West Ham approach Parker after sacking boss Nuno

West Ham United are expected to appoint Scott Parker as head coach after sacking Nuno Espirito Santo.

The 52-year-old Portuguese head coach has paid the price for West Ham's disappointing start to the Championship season, having overseen their relegation from the Premier League last season.

BBC Sport understands that the club are in advanced talks with former Burnley, Bournemouth and Fulham boss Parker and he could be confirmed before Wednesday's Championship trip to Cardiff City.

The former England midfielder had four seasons as a player with the Hammers and led Bournemouth and Burnley to promotion from the Championship as a manager.

Widely seen as favourites for automatic promotion, the London side are currently eighth in the table, six points behind leaders Middlesbrough.

They have won two of their past six games and have lost back-to-back home matches - going down 3-2 to Southampton and then 3-1 to West Bromwich Albion on Saturday - losses that have seen them drop down from second place.

Assistant head coach Rui Pedro Silva and goalkeeper coach Rui Barbosa have also left the club.

Mark Noble, Steve Potts and Gerard Prenderville will take temporary charge of the side for their Championship trip to Cardiff City on Wednesday night.

"Following a thorough review of the start to the EFL Championship season, the board of directors believe that a change is necessary at this time in order to ensure that the club's objectives and expectations remain on track," a West Ham United statement read.

"West Ham United would like to thank Nuno, Rui and Rui for their hard work and commitment during their time at the club, and wish them all the very best for the future.

"The process of recruiting a new head coach is already under way."

The decision means West Ham are looking for their fourth permanent manager since David Moyes left London Stadium in May 2024.

His successor Julen Lopetegui was sacked after just six months in charge with the Hammers mid-table having won six of their 20 Premier League matches.

He was replaced by former Chelsea and Brighton boss Graham Potter, who oversaw a 14th-placed finish, but was sacked after only eight months in charge with the club 19th in the table.

The club opted to stick with former Wolves and Tottenham Hotspur boss Nuno despite him being unable to turn around the club's fortunes. They were relegated at the end of last season after finishing two points behind Spurs.

Despite that, this season had a troubled start for the Hammers - they failed to win any of their first three league matches and were 19th in the table.

A run of four successive wins in the first half of September, where they scored 16 goals and went top of the table, appeared to show they had adapted to the second tier, with a 6-0 win over Wrexham the highlight of the run.

Just two league victories have come since - a 6-0 win at nine-man Lincoln City and a 1-0 victory at Swansea City followed draws with London rivals Millwall and QPR.

Having posted losses of more than £104m, relegation meant West Ham had to sell players over the summer.

The departures of the likes of Mateus Fernandes, Crysencio Summerville, El Hadji Malick Diouf, James Ward-Prowse and Freddie Potts secured the club about £150m in transfer revenue.

They used some of that cash to pay Celtic a Championship record £22m for midfielder Arne Engels and spent a reported £12m on Norwegian winger Edvin Austbo.

Experienced campaigners Joel Veltman and Manor Solomon also joined on free transfers from Brighton and Tottenham respectively while they kept key players such as England winger Jarrod Bowen, Czech midfielder Tomas Soucek and Greek defender Konstantinos Mavropanos.

Soucek missed the first two months of the season with an ankle injury while some of their other signings have yet to deliver. Engels has three assists and no goals in 12 games while Austbo has scored twice and had two assists having started just two league matches.

It is a squad that is capable of turning things around, especially under a manager with Championship promotion experience such as Parker.

Analysis - Simon Stone, BBC Sport chief football news reporter

Given the estimated £200m loss in revenue it is imperative the club goes straight back up to the Premier League.

Two wins in six, a run which has dropped West Ham to eighth in the table, four points off second-placed Swansea in the final automatic promotion place, is not good enough.

Scott Parker is the obvious choice as replacement and West Ham are wasting no time in getting the deal done.

Parker made 129 appearances in a four-year stint with the Hammers. He won the club's player of the year award three times and was at West Ham when he was named Football Writers' Association player of the year in 2011.

West Ham's hierarchy feel Parker understands the club and the culture and is someone the fans can get behind.

Equally as important, he has already been promoted from the Championship three times, at Fulham, Bournemouth and Burnley.

West Ham will hope he makes it number four next May.

Analysis - Phil Parry, BBC Radio London sport editor

There were some who thought that Nuno would leave the club in the summer after they failed to survive their relegation battle, but the stability that he offered and his experience of guiding Wolves out of the Championship were seen as positive reasons to welcome his continuation at the helm.

The 6-0 thumpings handed out to Wrexham and Lincoln are contrasted with some disappointing home defeats, including the past two outings at London Stadium.

One of the major concerns has been the slow starts to games. They have conceded the opening goal in four of their past six in the Championship and have picked up just two points from those matches.

It has been suggested that the team just don't appear to appreciate the intensity and urgency of games at this level and are still a little too ponderous in the first half.

The Hammers have just been through a run of matches against teams who are in good form and are sitting high in the table, but losses in two of those games, both at home, have proven costly for Nuno.

With the squad at their disposal and the fanbase that backs them, it will be an attractive job for the next head coach, but whoever it is will be aware that the expectation at London Stadium is for an immediate return to the Premier League and falling short of that objective is risky for long-term prospects.