West Ham owners have one big question left to answer following Graham Potter sack
West Ham United’s owners are under huge pressure from supporters currently, and have one big question left to answer following the dismissal of Graham Potter.
Potter was sacked by West Ham following a very poor start to the campaign, which saw the Hammers sitting in the relegation zone.
Nuno Espirito Santo came in at the London Stadium to replace the departing 50-year-old, just three weeks after he himself had been let go by Nottingham Forest.
In his first game in charge, Espirito Santo led West Ham to a 1-1 draw away at Everton, with the East London side picking up just their fourth point of the Premier League season.
West Ham should never have hired Graham Potter – here’s why
Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – believes West Ham should never have hired Potter in the first place, as he was not right for the club.
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, Wyness insisted that the former Brighton boss is a manager who needs time to get things moving and build a squad.
During his tenure at the Amex, Potter led the Seagulls to 15th and 16th respectively in his first two seasons in charge, before taking the club to their highest ever top-flight finish of ninth in his third campaign.
Wyness questioned why the West Ham hierarchy appointed Potter, knowing they weren’t going to give him the time he needed.
He told Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast: “Karren Brady came to his (Potter’s) defence straight away after the first game of the season. And here we are, only a few games in, and suddenly it’s all turned around.
“I think this is a time when owners have got to remain strong and they’ve got to make the decisions based on real football evidence and football sense rather than any herd sort of mentality.
“It’s difficult to do that. I’ve been there when things have turned bad, and the fans are very persuasive.
“However, in this case, obviously, Mr. Sullivan has decided to make the decision. I thought Graham Potter was there as a builder; he’s a creator of teams, but he does take some time to get things moving. I don’t think he was the right one for Chelsea before, and he isn’t the right one for West Ham; we know that.
“So the question mark really is why was he hired in the first place, knowing that he will take time to do things, and then not be given the time? So I think the question mark there is with the West Ham owners at the moment.”
Nuno Espirito Santo won’t be given time at West Ham
Espirito Santo won’t be given much time at West Ham, if past managerial reigns in East London are anything to go by.
That is according to former Hammers senior scout Mick Brown, who claims that the new boss “won’t last long” if recent history repeats itself.
Nuno is the club’s fourth manager in the last 18 months, with both Julen Lopetegui and Potter failing to reach the level required to keep their jobs.
It is unlikely to be an easy ride for the Portuguese boss either, with West Ham fans planning protests against the ownership over the next few weeks.
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