Midfielder Tomáš Souček wins fourth Czech Footballer of the Year award

West Ham United midfielder Tomáš Souček has been voted Czech Footballer of the Year for the fourth time in his career. The captain of the Czech national team, who is 30, received the award at a ceremony in Prague on Monday night.

Lukáš Provod of Prague’s Slavia came second, 21 points behind Souček and Pavel Šulc from Pilsen finished third.

Souček followed up on his victories in 2019, 2020 and 2023, tying for third place with Pavel Nedved in the number of awards taken, bettered only by Ivo Viktor and the record-breaking Petr Čech, who has triumphed nine times.

Frustrated West Ham pressure Graham Potter for improvements two months in

It has already been something of a rollercoaster for Graham Potter in his first two months at West Ham and pressure is being applied.

A whirlwind start to life as West Ham boss saw Graham Potter take charge of his first game just 24 hours after meeting his players.

Potter instantly showed his talent as a coach and communicator.

The Hammers produced their best half of football for some time as they led 1-0 at Aston Villa in the FA Cup.

Injuries to Crysencio Summerville and Niclas Fullkrug – who remain out until after the international break – spoiled a brilliant performance as Villa came back to win 2-1.

That match has actually become the pattern for Potter at West Ham so far.

Plenty of promise but a failure to really deliver and push home a performance or result.

There have been just three wins in the new manager’s first 10 games.

An away victory at Arsenal, followed up by a victory over Leicester, looked like it may give West Ham lift off to salvage something from the second half of the season.

Especially as the European spots could very well end up going down as far as 11th place.

But a dull performance in defeat to Newcastle and the late surrender to draw 1-1 at Everton has likely condemned the Hammers to a finish no better than 13th.

As far as most West Ham fans are concerned, Potter won’t be judged until next season.

The manager’s tenure until then is being viewed as a giant pre-season.

That is a rare luxury in the modern game. And it will also result in raised expectations when the new campaign rolls around.

But it seems the Hammers’ hierarchy expect and want more than what they are seeing so far.

Frustrated West Ham pressure Potter for improvements

Because frustrated West Ham are putting pressure on Potter for improvements two months in.

When the club had Potter on standby to take over from the hapless Julen Lopetegui, it was on the basis he would join on an initial six-month deal.

David Sullivan did not want to commit to any longer than that with Potter having been out of the game for almost two years after being chewed up and spat out by Chelsea.

When it came to the crunch, though, Potter had reservations about signing a short-term deal.