Yes it can, there's 2 connections on the PCB, 3 and 4 if I remember correctly, they are probably linked together. Remove the link and connect your thermostat to them. Download the installation manual and it's all explained in there.
The black tap looks like it has cold mains pressure, remove the braided hose there and very slowly open the black tap, does water come out? Have a towel handy
That should work, when you rotate the black plastic tap make sure the spindle also turns. Quite often the handle breaks internally.
From your picture they are both shut.
Send a picture of the "diverter" valve, it sounds more like a mid position valve. It's fairly common for them to fail and it's nearly always failing to move to the CH position.