Stuart Pearce can understand the logic of West Ham United potentially hiring former Fulham, Bournemouth and Burnley coach Scott Parker if Nuno Espirito Santo leaves the London Stadium.
Hammers News reported on Tuesday morning that everything should be resolved regarding Nuno’s future this week. Despite claims to the contrary in some sections of the media, Nuno Espirito Santo is still highly likely to leave after becoming only the third manager in the Premier League era – after Glenn Roeder and Avram Grant – to take West Ham United down.
And while Wales boss Craig Bellamy is a popular choice among a seemingly growing faction of supporters, all roads may lead towards the familiar face of Scott Parker.
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A man who, with three Championship promotions on his CV, has an early backer in Stuart Pearce.
Stuart Pearce talks up Scott Parker’s West Ham United return
Speaking to talkSPORT, Pearce feels that West Ham should not rule out the idea of retaining Nuno; a coach who claimed the second-tier title with Wolves in 2018.
With the Portuguese’s fate seemingly all-but sealed already, though, he can envisage a world in which Parker returns to East London.
“I’m quite shocked, if I’m being quite honest with you,” says Pearce, a former West Ham full-back and an assistant coach to David Moyes. “If I were West Ham, you look at a manager of his class and you think they should be hanging on to him.
“What’s gone on? I take it there were crisis talks [on Monday], so we gather. And I don’t know how much of that [Nuno] has instigated in regard to; ‘How much have we got financially for me to spend next year? Can we keep the better players?’ Those conversations are behind closed doors.
“Whether that suits him, or he thinks he can get a better job, I don’t know.
“Well, I think this summer for West Ham is going to be massive change. You know, they’ve dropped out the division, the budgets have got to be looked at now. The players; can they turn players over for money, and what sort of money are they going to get for those players? It’s big change.
“The one thing I would have thought, if I was at West Ham, you want solidarity in the managerial seat to oversee that change.
“You know, [Parker] knows the football club, which I think is a really good thing. He’s got a CV of getting clubs out of divisions like that. He knows the Championship pretty well, so I don’t think that would be a bad appointment, personally.”
Parker a sensible choice ahead of a ‘massive change’
Alan Pardew, who brought the Hammers back to the Premier League himself back in 2004, claims to have been told by a few separate sources that a return for Parker is a genuine possibility.
The former England international’s top-flight record is far from impressive, but only Steve Bruce [four] has secured more promotions out of the second-tier than he.
Which players could actually BENEFIT from a Championship season? 🤨
“I think Scotty would want to go in and see the ownership today and say; ‘Right, OK, we know our fate now. We know what division we’re playing in next year. What does the landscape of this football club look like now? How do you see the vision of the club as ownership? How does it marry with what I see as the future for the football club as the manager?’
“And I think that’s a healthy discussion that should be had at this stage, no matter what the outcome is.
“I think every time a board of directors employs a new manager, that manager is at liberty to turn around and say; ‘What are the expectations of this football club? What’s the budget of this football club?’
“West Ham are going through massive change now, there’s no doubt about that, and that’s going to happen this summer. A lot of work to do. So, listen, if you walk through the door, accept the job, and don’t ask those questions, you’re not doing something right.”
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