And so it happened. Amidst the uproar of their fans, who were quick to assign blame, West Ham bid farewell to the Premier League. David Sullivan, their long-time owner, initially faced the backlash from the stands but soon disappeared from view, much like the club’s own presence in top-flight football.
This time, even the efforts of David Moyes couldn’t salvage the once-proud club. Not even a rare and decisive victory on home turf was enough to stave off the inevitable decline.
None of these factors could reverse the club’s fortunes, nor could they prevent the metaphorical trapdoor from swinging open. Years of stagnation and mismanagement under Sullivan’s ownership had allowed the club to deteriorate into a hotbed of dissatisfaction and dissent.
As the descent concluded, a mix of players—ranging from the promising to the mediocre—were left to pick up the pieces. At the forefront was Jarrod Bowen, who stood out as a beacon with his goal-scoring prowess. Yet, for every Bowen, there were numerous underwhelming players who failed to justify their hefty price tags, alongside inadequate replacements for the stars who had moved on. Players of Declan Rice’s caliber once graced this midfield. Today, such comparisons seem almost unfair.
Despite a 3-0 triumph, the victory was a mere footnote in a season marred by disappointments. Whether Nuno Espirito Santo will be the one to steer the club back to its former glory is uncertain. The fate of Bowen, whose contributions delayed this downfall, also hangs in the balance.
West Ham were relegated on the final day of the season despite beating Leeds 3-0
David Sullivan (left) briefly sat and took the hate directed his way until vanishing from his seat
These are the lingering effects of relegation. Yet, this particular chapter closed with the bittersweet satisfaction of a win, albeit against a Leeds team already secure in their status. By the time the match commenced, the only outside interests lay with Everton and Tottenham, teams beyond Moyes’s influence.
If there is any consolation for Nuno, it is that when the time came for his own players to stand up, they delivered. Sort of. Not across the season, but in the final hurrah, which is to say far too late.
Their task was summarised by their form of three straight defeats and their form was summarised by Nuno in his programme notes. They read: ‘There are many things we could say about our last few matches… and it’s true almost none of them are good.’
The previous three games, lost to an aggregate of 7-1, would suggest he was right, but as a rallying cry it was hardly Churchill.
Nor did his team selection inspire any belated faith in the depths of such a bleak, unbalanced squad. When only a win would do, Callum Wilson was dropped, the defence was bumped down from a five to a four, and somewhere among the incoming for a restructured attack was Pablo, a forward responsible for one assist and no goals since joining for £20million in January.
That wouldn’t have sent a shiver across the pitch, let alone to north London. Contributing to the wider ambiance of doom was a malfunction from the stadium sound system – during its final playing of Bubbles prior to the kick-off, it slipped into a muddle of strange noises and needed to be restarted. A metaphor for the club? An omen for the afternoon?
Well, the game itself certainly didn’t commence how Nuno would have wanted. His guys were nervous, their passes loose, the touches looser. The saving grace was that Daniel Farke’s side were little better, meaning that when Axel Disasi was caught in possession after seven minutes, Lukas Nmecha was gifted a clean swing from eight yards and clattered the strike sideways off his shin. Half an hour later, Dominic Calvert-Lewin wasted a marginally better chance with a mis-hit of his own.
In between those moments of jeopardy, Mateus Fernandes mounted a minor assault against a gentle tide. Alas, his drive from 25 yards was saved pretty easily by Karl Darlow.
A cast of good, average and weak players fell to the ground when Tottenham’s result was in
Nuno Espirito Santo (centre) did his best to save the club, but it was too little, too late, and his team selection was weak here
A word on Fernandes. He spoke for many in querying this side’s lack of heart at Newcastle a week earlier and the sentiment echoed here for the entire first-half. West Ham’s desire was evident, but it was speaking in whispers when this was a time for screams.
And then a few came, but from the wrong place, because Leeds fans had heard that Tottenham had scored against Everton. West Ham’s response to such heightened peril? Nothing beyond a pair of threatening crosses with no recipient.
When the whistle went for the break, there were a few boos, of course, and then a modest cheer at the resumption when Nuno reversed his earlier thinking by bringing on Wilson for Pablo. That was progress, demonstrated when Wilson rolled Taty Castellanos into open air in front of goal, only for his team-mate to cushion his first touch with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer.
Across the next eight minutes, Castellanos would balloon a second decent chance wide and kill the threat of another by over-hitting a through ball for Crysencio Summerville. It was a struggle. For him. For them. For those who pay to watch this stuff each week in a stadium they have despised for 10 years and counting.
Nuno was pacing beyond the white markings of his area by that stage – the only line-breaker in West Ham colours. But then came a moment. A tremor of possibility. And from the strangest of places, too: Castellanos.
Rising to meet a Bowen corner that dipped viciously on an in-swinging path, he may have been helped by Konstantinos Mavropanos grappling Ethan Ampadu from his path, but the header was precise. Nuno punched the air.
But Spurs were still 1-0 up across town.
When Bowen raced ahead of Joe Rodon a short while later and rattled the second past Darlow, that more pressing situation hadn’t changed. Ditto when we got to the rare altitudes of a 3-0 lead, secured with the final contribution of the season and via a 20-yard rocket from Wilson.
For those allied to West Ham, the goals were worth cheering. You take the wins where you can get them. But those feelings will fade as the enormity of relegation beds in. One suspects the venom directed at Sullivan will persist far longer.
Nuno’s future unknown as he refuses to answer
Nuno Espirito Santo has refused to discuss his future after West Ham’s 15-year stay in the Premier League ended with relegation on Sunday.
A 3-0 win over Leeds was rendered irrelevant to the survival fight after Tottenham beat Everton and West Ham’s next crisis will concern the associated departures.
While Jarrod Bowen hinted he might be prepared to stay on in the Championship, amid fears of a fire sale to cover the financial hit, Nuno repeatedly offered no such reassurances.
He said: ‘If you ask me now about the past and the future, this is not the day. Today is to understand the moment of sadness for our fans, of ourselves, of the club.
‘Our attention was all on achieving the mission that we didn’t accomplish. Now we need to go to this period of sadness.’
When pushed further on both a timeframe for his decision and his desire to stay, Nuno bristled slightly before adding: ‘You are keep insisting about that, but my mind is not there. Next press conference, for sure we can speak about that, but today is not about this.’
Bowen, who scored and assisted another in the 3-0 win, was more forthcoming. The West Ham captain said: ‘I’m under contract here. I’ve been here six and a half years. I’ve had some really high moments and this is a low moment that will outweigh everything.
‘There’s going to be rumours, there’s going to be talk. Ultimately, what I see is getting this club back in the Premier League because that is where it deserves to be.
‘This is a really, really low moment, but we have to bounce back because there’s no other way. This is a really difficult moment.
‘You never know what the future holds. For me, I want to get this club back in the Premier League. Right now our vision is to do that.’
