Dean Ashton and Martin Keown haven’t held back in their assessment of Graham Potter slamming the West Ham boss over the club’s current direction.
If Graham Potter thought West Ham would be an easier ride after his traumatic experience at Chelsea, then he is getting a rude awakening.
Potter has been open about how difficult he found things under the weight of expectation after the leap from Brighton Chelsea.
So much so he had to, by his own admission, take nearly two years out of the game in order to recover.
Potter said he felt West Ham was the right club for him to make his comeback.
Patience already wearing thin with Potter at West Ham
But things have not gone to plan at all so far.
The Hammers have won just three of the 49-year-old’s 14 games since he took over from Julen Lopetegui in January.
Potter brought up 100 days at the West Ham helm when one of the Premier League’s worst ever sides, Southampton, came to the London Stadium on Saturday.
Fans have been giving Potter grace so far given there has been little to play for in a dismal campaign.
That has all changed after the 1-1 draw with the Saints, though.
Patience is already wearing very thin among the fanbase, who booed the team off the pitch – and not for the first time under the new manager either.
Yet another terrible performance and awful result has given rise to doubts over whether Potter is the right appointment.
Debate is raging among supporters over Potter’s future.
Some believe judgement should be reserved until his has his own team in place after the summer window.
Others feel it is now too risky to perform another rebuild for a manager who is struggling to provide any evidence he is the right man for the job.
Ashton and Keown slam Potter in concerning West Ham claims
One thing most fans are in total agreement on, though, is that the team has gone backwards since Potter’s arrival.
Now two influential pundits have had their say – and it’s not pretty for the Hammers boss.
Dean Ashton and Martin Keown have slammed Potter and made deeply concerning West Ham claims.
Former Hammers striker and hero Ashton knows all about the expectations at West Ham.
And he was astounded with what he witnessed from Potter – particularly taking off Jarrod Bowen – accusing him of being far too negative to be a West Ham manager.
Ashton: Those things won’t sit right with West Ham supporters
Ashton says Potter’s approach will not sit well with the club’s fans at all.
“It’s a bit of a shocker, I’m not going to lie,” Aston said on talkSPORT (19th April, 5.06pm).
“It’s a shocker for West Ham and also to allow Southampton to have 15 shots at your goal, when you are playing at home against a side that are well and truly relegated.
“It is not a good look. It isn’t.
“And also I think the fact he took Bowen off, brought (Konstantinos) Mavropanos on and went very deep in the game, against Southampton!
“Those are the sort of things that won’t sit well at all with the West Ham supporters.”
Assessing Potter’s time in charge of West Ham so far, BBC’s Match of the Day host Gary Lineker tried to defend him by stating Potter has not had a summer window to make the team his own.
Dion Dublin said West Ham have good players and Potter should be getting more out of them.
But Keown was brutal in his summary nonetheless, declaring that Potter is no improvement on Lopetegui.
“Lopetegui was there 22 games, they bought a succession of players, £85m (net) spend, and it’s just not been good enough,” Keown said on Match of the Day, which you can see below.
“Now being booed off the pitch, it’s hostile environment to play in those games.
“(West Ham have) 13 points in 13 (Premier League) games. With Potter it really hasn’t got any better at all.”
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