Manuel Pellegrini is doing a fine job turning West Ham United into genuine Premier League force.
The Chilean took over from David Moyes last summer and lifted the gloom that was threatening to swallow up the London Stadium and all those within it.
There have been a few bumps in the road as you would expect with such wholesale changes to a football club.
Indeed West Ham started off in reverse, four straight defeats to start Pellegrini’s tenure giving the doubters plenty of earlier ammunition.
Hammers looking the real deal
Fast forward a year, though, and West Ham are starting to look the real deal.
The 2-0 victory over Manchester United on Sunday means the Hammers are unbeaten in six. And they sit level on points with fourth-placed Arsenal as the early table starts to take shape.
The ease with which West Ham dealt with the Red Devils furthered enhanced the club’s burgeoning top six credentials.
West Ham is a project for Pellegrini, not just a flash in the pan.
He signed a three-year contract in May last year and is already fast approaching the halfway stage of that deal.
Reports in the summer linked the former Real Madrid and Manchester City boss with a surprise move to Barcelona (Daily Mail).
West Ham fans want superb Pellegrini for the long haul
West Ham fans have seen enough to know he is the man they want to continue building their famous club.
But co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold have no plans to extend Pellegrini’s deal in the near future.
That’s according to a new report from fellow Hammers site Claret & Hugh.
The website claims to have a top level source at West Ham, believed to be co-owner David Sullivan.
And C&H states that it is ‘very unlikely the board will deviate from their safety-first approach of leaving the decision (over the manager’s contract) until towards the end of the final year’.
No new contract… maybe ever
The report claims an insider made it clear by email that the club will not be buckling to fan pressure by rewarding Pellegrini with a new deal anytime soon.
“The board never rush these things – their modus oporandi is well known,” the insider told C&H.
“(We) love what we are seeing at the moment but it’s almost certain there will be no talks until towards the end of next year.”
The report also claims that Pellegrini could well decide he wants to return home to Chile at the end of his contract – by which stage he would be 68-years-old – after many years away from his family.
Let’s just enjoy it while it lasts and hope Pellegrini remains to build a lasting legacy at West Ham.
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