West Ham United have been on a downward spiral ever since releasing fan favourite manager David Moyes at the end of the 2023-24 campaign – and Joe Cole has named a nightmare scenario that the club lived out in their tumble down the league.
West Ham beat Newcastle 3-1 at the weekend for their first win under the Portuguese boss, but it leaves them in the bottom three after an awful start to the season under Graham Potter.
He was let go with less than a year in the London Stadium dugout, with Potter having replaced Julen Lopetegui, who was equally poor in his time in east London and lasted just six months in the capital.
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Fans have long wondered what life would have been like had David Moyes continued. And Joe Cole believes that West Ham should have given him complete power to drive the club forward instead of retreating to their current position.
David Moyes managing Everton in the Premier League vs Sunderland
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Joe Cole can’t believe West Ham didn’t do more to keep David Moyes
With Moyes leaving at the end of the 2023-24 campaign, West Ham will be regretting the decision to let the Scot leave.
And Cole, speaking on talkSPORT Daily, stated that West Ham should’ve done everything in their power to keep him at the club.
Cole said on Tuesday: “You interview Moyesy, and I could feel him thinking, ‘What more do you want me to do here?’
“It’s almost the impossible job, they should never have let him go.
“If anything, they should’ve given him more say and more power to drive that club forward.”
With Moyes keeping Everton up last season, and having them ahead of West Ham in the table, that continues to look like a monumental error.
David Moyes smiles during Man City vs Everton
Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images
West Ham had their best era in the 21st century under David Moyes
The Hammers had only finished ninth or above in the Premier League on three occasions in the 18 years prior to David Moyes finishing sixth in 2020-21.
And the Scot subsequently finished seventh and ninth in two of the next three seasons, with his only bottom-half finish being the campaign where West Ham won the Europa Conference League.
The last time they had a run of top-half finishes of such success were under Harry Redknapp, in the academy-clad era with the likes of Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard, Michael Carrick and even Joe Cole himself at the club.
Those Premier League scalps, including wins over Tottenham, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United to name but a few, seem a long way away at the moment.
However, with Nuno Espirito Santo at the wheel – a manager who qualified for the Europa League last season – there may be an opportunity for those sacred continental games in the future.