Zaba wins a landslide vote

West Ham and Manuel Pellegrini have been told to give Pablo Zabaleta a new contract in the summer such has been his impact at the club.

The right back – signed on a free from Manchester City two years ago – has been a tremendous servant to the club since his arrival, turning in top performance after top performance.

He has recently been replaced at right back by Ryan Fredericks as he headed towards the 28 games he needs to complete if he is to trigger an automatic renewal of his deal for the next year.

And with every game that passes while Fredericks is in the role his chances of doing so lessen and as a result ClaretandHugh launched a poll asking whether the fans believed he should be handed a new deal regardless of the clause.

And the Argentine veteran received almost total backing in a poll which recorded the biggest majority of any we have run.

Over 1500 voted with 91.09 per cent saying “give him a new deal” and only 8.91 opposed.