West Ham hires Scott Parker as coach after firing Nuno Espirito Santo

LONDON — West Ham hired former captain Scott Parker as coach on Wednesday after Nuno Espirito Santo was fired.

Nuno was fired on Tuesday, just 13 games into second-tier West Ham's campaign to win promotion back to the Premier League, having been relegated on the final day last season.

West Ham said the 46-year-old Parker had been given a two-and-a-half year contract. The former England midfielder played 129 times for the club between 2007 and 2011.

“It is a very proud moment for me to step into this role and return to a club that means so much to me and my family,” Parker said on the club's website. “A lot of very fond memories of my time here, four years of probably the best football I played in my career.”

The much-traveled Parker also represented Charlton, Chelsea, Newcastle, Tottenham and Fulham in the Premier League and said West Ham was where he felt most at home.

“There was a warmth, a love, a feeling that I probably didn’t have anywhere else," said Parker, who won 18 caps for England. “There was something which stood out constantly and that was the relationship that I built up with the fanbase here. That rapport and respect, that I felt instantly.”

Parker previously coached Fulham, Bournemouth and Burnley as well as Club Brugge. He was fired by the Belgium club after less than three months following a 5-1 loss at Benfica in the Champions League. He managed two wins from 12 matches.