Sport

Another Manager Won’t Fix West Ham

West Ham United are in serious trouble this season, with relegation from the Premier League after 14 years an increasing possibility. In truth, their demise has been easy to see for some time, and there are numerous reasons for it. Reports in recent days have suggested they will sack their manager Nuno Espirito Santo after just three months in charge, but the reality is that would only exacerbate the problems, rather than solve them.

Nuno arrived having replaced Graham Potter, who himself only took over last season and survived less than a year. The manager is always the first port of call for blame when results are poor, but very few people could keep the Hammers afloat in this situation. Years of neglect, poor structural decisions and bad recruitment have put them on a hiding to nothing, less than three years after they won the Europa Conference League under David Moyes.

The work Moyes did at the London Stadium was remarkable at the time, but it will only be looked upon more favourably as time goes on. He was never universally popular with supporters due to the brand of football he played, and those fans have often been mocked for demanding a team that plays the unspecified ‘West Ham way’. The Scot was let go at the end of the 2023-24 season after his contract expired, leaving the club ninth in the Premier League. He was replaced by former Spain, Real Madrid and Wolves man Julen Lopetegui – a perceived bigger name – but he was soon replaced by Potter.

Arguably the worst part is, West Ham have failed to learn from their mistakes. They did exactly the same thing to Moyes back in 2018, allowing him to leave in order to bring in and back Manuel Pellegrini. But the former Manchester City boss failed and Moyes returned to rebuild superbly.

Last term, they dropped to 14th, but the severity of their plight was masked somewhat by the poor performance of promoted clubs Ipswich Town, Leicester City and Southampton, who only won 12 games between them. It was clear they were getting relegated from very early on.

With Sunderland and Leeds both performing well this term, there has been nowhere to hide. West Ham’s squad is ageing, slow and lacking in identity, having been cobbled together to suit the styles of different managers, Potter, for example, favours more possession-based, high intensity football, but it was always going to be difficult for him to implement those ideas in the time and with the tools at his disposal. Nuno was at least a cosier fit because he plays a counter-attacking style which was particularly successful at Nottingham Forest, whom he guided into Europe last season. But the mess he inherited was so vast, it was always going to take time and support from an unfit ownership to make an impact in East London.

While only speculation at this stage, the fact Nuno’s future is being allowed to face scrutiny in the media says a lot about his bosses and their lack of accountability. Changing manager again now will cost money, the new man will need time he’ll not get before the cycle resets. At the moment, with a five-point gap to safety, the situation looks increasingly irretrievable, but the best they can do is back Nuno in January and allow him to see the job through.

From West Ham’s perspective, Nuno is the best man for the job. He steered Forest away from danger before enjoying a stellar campaign under an equally difficult board structure led by the eccentric Evangelos Marinakis. Although a fall out between Nuno, Marinakis and Edu – brought in to oversee recruitment for Marinakis’ portfolio of clubs – led to the Portuguese’s acrimonious exit earlier this season, he’d proven, somewhat like Moyes, that he could shut out the noise and get to work.

Sacking him would not only be a mistake, but it would only further entrench the rotten values which set West Ham on this course to begin with.