Graham Potter replacement ‘waiting to go’ for West Ham as name backed to beat Frank Lampard to job
Graham Potter could be swiftly being pushed out the door as a readily-available manager could take over at West Ham despite Frank Lampard’s links to the job.
The embarrassing 3-0 defeat to Tottenham prompted West Ham manager Graham Potter to be called to the boardroom to talk about his future amid the club’s terrible start to the season.
Prior to the awful display in the London derby, sources told Football Insider on 5 September that West Ham have made a move for Coventry City manager Lampard.
Furthermore, sources told Football Insider on 15 September that Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna went to the West Ham boardroom during the loss to Spurs, prompting further questions over who maybe in-line to replace the ex-Brighton boss.
The recently-departed Nuno Espirito Santo has opened up as possible candidate for the managerial position following his exit from Nottingham Forest.
Nuno Espirito Santo is the man for West Ham as Graham Potter scrambles to improve results
Discussing the Hammers dreadful start to the 2025-26 campaign on talkSPORT (15 September), former Sunderland frontman Darren Bent raised a highly-suitable manager to succeed Potter at the London Stadium.
Unemployed and waiting in the wings, the Englishman preferred the Portuguese to Lampard despite the links between the east London club and its former player.
Bent elaborated on the ex-Forest boss’ potentially pending arrival, saying: “Potter’s got to get himself sorted because I look at who’s out of work.
“Nuno [Espirito Santo] is out of work and you have to be looking at managers like Nuno because, in my opinion, the only thing he did wrong, he wasn’t sacked from Nottingham Forest on performance reasons.
“I think he was sacked on disciplinary reasons for what he said about the owner early on.
“Potter’s got to start getting results. Nuno’s your guy because he’s there waiting to go.”
Nuno Espirito Santo to bring same stability to West Ham as he did to Nottingham Forest
The dire situation left by Julen Lopetegui provoked the drastic change in direction to Potter’s stewardship to dry and stabilise the shaky state of the Irons last season.
It is fair to say that the ex-Seagulls boss did little to capture the imagination of Hammers fans who are right to be angry at both the manager and the board for their poor strategy.
The readiness of Espirito Santo is certainly a tempting one, especially after what he did when he first came in at the City Ground.
| Nuno Espirito Santo Nottingham Forest record | |
| Games managed | 71 |
| Wins | 30 |
| Draws | 15 |
| Defeats | 26 |
Forest were languishing around the relegation zone when the Portuguese succeeded Steve Cooper, rapidly turning the Garibaldi into a resolute outfit that qualified for the Europa League for this year.
This backbone idea is lacking in east London and the former Wolves manager could provide a solidity which has been missing since the days of David Moyes.
Potter’s days as head coach of West Ham are fading and the board must quickly swivel to snatch up the available Espirito Santo.