Joe Cole claims West Ham’s board broke a key promise they made to Graham Potter at the end of last season but concedes he ‘had to go’.
There is never a dull moment in the weird and wonderful world of West Ham United.
The Hammers are certainly living up to that reputation this week.
With pressure mounting on the club’s board and manager Graham Potter, something had to give eventually.
It did on Saturday when West Ham suddenly announced the sacking of Potter 48 hours out from the game against Everton on Monday night.
The writing has been on the wall for Potter since the 3-0 defeat to Spurs.
Potter sacked with Nuno to replace him at West Ham
It was after that insipid performance that Nuno Espirito Santo was first linked with the Hammers.
The Portuguese is now expected to be announced as Potter’s replacement imminently.
The two reasons West Ham sacked Potter so abruptly have been revealed by a top external source.
Clearly West Ham’s owners will be hoping Nuno can emulate David Moyes who sparked an upturn in fortunes which ultimately halted fan protests when he was appointed in 2020.
But Hammers supporters protesting against the owners have vowed to continue their activism until the board leave or act on their demands.
Some fans have also cited the way Potter’s sacking has been handled as an example of incompetence from those running the east London club.
West Ham’s were heavily criticised for the way they handled the exits of Moyes and Julen Lopetegui.
The delay over Potter’s sacking followed by a sudden announcement two days from a game will add his name to that list.
On the pitch, Potter doesn’t really have a leg to stand on in terms of his record.
The Hammers have won just six of his 25 games during nine months in charge.
There has been nothing in performances to suggest Potter is building an identity to the team with the same old problems rearing their ugly head on a weekly basis.
Cole claims West Ham’s board broke key promise they made Potter
West Ham have won just two matches at home all year and supporters fully turned on Potter during the defeat to Palace.
His substitutions were booed and fans aimed chants of ‘You don’t know what you’re doing’ and ‘You’re getting sacked in the morning at the beleaguered former Chelsea boss.
They were seven days out but Potter is now gone.
One former Hammers hero concedes Potter ‘had to go’ but feels that doesn’t tell the full story.
Joe Cole claims West Ham’s board broke a key promise they made to Potter at the end of last season – citing two players in particular as evidence.
Speaking on TNT Sports, Cole described the timing as ‘strange’.
And while he admits results simply weren’t good enough, he feels David Sullivan, Karren Brady and co must take their share of the blame for breaking promises.
“The timing is strange, if you’re announcing it less than 48 hours before a game, you know how these things work,” Cole said.
“The owners would have been talking to managers over the past 10 days, figuring out where they’re going to go.
“With Potter, he would’ve been brought into West Ham with the promise to come in and change the style of play, we know you’re a great coach and we get to the summer and we’ll bring in some players to suit your style of play.
Cole says Potter was let down over Hammers squad rebuild
“I don’t think that necessarily happened, so Potter then goes into this season trying, I’m thinking of (James) Ward-Prowse and (Tomas) Soucek in the midfield and the way he plays, I think he would’ve wanted to add some legs around them.
“Look, he had to go, with the results, unfortunately for Graham if you don’t win games, but the timing of it is strange.”
West Ham will point to the fact they spent over £60m on midfield duo Mateus Fernandes and Soungoutou Magassa.
But they arrived late in the window, when the season had already started.
On the flip side, Potter persisted with Ward-Prowse, much to the frustration of West Ham fans.
It is another fine mess blighting what is this proud club’s 130th anniversary year.
Now it will be Nuno Espirito Santo’s mess to sort out.
