There is a particular kind of embarrassment reserved for clubs who tumble down a division and then fail to reassert themselves immediately. West Ham United, with their 68,000-seat London Stadium, their Premier League pedigree and a transfer record-breaking summer outlay, were supposed to be above all that. Three matches into the Championship season, however, they have not won a single game, and the away end at Vicarage Road on Saturday afternoon made absolutely certain that Nuno Espírito Santo understood precisely where the blame was being directed.

The boos at full time were fleeting. The chorus of "you're getting sacked in the morning" aimed at their own manager was rather more pointed. It is the sort of thing West Ham supporters are not accustomed to singing at a second-tier ground on a late-August afternoon, and the fact that they felt compelled to do so tells you everything about the mood inside an increasingly anxious travelling contingent.

Nuno will argue, not without some justification, that his squad contains quality well above Championship level. Jarrod Bowen, a player with 22 England caps who was reportedly in contention for a World Cup place, gradually grew into the match and gave Watford's retreating defence a difficult afternoon. But when you spend £22 million on a single player — Arne Engels — and frame that signing explicitly as Premier League investment, as Nuno did earlier this summer, you hand your critics a very short rope.

Nabizada announces himself

The afternoon's standout performer wore yellow, not claret and blue. Nineteen-year-old Amin Nabizada, an academy product and English-born Afghan international, had never started a senior professional match before this season. You would not have guessed it from the manner in which he has seized his opportunity. Saturday brought his second memorable goal in three appearances, and it was a proper footballer's finish.

Collecting the ball on the left edge of West Ham's penalty area after 19 minutes, Nabizada shifted his weight with a neat stepover to manufacture a sliver of space, then curled his shot with real delicacy over Mads Hermansen and into the far top corner. Vicarage Road erupted. The teenager slid along the turf in celebration, arms outstretched. If there were any scouts in the ground still compiling their reports on him, that moment would have saved them the trouble of writing a conclusion.

Watford manager Alessio Dionisi has been working with a threadbare squad that has forced him to adapt training sessions simply to have enough bodies to fill them. A matchday bench featuring two goalkeepers and a solitary outfield defender was a quiet but damning indictment of the resources at his disposal in the closing days of the transfer window. That his side led West Ham — a club with a net spend that dwarfs most Championship budgets — speaks volumes about the job he is doing with limited means.

A fortunate equaliser keeps the pressure on

West Ham's leveller arrived eight minutes after Nabizada's opener and owed more to misfortune than any particular ingenuity. Watford defender Kévin Keben attempted to shepherd the ball over his own goalline, only for Valentín Castellanos to nick possession and prod across goal. The ball deflected off the unfortunate Mattie Pollock and crept into the net — the kind of goal that feels cruel on a side that had been the better team in the opening exchanges.

As Bowen's influence grew in the second half, Watford dropped deeper and defended stoutly. There was a moment late on — eight minutes from time — when the hosts might have nicked all three points, Iker Bravo's shot deflecting narrowly over the crossbar at the end of a swift break that sent Vicarage Road momentarily into raptures.

Before kick-off, Dionisi had spoken candidly about what it would take to beat West Ham: hard work, good fortune, and the visitors playing "so and so". Even then, he admitted it would be "very difficult". That his patched-together Watford side came close to pulling it off is a reflection both of his players' commitment and of the very real problems still festering inside West Ham's dressing room.

The market will have made up its own mind about Nuno's prospects. The supporters in the Vicarage Road away section certainly have.

Frequently asked

Who is Amin Nabizada and which club does he play for?
Amin Nabizada is a 19-year-old winger who came through the academy at Watford. He is English-born but represents Afghanistan internationally, and has broken into Watford's first team at the start of the 2026-27 Championship season.
How many games have West Ham won in the Championship so far this season?
West Ham have not won any of their first three Championship matches. They have drawn twice — including this 1-1 draw at Watford — and lost once, to Charlton Athletic.
Is Nuno Espírito Santo under pressure at West Ham?
Yes. Travelling supporters directed chants at him calling for his sacking after the draw at Vicarage Road, and the absence of a win from three matches has placed him firmly in the spotlight.