Most of the players had drifted away, but several were still in the dressing room, along with their manager.
The atmosphere in Frankfurt on May 5 last year could not have been more different to that in Prague on Wednesday night.
West Ham had just been beaten by the German team in the Europa League semi-final and David Moyes was devastated.
“I’m just fed up with being the nearly man,” said the manager, who had again come so close but had failed to seal the deal.
Now, however, after his side’s Europa Conference League triumph, Moyes is no longer that nearly man.
His captain Declan Rice had the presence of mind, amid the celebratory mayhem that followed the 2-1 victory over Fiorentina, to deflect questions about his future and instead pay tribute to his ‘gaffer’, even suggesting that Wednesday’s feat elevates Moyes to the stature of the club’s best-ever manager.
Rice’s opinion has merit, although contentious when pitted against the credentials of West Ham icons such as Ron Greenwood and John Lyall.
Consider first Greenwood, a man of admirable principal and coaching prowess. Greenwood joined the Hammers in 1961 from Arsenal, where he was assistant to George Swindin.
Those who played under him, including World Cup trio Bobby Moore, Sir Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters, all agreed that, as a coach, he was second to none.
He was ahead of his time, and his innovative coaching ability resulted in West Ham winning the FA Cup in 1964 and the European Cup Winners’ Cup the following season.
West Ham’s League form was more problematic, although his team did finish sixth in the top division in 1973.
His man-management was also criticised, particularly when he was offered a deal to sign England’s great goalkeeper Gordon Banks but instead told a querulous Moore he had already given his word to Kilmarnock he would sign their keeper, Bobby Ferguson.
West Ham avoided relegation by just one point in 1974 and Greenwood became general manager of the club, with his protege Lyall taking over team responsibilities. Lyall’s style, which paired Greenwood’s expansive philosophy with the addition of pragmatism, helped West Ham to an FA Cup triumph in 1975 and a Cup Winners’ Cup Final the following year.
In 1978, West Ham were relegated to the Second Division, where they remained until 1981. Lyall stayed at the helm and steered his team to a victory over Arsenal in the 1980 FA Cup Final and the quarter-finals of the Cup Winners’ Cup the following season.
He also helped the Hammers to their highest ever League position of third in 1986 but was sacked three years later, following relegation. Lyall’s players all had great regard for his coaching ability and the connection he forged with them.
Greenwood and Lyall were in charge at a time far away from the financial stresses and strains of the Premier League and the strident criticism of social media.
Moyes, unlike Greenwood and Lyall, has twice been brought in to stave off relegation and has also progressed the club to sixth and seventh in the Premier League and a semi-final, followed by final success, in Europe.
Despite that enviable record, he was subjected to harsh criticism last season, as his side struggled in the Premier League.
Moyes is a demanding manager, on his players, his staff, but most of all on himself. He might well go on to become, as Rice contends, the club’s best-ever manager, but he needs that most precious commodity for a manager in modern football — time.
