As they made their way down the stairs of Pudding Mill Lane station, a group of West Ham supporters heading to protest passed by the ABBA Voyage arena, with the tune of SOS floating out from a nearby establishment.

‘Where are those happy days? They seem so hard to find.’

Just a few hundred yards more brought them closer to the London Stadium, where fellow fans had gathered to express who they hold responsible for their grievances.

With banners raised, they sang and made sure their voices were heard. They accused Sullivan and Brady of ‘lies, lies, lies’ to the melody of Slade’s Cum on Feel the Noize. As they marched, they pointed towards the London Stadium, lamenting that they ‘sold our soul for this s***hole’. Their demands were clear: they wanted their club back and called for Sullivan and Brady to step down.

By the end of the game, however, the questions had turned to whether another senior figure would be the one to lose their job.

Graham Potter faced chants of ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’ and taunts of ‘you’re getting sacked in the morning’ after another lackluster defeat put him at risk of losing his job.

Potter is under enormous pressure and appeared almost resigned to his fate after an eighth league match without victory at the London Stadium, marking four consecutive defeats for the first time since Manuel Pellegrini’s final four home games before his dismissal in 2019.

This week, senior sources maintained that Potter still had the board’s support, but speculation is already underway, with potential replacements being considered, including former Hammers manager Slaven Bilic and ex-Nottingham Forest coach Nuno Espirito Santo.

‘I have no reason to think not,’ said Potter, when asked if he still had the full support of the board. ‘But I understand the environment, I understand the results. I have no complaints at all about the support that we’ve had, from supporters from everyone at the club.’

The pre-match protests came a fortnight after West Ham’s fan advisory board, who represent more than 25,000 supporters, issued a vote of no confidence in the club’s board over the failure to build on their Conference League triumph, the lack of transfer ambition, and the dreadful matchday experience at the London Stadium.

‘A world class stadium for a world class team,’ was the famous phrase uttered by Brady.

‘You’re going to remember this day,’ one fan said to seven-year-old Charlie, stood alongside his dad holding up one half of a banner that read: ‘Gold, Brady, Sullivan. Sold us a dream. We are living the nightmare.’

Paul Colborne, the chairman of the club’s largest supporters group Hammers United, organised the protest and frequently boomed into his megaphone wearing his cap with ‘Long live the Boleyn’ on the front.

Prominent supporter Colborne, known as ‘Bubbles’, was banned by West Ham for life in 2018 after he invaded the pitch at the London Stadium and planted a corner flag into the centre circle.

‘They’ve ripped our guts out, they’ve ripped our soul out,’ he declared to cheers from the crowd.

Brady and Sullivan sat in their usual seats in the directors’ box and while they may have not faced the protestors outside the ground, there was no way they could not hear the chants aimed at them midway through the first half.

‘Sack the board’, came the calls from one section of the London Stadium. ‘We want our club back,’ sang another. Palace fans showed their support with their own rendition of ‘You sold your soul for this s***hole,’ before the Hammers replied in kind.

The protestors had made it clear none of this was about the players or manager Graham Potter – ‘back the team, not the regime’ – and had applauded the team bus as it turned past the crowds before the game.

That, however, did not spare the players from the thunderous boos that greeted the half-time whistle after West Ham went in behind thanks to Jean-Philippe Mateta’s opener, a goal which, naturally, came from a corner, the seventh they have conceded from one already this season.

Potter insisted pre-match that West Ham had spent all week defending them on the training ground only for Marc Guehi to nod Palace’s seventh corner of the game against the cross bar and Mateta reacted first to nod it in.

Nor were they spared the booming ones at full-time from the few West Ham fans who had bothered to stay until the end after Tyrick Mitchell had won it for them with a stunning volley after Jarrod Bowen’s headed equaliser from a corner.

Potter was certainly not spared either.

Crystal Palace weren’t at their best but, against this West Ham side, you rarely need to be to extend your unbeaten run to 17 games.

‘I think we played a very good first half, controlling the game,’ said Palace boss Oliver Glasner. ‘In the end it was a deserved win. My only criticism is that we didn’t kill the game when we had the chance.’

While the question of how close Potter is to the end will continue to rage, for those protesting fans they insisted this was just the beginning. They are urging supporters to boycott their next home game against Brentford.

As the protestors drifted off to the pubs or the turnstiles ready for kick-off, a few stayed behind with plastic bags to pick up any remaining litter off the streets. West Ham fans cleaning up their mess. How they wish their club would do the same.