Karren Brady certainly had a point when she said, in response to a question about Graham Potter’s future, that West Ham United tend to avoid knee-jerk decisions regarding the future of their managers.
Graham Potter became only the club’s 19th permanent manager when appointed to replace Julen Lopetegui in January.
London rivals Chelsea, in contrast, have employed 17 – if you include Rafa Benitez and Gus Hiddink – since the turn of the century.
The question on many lips after Sunderland ran riot at the Stadium of Light on Saturday afternoon, however, is how close West Ham United really are to number 20.
Speaking to talkSPORT in the aftermath of that Wearside debacle, vice-chair Karren Brady expressed her desire to see Potter turn the ship around.
A stance Hammers legend Tony Cottee broadly agrees with. Yet, the man who scored 146 goals across two spells in claret and blue does feel that patience can be stretched too far at times.
Take the ill-fated reign of Avram Grant, for instance.
Avram Grant during Wigan Athletic v West Ham United - Premier League
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Tony Cottee hopes West Ham United do not repeat Avram Grant blunder
During the disastrous 2010/11 season, it did not take long for speculation over Grant’s future to dominate all conversations at Upton Park. West Ham had won only one of their first 14 matches, after all, sitting rock-bottom in late November.
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Yet, with a brief festive upturn proving to be the fakest of false dawns, Grant somehow hung onto the job until relegation from the top-flight was confirmed via a 3-2 defeat by Wigan Athletic that following May.
Damningly, Grant is the only former Hammers boss with a lower win percentage than Potter’s 25 per cent as things stand, at least among those to coach the club since the dawn of the Premier League.
Lucas Paqueta, Jarrod Bowen and Niclas Fullkrug after Sunderland v West Ham United - Premier League
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Should that dismal record of five wins in 25 games slip further – it doesn’t get any easier for Potter with Chelsea, Nottingham Forest and Tottenham Hotspur to come in the next three league matches – Cottee wonders if the spectre of Avram Grant will start to hang over a stormy London Stadium.
The board’s faith in Grant a cautionary tale which West Ham cannot afford to repeat.
“It was a long, long journey [up to Sunderland], and what a start to the season…” a dejected Cottee sighs. “You know what, they were OK in the first-half. They controlled the game. But the second-half, it was a disaster.
“You can say what you want about the West Ham board, the one thing they are is they are very loyal to the managers. Sometimes it goes on a bit too long!
“Avram Grant was the prime example. He should have gone and they got relegated at the end of the season, so it can work the other way.
“But I think, from the point of view of being loyal to managers, they deserve great credit for that.”
Owner David Sullivan after ACF Fiorentina v West Ham United FC - UEFA Europa Conference League Final 2022/23
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Graham Potter faces Chelsea challenge at Stamford Bridge
David Sullivan, Karren Brady and co needed only 20 matches to boot Potter’s predecessor out the door, though the results will tell you that West Ham have actually got worse since Julen Lopetegui’s sacking.
Only six managers in the competition’s history have departed their job within the first 20 days of a new campaign, meanwhile.
Funnily enough, Alan Curbishley is among them, though this was very much a resignation rather than a booting.
Lose against Chelsea on Friday and then Nottingham Forest on August 31st, however, and the pressure for Potter to join that very exclusive club will become pretty intense indeed.
“I was happy with our performance in the first-half. We did a lot of things well, unlucky not to score. We quietened the crowd, felt in control of large parts of the game. And then, in the second-half, a bit stop start, then the goal comes from not too much,” Potter fumed after Eliezer Mayenda, Dan Ballard and Wilson Isidor scored three unanswered Sunderland goals within 31 minutes.
“An action we have to do better with. The cross has come from too far and it’s a free header.
“We need to understand what happened. It was a fine margins game but the scoreline reflects poorly on us. It was the basics of football. Defending your box, being better in those situations.”