From former West Ham United favourites Rio Ferdinand and Tony Cottee to Premier League legend Alan Shearer, the response following Saturday’s 3-0 trouncing at Wolves was as brutal as the scoreline.
‘Pathetic’. ‘Absolute joke’.
And one suspects the true extent of the autopsy is only just beginning.
Whether Nuno Espirito Santo is entrusted to hold the scalpel, well, there must be serious reservations now – if there weren’t already – about a manager whose win rate ranks as the worst in West Ham United’s Premier League history.
Humiliation at Molineux…
Where does this rank among West Ham's WORST ever Premier League defeats?
Returning to the club he transformed into a top-flight stalwart and a Europa League quarter-finalist, Nuno’s already pretty disappointing reign took a dramatic turn for the worse.
Club sources have ruled out a Harry Redknapp return to Hammers News. But the fact that such a question needed to be asked – the 78-year-old has won an ITV, jungle-based reality show more recently than he has coached a club match – speaks volumes.
The spectre of Slaven Bilic looms large.
It will not go unnoticed, meanwhile, that sporting director Mark Noble retains a close relationship with Enzo Maresca. Following the Italian’s sudden departure from Chelsea, a roll of the dice may feel increasingly tempting.
Rio Ferdinand and Tony Cottee slam West Ham United display at Wolves
Rio Ferdinand, one of the finest centre-halves to emerge from West Ham either side of the Millennium, summed things up quite succinctly on X as his old employers missed their chance to exit the relegation zone before the FA Cup third round.
“What’s going on West Ham?,” asked the 2008 Champions League winner.
A fair question, indeed.
Conference League winners as recently as 2023 and top-six challengers not so long ago, former Upton park stalwart James Collins pinpoints the Julen Lopetegui appointment as the moment when things started to go downhill, but the sheer speed of the descent in recent times has been alarming.
Only three weeks ago, meanwhile, Tony Cottee was raving about Freddie Potts and Mateus Fernandes. Here, the midfield duo served up a performance reminiscent of the Guido Rodriguez – James Ward-Prowse days.
“Perhaps everyone can understand now why I said I’d take a 1-1 draw [at Molineux]!,” Cottee fumed, the club’s all-time record goalscorer hardly able to believe that West Ham did not record a single shot on target.
“Absolute joke. I feel so sorry for the 3,000 fans that will have travelled to the game.
“No shots on target with 67 per cent possession? A truly dreadful performance. [Nottingham] Forest on Tuesday but it’s hard to see us beating anyone at the moment.
“Look where we were only two years ago! What a fantastic performance it has been from the Board since then…
“There has to be a change!”
Alan Shearer says Nuno Espirito Santo’s team were ‘pathetic’
A change in the boardroom doesn’t look likely, despite the incessant protests. Change is forthcoming in the squad, at least. Pablo Felipe arrived on Friday while Taty Castellanos is jetting in to sign from Lazio for a further £27 million.
If you could replace Nuno with one out-of-work manager, who are you picking?
And why?
There is, though, a growing, nagging feeling that change may also be required in the dugout.
“Wolves dominated West Ham. That’s as bad as I’ve seen from any team this season. They were shocking,” Newcastle great Alan Shearer told BBC Sport.
“Wolves didn’t allow them to play, and certainly deserved the three points. West Ham never had one effort on target. They were awful. I don’t like using the word, but West Ham were pathetic.
“They offered nothing. Players pulling out of challenges, not throwing themselves at the ball. It was as bad as I’ve seen from any team.”
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