David Moyes admits he has 'point to prove' at West Ham after 'poor choice' of taking job at Sunderland
The Scot presided over Sunderland's relegation to the Championship last season
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Your support makes all the difference.David Moyes has admitted he has a point to prove as the new manager of West Ham United after making a mistake by joining Sunderland at the start of last season.
The former Everton and Manchester United manager resigned from the Wearside club in May after a dismal campaign ended in relegation from the Premier League.
Despite his struggles at Sunderland, Moyes has been appointed as Slaven Bilic's successor in east London and his first task will be to steer third-bottom West Ham away from the drop zone.
“I do have a point to prove, yes,” Moyes said during his unveiling at the London Stadium on Wednesday. “I think maybe I have to do that and show it. Sometimes you have to repair things and maybe I have a bit to repair.
“For me, I didn't do enough due diligence [before taking the Sunderland job],” he added. “I know when I look back, I started at Preston which was very good. I was fortunate enough to get a job at Everton, everyone knows about my time there. From that, I got a great opportunity to manage Manchester United, it's been well-documented.
“After that, I wanted to try something different. I went to Spain, had a great year, enjoyed my time, different culture, different players. I came back and made a poor choice in the club I chose.
“I want to get back and I want to win. I want to get back to show exactly what I'm about and West Ham is as good a club as any to do that at.”
Moyes made headlines during the final weeks of his reign at Sunderland after video footage emerged of him threatening to slap Vicki Sparks, a female BBC journalist, after she asked a question he objected to.
The 54-year-old was fined £30,000 by the Football Association for making the remark and was chided in a newspaper column by West Ham vice-chairman and businesswoman Karren Brady.
Moyes insisted that, despite Brady describing his behaviour as “belittling” and “disrespectful”, her criticism of him had not been discussed during the appointment process.
“It's Karren who I spoke to on the phone and Karren who had the meeting with,” Moyes said. “I've said many times I made a mistake, I apologised for the mistake right away. We talk with journalists like this all the time, sometimes it can go the wrong way, but I apologised for that at the time.
“She didn't discuss it all because as you said it was written six months ago,” he added. “I don't think there was any need to do it. I've had two or three conversations with Karren, they've been very good. I've actually quite enjoyed listening to her, so hopefully we can have a good relationship.”
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