Jarrod Bowen was involved in a heated exchange with furious West Ham supporters after Tuesday’s 3-2 defeat at Wolves that piled further pressure on Graham Potter.
Video footage showed Bowen, the club captain, walking across to the away end at Molineux after the final whistle.
Supporters appeared to vent their anger, shouting and gesturing towards the forward, who stopped to respond before being pulled away by stewards and team-mates.
Bowen looked visibly incensed as he jabbed his finger towards the crowd while words were exchanged, before he was ushered towards the tunnel.
Hours later, Bowen took to Instagram to apologise for his reaction. ‘Apologies to the fans for tonight’s reaction,’ he wrote. ‘I’m someone who is passionate and will fight every time I step on the pitch.
‘But I need to set a better example and you fans know how much I love you and this club. We ride through the bad times together and I’ll see you all Sunday.’
The earlier flashpoint underlined the sense of crisis engulfing the London club, who crashed out of the League Cup in the second round after throwing away a second-half advantage.
Wolves took the lead through Rodrigo Gomes two minutes before half-time but Tomas Soucek levelled shortly after the restart. Lucas Paqueta then put West Ham 2-1 up in the 63rd minute, only for Jorgen Strand Larsen to strike twice in quick succession – in the 82nd and 84th – to turn the tie on its head and send Wolves through.
The result follows back-to-back hammerings in the Premier League – a 3-0 defeat at Sunderland on the opening weekend and Friday’s 5-1 humiliation by Chelsea, when thousands of home fans streamed out of the stadium before full-time.
Potter’s position is understood to be safe for now but he has been told results must improve immediately if he is to last into the autumn.
He signed a two-and-a-half year deal in January but has lost 11 of his 21 games in charge, giving him a win rate of just 23.8 per cent.
Speaking after the Chelsea loss, the 50-year-old admitted he was ‘under pressure all the time in these jobs’ but insisted he retained the backing of his squad.
‘It was too easy to score against us so I take responsibility and have to do better,’ Potter said. ‘The players are honest and want to do more than they are at the moment.’
Bowen, meanwhile, had already gone public with his anger after the Chelsea thrashing, saying he was ‘fuming’ with his team-mates.
‘We have to look at ourselves,’ he told Sky Sports. ‘The manager has come in but it’s the players on the pitch. We are not doing basic football well enough. We’ve conceded eight goals in two games.’
West Ham, bottom of the Premier League after two games, now face Nottingham Forest on Sunday in what already feels a crunch clash for Potter.
After the international break, a daunting run of fixtures against Tottenham, Crystal Palace, Everton and Arsenal follows.
Defeat at Molineux not only ended their hopes of a cup run but also amplified the growing discord between players and supporters, epitomised by the scenes involving their captain at the final whistle.
