West Ham United are expected to appoint Scott Parker as head coach after sacking Nuno Espirito Santo, the 52-year-old Portuguese head coach who has paid the price for the club’s disappointing start to the Championship season.
Nuno oversaw West Ham’s relegation from the Premier League last season. It is understood the club are in advanced talks with former Burnley, Bournemouth and Fulham boss Parker, and he could be confirmed before Wednesday’s Championship trip to Cardiff City.
The former England midfielder spent four seasons as a player with the Hammers. As a manager, he led Bournemouth and Burnley to promotion from the Championship.
Widely seen as favourites for automatic promotion, the London side are currently eighth in the table, six points behind leaders Middlesbrough. They have won two of their last six games and have lost back-to-back home matches, going down 3-2 to Southampton and then 3-1 to West Bromwich Albion on Saturday. Those defeats have seen them drop from second place.
Assistant head coach Rui Pedro Silva and goalkeeper coach Rui Barbosa have also left the club. Mark Noble, Steve Potts and Gerard Prenderville will take temporary charge for the trip to Cardiff City on Wednesday night.
In a statement, West Ham said: “Following a thorough review of the start to the EFL Championship season, the board of directors believe that a change is necessary at this time in order to ensure that the club’s objectives and expectations remain on track.”
The club added: “West Ham United would like to thank Nuno, Rui and Rui for their hard work and commitment during their time at the club, and wish them all the very best for the future. The process of recruiting a new head coach is already under way.”
A turbulent period in the dugout
The decision means West Ham are looking for their fourth permanent manager since David Moyes left London Stadium in May 2024.
His successor, Julen Lopetegui, was sacked after just six months in charge, with the Hammers mid-table having won six of their 20 Premier League matches. He was replaced by former Chelsea and Brighton boss Graham Potter, who oversaw a 14th-placed finish but was sacked after only eight months in charge, with the club 19th in the table.
The club then opted to stick with former Wolves and Tottenham Hotspur boss Nuno, despite him being unable to turn around the club’s fortunes. West Ham were relegated at the end of last season after finishing two points behind Spurs.
This season began poorly. The Hammers failed to win any of their first three league matches and sat 19th in the table. A run of four successive wins in the first half of September, in which they scored 16 goals and went top of the table, appeared to show they had adapted to the second tier. A 6-0 win over Wrexham was the highlight of that run.
Just two league victories have come since: a 6-0 win at nine-man Lincoln City, and a 1-0 victory at Swansea City. Draws with London rivals Millwall and QPR either side of those wins have further stalled their progress.
A squad Parker can work with
Scott Parker has been out of work since losing his job after Burnley were relegated from the Premier League in May.
Having posted losses of more than £104m, relegation forced West Ham to sell players over the summer. The departures of Mateus Fernandes, Crysencio Summerville, El Hadji Malick Diouf, James Ward-Prowse and Freddie Potts secured the club about £150m in transfer revenue.
The club used some of that money to pay Celtic a Championship record £22m for midfielder Arne Engels, and spent a reported £12m on Norwegian winger Edvin Austbo. Experienced campaigners Joel Veltman and Manor Solomon also joined on free transfers from Brighton and Tottenham respectively. West Ham kept key players, including England winger Jarrod Bowen, Czech midfielder Tomas Soucek and Greek defender Konstantinos Mavropanos.
Soucek missed the first two months of the season with an ankle injury, while some of the new signings have yet to deliver. Engels has three assists and no goals in 12 games, and Austbo has scored twice and provided two assists, having started just two league matches.
It is a squad capable of turning things around, particularly under a manager with Championship promotion experience such as Parker.
Why Parker?
Given the estimated £200m loss in revenue, it is imperative the club returns straight to the Premier League. Two wins from six, a run that has dropped West Ham to eighth, four points off second-placed Swansea in the final automatic promotion place, is not good enough.
Parker made 129 appearances in his four-year stint with the Hammers. He won the club’s player of the year award three times and was at West Ham when he was named FWA Player of the Year in 2011. West Ham’s hierarchy believe Parker understands the club and its culture, and is someone the fans can get behind.
Parker has also already won promotion from the Championship three times, at Fulham, Bournemouth and Burnley. West Ham will hope he makes it four next May.
Pressure on the next head coach
Some expected Nuno to leave in the summer after the club failed to survive their relegation battle. However, the stability he offered and his experience of guiding Wolves out of the Championship were seen as positive reasons to keep him on.
The 6-0 wins over Wrexham and Lincoln are contrasted with disappointing home defeats, including the last two outings at London Stadium. One major concern has been the slow starts to games. West Ham have conceded the opening goal in four of their last six Championship matches and have picked up just two points from those games.
There is a sense the team do not appreciate the intensity and urgency required at this level, and are still a little too ponderous in the first half. The Hammers have also faced a run of matches against teams in good form and sitting high in the table, and losses in two of those games, both at home, proved costly for Nuno.
With the squad at their disposal and a fanbase that backs them, the job will be attractive to the next head coach. However, the expectation at London Stadium is for an immediate return to the Premier League, and falling short of that objective carries risks for the long-term prospects of whoever takes the role.