West Ham United Part Ways with Head Coach Nuno Espirito Santo After Tough Start to Season
West Ham United has decided to terminate the contract of head coach Nuno Espirito Santo following a disappointing beginning to their Championship campaign. The 52-year-old has been at the helm since September 2025, leading the club last season when they were relegated from the Premier League.
Despite being viewed as strong contenders for automatic promotion, West Ham currently sits in eighth position, six points adrift of the top spot held by Middlesbrough. Their recent performance has included only two wins in the last six games, with back-to-back losses at home—suffering a 3-2 defeat to Southampton and a 3-1 setback against West Bromwich Albion on Saturday—causing them to slip from a promising second place.
In addition to Espirito Santo, assistant head coach Rui Pedro Silva and goalkeeper coach Rui Barbosa have also left the club. Mark Noble, Steve Potts, and Gerard Prenderville will assume temporary coaching duties for the team’s Championship match against Cardiff City on Wednesday night.
In an official statement, West Ham United’s board emphasized the need for change: “Following a thorough review of the start to the EFL Championship season, the board of directors believe that a change is necessary at this time in order to ensure that the club’s objectives and expectations remain on track.” They expressed gratitude towards Nuno and his coaching staff for their commitment during their tenure and wished them well in the future. The process to appoint a new head coach is already underway.
This decision marks the search for West Ham’s fourth permanent manager since David Moyes departed the club in May 2024. Moyes’s successor, Julen Lopetegui, was dismissed after just six months while the team was mid-table, having secured six victories in 20 Premier League games. He was followed by Graham Potter, previously with Chelsea and Brighton, who also faced dismissal after an eighth-month stint that concluded with the team sitting 19th in the standings.
Following their relegation, the club hoped for an upswing under Espirito Santo but encountered a rocky start to this season, failing to secure a win in any of their first three league matches, landing in 19th place at that point. However, a brief resurgence saw them triumph in four consecutive matches during early September, which included a striking 6-0 victory over Wrexham. Despite these high points, they managed only two league wins in the subsequent matches—a 6-0 win over a depleted Lincoln City and a narrow 1-0 triumph at Swansea City, interrupted by draws against London rivals Millwall and QPR.
