Jarrod Bowen apologises as he’s held back by teammates after argument with West Ham fans

Jarrod Bowen has issued an apology for confronting West Ham fans in the immediate aftermath of their Carabao Cup defeat.

The struggling Hammers were beaten 3-2 by Wolves at Molineux despite leading 2-1 with eight minutes left to play.

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Jorgen Strand Larsen scored two goals in three minutes for Wolves to send them into the third round, with West Ham winless in all three of their matches since the season started.

Tensions seemingly boiled over at full-time when Bowen and his teammates went over to the away end at Molineux to clap the travelling fans.

However, the club captain appeared to be irked by something said in his direction from the West Ham end.

Bowen started to walk towards them before Everton target Tomas Soucek put his arm around him, with other teammates, including goalkeeper Alphonse Areola getting involved.

Stewards then stepped in to prevent him from going nearer to the fans, with the reason for his anger not yet known.

What happened?

On the talkSPORT show, The Sports Bar, West Ham fan Kieran told hosts Jason Cundy and Jamie O’Hara it was much ado about nothing having been there and saw what happened first hand.

“When you’re struggling, things do tend to get taken out of proportion,” he said. “There were some cross words [spoken] but it wasn’t as big as it appears on social media.

“[Bowen] is just frustrated because we’ve had a really good pre-season. Everything in-house seems good with the team and it just feels like the star of last season under [previous manager] Julen Lopetegui.”

What has Bowen said?

Shortly after, Bowen took to his Instagram story and said: “Apologies to the fans for tonight’s reaction.

“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 incident will only add to the pressure on head coach Graham Potter, who talkSPORT understands remains safe for now.

Potter spoke to talkSPORT afterwards and when asked if he has spoken to Bowen, he said: “No, not really.

@jarrodbowen Instagram

“He’s obviously hurting because he’s given everything in the game. He’s the captain, he cares a lot about the club, he cares a lot about the team.

“You can see the players are working hard, you can see the players are giving everything. I thought today, there was no lack of effort at all from the boys, and it is what it is.

“It’s just an exchange of views. Obviously our supporters, of course, are hurting as well, and they obviously care about the club and want us to win, so it’s a pretty normal reaction, really.”

Bowen’s future at West Ham

Having scored 74 goals and assisted 52 other for West Ham, there is a wide belief that Bowen deserves to make the next step.

Speaking on talkSPORT Drive before the game began, former Premier League striker Darren Bent believes the winger will be dreaming of playing at the top of European football.

He said: “I think he will definitely think to himself, ‘I should be playing Champions League football’.

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“I mean, he’s 28 years old, so he’s in his pomp, but it’s not like he’s 25, 26 going into it.”

Bent added: “When you’re looking at his numbers for West Ham, in totality, have been pretty good.

“He got 14 last year in total, 20 the year before that, 30 in the year before that, 18 in the year before that.

“He’s been consistent for West Ham, but it’s going to get to a point where serious conversations have to happen.”

Bowen, who assisted for Lucas Paqueta on the night, scored the winning goal in West Ham’s Conference League final win in 2023.

He was named as the club’s Player of the Year for the 2023/24 season.

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The former Hull City man has been an ever-present figure in the side and one of their greatest players in recent history.

However, the latest defeat means West Ham will not be playing in the third round of the Carabao Cup for the first time since 2015.

West Ham’s next outing sees them face Nottingham Forest in the Premier League at the City Ground on Sunday.

The east Londoners are bottom of the table having conceded eight goals in their opening two league matches, which they lost 3-0 and 5-1.

What have the fans said about Potter?

Potter replaced Lopetgui in January, with the board deciding to relieve the previous manager of his duties after eight months in charge and winning just six times.

While some may not like what they’ve seen, Jordan phoned the Sports Bar to make his feelings on the manager’s bosses clear.

“My biggest issue is the board,” he said after watching the Wolves loss and thinking about a poor transfer window that has seen the club sell Mohammed Kudus to rivals Tottenham.

“I think a lot of West Ham fans are thinking that way to be honest. [The board] are so out of touch with this fanbase – I just don’t know what the hell they are doing.”

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