Slaven Bilic leaves West Ham with David Moyes set to take over

West Ham United are set to appoint David Moyes on an initial six-month contract and hand him the responsibility of hauling them away from relegation danger after finally losing faith in Slaven Bilic’s ability to reverse the team’s decline.

Bilic, whose contract was due to run out next summer, was sacked on Monday morning after a dismal start to the season that has left West Ham in 18th place and with two wins from their first 11 Premier League games.

The club owners, David Gold and David Sullivan released a statement explaining that they felt compelled to act in the club’s best interests after seeing few indications that Bilic was capable of reviving West Ham and added that they plan to appoint “a quality manager to the position to inject fresh ideas, organisation and enthusiasm into a very talented squad.”

That manager is Moyes, with negotiations expected to be concluded in the next 48 hours, even though news of the 54-year-old’s arrival on an interim basis has been met with opposition from supporters.