West Ham make final decision on Nuno future as Kretinsky plays leading role | OneFootball

West Ham United have decided to hand Nuno Espirito Santo the opportunity to lead the club’s bid to return to the Premier League, with TEAMtalk understanding co-chairman Daniel Kretinsky played a decisive role in keeping the Portuguese coach at the London Stadium.

As TEAMtalk previously revealed, serious doubts had emerged surrounding Nuno’s future following the Hammers’ relegation, with significant figures inside the club considering a managerial change ahead of life back in the Championship.

Leading shareholder David Sullivan had been strongly weighing up the possibility of replacing Nuno and TEAMtalk understands former Burnley, Fulham and Bournemouth boss Scott Parker was the leading candidate under consideration.

Sporting director Mark Noble had been pushing hard internally for Parker’s appointment.

The former West Ham captain is known to retain a strong relationship with Parker following their years together in midfield at Upton Park and Noble is understood to hugely admire the 44-year-old’s promotion pedigree.

Parker has already guided three clubs out of the Championship during his managerial career and sources indicate Sullivan viewed him as an ideal figure to oversee an immediate push for promotion.

However, TEAMtalk can now reveal Kretinsky ultimately stepped in to back Nuno and successfully argued against making another major change behind the scenes.

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Kretinsky key in decision to keep Nuno

Czech billionaire Kretinsky – who, as TEAMtalk confirmed earlier this week, is preparing to significantly increase his shareholding in the club – firmly believes continuity represents West Ham’s best chance of bouncing straight back to the top flight.

Sources close to the ownership situation indicate Kretinsky argued that Nuno had succeeded in bringing structure and stability to a chaotic environment after arriving at the club, even if results ultimately failed to secure survival.

Kretinsky is also understood to believe Nuno’s previous Championship experience with Wolves gives him a major advantage heading into next season.

The Portuguese coach famously guided Wolves to promotion during his spell at Molineux and remains highly respected for his ability to build competitive, organised squads capable of handling the demands of England’s second tier.

TEAMtalk understands another major factor in Kretinsky’s thinking centred around the scale of the rebuild now facing West Ham.

A number of senior players are expected to depart following relegation and the ownership group believe retaining Nuno gives the club a far smoother transition due to his existing knowledge of the squad and the internal issues needing to be addressed.

Rather than beginning another complete reset under a new manager, Kretinsky argued that allowing Nuno to oversee the rebuild would provide greater continuity during what is expected to be a hugely important summer at the London Stadium.

For now, that view has prevailed. While Parker remains highly regarded internally and was very much Sullivan’s preferred option had a vacancy formally emerged, TEAMtalk understands West Ham’s current intention is to move forward with Nuno in charge.

The Portuguese coach now faces the enormous challenge of rebuilding morale, reshaping the squad and attempting to guide the Hammers straight back into the Premier League.

But crucially, thanks largely to Kretinsky’s intervention behind the scenes, TEAMtalk understands Nuno will be given the chance to do exactly that.