Moyes given six months to save Hammers
DAVID MOYES will be confirmed as the new manager of West Ham today to shake up a dressing room that senior figures at the club felt was not being driven hard enough by Slaven Bilic.
Bilic’s tenure ended in a meeting with David Sullivan yesterday morning and the club moved immediately to secure the services of Moyes, who flew in from Qatar for talks.
Moyes, 54, is set to sign a two-andhalf year contract that will include a break clause at the end of this season if he fails to make an impact. He hopes he can persuade to join his coaching staff. Alan Irvine and Chris Woods are also expected to join him again.
Sportsmail understands Moyes’ deal is heavily weighted towards a £2million bonus for keeping the club in the Premier League after Saturday’s crushing 4-1 defeat to Liverpool saw them slip into the bottom three. In a recent interview with this newspaper he expressed his determination to repair the damage of a difficult year in the north east which saw him relegated with Sunderland.
‘That was my first ever relegation and I hope it’ll be my last,’ he said. ‘I want that winning feeling again.’
Moyes has the international break to acquaint himself with the club and then three games that represent a decent chance of getting some precious points on the board (Watford, Leicester and Everton).
After that, however, things get tougher, with Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal their next three games. But he is confident of his methods and proud of his record, despite some of the challenges he has faced, in England and in Spain, since leaving Everton in 2013.
‘I think my last game was 499 games as a Premier League manager,’ he said in his recent interview. ‘I’ve maybe got 880 or 890 as a manager in total. I think my record will stand up as well as anybody’s.’
On the decision to dismiss Bilic after less than two-and-a-half years in charge, West Ham said there was an urgent need ‘to move forward positively and in line with their ambition’. A statement from joint-chairmen Sullivan and David Gold said Bilic, the 49-year-old former Croatia coach, had conducted himself with ‘honesty and integrity’, while the decision to terminate his employment had been made ‘with disappointment and heavy hearts’.
They added: ‘We see this as an exciting opportunity to appoint a quality manager to the position to inject fresh ideas, organisation and enthusiasm into a very talented squad.
‘We will now focus our entire efforts on bringing in the manager we believe can get the best out of the current squad of players and steer the club towards the top half of the table as quickly as possible.’
Speaking to reporters as he left West Ham’s training ground, Bilic said: ‘There are no hard feelings. I can be very proud of my work here. We didn’t start this crucial season well. As in many clubs across Europe, the manager is the one who pays the price. It’s a very logical move.’