David Moyes gives West Ham United board absolutely no choice as new sack decision emerges today
James Murray is a lifelong West Ham fan and a current season ticket holder in the Billy Bonds Stand. He’s seen some incredible talents – as well as several forgettable names – don the famous claret and blue shirt since his first game 25 years ago. He’s now putting his passion for West Ham into words with a regular fan view for West Ham Zone…
As has been the case throughout his four years at West Ham, David Moyes always comes out fighting when the chips are down.
Despite much speculation around his position over the past few months, the editor of 6foot2 Sean Whetstone tweeted on Friday (29 December) that the Hammers boss is 100 per cent staying on at the club next season following the 2-0 victory over Arsenal on Thursday (28 December).
He added that the 60-year-old will sit down with chairman David Sullivan early next year to agree terms and the length of contract, with his deal due to run out at the end of the campaign.
It comes as no real surprise that Moyes is being offered fresh terms as it’s hard to really argue with the body of work he’s put together during his time at the London Stadium.
There have been a number of highs for the Scotsman, but beating the Gunners on their home turf is up there amongst his best achievements.
It was the first time he’s recorded an away victory against one of the so-called “big-four” teams – which also includes Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea – and it came on his 73rd attempt.
It’s quite the turnaround from this time last week when it looked as though his second stint with the Irons could be coming to an end following the embarrassing 5-1 defeat against Liverpool in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup.
Moyes decided to make six changes to his starting lineup at Anfield on 20 December, a decision many of the fans viewed as him passing up the opportunity to go into the final four of a domestic competition.
That left – and still does to a certain degree – a bad taste in the mouths of those associated with the club after 6,000 hardcore fans made the trip to Merseyside.
But the manager’s decision has been vindicated in many ways after recording back-to-back 2-0 victories over Manchester United and Arsenal, taking us up to sixth in the Premier League table at the turn of the year.
That is an exceptional achievement after overseeing an overhaul of his midfield following the £105million sale of captain Declan Rice to the Gunners.
Each of the summer signings have had a role to play this season, with Edson Alvarez, James Ward-Prowse and Mohammed Kudus nailing down regular first-team spots, while Konstantinos Mavropanos scored the second goal in the victory over his former side on Thursday.
There are also the Europa League knockout rounds to look forward to when they resume next year after we comfortably topped the group ahead of some tricky opponents.
The players will be full of confidence that they can once again do something special on the back of the Europa Conference League success last season.
While there remains a bit of frustration amongst a section of the Hammers fans around the style of play that’s being served up at times, it’s a results-based business at the end of the day.
Moyes has once again overcome the extremely difficult challenges he’s been faced with to give the board absolutely no choice other than to offer him an extension to remain in East London beyond this season.
In other West Ham news, Thierry Henry has shared his view on a Hammers-linked player.