.png)
5 hours ago
2
Relegation-threatened West Ham are committed to backing manager Nuno Espirito Santo in the transfer market next month.
The former Wolves, Tottenham and Nottingham Forest boss was appointed as Graham Potter's replacement on 25 September.
After starting with four games without a win, the Hammers then lost just one in six before their current run of three successive defeats left them third-bottom, five points behind Forest and seven adrift of in-form Leeds.
The alarming prospect of dropping back into the Championship for the first time in 14 years has brought growing pressure on Nuno.
Relegation was something the controversial move to the 62,500-capacity London Stadium in 2016 was supposed to make far less likely given the increase in revenue it generates.
However, club sources are adamant they remain solidly behind the manager and believe he will turn the situation round if the right changes can be made in January.
They are vowing the money will be found to make new signings, although it is not certain whether that might involve the sale of Brazilian playmaker Lucas Paqueta, who was blocked from leaving West Ham in the summer.
While West Ham would benefit from their rent on the London Stadium halving to £2m should they go down, the overall financial situation would be massively affected if they did finish in the bottom three.
A run of fixtures, starting against out-of-form Brighton on 30 December, that also includes games against Wolves, Forest, Sunderland and local rivals Tottenham and Chelsea before a trip to Burnley on 7 February, is likely to shape West Ham's near future.
Despite the current internal backing for Nuno, it is possible sentiment could turn if the present situation became even worse.
West Ham‘s latest loss was a particularly frustrating blow. They had looked on course for a draw against Fulham before a mistake by Ollie Scarles allowed Harry Wilson to cross for Raul Jimenez to score an 85th-minute winner.
“The second half we started with momentum, we created a lot of good combinations going forward,” Nuno said after the game.
"I saw it in that moment that the goal was coming. Everybody felt it, the fans got behind the team, and the boys, the energy was there. And then in the final moment we got punished.
"We all make mistakes. It’s not about individuals. It's about how can we react as a team when we have an important game in two days."
But defensive mistakes has been an issue that have plagued West Ham all season, and the inability to cut them out has Nuno currently tracking to have the worst record of any Hammers‘ boss in the Premier League era. He is currently averaging just 0.77 points per game.
While his record is poor there are mitigating circumstances.
Nuno inherited a side low on confidence and struggling badly defensively, something that he has not improved, with West Ham having kept just one clean sheet in the Premier League all season.
Having taken over towards the end of September, Nuno has not had a transfer window to bring in his own players and is instead reliant on the ones already at the club, who are a mixture of those brought in by previous managers Julen Lopetegui and then Graham Potter.
Only Burnley and Wolves have taken fewer points than West Ham’s 10 since Nuno took charge, while they have scored 14 goals and conceded 23 in his 13 games.
While Nuno will get the chance to turn things round, history is not on their side -they have won just 13 points from their 18 Premier League games this season, matching their fewest at this stage of a league campaign since 2010-11 when they went on to finish bottom of the Premier League.
