 The next season , now in the second tier , Roeder resumed his stint as manager . Results were still poor , however , and after an away defeat to Rotherham United , he was sacked on 24 August 2003 . Brooking again took over as caretaker . He lost only one game , a 2 – 0 away defeat to Gillingham and is known as " the best manager West Ham never had . " Former Crystal Palace player and manager of Reading Alan Pardew was lined up to be the next bench boss . Reading and their chairman , John Madejski , however , were reluctant to let him leave . After serving a period of notice and gardening leave , and with West Ham paying Reading £ 380 @,@ 000 in compensation , he was appointed manager on 18 October 2003 , their tenth manager . Pardew set out to rebuild the side bringing in Nigel Reo @-@ Coker , Marlon Harewood and Brian Deane . In his first season in charge , they made the playoff final only to lose to Crystal Palace . His signings of Bobby Zamora , Matthew Etherington and veterans Chris Powell and Teddy Sheringham saw West Ham finishing sixth and subsequently beat Preston North End 1 – 0 thanks to a Zamora goal in the 2005 playoff final , securing a return to the Premier League . After ensuring promotion , Pardew said , " It 's a team effort . We defended well and we 're back where we belong . " 
