Plenty of eyebrows were raised when former Everton and Manchester United gaffer David Moyes returned to West Ham United and the London Stadium for a second time.
Having spent barely a year in charge before being given his marching orders the first time around, Moyes remained out of work before The Hammers came calling again 18 months later, but this spell in charge has seen them build strength and depth with each passing season and not only have they been pushing up the table and surprising many in the wider footballing world, there also been some good and decent European adventures to boot.
Although the 2022/23 campaign has proven to be a bit more of a struggle for the side and the likes of captaingambling.com would not have predicted that - as I type they are 13 games into the domestic top flight campaign, yet have only picked up 14 points with four wins and two draws - but a massive seven losses.
That will no doubt infuriate Moyes, but a manager with his experience will mot be panicking and he knows there is plenty of time to turn it around and he can also take plenty of confidence from their Europa Conference League campaign.
Going into Thursday evenings clash with Steaua Bucharest out at the Romanian sides National Arena, West Ham already top the table with 15 points following five wins from five, and fans will have been delighted to see them score ten times, yet only concede on four occasions. With FCSB sitting bottom of the Group B table with only two points, there should be every confidence of making it a perfect six wins from six, even though Moyes side has obviously already qualified through to the next stage with a game to spare.
With that in mind, and with a big domestic fixture crush for many sides now as we head towards the ill timed November winter break so FIFA can accommodate the World Cup out in Qatar, Moyes has already told fans that he will be using the game effectively as a training session to try a few new things out in.
With a London derby against Crystal Palace this coming Sunday, rest is the watchword for the manager and speaking to the BBC ahead of Thursdays game, he explained that he would be using the opportunity to rest some key players, and highly rated youngsters such as Freddie Potts (son of former skipper Steve Potts), Keenan Forson and Oliver Scarles may well be involved themselves as he does want more of a youthful feel to the match day squad and the starting XI for this one.
"We've left the bulk of the players back home. We're going to give some of the younger players an opportunity in the game. We're going to give them an opportunity, and maybe some of the others will get an opportunity as well, because in some of the other games we weren't able to do so."
Since the more recent inception of the Europa Conference League, no side has yet managed a 100% winning record at the group stage, so West Ham could write themselves into the history books with another win here.
"The biggest motivation for us is that we've won the group and we now need to finish it off."
It is no surprise with all the disruptions that this season will face that Moyes is shaking it up where he can, it's just sensible team management.
