West Ham sit top of the Championship, yet the debate over Nuno Espirito Santo's future refused to die down through the summer. For fan Dean Matthews, though, the question is settled: the club made the right call to stand by their head coach.

"Externally the vision of West Ham is that they are going to walk the league, but West Ham fans know better," Matthews told BBC Radio London. "There has been so much change over the summer at West Ham, and adding a shocking change to the manager to that wouldn't have helped anything."

The argument carries weight. The club reshaped large parts of their squad across the window, with nine arrivals confirmed before deadline day. Stability in the dugout, Matthews contends, provided an anchor amid that upheaval.

"If we had changed, would we have got a better manager? I'm not convinced we would," he added.

Pressure of expectation

The comment acknowledges something important: the external pressure on a club of West Ham's size in the second tier is unlike anything most Championship managers experience. The expectation from outside Upton Park is not merely promotion but something close to a procession. Matthews pushes back on that reading of the situation.

Nuno arrived at the club having managed in the top flight with Wolverhampton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur, and his pedigree drew early scrutiny precisely because it raised expectations so high. The start to this Championship campaign has been uneven, with a draw against Watford among the results that tested supporters' patience before Tuesday's win at Bolton moved the club to the summit.

That win, a 3-2 victory at the Toughsheet Community Stadium, demonstrated both the promise and the fragility of this West Ham side: they led, conceded twice, and then found a late winner. Nuno himself acknowledged afterwards that his team deserved more from some earlier performances. The honesty has not gone unnoticed among the support.

A clear benchmark

Matthews sets out the measure by which the season will ultimately be judged, and he does not mince words.

"You can't have players like Jarrod Bowen in the Championship and not get promoted," he said. "It would be a failure if we didn't."

Bowen, who has operated at the highest level of domestic football, represents the clearest illustration of the gap in quality West Ham ought to carry in this division. The presence of that calibre of player in a Championship squad places an obligation on the club, and Matthews is clear-eyed about it.

The table at this early stage offers encouragement. Leading the division is a position from which no West Ham supporter would want to move, however many caveats surround it. The challenge for Nuno is to convert that early momentum into consistency across a 46-game season, where the margins shrink and the demands on squad depth grow.

Whether the manager's measured style suits the week-to-week grind of the second tier remains the central tactical question of West Ham's campaign. What Matthews' view reflects is a pragmatism among the fanbase: that continuity, even imperfect continuity, beats the disruption of another managerial change on top of a squad rebuild.

If promotion follows, the debate will be closed. If it does not, no amount of early goodwill will protect Nuno from scrutiny. The Championship has a habit of settling these arguments on the pitch.

Frequently asked

Is Nuno Espirito Santo still West Ham manager?
Yes. Nuno Espirito Santo remains in charge at West Ham and led the club to the top of the Championship table in the early weeks of the season.
Where are West Ham in the Championship table?
West Ham moved to the top of the Championship following their 3-2 victory at Bolton, though it is still very early in the season.
Will West Ham get promoted from the Championship this season?
Promotion is widely expected given the quality of the squad, with fans like Dean Matthews describing it as a failure if they do not go up.