Famous manager told to reject West Ham as Lopetegui replacement

Former Celtic star Chris Sutton has made it clear he doesn’t think Brendan Rodgers should “downgrade” and take over as West Ham United manager if they decide to sack Julen Lopetegui.

Lopetegui is safe as West Ham manager for the time being, CaughtOffside understands, but there has been understandable speculation about the Spanish tactician’s future after such a poor start to the season.

Rodgers has previously done impressive work in the Premier League with spells with Liverpool and Leicester City, though things also ended badly for him in both of those jobs.

The Northern Irish tactician is now in his second spell in charge of Celtic, where he’s done well, and it’s perhaps not too surprising to see him being linked with a move back to England.

Still, Sutton is far from convinced Rodgers would take the West Ham job if it became available.

Responding to a fan during a debate on BBC Radio 5 Live, Sutton said: “He (Rodgers) wouldn’t want to downgrade to West Ham from Celtic.”

It will be interesting to see if this proves accurate, but one imagines the big money from the Premier League and the chance to live in London could swing things in the Hammers’ favour, even if Celtic are a huge club.