West Ham Confirm Scott Parker as New Head Coach
West Ham United have confirmed the appointment of former midfielder Scott Parker as their new head coach on a two-and-a-half-year contract. The 46-year-old replaces Nuno Espirito Santo, who was sacked on Tuesday following the club's underwhelming start to the Championship season.
Parker, who previously managed Fulham, Bournemouth, and Burnley to promotion from the Championship, has been without a job since leaving Burnley in April after their relegation from the Premier League. He will take charge of the team for the first time on Wednesday when West Ham travel to Cardiff City in the Championship.
Steve Potts, Gerard Prenderville, and Billy Lepine will assist Parker as first-team coaches, while his former team-mate Mark Noble will work closely with him in his role as sporting director. The club will make further announcements regarding the backroom staff in the coming days and weeks.
"It is a very proud moment for me to step into this role and return to a club that means so much to me and my family," Parker said on the club website. "There was a warmth, a love, a feeling that I probably didn't have anywhere else. There was something which stood out constantly and that was the relationship I built up with the fanbase here. That rapport and respect, that I felt instantly."
"More than anything, this is an opportunity that I am very excited about. I feel privileged and honoured to be the guy that wants to lead us back to the Premier League and be the head coach of this football club at this moment in time."
"My energy levels, my enthusiasm, my desire, my passion—it's absolutely running through and that's the feeling I had as soon as there was a conversation that this was possible. That's exactly why I'm here and why I want to be here."
More to follow.