Parker out to cure 'desperate' West Ham

New West Ham United head coach Scott Parker has been given a crash course in the perils of leading the troubled club in his first three days in the job. Appointed on Wednesday to replace the sacked Nuno Espirito Santo, Parker has had two away games but just one training session to work with his new group of players. Little more than 72 hours in the post, but enough time to witness at first hand a soft underbelly on the pitch and a hostile atmosphere in the stands. Wednesday night was the ultimate game of two halves, as they went three goals down to Cardiff City only to recover in the second half to share a point in a six-goal thriller. But there was no comeback from a two-goal margin as they slipped to a 2-1 loss at Blackburn Rovers, a result that knocked them out of the play-off places. And the players were left to face the ire of 7,000 Hammers fans who had trekked up to Ewood Park to see it. Parker has become a modern-day Championship expert in recent seasons, securing promotion with Fulham (2020), Bournemouth (2022) and then Burnley in 2025, but the Hammers arguably represent his greatest challenge. A former captain of the club in his playing days, the 46-year-old knows he must quickly ease the disconnect in place between players and fans. The pressure is on West Ham to deliver an immediate return to the top flight and Parker's early take is that the players are feeling the pressure of that expectation. "I see a desperate team. 100%, I see a bit of a desperate team," he told BBC Sport. "Desperate as in the sense there is a burden here at this moment. "Like with anything when there is an expectation, whether it's an expectation of my 12-year-old son doing his maths work, that can easily become a burden. "What I need to do is support this group and give them the belief and the confidence to show their real quality and for sure I will do that." 'I know what fans expect' West Ham fans had booed their team off in midweek at half-time in the Welsh capital and they made their feelings known again at the final whistle in Lancashire. Chants of 'You're not fit to wear the shirt' could be heard, while goalkeeper Mads Hermansen came in for particular anger from the visiting fans. It was a difficult situation and having played for the Hammers, Parker recognises what the club's supporters want, and need to see. "I need to turn it around and there is a lot of pain that's come over a number of years really," he added. "I can see the pain in these players. I see a committed group. It's my job and my responsibility to try to get us pushing in the right direction. "I connect with every single fan. I'm from where they're from. I know what they expect. I totally understand it and it's my job to fix that."