ZERO TOLERANCE WARNING FOR REBEL STARS
NEW West Ham United boss David Moyes used his unveiling yesterday to promise he will show ‘zero tolerance’ to unruly players after inheriting a group in dire need of discipline. The Scot, appointed on an 18-month deal with a further 12-month option after Manuel Pellegrini’s sacking, feels he has walked into the same mess as he did when taking over at the club for a previous spell in 2017. Attitude and work-rate are two areas which require attention. Moyes, who led West Ham to safety after replacing Slaven Bilic two years ago, said: ‘I’ve come in today and it nearly feels like deja vu. ‘I thought I had got rid of some things. We’d got to the stage where there were quite a lot of non-negotiables like: “You’re doing the work”. That was non-negotiable. I feel as if I might need to go back to the start. I would have liked to come in with a new message. ‘That was one of the biggest jobs I had when I came in last time: make sure that there was zero tolerance. It looks like I am going back to that and saying: “This is how it is going to be. You either get on board or you don’t because I haven’t got enough time or enough games. If one or two of you don’t like it, then let me know”. ‘I want to get an identity back to West Ham where the supporters can connect with it.’ Moyes is still finalising his backroom team but wants the same support staff he had in 2017. Fellow Scot Alan Irvine is set to join, while the club are also in talks with Stuart Pearce. Billy McKinlay is expected to stay as assistant of Championship side Stoke City. Moyes earned a £1.65million survival bonus when he led West Ham to 13th place in season 2017-18. It is understood he stands to earn £2m if he can guide them to safety again. He wants to see a drastic improvement in several players, including £45m striker Sebastien Haller. ‘If you look at the improvement in Marko Arnautovic in that period, it was nearly from zero out of ten to ten out of ten,’ said Moyes of his first stint. ‘I don’t think it would be wrong to say we want them all to jump
up a couple of pegs.’