David Moyes is expected to leave his position as West Ham manager this summer despite previously ‘turning the tide’ at the club, Mail Sport’s chief football reporter Sami Mokbel explains.
The Scot has a contract with the Hammers until the end of the season, but there is currently no new offer for him to extend his stay at the London Stadium.
Moyes was due to be replaced in his role over the summer but survived after keeping West Ham in the Premier League and winning the Europa Conference League, sealing the club’s first European trophy since 1965.
However, recent mixed results have prompted previously frustrated supporters to once again call for a change in management, despite the Hammers being above Chelsea and just nine points off the top four.
The 60-year-old has previously defended his position at the club, but a new manager is now expected to arrive in the summer to replace Moyes once his contract expires.
David Moyes’ contract at West Ham expires this summer and there is currently no new offer on the table
Moyes has seen a good start to the new season with the Hammers, but some supporters want him replaced
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‘That question (about his position) will linger until David Moyes finally leaves. I think he’s going to leave,” Mokbel said on the It’s All Kicking Off podcast.
“All information we have points to him leaving at the end of the season. I think last summer, at the end of last season, there was a plan to do that so he could move on.
‘But of course after winning the European trophy the Conference League turned that direction a bit on its head, because how can you open the door for your head coach to leave when he’s just handed you your first trophy in decades?
‘David Moyes deserves a lot of praise for turning that story around last season. But I think again, what we’ve seen this season is that I’ve had an indifferent start and the story is picking up again. And I think it will remain that way until he leaves,” he added.
Ian Ladyman, Mail Sport’s football editor, responded by asking: ‘When you say in very polite language that it was all set for him to leave at the end of last season, do you mean he would be sacked?’
“Effectively, that’s what it is, right? If there is still time left on your contract and you don’t want to leave, but they rush you out the door. That is, yes, that is, Mokbel replied.
Ladyman again elaborated on the circumstances surrounding Moyes’ position as head coach, saying: ‘So they would have sacked him if they hadn’t won the Europa Conference League, but he won the Europa Conference League.
“They lost their best player of the summer, Declan Rice. They signed four or five to replace him. They’re doing well this season, but they still want him gone. Why?’
West Ham owner David Sullivan prepared to replace Moyes last summer
Mokbel suggested that the most likely explanation for Moyes not being offered a new contract is due to a disagreement with the club’s technical director Tim Steidten.
The German was appointed in the summer and tasked with being responsible for the club’s recruitment strategy and scouting, but at times had different views to Moyes.
“Yes (they still want him out). Because David Sullivan wants to take this football club forward.
‘So last summer he appointed a football director or technical director, sporting director, you know, however you want to interpret the appointment.
‘Tim Steidten came from Germany with a very good reputation, having worked at Bayer Leverkusen and Werder Bremen to almost push the club into the future.
I think what we’ve seen this summer is the lack of alignment, in terms of, certainly in terms of recruitment, in terms of what Steidten wants and what David Moyes wants.
Tim Steidten joined the club in the summer to review their recruitment strategy, but at times had a different opinion to Moyes
Moyes won the Europa Conference League with West Ham last season, keeping him in charge
‘My information at the time was that Steidten was in line for Sullivan and West Ham around March or April. So it wasn’t something where they were like, oh, let’s do this at the end of the season.
‘The machinations of that appointment were well worked out in force at the time that appointment was apparently made.
“I think the intention was for him to overhaul the entire football operation. and that would have included the technical staff. But the success they had at the end of the season kind of punctured that in many ways. And you can’t fire a manager because of a trophy success.
“I think what happened last summer in terms of signing players, the players Moyes preferred to sign and the players Steidten had his eye on, the disagreements over that will ultimately lead to Moyes leaving,” said Mokbel. .