The boos rang out on several occasions at London Stadium last season as West Ham United supporters voiced their discontent with the perceived lack of effort of their ‘superstars’ who failed to pick up the necessary points for survival.
Typical images of demoralised supporters on relegation day in May summed up exactly how the fan base felt after the emotional roller coaster of th previous two seasons, involving first a ‘near miss’ and then actual eviction from the Premier League.
And it seems Nuno Espírito Santo remembers too – and is on something of a ‘rescue mission’ to rebuild fan-player relationships.
As described this morning, West Ham’s boss has evidently never forgotten fellow manager Neil Warnock’s words, reflecting on his own experience as a young Sheffield United fan: Apparently Warnock the fan waited for hours in the pouring rain outside the gates to see his heroes only to be brutally snubbed by the players.
Nuno’s engagement with his fans worked at Nottingham Forest and it is working at West Ham United
That memory prompted Warnock the manager to make sure he always gave the fans his time and, more importantly, encourage his players to do likewise. Evidently those words have left a deep impression on West Ham’s manager too.
As per the sun.co.uk, Nuno gets his driver to stop at the training ground gates so he can spend time meeting the fans, never forgetting the importance of winning over the youngsters. As Nuno told the newspaper:
“Neil got it right. He suffered as a kid and learned not to make that mistake. I’ll try never to make that mistake.
“Sometimes it’s not possible to meet everyone because of the time and when that happens I always regret it.
“They stay there for hours. You cannot ignore the effort our fans make to have a simple photo. It shows respect.”
As the Sun puts it, “That single word — RESPECT — is the golden rule that underpins everything Nuno does at West Ham”
And compared with his two predecessors, he’s doing a pretty good job.
After a tumultuous summer, the decision to keep Nuno as the ‘continuity’ figurehead, to start repairing West Ham’s off-field relationship with their fans, is looking a shrewd move.
On the pitch – it might not be perfect and sometimes it might not be pretty. We’ll have to wait until May next year to be sure but it’s looking good so far.