The former Manchester City manager certainly has a top pedigree, having
managed other major European clubs like Real Madrid and Malaga. One thing for
sure is that he won’t have come across anything quite like the set up at West
Ham.
Pellegrini will take over a squad of players that have under-performed
all season - just escaping the drop to the Championship. He will expect big
money to bolster what he has, a question that he surely will have thrashed out
with the club’s owners David Sullivan and David Gold, before taking on the
position.
It is widely believed among the West Ham fans that the failure to invest
on the playing side has contributed hugely to the under-performance of the team
in the Premiership for the past two seasons. When incomings are balanced
against outgoings, West Ham have spent virtually nothing for a couple of
seasons.
The players they signed last summer proved to be a mixed bag. Top scorer
Marko Arnautovic proved an excellent signing, once David Moyes took over as
manager. The Scotsman really got the best of out Arnautovic, who did not perform
under previous manager Slaven Bilic.
Former Manchester City, defender Pablo Zabaleta was another success.
Signed on a free transfer from City, he was one of the clubs most consistent
performers – he is though the wrong side of 30.
On the minus side, Joe Hart cost the side valuable points, notably in
the run in games against Stoke and Burnley. He was on a high wage and really
did not work out.
Mexican Javier Hernandez was wasted. He scored eight goals, which was
still a good return, given the limited opportunities provided. It maybe one of
Pellegrini’s first tasks to try to persuade Hernandez to stay at the club.
Pellegrini has some good, if seemingly injury prone players, available
to him. The emerging Declan Rice and Arthur Masuaka in defence, veterans
Winston Reid and Angelo Ogbonna, captain Mark Noble and Manuel Lanzini.
Moyes also found new ways to use defender Aaron Creswell, playing him as
part of a central defensive three, as well as turning him into a free kick
specialist. The returning Michel Antonio would also give the new manager some
much needed pace and power.
On the minus side, surely it is time to call time on the highly paid and
injury prone Andy Carroll?
Pellegrini though needs to recruit some quality right across the team.
At the back, midfield and in attack, new players are needed.
The fans are not happy with the board, as was most notably shown at the
time of the very public protests during the Burnley home game in March. They
blame the owners for failing to invest and many are unhappy about ever leaving
the Boleyn ground.
The owners have much to do to try to right the situation. At the moment
they preside over a club that gets bigger home gates that Spurs and Chelsea,
yet regularly flirts with relegation. On the pitch the club has been going
backwards since it left the Boleyn two years ago.
It looks to the fans like the owners are just using the club as a cash
cow, taking out profits without investing in players. The owners don’t help the
situation with their strange PR operations. The social media activity and
newspapers columns have caused all sorts of problems both on and off the pitch.
The owners say they have listened to the fans, taken what they have said
on board and things will change. But the fans have heard this so many times
before. The manner in which outgoing manager David Moyes was treated, suggests
little has been learned.
It is as if this listening rhetoric is deployed at time of crisis.
However, as soon as the storm is perceived to have past, its same as usual.
The board at West Ham certainly need to step right back from the playing
side if Pellgrini is to succeed. Whether they will remains to be seen. It is
thought Moyes wanted to take much greater control of how the club operated but
this did not appeal. His reference in his final press conference to change and the
opposition of some to it does not bode well.
Moyes did a good job for the club, steadying things and securing
\Premiership safety. He also transformed Arnautovic, brought on Masuaku and
developed players like Cresswell and Rice. Indeed, he did more in six months to bring through
young players than has been seen at the club for a decade.
On the debit side, he failed to utilise Hernandez and saw the team
beaten by four too many times.
So Manuel Pellegirini has quite a job on if he is to succeed at West
Ham. He will have to win the fans over, as well as manage the machinations of
the owners. He is certainly a manager with a good pedigree but will that be
enough to succeed at what has been described as one of the most dysfunctional
clubs in the Premiership?
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