West Ham United and new manager Scott Parker are set to give Alphonso Areola the starting goalkeeper slot ahead of Mads Hermansen.
The Frenchman previously worked with Scott Parker at Fulham, where he played the entire season on loan from PSG. After his impressive Fulham stint, despite relegation, the Hammers took an interest, and he eventually signed and is now working under Parker again.
With Nuno Espírito Santo departing West Ham United on November 3rd 2026, it marked an end to what fans are naming to be the worst manager the club have had across the past decade. Still, more importantly, it also opened up the job, which Scott Parker was announced to fulfil only an hour and a half after the Portuguese manager’s dismissal.
West Ham United have suffered their third defeat in the past four matches, with no wins in the past four. Scott Parker was at the helm for his first match today with the Hammers after he’d actually spent more than just a morning with the squad, and today perhaps might’ve been yet another brutal lesson for Parker and what he has truly walked into.
Blackburn Rovers: Toth, Beyuku, Carter, McLoughlin, Pickering, Morsy, Montgomery, Fevrier, Cantwell (C), Afolayan, Guojohnsen
Subs: Pears, Kargbo, Ohashi, Baradji, Wharton, Atcheson, Ribeiro, De Neve, Garrett
West Ham: Hermansen, Mavropanos, Veltman, Kilman, Mayers, Kante, Engels, Mukasa, Bowen (C), Austbo, Piroe
Subs: Herrick*, Morato, Solomon, Taty, Soucek, Magassa, Scarles, Golambeckis, Orford
*Areola initially involved in squad
Scott Parker made his first appearance in the dugout for West Ham United yesterday, and he had a telling story over 90 minutes.
Parker spoke after the match explaining that his impact was minimal heading into the match, mentioning that he met the squad for the first time at the airport, but he was certainly looking forward to today’s post-match debrief.
Cardiff City: Trott, Ng, Fish, Bagan, Scanlon, Robertson, Moylan, Willock, Colwill (C), Salech, Tanner
Subs: Tyrer, Kpakio, Colwill, Turnbull, Holt, Perrett, Moreno, Ashford, Tankiewicz
West Ham: Hermansen, Kilman, Mavropanos, Veltman, Morato, Engels, Magassa, Mukasa, Bowen (C), Solomon, Taty
Subs: Areola, Piroe, Kante, Soucek, Scarles, Golambeckis, Austbø, Mayers, Orford
West Ham United have struck an agreement with free agent manager, Scott Parker, to take over from Nuno Espírito Santo.
The former Burnley, Fulham and Club Brugge manager has achieved promotion from the Championship three times with the Hammers hierarchy clearly aiming to achieve promotion, which they alluded to in their statement made this morning.
The details for Scott Parker's deal are unknown, but a deal is in place for him to become the newest West Ham manager.
Now former West Ham manager, Nuno Espírito Santo has been sacked by the club it has been confirmed.
After two losses in a row at home, the club have made the decision before the Cardiff City match tomorrow evening that Nuno will not be in charge and will not be given the opportunity to recover.
Nuno had a meeting with the West Ham hierarchy this morning and it is assumed that talks weren’t as positive as hoped and ultimately he was officially sacked this morning.
West Ham United currently sit 8th in the Championship table.
There’s certainly no hiding the fact that on Saturday afternoon it was yet again another dismal evening, and one that has most certainly fired up the fanbase to the point where the Hammers have dropped down to 8th, and the talk of Nuno Espírito Santo being sacked is reappearing on a bigger scale.
It would be begrudging to discuss the misery of the West Brom result in detail, so it’s better to focus on the manager himself and the talks surrounding the club.
West Ham: Hermansen, Morato, Walker-Peters, Kilman, Golambeckis, Engels, Kante, Mukasa, Bowen (C), Austbø, Pablo
Subs: Areola, Solomon, Piroe, Taty, Soucek, Veltman, Orford, Mayers
West Brom: O’Leary, Pereira, Mepham, Campbell (C), Styles, Nzingoula, Diakite, Molumby, Price, Morgan, Horn Myhre
Subs: Ingram, Phillips, Crowther, Townsend, Whitwell, Tunde, Bany, Steward, Heggebo