Graham Potter has finally shown some bravery as he turned the blame on West Ham’s owners following the Spurs shambles.
West Ham came crashing back down to earth with a 3-0 defeat to rivals Tottenham Hotspur at the London Stadium.
In the opening 20 minutes, the Hammers looked good for a positive result to back up their win at Forest.
But Spurs grew into the game and Graham Potter’s team selection and tactics ended up costing West Ham dear yet again.
Goalkeeper Mads Hermansen looks like a disastrous signing and Potter’s obsession with James Ward-Prowse could ultimately cost him his job.
West Ham’s ridiculous zonal marking simply does not work – as evidenced by Tottenham’s opener where six Hammers players were stood marking nobody as Pape Matar Sarr walked around to the back post and headed home completely unchallenged.
Potter poor but he is a symptom not the cause of West Ham’s ills
It was the kind of goal the Hammers simply would never have conceded under David Moyes.
West Ham may have needed to move on from Moyes to a more modern manager, but Potter is not offering enough evidence he is that man.
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The Hammers boss went into the new season knowing the jury is very much out on him.
Losing to Tottenham will always put pressure on any West Ham manager.
And Potter’s future is massively in spotlight again after another meek surrender.
West Ham have now won just six of their 24 games under Potter since he replaced Julen Lopetegui in January.
Only two of those wins have come at the London Stadium.
Graham Potter looks at the floor as West Ham are beaten by Tottenham Hotspur
Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images
His record is worse than the hapless Avram Grant, who took West Ham down.
So it is no wonder the London Stadium emptied as soon as the Hammers went 3-0 down to their fierce rivals.
If West Ham’s players are going to give up so easily then the fans have every right to as well.
A growing number of Hammers fans are calling for Potter to be sacked.
He undoubtedly should be doing better but West Ham’s relegation bed has been made by a terrible summer transfer window.
Many accused Potter and his players of cowardice against Tottenham.
That was best summed up by the fact Mohammed Kudus went completely unchecked when he decided to showboat on the touchline at 3-0 up.
Brave Potter turns blame on West Ham owners after Spurs loss
But it seems the mounting pressure is finally bringing out a bit of backbone in the manager.
Because brave Potter has turned the blame on West Ham’s owners after the Spurs shambles.
West Ham fans issued a vote of no confidence in the owners and board two weeks ago.
That prompted a Hammers fan meeting with Karren Brady ahead of the Tottenham game, where supporters’ grievances were aired in a frank and professional manner.
Since then it has been claimed the meeting and action from FAB is unlikely to result in Brady resigning or David Sullivan and Daniel Kretinsky selling up at West Ham.
Hammers fans are also planning a show of force when West Ham take on Crystal Palace back at their soulless athletics bowl next weekend.
A protest using Sullivan and Brady’s initials under the tagline ‘No more BS’ is planned and the Hammers United fan group behind it will be hoping the defeat to Spurs will encourage more fans to join.
While Potter clearly must shoulder a lot of the blame for what is unfolding on the pitch, he has suggested the owners have left his hands tied.
West Ham majority owner David Sullivan spotted ringside at a boxing event
Photo by James Chance/Getty Images
The Hammers boss says the team’s problems are a direct result of a lack of backing from above, piling fresh pressure on majority owner and de facto director of football David Sullivan, secretive billionaire Daniel Kretinsky and hugely unpopular vice-chair Karren Brady.
Potter knows full well about the growing discontent among fans and protests being planned against the owners.
So his choice of words when speaking about the Tottenham defeat are very interesting indeed.
And it is the first sign of the manager publicly speaking out about the lack of backing he received to rebuild the team how he wanted in the summer window.
Potter has effectively stated West Ham have not given him the resources to build a high level squad to compete in the Premier League with the likes of Spurs, who finished 17th last season – three places below the Hammers.
As a result Potter has argued it is therefore difficult for him to compete against those sides.
Hammers boss blames board for lack of quality
“We’ve played two home games against Chelsea and Tottenham,” Potter said after the game, as reported by The Evening Standard.
“Both have competed in the Champions League and they’ve got resources to build squads that are high level. We’ve had two uncomfortable games.
“We had a good game against Forest but I understand why there’s that feeling. We have to deal with it and we have to play well and win.”
Potter may have lacked bravery by starting with no striker against West Ham’s biggest rivals besides Millwall.
But he has finally shown some with these comments.
West Ham’s summer transfer business was completely underwhelming and the signings they did make arrived too late for the manager to get them together and gel in pre-season.
El Hadji Malick Diouf and Mateus Fernandes look like good additions and Soungoutou Magassa’s cameo was impressive.
But West Ham needed much more where that came from to have a squad capable of staying up let alone competing for a top half finish.
Especially given spending among their Premier League rivals reached a new record of over £2.5bn.
The Irons lack any iron.
They needed a new commanding first-choice centre-back to replace the cowardly rabble currently masquerading as Premier League defenders in their backline.
Another creative midfielder was needed too.
How West Ham feel they can continually get away with not investing in a powerful, pacy young forward is baffling and could end up costing them their place in the top flight.
The call on signing Hermansen looks a big mistake and West Ham are a Jarrod Bowen or Crysencio Summerville injury away from being relegation certainties.
Some would say turning the blame on the owners is brave, others may say it is stupid.
But if Potter is going down then it seems he is taking Sullivan, Kretinsky and Brady with him.