It isn’t surprising to see so much debate around who should be West Ham manager next season.
Last weekend’s defeat to Brentford, followed by Tottenham’s victory at Aston Villa, means we’re back in the bottom three, one point adrift of safety, with three games left. Normally, there’d still be a fair amount of optimism that we can stay up from this point, but we’re hosting Arsenal this weekend and Spurs play Leeds.
If results go the way many are predicting, we’ll be four points behind and could be relegated at Newcastle next weekend.
So it’s a precarious position and one that has many starting to debate the club’s managerial options in the event of the worst-case scenario playing out.
Who should be in charge of West Ham in the Championship, if we’re relegated?
The key thing to consider in this debate is what the club actually needs long-term, and not just for next season. We have to be able to bounce straight back and then re-establish ourselves in the Premier League.
We’ve done that twice before. Indeed, after relegation in 2003, it took us two seasons to get back into the top-flight, but we followed promotion up with a 9th-placed finish under Alan Pardew.
After relegation in 2011, we bounced back immediately under Sam Allardyce and enjoyed a solid first season back, finishing 10th. We’ve been in the Premier League ever since, this being our 14th consecutive campaign in the Premier League.
Both times, we had managers who were, at the time, Premier League level and capable of competing at the top.
So if we’re to do it again, we need to have the right man in place who can not only get us out of the Championship but then also immediately relay our Premier League foundations and ensure we’re not at risk of yo-yoing.
Several names have been mentioned amongst fans over the course of the last week or so and, thus far, they’ve all been either underwhelming or carry a worrying level of risk. A risk that the club probably cannot afford to take in this stage of its existence. An extended period out of the Premier League, or time going up and down between divisions, will cripple the club.
It’s never been more important to get this decision right should relegation be confirmed.
Here’s a look at five candidates who have been mentioned by the fans over the past week, or who have most recently been linked with the club.
For me, there’s only one right man for the job here, but here we go nonetheless…
Scott Parker
Scott Parker would be a sentimental appointment at best, and his record in the Premier League should be enough to put most clubs off appointing him in future.
That’s unfortunate, because we all know fans love a sentimental appointment or signing. The three-time Hammer of the Year, though, just doesn’t have the best track record for what we need at this time.
The reality is, Parker is a top second-tier manager and would no doubt oversee an immediate return to the Premier League for West Ham. But from there, it’ll likely go down hill.
Just look at his previous. He was promoted with Fulham and then relegated the following season. He was then promoted with Bournemouth but a 9-0 defeat to Liverpool just four games into the next season saw him lose his job. He then took Burnley up in very impressive fashion, but he couldn’t prevent them from suffering an immediate return to the second-tier.
Parker’s win percentage in the Premier League is just 15.1%. He has won just 13 top-flight games in 86 attempts. His teams have averaged just 0.7 points-per-game, 0.8 goals-per-game and 1.8 goals conceded-per-game.
To hold that kind of record, having managed three clubs in the top-flight, just isn’t good enough.
He’d get us up, but it’s likely he wouldn’t be able to keep us up. So surely Parker isn’t the right appointment.
Craig Bellamy
Another former player, but the Wales manager comes with a high level of risk right now.
Bellamy has impressed as boss of Wales, even becoming the first manager in the country’s history to not lose any of his first four games in charge, but he’s never managed at club level.
It would be a bold appointment and one the fans would likely get behind. Bellamy obviously knows the club and has the kind of passion and hunger to win that our fans adore so much. Beyond that, though, there’s nothing to suggest he’d be able to achieve what we need from him.
Indeed, he could be a masterstroke appointment, but a lack of experience or track record at club level is concerning when what we need right now is experience and a fair level of trust that we’ve appointed the right man.
Perhaps this is one to look at in the future, but right now I just don’t like the level of risk involved in appointing Bellamy.
Slaven Bilic
It was widely reported that Bilic was being lined up to replace Nuno Espirito Santo earlier this season. But Nuno won 2-1 away at Tottenham and the club opted to stick with their man.
Replacing Nuno with Bilic earlier this season may have led to an earlier relegation, if you ask me.
Yes, Bilic was in charge for one of our best ever Premier League seasons and ensured we said goodbye to Upton Park in the best possible fashion. But that’s were the success ended for the Croatian.
Of course, he had issues to contend with after that season, such as having to adapt to a new not-fit-for-purpose home and his best player in Dimitri Payet forcing a move away from the club. Since leaving, he’s struggled to find work at the top level.
He did, however, guide West Brom to promotion in 2019/2020, finishing 2nd in the table. But he was sacked before Christmas the following season, with the Baggies 19th in the league, having picked up just seven points from their opening 13 games.
He also had a short spell with Watford in the Championship but you can’t really judge him for not lasting long there, given that club sacks managers for fun. Literally.
You also have to question Bilic’s recruitment at West Ham, especially in his second season. It just wasn’t good enough with far more flops than success stories. We cannot afford to keep gambling in that department.
As club icons go, Bilic will always be loved by the fans, but is he the right man to take us up and keep us there? There’s nothing, absolutely nothing, to suggest he is.
Enzo Maresca
Maresca is also no stranger to West Ham, having served as an assistant to former Hammers boss Manuel Pellegrini.
He was linked with the club previously, before West Ham opted to appoint Julen Lopetegui and then Graham Potter instead.
Of all the mentioned candidates, Maresca represents an interesting option but also one which might now be out of the club’s reach.
The Italian was promoted as champions with Leicester in 2024, a feat which saw him make the move to Chelsea that summer. At the Blues, he won the UEFA Conference League and the FIFA Club World Cup and was widely perceived to be doing a good job at Stamford Bridge before he left in January 2026, citing ongoing tensions with the club’s owners.
Given his record at Leicester and then what he was able to achieve at Chelsea in such a short space of time, Maresca would certainly represent a positive and forward-thinking appointment for the Hammers.
However, it’s being suggested in the media that he is being lined up as Pep Guardiola’s replacement at Manchester City once the Spaniard eventually leaves. That means that while we might be able to tempt him back to London Stadium in the interim, he might not be around for long if Man City come calling.
Nuno Espirito Santo
Reports this week claim West Ham are eager to keep Nuno in his post even if he’s unable to secure Premier League survival. Elsewhere, it’s claimed the Portuguese has no plans to leave either.
If true, Nuno remaining as manager would be the best possible outcome for the club here.
He has a track record of bringing clubs up and keeping them in the league. He did it with Wolves before taking them to 7th in the Premier League in back-to-back seasons. He kept Nottingham Forest up in a season they were one of the favourites to be relegated, qualifying for Europe in the process.
He’s proven himself in both the Championship and the top-tier.
What’s more, we’re only now beginning to see him have success in putting his stamp on the current squad. Some fans aren’t convinced and believe he’s not done a very good job, but you have to remember what the former Spurs boss inherited when he replaced Potter in September last year – a mishmash of three different managerial styles and a club reeling from back-to-back managerial failures and, subsequently, no real direction or identity.
Since the turn of the year, there’s been a lot more about this West Ham team. More fight, more passion, more determination. That’s a result of Nuno’s January transfer recruitment and the time he’s had to get his ideas across to the squad. It might not be enough in the end, but if you take into account the type of club he walked into, is it any surprise it took him longer than expected to start getting a tune out of the squad?
Nuno staying would be my pick and it’s refreshing to read reports that the club feels the same way.