Graham Potter has been handed a stay of execution at West Ham while the club waits for Nuno Espirito Santo but now it has become clear there is no way back.
After West Ham lost at home to Crystal Palace, it was widely expected Graham Potter would be sacked.
Especially as the Hammers had a full nine days until their next game, away at David Moyes’ Everton.
Nuno Espirito Santo has emerged as the frontrunner to take over West Ham following his sacking at Nottingham Forest.
Other managers have been linked including Slaven Bilic, Kieran McKenna, Scott Parker, Sean Dyche and Gary O’Neil.
But Nuno Espirito Santo was pictured near David Sullivan’s Essex mansion after holding talks with the Hammers and he is the clear choice for fans who have been demanding change.
Nuno edging closer to West Ham job
The West Ham fanbase have given the head coach a lengthy period of grace to see signs he is the man to lead the club forward.
But Hammers supporters fully turned on Potter during the defeat to Palace, booing his substitutions and chanting ‘You don’t know what you’re doing’ and ‘You’re getting sacked in the morning’.
Potter wasn’t sacked the next morning and remains in post as West Ham prepare to go to Everton, where Moyes could rather ironically spell the end of the latest manager failing miserably to succeed him.
Journalist Alan Nixon first broke news of the Hammers’ interest in Nuno after the defeat to Spurs.
This week he claimed that West Ham’s deal to bring Nuno in was moving closer.
It has been reported that West Ham’s owners don’t want any new manager’s first two games to be daunting away trips to Everton and Arsenal.
Therefore Potter may get a stay of execution until the October international break.
But make no mistake there is no way back for Potter after he became a viral meme at West Ham.
And now the Nuno delay has been explained.
West Ham fans are famed for their wit and gallows humour.
That has been on full display since the Palace defeat and Potter is the butt of the jokes.
No way back as Potter becomes a viral meme at West Ham
Football fans of a certain age will remember when The Sun turned England boss Graham Taylor into a turnip in their famous “Swedes 2 Turnips 1” front page following England’s exit from the European Championship under his management.
Looking back, you could say that was essentially the start of football memes.
There was no way back for Taylor after that.
Now the same is true for Potter at West Ham.
Hammers supporters have been creating Potter face swap memes using photo-editing apps and AI since the Palace defeat.
It has blown up so much that Potter face swaps have become a trend on X.
West Ham’s manager has become a literal meme. A new one is popping up every hour.
Potter has even seen his face swapped onto Sullivan’s fiancée, Ampika Pickston, who has been engaged in a tacky, bitter public war of words with West Ham fans all week.
There are several of Potter and James Ward-Prowse including as Del Boy and Rodney and the Chuckle brothers.
The images are everywhere and some content creators are spotting an opportunity by trying to compile them into threads.
It’s hard not to laugh at some while others may be in bad taste. But the point is, you don’t recover from this.
West Ham’s manager has now become a running joke, a laughing stock in the eyes of a large section of the club’s own fans and it all stems from the mismanagement of the situation by the under-fire owners.
Nuno Espirito Santo West Ham delay explained
West Ham’s players will be seeing these memes, they will know themselves this is over. Just as they did in his previous job when Chelsea players called Potter ‘Hogwarts’ behind his back.
A manager with a dismal win record of six in 25 would not still be in a job at any other Premier League club.
It is the worst record in West Ham history yet Potter is being kept in the job, potentially for another two games, where heavy defeats are being predicted.
The real reason for that has now been revealed.
Nottingham Forest chief Evangelos Marinakis sacked Nuno following a 3-0 defeat to West Ham, Potter’s only win in six games this season.
Hammers News understands that claims the Portuguese manager still has legal issues to sort out regarding his Forest sacking before he can take the West Ham job are indeed true.
The delay centres around his contract pay-off.
In these situations the sacked manager would be paid up the remainder or his contract or a mutually agreed fee.
Alternatively clubs will continue to pay the sacked manager until they find another job as it can prove more cost effective, especially if that man is in demand.
Hammers News understands the delay could drag on for a couple of weeks.
Hence viral meme Potter remaining in post as a dead man walking for at least the next game, possibly two.
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