Stuart Pearce has returned to West Ham as part of David Moyes’s coaching team. The deal comes eight months after Pearce suggested that West Ham’s board blocked the manager’s attempts to recruit him after replacing Manuel Pellegrini in December.
“West Ham United is pleased to confirm that Stuart Pearce has returned to the club as a first team coach and will work alongside Kevin Nolan and Paul Nevin, who have also signed new contracts,” a club statement said.
The former England left-back was part of Moyes’s backroom staff during the Scot’s first spell at the London Stadium and was critical of the club for hiring Pellegrini instead of the former Everton manager in May 2018.
“They’ve decided not to go down the David [Moyes] route,” Pearce said at the time. “I was a little surprised by that as I saw first-hand what a good job he did in a situation that could have gone either way.”
Pearce suggested those comments had not gone down well with West Ham’s hierarchy this year. Moyes, who was already working with Alan Irvine, ended up bringing in Nevin and Nolan instead. Moyes was still keen to further beef up his staff, however, and Pearce has cleared the air with West Ham’s board, paving the way for a return.
“I’ve spoken directly with David Sullivan and Karren Brady and I had extremely positive conversations with both of them,” Pearce said. “They were enthusiastic about me returning. It says a lot about them that I’m at West Ham again. I wouldn’t be back if I didn’t believe in the strategy in place to take this great football club forward.”
“I’m really pleased to welcome Stuart back,” Moyes said. “He will start immediately and I’ve no doubt he will be a great asset to us on the training pitch and in the dressing room next season.”
The club are hopeful of signing the Brighton central defender Shane Duffy, who is also a target for Burnley, Celtic and West Brom. Last week, the full-back Jeremy Ngakia joined Watford after his Hammers contract expired.