- Nuno Espírito Santo will stay on as West Ham manager
- Hammers preparing for life in the Championship
- Big summer ahead for the club
After West Ham United’s relegation from the Premier League to the Championship, it will be a summer of huge change for the East London club, with plenty of ins and outs expected at the London Stadium.
But there will be no change in the dugout, as the Irons announced last week that Nuno Espírito Santo would stay on as head coach as they seek an immediate return to England’s top flight.
Espírito Santo took over in late September, following a poor start to the campaign under Graham Potter, and while it took time for the Portuguese coach to get his first win at the helm, there were clear signs of improvement from the team.
Ultimately, the Hammers paid the price for poor early-season form with relegation, which led to plenty of speculation about Espírito Santo’s future.
The former Wolves and Nottingham Forest manager sat down with West Ham’s own in-house media to discuss the future of the club.
“Now it’s time to work.”
Following West Ham’s drop to the second tier, there was a lot of upset and hurt amongst the fans. Something Espírito Santo understood, but he was certain that his future lay with the club:
“Of course, there was a lot of noise, a lot of questions, but it was important to understand the time of the decision. After relegation for all of us, it was sad. And it was a moment to feel and to understand,” Espírito Santo said.
“But there were never doubts on myself and the Board that this is something that we want to continue. And I’m really pleased [that I can]. I’m thankful for the confidence. Now it’s time to work.”
And it is clear the work for next season is already well underway, with the head coach and his staff already putting plans in motion ahead of their players’ return in early July.
“I think it’s our job now to make sure that day one, everybody and everything is ready for the players to come and start working.
“Now is the moment for us to work, to create routines, the way we want things to develop and all the facilities, what we need, what we have to adapt.
“Now is the moment for the staff to be here, work, make sure that everything is ready for the player when he steps in at Rush Green, he knows that he’s ready to go.”
“Big improvement”
If the Premier League started when Espírito Santo arrived at West Ham, they would have been five points clear of the drop zone, as they picked up 36 points from his 33 games in charge.
It was evident that the 52-year-old had a broadly positive impact on the club, something he is keen to point out.
“I believe that there was a big improvement [in the second half of last season]. It was a big improvement in terms of how we did things, how we competed.
“Unfortunately, we came up short, and we have to realise that, but the way the team competed was something that we can be positive about moving forward.
“From everywhere I go, from everyone I speak to, there’s this commitment [to turn things around], and I think it’s the weight of responsibility that we carry.”
That responsibility that Espírito Santo mentions will be ensuring the club come back up from the Championship at the first time of asking.
It will be the first time in 15 years that the Hammers will ply their trade in the second division.
Last time in the 2011-2012 season, they managed to come back up at the first time of asking. The former goalkeeper-turned head coach will be hoping that, under his watchful eye, they can do just that again.
