West Ham United are reportedly unhappy that under-pressure head coach Nuno Espirito Santo ’embraced’ Nottingham Forest players after Tuesday’s Premier League match.

Nuno is the favourite to be the next Premier League manager sackedafter his side’s 2-1 home defeatleft the Hammers seven points from safety after 21 games.

West Ham’s season in F365 Tables

• 3rd for points lost from winning positions?(15)
• 19th in table when scoring first(1 win from 7)
• 19th for big chances created(18)
• 16th in possession table(43.4%)
• 19th in second half table(19 points)

The former Forest boss was appointed to bring stability and defensive solidity after Graham Potter’s troubled stint in charge. However, the mood at the London Stadium has never been worse, with relegation now looming.

While West Hamcan still overturn a seven-point deficit, the outlook is bleak, and Tuesday’s clash with Sean Dyche’s side was widely seen as a must-win.

With Nuno under intense pressure and supporters seemingly resigned to their fate, the board faces a major decision. Reports suggest they are unhappy with the head coach’s behaviour following the defeat to Forest.

The Portuguese coach appeared pleased to see his former players after a successful 2024/25 campaign at the City Ground, but his post-match ‘demeanour’ is said to have rubbed people at the club the wrong way, according to The Guardian.

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West Ham ‘losing faith’ in Nuno

The report claims the Hammers board is ‘losing faith’ in Nuno’s ability to save the club from relegation, with West Ham sitting 18th in the Premier League past the halfway point of the season.

Nuno may have further damaged his standing by ’embracing the Forest players on the pitch’ after the defeat.

While the West Ham hierarchy are reportedly reluctant to make a second managerial change this season, they are said to be extremely disappointed by a run of 10 games without a win, as well as the Portuguese coach’s tactics. Sources also claim the club ‘did not like his demeanour after their latest defeat’.

The report states:

Although it is accepted that Nuno was liked by many of Forest’s players and was facing them for the first time since his messy exit from the City Ground, it was felt he should have waited until he was away from the cameras before reuniting with members of his old team.

Sources at the club thought Nuno, who has two wins from 16 games since replacing Graham Potter in September, was naive to be seen smiling before heading down the tunnel.

It comes with staff and players at West Ham feeling increasingly demoralised. The Guardian has reported that?Nuno is losing the support of his squad?because of concerns over his tactics and man management. The wider mood at the training ground is understood to be low.

Some sources at West Ham believe Nuno should have been fired after last weekend’s?3-0 defeat at Wolves. However, the final decision rests with David Sullivan, the largest shareholder, who is believed to be unhappy with Nuno but firing Nuno would leave West Ham having to pay off a third manager in the space of 12 months.

Nuno backed and then sacked?

Despite the uncertainty, West Ham have backed Nuno in the January transfer window, completing two big-money signings. Strikers Taty Castellanos and Pablo Felipe have arrived from Lazio and Gil Vicente respectively for a combined ￡47million.

Nuno pushed for both signings after Niklas Fullkrug agreed to join AC Milan on loan, while Callum Wilson is in talks to leave the club by mutual consent.

West Ham’s next match is an FA Cup tie against London rivals Queens Park Rangers.

Defeat could leave Nuno in an untenable position, though the club’s next Premier League fixture – against Tottenham Hotspur – is likely to carry greater weight in determining his future.

Lose that, and his time at the London Stadium may be over. Former Hammers manager Slaven Bilic is reportedly the favourite to replace him, having been out of work since leaving Saudi Arabian side Al-Fateh in August 2024.

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