David Moyes fears West Ham’s players could become unsettled by the lack of clarity over his future heading into the second half of the season.
Moyes’s contract is due to expire at the end of the campaign and the Hammers boss insists he is personally relaxed about the situation.
The Scot came close to the sack on more than one occasion last term as the Hammers flirted with relegation, but was ultimately backed to stay on after ending the club’s 43-year trophy drought with the Europa Conference League triumph in June.
It is thought that no decision will be made over the his future until the end of the season, though reports have claimed that at this stage, he is unlikely to be offered an extension.
“I'm hugely comfortable with it,” Moyes said, of the prospect of entering the final six months of his deal. “I'd work with no contract. The contract isn't important for me, it's enjoying the job and as long as I'm hopefully getting enough wins to keep the board satisfied then that is what I have to do. Over the three years we've done pretty well.”
When asked whether the uncertainty could affect his players, however, Moyes said: “That is a different story. Knowing what is happening and with people in charge is important.
“I am happy to do it and I've got a great relationship with the club so I don't see any reason to panic about it.
“[But] we’ve got an awful lot of new players as well. It is another story. There is more change at clubs every year happening. More players changing round because of squad sizes. We've got a lot of new players who are just getting bedded in really.”
An indication of the club’s backing for Moyes could come during the January transfer window, though the Hammers have little wiggle room in complying with financial fair play regulations unless they sell players.
It had been suggested that a centre-forward would be top of the Hammers wishlist after they decided against directly replacing Gianluca Scamacca last summer. Jarrod Bowen has been successfully converted to striker this term, but Michail Antonio is currently sidelined through injury while neither Danny Ings or academy graduate Divin Mubama have been trusted to make a regular impact. Moyes, however, believes his squad is well enough stocked up top.
“I don’t think we do,” Moyes said, when asked whether he needs to sign a striker next month. “We’ve got Bowen, we’ve got Micky Antonio, we’ve got Danny Ings, we’ve got young Divin. It’s not numbers we need.
“If it’s something else we need then finding it, having it at the right cost and getting it becomes a hard thing. There’s a huge amount of teams looking for a centre-forward right now and I don’t think there’s many sitting there waiting to be plucked. Look at other clubs who’ve bought other centre-forwards and it’s not worked out.
“We’ve still got the ability to put Jarrod back wide if we think it’s not quite working. At the moment I still think it’s looking good. We’ve got Micky injured just now as well, which means I’ve got a chance to play Jarrod and have a look at it.”
Instead, the Hammers could target a new signing on the left-wing, where midfielder Lucas Paqueta has been deployed for much of this term.
“We’ve been a bit short on the left,” Moyes added. “Paqueta, it’s not his position but I think he’s done a good job for us there. It’s good competition we’ve got at the moment. We’ve tried to get our best players in the team and we’ve just about done that and it’s kept us with some really good results.”
