West Ham United Fires Nuno Espírito Santo as Coach

West Ham United has let go of their head coach, Nuno Espírito Santo, effective immediately. This decision comes after a review of how the club has started the EFL Championship season.

The club shared this news in a statement on their website on Tuesday. They mentioned that the board felt a change in management was needed to keep their goals and expectations on track.

“Following a thorough review of the start to the EFL Championship season, the Board of Directors believe that a change is necessary at this time in order to ensure that the Club’s objectives and expectations remain on track,” the statement read.

West Ham also announced that Assistant head coach Rui Pedro Silva and goalkeeping coach Rui Barbosa have left the club as well.

The club expressed gratitude to the three coaches for their “hard work and commitment” while at West Ham and wished them success in their future careers.

West Ham stated that they have started the process of finding a new head coach. In the meantime, Mark Noble, Steve Potts, and Gerard Prenderville will handle the team's preparations for their Championship match against Cardiff City on Tuesday evening.

The club added that they would not share any further comments until a new head coach is officially appointed.

Nuno became head coach of West Ham on September 27, 2025, signing a three-year deal after leaving Nottingham Forest. He has also managed Wolverhampton Wanderers, Tottenham Hotspur, Valencia, Porto, and Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia.

He made a significant impact in English football at Wolves, where he led the team to win the Championship title and secure promotion to the Premier League in 2018. He then guided them to two consecutive seventh-place finishes and to the Europa League quarter-finals in the 2019/20 season.

Before joining West Ham, he had success at Nottingham Forest, leading them to seventh place in the Premier League and the FA Cup semi-finals in the 2024/25 season. He also won the Saudi Pro League title with Al-Ittihad in 2022.

When West Ham hired him, they had high hopes, wanting to enhance their performance and compete at a higher level. After being relegated from the Premier League, their top priority was to return to the top flight, with automatic promotion as the main goal.

Nuno had previously stated that his aim was to help the team perform at their best and make West Ham as competitive as possible.