David Moyes insists he bears no grudge over the manner in which his West Ham departure has been confirmed and the Scot says expectations have risen to such an extent in east London over the past four years that he believes it is the correct time for him to move on.
Former Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui will be unveiled as the Hammers’ new head coach when the Premier League season concludes.
Moyes had consistently said a decision would be made after their last game but his imminent departure was announced on Monday evening, 24 hours after a 5-0 defeat at Chelsea. It was done so swiftly that he did not speak to all of his players.
“It may be right for me as well. Unfortunately for different reasons. But I’ve got no bad feelings towards the club. No bad feeling to the supporters. No bad feeling towards any players. Nothing at all.”
Moyes was offered a new contract by the club in January but says “there were things which weren’t right” within that deal. But having inherited a team that was fighting relegation, he feels “I’m leaving the club in a better place than when I came here.”
Still, going forward he thinks “it may be hard” for West Ham to constantly challenge the top six because “the finances are less.”
And while the Scot is looking to take a break having been left “pretty beaten up” by three seasons of competing in Europe, he expects to return to management soon. Moyes will work for BBC during next month’s Euros and spend time at home in the north west with his wife before deciding on a next job.
He does not expect to deliver a major farewell speech after this afternoon’s London Stadium finale against Luton because “it’s not my style.”
And he added: “I don’t mean that in a bad way. I think I’m quite shy actually behind all this and because of that I’m not into (fist bumps in the air), you know what I mean? I’m not quite that type of manager. Sometimes I really wish I was. Sometimes it might be a bit more sexy, maybe I need to get my teeth bigger or something.”
