West Ham Sack Head Coach Nuno Espirito Santo With Club Eighth in the Championship

West Ham United have sacked head coach Nuno Espirito Santo with immediate effect, the club confirmed on Tuesday, November 3, with the team eighth in the EFL Championship after 13 games.

"West Ham United can confirm that men's first-team head coach Nuno Espirito Santo has left his position with immediate effect," the club said in a statement.

Why the board acted

The decision followed a board review of the start of the Championship season. "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 club statement said.

West Ham sit eighth in the Championship, six points behind leaders Middlesbrough, after back-to-back home defeats. Saturday's 3-1 loss to West Bromwich Albion at the London Stadium prompted the review that ended with the 52-year-old leaving the club. Assistant head coach Rui Pedro Silva and goalkeeper coach Rui Barbosa have also departed.

A stay of execution in May

Nuno was appointed in September 2025. The club had opted in May to stick with him despite his failure to secure Premier League safety, a decision that gave him the summer and the start of the Championship campaign to turn the team's direction around. Thirteen games into that campaign, with the club off the pace set by Middlesbrough and beaten twice in a row at home, the board concluded the objectives set for the season were at risk and acted.

Cardiff comes first

There is no pause in the fixture list. Mark Noble, Steve Potts and Gerard Prenderville will take temporary charge of preparations for Wednesday evening's Championship fixture at Cardiff City. The process of recruiting a new head coach is already underway, and the club said it will make no further comment until a new head coach is confirmed.

The Parker reports

One name is already being linked with the job, and it is reported only. talkSPORT reports that Scott Parker is set to replace Nuno and that West Ham have struck an agreement with the former Hammers midfielder, who left Burnley in April. The Sun carries the same report. The club itself has confirmed none of it: its statement says only that recruiting is underway, so Parker remains a reported target, not an appointment, until West Ham say otherwise.

For supporters, the immediate questions are the ones the statement leaves open: who takes the team beyond the temporary trio, how quickly an appointment lands with the season already 13 games old, and whether a new head coach can close a six-point gap to the leaders. The first answer comes on Wednesday night in Cardiff, under temporary charge.