Potter in talks with West Ham to replace Lopetegui | How long can Forest continue their form? | Chelsea interested in Guehi
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Welcome to Back Pages, bringing you everything you need to know about the biggest sports stories, making the headlines in the morning's newspapers. I'm Dave Fulton and joining me are Miguel Delaney, Chief Football Writer at The Independent and Jason Burt, Chief Football Correspondent for The Telegraph. Welcome to you both. We are going to start with the mail. Potter in talks with West Ham. Miguel, just explain where we've got to with this because it looks like Lopetegui could be on his way shortly.

And even as you say that, it does feel like a slightly absurd situation. Fair enough if they want to change Lopetegui for Potter. I'm sure a lot of West Ham fans would be supportive of that given how things have gone with Lopetegui and his general time there. But the fact that speaking to Potter now and it's been made public...

And there's still uncertainty, or at least kind of superficial uncertainty, over the future of Lopetegui. I mean, what happens if anything breaks down with Potter? Is Lopetegui going to be in charge for the weekend? And I know this situation has been rumbling for a while, but it doesn't exactly feel like it's coming to a very clear head. I know Jason's obviously been writing this today. He'll have more insight on it. But from that perspective, it does seem a little bit jumbled that we're where we are now.

OK, well, let's bring Jason in then and his paper. Where have we got to, Jason, with this? What are you saying in The Telegraph today?

Well, the report this afternoon that Lopetegui had been sacked, that hasn't quite happened yet, although I fully expect it to happen. The phrase that was used to me was he's on borrowed time. I then asked whether or not he would definitely take charge of the Friday's FA Cup tie against Aston Villa and I was told that decision has not yet been made.

It would be pretty extraordinary if we're on your show tomorrow evening, if Lopetegui is still the West Ham head coach and he hasn't been replaced. I would fully expect it.

in the morning to say he is going because this whole situation is untenable now. Not least because Tim Steinton, who's the technical director at West Ham, has clearly been holding talks with Graham Potter. That relationship between Steinton and Lopetegui, there's no way that can carry on. They cannot work together, I would imagine, after this. And clearly the club are looking to replace Lopetegui. They've been so close on at least two occasions in the past, certainly at the start of December when he said

beat Wolverhampton Wanderers, his former club, and saved himself then. But really, it's been a very unhappy relationship ever since he succeeded David Moyes last summer. I've heard rumblings almost from day one that people were not very happy with him, that it wasn't really working out, the relationship wasn't great between them.

some of the players and him and so on and so forth. So I fully expect this to be the end for Lopetegui. If it's not, it will be, as I say, an extraordinary situation whereby he'll have to speak later in this week ahead of the FA Cup tie.

And how West Ham can try and carry on with him, I just do not know. So, yes, they've put all their eggs in one basket. Graham Potter, it looks like, will take the job. And I think the clincher there is that he appears to be the coach who's prepared to take it till the end of the season. Other coaches they approached in December said they wouldn't do that. They wanted longer contracts. They weren't prepared to...

to just come for a short-term deal but i think graham potter has decided that actually he may as well come now get himself back in the saddle as it were and try and earn a longer contract at west ham he had a very long deal at chelsea but he didn't last very long so he could argue that a longer contract isn't really worth it anyway but i think what he feels is this is the right opportunity for him

I would say that's not necessarily the case in some ways with the way things have worked out at West Ham, but I think he's a very fine coach and could be the right man for them at this stage. But it's been a very, very messy situation and an extremely messy day, really.

Yeah, I mean, the Guardian also are on this. Hammers set to swing axe. Miguel, I just want to pick up on your earlier point, which was that if talks break down with Graham Potter, I hear what Jason says about it maybe being a good fit with him, but Potter's been linked to numerous jobs over the last 18 months and hasn't landed one for whatever reason. You know, there is a... It could happen that Potter says no to this for whatever reason, and then where does that leave West Ham?

Well, I mean, although to be fair to Potter, I think a lot of the talk over the past 18 months, yes, maybe he would have aimed for some bigger jobs. But from my understanding, he's turned a lot down. But obviously in the last month or so, one of the things that has been constantly raised is

is that he is someone that Everton would look at to replace Sean Dyche once the new hierarchy is fully in place. I mean, I've heard that numerous times over the past month. And even tonight, there was even some talk about whether there would be an attempt to get him to Everton, whether there could be some sort of late move. But I think Jason's right in terms of not just that Lopetegui's future is untenable in terms of...

and performances and the general atmosphere of the club. When you've gone through a day like this, as he says, how can he sit down this week? It's almost like he almost has to go because of the way the day has gone. His authority has been completely undermined. Now, yeah, it does look like Potter will eventually go in. But if anything late happens, it creates an extraordinary situation for one that is already a little bit beyond belief.

Yeah, Jason, just thinking about West Ham, I mean, the last two games they've shipped nine goals, albeit against Liverpool and Manchester City, but they have leaked a few all season. We know that Potter likes to play this kind of progressive possession based style of football, which West Ham fans might enjoy. But is he the right fit for right now? And what is what could be a relegation scrap for them?

Yeah, no, it's a good point. I think actually up until recently, again, obviously we talked a lot about Lopetegui's future being in doubt, but I think there was a feeling that we're not in a relegation battle here. We'll get through this season. We'll actually make an assessment at the end of the season and in the summertime and maybe make the change then. Obviously the FA Cup tie is quite important, but actually they have been sucked in a little bit into this relegation battle. Obviously Wolverhampton have lost tonight, but they've picked up of late. Ipswich Town have picked up and suddenly it's only seven points.

that West Ham are clear of. And some of the performances recently have been very worrying. So I think they feel that they have to gamble and make that change. I think with Graham Potter, yes, there's a risk involved. There was a risk involved in bringing in any coach, but he has an awful lot of Premier League experience now. He did very, very well at Brighton. Perhaps unlucky at Chelsea with the hand he was dealt there in a difficult situation, although you could also be argued he struggled with the pressure. But I feel he's waited quite a long time for the right opportunity. He has, as Miguel says, turned down jobs.

along the way. As I said already, I think he feels that this is the right opportunity for him, the right size club, a big club with ambition. And he's not phased by the fact they want to take him for a short-term deal because maybe it might also work for him as well because if he does really, really well, then he strengthens his position and something else might come up in the summer. Or if he does really, really well, he might be able to negotiate a better contract than he would have been offered at this stage anyway. So I think he feels confident

Squad is underperforming, which I think most people feel it is. It's a good squad. And I think it's a good opportunity for him. So he probably reasons that getting back in now is the right time. He's been out long enough. And if he does a good job there at West Ham, he can get a longer term deal and get more control perhaps, or he can get a better offer somewhere else.

OK, let's move it on to the Monday night football then and use the telegraph here. Miguel, I mean, Nottingham Forest 3-0 at Molineux. It's no longer a surprise. It's certainly no fluke that Forest are where they are in the table. They've won at Everton. They've won at Manchester United. Obviously, they won earlier in the season at Anfield. And they find themselves level on points with Arsenal. This is some story.

Yeah, the manner of it, I thought was remarkable because of how easy they made it look. And I went into this game thinking, not that it was an acid test game, given some of the fixtures you mentioned there. But if a team is serious about, say, finishing top four or doing something special this season, these are the sort of games, a way to excite like wolves, just change manager. It can potentially be awkward. It can be difficult to play against.

These are the sort of games where it's suddenly quite easy to drop points. And they didn't do that. They just went and continued exactly what they're doing this season, which is reeling off these results. And at the moment, their points return is two per game, which would put them on, I think, just around 80 points for the season, which is remarkable for them. It's extreme overperformance. And when you look at the wage bill, say, compared to other clubs who would usually be in that position, it's remarkable performance.

And I do wonder whether there's something bigger here as well. I mean, one of the themes of the season, say, has been a lot of coaches, Postacoglu, Amarum, kind of conforming to or persisting with certain ideals of football, whereas Nuno has always been more of a pragmatist. And I do wonder whether his football is actually something that's truly distinctive in the modern game, that a lot of teams don't really play this way anymore, and suddenly it's become something that a lot of opposition sides don't know how to handle. Yeah.

Yeah, I thought that, Jason, when I saw Matt Sales, the keeper, kick a couple long and centre-backs had to head the ball clear. It was like going back in time. But yeah, I mean, credit to Forest. I mentioned that winner Anfield next up in the Premier League for them after FA Cup and in Liverpool's case, Carabao Cup semi-finals is Liverpool. If they were to do the double over Liverpool, then Forest, can they be taken seriously as a top four contender?

Title contenders, you know, I mean, this year's season is Leicester, who knows? I mean, I think that's unlikely, I've got to say. Obviously, circumstances are slightly different than when Leicester won the title a few years ago. I mean, I find the most remarkable thing about Forrest is the fact that they are 20th in the Premier League in terms of possession.

And as you say already, we talked a little bit about the style and, you know, nowadays with such a possession-based game in the Premier League and in football in general, it's seen as being the progressive way forward and the way to win. But Nuno is very unapologetic about the way they play and they're devastating on the counter-attack. And actually, it'll be fascinating next Tuesday under the lights at the City ground when Liverpool come. And, you know, who knows if they win that game, it could be

more than just a top four contender. I think it's brilliant for the Premier League. We need this. We need a club like Nottingham Forest showing the way, showing they can break up the top six again and that the complacency that sometimes grips some of those other teams, they just assume they're going to finish in the top five or six positions and get into Champions League football, has to be challenged. And we're seeing that not just by Nottingham Forest, but by other clubs as well. Bournemouth, they're having a fantastic season. Obviously, Fulham,

and other clubs as well. So it's good to see this. Well-coached, well-run clubs. Brighton in the past have done it, but obviously Forest have taken it that bit further. Taking on the sort of establishment, the bigger clubs who have all the money and all the apparent advantages, and I think more power to their elbow. And I'm going to be going to that game next Tuesday, and hopefully it'll be a great evening at the city grounds. Yeah, it'll be a fantastic atmosphere. Right, let's get to the back of the star.

The main headline there, Bayern bid to Nick Vick. This is Victor Jokeres, the sporting Lisbon player who was playing, of course, under Ruben Amirim. And it says here that Bayern Munich want to hijack Manchester United's bid to sign the Swedish striker. Miguel, tell us about this one.

I mean, it's an interesting one. Bayern have generally been a very well-run club in terms of planning succession. Yet there have been dips in the past few years, but usually they're quite good at this. And I suppose this is interesting in the context that obviously there's the figure of Harry Kane in the team, but we know they have been looking at an

at another forward for the past few years sesco who arsenal have looked at for us also like him and joker as i suppose is a similar sort of profile at least in terms of age and what they can do with him and it would yeah it would make complete sense for bayern munich to be uh to to be looking at a player who has been one of the revelations of european football over the past year and also there might be i mean like potentially exploiting a situation given that uh

Bayern Munich obviously have money to spend at the moment, whereas Manchester United need to make sales in order to buy. So suddenly, I mean, look, because of the Amram connection, a lot of people expect Jokeresh to go to United. But if they can't afford that sort of deal, there's a chance for someone else like Bayern.

Yeah, it's exactly the question I was going to put to Jason, Miguel. This £80 million buyout clause, at the moment Manchester United need sales. Talk about Rashford going on loan, that's not going to help that situation. They need to offload before they can get involved with the likes of Victor Jokeresha, £80 million.

Yeah, they absolutely do. I mean, I think they've got PSR concerns. Obviously, I've written in tomorrow's paper that Casemiro is edging closer to a move to the Saudi Pro League, which would be a big, big significant development for Manchester United because he's such a high earner on their wage bill that if they could move him on, then obviously that would give them some wriggle room.

As you say, Rashford is one that they're hoping to move on. Joshua Zirk's future is also in some doubt. I think he wants to stay, whether or not Manchester United actually want him to stay. I think the left-back position as well, they're going to try and get Nuno Mendes from PSG, but again, that's not going to be easy for them. It's going to be very, very difficult. They're going to have to trade. They're going to have to try and...

work a solution in terms of creating more space in the squad and more money. As Miguel says, they can't go out there and splash £80 million on Gokul Rose. It's just not going to happen in this window, I don't think. I don't think they can possibly do that. So if there is going to be some trading, it's going to have to involve players going. And as we know, in the past with Manchester United, it's been extremely difficult for them to move on players and they've not always done very, very good deals.

and I think it'll be a difficult month for them because lots of clubs know that they're in a situation where they're not desperate but they obviously want to trade, they want to do deals. I think the Casemiro one, if it does happen, will be quite significant because, as I say, that will be a big chunk of money that they can save but it doesn't actually help the pot in terms of transfer funds. So I think they'll have to be quite canny this month and try and do some significant loan deals if possible and

try and generate some cash, maybe a couple of sales if they can. Let's have a look at the mirror then. Ange Postacoglou, tell the truth, Ange, FA to demand, angry Spurs boss, explains what he meant in bizarre TV interview rants. Miguel, just explain this one to us.

Yeah, so I have to say what struck me more than his words was his tone, where he obviously seemed agitated. I mean, they had just been beaten, to be fair, and he did consider it. I mean, it was beating some controversy, but it wasn't necessarily the most composed interview. And he just kept repeating the same point about how they would have gotten a result, or he thought they would have gotten a result if all things were equal. And then despite persistent pressing, a very, very persistent pressing from the interviewer, refusing to elaborate.

And given the game involved some controversial refereeing decisions, it's hard not to put two and two together. Now, I have had people suggest to me that, oh, Postacogli was clever in trying to make a point in that way. I disagree. I think he's left himself open to something like this. And yeah, it's not a surprising development at all that they want clarity.

Jason, as an experienced football journalist, are you surprised? I mean, Miguel says he's not surprised that the FA want clarity. Are you surprised that over something like this they have got involved? And does this meet the threshold for any kind of charge, do you think? Or it is just a kind of... they want clarity? I suspect he won't be charged, but I think it's them trying to teach him a little bit of a lesson. You know, I think he's trying to be a little bit too clever by half.

I think actually what he's tried to do to a degree is avoid a charge by sort of not engaging with what exactly he meant by a level playing field. Now, the fact is, you know, obviously if he'd gone in there and said, oh, the referee was biased or the referee was this and that, then obviously he would get a charge. If he'd said, look, I just disagree with the decision on this and various other incidents, obviously I'm assuming he's alluding to the Joe Linton handball or not handball, he wouldn't have been charged.

because he's allowed his opinion. He's actually allowed his opinion on these things. And I feel that he just lost his temper a little bit too much.

And I think he went too far. And I think actually, you know, it's just not very appropriate for a manager to behave like this. I think the questions were very fair. And when managers do this quite a lot, they turn it back on the question and say, well, what's your opinion? Well, we give our opinions all the time. I think it was a handball. You know, I think it shouldn't have been a goal. OK, that's my opinion. But what my opinion doesn't matter. What matters is his opinion in that context, because he's being interviewed.

He's the manager of Tottenham Hotspur. We want his opinion. So I find it very wearing that managers do this. And I'm not surprised the FA are writing to him and asking for his thoughts on what he meant. And I think it should be a little bit of a lesson to him. I think he tries to be a bit too clever. And I think it's come back to bite him.

OK, we'll stay with the kind of manager's theme, but move on to the sun. And the two managers in question, Eddie Howe and Mikel Arteta, get in their heads, ramping up the mind games. I mean, Mikel, we see so many managers these days kind of complimenting each other and hugging each other on the touchline. Quite nice to see a little bit of needle ahead of a big semi-final. Yeah, and there's an increasing bit of history to this. I mean, these two teams have a few issues.

edgy games against each other over the past few years there's actually a little bit of tension maybe not necessarily tension but the Arsenal hierarchy are more outspoken on state or state linked ownership than other clubs although not necessarily about Newcastle as much but obviously they would have been pushing one of those clubs pushing for some of the regulations that Newcastle have been affected by but obviously the teams are different level

but in those games we have seen animosity the most striking one being that 1-0 last season when Newcastle got that victory over Arsenal and there was a statement released afterwards about the officiating yet again we're talking about officiating and managers but

But that has created a context to this game where obviously there's a trophy on the line that would mean a lot to Boat Club. It's more to Newcastle given the long wait. And yeah, it does add a real spice to this that the managers are obviously willing to use.

OK, we're going to stay with the sun, the top left corner. Silly, silly. Mark Bidd rejected Jason. This Crystal Palace are poised to reject a silly offer from Chelsea. That's a source from Palace saying that £55 million rated player England's Mark Gahee. Yeah, silly Bidd. Tell us about this.

Well, obviously there's an awful lot of speculation over Gehi's future in the summer. Newcastle United, we know, made a series of bids to try and sign him and offered more money than this. I guess from Chelsea's point of view, he is their former player, but from their point of view, it's

his contract is running down. He hasn't signed a new deal yet. So presumably they're arguing that we don't need to make the same level of bid that Palace indicated they would accept last summer, which Newcastle never got close to. But at the same time, there's no reason why Palace should accept this offer. And given their predicament at the moment and given the state of their season, it will be quite destabilising for them.

to lose Mark Gahey, having sold Joachim Andersen in the summer to Fulham. Obviously, they're picking up, they're getting better, they're improving, but they don't want to jeopardise the Premier League status. And I'd be fairly amazed if they do sell Gahey in this window. I wouldn't be surprised if he goes in the summer, but I would be

I'm really surprised if he goes now. I think Chelsea would have to make a much higher bid than this to even tempt Crystal Palace into agreeing to do so. And even then, they have resisted big bids in the past. They know how important it is to stay in the Premier League. And I'd be very surprised if their chairman, Steve Parrish, was entertaining this. But it's interesting also that Chelsea are going back in for Gahee, a player they obviously let go in the past for a lot less money.

Yeah, far more experienced now, of course, isn't he? Let's talk about a couple of transfers or possible transfers that might be a little bit more likely. Still with the sun, ration and exit routes. Miguel Marcos Rashford and Anthony will be handing Euro escape routes from their Manchester United misery.

Yeah, I mean, one of the big lines today that came out, I think it was through the last 48 hours, that Milan are interested in a loan for Rashford. Actually, just before we came on air, I was talking to someone about this who thinks it's maybe less likely. But so far, I suppose most of the interest in Rashford has been from abroad.

the cost of any potential deal for Rashford is something that is proving a little bit prohibitive at the moment. Anthony, of course, is a different case. I mean, given he doesn't have Rashford status, he came on that huge price from Ajax

And really, that's one where, whatever about the Rashford situation, United would really have to take a sort of a knockdown deal there. But again, as we spoke earlier in the show, this is the situation they're in. They do need to create both space in the squad, because there is a potential for a build-up that causes issues in itself, but also they need to create financial space to meet PSO requirements and allow Amram to kind of start the overhaul that he evidently badly feels they need. I mean, he's on record about it.