NO MORE MISTER NICE GUY
Moyes vows to get tough at Hammers
DAVID MOYES has vowed to get tough with his West Ham flops – and warned he will not tolerate any cry babies.
Moyes claims he was too soft on his Sunderland players last season but insists it will be ‘no more Mr Nice Guy’ at the London Stadium, where some have complained life was too easy under Slaven Bilic.
He already has his squad doing double sessions in training and insists things will only get tougher as he tries to drag them out of the drop zone.
Moyes, who has signed a sixmonth contract with the Hammers, said: “I want to be more aggressive again. In my youth I was, ‘This is how it is. Take it or leave it’. I think you mellow a bit as you get older.
“In this job, I’m having to go back to being ‘David Moyes at Preston’, where the players were probably crying at the work, or even Everton in the early days.
“If the players think the work is not hard enough, I hope they’re not going to cry when we work them harder.
“Somewhere along the line the responsibility has to be taken also by the players.
“If you don’t run, you don’t play. I’d never say the players aren’t fit. But it’s been brought to my attention they feel they could do a bit more.
“We might have to upset a few to get to where we want to go.”
Hammers co-chairman David Sullivan admits he is taking a risk giving Moyes the job after unsuccessful spells at Manchester United, Real Sociedad and Sunderland, who went down.
But the Scot, who hopes to appoint Stuart Pearce to his backroom team this week, launched a passionate defence of his record yesterday.
He said: “It’s a good gamble. It’s good for West Ham. They’ve got a good manager. I don’t think I’ve walked into a relegation battle. It’s a strong squad.
“First it’s about winning, then it’s about style. It’s difficult to start very well but I want to be competitive in every game.”