West Ham Appoint Former Chelsea Coach Graham Potter as Manager
West Ham have appointed English football manager Graham Potter to replace Julen Lopetegui who was sacked on Wednesday.
Potter will be joined at the Hammers by Bruno as the Assistant Coach, Billy Reid as the First-Team Coach and Narcís Pèlach as the First-Team Coach.
The former Chelsea Manager’s appointment was confirmed a day after Lopetegui’s exit.
“West Ham United is delighted to welcome Graham Potter as the Club’s new Head Coach,” it said in a statement.
The 49-year-old is on a two-and-a-half-year contract and will supervise the team’s FA Cup third round on Friday evening against Aston Villa.
According to the statement, Potter- has remained unemployed after leaving Stanford Bridge in April 2023- was the Board’s unanimous choice to take the Club forward in line with its objectives and ambitions.
Potter told the media he feels West Ham is “right for me, and equally that I was the right fit for the Club”.
“My conversations with the Chairman and the Board have been very positive and constructive, we share the same values of hard work and high energy to create the solid foundations that can produce success, and we are on the same wavelength in terms of what is needed in the short-term and then how we want to move the Club forward in the medium to long term.”
The English man has previously coached Swedish club Östersund, Swansea City and Brighton & Hove Albion.
West Ham yesterday parted ways with Lopetegui and five of his backroom staff. The Hammers in a press statement issued on January 8, 2025, said the termination of the Manager’s contract is in line with the club’s objectives.
According to the Hammers, the 58-year-old’s administration in the first half of the 2024/25 season has not “aligned with the Club’s ambitions”.
West Ham has won only one of their last five games in the Premier League.
In their last game on Saturday, they lost by 4-1 to Manchester City. Prior to that, they had succumbed to a 5-0 defeat by Liverpool. They are now 14th on the league log with 203 points from 20 games.
Source: opemsuo.com/Hajara Fuseini
