Having grown accustomed to seeing David Moyes rule the West Ham United roost, it was a bit of an eye-opener for Joe Cole when he visited Rush Green to interview Graham Potter.
Just last week, Michail Antonio opened up on Potter’s ill-fated restructuring of the Hammers playing staff. Antonio, the club’s all-time Premier League record goalscorer, felt that getting rid of Vladimir Coufal, Aaron Cresswell and himself was Graham Potter’s way of ensuring he had the loudest voice in the dressing room.
As Joe Cole now explains, Nuno Espirito Santo’s West Ham United predecessor probably never had the force of personality required, no matter how much he tried to change things behind the scenes.
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Graham Potter never felt like ‘the boss’ at West Ham United
Cole draws a clear contrast between David Moyes – the Conference League-winning manager who turned West Ham into perennial top-six challengers – and the man who dug the hole Nuno is now desperate to climb out of.
“We were interviewing him all the time [during West Ham’s European campaigns], and he just felt like a man at the peak of his powers,” Cole says on The Dressing Room podcast, opposite ex-England left-back Wayne Bridge and namesake Carlton.
“He had total control of that club.
“West Ham is a hard club to manage because of the expectations. We’ve seen good managers go to West Ham and fail. But when you meet Moyes, you walk into the club and [you can see] straight away, he’s in control.
“I went to see Graham Potter at West Ham and interviewed him – again, a nice guy – but I didn’t feel like he was the ‘boss’ in the building.
“Whenever I met Moyes at West Ham, he gave you that vibe; ‘I’m in charge’. The ‘Moyes-iah’!”
Moyes has Everton closing in on Chelsea and Liverpool
According to a club source, via Fan Sided’s Green Street Hammers, Potter fell out with captain Jarrod Bowen towards the end of his tenure. Tomas Soucek did not appreciate Potter’s handling of Vladimir Coufal’s departure, while there were also rumours of a divide between the head coach and Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
Say what you want about Nuno, at least this now appears to be a united group pulling in the right direction.
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Moyes, meanwhile, has Everton dreaming of a return to Europe.
Saturday’s 3-0 battering of Chelsea means there are only two points between the Toffees and the Blues. Everton are also just three off Liverpool.
Imagine the odds, at the start of the season, if you’d stuck a fiver on Sunderland finishing above Newcastle and Everton above Liverpool…
“Listen, we know what Moyes produces. We know what he did for West Ham. He’s one of those managers who keeps a sturdy ship; it doesn’t sink, it’s unsinkable,” Carlton Cole quips.
“He’s just one of those who builds on what he’s got, if he gets the right players.
“Take Beto for instance [scorer of a brace in that 3-0 Chelsea win]. He’s starting to get something out of him. I honestly thought he was a lost cause, but it just shows you how good of a man-manager Moyes is. His way might not be for everybody, and it might not look clean on the eye, but he gets the job done.
“I’ve sat down, had coffee and had a beer with him. He’s a good man. He’s even better in person. He’s a top fella with good banter.”
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