Simon Jordan feels that Nuno Espirito Santo must take a sizeable portion of the blame for West Ham United’s relegation, albeit while backing the decision to keep the coach at the London Stadium.
It was confirmed on Wednesday morning, in what was a dramatic and unexpected change of tack, that the Hammers have opted to retain Nuno’s services for the 2026/27 season.
The former Wolves boss cruised to the Championship title at Molineux eight years ago. Nuno Espirito Santo has now been handed the chance to repeat the trick at the London Stadium, with a West Ham United outfit desperate to make their return to the second tier the most fleeting of flying visits.
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Simon Jordan questioned the logic of hiring Scott Parker as Nuno’s replacement when links with the ex-Burnley boss went into overdrive earlier this week.
And as news of Nuno’s extended stay filtered through, the one-time Crystal Palace chairman feels that there is a ‘common sense’ vibe to keeping the boss in situ.
Simon Jordan reacts as Nuno Espirito Santo stays at West Ham United
“I would suspect that, for whatever reason, they’ve aligned themselves with the reality that he’s a capable manager,” Jordan tells talkSPORT.
“Who is best equipped [to get West Ham out of the second-tier]? Who do we know? How has he worked with us at the back end of the season, and what were his performances like in the Championship with Wolves seven, eight, nine years ago?
“All of those probably make it common sense to say, if the fans aren’t particularly [against] it, why would you change?”
Jordan always felt that appointing Parker would have been little more than a desperate quick fix, given his miserable 7.6 per cent win rate in the Premier League.
Nuno, in contrast, took Wolves out of the Championship and into the Europa League within the space of 12 stunning months.
Scott Parker links never convinced Jordan after Burnley nightmare
While the Iberian carries plenty of baggage these days following a failure to keep Hammers heads above water, Jordan believes that Nuno’s pragmatism and experience could prove invaluable.
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“Style of football is not going to be the question in the Championship. Getting out of the bleeding division is,” Jordan adds of a coach who presided over a 99-point campaign at Molineux. “West Ham [should] realise that getting out of the Championship is bigger than what they have to play like.
“The fact is that, if you talk about Scott Parker, Scott Parker gets people relegated.
“You make the argument; ‘Oh, what are you keeping Nuno for? He got you relegated’. Well, Scott Parker got relegated [with Fulham in 2020 and Burnley in 2026]. So you can’t have it both ways in the same argument.”
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