Graham Potter sacked: West Ham fire head coach but deeper problems remain

Graham Potter is gone and the stats make grim reading for his reign. But big problems remain at West Ham.

The head coach's time seemed to be up as soon as West Ham fans joined Crystal Palace supporters in a rendition of 'sacked in the morning' as their neighbours inflicted another London Stadium loss on their side last Saturday.

With a winless run at home stretching to eight games, just six victories to shout about in a total of 23 Premier League matches and a team playing dull, passive football, Potter had lost the backing of the Hammers faithful.

But those same fans who have called for Potter to go and booed their players off this season have also voiced their unhappiness with the club's board.

That was reiterated on Monday when a statement previously delivered to vice-chairman Karen Brady was released. In it, the fans stated they have no confidence in Brady or chairman David Sullivan, having chanted 'sack the board' during the defeat to Palace.

"The current leadership has overseen repeated failures - in financial planning, football strategy, governance, and fan relations," the statement read. "These failures are holding West Ham back at a time when we should be moving forward."

The supporters have called for a clearer structure at the top of football operations, with a chief executive and director of football, as well as commitments to future plans for the club, both financially and on the pitch.

A manager change, of course, is more straightforward.

Potter is the ninth manager dismissed in the 15 years since the current ownership took charge. There were only 11 managers in the 110 years before that.

The upcoming trip to David Moyes' Everton for Monday Night Football is a reminder of the stability and success the Scot brought to the club during his second spell in charge.

At some point, the chopping and changing will have to stop and wider issues addressed.

Of course, the high point of that Moyes tenure was the Conference League win in 2023. It was Declan Rice's final game for the club before his £105m move to Arsenal. Downhill since then? Broadly speaking.

Squad building with those funds led West Ham down a path to a point where Potter was working with a group lacking in quality and, at times, more worryingly, application.

"On paper, when I look at them, I'm not thinking they're a top-half side," Sky Sports' Tim Sherwood said on Monday. "Recruitment has been bang average."

That opinion is backed up by transfermarkt's squad value calculations, which put West Ham 14th among Premier League clubs.

This is a group in transition - they had the oldest squad last season and there was a clear plan to bring that average age down this summer - but are they stronger for their transfer window shake-up?

Mohammed Kudus, Aaron Cresswell, Vladimir Coufal, Lukasz Fabianski, Danny Ings, Kurt Zouma and Michail Antonio left. Mateus Fernandes, El Hadji Malick Diouf, Mads Hermansen, Soungoutou Magassa, Callum Wilson, Kyle Walker-Peters and Igor Julio have been signed, with Jean-Clair Todibo's loan made permanent.

Whether those are upgrades can be debated but a lack of intensity has been clear.

It may be a physical issue in midfield, where the older legs of Tomas Soucek and James Ward-Prowse were still preferred by Potter, but in West Ham's own penalty area, missing conviction has been costly.

"When your players are defending like that, you have no chance," said Sky Sports' Jamie Redknapp when assessing the efforts of West Ham players during the thrashing by Chelsea.

Captain Jarrod Bowen and playmaker Lucas Paqueta stand apart - but those two shining lights need far more support from team-mates than they're currently getting.

Potter's West Ham was a team which allowed the opposition more passes before intervening than any other side in the top flight - and then ranked third-bottom for direct attacks up the pitch when they had it. It was certainly not edge-of-your-seat stuff.

The real action happened when West Ham had to defend crosses or corners and their vulnerability in these situations raised questions about training-ground work done by Potter and his coaching staff to prepare for those moments.

But can the next manager make meaningful change without more substantial alterations to how the club is run? Bigger problems at West Ham go beyond that job remit.