Give Davie a break, he’s the one doing a favour
I keep hearing West Ham fans saying Davie Moyes isn’t high-profile enough to be their manager.
I’ve got news for them – Davie is doing the Hammers a favour by taking charge for a second time.
It’s definitely not the other way round, as fans seem to think.
They need to get their heads out of the sand on this one.
After all, the last time Moyes stepped in to dig West Ham out of a hole, he was told to sling his hook once he’d done the job!
Saving them from relegation in six months ought to have been enough for the Hammers to hand Davie a new deal in May, 2018.
Instead, their heads were turned by a “high- profile” man in Manuel Pellegrini – and look how that turned out.
I’ll say this for West Ham – it took courage for them to ask Moyes to come back.
And I’m delighted for Davie, because I know how much he has been hankering to get back to work.
I’ve had him on my radio show for a chat in recent months and he was clearly full of passion for his next project, whatever it might have been.
I thought he’d have been a certainty for Everton before Carlo Ancelotti’s appointment took everyone by surprise.
That left the door open for West Ham. But I still reckon they were lucky to get Moyes, after treating him so shabbily first time around.
I have absolutely no doubt that he will do a job at the London Stadium – and raise Scottish gaffers’ stock once again.
He is a terrific manager, he knows his way around the training ground, and he has good enough players at West Ham to succeed there.
He will save them from relegation. And I’m happy enough to put my money where my mouth is.
I’ve already stuck a couple of wee side bets on along those lines.
The performance Davie got out of his new
I still reckon they were lucky to get Moyes, after treating him so shabbily first time around
team in their 4-0 win over Bournemouth on New Year’s Day was magnificent. It was the sort of evening West Ham fans have been longing for.
All their big players were on form, including Scots star Robert Snodgrass – who was fantastic, by the way.
And captain Mark Noble’s open letter to fans, in which he explained how much the players loved working with their new manager, was a massive bonus for Moyes.
I live and work near West Ham’s ground and see a lot of Hammers fans socially.
Make no mistake, Noble is an absolute hero to those guys, so his seal of approval is a big deal.
My only real fear for Davie is that something similar to last time happens again.
As I said, I’m sure he will lead the Hammers to Premier League safety come the end of this season. But he did it before and it counted for nothing.
The West Ham Board and owners said: “Thanks very much. Now off you pop, David.”
Doing the same thing again would be pretty shameless.
This time, Davie has been sensible in demanding a deal through to the end of next season, which gives him that wee bit of security.
But it’s still not a long-term deal, so if the Hammers board decide they’d really prefer some fancy foreign boss at the end of the season, what’s to stop them binning Moyes again?
I desperately hope that doesn’t happen. Because this time around, I want Davie to succeed – and get his just rewards.