Graham Potter has been quietly getting away with it at West Ham

West Ham 1-1 Southampton (Bowen 47’ | Ugochukwu 90+3)

LONDON STADIUM – Like all relationships built on the rebound, the widening cracks between Graham Potter and West Ham fans are starting to creak.

First, boos at half-time. They had been outplayed for 45 minutes by one of the worst teams in Premier League history. Even one of the staff operating the lifts muttered quietly: “I’m glad I’m in here – I don’t know what else to say.”

Full time – more jeers and though the ground was half empty, they were even more vociferous.

His inheritance notwithstanding, West Ham do not look noticeably better than they were under Julen Lopetegui, who oversaw just six league wins in six months. Lopetegui’s football was about as depressingly unimaginative as you are likely to see in the top flight.

Potter arrived to a club at one of its lowest ebbs; since then, West Ham have beaten just one team at home – Leicester – and one away, Arsenal, as well as being knocked out of the FA Cup at the first time of asking.

Doses of Jarrod Bowen brilliance are the golden thread running through the projects of the last few managerial reigns. There was another here, with his well-taken finish after a counter-attack in which West Ham finally showed some intensity. But they are not enough.

The wounds are too often entirely self-inflicted, and much of it comes from Potter’s uber-cautious reluctance to start on the front foot, even with the most attacking starting XI he had available to him.

All this is academic, of course, because West Ham will be a Premier League team next season.

For that, they should thank Saturday’s opponents, Leicester, and Ipswich Town, the three newly promoted teams who have meekly waved the white flag on their way back down to the Championship. The beach ball bobbing gently up and down the away end was a reminder of just how little this meant to either team.

Yet it is now six games without a win, which even Lopetegui never managed. The enormity of the rebuild was obvious when Potter got here but it is now looking more urgent than ever.

He has largely been thrown under the bus by a recruitment policy that led to the premature departure of director of football Tim Steidten, with no replacement forthcoming.

The consequence: a vacuum of power in east London filled occasionally with hot air from the board about a vision for which there is no real evidence.

Evan Ferguson’s loan has not worked out; Mohammed Kudus has not scored a club goal this side of Christmas; Niclas Fullkrug’s injuries have – predictably – wreaked havoc with his season and Michail Antonio’s absence following his car injury have left the attack desperately short.

In the 1-1 draw with Everton, there were more than a few fans glancing, side-eyed with envy, over at David Moyes. The man who led them to Conference League glory but was shunted out largely due to complaints about his style of play.

The danger is that Potter – whose side are averaging fewer goals per game than they were under Lopetegui – is never going to be given the tools he needs to succeed where his predecessors failed. Ever the diplomat, he is towing the party line, insisting they do not need a major overhaul. That is frankly not true.

Central midfield, a new No 9 and a goalkeeper are likely to be the priorities.

Southampton’s interim boss Simon Rusk was right to call Potter, his former teammate from two decades ago at Boston, “an icon”. That is a sign of the respect he enjoys for his work overseas and at Brighton, but it is precisely why the last four months bring forth so much frustration.

West Ham fans have shown patience – little wonder it is starting to wear thin.



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