One of the highlights of last season for any football fan in England was seeing the joy on David Moyes’ face as he scampered down the touchline after Jarrod Bowen had won West Ham the Europa Conference League title in the last minute of the final against Fiorentina.
It was the Hammers first major trophy in 43 years and the first of Moyes’ career. To that end, he had every right to celebrate like never before on the open top bus parade around east London in the wake of the victory.
He hasn’t always been flavour of the month at the London Stadium or with football fans more generally, ever since he took over from Sir Alex Ferguson at Man United.
Whilst it’s no surprise that he did take that gig, in hindsight, following directly in the great man’s footsteps probably wasn’t the best idea, as it tarnished the reputation he’d built for himself at Everton. A reputation that is now being resurrected at West Ham.
Three European campaigns on the bounce as well as the ECL title shows he’s on the right track, and former Premier League manager, Ian Holloway, is one man that’s delighted his friend is finally getting the recognition he deserves.
“Whoever tries to follow Pep, you can’t dance in those shoes, can you? I’m sorry, whoever has tried to follow Sir Alex has had it so tough as well you know,” he said on the Pitch Side Podcast .
“They never gave Moyesy enough time, they never and that really irks me, Dave is a great friend of mine, and I’m delighted with what he did with West Ham last season, but even West Ham fans halfway through last season, it’s like managing chaos.”