It’s been a tumultuous time for managers of teams in the bottom half of the Premier League, with both West Ham and Everton becoming the latest sides to make a switch. Eight of the League’s 10 lower half teams have already changed manager and with the season only just past the halfway point, there’s a fair few others who look to be on the ropes.
First up, West Ham, whose board finally lost patience with Spaniard Julen Lopetegui, announcing former Chelsea coach Graham Potter would take the reins at London Stadium. With the club currently languishing in 14th, a strong finish to the season is the first task for Potter, who has joined on a two-and-a-half-year contract, but West Ham fans rightly have loftier ambitions. The Englishman, who has been out of work since his ignominious dismissal by Chelsea in April 2023, just seven months after he took over, will need to find his feet quickly, not to mention find answers to the Hammer’s poor return in front of goal.
Potter has taken almost two years to return to work, and said the Hammers felt like the “right one”, having spoken publicly about the deep pain caused by his dismissal from Chelsea. After previously coming close to the jobs at Ajax, where he would be almost guaranteed European football each season, and Leicester, Potter has certainly taken his time and will doubtless have considered the particular challenges and opportunities of the West Ham job carefully.
Given time, Potter has shown he is able to deliver lasting improvements over the long term, first with his impressive spell at Ostersunds in Sweden, before excellent periods in charge of my beloved Swansea City and then Brighton. His exit from Chelsea has not tarnished his brand significantly, coming as it did amid the tumult and scatter-gun decision making of Boehley et co’s early days at the club. West Ham fans will be hoping Potter will deliver the style and substance they have long been demanding, and which Moyes and Lopetegui failed to deliver.
The London Stadium can quickly turn and with high expectations and a strong, expensively assembled squad, Potter will be expected to hit the ground running without significant resources for the January transfer window. The Hammers are without six-goal top scorer Jarrod Bowen, who is injured for at least six weeks with a fractured foot, and £27m striker Niclas Fullkrug, who has scored just three goals during an injury-hit start, so finding goals quickly will be key.
Potter is West Ham’s fifth manager in nine and a half years. A new manager brings hope, and Potter will certainly work hard to instil his values and vision on the squad. Who knows, he might just be the new broom West Ham need to take them to the next level.
Meanwhile, two-time West Ham Manager David Moyes has returned, somewhat inevitably, to perennial league strugglers Everton, a club that has known little success since he left it for an ill-fated and – much like Potter’s Chelsea spell – brief episode at Manchester United. Moyes has spent his time in football’s doldrums, rebuilding a reputation damaged by his short tenure in charge of a declining super club, with stints at Real Sociedad and Sunderland before finding success at West Ham.
For all his pragmatism, Sean Dyche was at best only ever going to be the man who could just keep Everton up, and this time he was failing. After 11 years in charge on Merseyside, Moyes certainly knows the club, though it is a shadow of the smooth operation he left back in 2013. Everton’s final season at Goodison Park will bring to a close 133 years of history at the stadium – it is unconscionable that the team could play their first season at Bramley-Moore Dock in the Championship.
Moyes took Everton to nine top-eight finishes, of which eight were in the top seven. On a shoestring budget, he arguably did one of the best jobs in Premier League managerial history, while at West Ham won the Europa Conference League between two seasons with Europa league football.
He is therefore probably just the stabilising force Everton need, a ‘safe pair of hands’ to steer them clear of the relegation mire and before he can use the summer to build a squad capable of more fight next season. The Scot can restore the values that the club have lacked in his absence, rooting the team in hard graft, tactical solidity and discipline. However, hovering one point above the relegation zone, Everton’s Premier League survival once again hangs in the balance and the fans will be keen to see swift progress and a clear plan if they are to get on board.
They say it is a mistake to return, and only time will tell if Moyes ends up regretting his decision to go back to the club where he made his name, or whether he can give Evertonians something to cheer about. One thing is certain – the days of Managers leading a Premier League club for 11 years are now a thing of the past.
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David Little is a Partner at Bishop & Sewell in our expert Sports Law and Corporate & Commercial teams. If you would like to contact him, please call on either 07968 027343 or, 020 7631 4141 or email: company@bishopandsewell.co.uk.
The above is accurate as at 17 January 2025. The information above may be subject to change.
The content of this note should not be considered legal advice and each matter should be considered on a case-by-case basis.
