West Ham United have confirmed U21 staff have been given permanent first-team roles under Nuno Espirito Santo. 

Nuno Espírito Santo arrived at West Ham United without a backroom staff, so academy coaches Mark Robson, Steve Potts. Gerard Prederville and Nilly Lepine stepped up on an interim basis.

They were expected to return to their academy post as soon as the contracts for Nuno’s staff were sorted. However, after impressing Nuno over the past couple of weeks, all four of them have been given a permanent role with the first-team.

Robson, Potts and Prederville are all first-team coaches while Lepine is a goalkeeper coach.

Nuno told West Ham‘s official site: “I am very happy that Mark, Steve, Gerard and Billy have agreed to continue in their positions permanently. They are a great asset: people who, beyond their knowledge and effort, feel for West Ham United. This is key to the challenge we are currently facing.

“I’ve been very impressed by their work, their knowledge and their commitment to West Ham United. They know the Club, the players and the people here very well, and that’s a great strength for us going forward.

“Everyone has been very supportive during these first two weeks; they immediately understood what I’m trying to implement, and we already have a good relationship. Every day we learn more and work harder to get closer to the team we want to become.”

Steve Potts is the most well-known of the coaches, he is a West Ham legend and the eighth all-time record appearance maker for the club and two-time Hammer of the year.

He’s been a coach at academy level at West Ham for 11 years, so he’s the perfect man to help Nuno understand the club and to bridge the gap between academy and first-team.

Mark Robson was also a former Hammer, he spent one year at the club between 1992-93 before returning as a coach in 2021 after four years working for the FA under Gareth Southgate.