Moyes confirms he will sign new West Ham deal and reflects on 'excellent season'

The Hammers finished sixth with their highest ever Premier League points tally to secure Europa League qualification for the first time.

Moyes did a brilliant job in saving West Ham from relegation in 2019/20 before then leading them on an unlikely charge for Europe this season.

The Scot joined Jim White and Simon Jordan on talkSPORT to chat about the season, how it all came together for his side and what the future holds.

Here's what he had to say..

Setting the bar high

"It's been really, really good [at West Ham] and an excellent season for us.

"We were in pre-season in St Andrews and I felt I had to set down some markers and my meeting with the players was that the minimum we are going to do is try to qualify for Europe.

"I walked out the room thinking they are going to be thinking 'he has lost his head, we have just avoided relegation'.

"I wanted to set the bar high and push them and see if I could drag them to get better.

"The new boys we bought in made such a difference, the mentality around the club, the work ethic throughout the team. All those things I knew they were on the up.

"Could we keep it going? Could we be consistent? Could we show any sort of stability as a football club? I wasn't completely sure about that, but we did. We set down the gauntlet right at the start and we hammered the players through the year about it.

"Round about January we went on an incredible run and then I started to believe there is an outside chance we could be up near the top."

The future is bright

"There was part of me that was really disappointed we didn't make the Champions League.

"We were so close and sometimes in this game you have to take your opportunities and I feel like we might have just missed a beat.

"We lost Declan Rice in the last international break. We were without Declan for six or seven games and that was huge for us.

"Am I going to push them some more? Of course I am, but we've taken an almighty step to come where we are.

"I'd done this with Everton, quite often when you make a big step you have to come back a little bit to breath again before you go again.

"At Everton we were able to get a continued level of consistency, around the top eight, competing for Europe.

"West Ham have so much room for improvement on and off the field. There's a great chance, but recruitment is the key.

"I would be quite confident going into the season with the players we have. They are an incredibly good group of players."

The West Ham fans

"Even at Everton, I couldn't get the team in Europe the first year. It's been a huge step and I hope the West Ham supporters would give me the opportunity to try and build on it.

"There's so much room for growth at West Ham, a club that can do so much better. Whether everybody agrees with the new stadium, 60,000 seater stadium where there's no viewing restrictions, we've got lots of new supporters.

"It would be good to encourage lots of young, new supporters at the club."

Money in football

"I've got a good idea where I'd like to strengthen but getting them in is another matter.

"Football is skint. The media have a responsibility as well. We've just come out of a pandemic where half of the lower league clubs are really financially struggling and nearly went bust.

"The media and pundits who speak about it have to be considerate, and maybe we shouldn't be spending hundreds of millions on players and wages.

"If not, we're going to go into football where only money matter. I've always dreamed that money wouldn't be the biggest thing in our sport.

"You could have a good year and have a good team that's why the Super League stuff was nonsense and none of us wanted it.

A new three-year contract

"We're there. For me in life now, it's not about how big my contract is or how long it is. I want to be happy and know the people are going to give me all the support I need.

"I need support from inside, I need support from the club and I have to say they have been fantastic in helping me and allowing me to get on with it.

"If I was giving myself any praise over the year, it would be I have tended to build clubs and make them better and I hope I can do that with West Ham over the coming years.

"That's what we're looking at [a three-year contract]."