4) David Moyes
West Ham’s current manager, whose fight to keep the club in the Premier League has been halted due to a worldwide pandemic, still has it all to prove in the east end of London. If the Premier League season is declared null and void and Moyes is given such a lifeline, he needs to take advantage of that gift which could see him climb much higher in this list.
Of course, this isn’t his first reign in charge of the club, as his first stint at London Stadium took place just two seasons ago. The Scot took over from Slaven Bilic mid-way through the 2017/2018 season and, to his credit, ultimately guided the club to comfortable survival during turbulent times. He may have found himself unlucky not to have his short contract extended by Gold and Sullivan, but now he finds himself back at West Ham, he could argue that justice has been served.
Since replacing Manuel Pellegrini at the cusp of New Year, Moyes’ second stint hasn’t gone entirely to plan, having only won two games from 10 in the Premier League, along with getting knocked out of the FA Cup, ironically, by Slaven Bilic’s West Brom side.
In the most recent games, though, signs of improvement have been evident, with a convincing victory at home to Southampton sandwiched in between two losses away to Liverpool and Arsenal, where maximum points would not have been undeserved.
If he and his side can take this form into whenever football returns, West Ham fans have reason to be optimistic.
3) Manuel Pellegrini
If this list was made during the opening weeks of the current campaign, Pellegrini would have had a strong argument to be placed in top spot. After those opening games of the season, however, things could not have gone much worse, as early-season form deteriorated and the Chilean slowly but surely looked to be further out of his depth at West Ham than previously anticipated.
His first season at the Hammers can’t be forgotten, though, and it proved highly promising as the club finished in 10th position with some memorable victories along the way, including being the first-ever way team to win at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with Michail Antonio’s second-half strike being stamped in the history books.
Ultimately, his reign will now forever be looked on with disappointment and a question of “what if?”. Many believed that Pellegrini was the man to take West Ham to the next level but for reasons that can be argued, he saw his time at London Stadium cut short.