David Moyes to leave West Ham United after handshake at London Stadium – Chris Sutton
David Moyes won’t change the way that he plays at West Ham and will end up leaving at the end of the season, says Chris Sutton.
The BBC Sport pundit said on Radio 5 Live’s Monday Night Club on 19 February that the situation is “snowballing out of control” between him and the fanbase after “Moyes Out” banners started being held up at games.
The Hammers have yet to win a game in 2024 and the style of football remains unpopular with many supporters, but Sutton doesn’t expect the Scot to switch anything up so a departure when his contract expires will be on the cards.
Sutton said (8.29pm): “The whole atmosphere now, the banners at the weekend, there’s this swell of West Ham fans that have made their mind up about the negative brand of football.
“It’s really unfortunate. The thing about [Lucas] Paqueta is absolutely right, their most gifted player, at a time that he could really do with a bit of help, he’s still out injured.
“It’s about finding a way, finishing as high as you can, he’s not going to change the way that he plays, David Moyes, this season.
“I suspect at the end of the season there’ll be a handshake and he will end up walking away. But I do feel for David Moyes because the job he was asked to do when he first went in and the job that he’s done now, winning a European trophy, to go into this season it all seems to be snowballing out of control in the stands at West Ham.”
David Moyes to walk away from West Ham after fan protests?
It’s hard to see the situation improving a huge amount now for Moyes at West Ham so a departure is probably the most likely outcome.
For the most part it is fairly unenjoyable watching the Irons play under the 60-year-old and if enough of the supporters have had enough of that regardless of the relative success in recent years then there the relationship will be very difficult to fix.
Two things can be true at once so the fact that Moyes won the Europa Conference League last season, and has produced multiple European qualifications after arriving back at a relegation-threatened club doesn’t negate the fact that he often also appears to squander opportunities to advance any further than that.
And it has been going under the radar amid the debate over how well he’s done that he also presided over a relegation-threatened club for most of last season before the, admittedly notable, flourish in May.
There is risk to a change because it would obviously lose the positive elements to his reign, and there have been many, but there is potential reward in improving on the negative ones, so there are valid arguments to him staying or going but the latter feels inevitable currently.
In other West Ham news, a three-time European league winner is set to be considered to come in as replacement.
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