The truth behind West Ham’s abrupt sacking of Graham Potter ahead of the Everton game has been revealed with an announcement on his replacement imminent.
Graham Potter took his pre-match press conference for West Ham’s tough-looking trip to Everton as normal on Friday.
But as Hammers News pointed out, there was nothing normal about his latest meeting with the media.
Potter has been accused of being robotic and boring, churning out the same comments and answers from press conference to press conference.
Things were different this time, though.
The two reasons West Ham sacked Potter so abruptly revealed
Having been subjected to ridicule online amid a growing face swap trend on social media, the head coach stuttered his way through much of the presser and looked like a man showing the strain.
After just six wins in 25 games across nine months, Potter has little evidence he can turn things around in east London.
West Ham have become genuine relegation candidates and, in the eyes of many, relegation certs.
West Ham have stated that results and performances over the course of the second half of last season and the start of this campaign have ‘not matched expectations’
David Sullivan, Daniel Kretinsky, Karren Brady and the board state they believe a change is necessary in order to help improve the team’s position in the Premier League as soon as possible.
The club confirmed all of Potter’s staff will be leaving with him and it is expected head of recruitment Kyle Macaulay will follow.
West Ham have also confirmed the process of appointing Potter’s replacement is underway.
Not that they needed to clarify that.
The world and its wife knows West Ham have spoken to sacked Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo twice.
Hammers News exclusively revealed Nuno’s talks with Karren Brady back on September 19th.
Nuno was also spotted near Sullivan’s Essex mansion after those West Ham talks.
It was expected West Ham would sack Potter immediately after the defeat to Palace.
Nuno set to be unveiled as new Hammers boss
Especially as it would have allowed any new manager a full nine days to prepare the team for Everton.
But word then went around that West Ham would wait until after Everton and perhaps even until the October international break before making the change.
The surest sign that the writing was on the wall for Potter came when journalist Alan Nixon gave an update on Monday.
Nixon was the first to reveal the Hammers’ interest in Nuno after the 3-0 defeat to Spurs.
In his update he confirmed Nuno Espirito Santo was closer to taking over West Ham.
But why, having opted not to pull the trigger on Potter after Palace, have the Hammers now wielded the axe out of the blue, 48 hours before the clash with the Toffees?
The two reasons West Ham sacked Potter so abruptly have been revealed as his replacement announcement is imminent.
A trusted external source has revealed that West Ham’s under-fire board took great exception to Potter laying the blame at their door in his pre-match press conference and subsequent interview on Sky Sports.
A cryptic Potter made it clear he isn’t the problem at West Ham when speaking to the press.
It felt somewhat risqué and out-of-character for Potter, especially given the speculation around his position.
But many fans, who are vowing to continue season-long protests against the ownership, would agree with the now departed Hammers boss.
The source says the board felt Potter had inflamed an already volatile situation with his latest comments, especially as it broke from his insistence on unity and alignment across the club.
Now West Ham are someone else’s problem to solve.
And that man will indeed be Nuno Espirito Santo.
Nuno legal green light and Potter comments behind sudden sacking
There has been claim and counter claim about why a decision was being delayed.
On Thursday, Hammers News also revealed that reason – because West Ham were waiting for Nuno and his representatives to come to a legal agreement with Forest over his severance.
In these situations a sacked manager would be paid up the remainder or his contract or a mutually agreed fee.
But sometimes clubs will instead continue to pay the axed boss until they find another job – as it can prove more cost effective, especially if that man is in demand.
Hammers News initially understood that delay could drag on for a couple of weeks at worst.
The green light was given overnight, though.
There is every chance Potter would have been all too aware of the situation but had to face the press anyway so as not to be in breach of contract and potentially forfeit his own pay-off.
That would explain Potter’s uncharacteristically outspoken presser.
Now West Ham are expected to announce Nuno as the new manager as is being widely reported elsewhere.
