Graham Potter told he could be sacked in hours after what he did in West Ham loss vs Crystal Palace
Graham Potter somehow incensed West Ham supporters further with his actions during their 2-1 loss to Crystal Palace on Saturday.
Potter has looked to be walking a tightrope at the London Stadium for several weeks after a poor start to the new Premier League season for the Hammers.
They have already suffered damaging defeats to Sunderland, Chelsea and Wolves this season, but a surprise West Ham win at Nottingham Forest looked to have bought him some valuable time.
Tottenham trounced Potter’s side last week, though, and Palace worsened West Ham’s situation with a 2-1 win at the London Stadium on 20 September, following Tyrick Mitchell’s late winner.
Football Insider revealed prior to the Eagles clash that Potter had four games to save his job, but a certain moment in Saturday’s loss looks to have turned most Hammers’ fans against him for good.
West Ham fans fume as Graham Potter takes Mateus Fernandes off
With West Ham chasing the game in the 78th minute, Potter chose to take Mateus Fernandes off for fellow new arrival Soungoutou Magassa, which was met with loud boos and a chorus of “you’re getting sacked in the morning” by the London Stadium faithful.
Fernandes played superbly against Palace as he drove the team forward with authority and looked much more experienced than his midfield partner, James Ward-Prowse.
The head-coach’s decision to take the Portuguese creator off over Ward-Prowse was what angered Hammers supporters so much, with one taking to X in reply to the change to say: “This sub is where I finally turn on Potter. Takes off his most effective midfielder and leaves on James Ward-Prowse, who one can only assume won a contest to play as a Premier League midfielder for every minute this season.”
Another voiced their opposition to the change, saying: “Surely this is the end for Potter now. Keeping JWP on again, ridiculous”, as a fellow fan added: “Would give literally anything to know why you sub off Fernandes and leave JWP on the pitch.”
While others praised those at the stadium for displaying their anger, saying: “Fantastic by the crowd to boo that substitution. Sullivan and Brady drained the club of its soul, but Potter is draining whatever was left.”
Potter is surely set to be sacked by West Ham after this loss
It looks as if this is the end of Potter’s ill-fated reign at the London Stadium, and rightly so, as the fans have very clearly turned on him past the point of no return.
There were clear warning signs last season that his side were set to struggle this time around as they won just two of their final 11 league games of the campaign, and things have unsurprisingly continued in a similar vein.
| Games managed | Wins | Draws | Losses | Points-per-game |
| 25 | 6 | 5 | 14 | 0.92 |
Nuno Espirito Santo has reportedly held talks with West Ham bosses about becoming their new head coach, and the fact that he has even been sounded out shows that Potter is facing a certain sacking very soon.
This loss is surely the final nail in the coffin for him at the club, and West Ham fans will hope they can get a replacement in quickly as they aim to avoid further humiliation against David Moyes’ Everton side next week.