West Ham Confirm That David Moyes Has Left the Club Following End of Premier League Season
West Ham United have confirmed that manager David Moyes has left the club following the end of his short term contract.
The 55-year-old was brought in to keep West Ham safe from relegation, but despite achieving this goal the club have not decided to extend his contract. His assistants Alan Irvine, Stuart Pearce and Billy McKinlay have also left the club.
In a club statement, joint chairman David Sullivan said: "I would like to place on record my sincere thanks to David Moyes and his staff for achieving the target of keeping West Ham United in the Premier League.
BREAKING: David Moyes has left his job as @WestHamUtd manager. #SSN pic.twitter.com/ApTmTKm3Wd
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) May 16, 2018
"Throughout his time here, David has carried himself with dignity and honesty and we have all found him to be a pleasure to work with. He, Alan, Stuart and Billy accepted the challenge and attacked it head on, turning around a difficult situation.
"They deserve great respect for the job they have done and they leave the Club with our best wishes.
"We are already taking steps to identify and recruit the manager we believe can take West Ham United forward in line with our ambitions. We aim to appoint a high-calibre figure who we feel will lead the Club into an exciting future for our loyal supporters within the next ten days."
"I would like to place on record my sincere thanks to David Moyes and his staff for achieving the target of keeping West Ham United in the Premier League." - Joint-Chairman David Sullivanhttps://t.co/GOROcGkLyn
— West Ham United (@WestHam) May 16, 2018
West Ham were in the relegation zone when Moyes replaced Slaven Bilic in November but the Scot managed to restore some belief and a run of one defeat in ten either side of the new year saw the Hammers climb away from the bottom three.
Their form dropped off later though and it wasn't until a 2-0 win at Leicester in the penultimate weekend of the season that they secured their safety. Moyes signed off with a 3-1 win over Everton as West Ham finished the season 13th.
It has been a turbulent season on and off the pitch with regular protests against the way the club is run by joint chairmen David Sullivan and David Gold. The decision not to keep Moyes on is part of a wider overhaul at the club.
The search for a new manager will commence immediately.