West Ham United have confirmed that David Moyes has returned to the club. The Scotsman held the role prior to Manuel Pellegrini’s appointment in 2018 but was not kept on, instead being replaced by the Chilean, who was sacked after yesterday’s defeat to Leicester City. The Guardian’s Jacob Steinberg reported earlier today that Moyes has signed an 18-month deal.
David Moyes Appointed West Ham United Manager
We are pleased to confirm that David Moyes has returned to the Club as first-team manager. pic.twitter.com/Y2fxo5hTCE
— West Ham United (@WestHam) December 29, 2019
A Return to the Club
Moyes took over at the London Stadium from Slaven Bilic, now the manager of West Bromwich Albion, in 2017 after a poor run of results led to the Croatian’s departure. He managed to stabilise the Hammers and record a 13th-placed finish with them, only two points off Newcastle United in 10th.
Rather than extend his deal, though, West Ham opted to bring in another fresh face and appointed former Manchester City title-winning manager Pellegrini. It seemed a good deal at the time, but even with the huge amounts of money the club have spent in the summer trying to build a squad capable of breaking the ‘top-six’ dominance, they have largely failed to impress.
Moyes re-joins the side while they are just a point above Aston Villa, who occupy the first spot in the relegation zone. They have won just once in their last five league matches, a 1-0 success away at fellow strugglers Southampton. However, that’s also the same scoreline that they achieved away at Chelsea at the end of November.
It’s clear that there is talent in this West Ham squad, but it was even clearer that Pellegrini was unable to get the best out of them. A possible relegation to the Championship is the last thing the Hammers need with the quality in the side and the enormous stadium to fill week in week out. Whether David Moyes can be the answer to that, though, will have to wait to be seen.
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