West Ham United have sacked head coach Nuno Espirito Santo and are close to appointing former midfielder Scott Parker, with the club eighth in the Championship.
The club announced the decision on Tuesday. The BBC reported that West Ham are in advanced talks with Parker, who could be confirmed before Wednesday’s game at Cardiff City.
No appointment has been announced yet. Several outlets say terms are agreed. Football FanCast cited David Ornstein, and The Eagle Online cited talkSPORT.
Nuno’s assistant Rui Pedro Silva and goalkeeping coach Rui Barbosa have gone too. Mark Noble, Steve Potts and Gerard Prenderville will look after the team at Cardiff if Parker is not in place.
What went wrong for Nuno
The 52-year-old stayed on after the club went down last season, finishing two points behind Tottenham. West Ham were widely tipped to go straight back up.
The start was shaky. They won none of their first three league games and sat 19th. Four straight wins in September, including a 6-0 thrashing of Wrexham, took them top and suggested they had adapted.
It did not last. They have won two of their last six, and that pair included a 6-0 win at nine-man Lincoln City. Back-to-back home defeats, 3-2 against Southampton and 3-1 against West Bromwich Albion on Saturday, ended Nuno’s time.
The club are now six points behind leaders Middlesbrough and four off the automatic promotion places. BBC London’s Phil Parry pointed to slow starts as a particular worry: West Ham have conceded first in four of their last six league games and taken just two points from them.
In its statement, the club said a review of the season so far had convinced the board that “a change is necessary at this time”.
The money adds pressure. West Ham reported losses of more than £104m, and relegation forced summer sales worth about £150m. Some of that went on a Championship record £22m for Celtic midfielder Arne Engels, who has three assists and no goals in 12 games. Winger Edvin Austbo, reported to have cost £12m, has started only two league games.
Tomas Soucek missed the first two months with an ankle injury. Jarrod Bowen and Konstantinos Mavropanos stayed.
What Parker would bring
Parker made 129 appearances for West Ham in his first spell, won the club’s player of the year award three times and was named FWA Player of the Year in 2011. The BBC’s Simon Stone said the board believes he understands the club and can win over supporters.
He also has the record the club needs. He has won promotion from the Championship with Fulham, Bournemouth and Burnley.
Parker has been out of work since leaving Burnley in April, shortly after their relegation from the Premier League. That removes any need to negotiate compensation with another club. The Star, citing The Athletic, reported that Noble could join his backroom staff.
It would be West Ham’s fourth permanent head coach since David Moyes left in May 2024. Julen Lopetegui and Graham Potter both lasted under a year.
Not every appointment has gone smoothly for Parker. Betting site Freebets.com noted that he won only two of his 12 games at Club Brugge before being sacked in March 2023.
His first game could come at Cardiff on Wednesday 4 November. West Ham then travel to Blackburn Rovers on Saturday 7 November.
Featured image by Nick from Bristol, UK, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
