A wildly conflicting new claim has emerged about Graham Potter’s West Ham contract from a top journalist and it will cause confusion and concern among divided fans.
David Moyes achieved many things at West Ham.
Whether it was keeping the club up twice in two different spells, winning a first major trophy for over four decades, leading the Hammers to their record ever Premier League points haul or qualifying for Europe three years in a row.
Take your pick.
Perhaps his biggest achievement, though, was getting West Ham’s angry fanbase united again.
Confusion over Potter’s West Ham contract amid fan concerns
Hammers fans are as passionate and loyal as they come.
But it doesn’t take much to divide them when things aren’t going well.
And things certainly haven’t been going well for a long while now.
Graham Potter took over from Julen Lopetegui amid new hope and expectation that he would be the man to modernise West Ham after the Moyes era.
Just four months into Potter’s tenure, though, his future is already in question.
West Ham fans were always going to give the 49-year-old this season as grace given there was little jeopardy left in the campaign when he took over in January.
The expectation, though, was that Potter would at least have the Irons fighting for a top 10 finish.
With the way the European places are panning out at the time of writing, finishing ninth or 10th may even be enough to qualify for Europe next season.
That makes it even more galling that Potter has taken West Ham backwards from 13th to 17th – and no hope of finishing any higher than 14th – with three games to go.
The former Chelsea boss has won just three of his 16 games and has an even worse record than Lopetegui.
As a result fans are already completely divided over Potter and his future.
Journalist’s claim contradicts West Ham’s Potter contract ‘leak’
Some believe he needs to be given the summer window and the start of next season to show he can do the job.
Others feel he has shown he is the wrong hire and point to the fact he is already struggling to cope with the pressure as proof West Ham need to hold their hands up and move on to someone else.
Especially as the club needs to perform another rebuild this summer – and therefore must be certain it is being overseen by the right man for the medium to long term.
Now a conflicting new claim about Potter’s West Ham contract has emerged which will divide fans.
Amid his unconvincing start to life at the London Stadium, a report emerged recently claiming West Ham included a break clause in Potter’s contract.
The source of the leak, Claret and Hugh, has close links to West Ham’s majority owner David Sullivan.
It was claimed West Ham can terminate Potter’s two-and-a-half-year contract a year early if they so wish.
That means Potter could be sent packing with no compensation if West Ham are not happy next season.
The Hammers boss has cut an increasingly spiky, exasperated and frustrated figure of late.
Potter has even made a startling admission about the West Ham job as the team continues to struggle.
West Ham were also forced to speak out on Potter’s future following the disappointing 1-1 draw with Spurs at the weekend.
Now Hammers reporter Roshane Thomas has made a claim about Potter’s contract which goes against information leaked by the West Ham hierarchy.
No break clause in Potter’s West Ham contract claims journalist
Thomas has confirmed club insiders have told him pressure is being felt across the board as a result of Potter’s dismal start to life at the London Stadium.
Although the Hammers’ owners remain hopeful of Potter turning it around, they have no easy get-out if he doesn’t.
Because Thomas claims there is no break clause in the deal, as was reported by Claret and Hugh.
“The head coach signed a two-and-a-half-year contract — and this deal does not include a break clause,” Thomas states on The Athletic.
“The club were initially only willing to give Potter a contract until the end of the season, which he was reluctant to sign.
“Karren Brady, the vice-chairman, then led negotiations, and all parties agreed to Potter’s terms.”
This leaves West Ham stuck with what they have now.
Especially as any payouts to fire and hire managers and staff would damage their PSR position even further.
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