It was a meeting with Brighton in March that represented the nadir of last season’s West Ham struggle, a 4-0 thrashing on the south coast heightening relegation fears and bringing the most vociferous criticism of David Moyes’s management heard all term.
It felt like end of days stuff, the relationship between fans and coach fractured seemingly beyond repair and if, with a European campaign only days from resuming, the calls for Moyes to be “sacked in the morning” seemed a touch fanciful, so too did the idea that the Scot would still be in situ now.
