Next West Ham Manager: Ex Tottenham, Wolves and Everton men touted as Graham Potter replacements

West Ham manager Graham Potter is under increasing pressure in his position at the London Stadium after his side were thrashed 5-1 in front of a home crowd on Friday night.

The Hammers had hoped to move on from a bitter 3-0 defeat to newly promoted Sunderland last weekend but Enzo Maresca’s side piled more misery onto Potter. The 50-year-old took over from Julen Lopetegui in January after the Spaniard struggled over the first half of the 2024/25 campaign.

The former Chelsea and Brighton manager hasn’t managed an uplift in results and the beginning of the 2025/26 season has caused serious worries at West Ham. After Friday night, the Hammers sit rock bottom of the table with a goal difference of -7.

West Ham manager Graham Potter under pressure

Speaking after the match, West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen tried to take some of the blame from his manager. He told Sky Sports: “We have to look at ourselves. The manager has come in but the players are out there playing on the pitch and the manager can’t influence that, that’s down to us. You have a plan but football has always been football, you keep the ball out your net and score in the other net.

“Basic football I don’t think we are doing well enough, I can tell you that as we’ve conceded eight in two. We have to look at ourselves, we’re the ones playing out there. Myself, as captain, I’m fuming with the first couple of weeks and I share that responsibility.”

Nonetheless, Potter is one of the managers favourite to be sacked first this season and potential candidates to replace the head coach are beginning to be touted. According to Gambling.com, it’s former England boss Gareth Southgate who is the frontrunner.

Gareth Southgate early frontrunner to take over at London Stadium

The 54-year-old left his post with the Three Lions after Euro 2024 and has since been replaced by Thomas Tuchel. Southgate has history as a manager at club level too, thanks to his stint at Middlesbrough between 2006 and 2009.

Other potential candidates to replace Potter at West Ham include former Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou. The Aussie was sacked this summer despite Spurs’ Europa League triumph with a disappointing league campaign last time out too hard to forget.

The former Celtic boss is yet to return to work but was still hungry to continue prior to his dismissal. Famously, Postecoglou said: “All the best TV series, season three is better than season two.”

Ex Nottingham Forest and Leicester City boss Steve Cooper is third in the running to replace Potter. The head coach was sacked by the Foxes after just 12 league games last November and is yet to return to the dugout.

Ex Wolves boss Gary O’Neil is also named as an option. The manager was sacked by the Midlands club in December and also has Premier League experience from his year at AFC Bournemouth.

In other news, Graham Potter cannot afford to take risk on £20m attacker West Ham are now 'in talks' over.