Jeff Stelling and Paul Merson debate Mauricio Pochettino West Ham United manager links live on Sky Sports
Paul Merson admitted he would be “shocked” if Mauricio Pochettino became manager of West Ham United and urged the club to not pull the trigger on David Moyes’ time at the London Stadium.
Football Insider reported on Thursday (23 February) that the former PSG manager was “keen” on the Hammers job if the club parted ways with Moyes, who could face the sack if his side loses to Nottingham Forest this weekend. [The Times, 20 February]
However, when asked by Sky Sports Soccer Saturday host Jeff Stelling if he thought Pochettino would be up for the job in East London, Merson was adamant that the club should keep faith in the current regime.
“A couple of the newspapers have been throwing the name of Mauricio Pochettino in there,” Stelling said (25 February, 12:28 pm).
Merson replied: “No disrespect, but I’d be shocked if Pochettino took that job at the moment.
“Where West Ham are and with the next few fixtures, if they got beat today by Forest, and they then pulled the trigger, I don’t think there would be too many people queuing up around the block with those two fixtures coming up [Manchester United and Brighton].
“If they can’t beat Forest at home they aren’t going to get any points from their next two games, and before you know it, there are 12 games to go and they’re going to be 3/4 points adrift at the bottom.
“I think stay with David Moyes and get out of trouble.”
Surely not?
Although Pochettino is certainly an attractive name to take the reins at the London Stadium, why would he take the job right now?
With West Ham United sitting precariously in the relegation zone right now with just 15 games of the season remaining, there are no guarantees that the club will even stay in the Premier League this season. The former PSG head coach would surely not want a relegation on his CV, and if he is keen, he would likely wait until summer before registering his interest in the job.
Right now, the Irons have little choice but to keep faith in Moyes. Although the football has been dreadful at times over the past few months, the likes of Leeds have shown just how hard it is to get a managerial replacement in at this late stage of the season.
The only way forward is for the fanbase to back Moyes’ men against Nottingham Forest on Saturday (25 February) and hope they can claim a crucial three points as a result.