Pellegrini now knows why he faces a massive task

Manuel Pellegrini yesterday discovered precisely the size of the job he faces at the club over the next two years!

As written earlier, he has to take much of the responsibility for the defeat against Everton, but if we stop there then the full picture disappears from view.

It became crystal clear AGAIN yesterday that too many years of buying cut price players, and with a thin squad in place anyway, the manager has a big problem or three.

Those who have argued this case in the past are right. We’ve done it on the cheap for too long and there really is no place permanently for such Angelo Ogbonna, Pedro Obiang, Lucas Perez and sadly, it has to be said, Michail Antonio who has become a shadow of the player we once so admired.

That we have no adequate replacement for Mark Noble who was ruled out yesterday after his grandmother passed away is criminal and of course inevitably his age throws a question mark over the skipper .

The same can be said of Samir Nasri, fine player he is at his best, but rising 32 and seemingly with injury problems.

Zaba was a brilliant signing on a free but with end of career beckoning whilst remaining capable of keeping another free signing Ryan Fredericks out speaks volumes.

I reckon the manager has pretty  well made his position clear on him, Obiang, Perez and Antonio  who together cost the mighty sum of  £13 million!

There are of course other issues with Arnautovic the biggest of them. Do we stick or twist?  I say twist.

We have to keep everything crossed that Pellegrini and Mario Husillos have some gems hidden away such as Fabian Balbuena but beyond that it seems to me that the  bad old days have to be put behind us and  serious money spent again.