Graham Potter urges West Ham to ‘stick together’ but calls fan anger 'fair' after defeat to Crystal Palace
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Updated 20/09/2025 at 21:00 GMT+1
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Beleaguered West Ham United boss Graham Potter admitted he understood fans' anger towards him after he was the subject of chants from the crowd in Saturday's 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace. The result leaves West Ham in the Premier League relegation zone after four defeats in five matches, but Potter - who was appointed as head coach in January - stressed the need for unity at the London Stadium.
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Graham Potter called on West Ham United to "stick together" as they hunt for a solution to their Premier League woes, but admitted fans’ anger is "fair".
Crystal Palace inflicted West Ham’s fourth league defeat of the 2025/26 season, which is only five games old, and heaped more pressure on Potter, who took over from Julen Lopetegui in January but has struggled to turn fortunes around at the London Stadium.
Jean-Philippe Mateta scored eight minutes before half-time as the Hammers conceded another set-piece goal, and though Jarrod Bowen equalised just after the break, Tyrick Mitchell ensured the three points went the way of Oliver Glasner’s side.
Potter was the subject of chants from discontented West Ham supporters upon his substitution of Mateus Fernandes 12 minutes from time, and he sympathised with their frustrations.
"It is tough, the results are not what we want at all," he told BBC's Match of the Day. "I feel for the players, the supporters, anyone connected with the club because it is a tough time. You are trying to find the answer and I think that is what we have to do, we have to stick together and find the solution.
"I think the reaction of the supporters was fair, I think they were totally in the game with us in the second half, really behind us."
Potter added he had "no reason to think" he did not have the backing of West Ham's board, as pressure continues to grow amid a tough start to the campaign.
The board issued a statement in the week as it sought to assure fans their concerns were being listened to, and Potter said he had no issues to note with the support he had been given.
"Of course, I have no complaints at all about anything about the club, about any of the support we have had," he said. "But I also understand the results are not positive so we have to accept that, face that up and do our best to change it round.
"Whenever you have results it is always a feeling of we need to improve, we have got to find that balance, find that solution because clearly at the moment we have not got there yet, we need to do it and we need to do it quick."
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‘Disappointed’ Strand Larsen calls for mentality change
Wolverhampton Wanderers have also struggled in their start to the Premier League season and Saturday's 3-1 defeat to Leeds United kept Vitor Pereira's side pointless at the bottom of the table.
Leeds had scored a single goal - from the penalty spot - in four Premier League games before their trip to Molineux, but ran riot in response to Ladislav Krejci’s eighth-minute opener, and Wolves forward Jorgen Strand Larsen did not hold back in his assessment.
"I think we are in a really tough spot right now. I am really disappointed in all of us," Strand Larsen told Premier League Productions. "Nobody wants to be in this situation but nobody else can complain about it, only ourselves. We were 1-0 up and cannot give the goals away like we did today.
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"It kills us, and it kills the people who want to come into the game, too. It is about the mentality of the players and we need to do better and hopefully we can do it because this league is too tough to be playing like this.
"We need to change our mentality now it is going to be a long season. I believe in us, I believe in the manager. We have the quality and just need to focus on the small details."
Calvert-Lewin's pointed celebration, Spurs' 'strong' display
Dominic Calvert-Lewin opened his account for Leeds and gave an impassioned celebration to the Wolves fans, later explaining to Match of the Day that he had heard his name in a Wolves chant earlier and "the best way to shut them up is score a goal at that end and point to my shirt".
Meanwhile, despite dropping Premier League points for just the second time this season in a 2-2 draw with Brighton, Thomas Frank believed his Tottenham Hotspur side put in one of their best performances of his tenure so far as they came back from 2-0 down.
"I thought we looked extremely strong. I am very happy with the overall performance," Frank told Sky Sports. "It was potentially our best performance of the season. We dominated more or less throughout the game and created enough chances."
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