‘Absolutely not fair’ – Slaven Bilic speaks out on Potter’s West Ham sack
Graham Potter was in an unfair situation from the moment West Ham lost their opening game of the season, according to Slaven Bilic.
West Ham went to Sunderland and were beaten 3-0 to kick of the campaign in miserable fashion, with Potter eventually sacked by the Hammers with the team 19th after five league games.
Bilic came close to replacing him as West Ham boss before Nuno Espirito Santo got the job and claims Potter was a “dead man walking” from the start of the season, having also struggled to instil an improvement when he took over last term.
Graham Potter in crisis after Sunderland loss
Bilic appeared live on talkSPORT and highlighted how “crazy” it is that a crisis can be generated from so few results, indicating Potter was doomed as soon as he lost at the Stadium of Light.
He told Jim White: “I was at West Ham and nowadays the world of football is crazy. There are clubs that you enter into the crisis unbelievably quick, after a couple of games.
“They lost the first game against Sunderland. First game, away game, newly promoted team, they lost I think 3-0 or whatever, and suddenly ‘Bah!’ nothing is good, crisis, crisis, crisis.
“Unfortunately for him he was basically a dead man walking since the beginning of the season, which is absolutely not fair but it is like that.”
Graham Potter and West Ham were always a bad fit
Sunderland’s subsequent impressive form has made the Irons’ loss to kick off the season look not so disastrous.
But Potter showed very little in his time in charge and it always looked an odd choice from both the Englishman and the club.
| Competition | Games | Wins |
| Premier League | 23 | 6 |
| FA Cup | 1 | 0 |
| League Cup | 1 | 0 |
He had taken almost two years out after being sacked by Chelsea apparently to pick exactly the right opportunity, then took over at the London Stadium midseason when he is widely seen as a manager who needs time on the training ground to get his ideas across.
That seemingly made the second half of last season a write-off but when there appeared to be no improvements despite a whole summer and transfer window there was little excuse.
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