The section of West Ham supporters who have long been calling for David Moyes to be moved on have grown tired of being patronised with a familiar warning from those who only casually observe their club - namely, to be careful what you wish for.
But in Moyes’s penultimate pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon, they found an unlikely ally in the shape of the man himself, who has delivered unprecedented consistency in qualifying for Europe, won the club’s first major trophy in 43 years, but without winning any beauty awards for his style of play.
“I think there’s moments where I’ve felt maybe there’s more expected,” said Moyes, who, it was confirmed this week, will leave the club when his contract expires this summer, almost certainly to be replaced by Julen Lopetegui.
“I get it. You always want more as a football supporter, I get that. I have no problems with that at all.
“I’ve loved the company I’ve been in, the people I’ve had to deal with. I’ve got no bad feeling to the club, no bad feeling to the supporters, no bad feeling towards any players, nothing at all.”
Saturday’s Premier League meeting with Luton will be Moyes’s final home game in charge and he says his next move will be to take a break from management having been left “pretty beaten up” by West Ham’s gruelling domestic and European schedule across the past three seasons, a victim in that regard of his own success. At 61 and with over 1,100 games under his belt, however, the Scot insists he is by no means done yet.
“Many things excite me about what I could do next,” he explained. “I never thought I'd make 1,000 games as a manager, it looked impossible, and to be fair most of them have been in the Premier League.
“I hope that I can help somewhere, either it's a manager again, or something else. I love football so if I'm not doing anything, I'll be watching it somewhere.”
West Ham’s players were on a day off on Monday when news broke of Moyes’s departure and he revealed he had not been able to warn them ahead of the club’s announcement.
“I think the players probably understood,” he said. “They knew something like this was coming along. [They were] probably not surprised.”
West Ham have faced criticism for their handling of Moyes’s departure and, in particular, their public pursuit of his successor. The former Manchester United boss, though, insists now is the “right time” for all parties to go their separate ways; West Ham left in rude health in comparison to the relegation strife Moyes was twice brought in to navigate, and the manager’s reputation at last restored after the walloping it took at Old Trafford.
“I am pretty cool with the whole situation, I am comfortable,” he added. “I feel I am leaving the club in a better place than when I came here. As a manager, I had a wee bit to prove when I came in as well. Hopefully that was corrected.”
While Monday’s announcement came earlier than forecast, Moyes having insisted his future would not be decided until the season was over, it at least means tomorrow’s game with Luton will give fans an opportunity to show their appreciation with clarity that this really is the end of the road. Moyes, though, has warned those coming to the London Stadium not to expect an emotional send-off, like that which Jurgen Klopp will receive at Anfield a week later.
“It’s not my style, to be honest,” he said. “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.
“But I like to do my job and obviously I’m thankful for praise and I’m thankful for the support I’ve always had.”