By Matt Davis,Sami Mokbel

Copyright bbc

Saturday’s 2-1 home defeat by Crystal Palace was West Ham’s fifth in six league and cup games this season.

Potter replaced Spaniard Julen Lopetegui, who was sacked in January after six months in charge, with the Hammers 14th in the table.

“It’s a proud day to be head coach of this amazing club, big tradition, big history, big expectations, big challenge,” Potter said when he was appointed on 9 January 2025.

But the former Chelsea and Brighton boss found wins difficult to come by.

West Ham, who sold Ghana forward Mohammed Kudus to Tottenham for £55m in July, spent £126m on eight new arrivals in the summer transfer window, including the £38m purchase of Portuguese midfielder Mateus Fernandes from Southampton in August.

But losses to Sunderland, Chelsea, Tottenham and Palace have left the club in the bottom three. They also went out of the Carabao Cup in the second round with a 3-2 defeat against fellow strugglers Wolves.

That led to West Ham issuing a statement acknowledging “results and performances on the pitch over the past two seasons have not met the standards we set for ourselves”.

However, disgruntled fans staged a demonstration against the club’s board before the Palace match and now the owners have reacted by dismissing Potter.

Poor results on the pitch led to Potter becoming a viral trend on social media, with people using AI technology to swap his face on to other celebrities, including Barbie, Donald Trump and the Chuckle Brothers.

Speaking on Friday, Potter said he had not been taking it too seriously.

“It made my 15-year-old son laugh a lot so you have to accept what comes with it [the job],” he said.

“At times [that is] ridicule but that is just the environment we are in and it is what it is.”