If Graham Potter was hoping to maintain a veneer of cool and calm, the West Ham United boss will have been disappointed to learn that those eagle-eyed reporters had spotted the twitch of the vein and the raising of the decibels.
He had only just taken his seat for Friday’s press conference and the conversation immediately turned to the frustration which finally bubbled over in the aftermath of that collapse away to Brighton and Hove Albion a few days prior.
Tomas Soucek put West ham United 2-1 up at The Amex with 83 minutes on the clock, and Graham Potter’s team still managed to end up with nothing.
‘Do you want me to swear?’, a clearly irritated Potter asked in response to the media’s probing, all the while adding that he was ‘sick of talking about positives’ at a time when results remain conspicuous by their absence.
As far as the former Chelsea boss is concerned, no matter which face he wears, the media will always find something to criticise him for. Is he too nice or too snappy? Too emotional or too impassive?
“As I get older, I care less what you guys [the media] think, to be honest,” Potter fired back before Jarrod Bowen secured West Ham a draw with Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
“I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t. On the one hand you’re having a go at me for being too nice, or for whatever. You get criticised for being too nice or too emotional.”
Alan Pardew has advice for West Ham United manager Graham Potter
Alan Pardew, West Ham manager from 2003 to 2006, knows all too well how it feels to have every quirk of your personality analysed to the nth degree.
Pardew does feel, however, that Potter could maybe do more to make life slightly easier for himself. A little less bare-faced, heart-on-the-sleeve candour in front of the cameras, he suggests, and maybe cards held a closer to his chest.
“I think Potter’s whole kind of ethos and what he’s about is good,” Pardew begins. “His management of players is probably something he is good at.
“I don’t think his management of the media is great, and I would say that to him. He is a friend, I’ve worked with him. I would say that to his face.”
Ahead of what is likely to be a summer of considerable change at West Ham, Edson Alvarez could leave for the Bundesliga, forgotten man Guido Rodriguez is in talks with River Plate, and Saudi Arabian interest remains in Mohammed Kudus.
Pardew, who guided West Ham to victory over Preston North End in the 2005 play-off final, thinks that Potter should be given the chance to build an underperforming and ill-balanced squad in his own image before his future really comes under threat.
Pardew says Potter should be given time to rebuild Hammers squad
Furthermore, West Ham’s board are ‘100 per cent’ backing Graham Potter at this stage, Hammers News understands.
“The other thing is, when you come in mid-season like he’s done, he will be weighing all these players up and it will give him a chance in the summer to say; ‘Right, I need him to move on, him to stay’,” adds Pardew, the one-time Newcastle, West Brom and Crystal Palace coach.
“Hopefully the board back him and it will be down to him [who stays and goes]. We’ll see.”
Speaking via The Athletic, meanwhile, Potter opened up on how his family had been affected by a run of three wins from 16 games in charge of The Hammers. Another admission which, while deserving of respect given the openness of his personality, may also have been better left hidden away from prying eyes.
“[My family have] known me long enough to know that, ‘Just leave Daddy alone a little bit. Just leave him be. Let’s go for a walk, let’s take the dog out, let’s just leave him to curse at his computer or whatever’,” Potter said.
“And this is the thing that you have to try all the time. I think it’s an ongoing battle for us all. How do you get that balance?
“But this notion that you can just have an experience like that and then just be alright with people. It just doesn’t work. I just can’t do it. It takes time to get it out of your system.”
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