Next West Ham manager odds make former Spurs boss hot favourite to replace Graham Potter

Graham Potter has had a disastrous start to the season with West Ham (Picture: Getty Images)

The pressure continues to mount on Graham Potter at West Ham and attention is turning to who could replace him as manager in east London.

The Hammers have won just one and lost four of their opening five Premier League games, sitting in the relegation zone in the early-season table.

The latest disappointment came on Saturday as they were beaten 2-1 at home by Crystal Palace, with fans at the London Stadium making their feelings clear on the state of the team and club.

The BBC report that even before the loss to the Eagles, the West Ham hierarchy were considering replacements for Potter and obviously this weekend’s defeat have not improved his chances of keeping his job.

The 50-year-old has only been in charge of the Hammers since January, but his time at the club could be coming to an end.

Their next game is a trip to Everton on September 29, followed by a shorter journey to Arsenal five days later.

Whether Potter will still be in charge for one or both of those games is yet to be seen.

Nuno Espirito Santo left his post as Nottingham Forest manager earlier this month (Picture: Getty Images)

Who is favourite to be the next West Ham manager?

The bookmakers reckon a familiar face could be back in the Premier League in the near future as they make Nuno Espirito Santo the runaway favourite to be the next West Ham boss.

The 51-year-old has managed three clubs in the Premier League, leading Wolves from 2017-21, Tottenham briefly from June-November 2021 and most recently Nottingham Forest from December 2023 until earlier this month.

Espirito Santo did brilliantly to lead Forest into European competition this season, but fell out with the higher-ups at the City Ground and left after 73 games in charge.

The Portuguese has also managed Valencia and Porto and his reputation remains good, despite the unfortunate end to his time in Nottingham.

However, West Ham’s only win this campaign came in surprise fashion as they beat Forest 3-0 before Espirito Santo lost his job.

A return for a former boss?

Also believed to be in contention is former Hammers manager and player Slaven Bilic.

Slaven Bilic has been linked with a return to West Ham (Picture: Getty Images)

The Croatian was in charge of West Ham from June 2013-November 2017, winning 42 of his 111 games as boss, having also played for the club from 1996-97.

Bilic has done plenty of travelling in his managerial career, taking charge of the likes of Croatia, Lokomotiv Moscow, Besiktas, Al-Ittihad, West Brom and Beijing Guoan.

Most recently he managed Saudi side Al-Fateh but left that position in August last year.

Other contenders are not considered likely to land the role, but the likes of Gary O’Neil, Scott Parker and Liam Rosenior are touted as having outside chances of being the next Hammers boss.

What has Potter said?

Potter was asked if he felt he retained the support of the West Ham board, saying: ‘Yeah, I have no reason to think not but I also understand the environment and the results. I have no complaints at all with the support that we’ve had and the support from the supporters and everyone at the club.

‘Do I believe I can turn it around? Of course. I also understand it’s tough. We’re in a tough situation, there’s no getting away from that. The only thing you can do is front it up, be honest with it. We want to do better than we are and at the moment we’re not.’

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