They say there is no smoke without fire and Nuno Espirito Santo’s West Ham future has been cast into doubt for the second time just three months into his tenure.
- Hammers News exclusive
West Ham and honeymoon periods for managers do not seem to exist.
It was an encouraging start to life in east London for Nuno Espirito Santo when the Hammers drew 1-1 at Everton.
West Ham could and probably should have won the game. A 2-0 defeat at Arsenal followed but there were signs of a new resilience and competitiveness about the team.
Horrific team performances then saw the Irons lose crucial games against Brentford and Leeds and Nuno took a lot of criticism over his team selection and tactics.
No honeymoon period for Nuno at West Ham
Results have improved since with two wins, three draws and two defeats – to Liverpool and Villa – in the last seven games.
That kind of points-to-games ratio should be enough to keep West Ham up.
TEN games into the Nuno era, how would you sum up his impact?
What has he done right, and what has he done wrong?
And after this weekend’s daunting trip to Man City, West Ham have their kindest run of fixtures of the entire season – on paper at least.
It is a period which will most likely define whether the Hammers remain in the Premier League at the end of the season.
It is no easy task for Nuno given the dire state of the squad he inherited from the hapless Graham Potter and a combination of Julen Lopetegui and Tim Steidten before him.
West Ham sit in the bottom three knowing only a 3-0 win at Man City can propel them out of it.
Remarkably, Nuno has already been linked with a West Ham departure twice in his short time at the club.
The Hammers responded on both occasions to reports Nuno could be on his way out sooner rather than later, despite signing a three-year deal at the London Stadium.
Now the rumour has reared its head again.
‘There’s no smoke without fire’ is a saying for a reason – it often carries an element of truth to spark it off in the first place.
Sometimes of course, especially in the modern world of football, nothing could be further from the truth.
West Ham respond to new Nuno sack claim
Now West Ham have responded to a new claim about board doubts over Nuno Espirito Santo after just three months.
Nuno was appointed at the end of September and has overseen 11 games with two wins, four draws and five defeats.
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What does Nuno have to do to avoid joining this list?
A football source known as IndyKaila News, which has been regularly quoted by the likes of Athletic journalist David Ornstein and Sky Sports after breaking some accurate news ahead of other outlets, delivered a shocking new West Ham update ahead of the trip to Man City.
Claiming to have an exclusive update on conversations taking place in the corridors of power at the London Stadium, it is claimed there are ‘growing concerns internally that West Ham have appointed the wrong manager in Nuno Espirito Santo to try to survive in the Premier League’.
It is stated the board expected a much better bounce from Nuno in terms of performances.
Worse still it is reported that the Hammers hierarchy are ‘confused’ about what to do next while they sit in the relegation places.
Given the seriousness of the claims and the grave situation facing West Ham, Hammers News put the claim to the club’s top brass on Wednesday.
The response was instant, emphatic and angry.
The senior spokesman for West Ham’s owners pulled no punches in their assessment of the rumour – and Nuno is here to stay.
Hammers label Nuno axe claim ‘rubbish’
“It is total rubbish,” West Ham’s top spokesman exclusively told Hammers News.
“We are 100 per cent behind Nuno.”
So there you have it West Ham fans – you really should not believe everything you read online – especially at this time of year.
Nuno has definitely made a big impact at West Ham, even if performances and results could have been better.
The Hammers were hurtling towards relegation under Potter and Nuno has at least given the club some hope.
Tomas Soucek’s bombshell shows what Nuno is up against at West Ham.
So the Hammers boss clearly needs time, patience and backing in January if he is to fully turn the sinking ship around.
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