West Ham United have sacked head coach Nuno Espirito Santo after just over 13 months in charge, with assistant Rui Pedro Silva and goalkeeper coach Rui Barbosa also departing the London Stadium.

Nuno’s last match in charge proved to be Saturday’s 3-1 home defeat to West Bromwich Albion, which left the Hammers eighth in the Championship with 22 points from 13 games, inside the play-off places by two points and four points off automatic promotion.

Great Expectations To Bounce Back

Many may feel West Ham were unlucky to be relegated last season as they went down with 39 points, the highest points total for a club to go down from the Premier League since Blackburn and Blackpool in 2010/11, and the second highest total ever after the Hammers themselves in 2002/03.

They were immediately installed as favourites to bounce straight back up, especially after club captain Jarrod Bowen decided to stay at the club despite reported interest from elsewhere. However, they endured a slow start to the league season which saw draws with Burnley and Watford book-ended by a home defeat to Charlton Athletic.

It was this form that seemingly prompted a change, with a club statement released earlier this morning confirming the news. Former midfielder Scott Parker is widely expected to be named as as Santo’s permanent successor.

September Turnaround Brings Reward

The Hammers got their first league win of the season at the fourth attempt as they beat Wolves 4-2, the start of a four-match winning run and a total of eight unbeaten. A 6-0 thrashing of Wrexham on 11th September saw them go top of the table.

It was that run of 13 points from a possible 15 in September which saw Nuno claim the Championship Manager of The Month award. The only dropped points came in a 2-2 draw at arch rivals Millwall.

Back-to-back draws saw them drop out of the top two but away wins at Lincoln City and fellow promotion contenders Swansea City kept them right in contention.

October Dip Proves To Be The End

Seven points from a possible nine after coming back from the extended international break suggested that the form that had brought the Hammers into the mix would continue. However, successive home defeats saw them lose momentum.

Perhaps the most damaging factor was that those losses came against fellow promotion chasers Southampton and West Bromwich Albion, who have both gone above the Hammers in the table, despite the Saints starting off the season with a four point deduction.

Club legend Mark Noble, Steve Potts and Gerard Prenderville will take charge of tomorrow night’s trip to Cardiff City, with Saturday’s trip to Blackburn Rovers the last game going into the international break.

Where Next For Manager And Club?

Two years ago today, Nuno was riding high as his Nottingham Forest side moved up to third in the Premier League, ironically after a 3-0 win over West Ham. Now, he finds himself sacked for the second time in just over a year.

Managers have certainly survived worse damage to their reputation, so it would not be a surprise to see the Portuguese back in work at some stage this season, particularly as last season’s relegation was as much to do with their form before his arrival as anything after it.

With 99 points still to play for in the Championship and two months until the January transfer window, the likely arrival of Parker at the London Stadium will see the ex-England international tasked with gaining promotion.