West Ham United striker Andy Carroll has delivered a damning assessment of David Moyes’ time at the club last season.
West Ham looked to be heading for relegation under Slaven Bilic before he was sacked last November.
Eyebrows were raised when former Manchester United boss Moyes was brought in as his surprise replacement on a short-term contract.
The Scot was deemed to have failed in his previous three roles.
He slowly but surely turned the Hammers around, though, with Stuart Pearce, Alan Irvine and Billy McKinlay as his assistants.
Moyes turnaround was expected to earn him long contract
Moyes got West Ham working hard, winning games and kept the club up with games to spare.
It was quite an achievement given where the club were when he took over, adrift in the bottom three.
One of his biggest success stories was also turning Marko Arnautovic’s Hammers career around.
Moyes deployed the Austrain as a striker and he proved the difference to keep West Ham up.
Many felt the ex Everton boss has earned a new contract.
‘The lads weren’t happy’
But now Carroll has made a shock claim in The Daily Mail that he and his teammates did not enjoy their time under Moyes.
“Last season was up and down,” Carroll told The Daily Mail.
“We had Stuart Pearce doing sessions, then David Moyes was doing sessions.
“It didn’t really feel right, it didn’t work.
“The lads weren’t happy.”
Does Carroll criticism explain surprise decision from owners?
Carroll’s assessment is damning and somewhat surprising given the results Moyes achieved in East London.
But perhaps it explains why West Ham owners David Sullivan and David Gold went against popular opinion to tie down Manuel Pellegrini instead.
So far it has paid off with the Hammers looking good for a top half finish at least.
The style of football under the Chilean is also much improved.
But he has had £100 million to spend so expectations are naturally higher.
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