As the travelling West Ham fans trudged out of Turf Moor following their 3-0 defeat to Burnley last Saturday, the mood was incredibly despondent.
The mutual feeling of ‘He needs to go before its too late’ set over the visitors. Of course, they were alluding to Manuel Pellegrini, who has been under intense scrutiny this season and it seems like West Ham fans have lost their patience with the former Malaga and Manchester City boss.
Derisory Form
West Ham have been in dire form of late going almost two months since they last won a game, a 2-0 home victory over Manchester United on the 22nd September, when fans would have been forgiven for thinking a place in Europe was on the horizon.
Five losses and two draws in their seven games since then, including a 4-0 loss to League One Oxford United in the Carabao Cup third round, has left the fans’ patience running thin with their Chilean Manager. Irons fan, Kevin Parmenter shared his views on the situation:
Has To Go
“Pellegrini is absolutely the wrong person to take the club forward. The team lacks pace and shape and the minute we go a goal behind, we lose heart completely.
“Ever since the Oxford defeat Pellegrini has lost the fans. He only has one way of playing and even when it’s obvious it isn’t working he doesn’t attempt anything different. His transfers haven’t worked for the majority. He passionately wanted Roberto as his back up goalkeeper. Having seen his recent performances you have to question that.
“He plays players out of position and doesn’t seem able to motivate them or get a performance out of them.”
These quotes make for grim reading if you’re a keen follower of the Hammers. The 3-2 home loss to Newcastle on 2nd November was maybe the lowest point of their league campaign so far when they could have easily been more than 3-0 down in the game and every time Newcastle surged forward, you could sense the fear at the heart of the Hammers defence.
Who’s next?
With whispers of Pellegrini’s departure rife, it also has fans speculating over who will take the reigns if the Chilean does leave.
“With regard to bringing someone else in, I’d like to see Rafael Benitez given the job,” said Parmenter.
“We have good players but they need managing. I think Benitez would be able to do that easily and he has a good track record. Personally I thought David Moyes was harshly treated as well and did well enough in steering us away from trouble. I wouldn’t have a major problem if he came back. But certainly, Benitez would be my first choice”.
With their dire performance in the league, one has to believe Pellegrini is on borrowed time and as the atmosphere at the London Stadium becomes more and more hostile, the owners have a difficult decision on what is next for the historic football club.
