A few seasons ago during David Moyes’s first spell in charge of West Ham, the Irons were staring down relegation. Truly unthinkable considering they had just moved from Upton Park to the huge new home of the Olympic Stadium. Moyes was only offered a short term contract, one which wouldn’t be extended past the 2018 season. He had kept the Hammers up without making a lasting impression. The bare Minimum. Moyes was replaced by a bigger name worthy of grandiose home, Manuel Pelligrini, at the start of the 18/19 season.

If you were told West Ham would win a European trophy within 5 years of that appointment, with appearances in the latter stages of the competition in European campaigns either side of that final triumph, you would probably assume Pelligrini had built a dynasty at the club. In reality the former Real Madrid and Manchester City boss was unceremoniously sacked a year and a half into his time at the Hammers. Pelligrini is at Real Betis now doing reasonably well, and West Ham are experiencing one of their most successful periods in modern times.

That success has come under a returning Moyes in his second spell at the club. It’s been a rocky road for the Scottish manager over the past 11 years. Having had a lengthy spell in charge at Everton he was hand picked by Alex Ferguson as his replacement and given a 6 year contract in charge of Manchester United. He lasted 6 months. From there he played the journey man role from Real Sociedad, to Sunderland, to West Ham. In reality, a large part of his success in his current spell at the London club could probably be contributed to the fact he had spent most of a season there. He didn’t impress much in his short spell but did what he was brought in to do, kept West Ham in the Premier League. Not being offered another contract might have been a saving grace as he could step away and let Pelligrini fail, then swoop back in.

Now in his 6th season with West Ham (the number of seasons he was supposed to be at Manchester United for) he’s been one of the Irons’ most successful managers in the Premier League, and has crucially won a trophy (the Europa Conference League being a higher accolade to his 2013 Community Shield). Playing in Europe for the 3rd season in a row they’ve managed to have a good run in each of their respective Europa League and Europa Conference League campaigns. If they hadn’t have come up against an unyielding Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League semi-final this season they may have found their way into a 3rd successive semi-final in UEFA competition.

With the season approaching it’s end West Ham are still in the mix to qualify for Europe next season, but whether Moyes will be in charge remains to be seen. It appears both the West Ham board and the manager are happy to wait until the end of the season to decide what happens.

In truth it’s probably time for the former Everton manager to move on. He’s finally won a major trophy (something he didn’t manage to do at the Toffee’s) and has made up for his disastrous spell as Alex Ferguson’s replacement. There will be plenty of jobs on offer for him in his next move whether it’s in the Premier League or somewhere else. He’s rid himself of the flop tag and his time at the Olympic Stadium has been a big success. Crucially too, it seems the relationship between him and the fans has soured somewhat, and realistically he has taken the club as far as he can. Staying on longer would only undo a lot of the good from the past few seasons. Almost 5 1/2 seasons with a Premier League club in one spell is a good run in modern English football. He has stabilized the club and turned their fortunes around.

But what’s next then for West Ham? When thinking about this I started thinking about my own club I support, Charlton Athletic. Charlton have just had their lowest league finish since 1926, having ended the League 1 season in 16th after spending most of the campaign battling against relegation to the 4th tier. But 20 years ago the Addicks finished 7th in the Premier League and were close to reaching European football. The next two seasons saw a narrative that if Charlton were going to reach new heights they would have to find a new manager to take them to the next level. Alan Curbishley resigned at the end of the 2006 season after a lengthy time in charge overseeing what was the most successful period for the club. The following season Charlton were relegated having finished 19th, and haven’t returned to the top flight since. The 17 seasons that followed have seen many new lows on and off the pitch, with The Addicks now firmly rooted in the 3rd tier.

West Ham find themselves in a comparable situation. A successful spell under a longterm manager has come to an end and now they want to get to the next stage and solidify their status as a top half Premier League side that consistently gets into Europe and challenges for Silverware domestically. That’s a good position to be in for a club that used to be more accustomed to looking over their shoulder toward relegation.

It’s unlikely that West Ham are going to get relegated next season regardless of who they appoint, but no club is too big to fail. Missing out on European football may make it harder to recruit good players, and a slide can start easily and be difficult to stop. While West Ham probably aren’t going to find themselves in the 3rd tier any time soon, we’ve seen teams that were one time Premier League regulars sink downward. Leeds United took a long time to bounce back, Sunderland had two successive relegations, Bolton Wanderers have only just got promoted back to the Champonship. Nobody is guaranteed lasting success.

The Summer is going to be crucial for West Ham. They need to appoint the right manager, hold on to key players (especially Jarrod Bowen) and bring in a few fresh faces. The 24/25 Premier League campaign needs to get off to a good start to avoid the atmosphere turning toxic, and if there’s no European football to be played the Hammers need to have a run in the FA Cup or League Cup to make something more out of the season. The next manager has to be one who can play the more positive brand of football fans are crying out for while still achieving good results. that keeps them comfortable in the table.

A successful spell doesn’t guarantee continued success going forward. If West Ham are going to continue to be regulars in European competition they need to ensure they build correctly from here.