Something has to give at West Ham United, and soon.
The Hammers have had a truly dreadful start to the campaign so far, losing four of five Premier League games and being knocked out of the League Cup by Wolverhampton Wanderers.
It’s not just the fact that they’ve lost so many games, but the manner in which they’ve lost them. So far, they’ve scored just five goals and conceded 13 in the league.
So, it’s hardly a surprise to see the club linked with a host of potential replacements for Graham Potter, including one manager who’d surely have a better return to the club than Slaven Bilic.
West Ham's ongoing manager search
With just how terribly things are going at the moment, it should come as no surprise that a swathe of managers have been linked with a move to West Ham this month.
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One such manager who probably wouldn’t get the fans all that excited is Frank Lampard, as while he saved Everton from the drop a few years ago, he is currently doing an okay job with Coventry City in the Championship.
Likewise, while it would be interesting to see how Bilic would fare back at the London Stadium, the links to him are hardly inspiring.
Fortunately, the Hammers are now supposedly interested in bringing someone else back to the club, someone who’d likely do a better job than the Croatian.
At least that’s according to a recent report from Claret & Hugh, which claims Scott Parker is of interest to West Ham.
In fact, the report goes further, revealing that the Englishman “has been discussed” by those inside the club.
In all, while it might not be the appointment some would want, we do think the former West Ham player would have a better return to the club than Bilic would.
Why Parker would have a better return than Bilic
So when we say ‘return’, we mean simply coming back to the club, as unlike Bilic, Parker’s last involvement with West Ham was as a player, not a coach.
With that out of the way, there are a few reasons why the Englishman would have a more successful stint back at the club than the Croatian.
The first, and most important, of which is all down to their recent jobs.
In the case of the former PFA Player of the Year, he is currently in charge of Burnley and guided them to the Premier League last season.
Before that, he managed Club Brugge for a short stint, which was preceded by a year with Bournemouth, during which he got them promoted.
Burnley
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Finally, his first foray into management saw him spend over two years in charge of Fulham, whom he also led to promotion.
In other words, the former midfielder has extensive recent experience in English football, both in the top flight and the second tier.
On the other hand, the former Hammers’ boss has not managed a top-flight team for almost five years.
Instead, his last job saw him take charge of Saudi Pro-League side Al-Fateh from July 2023 to August 2024.
Al-Fateh
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Watford
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Beijing Guoan
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West Brom
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Al-Ittihad
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Before that, he took charge of Watford for under a year before being fired, which was preceded by a year-long stint with Chinese outfit Beijing Guoan.
In fact, the last time he managed in the Premier League was back in December 2020, when West Bromwich Albion fired him.
Ultimately, while Bilic might do a good job, he hasn’t had a successful stint with a club for some time. In contrast, Parker made Burnley unplayable last season, and they are continuing to play well this year.
Therefore, it seems like the Englishman would be a far better hire for the Hammers at this point in time.