Graham Potter must fear for his job as coach at West Ham United after another weak home performance. Possible successors are already being discussed.
After only five match days, the Premier League is facing its second coaching change. Following a 1-2 home defeat to Crystal Palace, Graham Potter’s job at West Ham United is in serious jeopardy. The 50-year-old only took over at the Hammers in January, but after a mixed first half of the season, he has made a poor start to the new season. West Ham have lost four of their first five games, three of them at their home ground, London Stadium, where they have not won since February 27. During the latest defeat, which was sealed by former Mainz player Jean-Philippe Mateta (37th minute) and Tyrick Mitchell (68th minute), the home fans were already gleefully singing about Potter’s departure “the next morning.” Even before the game, the English media were already speculating about possible successors. Now the air is getting even thinner for the former Brighton and Chelsea coach, even though he emphasized afterwards that he still feels the support of the club’s management: “I have no reason to doubt that.”
Among other things, West Ham are reportedly considering bringing back Slaven Bilic, who once transferred from Karlsruher SC to the Hammers as a player and coached them between 2015 and 2017. Most recently, the 57-year-old Croatian worked for Al-Fateh in Saudi Arabia until summer 2024. Nuno Espirito Santo, who was released by Nottingham Forest at the beginning of last week, is also being considered.
After West Ham started last season with great euphoria, driven by high transfer investments, the crash followed quickly. Potter succeeded Julen Lopetegui, and shortly afterwards, technical director Tim Steidten also had to leave. The club finished the season in 14th place and then sold Mohammed Kudus to Tottenham for over €60 million, among other things, to avoid problems with the league’s financial fair play rules.
Füllkrug has lost his starting spot
Most recently, Niclas Füllkrug also lost his starting spot under Potter. The former Dortmund player, who is yet to score a goal, spent 90 minutes on the bench against Tottenham (0-3) before coming on as a substitute against Palace after just under an hour. Now, after just over a year, he could have his third coach at West Ham.
“It’s a difficult situation at the moment,” admitted Potter, who has won only six of his 25 games in charge. “Everyone involved with the club is feeling the pressure because the results aren’t good. We have to face up to that and make sure we’re stronger next week, it’s as simple as that.” If he gets the chance in the away game at Everton, it’s likely to be his last.