Paul Merson told Nuno Espirito Santo that he has “panicked” after agreeing to replace Graham Potter as West Ham United manager during a back-and-forth with fellow pundit Michael Dawson.
GIVEMESPORT sources have learned that the Hammers have swiftly decided on Espirito Santo as Potter’s replacement, who was sacked on Saturday morning. The Portuguese coach could even conduct his first training session today (September 27), having only been out of a job for 18 days.
Espirito Santo is an experienced Premier League tactician and is set for his fourth managerial job in English football. He oversaw Nottingham Forest’s European qualification last season, but a tumultuous relationship with Head of Football, Edu, led to his sacking earlier this month.
Merson: Why Would Nuno Take The West Ham Job?
Espirito Santo is highly-regarded after guiding Forest to the UEFA Europa League last season, having arrived at the City Ground with the Tricky Trees dealing with the threat of relegation in the campaign prior. He drove Wolverhampton Wanderers to the Premier League back in 2018, but a disappointing brief tenure at Tottenham Hotspur cast doubts in between those two jobs.
The 51-year-old’s stock is high following his work with Forest. West Ham believes he’s ideal for the underperforming Hammers side, who have won just once in five league outings this season.
Merson gave his thoughts on Sky Sports and suggested that Espirito Santo has been too eager to get back into management: “It’s not a panic appointment, but I think it’s the other way round. I think he’s panicking and I think he just wants to get back in. Why would you take the job?”
West Ham sit 19th in the league with just three points from their opening five games but interestingly their only victory came against Espirito Santo’s Forest. That was the Portuguese’s final game in charge of the Tricky Trees.
Dawson disagreed with Merson’s stance and suggested that Espirito Santo can “turn this around”. The former Tottenham Hotspur defender added: “He’s probably taken Nottingham Forest as far as they can go. He probably thought, right, I’m gonna work my way out the club and wait for an opportunity.”
West Ham’s decision to part ways with David Moyes at the end of the 2023-24 campaign has come back to haunt them. The Scot led the Irons to Europa Conference League glory but wasn’t kept on when his contract expired.
Dawson seemed to call out the East London outfit for overestimating their status: “Sometimes I look at that football club and think ‘are you deluded?’ What do they want? They finished 14th last year, do you think they can finish higher than 14th?”
GIVEMESPORT Key Statistic: Nuno Espirito Santo oversaw three wins in his first five games in charge of Nottingham Forest including a 1-0 win over Manchester United.