- West Ham announced the departure of Karren Brady last month
- Still has publicly revealed his West Ham fandom
- The 33-year-old has also expressed a desire to return to management
This season has served as a sharp reflection of West Ham United’s current state for many supporters. Nearly three years removed from winning the Europa Conference League in 2023, the Hammers are attempting to stave off Premier League relegation.
Although the opportunity to finish the campaign positively remains, the window in which it could be done will not be lost, with Karren Brady’s departure last month representing an internal recognition that change at the club is needed to progress.
Former Southampton coach Will Still, a public, avid West Ham fan, has recently expressed his thoughts on the Hammers during a podcast appearance on The Overlap Breakdown.
West Ham fan Will Still shares his opinion on the club’s modern philosophy
In the tell-all sit-down, Still opened up on his formative years in football management and, importantly, growing up as a West Ham fan, going to Upton Park with his father and brothers when the family came over to London from their native Belgium.
“I love West Ham because I grew up watching West Ham, and I went to Upton Park with my dad and my brothers, and it was just part of what we did, and it was special because obviously we lived in Belgium. So we knew that if we were going to London, it was like, ‘Oh, we’re going to watch West Ham,'” Still said about his fandom of West Ham.
When asked by the host about his opinion on the club’s modern philosophy, the 33-year-old said: “What saddens me a lot with West Ham is that the club has kind of lost its soul almost and DNA of what West Ham used to be because of the stadium, because of [the] number of managers that we’ve had over the years and the number of changes that have constantly gone on.”
Will Still’s Southampton 25/26 Championship statistics
| Matches | Wins | Draws | Losses |
| 18 | 4 | 6 | 6 |
“But I think you know West Ham, and everyone says you’ve got to play the West Ham way. But then Sam Allardyce comes into the club when we’re in the Championship, and I think a reporter asked one of the questions in the first press conference, ” Oh, are you going to play the West Ham way?” And he looks at the camera and says, ‘Uh, well, what’s the West Ham way?’ Getting relegated?”
“And you know he says the West Ham way has got to be just winning games, and he got us back up.”
Will Will Still manage West Ham in the future?
Throughout the podcast, Still would state his intention to return to management after his dismissal from Southampton in the Championship in November 2025.
The former Ligue 1 coach – with stints at Reims and Lens – has worked as a pundit for Belgian TV during Champions League matchdays during his time out of management, but when asked about taking charge of his boyhood club one day, he remained ambivalent.
“Today, am I a massive West Ham fan? I’ll always, you know, have that place for West Ham inside me, but you’re so busy with, you know, your job and other teams, and it’s like, ‘Yeah, you can’t, you can’t really be a fan anymore.'”
