David Moyes ‘kiss of death’ mooted at West Ham United with new decision soon
Simon Jordan joked he has potentially given David Moyes the “kiss of death” after launching a passionate defence of the Scotsman’s work at West Ham.
Moyes is once again under intense pressure following Wednesday’s (20 December) 5-1 loss to Liverpool in the EFL Cup quarter-finals.
The 60-year-old is due to be out of contract at the end of the campaign, but Jordan is adamant he should be offered fresh terms now.
“West Ham are doing well, aren’t they? They’re doing well in Europe, wonderfully well in the league,” he said on talkSPORT [21 December].
“They’ve just been knocked out of quarter-finals of a cup, so that’s a tick for another decent cup run. They’ve got the FA Cup coming up.
“This is a man who ultimately took West Ham back after the debacle of [Manuel] Pellegrini, out of relegation trouble, into European competitions. He won one of them, they’re seventh in the league – what more do you want?
“Is it the style of football? It made me laugh when they played us (Crystal Palace) in the 2004 play-offs with this ‘academy of football’ and got beat.
“Sam Allardyce suffered it as well. It’s only a section of the fanbase, but it’s a vociferous minority. Moyes is a very decent manager, who has done a very decent job at West Ham, and I don’t see any reason why he won’t be given another contract.
“There’s a conversation to be had now about the contract. Is there a fear he’s going to take his foot off the pedal? Or is that neither side particularly wants it?”
When co-host Jim White suggested that many people would rather not be praised by Jordan, the latter replied: “I don’t blame them. Kiss of death.”
Shocking display
With each passing result seems to come a differing view on Moyes. After beating Freiburg and Wolves last week, there was very little to moan about.
The scoreline at Anfield, though, and more pertinently the shocking performance, means that this same old debate has come up once again.
Moyes would have been desperate to win another trophy, with the EFL Cup providing the best chance to do so, but he is now relying on success in the FA Cup and Europa League.
In no world does the Scotsman deserve to be sacked midway through the campaign, unless results properly take a turn for the worse.
There is nothing to suggest that will happen, however, and you would not put it past West Ham overcoming Manchester United at the weekend to put the Liverpool result in the past.
With the cup competitions taking a backseat until the new year, Moyes’ focus now simply has to be on keeping the Irons competitive in the top half of the Premier League.
In other West Ham news, Darren Bent left talkSPORT co-host Andy Goldstein stunned with a stat regarding the Irons.