Pundit tips West Ham to make big Scott Parker call as Nuno pressure intensifies | OneFootball

A slow start to West Ham's return to the Championship has turned the heat up under Nuno Espirito Santo, and Parker could be waiting in the wings.

A slow start to West Ham's return to the Championship is already turning the heat up on head coach Nuno Espírito Santo, and a replacement may already be waiting to succeed him.

The reaction of the West Ham United supporters at the end of their team's 1-1 draw at Watford on Saturday was telling.

For the third successive game since their return to the Championship, the Irons had failed to secure a win, leaving them closer than anyone would have expected pre-season to the relegation places.

This is emphatically not how their return to the EFL was supposed to play out, and the travelling faithful certainly let everyone concerned know their feelings known about another disjointed performance at the final whistle at Vicarage Road.

Their two previous matches hadn't been much better. West Ham started their opening match of the season brightly, cruising into a 2-0 lead at Burnley before being pegged back to a 2-2 draw, but their first home match of the season brought a massive crowd of over 60,000 and a considerable degree of expectation which was punctured when visitors Charlton Athletic sealed a shock 2-1 win.

Scott Parker suggested as a possible replacement for under-fire Nuno Espírito Santo

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After West Ham fans responded to their draw at Watford by telling Santo that he would be "sacked in the morning", the under-fire head coach had to address the matter, telling Talksport's Ben Jacobs after the match that, "It's true, the results are not coming, but we have to support ourselves, try to remain together."

But with high-flying Wolverhampton Wanderers now set to visit The London Stadium, the matches are coming thick and fast, and they're not getting any easier. And this has led to growing speculation that Santo soon be replaced as the head coach.

Suitable candidates to replace him are already being put forward, and when the discussion got round to the subject on the Pyramid podcast, hosts Tom Garratt and Callum Fowler had a suggestion. Fowler said that he couldn't imagine West Ham not going up this season, saying that, "I can't imagine West Ham being in the Championship for a couple of years with 60,000 attendances."

After having been critical of Santo's inability to manage possession-based teams, Garratt put forward the possibility of the former West Ham star Scott Parker returning to The London Stadium as a replacement for him, saying that Parker is, "an ex-player, and he'll get you playing that style of football."

Fowler was less enthusiastic about Parker going to The London Stadium, saying that his style of football, "would make you want to claw your own eyes out, even when you're winning", though he did add that, "he'll get you up."

Garratt replied that Parker is "better defensively", and added that rather than worrying too much about aesthetics, West Ham fans will, "just want to go up" this season. He believes that West Ham could get promoted under Parker "and then get a proper manager in" once a return to the Premier League has been confirmed.

Parker has been out of work since leaving Burnley by mutual consent at the end of April, following the Clarets' relegation from the Premier League at the end of 2025-26.

What fans are saying about Nuno Espírito Santo and West Ham United

There's been a lot of conjecture about Nuno Espírito Santo's future at West Ham United as a result of his team's slow start to the 2026-27 season, so here's a selection of what's been said.

This fan feels that the problems at the club run deeper than Santo and that there are other changes which could be made to improve their fortunes:

This fan has heard the Pyramid podcast and agrees with their assessment of him:

This fan is confident about the outcome of the Wolves match:

But this West Ham fan feels that all the activity at the end of this transfer window will be for nothing if the team don't change the way in which they play:

Nuno Espírito Santo is running out of road at West Ham, and Scott Parker is a Championship promotion specialist

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There are two obvious reasons why Scott Parker might be considered a strong match for the West Ham United managerial position, should the club decide to part ways with Nuno Espirito Santo.

Firstly, Parker has a prior connection to the club. Having signed for them as a player from Newcastle United for £7 million in July 2008, Parker went on to make 129 appearances for them between 2008 and 2012, scoring 12 goals and providing 11 assists, before being sold to Tottenham Hotspur for £5.5 million following their relegation from the Premier League in 2011.

And secondly, Parker has an excellent track record in the Championship, having taken Fulham, Bournemouth and Burnley into the Premier League in 2020, 2022 and 2025 respectively. The issue with him in the past has been what happens when his teams get there. He was unable to keep Fulham or Burnley in the Premier League once promoted, and was sacked four games into his shot at the Premier League with Bournemouth after his team lost 9-0 to Liverpool.

The pressure on Nuno Espírito Santo couldn't be much higher. Not only are Wolverhampton Wanderers one of his former clubs, but they were relegated from the Premier League with West Ham United and have already provided a stark contrast to the Irons' fortunes with convincing wins in two of their three Championship matches.

The timing of this game couldn't be much worse for the West Ham boss, but it's also the case that he did well to be kept on by the club throughout the summer, given their relegation. It had been widely expected that he would be sacked at the end of last season and, given the patience shown to him over the close season, he needed a strong start this time around.

But that's precisely what he's so far failed to deliver so far in 2026-27 for West Ham United. The case for him being retained by the club is getting thinner and thinner, and a failure to get a good result against Wolves could mean that it breaks altogether.