West Ham United have sacked Graham Potter five games into the Premier League season and appointed Nuno Espírito Santo as his replacement.
West Ham United have sacked Graham Potter five games into the Premier League season and appointed Nuno Espírito Santo as his replacement.
The Portuguese has signed a three-year deal and will be in charge for the game against Everton on Monday.
The timing of Potter’s sacking came as a shock to some of the squad. Potter had retained the support of some of his senior players, although his record in eight months in charge has been poor.
West Ham said in a statement: “Results and performances over the course of the second half of last season and the start of the 2025-26 season have not matched expectations, and the board of directors believe that a change is necessary in order to help improve the team’s position in the Premier League as soon as possible.
“The club can confirm that assistant coach Bruno Saltor, first-team coaches Billy Reid and Narcis Pelach, lead goalkeeper coach Casper Ankergren, and goalkeeper coach Linus Kandolin have also left with immediate effect. The board would like to thank Graham and his coaching staff for their hard work during their time with the Hammers and wish them every success for the future.”
Potter: ‘I am incredibly disappointed’
After agreeing a two-and-a-half year deal to replace Julen Lopetegui in January, Potter recorded just six wins in 25 matches. There were signs of promise in the away wins at Arsenal and Manchester United last season, while this season there was a 3-0 victory at Nottingham Forest that eased the pressure before the last international break.
Since that game at the City Ground, his final two matches were home defeats to Tottenham and Crystal Palace.
Potter said: “I am incredibly disappointed to be leaving, particularly without being able to achieve what we set out to achieve at the start of our journey.
“I do however fully acknowledge that the results have just not been good enough up to now.
“Thank you to the board for offering me the opportunity to manage the team during the past eight months. It was an honour and a privilege to manage such a historic club, which holds such strong values for footballing traditions and passion for the game.
“I’d like to thank all the staff at the club who made me feel so welcome, the playing squad and their continued efforts during my time – and lastly the fans, who have been so supportive during what has been a difficult journey at times.”
Nuno: ‘The work has already started’
Nuno, 51, has been on the market since September 9 when he was dismissed by Forest – his last defeat the match against West Ham, which turned out to be Potter’s final win as manager.
The Portuguese coach took Wolves into the Premier League and into Europe, before also masterminding Nottingham Forest’s return to Europe. Nuno has never suffered a Premier League relegation during his time in England, with the only blot on his copybook a short spell at Spurs where he was sacked three months into the season.
“I am very pleased to be here and very proud to be representing West Ham United,” Nuno said. “My objective is to work hard to get the very best from the team and ensure that we are as competitive as we possibly can be. The work has already started and I am looking forward to the challenge that is ahead.”
West Ham assessed their options in the past few weeks, and weighed up replacements if they needed to change the manager. Slaven Bilic was also considered for the job.
Category: General Sports
