West Ham ‘won’t panic’ as under-fire boss Graham Potter gets backing

West Ham vice-chair Karren Brady says the club “won’t panic” and manager Graham Potter will be given time to turn things around following a disappointing defeat by Sunderland in their Premier League opener.

The Hammers were beaten 3-0 by the promoted Black Cats at the Stadium of Light on Saturday – a continuation of their patchy form under Potter since his appointment in January.

The former Brighton and Chelsea boss has won five, drawn five and lost 10 of his 20 matches in charge since replacing Julen Lopetegui.

Some angry fans called for Potter to be sacked amid fears of a relegation battle this season.

But Brady said the 50-year-old would be backed, telling Talksport: “Graham is a forward-thinking manager. He’s sort of calm under pressure, he’s very detailed in his approach, he’s a great man-manager of players.

“He builds a special relationship with players and they understand where he’s coming from.

“He has a modern mindset and all of those things mean it does take some time to put a team together, to get the team playing the way that you want.

“West Ham is not a club that panics about its managers. We tend to stick with them, tend to support people, stick with them and see it through.

“I really hope he does well. He’s a pleasure to work with, he’s incredibly professional.

“I know his relationship with the players is good. I know he’ll be sitting down with them today to have a long, hard think about what went wrong yesterday, expecting a reaction and expecting to put it right.”