Having survived only 138 days at Real Madrid, Julen Lopetegui will have arrived at West Ham under no illusions as to how long his honeymoon period might last. Even so, he should reasonably have expected it would be measured in weeks or months, not hours.
Yesterday, at 11am, the Hammers confirmed the Spaniard's appointment as David Moyes's successor. Five hours later, the FA chose a curious moment to slide a first major headache across the new head coach's desk: a spot-fixing charge against perhaps his most talented player and, in a simpler world, his most saleable asset.
