WEST HAM have appointed former Chelsea and Brighton boss Graham Potter as their new manager. Fans will be hoping the new incumbent does better than outgoing manager Julen Lopetegui.

Lopetegui never really seemed to fit at West Ham. Appointed last May to replace David Moyes, suddenly funds became available for players. More than £130 million was spent on nine players.

There was some real talent amongst the incomers, with Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Crysencio Summerville particularly impressive.

But the team failed to get a top line striker. German international, Niclas Fullkrug, promised a lot but was then injured for a long period. General manager Tim Steidten should have signed Colombian international Jhon Duran from Aston Villa. He was all set to come but the deal faltered at the last hurdle. Since, Duran has scored a bucketful of goals at Villa, mostly from coming on as sub.

Steidten did the deals late, so Lopetegui was weeks behind where he should have been when the season kicked off in August. The team were a work in progress and it showed, as the new manager rang the changes.

The failure to fully utilise Summerville and weird substitutions (like bringing on defenders for attacking players, when already three down) did not inspire confidence among fans. Neither did Lopetegui inspire confidence on the PR front, often appearing bemused in front of the post-match press conferences. There was certainly no confident narrative.

Nor were the promising group of home-grown youngsters given a chance, with the likes of George Earthy and Freddie Potts sent out on loan.

Lopetegui of course was brought in to replace Moyes — one of the most successful managers in the clubs’ history. Some of us warned it was a mistake at the time, getting rid of a manager who saved the club twice from relegation, then qualified for Europe three seasons running — winning the Europa Conference League in 2023. How distant those days now seem.

Hopefully, Potter will hit the ground running. Time is not a commodity in ready supply for managers of Premiership football clubs. 

It is ironic to think back to the early days of Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United. He didn’t win anything for four years, then things came good and the rest is history. No manager in the Premier League would be given that length of time today to get things right.

Though, West Ham to be fair do usually give their managers more of a chance to settle. Had Lopetegui not looked so out of sorts, sustaining heavy defeats on a weekly basis, he would have been given longer.

So Potter will be given the chance. There are a good squad of players, including some home grown youngsters, who can prosper if handled properly. A few additions are needed, especially among the strikers, but the fundamentals are there for success.

So let’s hope Potter gets off to a good start to his West Ham career and European football can return to the London Stadium in the not too distant future.