David Moyes is on the brink of being fired by West Ham, who will give serious consideration to making a change if they lose at Fulham and plunge deeper into relegation trouble on Saturday.
Moyes is expected to be safe if he picks up at least a draw but he is running out of time to save his job. West Ham are out of the bottom three on goal difference and there is major alarm at board level after the humiliating 5-1 home defeat by Newcastle on Wednesday.
The club have been keen to keep faith with Moyes, in part because they have not been able to identify a suitable replacement. The former Everton and Manchester United manager insisted he retained the hierarchy’s support after the Newcastle game. Moyes can argue he has done a decent job since returning to West Ham in December 2019 and he has successfully made it through at least two make-or-break fixtures this season.
West Ham have remained patient and, along with Nottingham Forest, are one of only two clubs in the bottom half of the Premier League not to have sacked their manager. Sources close to the board have previously insisted that David Sullivan, the largest shareholder, was determined to stick with Moyes. Those assurances disappeared after the defeat by Newcastle.
However there is no guarantee that Moyes will go if Fulham beat West Ham, who have won only one away game in the league. It has been stressed that a lack of candidates could drag out the issue. It is understood there is a slim chance of Brendan Rodgers taking over after his departure from Leicester. Graham Potter wants to wait until the summer for his next job after his sacking by Chelsea.
West Ham are aware that Rafael Benítez would be willing to step in but they do not want to give the Spaniard a long-term deal. Another possibility is placing Mark Warburton, part of Moyes’s backroom staff, in interim charge.
West Ham have hoped that Moyes, who led them into Europe in consecutive seasons, can revive his fortunes. The season could yet end in European glory – West Ham play the first leg of their Europa Conference League quarter-final at Gent next Thursday and are favourites to win the competition.
But their awful defending against Newcastle raised questions over whether Moyes’s message is getting through. The Guardian has previously reported that some figures in the dressing room have been expressing doubts over their manager’s tactics. The mood has been described as low by well-placed sources.
