Former England strikers Gary Lineker and Stan Collymore have disagreed in their verdicts on David Moyes’ future at West Ham United.
In his third full season at the club since returning to the London Stadium in December 2019, a disappointing 14th placed finish in the Premier League has been some way off top seven finishes of the previous two campaigns. However, on Wednesday night, West Ham face Italian side Fiorentina on Wednesday night in Prague in the final of this season’s Europa Conference League, with a first trophy for 43 years and a place in next season’s Europa League up for grabs.
Alongside Nottingham Forest, West Ham were the only side to finish in the Premier League’s bottom half not to change manager midway through the season and despite spending much of the campaign battling for survival, a strong end to the season and a European final can leave West Ham’s board feeling somewhat vindicated for not gambling with a new manager earlier this season.
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Speaking about his former club and beloved Leicester City, who did change manager but suffered relegation, former England and Barcelona striker Lineker said that Leicester should have stuck with Brendan Rodgers as manager, citing the Hammers and Forest as examples of why a change was not needed.
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“I felt Brendan Rodgers had done enough to earn the right to keep Leicester up,” Lineker told BBC’s Match of the Day.
“When you look at the teams that did stay up. Bournemouth kept their manager. Nottingham Forest kept their manager. West Ham kept David Moyes and they got rewarded for that.”
However, long-term, three-time England international Collymore thinks that in order for West Ham to keep building on an impressive few years under Moyes, regardless of the result against Fiorentina, West Ham should call time on Moyes’ run as manager.
Speaking on Moyes, Collymore says that West Ham should change tactics and turn to a younger manager this summer.
“If West Ham are looking to grow as a club, they should be saying thanks for the memories to David Moyes after the Europa Conference League final, regardless of the result – and move for a progressive, younger manager,” Collymore told the Sunday People.
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