West Ham: Nuno Espirito Santo sacked by Hammers with club sitting in eighth place in the Championship
Nuno Espirito Santo has been sacked by West Ham just 13 games into the Championship season; the Hammers suffered back-to-back home defeats to Southampton and West Brom to leave them six points off the top of the table, and four points off the Championship automatic promotion spots
Tuesday 3 November 2026 11:52, UK
Scott Parker is close to being appointed West Ham boss after the club sacked Nuno Espirito Santo.
Nuno departs after back-to-back defeats left the Hammers eighth in the Championship, and Sky Sports News understands discussions with Parker, who made 129 appearances for West Ham as a player between 2007-2011, are at an advanced stage.
Saturday's 3-1 home defeat to West Brom proved to be the end of the road for Nuno, who felt the heat from the supporters at London Stadium following the loss.
Nuno has been relieved of his duties ahead of Wednesday's trip to Cardiff in the league - live on Sky Sports. West Ham, who were widely expected to go straight back up to the Premier League, sit four points off the automatic promotion spots.
West Ham say the board of directors felt a change in the dugout was "necessary" to ensure the club's "objectives and expectations remain on track" after seeing Nuno's side pick up six wins from their first 13 matches.
West Ham added that the process to recruit a new head coach was under way. Parker is expected to take the reins, having previously secured promotion from the Championship with Fulham, Bournemouth and Burnley.
Mark Noble, Steve Potts and Gerard Prenderville have been tasked with preparing the team against Cardiff.
Prior to the West Brom defeat, West Ham lost 3-2 to Southampton at the London Stadium, with the club sitting six points off the top of the table, and four points below second.
Nuno opted to stay with the Hammers following their relegation from the Premier League in May, but has departed 13 games into the Championship season.
Meanwhile, Parker has previously promoted three clubs to the Premier League: Fulham, Bournemouth and Burnley. He was sacked by Burnley when their relegation was confirmed last April.
West Ham's upcoming Championship fixtures
Wednesday: Cardiff City (A), kick-off 7.45pm, live on Sky Sports
November 7: Blackburn (A), kick-off 3pm
November 21: Preston (H), kick-off 3pm
November 24: Portsmouth (A), kick-off 7.45pm, live on Sky Sports
November 28: Stoke City (H), kick-off 3pm
December 4: Sheffield Utd (A), kick-off 8pm, live on Sky Sports
December 8: Middlesbrough (H), kick-off 8pm, live on Sky Sports
Nuno's final words as West Ham boss
Nuno Espirito Santo speaking after the 3-1 loss to West Brom:
"Many things went wrong - many, many things. It was a poor performance. The idea was to start well, but after West Bromwich scored it was very difficult.
"Then at the start of the second half, many fans were not even sitting down when we conceded a poor, poor goal."
Asked about visiting fans' taunts that he would be "sacked in the morning", he responded: "This is the reality: we can only change this if we win games. The solution is results, we have to go back to results.
"When you lose at home to Charlton, Southampton and West Brom, the only solution is to improve our game.
"There is pressure every day. We have conceded six goals at home in two games and we have to fix it. That cannot happen.
"In the first half we were too far away from each other and for the second goal we allowed too much time, with no cover in the box.
"The idea and the approach is to try and score first. That is the objective of any team and it's our responsibility to change it."
Sharp: Results had people on Nuno's case from the get-go
Former EFL striker Billy Sharp speaking on the EFL Show:
"Nuno knew he was going to be under pressure if he didn't hit the ground running. They started with a couple of draws and people were on his case from the get-go.
"It looked to have clicked a few weeks sago where they got a few results where people were thinking they'd hit gear three or four, and that they'd get to the top of the league and run away with it.
"But that hasn't been the case. At home it's been a sticking point - teams are enjoying going there as the underdogs and West Brom had a great away day on Saturday.
"Teams are getting right up for it there, and thinking they've got nothing to lose."
