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The Sac. Farewell derby. Call this Saturday’s London Stadium showdown what you want.
For David Moyes and Frank Lampard, West Ham v Everton means more than any silly slogan we can conjure up. It is expected that it will be a party that decides his management destiny.
The disclaimer is that this is contingent on Moyes and Lampard not being sacked before then, a real possibility after their dismal Saturdays only dragged both closer to the drop and cut.
David Moyes is under huge pressure at West Ham ahead of next week’s game with Everton
Moyes oversaw a damaging defeat at Molineux, losing to relegation rivals in Wolves, who now sit 16th amid a respectable resurgence under Premier League newcomer Julen Lopetegui.
As Moyes walked to the full-time visiting end to thank the fans for making his 300-mile, six-hour round trip, even he might have wondered if this was goodbye. If so, you imagine the sea of V signs would have spoiled whatever sentimentality he might have picked up at the time.
Most fans want to see Moyes’s back, but for now he remains West Ham manager.
The board has refused to relent in its support for the 59-year-old Scotsman in his second spell in charge of the club. When some contacts didn’t respond to inquiries on Saturday night, you wondered if something was up. Experts say they have been looking at jobless coaches as ‘just in case’ options, including Thomas Tuchel and Mauricio Pochettino.
The Hammers suffered a damaging 1-0 loss to Wolves on Saturday.
Defeat means Moyes’s side have picked up just one point from their last seven league games.
But Moyes remains in charge and is confident he can resurrect this club, starting with a win over Lampard’s Everton. West Ham have not won in the league since October 24, losing six of their last seven games and drawing the other at Leeds. It’s not the first time they’ve gone on a winless run that lasts seven Premier League games or more. It’s happened 18 times this century, under Gianfranco Zola, Sam Allardyce, Slaven Bilic, Manuel Pellegrini and more.
However, a single point from seven games is their worst run since 2010-11 and West Ham supporters don’t need to remember that season. That was Avram Grant’s season. That was the season in which they finished 20th, relegated after a 3-2 defeat at Wigan.
Grant was fired in the tunnel at DW Stadium and, according to those who played that day, told to find his own way home.
Scott Parker ended up defying orders and sympathetically telling Grant to ride the bus home with the team he no longer managed.
Moyes will not receive the tunnel treatment. He and owner David Sullivan have a good working relationship, speaking on the phone or in person after every game, win, draw or lose.
Moyes has consistently outperformed at West Ham and oversaw some memorable moments
West Ham thanks Moyes for two seasons in which the consensus is that he surpassed himself, finishing sixth and seventh in the Premier League and reaching the Europa League semi-finals.
But even Moyes knows that he is on borrowed time and if it all goes wrong against Everton, it will be the curtain call for him. London stadium security officials will already know that the atmosphere could turn as toxic as Burnley’s defeat in March 2018, when a pitch invader planted a corner flag in the center circle.
“I’m not stupid,” Moyes said after the loss to Wolves. ‘When you’re in this industry, you have to win games and I’m not winning enough games. He would never look at me and say: “I have credit at the bank.” I know you have to earn the right to be in football management.
While West Ham is on a downward spiral, Wolves are on the rise. Daniel Podence’s finishing touch after a quick counterattack ensured they were out of the relegation zone.
Under Moyes, the Hammers finished sixth and seventh and reached the Europa League semi-finals last season.
But now he is on the limit and his fate could be decided by a defeat against Everton.
Lopetegui punched the air at full time and who could blame him? He has knocked Wolves out of the bottom three and rallied the fan base, who chanted his name repeatedly at Molineux. The mood is in stark contrast to West Ham.
It didn’t help that the Hammers were missing Craig Dawson, who is the subject of an offer from Wolves. Moyes found the timing suspicious, feeling he could not use the central defender against a club he could soon sign for.
But Moyes said he’s not an “apologizing guy” looking for reasons why his team is struggling. To his credit, he accepts that he’s not performing well enough right now.
The Europa Conference League round of 16, set for March, seems like a lifetime for West Ham.
Moyes can only hope he’s still in charge when the European tour arrives, but for now, he can’t look past a visit from his old club Everton.
WOLVES (4-3-3): Sa 7; Semedo 7, Collins 7, Kilman 7, Bueno 7 (Toti 83min); Nunes 7, Neves 7.5, Moutinho 7 (Lemina 73, 6); Hwang Hee-chan 7 (Traore 73, 6), Cunha 7.5 (Jimenez 64, 6), PODENCE 8 (Ait-Nouri 64, 6). Scorer: Podence 48. Manager: Julen Lopetegui 7.
WEST HAM (4-2-3-1): Fabianski 6; Coufal 5.5, Ogbonna 5.5, Aguerd 6, Cresswell 5.5; Rice 6, Soucek 5.5 (Benrahma 60, 6); Bowen 5, Paqueta 5, Fornals 5; Antonio 5 (Scale 76). Reserved: Aguerd, Rice. Manager: David Moyes 5.
Referee: Simon Hooper 6. Attendance: 31,511.