Moyes and West Ham have been great for each other despite this unclassy ending
WEST HAM UNITED have been widely labelled as lacking in class for the manner in which they have handled the impending departure of David Moyes and the expected arrival of Julen Lopetegui.
And it is hard to argue against that.
Even though the West Ham board can hardly be blamed for making preparations for life after Moyes – and his contract expires shortly – it could have been handled a lot better.
Discussions with Lopetegui might have perhaps been more discreet, but the scenario is not unusual.
And don’t forget, the real footballing world out there is one in which managers are touting for each other’s jobs 24/7.
Don’t kid yourself about that. They might claim they would never disrespect a fellow manager who is still in a post, but, as a rule, don’t believe them.
There is no evidence to suggest Moyes has ever done that – none at all – even though he took Slaven Bilic’s chair at West Ham in November 2017, when it was still warm, if not piping hot.
And Moyes, who spoke to
Sir Alex
Ferguson about the Manchester United job while he was still in his position at Everton, is clearly one of the profession’s most honourable characters.
But it is a cutthroat business and if any species is as ruthless as the club owner, it is the club manager. There are plenty of tales of managers operating in the lower leagues who scour results every week and when a team is on a losing run will get in touch with the owners and suggest a way out of the bad patch.
Off the record, one chairman told me about being doorstepped by an out-ofwork manager and presented with a dossier which detailed everything the current manager of his club was doing wrong… and how the man on the doorstep would put it right.
Let’s not be naive, this type of thing happens.
At the very least, do you think agents of certain bosses have not been messaging Sir Dave Brailsford since the marginal-gains man took residence at Old Trafford?
Just to introduce themselves, of course.
In Moyes’ case, the club and Lopetegui (above) have not been classy, but they have not done anything wrong.
And I suspect Moyes will see it that way if he speaks about the process of recruiting his successor. It is a guess, but Moyes will probably also realise that he was very good for West Ham – and West Ham were very good for him.
After his excellent work at Everton, Moyes might well have succeeded at Manchester United if he had been given more than a year, but there is no denying he had a mediocre time at Real Sociedad and at Sunderland.
But his two spells in charge of West Ham re-established Moyes as an elite senior coach and put him back on the path to becoming a true statesman of the managerial game.
And, in the second spell, in particular, he has had good backing from the club – including the fan base.
For Moyes’ part, he has produced results that gave the fan base some memorable occasions (including winning the Europa Conference League trophy last season, left) and that have helped keep the London Stadium full – and that is no mean feat.
In other words, the owners and the departing manager owe each other thanks.
And even if the final days of his time with West Ham have perhaps not been what Moyes would have ideally wanted, his final home game – against Luton Town tomorrow – should be a day of celebration.
For what the club have done for Moyes and for what Moyes has done for the club.