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West Ham ‘pressed the emergency button’ on Potter

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Nuno set for West Ham job after Potter sacked

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6 minutes ago

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27 September 2025

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Matt DavisBBC Sport senior journalist and Sami MokbelSenior football correspondent
Updated 3 minutes ago

West Ham are set to appoint former Nottingham Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo as head coach after sacking Graham Potter.

Nuno is expected to be in place before Monday’s Premier League match against Everton, having said he has had positive talks with the West Ham board.

Potter was dismissed on Saturday morning after only eight months in charge, with the club 19th in the table.

The Hammers took only three points from their opening five league games this season under Potter.

West Ham said they believed “a change is necessary in order to help improve the team’s position in the Premier League as soon as possible”.

They added: “Results and performances over the course of the second half of last season and the start of the 2025-26 season have not matched expectations.”

Potter, 50, had been preparing for Monday’s game and fulfilled his media duties on Friday, saying he believed he had the board’s backing after “positive talks”.

After last Saturday’s home defeat by Crystal Palace, BBC Sport reported that West Ham club were considering managerial alternatives, and discussions with Nuno have accelerated over the past 72 hours.

Nuno, 51, was sacked after 21 months in charge at Forest – and only three games into this season.

Last term the Portuguese guided the club to seventh in the table – their highest finish since 1994-95 – as they qualified for Europe for the first time in three decades.

Potter took charge of 25 West Ham matches after being appointed in January – winning six – and they finished 14th last season.

His loss rate of 52% is the highest of any permanent West Ham manager in the Premier League era.

“The board would like to thank Graham and his coaching staff for their hard work during their time with the Hammers and wish them every success for the future,” West Ham said.

“The process of appointing a replacement is under way. The club will be making no further comment at this time.”

Former Wales captain Ashley Williams told BBC’s Football Focus: “For the West Ham fans and the club they want to see a hard-working team and a bit more bravery in possession.

“Under Potter, it was flat – there was nothing for the fans to get behind. Nuno can galvanise the club and he is the perfect person of the available managers to put in there.

“West Ham have been so easy to play against. You only have to get out of second gear to beat them.

“Nuno will organise his team and figure out what players he wants and what players he can work with.”

What went wrong for Potter?

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

Potter replaced Julen Lopetegui, who was sacked in January after six months in charge when West Ham were 14th in the table.

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

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

But losses to Sunderland, Chelsea, Tottenham and Palace left them in the bottom three. They went out of the Carabao Cup in the second round with a 3-2 defeat by 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”.

Disgruntled fans staged a demonstration against the board before the Palace match.

Poor results 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, US President 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,” he said.

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

West Ham’s fortunes have declined since David Moyes’ departure a year after he won the club’s first trophy in 43 years in the Europa Conference League in 2023.

Potter’s arrival was supposed to herald a new brand of attractive football but the downward spiral has continued into this campaign.

How did Nuno’s spell at Forest finish?

Despite Forest’s success during Nuno’s time as manager, his relationship with owner Evangelos Marinakis deteriorated in his final few months at the club.

In August Nuno revealed he feared for his job, with internal tensions believed to centre around disagreements over their transfer business, which was conducted by new global head of football Edu.

Despite spending about £196m on 13 players, former Wolves and Tottenham coach Nuno criticised the activity in the summer transfer window, saying Forest had wasted a good chance.

Forest suffered a poor run of form towards the end of 2024-25, taking only eight points from their final eight matches to slide out of Champions League contention.

In May Marinakis appeared to confront Nuno on the pitch following a 2-2 draw against relegated Leicester, although Forest said there was “no confrontation” and it was “fake news” to suggest otherwise.

Forest started their season with a win over Brentford and a draw with Palace, before a 3-0 home defeat to the side he is now set to lead brought an end to his time in charge.

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Drones seen over Danish military bases in latest air disruption

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27 September 2025

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Drones have been seen near military facilities including Denmark’s largest, following a series of incidents that caused air disruption earlier this week.

The devices were observed above Karup airbase, among others, forcing it to briefly close its airspace to commercial traffic. Possible sightings were also reported in Germany, Norway and Lithuania.

It is the latest in a string of suspicious drone activity in Denmark, raising concerns about the nation’s vulnerability to aerial attack and sparking fears of potential Russian involvement.

Danish authorities said Thursday’s incursions appeared to be a “hybrid attack”, but cautioned that they had no evidence to suggest Moscow was behind it.

Friday’s incident took place around 20:15 local time (18:15 GMT) and lasted several hours, duty officer Simon Skelsjaer told news agency AFP.

He said police could not comment on where the drones had come from as they had not shot them down, adding that police were co-operating with the Danish military in their investigation.

Though civil airspace above the base was briefly closed, it had no impact because no commercial flights were scheduled in the area at the time, Skelsjaer said.

The Danish Defence Ministry confirmed that drones were sighted near multiple military installations overnight, but did not specify which ones. It said it would not comment further.

The other military installations have not been named by Danish state media.

Some 3,500 people work at Karup airbase, which is home to all of the Danish Armed Forces’ helicopters, airspace surveillance and parts of the Danish Defence Command.

The incursions come just days after drones over Danish airports – some of which also housed military facilities – forced airports to shut down and close their airspace.

Denmark’s Aalborg and Billund airports closed due to drones above the airport on Wednesday night, while three smaller airports reported drone activity but were able to continue operating.

On Monday, Copenhagen airport closed for several hours after a number of drones were spotted, while possible drone sightings also temporarily shuttered Oslo airport in Norway.

Germany’s interior ministry said it was investigating after several drones were spotted on Friday over Schleswig-Holstein, the region that borders Jutland, the part of Denmark on the European mainland that is home to Karup airbase and the airports affected by Wednesday’s incursions.

Police in neighbouring Norway told state media they were investigating possible drone sightings at Orland airbase, to the west of the country, where its F-35 fighter jets are stationed.

Drone activity also delayed flights on Friday at Vilnius airport in Lithuania, which shares a land border with Russian territory, according to state media.

There are suspicions that Wednesday’s wave of drone incursions may have been part of a Russian strategy of indirect aggression towards Nato states supporting Ukraine in its war with Russia – though this connection has not been proven.

The Russian embassy in Copenhagen has denied “absurd speculations” of its involvement in what it described as “staged provocations”.

Denmark’s defence minister said the “hybrid attack” was the work of a “professional actor” but appeared to have been launched locally.

A hybrid attack uses a mix of military and non-military tactics and is designed to interfere with a nation’s infrastructure or institutions.

Russia has been accused of conducting hybrid attacks in the past, and Europe has been on high alert after several Nato member states reported Russian incursions in their airspaces.

Estonia and Poland requested a consultation with other Nato members last week, after around 20 Russian drones crossed into Poland and Russian MiG31 jets entered Estonian airspace in separate incidents.

Romania, another Nato member, also said a Russian drone had breached its airspace.

Russia did not comment on the incident in Romania, but it denied violating Estonia’s airspace and it said the Polish incursion was not deliberate.

After Monday’s incident in Copenhagen, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Russian involvement could not be ruled out.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has called the allegations “unfounded”.

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PSNI officers to be deployed in night-time settings to spot ‘predatory behaviours’

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45 minutes ago

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27 September 2025

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Police officers in Northern Ireland are to be deployed around popular night-time settings such as pubs and clubs in a bid to identify predatory behaviour targeting women.

Project Vigilant is an initiative which has been used by a number of police forces in England to combat violence against women and girls.

The PSNI said it would involve the tactical deployment of both plain-clothed and uniformed officers within night-time economy settings.

Officers have recently received training from Thames Valley Police for the operation, which will see them intervene when they identify behaviour of concern.

Detective Chief Insp Leah Crothers said: “We are actively seeking out good practice from across the UK and have recently had Thames Valley Police over to Northern Ireland to train our tactical officers to enable us to deploy the successful Project Vigilant initiative.

“We want to make our night-time economy settings as safe as possible and a hostile place for predatory behaviours.”

The PSNI is marking the third year anniversary of its action plan tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG).

Between the start of 2019 and July 31st, 2025, 36 women and girls across Northern Ireland were killed by men.

Until the end of August 2025, police have made 5,042 arrests under new legislation aimed at tackling domestic abuse, stalking and non-fatal strangulation.

They have also put in place four stalking protection orders using new legislation.

The force said there had been on average 84 arrests each month for the domestic abuse offence, 19 arrests each month for the offences of stalking and threatening and abusive behaviour and 76 arrests each month for non-fatal strangulation.

In the 12 months to July 2025 there were 21,729 VAWG offences recorded, a reduction of 4 per cent compared with the previous 12 months.

There have been 21 Walk and Talk events, which see neighbourhood teams meeting local women and support groups to hear their concerns.

Active bystander training has also been rolled out across the force.

Ms Crothers said: “We remain committed to doing everything we can to prevent harm, call out unacceptable attitudes and behaviours and protect women and girls wherever they live – in towns, cities and rural communities.

“Over the last three years we have spent a significant amount of time working with partners like the Department of Justice and The Executive Office developing our action plan, and more recently a public-facing campaign, Power to Change, to help address misogyny and other behaviours that we know can escalate to criminality.”

She added: “We have always been clear that it will take a societal effort to make a real change.

“But as a police service we have an opportunity to lead the way and to do so we have to be willing to look inwards to our own organisation and challenge our own attitudes and behaviours.

“This is why we have launched this year a mandatory internal training package for our officers and staff to reflect on how they can play an even greater part in making our organisation and wider society a more inclusive and safe space.”

The detective said: “Tackling violence against women and girls requires commitment from all – where perpetrators are held to account, communities stand together, and we work with partners to make every space safe.

“This remains our goal.” – PA

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