Nuno Espírito Santo delivers Ten Commandments to West Ham players after meeting them and bans four players.

Portuguese boss Nuno Espírito Santo is back in club management just three weeks after leaving Nottingham Forest, having been appointed manager of fellow Premier League side West Ham United.

Nuno has singed a three-year contract with the London club, where he took his first training session on Saturday afternoon.

The former Porto man replaced Graham Potter, whose departure was announced shortly beforehand, after the team achieved just three points from their opening five matches.

“I am very pleased to be here and very proud to be representing West Ham United,” Nuno said upon his unveiling. “My objective is to work hard to get the very best from the team and ensure that we are as competitive as we possibly can be. The work has already started and I am looking forward to the challenge that is ahead.”

Nuno left Forest earlier this season after a bust-up with the club’s board, which the 51-year-old Portuguese made public during press interviews. It marked an unsavoury end to a tenure which saw Nuno guide Forest back to European football after a 29-year wait.

In his fourth job in the Premier League, Nuno will count on a Portuguese in his ranks at West Ham in the shape of midfielder Mateus Fernandes, who arrived in the summer for €46m. Nuno’s first match in charge comes on Monday evening, when the Hammers travel to play Everton.

At first, chairman David Sullivan preferred to offer Potter a short-term deal that would last until the end of that season.
When that was declined, it is understood West Ham explored the possibility of a longer deal including a break clause that could have been activated last summer.

Even when the move for Potter was at an advanced stage, there were dalliances with former AC Milan boss Paulo Fonseca and ex-Paris St-Germain manager Christophe Galtier.
Potter was eventually appointed as Julen Lopetegui’s replacement, but the decision did not seem unequivocal.

Nine months later, those early cracks have deteriorated into irretrievable chasms.
Potter has been sacked, with a forgettable record of six wins from 25 matches.

To put that in context, Lopetegui was afforded just 22 games in charge, but managed more victories – seven – than his successor.
For them, Sullivan and the board are at the heart of a perceived lack of progression.

But it is worth remembering that in the three seasons prior to Steidten’s appointment, West Ham finished sixth, seventh and 14th, as well as winning the Europa Conference League under David Moyes in 2023.

Despite the current angst, you’d imagine West Ham supporters long for that level of success.
With Steidten long gone and Macaulay set to follow, all eyes – not for the first time – are on Sullivan. And Nuno, of course.