Chris Sutton Delivers Verdict On Potter Appointment As He Contrasts West Ham With “Basket Case” Chelsea

Chris Sutton believes West Ham boss Graham Potter should not be judged on his short spell in charge of Chelsea.

Potter faces his old club at Stamford Bridge on Monday night and, speaking to Gambling Zone, Sutton said the 49-year-old had the cards stacked against him whilst in charge of the Blues:

“I don’t know what he would have learned from his Chelsea experience, and I say that because they’re a bit of a basket case club, weren’t they? There may have been a method in their madness. I think that we’re all looking at Chelsea as title contenders, albeit they’ve fallen away. I think it would have been a disappointment for him as much as anything, and I don’t think it’s one of those where he needs to prove himself to anybody at West Ham.



When asked whether the Hammers were right to hire Potter as Julen Loptetgui’s replacement, Sutton replied:

“I think that’s a pretty shrewd appointment. It’s a better fit than Lopetegui and that’s a very easy thing to say after a manager gets sacked. But Lopetegui, we all viewed him as a very pragmatic manager and taking over when they wanted a different brand of football, to go down the Lopetegui route seems strange. It’s early days for Graham Potter. It looks to be an okay start. I don’t see them making massive strides this season.”

Potter has had a mixed start to life at West Ham

The former Brighton head coach has only been in charge for four games so it is difficult to judge what progress is being made so far.

After a defeat in his first match in charge against Aston Villa in the FA Cup, he guided the Irons to an impressive win over Fulham. A subsequent defeat to Crystal Palace and a draw on his second visit to Villa Park suggest there is still a lot of work to be done.

The squad has been strengthened

The injuries to Michail Antonio, Niclas Fullkrug and Jarrod Bowen meant that Potter was desperate to recruit a striker before the transfer window closed.

West Ham have managed to bring in Evan Ferguson from Brighton, while James Ward-Prowse has been brought back from his loan spell at Nottingham Forest. It does give the manager more options but he may require a more radical overhaul in the summer.

Find out who is in West Ham’s first-team squad for the 2024/2025 season here

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David Tully

David Tully

David has worked as a football reporter for the last fifteen years. Having started as an intern at Snack Media, he then went on to become a freelancer, working on various different sites. At the start of 2023, he took up his current role as content writer for National World's Football News Network.