West Ham fans can’t expect Manchester United to hire Gareth Southgate if they wouldn’t welcome him themselves, Jamie O’Hara has said.
Speaking on talkSPORT with Jason Cundy (7 October, 11:24pm), O’Hara and a Hammers fan discussed the potential of Southgate heading to Old Trafford to replace the under-pressure Erik ten Hag.
With the fan keen to see Southgate return to club management and install a new culture at Manchester United, O’Hara was quick to retort by asking him about the Irons’ coaching position.
He asked: “Would you have Gareth Southgate at West Ham?”
After the fan replied no, O’Hara said: “Well then, there you go – you’ve answered your own question. Gareth Southgate’s not culture is he?
“You can’t ask Manchester United fans to take Gareth Southgate when you wouldn’t have him.”
West Ham United unlikely to roll the dice on Gareth Southgate
It’s far too early in the season for the Irons to moot even the possibility of hiring a figure like Southgate to take charge at the London Stadium, on both fronts.
The incumbent Julen Lopetegui – still only nine games into his Hammers managerial career – is back in credit following a 4-1 victory over Ipswich Town, with this only his third victory in those nine matches.Lopetegui still being in the early stages of his East London reign, coupled with Southgate not managing at club level since back in 2009 with Middlesbrough, makes talk of a switch a non-starter.
However, if the Hammers’ hit-and-miss start to the season – with Lopetegui winning just 33 per cent of matches in all competitions so far – continues, the club’s hierarchy may be inclined to pull the trigger.
Appointing Southgate as a potential Lopetegui successor looks a long, long way off, and by the time it does become a possibility, the former England manager could already be in the dugout at Old Trafford.
In other West Ham news, a surprising statistic has emerged for one player which exemplifies the club’s repeated transfer failures.
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