possession-based) style of play and his reputation for not developing academy players.

As a result, when I read that he is in advanced talks to take over as manager of The London Stadium, I became concerned, as did most others.

However, news of a petition attempting to stop his appointment at West Ham does not make me feel at ease. Football fans have never had any say over a club’s recruitment policy. Football, by definition, is a sport with diverse opinions, making it extremely difficult to appoint managers or players through a fan committee.

Obviously, I share many people’s concern that the Hammers’ hierarchy will get this appointment completely wrong. Nonetheless, it is the board’s decision, and as a fan, I can only hope that David Sullivan and Karren Brady have delegated that responsibility to Tim Steidten.

Finally, if the club decides to hire Julen Lopetegui, I will support the new manager. It would undoubtedly be detrimental for a new head coach to arrive at work to a chorus of protests and petitions from fans of his new club.

It would begin the entire appointment and chapter in a toxic environment, without giving him a chance. The Spaniard may be good, bad, or indifferent, but if appointed, he certainly deserves the opportunity to succeed or fail based on actual results. Surely we cannot have a situation in which a manager is punished because of what we believe he may do?

I’d love to be able to choose West Ham’s next coach, but I also believe I know which winger the club should sign, and I have some interesting ideas for a formation change.

Despite what I believe I know… I’m just a fan with little influence over such matters. It is critical that West Ham’s next manager is not chosen by an online vote or petition. The club has hired a specialist to make such decisions, and if he believes Lopetegui is the best man for the job, I can only hope he is correct.

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