Potterball gets rolling with vital home win

West Ham 3 Fulham 2

For the first time in ages we enter the London Stadium with a slight sense of optimism at having a new gaffer. I'm joined by Nigel, a tardy Matt, Lisa returning after six weeks of impact subbing, Michael in his plain-clothes policeman suit and Big Sam, who since he has moved to Wales is so hard he doesn't need a coat, just a replica Prague final shirt.

Paqueta is playing as a false nine with Kudus wide on the right in a frontline that is down to Harry Redknapp's bare bones. For the first twenty minutes Fulham dominate. They should go ahead when Iwobi gets behind the defence to cross for Wilson to hit the bar. 

West Ham only start to get into the game when Kudus gets a bit more of the ball and makes some runs. Paqueta wins a free kick, Soler plays in a fine arcing ball and Kilman heads home, only to be ruled offside by Soucek's arm. But that gets the crowd going and the Irons press with more intensity.

On the half hour Leno rolls a short ball out and Alvarez pressures Pereira who plays a blind pass across the area. Carlos Soler does really well to hit it first time across the keeper and into the net.

Incredibly we score again. Kudus makes a run across the box to find Soler who crosses across the area to Wan-Bissaka on the right wing. Aaron's low cross is steered home by Tomas Soucek, who does his freewheeling potato salad all round twirling celebration. Welcome to Potterball.

It will be good for Soler's confidence to have scored and helped make a goal we reflect. Nigel wonders if there will be a Soler panel in tomorrow's papers. Though perhaps Potter is still working out his Soler system.

There's time for Jimenez to head against the angle of post and bar but at the break we have to be happy with 2-0. The big news is that Nigel is fruitless, having forgotten both his lucky banana and lucky tangerine. Though maybe Potter doesn't know the importance of Nigel's banana yet. We're joined by Alison from Clacton and Biff's brother Simon, who has bought along a copy of Massive for me to sign and is not a paid actor, whatever Matt says.

Potter gets a different glimpse of West Ham chaos theory after the break as six minutes in an Iwobi cross drifts over the defence and past a hesitant Fabianski, who has been distracted by Jimenez. West Ham have to dig in and Potter surprisingly replaces Kudus with Danny Ings.

SMELLS LIKE TEAM SPIRIT

Matt thinks this must now be the slowest West Ham team ever. Just as Matt and Nigel are both saying "prove me wrong Ings" the West Ham sub proves that Ings can only get better. He closes down a dawdling Leno and nicks the ball to Lucas Paqueta who strokes the ball into an empty net and runs to the corner flag.

Andy Irving is spotted on the pitch and does well to keep things simple. Can West Ham keep a two-goal lead this time? Of course not. Iwobi plays in an identical cross to the first goal. Mavropanos misses his header and Wilson confuses Fabianski again for the ball to drift in.

Fabianski has to save a low effort from Jimenez and it all gets very nervy. But Paqueta has shown a great energy and has his best game in ages. He  does well holding up the ball and winning free kicks against the niggly Antonee Robinson. "Come on you Irons!" booms the crowd in a much-improved atmosphere. In a sign that Potter has really changed things Matt is even heard encouraging the Greek Bloke. 

Cresswell fires a dangerous free kick across the box and Paqueta heads over. In added time it should be 3-3 when Fulham fire the ball across goal and sub Traore blazes over the bar, though credit to Ollie Scarles for closing him down. West Ham survive six minutes of added time for a great win. We go above Spurs!

According to Nigel this is the first WHU win against a top ten side since we beat Arsenal at the end of 2023. It's off to the Eagle to celebrate where the fridge (which is as unpredictable as Loppy's formations) contains Meantime and there's a pool tournament in progress. We leave trying not to heed Michael's warning that attics are not designed to take the weight of boxes of football programmes. 

West Ham got lucky at times, but there certainly seemed to be more structure and energy to the side under Graham Potter and considering the injuries this was a great win. Get a result against Palace on Saturday and we can start to look upwards. 

PLAYER RATINGS: Fabianski 5; Wan-Bissaka 7, Kilman 6, Mavropanos 6, Emerson 7 (Cresswell 6); Rodriguez 6 (Scarles 6), Alvarez 6, Soler 7 (Irving 6), Soucek 7, Kudus 6 (Ings 6); Paqueta 8. 

Potter is a good communicator

Graham Potter was certainly impressive in his first pre-match press conference as West Ham manager - though whether his smile will remain after a few months at the Hammers we'll soon find out. But he dealt with the hacks in a confident and polite manner, joking and neatly sidestepping queries about signings, and it's always more difficult for a journalist to lay into someone whom they know is a good guy. 

One of the takeaways is that Potter wants the crowd at the London Stadium to get going again, and he's aware of the disconnect this season under Lopetegui. The gaffer said: "The supporters have always been incredibly loyal, and behind the team. As an away manager London Stadium is a tough place to come, so we need to build and utilise that connection between the crowd and the players."

Another interesting comment was that he was aware of the possibility of using Mo Kudus as a  false number nine which would temporarily solve the problem of Fullkrug and Bowen's absence. Potter was also encouraging about promoting youth, saying that "the starting point should always be to look at what we’ve already got here" and that he's looking forward to working with Mark Noble and Mark Robson.

Still on the managerial merry-go-round I'd like to wish good luck to David Moyes at Everton — apart from when they play West Ham. Yes, Moyes could set up too defensively at times, but it's still underestimated what he achieved at West Ham: three top half finishes, winning the Europa Conference League, reaching the semi-final and quarter final of the Europa League, three seasons in Europe and saving us from relegation twice. 

For example he received huge abuse for taking off a tiring Antonio for Ben Johnson late last season and securing a point against Aston Villa, a team we've lost twice to this season. Lopetegui was not an upgrade. Moyes' counter attacking style was entertaining enough when it worked, the problems came in the second half of last season when West Ham stopped defending like a Moyes team. He'll do a good job for the Toffees.

Concentrating on the league as injuries mount

Aston Villa 2 West Ham 1 (FA Cup)

Its over to Matt's gaff for this one where we're joined by another north London Iron in DC and offered beer, tea, crisps and fudge. The Hammers start off excellently under Potter's new reign. Wan-Bissaka and Summerville feed Paqueta who fires a great long distance shot just wide of the post. Nine minutes in and Fullkrug and Kudus set free Summerville on the right. His low cross is tucked away by Paqueta. Lucas does a guitar strumming celebration for some reason.

Villa look disjointed and West Ham seem to be holding on quite comfortably. Interestingly Potter is playing Summerville as a kind of right wing-back and has given Ollie Scarles a game at left back in the absence of Emerson. Scarles gets in some fine tackles and combines well with Paqueta. But then Fullkrug goes down with a tweaked hamstring as DC tells us that Fullkrug had missed more than 100 games with injury in his career before we signed him. It gets worse as Summerville also has to go off injured at the interval.

Villa step it up in the second half and are helped by subs Onana, Buendia and Ramsey. Fabianski has to make a fine low save from Maatsen. But the equaliser cones from a corner that should never have been given after Villa shoot wide without touching any West Ham players. From the corner the ball ricochets around the box and although Fabianski saves one effort but the ball rebounds off Soucek and Onana taps home.

Four minutes later Villa score again. Wan-Bissaka is too far upfield and Mavropanos can't close down Watkins as the Villa man crosse for Rogers to get across Kilman and fire home.

Rogers hits the angle but West Ham do show some spirit to threaten at the end. Cresswell has a shot blocked and sub Danny Ings has one scuffed shot blocked and then shoots wide when he fails to wrap his foot around the ball in a good position.

Still the evening hasn't been entirely wasted, Matt has been reading Inside The Academy: The Hopes Highs and Heartbreaks of West Ham's Youth and his discovered that the son of Culture Club's Mikey Craig once played for the Academy. DC then produces a picture of himself with Mikey Craig and Boy George at an exhibition of Boy George's paintings in Manchester in a pop trivia overload.

So it's concentrating on the league as another cup final breakfast at Nigel's gaff in Kew Gardens is postponed. And at the latest count we now have injuries to Bowen, Antonio, Fullkrug, Summerville, Areola, Emerson, Todibo and Mavropanos. Still, there was some evidence of a new manager bounce and the side seemed to put in more of a shift and show more tactical discipline than under Loppy. Though it's now going to be a struggle to field a decent side against Fulham on Tuesday.

It's Potterball

So Graham Potter — Harry was unavailable — has finally been confirmed as West Ham's new manager. There were rumours he'd been offered an initial six-month contract but Potter was right to play hardball and hold out for a two and a half year deal.

It's a move that suits both Potter and the club. Like David Moyes Potter has something to prove after only lasting eight months at Chelsea — though with a 50-man squad of scattergun signings the Blues were hardly manageable. Already in his first interview Potter has seemed more inspiriing than half a season of Lopetegui.

He's a progressive coach who was a journeyman player, which is normally a good sign. In Sweden Potter took Ostersund from division four to the first division and a trophy, he had a mid-table season re-booting Swansea City and then stabalised Brighton from defensive relegation strugglers to an established Premier League club playing fluent football. Yes, he benefitted from Brighton's recruitment system, but also established the team that De Zerbi went on to take into Europe.

It's good that he's a bit different. Much of the modern game is about psychology and Potter has an MA in leadership and emotional intelligence, so should be able to understand both very angry geezers from Benfleet in the Bobby Moore Stand and the foibles of our modern superstars. Lopetegui had rows with Kudus and Todibo while other players apparently complained to Mark Noble, so Potter will have to employ all his man management skills.

In Sweden he once got his squad to put on a play in order to increase team bonding, so he might yet find a role for my fellow season ticket holder Michael the Playwright. Though any West Ham play would presumably be A Comedy of Errors. He's also had players trying ballet and rapping so it should be interesting. His former players speak highly of him so let's see what Graham can do with our lot. Encouragingly he likes to promote young players, which is good news for the Academy.

Praising the fans is always a good start, as Potter has just done, but he will face big challenges with the current squad. Initially the most important thing is that his arrival will lift the crowd as the London Stadium was drowning in apathy. It's a new start for both fans and players. Come on you Irons!

Sacked in the morning?

So it seems Julen Lopetegui might finally have gone. Once the news leaked that he was going to be sacked on Monday the board should have acted decisively. Whatever his flaws as a manager Lopetegui deserved to be treated with more dignity than left taking training while approaches were made to other managers. It seems likely that Graham Potter will come in though West Ham could yet be gazumped by Everton and the whole affair is reminiscent of the bungled Moyes exit and Avram Grant almost being replaced by Martin O'Neill.

It was never going to be easy for Loppy following David Moyes and implementing a more expansive style of play. But he has never convinced and part of the problem has been the language barrier. Fair play to him for learning English, but he wasn't as fluent as say Slot, Guardiola or Arteta and he struggled to convey the sense of passion that West Ham fans demand. He must have struggled to get his ideas across to the players too.

We never had a clear idea of what Loppy's playing style was and the side lacked identity. He never seemed to know his best side or what to do with the £27m Summerville. Keeping possession just seemed to make the attacks ponderous and we don't have good enough players to pass it out from the back. He was certainly unlucky with the injuries to Fullkrug and Antonio but having spent £100m it just hasn't been good enough, while the rebuilt defence has been leakier than last season. We'e lost by three goals or more to Liverpool (twice), Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs and Nottingham Forest.

Tim Steidten must also take a lot of blame for the misfiring signings. He's overseen expenditure of £240 million in his one and a half seasons, partly offset by £105 million for Declan Rice. Kilman has looked ok at times but also struggled against the big teams, Todibo is promising but keeps getting injured, Rodriguez looks average and Soler hasn't really got going. Paying £23 million for the untried potential of Guilherme was way too expensive and Fullkrug, though a quality striker, is 31 years old. Wan-Bissaka has been the best of the the new recruits, but Loppy seemed to have him going all over the pitch rather than sticking to right-back. WHU only have three centre backs and there's also been a discipline problem with Kudus and Alvarez picking up needless red cards. Apart from that it's been quite good.

I'm not one to normally advocate sacking managers, but there's been no sign of things improving after 22 games and just six wins and Lopetegui surely had to go. But David Sullivan, Karren Brady and the board must also ask themselves how they have managed to repeat the Pellegrini mistake of sacking Moyes, the most successful manager since John Lyall, for a manager with a glamorous CV promising to play attacking football, only to see it all implode. How has Steidten managed to get banned from the training ground by both Moyes and Lopetegui? They should also ask themselves why smaller clubs like Brentford, Bournemouth, Brighton and Fulham are much better run than West Ham.

Now let's see who the new gaffer is and hope things improve.

More hard times at the Etihad

Manchester City 4 West Ham 1 

We're at the Dickens Museum in Doughty Street while this is played, without any Great Expectations of a result and fearing more Hard Times. It's been A Tale of Two Cities for Pep Guardiola this season, but West Ham are currently a good side to regain your confidence against. 

At least a forward line with Summerville on the left, Fullkrug in the middle and Kudus on the right looks better balanced. Watching the highlights on Match of the Day West Ham have two great early chances. A neat back heel from Fullkrug frees Summerville who plays in Kudus for a sight of goal. His first touch is slightly heavy and Mo ends up hitting the side netting instead of scoring. Next a neat passing move sees Kudus cross for Soucek to scuff a great chance.

It all goes wrong after ten minutes though as Savinho's cross takes a rather lucky deflection off Vladimir Coufal into Areola's net. West Ham still have their chances at 1-0 down. Summerville tackles a dawdling Akanji and would be clear, only for the ref to spot a mystery foul. Kudus has another good break but shoots rather than passes, while Areola has to save well from Rico Lewis.

But as ever the Irons concede at a bad time, just before the break. Savinhio bamboozles Coufal and his fine cross sees Areola race into no-man's land and the ball go over his head to Haaland for a simple headed goal.

Todibo goes off injured to be replaced by the Greek Bloke and West Ham are 3-0 down soon after the break. Savinho is given too much space to play in Our Mutual Friend Erling Haaland, who slaloms past Kilman and scores with a brilliant chipped finish over Areola. It's 4-0 after 58 minutes. The Irons try to play it out from the back and Kudus's loose ball to Alvarez is gathered by De Bruyne, who sets up Foden for an easy goal. 

At least the Irons keep going. We pull one back when Soucek's low cross is turned in by the left foot of Fullkrug. The big German then chests the ball to Summerville only for Crysencio to slip as he volleys. Late on Paqueta's snap shot grazes the post. 

Looking at the stats West Ham have had 17 shots to City's ten but still ended up losing 4-1. There's been some signs of promise, such as the influence of Fullkrug and the times we got behind the City defence, but the defence has still looked porous and the bottom line is Lopetegui isn't winning matches. It's a Bleak House at the moment and we can't even call on A Christmas Carroll as he's in France. We really need to get a result in the FA Cup at Villa to save the season as Loppy is left hoping in Micawber-esque style that something will turn up.

Oi! Big Boy! What's your name?

The West Ham family is united in support of Ludek Miklosko, who sadly has terminal cancer, but hopefully has a few good years left yet. I've been lucky enough to meet the Big Boy twice. The first time was in 2006 on a trip with Philosophy Football and the British Council where we watched Tony Carr's West Ham kids - including James Tomkins - play against the youngsters of Sparta Prague in a giant communist-era training ground in Prague. Ludo was watching his wife and proved a real gentleman, reminiscing about that Ludo song and Tomas Repka. 

The next time was at the Europa Conference League Final in Prague in 2023. Spotting Ludo in the posh seats my pal Denis grabbed him for a selfie or two after the final whistle, as did numerous other Hammers' fans. He was a happy man that night, though strangely seemed to think he didn't come from near Moscow. Here's the photographic evidence of Ludo with some happy Hammers. Best of luck Ludo, you'll always be a legend at West Ham.