Scott Parker is back in football management after being appointed West Ham United’s new head coach on Wednesday morning.
The 46-year-old replaces Nuno Espirito Santo who was sacked by the Hammers just the day before after a disappointing start to their Championship campaign.
Parker has signed a two-and-a-half year contract with the club and will take charge of their league trip to Cardiff City on Wednesday night.
He arrives with the remit of returning the club back to the Premier League after their relegation on the final day of last season. They currently sit eighth in the Championship – six points adrift of table-toppers Middlesbrough after 13 games.
He does have the nous for getting teams promoted from the Championship having done it previously with Fulham, Bournemouth and Burnley – managing the trio in the top flight too. His most recent experience in the Premier League came at Burnley where he left in April, just days after their relegation back to the Championship.
First-team coaches Steve Potts, Gerard Prenderville and Billy Lepine will form part of Parker’s backroom staff, while his former team-mate Mark Noble is his sporting director.
Parker is their fourth manager since David Moyes left in May 2024 following Julen Lopetegui, Graham Potter and now Nuno’s short reigns.
Scott Parker statement
As a player, the former midfielder made 129 appearances in a four-year stint with the Hammers – winning the club’s player of the year award three times. He was also named Football Writers’ Association player of the year in 2011 during his time in east London. And upon returning, he is relishing the challenge ahead.
‘It is a very proud moment for me to step into this role and return to a Club that means so much to me and my family,’ he told the club’s official website. ‘A lot of very fond memories of my time here – four years of probably the best football I played in my career.
‘There was a warmth, a love, a feeling that I probably didn’t have anywhere else. There was something which stood out constantly and that was the relationship that I built up with the fanbase here. That rapport and respect, that I felt instantly.
‘More than anything, this is an opportunity that I am very excited about. I feel privileged and honoured to be the guy that wants to lead us back to the Premier League and be the Head Coach of this Football Club at this moment in time.
‘My energy levels, my enthusiasm, my desire, my passion – it’s absolutely running through and that’s the feeling I had as soon as there was a conversation that this was possible. That’s exactly why I’m here and why I want to be here.
‘From my first calls with Karim [Virani] and Daniel [Kretínsky], it was clear they have a shared vision and desire to return the Club to the Premier League as quickly as possible. I share that ambition and I’m very confident we can achieve it.
‘I’ve been in this division three times and I’ve got out of this division three times. This is a tough division, there is absolutely no denying it. And I will use every ounce of my experience, every ounce of my knowledge, to have an understanding of what we’re going to need to bring consistency.
‘And that’s going to be the key word for all of us really. The consistency of what we do and the commitment levels that we go to will give us the best opportunity to get out of this division and be the team that we can be.’
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