‘Angry’ former West Ham coach sacked after 15 games as he becomes ‘a laughing stock’

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This season’s Premier League sack race was always likely to boil down to two candidates; Graham Potter at West Ham United and Nuno Espirito Santo at Nottingham Forest.

In the end, it was Nuno Espirito Santo who would win by a nose. Though it would not take long for Graham Potter to cross the line himself.

Only 18 days passed between Nuno being given the boot by Evangelos Marinakis at the City Ground, and West Ham United deciding that they could not persist with Potter any longer. A couple of hours later, Nuno was taking Potter’s place at Rush Green.

If Nuno was a victim of Marinakis’ trigger-happy nature and an almighty fall-out behind the scenes, then Potter’s dismissal was purely down to the results. Vice-chair Karren Brady remained steadfast behind the embattled West Ham boss until his position became truly untenable. Even a boardroom which usually shows plenty of patience when it comes to their head coaches could no longer ignore the obvious problems starting them directly in the face.

Then again, that is what gets you the big bucks. Big, occasionally brutal decisions are often necessary in this most cut-throat of worlds.

Just ask Alex Kroes, the Ajax technical director who broke the news to John Heitinga on Thursday that his second spell in charge of the Amsterdam giants was over after just 15 matches.

In fact, Heitinga’s Ajax return has been so underwhelming that his previous stint – he took charge of 22 games during the 2022/23 season – looks pretty impressive by comparison.

Ajax sack former West Ham United coach John Heitinga

Heitinga worked alongside David Moyes at West Ham shortly after his first spell in the Ajax dugout, until the Scot’s departure in 2024.

The ex-Dutch international helped Arne Slot win the Premier League at Liverpool in his next post. So, when he made a much-debated return to Amsterdam in May, at least Heitinga was heading back to his old stomping ground with a much lengthier CV under his arm, not to mention a Premier League winners’ medal.

Yet, those experiences at the London Stadium and Anfield counted for little when Ajax’s season started to unravel. Heitinga was sacked only five months into a two-year contract, following this week’s 3-0 home defeat by a Victor Osimhen-inspired Galatasaray.

In fact, Ajax have lost all four of their Champions League matches so far, conceding 16 goals in the process. The days of humiliating Real Madrid and breezing past Juventus under Erik ten Hag – who ironically has been mentioned as a potential successor – feel like a long time ago now.

“He was very disappointed, and I understand that,” Kroes told De Telegraaf after breaking the news. He was angry. You can put all sorts of words on it.

“Does he blame me? You’ll have to ask him.”

Galatasaray defeat was ‘scandalous’ as Ajax lose in the Champions League again

‘Scandalous’ was how reporter Valentijn Driessen described that Galatasaray battering. Domestically, Ajax are also eight points adrift of PSV Eindhoven. After missing out on the title on the final day of last season – Francesco Farioli took them to the brink before the most almighty of collapses – they had gone backwards under Heitinga.

“Scandalous,” Driessen says. “Ajax was once the football export of the Netherlands. Nothing of that is left. They’re the laughing stock of Europe, right at the bottom [of the Champions League table].

Turkish journalists didn’t know what they were seeing. To them, Ajax is still a big club, but they said, ‘nothing of that is left’.

“They’re in the throes of a manager who has lost control of the process, who is in a dead end and can’t find the way out. It’s only a matter of time before everyone at Ajax is put out of their misery.”

One day is all it would take.

Nuno Espirito Santo wants West Ham to build on Newcastle win vs Burnely

Back at West Ham, the man currently in the London Stadium hotseat is determined to ensure he avoids a similar fate. While explaining the inspired decision to swap Max Kilman and Jean-Clair Todibo around, Nuno Espirito Santo previewed Saturday’s Burnley clash and urged his players not to let the momentum built up against Newcastle go to waste.

“[Burnley will be] a totally different match. A totally different team. Burnley with Scott [Parker] will be hard. We’ve been watching how good they have been,” Nuno said.

“The table now is not a reference for us. We know we are in a bad position in the table. Let’s not think about the table. Let’s think about our game. If the team improves their game, then we can think about the table.

“There are not ‘ifs’ in our head. We must compete. Saturday, we have another challenge ahead of us. We are going to face a very good team. We have to be switched on and compete really well.

“If Newcastle is our standard, we [still] have to improve.”