David Moyes ready to win over West Ham sceptics, is comfortable with six-month contract

New West Ham United manager David Moyes concedes he has work to do to convince the critics of his appointment at the London Stadium.

The 54-year-old was confirmed as the successor to Slaven Bilic on Tuesday (7 November), but his arrival has been met by widespread criticism.

Since leaving Everton in 2013, the Scot has been sacked in the first year of his tenures at Manchester United and Real Sociedad before he resigned as manager of Sunderland after guiding them to relegation from the Premier League.

But Moyes is ready to change those opinions by dragging the Hammers, who dropped into the bottom three after the weekend defeat to Liverpool, out of danger.

"I said when you come to places now because there are so many avenues to voice your opinions, I don't think you're going to get everybody on your side," he told the media at his unveiling as the 16<sup>th manager in West Ham's history, according to Sky Sports. "The best thing to do is win the games, make the supporters get behind the team by the results. We need the players to perform, they need to stand up as well."

Amid the sceptical reaction to Moyes' arrival in east London, West Ham have only handed the former Preston North End coach a contract until the end of the current campaign.

But Moyes is unperturbed and believes the deal is merely a reflection of the short life expectancy of a manager.

"I'm more than comfortable and so are they," he explained. "Managers now aren't having long-term contracts and I think it'll be something we see more of in the future. You can see the turnover of managers at the moment. In the future I think managers will only be signing one-year contracts.

"If I had taken over West Ham at the start of the season, I'd have said, 'let's do one year at a time'. As it is I'm taking over a couple of months into the season and I'm happy to go to the end of it. It gives me a chance to look at the east end of London, to work at the club, and it also gives the supporters and board a chance to see David Moyes working."

Moyes has until after the current international break to lay the foundations for his West Ham tenure and that could start with the addition of former England boss Stuart Pearce, who has been linked with joining his backroom team.

Pearce, who spent two years with West Ham from 1999 to 2001 making 42 appearances, is in talks over moving to West Ham, and an announcement on his arrival could be made in the next seven days.

But less than eight weeks out from the opening of the January transfer window, all eyes will be on how Moyes can improve the personnel in his squad.

Separate reports claim Moyes will be allowed to make as many as four new signings during the winter window, per the Evening Standard, and that spree could be funded by the sale of several youth players including Declan Rice and Josh Cullen, according to The Mirror.

But Moyes has indicated he instead wants to give the club's academy youngsters a more senior role in the West Ham first team having been inspired by England winning the Under-17 World Cup last month.

"I've just come back from India and watched the England Under-17's and I thought they were terrific," he admitted. "I think there has to be a way forward for young players to get into teams. And possibly the squads in the Premier League are now over-cluttered and maybe ours could be as well.

"So maybe we have to find ways and room to get young players in. But I've been told if we think we need something in January, but I'm not one to judge that at the moment."