Graham Potter: Is former Chelsea boss a good fit for West Ham?

It has been 647 days since Graham Potter was sacked by Chelsea, and he has been out of work ever since. The former Brighton manager was appointed as West Ham United’s head coach on Thursday, signing a two-and-a-half-year contract to become the new boss of the "Hammers."

Potter was considered a candidate for the England national team job in the summer and had also been linked with positions at Ajax, Leicester City, and Sweden. He said being sacked by Chelsea was "really painful," and despite only being in charge for seven months, his reputation remains high. In recent media appearances, the 49-year-old said he was "ready" to return to football, but the role "still had to be the right one."

So, why West Ham now? And what exactly went wrong at Chelsea after his impressive work at Brighton? BBC Sport is looking at whether Potter is the right fit for West Ham. Potter, who had spells as a defender at clubs such as Birmingham, Stoke, and West Brom, first gained recognition as a coach after leading Swedish fourth-tier side Ostersunds to three promotions in five seasons.

His seven-year spell also included a first major trophy - the Swedish Cup - and a place in the Europa League, where they beat Arsenal 2-1 at the Emirates, before losing 4-2 on aggregate in the last 32. It was an unconventional path for a British coach, but one that took him to Swansea in 2018, Brighton a year later, and then Chelsea in 2022.

Having been linked with the Tottenham Hotspur and Everton jobs in the past, Potter said he would never be considered a "sexy" coach, saying: "It's hard to be a sexy name when your name is Potter, especially if your first name is Graham. Then it becomes even more difficult. Throw in a long face and a red beard and I just have to stick to being a football coach and working with the players."

Potter is often regarded as a compassionate and thoughtful coach, and he cemented his place as one of the most exciting prospects in the game at Brighton. There, he was responsible for transforming them from a team that was often facing relegation into a more adventurous and established Premier League club. Former Seagulls striker Glenn Murray, who played under him, said Potter is a "thought-provoking coach" who "meticulously researches every opponent."

Murray added: "He knows exactly what he wants, but he wants feedback from the players. It's a collective, not a dictatorship." "The one thing that really impressed me about him, that he probably doesn't get enough credit for, is that we were a team in survival mode in the Premier League. He managed to change the culture and style of play. It's not easy to do that while maintaining stability."

While the attention has been on tactical dogmatists such as Ange Postecoglou and Ruben Amorim, Murray says Potter's style is "fluid" and he is not against changing formations or tactics during a game. He admitted: "When I played under him, we would change formation two or three times in an afternoon, which is quite a skill to get your players to understand everything you want them to do and be able to change it during a game."

Although Brighton have achieved even greater things since Potter left the Amex - qualifying for Europe under Roberto de Zerbi and finishing sixth in the Premier League - sources at the Seagulls say the Italian manager benefited greatly from the work Potter did during his time there. Off the field, sources at Brighton say Potter is a "thoughtful man" and a "very intelligent person" who cares about the world. He once spent a night on the streets to raise awareness of homelessness and has a Masters degree in leadership.

When Potter was appointed Chelsea head coach in September 2022, he had just led Brighton to a ninth-place finish - the club's highest-ever placing in the top flight at the time. His ability to get the best out of young players made him attractive to a Blues side under new ownership with an expanding squad and a strategy of making long-term signings of promising players. However, Potter immediately felt the pressure of a crowded dressing room and immediate expectations.

In an interview on the High Performance Podcast last November, he said "the conditions were challenging" due to the extensive changes made by the new owners. Potter added: "If you change 20-30 players in three transfer windows, that instability is difficult to manage. Not that I couldn't do it, but if you go into a place and quickly change it with a sledgehammer, sometimes there's some collateral damage. I was a bit like the collateral damage."

Potter said he felt like he was thrown into the deep end, having to play 14 games in the Premier League and Champions League in his first six weeks in charge. He explained: "It was an overload situation for me. Looking back, one of my mistakes was - if you are going to build a team, give yourself some time to plan and train. Maybe I jumped in too quickly, but it was Chelsea and the owners were talking about building a young team that could compete at the top level. I had talked about taking a lot of what I had done at Brighton to Chelsea."

"We didn't win as much and the obvious answer is that the coach wasn't good enough. Very quickly you get written off. I think I was written off very quickly." Although Potter will not have to cope with the demands of European football at West Ham, he will join the club mid-season - which could present challenges, with the January transfer window open and potential ins and outs to deal with. Potter admitted he had to overcome feelings of "pain, frustration and sadness" about his experience at Chelsea before considering a return to the game.

And while it may just have been the wrong time and place for Potter at Stamford Bridge, perhaps his extended time away indicates he was just unwilling to make a rash decision that could lead to a similar situation. West Ham have enjoyed success in recent years under previous manager David Moyes - winning the 2022-23 Europa Conference League and qualifying for the Europa League in the seasons before and after that. While his departure at the end of last season seemed unusual from the outside, there was a sense that Moyes' time at the London Stadium had run its course, with fans calling for a more progressive style.

Former West Ham manager Harry Redknapp said: "It's not an easy job there - the expectations are very high. Whoever goes there has not only got to build a winning team, but a team that plays the West Ham way as the West Ham fans see it." But Murray, who has also played for Crystal Palace, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest, believes West Ham is a "good fit" for Potter if he is given time to implement his ideas.

He said: "They want to play better football at the London Stadium, and I think he is capable of doing that." Murray also added that "brilliant football" will not arrive overnight, but Potter has experience in striking a balance between style and substance. In the Premier League era, West Ham managers have lasted an average of 32 months, which is just over two-and-a-half years. That is longer than at Newcastle, Everton, Tottenham Hotspur, and Aston Villa.

Sources with knowledge of the situation have told BBC Sport that Potter has received other offers since leaving Chelsea, but he chose West Ham because the club has stable ownership and a good record of allowing managers time to build. He also believes that the club has a decent squad compared to other lower-end Premier League teams and that the job feels like a good fit for him. West Ham are currently 14th in the table, seven points above the relegation zone.

Finishing ninth in the Premier League last year meant they did not qualify for European football, but a change in form could mean they replicate the achievements of previous seasons by booking their place in European competition. "It's a very attractive job," said Murray. "They've shown a desire to climb up the league, and I think everything is in place at West Ham. Everything is set up to push for those top six places, which is what the fanbase is crying out for - to fight for those European places and go deep in the competitions."

There were disagreements between West Ham's technical director Tim Steidten and Moyes last season - with sources saying on Tuesday that Steidten was working away from the club's training ground amid widespread speculation that Julen Lopetegui was about to take over. It remains to be seen how Potter will fit into their existing hierarchy. West Ham podcast and fan Sean Whetstone told BBC 5 Live Sport: "I don't think Potter was the first choice for most West Ham fans, just like Lopetegui wasn't. Critics will say that Potter was flattered by the recruitment formula of Tony Bloom and Dan Ashworth at Brighton. It didn't work at Chelsea, what has he done elsewhere?"

"That's why I think there's some trepidation and talk of a short-term contract until the end of the season. I think some fans are against Steidten. He spent a lot of money on Brazilian winger Luis Guilherme, who hasn't been up to standard. [West Ham vice-chair] Karren Brady has been pushing for Potter. Let's see if he lasts two-and-a-half years or if he feels he's outgrown us and can go to a bigger club."

"Some West Ham fans think he needs the club more than the club needs him. We will give him a chance and hope he can replicate what he did at Brighton and push us further up the league - maybe even into Europe. We are West Ham, we are optimists and dreamers."