The future of West Ham United manager David Moyes is being assessed on a game-by-game basis at present with the Hammers back into the relegation zone.
Moyes’ second spell at the London Stadium has given West Ham some of the highest highs in the club’s history, finishing sixth and seventh in the Premier League as well as reaching the semi-finals of the Europa League after a run that included famous wins over Sevilla and Lyon.
Upon his return to the Hammers in December 2019, Moyes inherited a side that at the time were in serious threat of relegation and sat 17th in the top-flight standings.
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His first task was to get West Ham safe, which he accomplished, but what happened in the two years that followed, even he could not have predicted. In the 2020/21 season, West Ham finished sixth in the table, their highest finish in a top-flight season for 22 years, qualifying them for the group stages of the Europa League in the following campaign.
Despite perhaps not having a deep squad and injury issues to contend with, West Ham put together a league campaign that saw them finish seventh, as well as a run to the semi-finals of the Europa League, qualifying them for this season’s Europa Conference League, where they have once again performed well.
But while it has so far been a season to remember once again in Europe, it has been everything but that domestically. Saturday’s 1-0 loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers leaves West Ham 18th in the table and, certainly based on league positions, in a worse place now than they were when Moyes came back to the club three years ago.
Off the pitch, things are rosier. They invested £160million on eight summer signings, many of which are international stars for top nations such as Brazil, France and Italy. However, Moyes has not been able to get the best results out of them. Injuries, decision-making and fine margins have all mounted up to make this season even harder than it was always going to be.
West Ham want to be a club that are regularly in Europe and, under Moyes, they have started to be that. Domestically though, the season has only gone in one direction and not the one the Hammers want it to be.
With one point from a possible 21 available in the last seven games, West Ham fans have been very vocal about wanting a change in manager. Considering the names linked, Rafael Benitez and Nuno Espirito Santo, neither can provide that much optimism.
West Ham host Everton on Saturday with the two sides 18th and 19th in the table. Regardless of that result, the Hammers board need to be decisive after facing the Toffees with what they do. Either stick with Moyes for the season, or get someone in as soon as possible if they want a change in direction.
After Saturday’s Everton clash, they are not back in Premier League action for a fortnight, where they will start a run of three straight league games against Newcastle United, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur. Regardless of if Moyes is in charge or not, that run is not likely to return that many points, so it is a good chance to bed in a new manager, if West Ham choose to act that way.
Two weeks is a long period to get a replacement manager in, should West Ham feel necessary too. Yes, there is the trip to Derby County in the fourth round of the FA Cup, but West Ham have plenty of coaches at the club capable of taking that game, such as Billy McKinlay, Paul Nevin, Mark Warburton and Kevin Nolan, should the worst happen for Moyes. Better still, if they replaced him, it would give them an extra game at Derby County, if a quick appointment was made.
West Ham may pull the trigger and would be within their rights to do so if Saturday does not go to plan, but the days following that game have to be the exact moment where the club stick or twist - win, lose or draw.
Newcastle, Chelsea and Spurs are all contenders for European football and could conceivably qualify for the Champions League next season. West Ham meanwhile need to avoid dropping into the Championship.
After those three games is Nottingham Forest at home, a must-win, even if West Ham get back on track. Whoever is going to take charge of the rest of the season needs to be ready to do so for then.
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