Callum Wilson has made a brutally honest admission about Graham Potter in light of Nuno Espirito Santo’s turnaround at West Ham.
It may be too soon to say West Ham are well and truly back under Nuno Espirito Santo.
But the Hammers have certainly turned a corner in terms of level of performance and rediscovering that winning feeling over the last week.
West Ham have been in freefall since the turn of the year in January 2024.
There were just 17 wins in 66 Premier League games between then and the defeat at Leeds United which saw big questions being asked about Nuno, West Ham’s fourth manager in 16 months.
It was under Graham Potter that the club plumbed new depths, though, as he became the worst permanent manager in West Ham’s 130-year history.
West Ham turn corner after hitting brick wall under Potter
Potter took the mess he inherited from Julen Lopetegui and somehow made West Ham even worse.
His lack of firm leadership saw standards slip and apathy replaced anger among the fanbase.
Nuno would have known he faced a difficult task, but his first four games were an eye-opener for everyone.
Mired in the relegation zone, games against Newcastle and Burnley represented a crossroads for West Ham and their new boss.
Failure to win both would have seen the Hammers cut adrift in the bottom three with relegation looking increasingly likely.
Nuno has grabbed West Ham by the scruff of the neck in the last week, though.
Photo by GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images
His passion, authority and aura have galvanised the fans and the players, re-establishing the connection between the team and the terraces.
Wins at the London Stadium have been ridiculously rare over the last two years, let alone back-to-back victories.
The Irons had won two games at home all year and then matched that record in a single week with wins over Newcastle and Burnley.
What has been the most noticeable change, though, is the unity within the team itself.
Team spirit was a huge factor behind the success of West Ham under David Moyes.
Wilson’s damning Potter admission after Nuno’s turnaround
Last week Michail Antonio slammed Potter for ruining West Ham’s culture in a brutal assessment of the Englishman’s eight-month tenure.
Now the man who replaced Antonio at West Ham has delivered striking comments which show the club were right to ditch Potter to bring in Nuno.
Callum Wilson has made a damning Potter admission after Nuno’s West Ham turnaround.
The striker’s comments underline just how much the Hammers boss has transformed the club’s fortunes in a short space of time.
Photo by Jacques Feeney/Offside/Offside via Getty Images
Speaking after scoring in West Ham’s 3-2 win over Burnley, Wilson has made it clear the dressing room was divided under Potter.
Wilson used to antagonise West Ham fans with his forthright views and goals.
Now he’s scoring for them on the pitch and delivering some refreshing home truths off it.
Wilson suggests the team were not working hard or fighting for each other under their former boss.
But he says that has all changed now under Nuno, who has pulled the players together in a way Potter clearly couldn’t.
“It was a big game, we knew the magnitude of it, going behind wasn’t ideal.” Wilson BBC Sport.
Hammers dressing room divided under Potter admits Wilson
“But we’ve started sticking together as a group more, and being a team.
“We’ve done that last week and shown that again this week…
“We made a few changes (during the game) and the guys that came on got on the scoresheet.
“It’s a start, we know it’s a process.
“We’ve not had the best of starts to the season. It wasn’t pretty today by any means, but a win is a win. This is something to go on from.”
Don’t underestimate what a big deal it is for Wilson to make such a frank admission about the team being divided until Nuno got hold of them.
Players usually keep things like that in-house.
Even if it has been obvious in West Ham’s performances and results, seeing Wilson come out and acknowledge that has been the case not only reflects the awful job done by Potter but the excellent work Nuno is doing to turn the club around.
Long may it continue.
Because West Ham’s very Premier League depends on it.
