Where Graham Potter ranks in least successful managers in West Ham’s Premier League history

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Graham Potter and his West Ham team have endured a difficult start to the 2025/26 campaign, as one win in five leaves them confronting the idea of relegation early on in the season.

The Hammers have been on a slow decline since the end of David Moyes’ second stint at the club, as fans continue to question the decisions made at the board level.

At the same time, Graham Potter’s job is at risk, as the hierarchy at West Ham decide on their next steps.

As the manager faces the possibility of dismissal, here’s a look at where he currently ranks in the least successful managers in the club’s history during the Premier League era.

• READ MORE: Five free agent managers West Ham could target as Graham Potter faces sacking pressure

5 – Glenn Roeder

• Matches: 83
• Wins: 27
• Win percentage: 32.5%

Coming in at number five for the least successful West Ham managers in the Premier League era is Glenn Roeder.

He initially joined as a scout under Harry Redknapp, but after he left the club, there was an opportunity to take over as manager.

While the 2000/01 season ended with a seventh-placed finish, struggles followed for Roeder.

Relegation followed in 2003, and while he took a few games in the second tier, the manager was dismissed in August.

Roeder would later have spells with Newcastle, where he won the Intertoto Cup, and Norwich.

4 – Avram Grant

• Matches: 47
• Wins: 15
• Win percentage: 31.9%

In 2010, West Ham appointed Avram Grant as their new head coach on a four-year deal.

It didn’t start that well, however, as the Hammers got off to their worst start in the Premier League at the time.

With a dismal record, West Ham were relegated in May 2011, with Grant winning just seven Premier League matches.

Eight of his wins came in cup matches, where he had a better record than in the league.

Grant was dismissed on the same day as the club’s relegation.

3 – Julen Lopetegui

• Matches: 22
• Wins: 7
• Win percentage: 31.8%

Following the exit of David Moyes in 2024, West Ham looked to implement a new style of play with a head coach who could take the club to the next level.

The board decided that Julen Lopetegui was the man who could do just that, investing heavily in the squad with the aim of pushing up the table.

It didn’t quite work out like that, though, as poor results and performances got the Spaniard off to a far from ideal start.

In the end, he lasted just 22 matches, as he was dismissed in January 2025, with the threat of relegation looming large.

The arrival of Graham Potter, and the poor standard of the bottom three, ensured that West Ham stayed up.

2 – Gianfranco Zola

• Matches: 81
• Wins: 23
• Win percentage: 28.4%

Gianfranco Zola arrived at West Ham in 2008 in his first senior management role in football.

The former Chelsea player quickly gained the support of the Hammers faithful, despite those ties with their London rivals.

Plenty of young talent made their way through the ranks to feature under Zola, as he signed a contract extension in 2009, which would keep him until 2013.

However, with the club only narrowly avoiding relegation in 2010, the manager was dismissed and replaced with Avram Grant.

1 – Graham Potter

• Matches: 25
• Wins: 6
• Win percentage: 24%

The West Ham manager with the worst win percentage in the club’s history, since 1992, is Graham Potter.

The head coach took over in January 2025, first tasked with surviving relegation, and then tasked with changing the style of play.

While the first of those was completed for the 2024/25 season, there were struggles with the style and the squad.

With a poor start to the 2025/26 season, there have been doubts over Potter’s position.