Five key decisions have helped this West Ham United team bring supporters back from the brink.
Now, it’s important to stress that not even Premier League survival would convince West Ham United supporters that the club is in the right hands. The wounds run much deeper than that.
Still, in the immediate term and on the pitch, the Hammers look a club transformed. After the draw with Brighton in late December, Nuno Espirito Santo was booed by West Ham fans.
How impressed have you been?
And do you see a long-term future for him at the club?
A graphic asking West Ham fans to rate the impact Paco Jemez has made at the club.
Credit: Getty Images/Kevin Hodgson/MI News/NurPhoto
More recently, West Ham fans are starting to dream of Premier League survival, which would obviously save the club millions of pounds.
Since then, however, Nuno’s side have moved closer to safety. With that in mind, Hammers News looks at five key decisions that got West Ham to this point.
Not sacking Nuno Espirito Santo
Defeats to Wolves and Forest in January threatened to put Nuno on the brink.
However, West Ham always insisted they weren’t going to sack Nuno, and they have so far been vindicated.
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A graphic showing Nuno's quotes on Pablo Felipe's potetnial injury return date reading: "Hopefull it's soon, because we miss him."
Credit: Getty Images/Rob Newell – CameraSport
Clearly, he’s not achieved anything yet, but the backing he got from above has helped bring about a very positive reaction.
The turnaround in form has been little short of remarkable since.
Signing Taty Castellanos and Pablo Felipe
The deals that meant West Ham signed Taty Castellanos and Pablo Felipe looked like a major risk at the start of the January transfer window.
Here they were pinning all of their survival hopes on two strikers who had never played in the Premier League before.
Taty Castellanos celebrating scoring for West Ham against QPR.
Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images
While the jury is still out on whether the pair can ever prove prolific in the Premier League, that doesn’t really matter at this point.
Indeed, Taty and Pablo have helped West Ham change their style of play, undertaking a more front-footed approach to pressing that has brought about an improvement.
Appointing Paco Jemez as a coach
To describe the appointment of Paco Jemez as a masterstroke would be a touch hyperbolic right now, given West Ham could still be relegated.
However, there’s little doubt that Jemez has made a major impact on the West Ham coaching staff.
It looked like a relatively strange move at the time. Jemez arrived in mid-January, before the recent turnaround in Premier League form, and while some supporters were calling for Nuno’s removal.
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Preston Fearon of West Ham United U21 in action during the Vertu Trophy match between Milton Keynes Dons and West Ham United U21at Stadium mk on September 16, 2025 in Milton Keynes, England.
However, rather than sack the manager, West Ham strengthened his hand.
Jemez has been praised by several leading West Ham players and it’s difficult to imagine safety being even a possibility without him.
Selling Lucas Paqueta
Cashing in on a leading star like Lucas Paqueta in the midst of a relegation battle might not scream ambition.
However, context is important. Paqueta forced West Ham to sell him to Flamengo and, frankly, it’s worked out better than hoped here in east London.
Lucas Paqueta claps the fans during West Ham's game against Burnley.
Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
Without the Brazilian, there’s a new clarity of thought within the team. Mateus Fernandes and Crysencio Summerville have stepped up as a result.
Though clearly a talented player, West Ham are much better without Paqueta. It was the right decision to let him go.
Backing Nuno in the transfer market
Even beyond signing Taty and Pablo while selling Paqueta, Nuno was backed in the transfer market.
In fact, Nuno has united the West Ham dressing room with careful work in the transfer market, selling players he had reportedly grown distant to.
This West Ham outfit now play like a team. They are not just a collection of individuals and they’ve proven for a decent amount of time now that they can compete at Premier League level.
It’s one thing just not to sack Nuno, but another thing entirely to back him in to reshape the squad during a period in which results were not going his way.
It might just save the club yet
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