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Slaven Bilic departed West Ham after managing them for 109 games, having taken over in the summer of 2015. He had left Besiktas earlier that same year.
Incoming manager David Moyes has not been given the warmest of welcomes from the West Ham supporters, and unsurprisingly so, as his last three managerial appointments weren't all that inspiring.
He hadn't been at Preston for a full season before he was tasked with the Everton job, where he oversaw a highly respected 504 games in eleven years, so far so good. Sir Alex Ferguson then departed Manchester United and had a massive part to play in the hiring of Moyes at Old Trafford.
Now, it was always going to be tough to follow arguably the greatest manager of all time, but the problem that Moyes had, is that it seemed like he couldn't control the dressing room in the same way that Fergie could.
He didn't complete his first season in charge of United and was sacked with three games left with Manchester United out of the League Cup (lost in Semis to Sunderland), out of the FA Cup (lost in the 3rd round to Swansea), out of the UEFA Champions League (lost in the quarterfinals to Bayern Munich) and seventh in the Premier League. Not good.
Since then, he has had an unsuccessful stint in the continent, with Real Sociedad and took Sunderland down to the Championship and quit, so you can sort of understand why West Ham fans would have preferred if they'd gone with someone else.
Let's have a look at the 5 best managers who were available for West Ham to appoint:
#5 Ronald Koeman
The Dutchman was sacked after he oversaw a poor start to the season up at Goodison Park. It's not that black and white, though, regarding their start to the season.
If you look at Everton's fixtures, they faced five of the top six in their first nine games and with the money that Koeman spent in the summer, you think he would have been handed a bit more time, especially considering more 'favourable' fixtures are coming up.
Senior Games Managed: 647 | Wins: 346 | Draws: 138 | Losses: 163
Having moved to the Premier League from Feyenoord, he made a superb impression at Southampton after having big boots to fill with Mauricio Pochettino departing for Spurs and he didn't only fill them, he did pretty well with a PPG record of 1.64, hence Everton cherry-picked him from the south coast.
It would have no doubt been an appointment that would've pleased the masses a lot more than Mr. Moyes and with West Ham facing Everton on the last day of the season, imagine the motivation he would have had to get one over his old club.
It's difficult to know whether or not Koeman would've wanted to get back into management so soon after leaving Everton, but, if he did, he would have most definitely improved West Ham.
#4 Thomas Tuchel
If West Ham wanted to make a statement of intent they should have gone and got the German who has an outstanding points per game rate of 1.71 and favours an offensive 4-3-3 formation. Tuchel has been linked with the Arsenal job frequently as he is very highly thought of, he's essentially a more rounded Jurgen Klopp.
His record speaks for itself, he steered Mainz into the Europa League when there are much bigger teams than them in the Bundesliga and he really showed his pedigree in his first victory, a 2-1 victory over a Bayern Munich side including Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger and much more.
Senior Games Managed: 290 | Wins: 141 | Draws: 65 | Defeats: 84
He signed off from his four seasons at Mainz, leaving them in the Europa League positions once again, saying: "I couldn’t see how we could reinvent ourselves once more the coming summer."
He took some time off but was then hired to replace Jurgen Klopp for the 2015/16 season. He won his first eleven games in all competitions, meaning that they qualified for the group stages of the Europa League. Overall his first season was considered a success, they finished runners-up to Bayern Munich, having finished 7th in Klopp's last season in charge. They also finished runners-up in the DFB Pokal, again to Bayern Munich and exited the Europa League in the Quarterfinals to Liverpool. Much better.
Last season, it was much of the same, however, this time they managed to win some silverware. They defeated their nemesis Bayern Munich in the semi-final of the Pokal and beat Eintracht Frankfurt in the final meaning as Tuchel got his hands on his first professional trophy. He departed just days after, following a difference of opinion with the board.
Tuchel would no doubt be keen to make a name for himself in English football and would have used West Ham as a stepping stone to one of the bigger clubs, but he would have brought a level of football that has not been seen at East London, for a long, long time.
#3 Frank de Boer
Another Dutchman, this time in the form of Frank de Boer, who was sacked from Crystal Palace after just four games this season. He was trying to implement a completely new style of football for the Eagles, one which suits West Ham and their demanding support perfectly.
A manager who won four league titles in six seasons at Ajax has faltered since he left the Amsterdam side; he needs a board that will give him time, not like the one at Selhurst Park who hung him out to dry so early in the season. Whilst this may not have been the time for West Ham to experiment, it would certainly have been an appointment that would benefit them in the long run.
Senior Games Managed: 281 | Wins: 163 | Draws: 60 | Draws: 58
A team with the likes of Joe Hart, Pablo Zabaleta and Javier Hernandez shouldn't be getting relegated, in fact, you could argue they shouldn't even be in the bottom half. So, it may have clicked straight away, but, West Ham would stay in the league whilst developing their footballing style, so come the summer, they would be ready to go.
Don't forget that West Ham are still in the Carabao Cup as well, so if de Boer guided them to a trophy, he would instantly be elevated to near God status meaning, not only would their style develop, they would also have European football at the Olympic Stadium next year.
He hasn't really been given a fair crack of the whip anywhere since Ajax, should he been given the chance he warrants at the 'Iron'?
#2 Luiz Felipe Scolari
Scolari -- who departed Chinese side Guangzhou Evergrande earlier this week -- would've been an interesting choice for the Hammers. The Brazilian's most impressive honour of a list that is seemingly never-ending is the World Cup which he won in 2002 with his home country.
In more recent times, he has won three Chinese Super League titles in three years, the AFC Champions League, the Chinese FA Cup and the Chinese Super Cup (twice). This was up against a Shanghai side that contained the likes of Oscar and Hulk, so a superb achievement to get that many trophies in the time he was there.
Scolari is coming to the back end of his career, will he go for one last big job and finally attempt to conquer European club football?
Senior Games Managed (from 2001 exc FC Bunyodkor): 401 | Wins: 210 | Draws: 100 | Losses: 91
His one and only attempt was at Chelsea back in the 08/09 season where he safely guided them through their Champions League group but was relieved of his duties with the London side sat in 4th place in the Premier League, ten points off the pace. His side also went out the League Cup at the hands of Burnley and embarrassingly drew at home to Southend in the FA Cup.
With Scolari's aforementioned trophy cabinet full to the brim, he would've been one manager who would have instantly commanded the respect of the dressing room; he would've brought an air of calmness to the club and would have been able to pull a few strings in the January transfer market as well. Could West Ham's loss be Everton's gain?
#1 Laurent Blanc
The former Man United defender's last role was at PSG and despite the fact he won three French titles in row, the hierarchy at the club deemed their quarter-final exit to Man City not good enough and they agreed to part ways by means of a mutual agreement in the summer of 2016.
As a manager, he has 15 honours, all from his native France, to his name. The majority of those come from the time he spent at PSG, however, he also won the domestic double with Bordeaux, clinching the league title with a record-breaking eleven wins in a row.
Similar to Scolari, imagine the damage Blanc could do in the transfer window, even if it was just the odd loan here and there, it would work wonders for the West Ham squad. Furthermore, players like Lanzini would have been much more likely to stay with someone of Blanc's calibre at the helm, so the decision to opt for Moyes might prove to be more costly than they think in the long run.
Senior Games Managed: 357 | Wins: 234 | Draws: 67 | Losses: 56
The Frenchman takes cup competitions seriously as well and with the West Ham faithful being massive advocates of cup runs it could have been a match made in heaven. In the six season he has had a team in the Coupe de la Ligue he has won it three four, been a runner-up once and went out in the third round once, although that was in his first season in management so he can be excused for that.
Overall, there are good reasons for all of the five to have got the job over David Moyes, but West Ham have made their decision. Will they live to rue it?
