Credit: Imago

Scott Mason

Tue 17 March 2026 11:40, UK

Nuno Espirito Santo could relive bad memories with Paul Tierney confirmed to officiate as West Ham United travel to Villa Park.

After picking up a strong point against Manchester City, the Hammers will now look to carve out another strong result against one of the Premier League’s top four.

However, Irons’ manager Nuno may be looking at West Ham’s fixture against Aston Villa with some negativity after the Premier League’s latest announcement.

Tierney has been in the news this week for the bizarre moment when he was stuck in the middle of Chelsea’s team talk before facing West Ham.

However, Nuno will have his own memories of a controversial moment involving the referee.

Why Nuno will have bad memories of Paul Tierney

The Portuguese manager has not been at West Ham long, with Tierney only taking charge of one Irons game this season – the 3-0 loss to Manchester City in December.

However, during Nuno’s time at Nottingham Forest, Tierney ended up in Nuno’s bad books for a costly decision.

When Liverpool faced Forest at the City Ground in 2024, Ibrahima Konate had gone down with a head injury while the home side had the ball.

In that event, Tierney should have awarded a drop ball to Forest after treatment was applied and the game resumed. However, that was not to be the case.

The Reds would ultimately go and score the winning goal late into added time, although it did come two minutes later.

In the aftermath of the match, Nuno refused to comment insisting: “I don’t want to talk about the referee, sorry.”

However, the lack of a comment spoke volumes about his feelings on the moment.

Additionally, the uproar continued in the days after the match as former Premier League referee Mike Dean described it as a “monumental error”.

What is West Ham’s record with Paul Tierney?

West Ham’s record with Tierney in charge is the definition of mixed. The Greater Manchester official has taken charge of 18 games involving the Irons.

In those matches, West Ham have won six, drawn six and lost six. However, interestingly, while 10 of those 18 games have been away from home, the East London outfit have won just one game.

West Ham’s chances of survival have increased, but they will need to overcome that away record to put themselves in a better position.

Across those games, Tierney has never handed the Hammers a red card and has awarded one penalty to the Londoners and one to their opposition.

Overall, with Tierney in charge of the match, it is hard to predict which way the result could swing. Nuno will certainly hope he is not involved in another error against him.