‘We need the luck of the gods' - Ex-West Ham star prays for divine intervention in survival struggle as he reveals Jarrod Bowen transfer concern

The atmosphere in East London has turned from frustration to genuine alarm as West Ham find themselves entrenched in a relegation dogfight. With the club languishing in the bottom three and seven points from safety, former striker Cole has opened up on the "conundrum" facing the Irons. Speaking to 10bet, Cole painted a picture of a club suffering from a chaotic managerial merry-go-round and a run of misfortune that has left the squad disjointed and the fanbase anxious.

For Cole, the issues stem from a lack of continuity in the dugout. The swift transitions from Julen Lopetegui to Graham Potter, and now to Nuno Espírito Santo, have created a Frankenstein’s monster of a squad, with players signed for conflicting styles now tasked with fighting for their Premier League lives under a third different regime in less than a year.

Cole was quick to defend Nuno Espírito Santo, insisting the Portuguese manager has walked into a situation that was broken long before his arrival. The recruitment strategy over the last 18 months has left the squad confused, with the current boss now forced to perform a clean-up operation mid-season.

"West Ham, that's a conundrum I've got to weigh up," Cole explained. "We've had a lot of managers in a short space of time. Lopetegui brought in a lot of players he felt would suit him and his style, and the club spent the money. Didn't work out. Graham Potter comes in, he inherits the players Lopetegui bought. Doesn't work out. Nuno comes in and inherits players from Lopetegui that he has to work with now."

The ex-forward believes Nuno is currently in a phase of assessment rather than true management, trying to salvage results with tools he didn't choose. "So, now you’ve got to understand where we're at, Nuno is just trying to clean the squad and try to get back to winning ways," Cole added.

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While acknowledging the structural issues, Cole also pointed to a cruel run of luck on the pitch. The Hammers have been on the receiving end of several contentious refereeing decisions in recent weeks, contributing to their slide down the table. For Cole, the margins between survival and relegation are often defined by these moments of fortune, which have been conspicuously absent for West Ham lately.

"First and foremost, you've got to win games, it makes everything a lot better. But at the same time, I can understand why it's not working," he said. "Football's been unkind to West Ham a little bit, there have been a few bad decisions from referees, there's been no luck for West Ham lately. I'm not sure it's all West Ham's fault. Sometimes it could be helped on the pitch with decisions not going our way and we've ended up conceding or losing the game last minute."

His assessment of the solution was desperate but honest: "We need the luck of the gods, and hopefully we can turn this around."

West Ham have attempted to shoot their way out of trouble in the January window, sanctioning the arrivals of Argentine forward Taty Castellanos from Lazio and Brazilian striker Pablo Felipe from Gil Vicente. However, Cole is unconvinced that these two additions alone will be the silver bullet Nuno needs.

When asked if these signings were the last throw of the dice, Cole was blunt: "No, I don't think the signings of Taty Castellanos and Pablo is enough for us to start calling out Nuno and saying he needs to deliver now, because it's not enough. I think he needs to get more of his own players in, players he believes in."

Cole argues that Nuno is still "helping himself to see what he's got" and that judging him now would be unfair. "Hopefully he gets the players he needs and then we can start judging him after one or two windows if we get to that. I think it's a hard task for him and it's really difficult to judge him just on what's happening in front of us now."

The grim reality of the table has led to fears regarding the future of the club's biggest assets. While Cole stopped short of saying Jarrod Bowen is already out the door, his admission that the situation looks "bleak" serves as a warning that relegation would almost certainly result in the departure of the England international.

"I don’t want to think about West Ham without Jarrod Bowen," he said. "But if West Ham were to get relegated, I can see why it would turn his head to go somewhere else and keep playing in the Premier League. For me, Jarrod is definitely a keeper. But it depends on what it looks like from West Ham's point of view, whether they're going to need the money. And if he was to leave, I don't think it’d be because of him. He doesn't deserve not to leave, I think he's done more than enough to warrant playing for a top side in the Premier League. "