BBC report West Ham United considering former Liverpool man as Graham Potter replacement
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Image Credits: Imago ImagesWhen West Ham United appointed Graham Potter as their new head coach in January 2025, it was seen as a real coup and great appointment for the London side.
Potter had been unemployed for just under two years after an underwhelming stint as head coach at Chelsea Football Club.
But that wasn’t seen as a major indication as to the talent of the man as a coach.
A lot of the failures that Graham Potter suffered at Chelsea was seen to be centred around the new ownership and the need to build a different type of squad compared to what The Blues had under previous owner Roman Abramovic.
Potter’s assignment was to create a younger profile and build stars to sell on for profit in the future.
With that in mind, many felt that he had mitigating circumstances at Stamford Bridge.
It was therefore suggested that his time at Brighton & Hove Albion was a greater indicator of what he could do.
Graham Potter’s tenure at Brighton meant he had a lot of credit in the bank and a move to West Ham was seen as closer to what he was dealing with at the Amex than at Chelsea.
So hopes were high – but the spell at the London Stadium has arguably proven more damaging than his time with Chelsea.
And the pressure has been cranked up again further today after The Hammers lost 2-1 at home to Crystal Palace in the English Premier League.
That result leaves West Ham in 18th position in the league with just 1 win and 4 defeats in the opening 5 games of the new campaign.
Alarm bells were ringing even before today’s result, but they’re sounding louder than ever as the pressure on Graham Potter is becoming untenable.
And the BBC report that Graham Potter’s position is under significant threat with the club now considering managerial alternatives to the Englishman.
The broadcaster have named three potential candidates being discussed internally.
Nuno Espirito Santo, the former Nottingham Forest and Tottenham Hotspur head coach, is the leading name mentioned by the BBC.
Slaven Bilic has also been named as a candidate.
If Bilic was named as the new head coach, it would be the third time that the Croatian would be returning to West Ham having both played for and managed the club previously.
And the last candidate is Gary O’Neil.
O’Neil was a coach at Liverpool for three years, having joined the coaching staff in 2020, before he was appointed manager at Bournemouth in 2023.
DaveOCKOP exclusively revealed that Gary O’Neil had been interviewed for the vacant head coach role at Liverpool before the club opted to appoint Arne Slot.
Gary O’Neil hasn’t been in employment since he left the position of Wolverhampton Wanderers head coach in 2024, but still has a lot of respect in the game for what he achieved whenever he was a head coach.
It will be interesting to see whether West Ham United opt to bring O’Neil to the club or if they decide to go with one of the other two options.
First things first, The Hammers will need to decide what they’re going to do with Graham Potter before looking to bring someone new into the club.
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