Why David Moyes is the worst possible appointment for West Ham

West Ham’s owners and board members were shaken by the reaction to the speculation linking David Moyes with the now vacant manager’s post at the London Stadium but went ahead and appointed the Scot anyway. This, of course, is archetypal Moyes – losing the confidence of his employers before he has even been employed.

Indeed, the former Everton and Manchester United boss was named as the new man at the helm today following the sacking of Slaven Bilic. Such has been the strength of the conjecture of late, it’s fair to assume that this switch has been in the offing for quite some time. Moyes might already have moved his belongings into the Hammers’ manager’s office.

But the Scot could actually be the worst possible appointment given the current situation West Ham find themselves in. At both Real Sociedad and Sunderland, Moyes took charge of clubs following difficult starts to the season. They needed someone to install confidence in a team desperately lacking it. They needed someone to reorganise and reorder. Moyes was not that person.

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In fact, at Sociedad and Sunderland, Moyes only served to exacerbate things. Of course, the latter’s demise cannot be solely pinned on the 54-year-old, such are the fundamental issues at the Stadium of Light. But he did nothing to halt their slide. He was the wrong appointment at the wrong time, just as he would be for West Ham.

Moyes sucks the life out of football clubs. He did it at Real Sociedad, he did it at Sunderland, and of course, he did it at Manchester United, the defining failure of his career. Even at Everton, the club where he supposedly built something of a dynasty, some fans bemoaned the lack of inspiration around Moyes’ stewardship. It’s why so many were actually pleased to see him leave Goodison Park after 11 years there.

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This should gravely concern David Gold and co. It’s not so long ago that the West Ham hierarchy were talking about bringing Champions League football to their new London Stadium. Everything was geared towards turning the Hammers into a true force, both commercially and on the pitch. They need someone to embrace that, giving the club an identity and a character. Again, is this really a criteria that Moyes fulfils?

From Moyes’ perspective, West Ham is also the worst imaginable job for him to take at this fragile stage of his career. He needed a club that will grant him the freedom and patience needed to make his mark on a team. West Ham are not that club. Bilic struggled with their scattergun strategy in the transfer market, with the Croatian fighting against the tide of the boardroom consensus against his management for months on end before he was eventually sacked.

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West Ham have become the epitome of the Premier League’s ills. It goes beyond their decision to leave their spiritual home of Upton Park or even their questionable transfer market approach. It’s a collective culture that has been cultivated at the club in recent years, and the firing of Bilic, followed by the hiring of Moyes, a name plucked straight from the carousel of managers that rotate around the Premier League, would only add to it.

This could prove to be a critical juncture in the history of West Ham. After all the moves they’ve made to gatecrash the elite level of the game, they must now concern themselves with simply preserving what they have. Moyes, in every way, is a poor fit. His appointment could be a watershed for the Hammers, just like it was for Sunderland and Real Sociedad. That’s not a good thing.