It would be fair to say that Paco Jemez was West Ham’s unsung hero last season, rescuing Nuno and his winless Hammers from their headline dive towards oblivion and almost – alongside his former team mate in the dugout – almost pulling off the great escape 2.0.
Jemez’ arrival last January coincided with West Ham’s winning sequence, starting with a memorable 2-1 away win at Tottenham and the start of a decent FA Cup run which gave the Hammers momentum.
Almost worked a miracle: Jemez and Nuno were an excellent team
There were hopes that Nuno’s assistant would stay on in his role after relegation, but the Hammers chose another path with assistant manager Rui Pedro Silva on board for the championship season.
Jemez has now taken his own step back into club management but evidently still keeps tabs on his former club, according to sport witness.co.uk – and he’s seen enough to make his mind up on the Irons’ prospects for promotion this season after falling just short of the required points tally to survive last year:
“We made a tremendous recovery, but it wasn’t enough to save us.
I’m convinced he’ll get the promotion, to bring West Ham back to the Premier League.
He’s [Nuno Espírito Santo] a hard worker, very dedicated to what he does.”
And Jemez clearly holds both the football club and his former colleague Nuno in the highest regard, despite moving onto pastures new:
He’s the coach, I had to respect him. I’m grateful because I got to know the Premier League from the inside. I loved the club.”
Fans took to Jemez who wore his heart on his sleeve and disagreed with Nuno in a very public fallout from within the dugout when they were not aligned on changes: Many would have him back in a heartbeat and it seems there’s no dulling of affection from afar. One day, Paco, one day.