With relegation to the Championship looking almost certain, there are serious question marks over Nuno Espirito Santo‘s future.
Earlier this month it was being reported that the Portuguese manager intended to remain in his post even if the club was competing in England’s second tier next season, which is what the Hammers hierarchy were hopeful of.
But reports this week now suggest that the former Wolves, Nottingham Forest and Tottenham boss is expected to leave the club in the event of relegation, which could be confirmed on Tuesday night if Spurs avoid defeat against Chelsea.
So naturally, there’s lots of talk about who should be in charge next season. Who is the right man to take us back to the Premier League at the first time of asking?
Several names have been touted in recent weeks, including Scott Parker and Slaven Bilic.
One name which fans are increasingly showing an interest in is Wales boss Craig Bellamy. While there have been no concrete reports that the club is interested in his services, a lot of fans are beginning to name the former Hammers striker as their ideal choice in the event of Nuno’s departure.
Bellamy has done a fantastic job as Wales boss since taking the job in 2024, becoming the first manager in history to avoid defeat his first four games in charge of the country.
Before then, he was Vincent Kompany’s assistant manager at both Anderlecht and Burnley.
It’s his time working alongside Kompany that has influenced his playing style, which is a progressive, possession-based and highly-structured tactical approach. It’s this, alongside his success at Wales, which has fans calling for his appointment should we go down.
Bellamy’s love for West Ham
Bellamy signed for the Hammers in 2007 and went on to score nine goals in 26 appearances before being sold to Manchester City just 18-months later.
The Welshman has since often spoken of his reluctance to leave the club at the time, including in his Autobiography, which was published in 2013.
Even on The Central Club Podcast in 2022, Bellamy spoke at length at how much love and respect he has for the club and the fanbase.
He said: “West Ham fans get a bad rep but they were brilliant.
“They’re the most knowledgeable fans I ever played for. You couldn’t kid ’em. I’ve seen fans cheer players who have a go, but they’re like, ‘he has a go at what?! He gives the ball away every time!’
“There [at West Ham] they won’t accept that. It’s like no, you’ve got to be a good player as well. ‘We expect you to have a go, we pay money for you to have a go, but, what are you like on the ball? And also, what are you like when we’re not happy? Do you still have the balls to go and get the ball?’
“If you do, they’ll have you. They’re with you then. And I loved that about them. They’ve watched too many great players down the years, they’ve been brought up on Bobby Moore and all that type of stuff.
“It’s just a special club. When they sell their players, like James Collins and all that, once you go there you don’t come back. You stay around there because it grips you.
“That club, once you’ve played for them, you’re like ‘ah, I get it now! I get what this club is!’
“Even the humour of the fans. You’ll see me smile as soon as I mention it, I just had so many happy memories there and even when I left, I didn’t want to leave. Honestly, I didn’t want to leave.
“It was one of my happiest periods. I loved it there.”
A risk worth taking for West Ham?
We wrote earlier this month that appointing a manager like Bellamy, without any managerial experience at club level, would probably be too big a risk given the club’s desperate need to return to the Championship as soon as possible.
But as the weeks have gone by, there has to be some credence in what some fans are saying when calling for the club to try and tempt him away from the Wales job.
Indeed, as a Welshman, he’s got the best job he could ask for right now, but having cut his teeth as an assistant manager under Kompany at club level, he’ll no doubt be keen to see what he can achieve there too.
With two years remaining on his Wales contract, David Sullivan will have to do what he’s never done and pay compensation to bring Bellamy in. As we know, he always prefers to appoint free agents.
But that’s backfired time-and-time again, so this time a change in approach is needed.
Bellamy would certainly bring the style of football fans want, while his evident love and understanding of the club and the fanbase could be priceless during a time when the relationship between the supporters and the board has eroded to the point of no return.
Fans want a manager who can both guide the club to promotion, if relegation is confirmed, but also help rebuild their love and pride for the football club.
Bellamy understands the way West Ham fans think, he knows what they want, what they do and don’t accept from players, and that could be so crucial moving forward.
Could it happen? It’s a long shot at this stage, but you have to think Bellamy would be interested if the opportunity came about.
I’m certainly warming to the idea having heard what he’s got to say about the club and us supporters.
He just gets it. There aren’t many who do.
