It’s been a slow start for Graham Potter in the dugout at West Ham, to say the least.

His 16 Premier League fixtures in the hot seat (at the time of writing) have seen 7 defeats, 5 draws and just 4 wins, which gives the former Brighton and Chelsea gaffer a win percentage of 23.5% – to put that into perspective, Lopetegui’s win ratio was 30% in comparison. A lot of fans are asking; “Have we even improved?” and “Is he the right man to take us into next season?”. Let’s try and figure that one out…

On the face of it, the Englishman is statistically the worst permanent manager out of the 19 that men’s side has seen, but let’s dig a little bit deeper into this… time to wheel out some more stats.

Julen Lopetegui

Under the Spaniard, we scored 21 goals in 20 Premier League matches, averaging 1.05 goals per game. In that same time period, we conceded 39 goals which averages 1.95 goals per game.

Graham Potter

With Potter in the dugout, we have scored 18 goals in 16 Premier League games, giving him 1.13 goals per game as an average. Here is where it gets interesting, during those 16 games we have conceded 19, bringing the average to 1.19.

Potter has the upper hand in terms of both goals scored and goals conceded, in addition to the stark improvement in the defensive solidity – something which David Moyes built his success on. You cannot say that things haven’t improved since January, but what is frustrating the fanbase more than anything is that we simply are not consistent enough.

The gaffer hasn’t exactly reinvented the wheel at West Ham, but maybe that’s the point. Lopetegui’s tenure was mired by defensive instability and a tactical rigidity which clearly stifled our key creative minds in the dressing room, who still haven’t fully recovered.

Potter has brought us back to the fundamentals of discipline and a high press, which is becoming ever more important in the modern game, to stifle teams before they are able to dictate possession.

But it isn’t just tactics that have changed; Soucek is no longer the scapegoat he was earlier in the campaign, Bowen is playing like he has a point to prove, Kudus is showing signs of his past self and most importantly the squad has its chemistry back!

We aren’t a team of individuals anymore. By no means does the squad have a ‘family feel’ to it just yet, but I’m beginning to see a bond we haven’t seen since Jesse Lingard poured a bag of flour onto the head of Mark Noble quickly followed by some large free-range eggs.

So, to answer my own question, is Graham Potter the right manager to take us into the next Premier League season and beyond… the answer is yes. He’s shown enough for me to begin to believe. He’s been mature and has a very clear mandate, which I think will be made even clearer by the upcoming transfer window.

He’s already released Cresswell, Fabianski and Ings, I expect these will be replaced by much younger, more hungry players. What happens with Antonio is anyone’s guess, but should he also head out the door, we might find ourselves signing some young talent from the Championship below to cover for our forward options.

It’s a rebuild job at London Stadium and I trust Potter to do it.

Written by Ollie Royan