EXTRA TIME

What a Start into 2026…

January 5, 2026 at 11:27 am Leave a comment

The first game of 2026 at Wolves away on 3 January ended in a 3-0 defeat for West Ham. After a disappointing 2-2 draw with Brighton in their last game of 2025, the Hammers gifted Wolves their first full points of the season. Their opponents who sit bottom of the table hadn’t won a single game so far.

West Ham’s performance was described as ‘shocking, pathetic and embarrassing’ and it is now very much in doubt if Nuno Espirito Santo is the right manager to turn things around. The Portuguese took over from Graham Potter with the club 19th in September, but the Hammers are still stuck in 18th place and four points adrift of 17th-placed Nottingham Forest with a relegation six-pointer against Sean Dyche’s side coming up next. With the relevant statistics having worsened, time could be running out for Nuno.

BBC has had the following look on Nuno’s stats:

• Nuno has gone 26 Premier League games without seeing his side keep a clean sheet, across spells at Nottingham Forest and West Ham. Only Steve Kean (30 between May 2011 and March 2012 with Blackburn) has gone longer without a shutout among managers in the competition’s history.
• West Ham are now winless in their last nine Premier League matches (D4 L5), their longest run since the final nine games of the 2010-11 campaign when they were relegated.
• West Ham have conceded 41 goals in the Premier League this season, their most after 20 games in a top-flight campaign since 1965-66 (44).
• West Ham have conceded more goals in the opening five minutes of games than any other side in the Premier League this season (4).

Well, things are really looking bleak, West Ham are in deep, deep trouble! If the manager and his players don’t turn things around quickly, relegation seems almost inevitable for the Hammers!

ManUtd sack Amorim

By the way, Ruben Amorim is no longer manager of Manchester United! He has been sacked on Monday, Under-18s head coach and former player Darren Fletcher will take charge of ManUtd’s game with Burnley on Wednesday.

New manager at Rapid

Rapid Vienna already has a new manager: 36-year-old Johannes Hoff Thorup took over as head coach at SK Rapid from January 2026.

The Dane was born on 19 February 1989. He was very successful in his first managerial position at small Danish club FC Nordsjaelland from 2022 to 2024. He then managed Norwich from July 2024 until April 2025, finishing 13th in the English Championship.

Hoff Thorup has signed a contract initially running until the end of the 2026/27 season, with an option for an other season.

Let’s hope he’s the right one for Rapid now! 

Entry filed under: Uncategorized.