Crysencio Summerville has responded to claims that West Ham players dislike head coach Nuno Espirito Santo, Hammers News can reveal.
The writing looked to be on the wall for Nuno Espirito Santo two weeks ago.
Defeats to Fulham, Wolves and Nottingham Forest stretched West Ham’s dismal winless run to 10 games.
Then came the damning leaks.
The Hammers have been here before – all too often in the recent past in fact – and it is indicative of the club’s rapid decline since winning their only major trophy of the last 45 years back in 2023.
There are bound to be negative stories and rumours emerging from a club when things have been going so badly south.
At West Ham, though, it seems more prevalent than elsewhere.
West Ham unrest claims looked like being the end for Nuno
Leaks of bust-ups and unrest from the West Ham camp have been prominent towards the end of David Moyes’ time at the club, particularly surrounding his relationship with Tim Steidten.
Tales from behind the scenes have also come out during the end of the short-lived tenures of both Julen Lopetegui and Graham Potter.
On a scale of 1-10, how confident are you of West Ham staying up after they beat Spurs?
It's not over just yet 👀
So when the same thing started happening to Nuno amid speculation he could be sacked, his departure seemed inevitable.
West Ham-supporting journalist Jacob Steinberg dropped a bombshell by claiming there was unrest in the unhappy Hammers camp towards the head coach.
Steinberg, who has strong contacts at the London Stadium, claimed in The Guardian that Nuno was in danger of losing the support of West Ham’s squad.
The reporter stated there were concerns among players about his man-management, team selections, confusing training methods and tactics.
Steinberg also claimed Nuno has barely spoken to some players since he replaced Potter at the end of September.
The Portuguese was also described as ‘distant and uncommunicative on a day-to-day basis’ in Steinberg’s damning report.
He was not the only journalist with the daggers out for West Ham’s under-pressure manager.
Tom Collomosse claimed Nuno has been sulking since the start at West Ham over the club’s failure to bring in his own backroom team.
West Ham’s board issued a stern response to the Nuno unrest claims, telling Hammers News the rumours were extremely unhelpful for team morale.
Summerville responds to claims West Ham players dislike Nuno
But what do the key protagonists, West Ham’s players, think?
In that respect they don’t come any more important to the club’s hopes of Premier League survival than Crysencio Summerville.
Man of the Match, as voted by you 😍
Do you agree, or should someone else have won it? Let us know in the comments 👇
Now flying Dutchman Summerville has responded to claims that West Ham’s players dislike Nuno.
Summerville was superb as he helped the Hammers to a 2-1 win over bitter rivals Spurs on Saturday.
The 24-year-old scored the opener and was the best player on the pitch in the first half of a win which gives Nuno’s side new hope of beating the drop.
Summerville’s performance was more like what West Ham need and expect from their £26m man.
He has struggled with end product but things seem to be coming together and West Ham will hope Summerville can perform as he did against Tottenham on a weekly basis until the end of the season.
Given his lack of form, some suggested Summerville was one of the players who were not enjoying playing under Nuno.
Now Hammers News can exclusively reveal Summerville took it upon himself to very publicly address the growing narrative surrounding the manager’s relationship with the squad.
With speculation intensifying and tensions being widely reported before wins over QPR and Spurs, the winger’s actions offered the manager a major boost and gave a timely insight as to whether suggestions of unrest genuinely reflect the reality behind the scenes.
While there will clearly be some players who are disgruntled at West Ham – by Nuno’s own admission there is – Summerville is certainly not one of them.
Unselfish Summerville planned show of public support for Nuno
When he opened the scoring at Tottenham after an excellent Hammers move, Summerville made a beeline for the dugout.
Last time he did that he went to celebrate with Mohammed Kudus.
The Ghanaian is out injured until April so it wasn’t him Summerville was headed for this time around – not that doing that would have been particularly advisable or logical since his defection to Spurs.
This time it was Nuno Summerville was seeking out.
The winger jumped into the manager’s arms, they shared a warm embrace before Summerville grabbed the manager’s face and patted him in the clearest sign of player backing you can get.
Now the reason for the celebration can be confirmed and it can only bode well for West Ham’s fight for survival.
Hammers News put it to a top source inside the club why Summerville decided to head straight for the manager after scoring in a big derby against one of West Ham’s fiercest rivals.
After all, if ever there was a moment to take the limelight for oneself it would be after scoring against Tottenham, at Tottenham.
‘Summerville wanted world to know Nuno has his backing’
But the spokesman confirmed Summerville’s celebration was very much deliberate and carried a strong message in a clear response to the recent claims from journalists.
“Cry and the players really like the manager despite some of what has been written and said about Nuno of late,” the source told Hammers News.
“Of course some players won’t be happy, the manager has said that to the press himself, and it is the same at any club.
“But Cry wanted to make a direct point in response to those articles that he and other key players do not dislike the manager, in fact it is quite the opposite. It spoke volumes he chose to do that in that particular moment.
“Most footballers are very selfish when it comes to a bit of glory, but not Cry, he wanted the world to know Nuno has his – and much of the squad’s – backing.”
Receive a digest of our best West Ham content each week direct to your mailbox
