Nuno Espirito Santo has been sulking from the very start of his miserable West Ham tenure over a major issue that remains unresolved.
That’s according to a leading journalist who says Nuno Espirito Santo’s stay at West Ham could ‘all end in tears’ soon.
After back-to-back wins over Newcastle and Burnley, West Ham looked to have turned a corner under Nuno.
But it proved to be a false dawn for the Hammers, who have gone over a quarter of a season without a win since.
West Ham are now staring relegation from the Premier League in the face, needing the greatest of great escapes to avoid demotion to the Championship.
Nuno’s side are effectively eight points adrift of safety with 17 games to play.
Nuno has failed to turn around the sinking West Ham ship
After making it 10 games without tasting victory with the defeat to Forest, speculation has intensified that Nuno could be sacked.
A number of potential replacements have been linked from Michael Carrick to Kieran McKenna and Slaven Bilic.
How would you FEEL going into the Championship with this starting XI?
Do you think Jarrod Bowen would stay?
👇 Join the debate; share your insight. Use the comment button on the bottom left to have your say
West Ham appointed Nuno on a three-year contract when he replaced Graham Potter at the end of September.
Word is the Portuguese agreed to a deal which stipulates he is not entitled to compensation if he is sacked this season.
It is unclear whether the Hammers would want to retain Nuno if the team is relegated.
Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP via Getty Images
But a journalist has also claimed there is unrest in the unhappy Hammers camp between players and the head coach.
Guardian reporter Jacob Steinberg revealed there are concerns among players about Nuno’s man-management, team selections, confusing training methods and tactics.
Steinberg also claims Nuno has barely spoken to some players since his arrival at the end of September.
Nuno is also described as ‘distant and uncommunicative on a day-to-day basis’.
West Ham’s board took a strong stance on the Nuno unrest rumours, saying they were not helping team morale.
But now we may know why West Ham’s under-fire boss has been acting in such a way.
Nuno has been sulking from the start at West Ham
Because Nuno has been sulking from the start at West Ham over a major unresolved issue.
That’s according to leading Midlands football reporter Tom Collomosse, of The Daily Mail.
How do you think West Ham could actually BENEFIT long-term from relegation?
Would it really be a disaster? Or a chance for a new beginning?
👇 Join the debate; share your insight. Use the comment button on the bottom left to have your say
Rather than fading with time or being resolved as Nuno has grown into the role at the London Stadium, problems appear to have lingered beneath the surface from the very start.
And it can’t help but to have contributed to friction, frustration and a lack of alignment between the head coach, his players and his bosses.
Collomosse claims Nuno’s West Ham spell was ‘doomed from day one’ at the London Stadium due to David Sullivan and the board failing to bring in his backroom team.
Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images
When Nuno signed up to be West Ham boss, he had two key demands.
The first being that his super-agent Jorge Mendes had a big influence in the club’s transfer dealings – as has already been proven with the signings of Taty Castellanos and Pablo.
Another was that the Hammers would bring in Nuno’s backroom team that he worked with at Forest and Wolves.
There are several coaches the 51-year-old has worked with at Wolves, Spurs and Forest who it was anticipated would be joining him in east London.
Nuno was able to bring in one of his long-time coaching assistants in Rui Barbosa, who he worked with at Rio Ave, Porto, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Tottenham Hotspur, Al-Ittihad and Forest.
But the rest were Academy coaches being promoted to the first team setup.
Nuno’s West Ham tenure ‘doomed’ over backroom team
While some Hammers fans loved seeing the Academy coaches earn promotions to the first team, others have questioned whether more top level expertise and coaching experience is required given the grave situation the team finds itself in this season.
Now Collomosse has explained why West Ham’s failure to bring in Nuno’s trusted staff has undermined his entire tenure to the point that relegation is now inevitable.
The reporter claims West Ham’s failure to bring in Nuno’s backroom team means his reign was doomed from the start, leaving him ‘defenceless and appearing aloof and hostile to players and staff’.
Collomosse says those who understand Nuno’s way of working feared his stint in east London was destined to fail for that reason.
It is pointed out that Nuno’s success has always come when he has been able to lean on a group of key advisers he trusts completely – namely right-hand man Rui Pedro Silva, sports psychologist Julio Figueroa and Joao Lapa, a fitness coach who has also been an agent.
“Here is the sting in the tail: given his staff remained under contract, Forest were entitled to significant compensation to allow them to rejoin Nuno. These terms have still to be matched by West Ham,” Collomosse reveals.
‘Nuno’s severe style only works with his key cast of characters’
“Nuno is a severe character. His management style is teacher/pupil, rather than uncle/nephew. When it works, his key men are devoted to him. Players wept when Nuno told the squad at the end of the 2020-21 campaign that he would be leaving Wolves. A similarly powerful spirit nearly carried Forest into the Champions League last term.
“For this to work, however, Nuno needs his key cast of characters. A sensitive man capable of great warmth, Nuno can nonetheless appear aloof at times, even hostile. If players knock on his door to ask why they have been left out, they are likely to leave disappointed.”
It is claimed the backroom team Nuno was hoping to bring to West Ham are the perfect foils for his management style.
Without them, Nuno’s approach simply does not – and evidently will not – work.
And relegation will be a much higher price for West Ham to pay than the compensation the club reportedly baulked at for Nuno’s backroom team.
Join Our Newsletter
Receive a digest of our best West Ham content each week direct to your mailbox