Palace leave West Ham and Potter feeling bad all over

West Ham 1 Crystal Palace 2

It's an early start to catch the 7.30am bus from our holiday cottage in Grasmere. Then on to Windermere station, a train to Oxenholme then another train to Euston, then the tube. All for a trip to see a top London side — and also West Ham.

There's been a demo against Sullivan and Brady before the game, the fans rightly exasperated that the Irons are less professional in recruitment than Brighton, Bournemouth, Brentford, Fulham and Crystal Palace among others.

Inside a humid London Stadium Nigel is wearing three layers and has been to see Spinal Tap in the hope that West Ham can up the volume to 11. Alison has escaped Farage-land to join us in place of Michael the Whovian, who has gone down with a bout of West Ham-related nihilism. Foul-weather fan Alison reveals that her partner Biff has chosen the entire Palace defence for his Fantasy Football line-up, which will surely ensure we lose. Lisa and Matt have come via watching the WHU kids and the Best Meze Cafe, with Matt sporting a BAC-sponsored shirt from the days of the Championship and Trevor Morley. BAC means Back As Champions? Could be useful for next season.

Potter has dropped Hermansen for Areola and Wilson starts up front. Jimmy Summerville has a couple of decent runs down the left and Henderson has to punch away a dangerous Ward-Prowse corner. But a warning comes as Palace win two headers in the box as Kamada nods wide.

Almost inevitably West Ham's glass jaw is exposed at a Palace corner after 37 minutes. Geuhi gets above Kilman and Areola tips his header on to the bar. Mavropanos has gone back on the line rather than pick up Mateta, who heads home. The home crowd don't even seem that angry.

Just before the break West Ham produce the best move of the game as Paqueta and Diouf combine to release Summerville, who plays a fine ball to Wilson in front of goal. But instead of shooting first time Callum tries to turn inside and gets tackled. Matt sees the ghost of Danny Ings, a player who would have gobbled up such chances a few years previously.

The sun comes out for the second half as Palace almost make it two as another corner sees Lacroix head against the bar. But West Ham come forward to win two corners. As Diouf sends the second corner in Bowen strolls away from his marker to angle in a delicate header to equalise.

West Ham have a good spell for 15 minutes as we wonder if Potter has maybe thrown his ballpoint pen across the dressing room in exasperation at half-time. The crowd get behind the side as Diouf gets forward well and Ward-Prowse is also having a decent game. Paqueta has a dangerous cross hacked away and Walker-Peters forces a low save from Henderson. 

SACKED IN THE MORNING?

Just as things are improving Palace go ahead. Wharton chips in a cross that the Greek Bloke does reasonably well to head away. But the ball falls to defender Mitchell who volleys hame an unstoppable effort with his wrong foot. Potter has become an unlucky manager as well as an unconvincing one. 

Things turn nasty as the injured Summerville goes off for Guilherme and Magassa replaces Fernandes. The crowd don't like Fernandes going off and chant, "You don't know what your doing!" at the beleaguered Potter. The Bobby Moore Stand also joins in with the Palace fans chant of "Sacked in the morning!", which you don't like to hear.

The subs make the Irons worse. Fullkrug tries to rough up the Palace centre backs with little effect, Guilherme can't get into the game and Magassa struggles to adjust to the pace. Palace see the game out without looking in danger.

The rain and wind arrives as we trudge towards the Eagle with Nigel's extra layers now looking prescient. Potter's job is surely on the line now. You don't like to see managers sacked but it's the way we're losing that is worrying. Nuno Espirito Santo is the name being mentioned, a good gaffer though is he the man to fire up the fanbase?

At least the Eagle has Spitfire in the fridge as Matt tries to cheer us up by asking us to name all West Ham's Portuguese players. We go through Porfirio, Dani, Futre, Fonte and a few others, though for the full list you'll have to consult Matt's mind palace. It wasn't really worth getting up at 6.30am for this. It was a better performance at times but if you can't defend set pieces you won't stay in the Premier League. As the Stranglers might put it, something better change.

PLAYER RATINGS: Areola 6; Walker-Peters 6, Kilman 5, Mavropanos 5, Diouf 7; Ward-Prowse 6, Fernandes 6 (Magassa 5), Paqueta 6, Summerville 6 (Guilherme 4); Bowen 7, Wilson 5 (Fullkrug 5).

It all goes a bit Spursy for West Ham

West Ham 0 Tottenham 3

Luckily we're in the Lake District for this one, watching the game from Tweedies bar in Grasmere. My younger daughter's boyfriend is with us wearing his Spurs shirt, though to be fair he doesn't gloat and does buy me a pint.

Fullkrug has a knock from international duty, Wilson is deemed ready to start and Potter opts for Bowen up front which deprives the side of its biggest threat on the right. West Ham start off quite confidently after the Forest win, with a nice move between Bowen and Fernandes seeing Paqueta drag a shot wide when he should score. But Spurs win a series of corners and ruthlessly crowd Hermansen. Romero has what looks a good goal disallowed for holding in the box as Spurs start to dominate. Summerville has his moments though and at the break there's still hope.

It all goes wrong soon after the interval when yet another corner comes in. Sarr wanders lonely as a cloud towards the back post and heads home with our defence on the couch. Soucek lunges in studs up and gets a straight red. Almost instantly a Spurs free kick sees Bergvall get between the centre backs to loop home a header. It's three after 63 minutes when more hesitant defending sees Van de Ven shoot into the corner. 

Luckily Spurs ease up after that. Bowen has a shot at the keeper but with ten men it's game over. Back to basics after the Forest optimism with five goals now conceded from corners this season. The Grasmere deluge arrives with the heavens apparently weeping at such lax defending and leaving both West Ham and my party with several mountains to climb. At least the Lakes Pale Ale was good.

A game of two scarves

West Ham have made a bit of history by banning half and half scarves from the game against Spurs. I'm not sure they would cause too much trouble since wearing one marks you out as a tourist who doesn't support either side, though Mo Kudus might like one. Would any real fan ever wear one? Though should we ever play Millwall again it will be interesting to see how sales of those half and half scarves go...

Window shopping: Igor in, Aguerd, Emerson and Cornet out

Well, the transfer window has turned out better than it seemed a week ago. The key thing was getting in two young energetic 21-year-old midfielders in Fernandes and Magassa and that gives the season a much more optimistic hue. Potter also brought in Igor Julio from Brighton on loan, who was very Igor to join us having played against West Ham for Fiorentina in Prague. That move also scuppered Crystal Palace selling Guehi to Liverpool. If he's a big bruising centre half who can win balls in the air then that's what we need against teams like Sunderland. 

Nayef Aguerd has gone to Marseille for a reported £20m which isn't bad business even if it was £10m less than we paid for him. I always thought he was a good player who would eventually adapt to the Premier League, but the three games he played this season showed he was still struggling. Emerson has also gone to Marseille for a very low £900,000. You can only assume the club was desperate to get his wages off the books. The 31-year-old Emerson completed the set of European trophies with West Ham and overall did pretty well in his three seasons. While lingering like an odd sock at the bottom of the drawer we have also loaned forgotten Maxwel Cornet to Genoa. 

Potter and Macauley have certainly been hampered by the club being obliged to buy Todibo for an overpriced £36m and then thanks to last summer's spree and the PSR rules having to sell Kudus for £55m before we could buy. Diouf and Hermansen have come in for £20m each and Walker-Peters and Callum Wilson arrived on frees. A lot of fans deplored the Wilson signing but for a season-long deal I think he's a bargain if we can keep him fit. As he showed at Forest he's a really good player.

The other plus is that Lucas Paqueta really did throw his phone away at Forest. The one area where Potter hasn't acted is in signing a young striker, though Fullkrug, Wilson, Bowen and Marshall offer some depth for this season. Overall a lot of older players have been moved on such as Cresswell, Coufal, Ings, Fabianski, Zouma, Antonio and Emerson, while Alvarez has been loaned out. We've spent around £133 million and recouped around £76 million while probably saving a bit on wages. The main aim was to reduce the average age of the side and that has been achieved. Potter now has seven of his own signings in the squad so let's see what he can do with them.

Three-nil to the Cockney Boys!

Nottingham Forest 0 West Ham United 3 (three)

I'm in a breakout group with daughter Nell at the Racehorse pub in Carshalton for this Sky game, while Matt and Nigel are at the Wellington in Waterloo wondering what could possibly go right. Potter has made big changes. We're playing both the Greek Bloke and Mads Hermansen, who must surely have PTSD after his eight goals conceded in two games. The gaffer has abandoned five at the back and dropped three members of our porous defence in Aguerd, Todibo and Wan-Bisakka, while new signing Mateus Fernandes comes in to midfield. It's certainly a brave selection, but after Chelsea something had to be done.

It's a scrappy game, yet from the outset West Ham look a much more determined side with Fernandes adding some speed and tenacity to midfield. A cross from Ndoye goes across goal and behind Wood, Walker-Peters does well to tackle Hudson-Odoi in the box and that's about it. Even Hermansen is confidently catching crosses. Towards the end of the half the Irons create the best chance so far as Diouf and Fernandes combine to set up Paqueta for a shot that Sels does well to tip over.

Fullkrug, set up by Fernandes, has a low shot saved, but the main question after the break is can West Ham hold on for a gritty goalless draw. Potter makes a change bringing on Wilson for Fullkrug after 64 minutes. The former Newcastle man immediately looks more mobile than the big German taking players on and getting a defected shot away that Sels has to tip over. Next he takes on three defenders and shoots from a tight angle to inspire another save.

JIMMY JIMMY

The crucial change comes when Summerville arrives after 82 minutes. Paqueta nicks the ball to Jimmy who takes on two men, rolls the ball to Bowen who shoots first time and bends it into the corner before doing a knee slide to the West Ham fans. Blimey. Two minutes later Paqueta wins a block tackle, the ball breaks to Summerville in his own half and the revitalised winger races into the box to be brought down by Sangare. 

Lucas Paqueta takes a stuttering penalty and having sent the goalkeeper the wrong way gently rolls the ball into the net. Lucas runs to the away fans, makes a throwing his phone away mime and clutches his Hammers badge. Either he's having problems with his mobile phone provider  or this is a sign he intends to ignore Aston Villa's deadline day call. Paqueta has been superb throughout and is a new player now he's free of FA charges.

On WhatsApp Michael the Whovian and Big Sam both wonder if there is a connectivity problem at Sky as West Ham appear to be winning. What sort of thing is happening here? One minute into added time Summerville finds Diouf whose inviting cross is headed down and in by Callum Wilson. Three-nil! Nigel says we can thank Mystic Matt for this one as five minutes earlier Matt had predicted that Wilson would never score for the Hammers.

Even sub Jesus has failed to lay on any crosses for the stuttering home side. It's almost four when Bowen slaloms though the Forest defence for what would have been the goal of the season only to see Callum Wilson take the ball off his toe and fire at at the keeper. Luckily the pair do eventually share a laugh about this, Callum a little more than Jarrod.

What a performance and let's have a word for the Greek Bloke. Instead of a mistake waiting to happen Dinos Mavropanos has played like the Colossus of Rhodes and alongside Kilman he's made the defence look a lot tighter. Even Mads is looking less like he is fresh from the Battle of Passchendaele. Potter got his selection and subs right this time. Obviously none of us have ever doubted him or the team (much). 

We head off to the CAMRA Greater London pub of the year, the aptly-named The Hope for connoisseur's halves of Black Isle, Mild and Ash and Elm real ale. Football, eh? International fortnight is going to be a lot more comfortable after this. Irons!

Double swoop gives Hammers new hope

You wait all summer for one midfield signing and then two come along at once. Mateus Fernandes has signed from Southampton for £38m plus £4m in add-ons. I'm slightly wary of signing players from relegated clubs (Fernandes, Walker-Peters and Hermansen so far) since their confidence will be low and ultimately they couldn't keep their team up; but Fernandes at 21 was certainly one of the Saints' best players last season and picked up valuable experience, playing 36 times scoring twice and assisting four times. The Portugeeezer looks a busy player who can both create and get a tackle in. He's previously played for Sporting Lisbon and on loan at Estoril and is an Under-21 international.

While the Irons have also now just completed the signing of 21-year-old defensive midfielder Soungoutou Magassa from Monaco for £17.5 million. Can Maga make West Ham great again? If so he'll be the ultimate populist. This could be the most vital signing of the summer since the Hammers have never really replaced Declan Rice and a defensive shield would surely make the three centre backs look a little better. He can also play at centre back himself. Magassa is six foot two so hopefully will be an intimidating presence with more pace than Rodriguez, Soucek or the departed Alvarez.

Signing a couple of promising and 21-year-olds gives the side a lot more energy and hope for the season and there are also rumours of a third midfield signing in Feyenoord’s Quinten Timber, who wood do nicely. Here's hoping all his transfer activity kick-starts our season.

Concentrating on relegation?

Wolves 3 West Ham 2 (Carabao Cup)

It's off to the World's End with Matt and Lisa for this one, an apt pub to choose though the nearby Faltering Fullback would also have been suitable. Potter picks a conservative side with a back five and only rests Kilman, Wan-Bissaka, Fullkrug and hapless Hermansen. He doesn't play any youngsters like Scarles or Potts and Bowen is employed as a lone striker, depriving the side of our best crosser. We're up against what is basically a Wolves reserve side with only pints of Hep Cat to help ease the pain. There's no sound on so we watch the match accompanied by heavy metal songs like Smoke on the Water, which would please our pal Nigel.

The Hammers have the better of a poor first half. After some fine control by Bowen Soucek does well to get a shot away that is saved by the legs of Sam Johnstone while Bowen fires against the keeper in a one-on-one. Encouragingly Paqueta has set up both chances. 

But just before the break Rodriguez is tempted to tackle in the box, Bellegarde goes over after a slight touch and it's a penalty. Hwang Hee-chan's penalty hits the post but Gomes shoots home the rebound with Soucek and Aguerd both slow to react. Paquerta then fails to head on target  after a decent Ward-Prowse cross 

Things appear to be improving after the break as Walker-Peters does well to spin and get in a great cross that Tomas Soucek heads home. "If Fraser was here he'd be saying where are the strikers," suggests Mystic Matt just as Bowen crosses for Paqueta to be in the box and score with a fine diving header. Two-one up after 63 minutes. Surely we can see this one out.

Wolves bring on five substitutes including the in-demand Strand Larsen while Potter seems paralysed with indecision. His only change is to swap Kilman for Todibo."Come on lads, let's lose the ball and invite pressure," says an exasperated Matt as Potter's men get pressed back. Surely bringing on Wilson or Fullkrug would give Wolves something else to think about.

NOT HUNGRY LIKE THE WOLVES

On the pub sound system Mick Jagger is singing, "you'll make a grown man cry..." After 82 minutes it all goes very Pete Tong. A wrong-footed Areola saves a deflected shot with his feet but the ball falls to Strand Larson who reacts quickest to wallop it home.Two minutes later Wolves are ahead. Areola saves with his feet again, deflecting the ball wide to Tchatchoua. Diouf isn't tight enough and Strand Larsen rises like a great Norwegian tree above Rodriguez and Mavropanos to score with his head. 

Potter brings on Fullkrug and Wilson after 86 minutes which is way too late. Paqueta volleys over a decent cross from Diouf during added time and Strand-Larsen almost scores another as Lisa muses that perhaps we sacked Lopetegui prematurely. 

At the final whistle the players go to the West Ham fans and to round it off Jarrod Bowen has to be held back after someone says something. Whatever the side's problems Bowen is not one of them.

So it's 11 goals conceded in three games and out of the Carabao Cup. Barring a miracle in the FA Cup it's another trophyless season and a fight to stay up. It's not just the manager as there's no plan at boardroom level and too much interference in transfers from Sullivan, but the analytical Potter is looking increasingly like the wrong fit at a club that needs emotion. The wing-back system isn't working and we have six days to save the season by signing two midfielders. The possible arrival of Magassa from Monaco might be a start but the club should have signed some athletic midfielders at the start of the summer. We're already getting sucked into a vortex of no-confidence and losing leads. Something needs to change and quickly.