Something has to change at West Ham United.

As things stand, the East Londoners are in the relegation zone with just one win from four games and a goal difference of negative seven.

If things don’t start to improve, and fast, the Hammers could be in real danger of losing their Premier League status come May.

It may be time for Graham Potter to be replaced, and while there is talk of Slaven Bilic taking his place, reports now suggest the club could be looking at someone who’d be even better.

West Ham target Potter and Bilic upgrade

Although it’s still early in the season, West Ham have been linked with several potential replacements for Potter.

One name that keeps coming up this week is former Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo, who guided his former side back to European football last season.

Another name that has been consistently linked with the Hammers this month is Frank Lampard, who appears to be doing a decent enough job with Coventry City in the Championship this year.

However, another manager has now been thrown into the ring, someone who’d be a better option than Bilic: Gary O’Neil.

Yes, according to a recent report from Dean Jones, the former Wolverhampton Wanderers boss has been “mentioned” by some at the club.

The Englishman has been out of a job for over nine months, and while he might not be the most glamorous of options, we reckon he would be an upgrade on Potter and a better choice than Bilic.

Why O'Neil would be a better hire than Bilic

So, there might be a number of you wondering why we are advocating for O’Neil over Bilic.

Manager Focus

After all, the Croat achieved a higher points-per-game average in his last job than the Englishman did in his.

Well, their last jobs are, in fact, one of, if not the most important reasons, as while the former West Bromwich Albion boss’s previous role saw him manage in the Saudi Pro League, O’Neil’s saw him in charge of Wolves.

Moreover, he wasn’t just tasked with overseeing a relatively stable mid-table side; the 42-year-old was handed the incredibly challenging job of saving the Old Gold from relegation, which he did do in his first season.

On top of that, while he was let go by Bournemouth for the more exciting Andoni Iraola, he also did what genuinely seemed impossible at the time and kept them in the league when taking the reins from Scott Parker in August 2022.

Also, that isn’t some reimagining of the situation; it was a pretty standard opinion that the Cherries would be going down at the time, so much so, in fact, that the club ended up making a snarky compilation of pundits and content creators saying so at the end of the season.

So, while he has been sacked from his last two jobs, the former Bournemouth boss did incredibly well in keeping both of them in the top-flight, and remains popular among the fans of both.

In contrast, Bilic was fired from his job in the Saudi Pro League, fired by Watford before that for underachieving and then prior to that spent a year managing Beijing Guoan.

In other words, while some fans might have positive memories of him from around a decade ago, the Split-born coach has not managed at a high level for a very long time.

Al-Fateh

07/23

08/24

Watford

09/22

03/23

Beijing Guoan

01/21

01/22

West Brom

07/19

12/20

Al-Ittihad

10/18

02/19

Finally, while re-hiring Bilic might seem like a romantic idea to some, it’s hard to think of many instances of managers returning to clubs and doing better the second time around.

Moreover, both played for the club, so the Beckenham-born boss still has that connection to West Ham that should help him get to grips with things quicker.

Ultimately, even though both managers would be upgrades on Potter, we really think the Irons would be better off hiring O’Neil.