The mystery of the broken relationship between West Ham boss Nuno Espirito Santo and James Ward-Prowse has finally been solved and stems back to an unbelievable incident from their time together at Nottingham Forest.
James Ward-Prowse knew his card was marked the moment Nuno Espirito Santo was linked with West Ham after being sacked by Nottingham Forest.
Ward-Prowse had become a face-swap meme alongside Graham Potter in the weeks leading up to his West Ham sacking.
Potter had recalled Ward-Prowse from his disastrous loan at Nottingham Forest last January and made him one of the first names on West Ham’s teamsheet.
But the midfielder’s familiar struggles resurfaced leaving Hammers fans questioning Potter’s decision-making.
Many also pointed to the fact Ward-Prowse barely got a look-in at Nottingham Forest under Nuno Espirito Santo.
West Ham mystery of Nuno and Ward-Prowse bust-up solved
The dead ball specialist was bombed out of the City Ground by Nuno after just a handful of appearances.
One of Portuguese’s first acts after becoming Hammers boss following his Forest sacking was to make it perfectly clear Ward-Prowse had no future at the club.
In the age of set-pieces, why aren’t West Ham making more of James Ward-Prowse?! 👀
He was getting David Beckham comparisons at one point!
Ward-Prowse has been frozen out completely, just like he was at Forest.
While it is clear West Ham have better midfield options now Nuno has settled on a regular side, many have questioned just what Ward-Prowse had done to deserve such treatment.
Especially as he has earned the reputation of being a consummate professional throughout his career.
Various journalists have painted Nuno to be difficult, aloof and detached amid West Ham’s struggles.
That is quite the opposite to how he was portrayed when leading Forest into Europe.
The situation has been puzzling given West Ham’s lack of squad depth, though.
After all Ward-Prowse would surely warrant a place on the bench ahead of the likes of Andy Irving.
Now the West Ham mystery of the Nuno and Ward-Prowse bust-up from their Nottingham Forest spell is finally solved.
What had been left to speculation and whispers within the game can now be traced back to a specific flashpoint.
Nuno and Ward-Prowse fall-out stems back to Forest spell
And fans of both West Ham and Forest will barely believe the rather hilarious reason for the frosty relations between the duo.
Speculation had varied over what might be behind the fall-out.
Ward-Prowse is expected to leave in January. How will he be remembered for his time at West Ham?
Had Ward-Prowse slacked off in training or been late or shown a poor attitude? That seemed highly unlikely.
A more plausible explanation was that he may have been signed over Nuno’s head at Nottingham Forest given the coach when then go on to fall out with Evangelos Marinakis over recruitment just a few months later.
But that would not explain why Nuno would hold a grudge against Ward-Prowse on arriving at West Ham, where everyone else was given a clean slate.
Perhaps Ward-Prowse was behind leaks to journalists on the eve of Potter’s sacking – and amid rumours of Nuno’s appointment – that senior players including him wanted the now Sweden interim boss to stay?
It seems it was none of those things and the reason actually borders on the hilarious.
When he first took over, Hammers News revealed Nuno had a West Ham bomb squad of players he did not fancy for the first team and starting XI.
That was clear in training, where the group were often kept separate from the core first team collective.
That has now been confirmed by West Ham reporter Roshane Thomas of The Athletic.
He says Ward-Prowse continues to be left out of training sessions, citing sources at the club’s Rush Green training ground.
Hair-raising reason behind Ward-Prowse and Nuno broken relationship
The bomb squad does not train with the main group until there is an 11-v-11 session.
But according to Thomas’ sources close to the dressing room, Ward-Prowse is not allowed to feature and has to train by himself.
“The situation with James is clear from some time ago, I think he is not in the options, and it’s for us to find the best solutions for his future,” Nuno said about Ward-Prowse last week.
So what is the reason behind the fall-out?
According to West Ham insider Sean Whetstone, it is very much personal after Ward-Prowse allegedly called Nuno “baldie” during his ill-fated spell at Nottingham Forest.
In the rather comedic and juvenile plot twist, it is clear Nuno does not take such insubordination lightly.
The Hammers boss must hold grudges if he is refusing to see past that incident.
Perhaps Ward-Prowse has refused to apologise and there has been a stand-off ever since.
But one thing is for certain, few would have seen that being the reason behind this Hammers and Forest mystery.
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