West Ham's relegation from the Premier League is set to signal the end of Nuno Espirito Santo's tenure at the London Stadium.
The Hammers were 3-0 victors over Leeds United on the final day of the campaign, but it wasn't enough to preserve their Premier League status as relegation rivals Tottenham Hotspur defeated Everton 1-0.
It means West Ham will be playing Championship football for the first time since 2012 next season and according to various reports, Nuno is set to pay the price for the club's failings.
While the Hammers return to the second tier as favourites for the Championship title, the east London outfit is set to undergo major surgery to its playing squad with several key players the subject of Premier League interest, including captain Jarrod Bowen, Mateus Fernandes and Konstantinos Mavropanos.
We take a look at the candidates in the frame to succeed Nuno should he depart West Ham.
Scott Parker
A former Hammer who amassed over 100 appearances for the club across four years from 2007, Scott Parker feels like an obvious choice for the pending vacancy.
Parker is considered a Championship promotion specialist having guided Fulham, Bournemouth and most recently Burnley to the top-flight during his managerial career.
The 45-year-old has struggled to cut it in the Premier League, but West Ham's current predicament will be an enticing opportunity for Parker, who left Burnley at the end of April after their relegation was confirmed.
It's perhaps noticeable that in each of his three promotions as a manager, Parker possessed squads that arguably could not fail and West Ham should possess one of the most talented sides in the division when the action gets underway in August.
Gary O'Neil
Gary O'Neil is reportedly high on West Ham's shortlist to replace Nuno at the London Stadium.
The former Bournemouth and Wolves boss has enjoyed a reinvigorating spell at Strasbourg after succeeding Liam Rosenior as head coach of the Ligue 1 outfit, leading the club to eighth in France's top-flight.
Although O'Neil's rediscovered his verve in the capital of Alsace, he may relish the opportunity to lead the rebuild of his former club, having spent two years of his 19-year playing career at Upton Park.
However, it would be interesting to see how O'Neil would adapt his pragmatic style to a team and division in which he'd be expected to dominate.
Slaven Bilic
Maintaining the trend of individuals with a past affiliation to West Ham, Slaven Bilic was in the running to succeed Graham Potter in October when Nuno was awarded the job and the Croatian's name was also mentioned as a contingency plan in early January when the Hammers lost five of six Premier League fixtures.
Bilic has been out of work since leaving Saudi Pro League side Al-Fateh in August 2024 but has been linked to numerous vacancies in recent months, including West Brom and Blackburn Rovers.
His best managerial spell was with the Hammers, masterminding the club's seventh place finish in 2015/16 before receiving the sack early in the 2017/18 campaign.
Bilic's appointment would carry a great element of risk given his inactivity, but the 57-year-old does have experience of getting out of the Championship having guided West Brom to promotion with a runner-up finish in 2020.
Thomas Frank
Thomas Frank is set to be occupied this summer as he joins the BBC as part of their 2026 World Cup punditry team, just four months on from his dismissal as Tottenham Hotspur head coach.
The Dane's stint in charge of Spurs has tarnished his managerial reputation, but prior to that he'd undertaken a stellar job at Brentford where he's guided the Bees to promotion before consolidating them in the Premier League.
Frank would likely encounter similar culture challenges which he struggled to tackle at Tottenham, and the former Brentford boss would be expected to turn the tide while operating under the pressure of securing an immediate promotion to the Premier League.
Sean Dyche
In light of his recent dismissals at both Everton and Nottingham Forest, it's easy to forget that Sean Dyche would be a coup for any Championship side.
Despite an initial upturn in form at the City Ground, Dyche's reign at Forest lasted just 114 days as results deteriorated, even if certain sections of the media felt he was hard done by at the time of his sacking.
Dyche was last in the Championship in 2016 as he guided Burnley to the title, his second promotion with the Turf Moor outfit. Could a third time with a claret and blue side be in the offing?
