By Hugh Southon
What a difference a year makes!
With the international break upon us it’s as well to cast our mind back 12 months and recall four defeats which had some questioning the choice of Manuel Pellegrini as manager.
In fact, I can’t remember a summer or international break since starting this website when there haven’t been massive moans and groans on all manner of fronts – many of them often justified.
But this time last year, defeats by Liverpool, Bournemouth, Arsenal and Wolves had scared many to death but here we are now having lost just one game despite many believing our summer net spend left much to be desired.
International breaks so soon after the start of the season are a shocking irritant and with the Hammers form going from awful in the first game to outstanding last weekend we could have done without it.
Even the fact that Declan Rice will pull on an England shirt does little to reduce the annoyance of the suspension of the Premier League.
But it does give us time to reflect on Pellegrini’s reign at the club and his ability to cover all the bases as he moves into his second season.
Frankly, I have given up looking for errors in his management style because he defies the normal criticisms at virtually every turn.
Even the latest performance by Arthur Masuaku – a regular for criticism – showed that this is a player who at his best fits the style the boss wants to play.
Pellegrini’s ability to squeeze cash from the board and ensure that his chosen director of football Mario Husillos conducts the transfer business is a massive departure from where the club has been in the past.
As mentioned elsewhere, the manager’s determination to keep the best youngsters firmly under his supervision is another huge plus.
He and his squad have made a great start to a second season under his management which many – rightly – have described as critical.
He is refusing to give a points target whilst my original prediction was 70. With Seb Haller having arrived and Felipe Anderson beginning to look the finished article I see no reason to amend that.
Give it another 12 months and there will be another huge question exercising our minds if things go on like this: whether he will want another contract?
One thing’s for sure – we’re a very different club these days to the one we have become used to down the years and big congratulations to the board for moving in on Pellegrini.
COYI
Pelligrini is West Hams best ever signing and we should be entirely greatful to the Board for getting him in . I find some of his decisions hard to understand , but then again I’m not a Manager and wouldn’t dream of trying to tell him what he should do . We have improved a great deal but we must keep our feet firmly on the ground . Considering the fact we are not a megga rich club I think we should be more than reasonably satisfied with what we have .
A Top six finish is something all Fans would love to see . Are we guilty of expecting too much ?, I don’t think so in reality . After all that was the plan when the Board signed MP
COYHAMMERS
On the subject of contracts we should probably consider offering him one before the January window, Ferguson used to run a four year cycle, there are few managers that you would trust to do that but MP is imho someone you can trust long term. So initially offer a 2 year extension to take him up to 5 years and plan from there.
I’ve been thinking for a while that we need to give Pelli an improved contract to keep him for at least another 2 years after his initial 3 year stint is up. He is a game changer in the way he attracts world class players and can squeeze funds out of the owners. If he leaves and we end up with another Bilic or Moyse we’ll be back to square one. IN PELLI WE TRUST
COYI ⚒⚒
Setting points targets is foolish. So much depends on injuries. Our target should be to achieve the best we can with the resources available. Beating Watford and Norwich was great but let’s not get carried away
Pelle & Hus should be our next long term contracts. The change from the top has been incredible, I still sometimes scratch my head at his substitutions but in the most part the transformation from retirement home to young exciting footballers joining us for footballing reasons is incredible to witness. The football on display on Saturday was simply wonderful to watch. Give it a few more transfer windows with a little spend (doesn’t need a lot) and a few tweaks and a couple of Hus gems no one has heard of and we will be pushing that top 6 all the way. The fact Lanzini & Rice have recently signed long term and Diop has come out saying how happy he is at the club and doesn’t want to move, coupled with the capture of Haller this has the spine of one incredible team for years to come. This is bearing fruit of what was promised when we moved, the stadium issues are being dealt with and the relationship with the stadium owners is becoming less of an issue. (as shown in the use by the ladies team at the end of the month)
All in all I am one happy happy hammer. COYI
Spot on Mauel Pellegrini is a class act.