‘We are relegation candidates’ – West Ham’s big month

West Ham are still waiting for their new manager bounce under Nuno Espirito Santo.

The Portuguese coach has not won any of his three Premier League matches since taking over. The last Hammers manager to fail to win any of his first four in charge was Manuel Pellegrini in September 2018.

Monday’s defeat by Brentford extended West Ham’s winless run in the Premier League to five games and they remain in the relegation zone, two points above bottom side Wolves.

Their only win so far came in August against Nottingham Forest – the only other top-flight side with a single victory this season.

“We are relegation candidates. I hate saying that but it’s the reality,” West Ham fan and co-chair of the club’s fan advisory board, Andy Payne, said on BBC Radio 5 Live.

These are troubling times for West Ham off the pitch too.

There were a large number of empty seats at London Stadium on Monday as some fans staged a boycott, staying away in protest against the running of the club.

While this was the first boycott, supporters have previously called for chairman David Sullivan and vice-chair Karren Brady, who have been at West Ham since 2010, to step down.

Thousands of fans demonstrated before last month’s defeat by Crystal Palace and in response the club issued a lengthy statement, saying they were continuing “to listen to fan feedback”, have made “significant investment into the football operation” and “continue to do everything we can to improve the matchday experience”.

Payne was one of the fans who stayed away from the game for what he said was the first and the last time he will do so.

“There was a boycott but fans are not the problem, we are the solution waiting to be heard,” he said.

“It was a deliberate boycott to send a message to the owners that something has got to change.”

Payne said fan protests are solely aimed at the club’s owners, rather than the manager or players.

But Nuno’s decision to start with inverted full-backs against Brentford did raise some eyebrows.

“It’s unfair on Nuno and it’s unfair on the players as well,” Payne added.

There has been no sugar-coating the situation from Nuno, who has vowed to try and get fans back on side.

“I think we are all concerned,” he said after Monday’s defeat. “You can see our own fans are concerned. Concern becomes anxiety, becomes silence. We have a problem.

“The fans need to see something that pleases them and they can support us and give us energy.

“I understand it totally, and I respect it. It’s up to us to change it.”

West Ham have won three of their past five Premier League matches against Leeds and Nuno has promised he and his coaches will work hard to steer the team away from the bottom three.

“In four days’ time [away at Leeds] we need a big improvement, realising that every day is important to improve the situation,” he said.

Defeat by Brentford marked the first time West Ham have lost their opening four home games to a league season.

It was also just the second occasion that the Hammers have lost five successive top-flight matches at home, with the previous coming almost 100 years ago, between February and April in 1930-31.

That season, they finished 18th and narrowly missed relegation, however they finished bottom of the league in the following season.

Four points after eight games is also West Ham’s joint-worst start to a top-flight season along with the 1973-74 and 1988-89 campaigns.

There is good news and bad news for Hammers fans though. In 1973-74 they rallied and eventually finished 18th to avoid relegation by a solitary point, but in 1988-89 they were relegated despite boasting a young Paul Ince and a host of club legends such as Alan Devonshire, Tony Gale and Alvin Martin.