Apart from when the actual games are being played, there is never a dull moment at the London Stadium these days. Fan protests, emergency board meetings (where even the elusive Czech sphinx put in an appearance), alleged resignations, share sales and manager speculation have all resurfaced in the wake of the Hammer’s abysmal start to the 2025/26 Premier League season.
On the sidelines, smug commentators have also returned to reprise their refrains of ‘Careful what you wish for.’; ‘The supporters are delusional.’ ‘There never was a West Ham way.’ As if expecting your team to entertain, to play on the front foot, to play with passion, to show determination, to hurt for the badge, to cause occasional upsets, to start each game with belief should be considered delusional.
Dashed expectations have been the norm at the club for most of my supporting life. The highs (and trophies) have been few and far between. Sure, success was great on the rare occasions that it turned up, but following West Ham has always been about pride, belonging, commitment and community – not adding entries to the roll of honours. Ignore those connections and the club loses the last remnants of its soul. A business run by accountants – no longer a sport – where supporters are customers and spreadsheets calculate average revenue per ticket sale.
The game has changed tremendously since the founding of the Premier League. Finances play an increasingly pivotal role on the decisions clubs must make in building squads and planning for the future. Not a problem for the rich clubs whose revenues and sponsorship deals leave room to spare, but a major headache for all the others needing to balance the book. But where we have seen clubs like Brighton, Bournemouth and Brentford successfully adapt to the economic realities through forward looking recruitment practices, the West Ham approach has been to carry on regardless. Paying inflated fees and wages for the supposed razzle dazzle signing of established players while penny pinching on the infrastructure required for scouting, data analytics, training facilities and youth development. Apart from the unexpected gift of Declan Rice from Chelsea, the academy’s output has been shocking over the last decade or so.
There is no short-term answer to this malaise under the current leadership of David Sullivan and Karen Brady. There is little chance that Sullivan will voluntarily step down and any hoped for embarrassment directed towards him from fan groups will merely bounce of his thick skin. These people have no shame. Unless the remaining shareholders group together to vote him out, he will leave only in his own time.
In the meantime, the only plausible change posible at the club is replacing the manager/ coach – the fourth in just over a year – as the short rein of the hapless Graham Potter splutters towards an inevitable conclusion. It will be farewell to the tetchy press conferences with banal answers to inaudible questions, the head scratching team selections, the misplaced loyalty to underperforming players, the baffling substitutions, and the bewildered touchline demeanour witnessed on Saturday. He will be a disappointing footnote in West Ham’s history alongside Avram Grant.
As a typical West Ham fan, I have experienced West Ham defeats many more times than victories. After all, they have now regained leadership of the most ever Premier League defeats (462 to Everton’s 461) with a goal difference of -243. Ordinarily, I take a philosophical view to such events and they are consigned to history well before the first pint is finished or the second reading of the football results on Sports Report has aired. On Saturday, though, there was a lingering anger which simmered the entire weekend. How could such a tame surrender to an arch-rival ever be allowed to happen?
The trouble with Potter is that he thinks he is far smarter than everyone else in the room. And far smarter than he really is. He would no doubt have pasted media coverage of his brave decision to change formation and his inspired game-changing substitutions at Forest in his matchday journal. Never mind that it had been blindingly obvious to every fan that three at the back was an unmitigated disaster or that Crysencio Summerville had only been brought on to give him some minutes following a lengthy lay-off.
Nevertheless, he would see it as confirmation of his genius which would be followed up – in a home game against Spurs – by playing with no striker, putting two keepers on the bench, and expecting the slow but nice guys (Tomas Soucek and James Ward-Prowse) to dominate the midfield battleground.
Saturday’s game was relatively even in the opening exchanges. Lucas Paqueta should have done better to round off a smart West Ham move while Summerville and Malick Diouf were combining well on the left-hand side. Diouf putting several teasing crosses into the areas where lesser coaches teams might have played a striker.
As the first half progressed though, the visitors started to boss the game. Although unable to create much from open play it became apparent that set pieces were causing alarm in the Hammer’s defence. Thomas Frank had used similar tactics at Brentford on numerous occasions to unsettle previous West Ham sides.
Where Tottenham had clearly rehearsed these routines, the hosts reaction was one of panic. Mads Hermansen is too short and slight to be a dominant presence in the box and chose to stay rooted on his line. Did he know he can use his hands? The remaining defenders adopted a loose zonal marking system incapable of tracking the runs of the visitor’s. Tottenham would have taken the lead on 20 minutes had it not been for the intervention of the officials, but it felt only a matter of time before they managed to force one home.
Having survived to half-time, it was the ideal to make changes to shape and tactics. But none were forthcoming. Within 10 minutes, the game was lost. The threatened goal from a corner materialised minutes after the break, Soucek was sent off for a needless lunge, and that was it. West Ham heads dropped, Tottenham were allowed to score two more straightforward goals and the crowd went home. Thankfully, the visitors eased off after the third goal went in. The one bright spot was the introduction of Soungoutou Magassa which surely marks the end of the Soucek/ JWP axis.
The Premier League is just four games old. Three clubs (Liverpool, Chelsea and Crystal Palace) remain in contention as Invincibles and two (Aston Villa and Wolves) are potential Vincibles. Although West Ham may have escaped that ignominy by winning at Forest, the chances if a win at the London Stadium look some way off.
Potter has managed just two home wins from 11 attempts. A fortunate victory over Fulham in his first game at home and a routine win over a doomed Leicester side. In those 11 games, we have celebrated just 11 goals and endured six defeats. Time for change! Now would be perfect but a ‘three games to save your job‘ ultimatum is my predicted outcome.
Getting rid of Potter is, of course, only part of the problem. Who comes next, who is available and who is prepared to work at such a dysfunctional club are the next issues. Several hats have been thrown into the ring online with Nuno and Mourinho, as two recently unemployed managers, mentioned most often. Imagining Sullivan and Jose working together is mind-boggling and so can probably be ruled out.
The unfortunate trend, however – as with Prime Ministers – is to find someone who is even worse than what came before. Meet the new boss, worse than the old boss. In that spirit, please step forward Mr Dyche. COYI!
Under The Hammers 