West Ham United's poor start to the campaign has seen them occupy the bottom three for the entirety of the season so far - putting huge pressure on current boss Graham Potter in the process.
Two consecutive hurting losses to Sunderland and Chelsea gave the Hammers the worst possible start, and although they won 3-0 against Nottingham Forest before the international break, their 3-0 home loss to Tottenham Hotspur has quashed any optimism and put them back into a mindset of desperation.
Report: West Ham 'Keeping Tabs' on Nuno, He'd be a Great Appointment
Nuno Espirito Santo
Potter has not done overly well since joining the Hammers, and that could see them move onto other managerial targets to propel them well away from relegation woes. With that in mind, Nuno Espírito Santo is on the market - and his stellar job at Nottingham Forest could earn him the role at the London Stadium, having been linked with a move earlier in the week.
The Portuguese boss took over from Steve Cooper 18 months ago, and won six of his 20 games to keep Forest in the Premier League in the 2023/24 campaign, as well as securing four draws, marking a point tally of 22 points in that time to keep Forest's head well above water.
But it was last season that really took his stock back to where it was at Wolverhampton Wanderers, and beyond. Just four losses in their opening 22 games in the Premier League, as well as a run of seven wins from eight from early December through to late January, saw Forest climb as high as third in the Premier League table.
Despite a relative collapse towards the end of the season, where Forest won just two of their final eight matches, saw them finish seventh in the table, as well as reaching the FA Cup semi-finals after three consecutive penalty shoot-out wins.
Nuno Espirito Santo Would Make West Ham Hard to Beat
Nottingham Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo
West Ham have enjoyed European success this decade, and with Nuno having reached Europe with Wolves and Forest in the past few years, he could be a perfect fit to return the Irons to the continental scene.
Most likely though, he would make them harder to score against. That does come with a hint of irony given his final game in the Forest dugout was the 3-0 loss to West Ham, but he is a more similar fit to David Moyes, who led them to glory.
Forest only conceded 46 in the top-flight last season, a huge improvement on West Ham's 62 they shipped - and the Hammers conceded 74 in the campaign prior, which has raised serious eyebrows to their leaky nature. The pair feel like a hand-in-hand fit, and with Nuno being on the market for free, there is no better time to hire the 'incredible' boss.
Nuno has managed 184 Premier League games, winning 72 of those, whilst only losing 67 split across his time at Forest, Wolves and Tottenham Hotspur - and with a points-per-match ratio of 1.42, that would lead to just below 54 points in a season for West Ham, which would have been enough for a mid-table finish last season, and 11 points more than what they finished on under Potter and Julen Lopetegui.
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