Tony Cascarino has stuck the boot in on Graham Potter after watching West Ham’s draw with Spurs and suggests the board may have to act soon.
Graham Potter is a proving something of a managerial myth who is grossly underachieving at West Ham and could be sacked soon.
That’s according to pundit Tony Cascarino.
Potter is coming under intense pressure having failed to get West Ham firing since his arrival in January.
And it could be David Sullivan and Karren Brady doing the firing soon if things don’t drastically change, says Cascarino.
Cascarino slams Potter’s West Ham style
West Ham failed to beat a disinterested Tottenham reserve side in a 1-1 draw at the London Stadium.
The Hammers were booed off as Potter’s dismal record stretched to just three wins from 16 games – relegation form.
It was Jarrod Bowen to the rescue again and without his goals West Ham would have scored less than relegated Ipswich this season.
Hope filled the east London air when Julen Lopetegui was sacked and replaced by Potter midway through the season.
But it has quickly followed a familiar pattern of the last 18 months by turning to despair.
Quite literally for Potter who admits the West Ham job is already taking its toll on him.
And for supporters who have gone from being angry to apathetic towards their team.
Even the jeers at the final whistle were half-hearted from West Ham’s supporters, who have now witnessed a paltry 13 Premier League wins in the last 54 since January 2024.
There are growing calls from some fans for Sullivan to hold his hands up to what they believe is another managerial mistake by replacing Potter in the summer.
West Ham identity lost under Potter says Cascarino
Others feel the 49-year-old needs time to get his own players in and imprint his style on the team.
But Cascarino believes Potter’s style is a myth.
In a savage assessment of what he had the misfortune of witnessing in east London, Cascarino believes Potter’s style is not what West Ham need or want, describing them as ‘a hard watch’.
And he says supporters, many of whom he spoke to at the London Stadium, are already so fed up, they will soon force the owners to make another change if things don’t dramatically improve.
“Potter made a name for himself at Brighton due to the entertaining brand of football he played, which had a recently promoted team punching above their weight and earned him plaudits from fans and pundits,” Cascarino wrote in The Times.
“”Potter-ball” it was branded; it’s more like “Potter-bore” at the moment, At West Ham, Potter hasn’t been able to implement his style, they look pedestrian on the ball and unenthusiastic off it. The squad is more than good enough for a manager like Potter to get a tune out of. Jarrod Bowen has been West Ham’s main man in attack for the past three or four seasons, while Mohammed Kudus showed flashes of serious talent in his first year at the club last term.”
Cascarino pointed out that West Ham have a host of technical players who should fit the way Potter likes his teams to play.
Fed-up West Ham fans will force owners to sack ‘boring’ Potter
But he says the team are somehow still ‘stale’ to watch and he doesn’t think Potter is upholding West Ham’s values or traditions.
“These showings can’t continue for much longer at a club like West Ham before supporters start to make their voices heard in numbers,” Cascarino added.
“Three things come to mind when I think of things associated with West Ham: blooding young players, strong leaders on the pitch and an exciting way of playing. It’s “the West Ham way”, if you will, and I think Potter is losing sight of that a bit.
“As a manager of a team that attracts 60,000 fans to their home stadium, you have the responsibility to entertain your supporters and subscribe to the club’s values. It’s been a bad season for West Ham…
“Ending the season badly sets a negative tone for the upcoming campaign and doesn’t allow for any momentum to be carried over. Wolverhampton Wanderers were the most recent victims of this, ending last season with three losses, then failing to win in their opening 10 league games this term.
“Potter will have his work cut out, regardless.”
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