West Ham’s restart bubble has already burst

DAVID MOYES must have been quietly relishing Project Restart. On June 13, his West Ham side beat Crystal Palace 2-1 in their final warm-up game over three 30-minute periods, with their superior fitness the difference in the final half-hour. Palace’s staff were taken aback. ‘They were flying,’ said a source. But fast-forward seven days and the optimism appears misplaced. They were humbled by Wolves on Saturday, and the positivity heading into the restart instantly dissipated. And it doesn’t get any easier tonight as they travel to archrivals Tottenham, who have Harry Kane and Son Heung-min available after injury. Out of the relegation zone at the time of suspension, it’s fair to say the Hammers had more to lose than most from Project Restart. When it became clear the season would restart, it was indicative of the club’s agenda that they were keen to explore the notion of scrapping relegation altogether — even though the Premier League made clear that was a complete non-starter. The negativity appeared to trickle down to the playing squad; a number of senior players privately expressed serious concerns about returning to their Rush Green HQ, to the point where they told family and friends they would not report back. Captain

Mark Noble, on behalf of his team-mates, was one of the most vocal on the Premier League players’ video conference calls during lockdown, expressing the concerns of his colleagues. Moyes (right) admitted yesterday: ‘I think there were a lot of players in football who were unsure about how it was going to start and how it was going to look, it certainly wasn’t just West Ham players — though we had one or two players who had that feeling.’ But, in the end, everyone reported back to training — even though they would moan about it privately. So, will that negativity have a detrimental impact? It would only be natural if it did. It will all come out in the wash, of course. The next five weeks should clear up a number of festering issues at West Ham. Will Moyes still be in charge next season — particularly if they lose their battle to beat the drop? Can they keep hold of Declan Rice amid concerns that they may have to sell their prized asset to help balance the books following the Covid financial crisis? Do owners David Sullivan and David Gold still have the thirst to drive the club forward amid substantial supporter unrest and takeover interest from abroad? As Sportsmail revealed on Saturday, West Ham director Tripp Smith, who bought a 10 per cent stake in the club with personal funds three years ago, is putting together a US consortium with a view to buying a controlling interest. This newspaper can also reveal there has been interest from a high-powered United Arab Emirates group in recent weeks. Moyes and West Ham, however, must put those lingering questions to one side for now. Though relegation this season would certainly make them easier to resolve.