Manager David Moyes two spells at West Ham United have certainly been mixed affairs. He has not always had the fans fully on his side, and upon his first departure from the London Stadium, plenty of Hammers would have freely admitted that they were happy to have seen the back of him.
Equally, upon his reappointment many felt it was a complete mistake and would only end in further heartbreak, but his second spell ultimately became something special. The 2022/23 campaign certainly did as they won their first European Trophy in decades by lifting the Europa Conference League, but it did not stop the rumblings of discontent in the background, and largely as expected given all the rumour mill speculation across the 2023/24 campaign, the club confirmed the other week that the 61 year old would be departing at the end of the campaign when his contract naturally expired.
It will not have come as a great surprise to Hammers fans or those in the wider world of football in fairness, but news of the expectation that former Wolverhampton Wanderers gaffer Julen Lopetegui has now agreed to be his replacement will raise the eyebrows of many in the fanbase. However, what the future holds is to be found out at a later date.
Moyes bows out rightly proud of the improvements he helped oversee, even if it was not enough for their owners. Three consecutive years of European football, culminating in their first major trophy for 43 years will ultimately eclipse what cannot be denied has been incredibly poor form of late, with the side only picking up one win in their last ten games – with five defeats.
Joint chairman David Sullivan stated that the reason for the earlier announcement was so that Moyes’ achievements were fully and completely on the record, and in a way that meant that fans could truly show their appreciation for his efforts in Saturday’s final home game of the year against Luton Town.
And the fans did just that in glorious weather and sunshine in their home ground, and undoubtedly his send off was more than helped by the players stepping up to take a 3-1 victory over plucky Luton Town, who now expectedly return to the Championship (but having gained further fans of their own for their approach to the year).
The annual lap of honour saw a very warm and extremely genuine thanks from the fans, as whilst form may not have been great lately, there is no arguing that Moyes does leave the club in a far better position than it was when he joined for the second time.