West Ham sacked Graham Potter yesterday after only nine months in charge, with former Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo tipped to take over the troubled English Premier League club.
Potter’s exit was widely expected after the Hammers slumped to second bottom of the table ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Everton.
Nuno is expected to replace Potter in time for the clash with Everton after reports that the Portuguese coach has had positive talks with the West Ham board.
Photo: AP
Potter managed just three points from West Ham’s five league matches this season, while they also crashed out of the English League Cup against Wolves.
The former Chelsea and Brighton manager only took the reins at the London Stadium in January, with last season’s disappointing 14th-place finish putting pressure on him to hit the ground running this season.
Last weekend’s home defeat against Crystal Palace proved the final straw.
Potter, who lost five of West Ham’s six games this season, was relieved of his duties less than 24 hours after holding his usual pre-match news conference on Friday.
“Results and performances over the course of the second half of last season and the start of the 2025/26 season have not matched expectations,” West Ham said in a statement.
“The board of directors believe that a change is necessary in order to help improve the team’s position in the Premier League as soon as possible,” it said.
Former Tottenham and Wolves coach Nuno was sacked by Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis three weeks ago after the pair fell out over the club’s transfer policy.
Nuno earned praise for lifting Forest into European competition for the first time in 30 years last season via a seventh-place finish in the Premier League.
He also impressed at Wolves, helping establish them in the top-flight before leaving for a turbulent 17-match spell at Tottenham that ended in the sack.
Potter won only six of his 25 West Ham matches after replacing Julen Lopetegui, who lasted just 22 matches after taking over from David Moyes, who is now in charge of Everton.
Despite Potter’s substantial spending on eight new signings in the summer transfer window, West Ham made a woeful start to the season.
A 3-0 win at Nottingham Forest last month provided some respite, but West Ham went down by the same score to Tottenham after the international break, before the Palace loss heralded the end of his dismal spell in charge
Potter, who lasted less than seven months before being axed as Chelsea boss in 2023, admitted the Palace loss was a “tough moment” as he and his team were booed off at the final whistle.
The 50-year-old’s struggles made him a viral trend on social media, with people using artificial intelligence technology to swap his face onto other celebrities, including Barbie, US President Donald Trump and the Chuckle Brothers.
Speaking on Friday, Potter said he had not been taking it too seriously.
“It made my 15-year-old son laugh a lot, so you have to accept what comes with it,” he said.
“At times it’s ridicule, but that is just the environment we are in. It is what it is,” he added.
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