David Moyes will be in charge of the team against Bournemouth on New Years Day after the Hammers put together an agreed 18 month deal this afternoon (Sun).
And he is likely to pick up the same £2 million bonus if he saves the club from relegation as he did his first spell in charge before making way for Manuel Pellegrini.
The Hammers have been in touch with the 56 year old Scot for several weeks as the Hammers hit a terrible form slump and after the sacking of the Chilean last night, a phone call was put into the former interim boss who immediately jumped into his car and travelled south.
He and Chris Hughton were the only names in the frame finally as there was no time to negotiate a deal with a manager in work and no desire anyway to pay further compensation on top of the £7m-£10 million it has cost them to sack Pellegrini and his team.
He is expected to take up training duties immediately and it seems likely that one of his first moves will be to play three at the back as was the case when he rescued the Hammers last time round.
He could hardly have a tougher set of matches this month with Bournemouth at home on Wedesday, followed by a tricky FA Cup clas at Gillingham before he travels to Sheffield United, entertains Everton and then has games against Leicester City (away) and Liverpool at home.
A sad day for the fans. It has just dawned on me we have a terrible board and soon a terrible manager. Goodbye to the PL.
It’s done then whether we like it or not. Now let’s get behind this and give it a fair chance. Far better than sticking with Pellegrinis lost world!
Well said Martyn.
The only selection criteria was who was the cheapest option.
Oh dear what a bad mistake , don’t tell me you agree with the appointment Hugh. He has a bad win percentage and the football is bland . We are in the now., clueless board. That’s the way to get the fans onside ah .?
I see absolutely no alternatives. I remember maybe half a dozen people complaining when MP was appointed, now blame for it is being thrown in all directions. Ludicrous. I’ve supported this club for nearly 60 years and accept we are a bread and butter club and now have a bread and butter manager.
Why not Meresca as an interim until end of the season if the stories were true he would of had the players backing.
It’s also a question of whether the current owners will sell. Until then its bread and butter but no jam…
Which is fine if we hadn’t been offered much better as the reason for moving from UP to a not fit for purpose rented athletics stadium in the middle of a barren industrial park. We didn’t create these expectations they were created and sold to us – falsely it seems – as a reason for moving. No-one ever supported West Ham because we were successful. But we had a certain identity, spirit, solidarity, togetherness about us. We were, in the main, respected in the game. That has all gone thanks to Sullivan.
I didn’t want to move but your points are useless as there’s no way back
No alternative, whats wrong with Kovac. Ambition and money’s the no alternative. Offer poch Pellegrini’s contract , i think he would of been intrested or at least we would of got a answer.
Porch? Come on we have to be realistic this is a guy being touted for Madrid. I guarantee if the board went for poch to at least “get an answer” there would be plenty here slating them for being embarrassing and amateurish.
I am not overjoyed with Moyes but Hugh is right the lack of alternatives is a challenge. I’d be more inclined to take what the board probably deems too big a risk and appoint someone young and progression but perhaps with no / little prem experience but clearly they think safety is more likely to be achieved with Moyes and there are plenty of valid arguments for that position whether you or I agree with it
Absolutely spot on Mate .been supporting them 48 years now
Chris Hughton, OMG !
There would have been civil unrest.
Wins 3 of his last 22 games at Brighton and gets the sack, but West Ham are interested !
Still, doesn’t look like that will happen so water under the bridge.
Good luck, Dave, you”re gonna need it – got a big job on your hsnds mate !
Let’s get behind him and start climbing the table!
Just a greedy money grabbing board , will be a mid table club now for as long as DM is here, best we can hope for is cup run , will he have any money to spend in jan , who knows .
Moyes is the right choice for the job ,he done well last time when the team was doomed to go down . Stop looking at the wins we had under moyes because before him we couldnt buy a win he was left a poor team to get out of trouble i will be right behind the guy he deserves his chance .
There were alternatives but our board lack the foresight, ambition and are not willing to pay for any thi g other than the mediocre. We have gone backwards under them, a decade fast on promise but oh so slow on delivery. We are slowly being strangled by Sullivan.
At last the fraud has been sacked!! Now hopefully back to Moyes who in my opinion had got us playing good football, and very tough to beat by the end of the season he was with us.
FFS do you really believe that we now want another foreign manager who would cost us a fortune when we are starring at relegation. Let’s give him a chance and thank him again to come and help us out of a massive big hole. Some of you might want to watch Championship football but I don’t I travel 200 miles to see my beloved club
Just reading all the comments it would appear a lot of people would be happier if we got relegated. He did the job last time lets hope he can do it this.Then if successful which im sure he will see where we go from there.As for the owners not overly impressed.
Moyes is exactly what we need. British managers are making a comeback now it seems. Maybe we’ve finally realised how many foreign managers have came seen and failed miserably.
Let’s get behind the guy. Three at the back sounds better to me. Thought he was unlucky not to be offered a contract after saving us before. And he did a remarkable job with Arnie. (Am trying to forget the Hugill blip)…. Lets hope he brings in a better striker next month….With Anderson and Fornals finding form, maybe improvement is just round the corner, especially with Fab back. Bring on Bournmouth!
(Am trying to forget the Hugill blip)
lol you wil be seeing a lot of him now
Well the deed has been done.
I personally think its relegation time again and only time will tell if DM is the man to get us out of the hole we are in…
One thing for sure.If we do go down.
A lot of players will disappear…
The Vultures will be circling…
Well, all those that are moaning already, hold your breath. Support Moyes and see where we end up. We all know where we were heading and it was not europe!!. I supported MP, and have been let down. Moyes did a job. Let’s steady the ship and in 18 months look for a new manager
Not many alternatives being offered along with the vitriol….Alf Ramsey anyone?
Who do you think we can attract at this stage of the season? Moyes is not attractive but effective and the squad is a step up from when he was last in charge. With some investment in January in a centre half, centre mid and attack we could have a decent second half. 3-5-2 looks a balanced formation given the squad. COYI
Great news moyes did Ia fantastic job last time and should of got the job full time. Let’s all get behind the new manager and stop winging like a bunch of spoilt school kids.
Hugh you hit the nail of the head, the manager and board are now on the same level.
Look give him a fair crack. Who is available?
We can’t wait for somebody to come along as we are in deep trouble now.
In theory he has a better team to work with and at least shows passion. He saved us before and will save us again.
Sorry, fprgot to add, bread & butter owners.
Not really any alternative out there? The very least he’ll do is get them fit and running. The team lacks energy and motivation and above all, confidence! The work rate is appalling, and at least they’ll fight unlike now
The job now is get us safe then get this board out of our club. They obviously never learn a thing and mug off the fans every season. Riots a plenty once were safe and can anyone see our best players staying with this boring manager here for long ? We need a owner of West ham one of the richest clubs in the world to actually take the club forward and that’s certainly not this money grabbing lot after being given years to invest and only 100mill spent in two seasons spells once again catastrophe. Choices were for letting the backroom staff stay till end of season and choose from the selection after. Or get in bayern ex kovac now and progress but hey once again fans don’t matter and the clueless board will choose a manager that wasted 10 million on hugil who earnt the moyes family a nice earner and showed he has no idea on what’s needed.
nobody could understand why Pellegrini refused to change his system ever. Play with a back three was something many thought was called for. Reason is because that’s how Moyes fixed us the first time round.
Can’t wait for Moyes to get to work with this motley bunch of rag bags.
100% right decision . No point in going around in circles talking about . Let’s just get behind the Manager and stop being so negative .
Yes, indeed. The inevitable has finally happened … Pelligrini fired, and Moyes re-instated. Twas totally wrong not have given Moyes and his team full reigns. All wrong for too long. Now let’s get behind the new gaffer, who really has his work cut out. Now we need to get back to winning ways again. Coyi. God bless West Ham.
How come it’s only just dawned on you that we have a terrible board johnham1? Where have you been for the last decade?
Wake up and smell the coffee, the board are one of the main reasons that West Ham will not attract a decent manager. Remember why Martin O’Neill had a change of heart?
Moyes identified many failings last time – a poor squad that is unfit, poor training facilities, poor recruitment, lack of investment, lack of ambition etc, etc, etc. Lo and behold, he comes back 18 months later to find it’s pretty much Groundhog Day.
He may not be everybody’s cup of tea but he will at least galvanise and organise the squad into something resembling a fit football team with a tactical sense of purpose. And if he does that he may well just preserve our PL status! And that must surely outweigh any personal disliking of the man. After all, what’s another 18 months with a board that’s done diddly squat for the last decade?
If the board are the true West Ham fans they say they are, they will use the next 18 months to set the club up with a proper identity based on an principle that puts progressive & sustainable football above all and employs professional people from top to bottom to achieve those objectives. And then do the decent thing and Go!
The difference between Moyes now and then is he has a worse squad now with few options to change things.
They need 4-5 players in the next couple of weeks just to turn the tide of this lazy group and get some legs in the team.
I can see Anderson and Lanzini being dropped, moyes won’t take players not running back and defending.
Maybe he can get Haller playing/ running and get some fight in the team.
Good luck to him and the new , old coaches.
Moyes’s first job will be let’s see if we can recall Hugill ffs
RIP west ham
Yet another nail in the West Ham coffin. It’s such a sad time for this wonderful club with by far the best supporters in the land. If we was looking to bring back anyone it should have been Slav or Redknapp on a short term contract. He will probably keep us up and so he should with the squad we have but he is NOT a good or quality manager.
Some of you on here make me laugh, I’ve been a hammer for 50 years there ain’t no west ham way not for 30 years Moyes will get the best out of these bunch we need to stay in the Prem, they should have kept Moyes last time , we ain’t got the dosh to be top four well not with these owners, we just need to get on with it that’s the west ham way now support our beloved Hammers.
He did well before in the hope of a contract extension. He wasn’t really given too much financial backing and he is being judged on a half season stint in which he got us up to 13th and clear of danger. Any manager needs time and money to build a good team. He made Everton a stable premiership constant so lets just get behind him and hope the board do the same financially.
It’s all incredibly depressing but you reap what you sow. The club is a complete embarrassment. Everything we do is do half arsed. Stadium move, public statements, board, strategy, transfer policy, the list goes on. I don’t want Moyes, I’m sure none of you do but he’s probably the best realistic option right now. Plan A now has to be stay up. Just get behind him.
The result of our failing system is a squad never capable of ridding itself of deadwood as the cycle of failure continues. Players are seldom bought with thoughts of progression – but more often as emergency cover for a previous failure. Nine years into the Sullivan experiment and here we are still sitting at Year Zero.
I’m just happy I can start supporting West Ham again after hoping for the worst just to make Pellegrini position unattainable! I get Moyes isn’t a fashionable choice but he’s a solid appointment. Hopefully he’ll turn to a young British approach and give us a team who care about the shirt. People go on about his win percentage last time around but he’d inherited a car crash team on the back of Billic’s disastrous second season! Yet It was still equal to Pellegrini who has had adequate funds to spend and 2 pre seasons. Howe would have been great but I for one will be hoping Moyes can pick up with all the positives we saw in his last game in charge against Everton. COYI!!!
I`m new here but good to see the fickle WH supporters coming out. You wanted someone like Pelle and it was s**t. Nothing wrong with Moyes, give him a chance, look what he did long term with Everton. Nah, you all want instant results and not build a solid team.
Spot on Michaelo
Feel like ripping up the season ticket. Disgusting appointment. 29% win ratio – Avram Grant has 32%.
Rank club – rank board – RANK manager
It’s now official we are average football club with average owners and now a very average manager. But with the best supporters in the land. Sad sad times ahead we deserve so much more⚒
So disappointing to see people talk about Moyes in such disrespectful fashion. some of our fans need to get over themselves. who do they think WE are as a club? i always thought Pellegrini was a ruse, that we were having the wool pulled over our eyes. Moyes will put our defence right, the biggest problem we have right now, and ‘scare’ some of our boys into playing for the shirt. from there, the attacking players can be more confident to go for it instead of faffing about with the ball.
Survival is imperative and i don’t see too many better than him available at the moment. he was given a spade to shovel sh#t with at sunderlan and manure so they don’t count, in my view. AND…AND….he’s British, which seems to count for so much to so many of you in the comments of late i qon’t give my opinion on that matter as i may start a war between allied countries🙄
i look forward to reading your thank yous to Mr. Moyes for turning it around for us…again, come May
It’s been said before on this site and Hugh posted a blog by someone else about it and I’m going to repeat it. Some sections of WH supporters need to take a good look in the mirror and consider whether their own actions will contribute to the demise of this club. It’s typical blame everyone else mentality while they post negative comment after negative comment and no doubt take that attitude into the ground with them. The truth is, a section of our fan base is toxic, constantly moaning, slagging the board, moaning about the stadium. Football is a passionate sport and by all means get angry every now and then but if you can’t and don’t want to contribute anything positive then do one.
If you are a WHU supporter, then support. No ones forcing you to part with your hard earned cash so if you don’t like what’s being served up then don’t part with it.
Moyes hasn’t even started and already this forum is full of negative comment after negative comment and threats of marches and protests. Yeah cos that’s a recipe for success!
As a fan you have one responsibility, support your team through thick and thin and make your home as loud and intimidating as possible for the opposition no matter what. You cannot put that responsibility on anyone else or anything else, like the stadium for example. That place rocks when the effort is man by the supporters.
REALITY
As.others said,.lets get behind him. Priority 1. Stay up. And disagree with Hugh. Only way to do that is clear out that defence and restructure.
no Choice now have to get behind him and hope I am wrong, unless he has had a brain transplant from Klopp I think we will be in for more dross he served up when he was last here.
Remember going to arsenal in the quarter final of the cup with him and didn’t have a shot on target, lost 3 nil at home to Burnley and 4-1 at Swansea to name a few …… he also played cresswell in a back 3 (he can’t even play in a back 4 in he’s preferred position)
He’s signings for us Hughill and Evra.
As I said at the start will get behind him, not he’s fault he’s been put in charge, he needs to get off to a flyer or there will be murders over there again …..
Irving and Pearce were as important as the manager and I hope they’re back as well. My only worry is about bargain basement transfers (end of career players and relegation pickings instead of talented youngsters). For my money he’s a good fit.
Nice to see Slav doing well.
Sack Pellegrini, sack the Board, David Moyes is a bad appointment blah blah blah….
Are we not forgetting a certain group of people when we’re dishing out the criticism? Surely the PLAYERS have a huge level of accountability for the situation we’re in. Remember what was said by some of the players when Bilic left – ‘he was too soft’ and Pellegrini has never exactly come across as a taskmaster. What does that tell you about a bunch of schoolboys who seem more intent on putting pranks on YouTube and Twitter than getting on the training ground and putting right that shameful stat that they’ve been outrun in almost every game this season. I’m not mad keen on Moyes but let’s give the bloke a chance, at least he might put a huge rocket up the backsides of these pathetic pranksters and get them ‘earning’ their ridiculous wages.
Would Moyes be my first choice…No! But we do not have the clout to attract the likes of Pochettino, or our player budget would have gone on his wages. I think that giving Moyes 18 months is a sensible option; if he does really well and surprises us then bonus, but worst case scenario, he will steady the ship. Whether you like him or not, this is who have got. I for one will get behind him 100%.
Maybe this isn’t the backward step some fans seem to think it is. Maybe the board got it wrong 18 months ago and appointed Pellegrini instead of giving Moyes the job on a permanent basis. Understandable because of what Pellegrini had done at Man City but maybe alarm bells should have rang after he ended up in China after being replaced at Man City On the subject of the board, I think Sullivan has always said he would sell the club if a billionaire came in who could take the club forward. Since they’ve taken over, such a buyer has failed to materialise and so the board are left to run the club as best they can and support their managers as best they can. I don’t think Pellegrini can argue about the funds he was given and I’m sure the board didn’t interfere when a 3 year contract was handed out to Wiltshire or an attacking midfielder was brought in the last window as opposed to a workhorse, defensive midfielder the club so desperately needed. I’m sure they will back Moyes too and I for one would rather them spend money on transfers rather than compensation on getting a manager who is currently employed or take the risk of appointing another manager who has been sacked and has no experience in managing in the Prem or no experience in a dog fight relegation battle (Moyes has experience of both). I can see how a 5-3-2 or 5-4-1 formation that hopefully Moyes will play would suit the team better. Masuaku and Fredericks would be great as wing backs. Rice can still be the holding midfielder and I think it would be a system that would suit Fornals and Lanzini. As for Haller not being able to play as a lone striker, I’m not so sure. He started as a lone striker at the start of the season and was scoring goals. Maybe the problem started when the team stopped creating chances from him by just passing the ball around with no intent or purpose and he ended up having to create and trying to score his own opportunities. Sorry for the long post. Feel free to disagree, I’m sure many of you well. .
I know Sullivan and his gang filled us with empty promises(push for champions league… My ass) which is why many fans are angry but If we had got Guardiola some fans above would have still moaned. We are West Ham not Liverpool…. So stop moaning and get behind the team. While Sullivan is at the helm nothing will change. At least its not Houghton or worse Fat Sam!
I posted yesterday that points per game is a better statistic for comparing managers than win percentage
Moyes won 9/31 and drew 1/31 giving 37 points in 31 games or 1.19 points per game which translates to 45 points over a 38 game season – which will guarantee safety
Currently we have 19 points from 19 games or exactly 1 point per game or 38 points over the season – which might or might not be enough for safety
I think that this season we have been undone by a lack of draws (maybe since they do not reflect a “big team mentality”) – personally I would have felt better for example if we had held on to draw with Palace (twice) and “respected the point” against Leicester on Saturday night
Since I was one who felt that Moyes should have been given a chance I will get behind him and hope that he can steer us clear of relegation – it will be tough with Watford resurgent but if we can get enough points we do not need to worry about the teams below us
I hope the stories about Stuart Pearce are true – I really like the guy
COYI
Why is it that any critical analysis of D.S is censored on this site? Surely his role in recruitment over the last decade can’t be ignored.
It’s not – feel free. Don’t talk rubbish Roman – there’s enough being spouted on Twotter
At last some people that sound like proper hammers all that matters is still being in the Prem I wouldn’t care who the manager is as long as the team is together and we are back winning football games let’s just get behind DM and his team the only thing to do is stick together.
Totally agree. Let’s be positive. Lots of talk about the appointment of DM shows a lack of ambition. My ambition for the rest of this season is for us to get enough points to remain in the Premiership. DM just managed to keep us up before by getting the squad fitter and more organised. Fine by me. Looking forward to hearing about Stuart Pearce giving a ‘team talk’ to any squad member who’s not putting enough effort in. COYI.
COYI