Credit: Breaking Media/Manh Tung

James Barker

Tue 26 May 2026 8:10, UK

Scott Parker has proven himself to be a Premier League promotion wizard, but that may be his ceiling at West Ham United.

With their relegation from the Premier League now confirmed, there is speculation that Nuno Espirito Santo could leave West Ham.

The 52-year-old has failed in his task to keep the Hammers in the top flight, and revealing reports are now shining a light on some reported rocky relationships between himself and players, as well as members of his coaching team.

London Stadium chiefs will be launching an inquest into how things went so wrong this season, and depending on their findings, Nuno could well be axed.

There is also the potential that Nuno walks away from West Ham by choice, and so the Hammers hierarchy are sure to have a list of candidates to replace him if needed over the coming weeks.

What is Scott Parker’s record as a Championship manager?

Parker and Gary O’Neil have been linked to West Ham in the aftermath of the 2025-26 season, whilst other names are sure to be mentioned in the coming days and weeks as well.

Focusing on Parker, the 45-year-old has been out of work since he left Burnley by mutual consent on 30 April this year.

He left the Clarets with the Premier League relegation already confirmed, but just the season prior, had masterminded a brilliant promotion-winning campaign at Turf Moor.

Taking over from Vincent Kompany, Parker guided Burnley to a second-placed finish in the Championship in 2024-25, with his side losing just twice from their 46 league games and winning 100 points and also ending the season 33 games unbeaten.

Indeed, this was far from the first time the Lambeth-born boss proved he was a quality manager at second-tier level.

Parker also has two other Premier League promotions on his CV with Bournemouth in 2022 and Fulham in 2020 respectively, and even more impressively, he’s achieved all three of his promotions in three seasons.

His Bournemouth side of 2021-22 also finished second, claiming 88 points, whilst he took the Cottagers up via the play-offs in the 2019-20 season, beating Thomas Frank’s Brentford in the final after finishing the regular season in fourth.

Why Parker comes with West Ham promotion red flag

So, if West Ham want a manager who gives them the best possible chance of winning an instant promotion back to the Premier League, Parker is surely their man.

However, there is one big sticking point with him, and that’s his record as a Premier League gaffer.

Parker left his role as Fulham boss by mutual consent in the summer of 2021 one season after guiding the Cottagers to the Premier League, where they would then be relegated under him with an 18th-placed finish.

His next top-flight disappointment came with Bournemouth, where he was sacked as the Cherries’ head coach just four games into the 2022-23 campaign after a 9-0 defeat to Liverpool, again, fresh off the back of winning promotion with them.

Most recently, he’s not been able to see out the 2025-26 season with Burnley after taking them up the previous year.

The fact that this has now happened to him three times makes him incredibly hard to trust if West Ham were to win promotion back to the Premier League under his watch.

Of course, there is the connection between him and the Hammers, having played 126 times for the Irons during his playing career, but sense and long-term planning has to rule over sentiment here.

It’s a fascinating conundrum for the West Ham hierarchy. Do they go with a promotion guru who has ties to the football club but may need replacing in the top flight?

Or, do they pass up on what Parker’s record suggests would be a guaranteed promotion and go with a riskier option in the Championship, but one that may prove good enough to stick with in the Premier League.