Newly appointed West Ham United manager David Moyes has vowed to work the players harder than ever on the training pitch, adding that he hopes ‘they don’t cry’ after his sessions.
The Scot was named as Slaven Bilic’s successor on Tuesday and is looking to return to his managerial roots after taking charge at the London Stadium.
“Probably in this job, I am going back to being David Moyes at Preston when players were probably crying at the work, or at Everton in the early days as well,” the 54-year-old told his first press conference, as reported by The Guardian.
“If the players were maybe thinking the work had not been hard enough or they maybe had not done enough, I hope they won’t cry if we work them harder. I don’t want them to say: ‘This is too much.’
“Responsibility has to be taken by the players.”
Moyes has endured a difficult few years since leaving Everton to replace the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United in 2013.
His tenure at Old Trafford last less than a year, whilst more recent spells in Spain with Real Sociedad and at Sunderland last season have done little to rebuild the reputation he established over 11 years on Merseyside.
Relegation with the Black Cats was confirmed after the Wearsiders accumulated just 24 points over the course of the campaign, with fans particularly critical of the manager’s style of play.
West Ham represent Moyes’ last shot at Premier League redemption and he needs to get off to a fast start against Watford next Sunday to get the Irons faithful onside.