Murray View: Incredible Moyes stat shows if it’s time for West Ham to sack him
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…
David Moyes always comes out fighting.
It hasn’t exactly been the easiest of years for Moyes at West Ham after there have been several calls for him to be relieved of his duties.
The performance against Burnley was far from inspiring and, had it not been for the late goals that secured the 2-1 win, many would have wanted him out of the door at the London Stadium once again.
But the players did manage to find something and that proves they are still playing for the Hammers boss, just like they did in the 3-2 victory over Nottingham Forest before the international break.
As revealed by 6foot2 editor Sean Whetstone on Twitter on Monday, the Scotsman holds the highest win ratio of any Irons manager to have held the position on a permanent basis.
The success over Burnley took his win ratio up to 44.3 per cent after claiming 101 victories from his 228 games in the Hammers dugout.
That puts him just above club legend Billy Bonds, who won 43.88 per cent of his games in charge between 1990 and 1994.
It’s worth noting, though, that two of his seasons as the Irons manager came in the Second Division, where he steered the club to promotion on two occasions.
During Moyes’ time in East London, he has saved West Ham from relegation twice after initially joining midway through the 2017/18 season and then again in the 2019/20 campaign.
If it wasn’t for the impact he provided in either of those years, then it’s anyone’s guess where the club would be right now.
The likelihood is that the Hammers would have faced several more years of obscurity, as they had done for the best part of the previous 20 years.
The Scotsman came in and turned a group of struggling players, who lacked defensive discipline and much of an idea going forward, into a side that could challenge for Europe on a regular basis.
In each of his three full seasons in charge, the club have qualified for European football – an achievement that is, quite frankly, unbelievable after what had previously been served up in East London throughout most of the Premier League years.
He even led the club to glory in the Europa Conference League last season, with Declan Rice – a player he helped mould into a world-class midfielder – captaining the side.
After the England international’s £105million move to Arsenal over the summer, it was always going to be tough to replace him.
But in the steely Edson Alvarez and the assist-machine James Ward-Prowse, who Moyes was adamant he wanted to sign, the club managed to bring in two solid additions.
Defeats against high-flying Aston Villa, a resurgent Everton and the forever difficult Brentford within a two-week period suddenly made what had been an excellent start to the Premier League season look distinctly average.
That led to sack calls coming along once again. Whetstone tweeted on 29 October that the Hammers’ technical director Tim Steidten was set to draw up a list of potential replacements for the manager, whether he survived this season or not.
Fast forward one month and the Irons have won their last three games and sit ninth in the table, four points above big-spenders Chelsea in 10th and just four points behind Manchester United in sixth.
It isn’t all bad from a cup perspective, either. The club sit top of their Europa League group and are five points clear of third-place Olympiacos with two games left to play.
They also saw off Premier League leaders Arsenal in the Carabao Cup at the start of November, leaving them just a victory over Liverpool away from a semi-final tie.
While the performances haven’t been entirely convincing lately, I find it absolutely bonkers for anyone to even mention the prospect of Moyes being sacked.
We were going absolutely nowhere before he arrived at the London Stadium and there isn’t anything to suggest we would be better off without him.
The sacking culture that has developed in football is pretty shocking. There isn’t any time given to managers anymore, no matter what they may have achieved previously.
Moyes is the most successful manager in our history and deserves our support, even more so when times are tough.
But this isn’t a tough period. There is still plenty to look forward to this season and even trophies to be won.
It’s time to stop the ridiculous sack talk and let him get on with his job.
In other West Ham news, the club are in the hunt to sign an “outstanding” Euro star.