Rio Ferdinand delivered a positive verdict on Manuel Pellegrini’s reportedly imminent arrival and revealed what West Ham needed in the process.
The BT Sports pundit and former Hammers defender praised the former Manchester City boss’ CV but suggested that it was different kettle of fish being in charge of the Hammers.
“Listen he’s got pedigree, someone who is actually been at big clubs, managed big players, big personality, so he has got the main ingredients to take care of people in that sense,” said Ferdinand in an interview with talkSPORT’s Ian Abrahams, uploaded to SoundCloud.
“But whether he can do it at West Ham, it’s a different kettle of fish, different proposition there.
“It’s a club that needs some guidance, needs someone leading from the front to give that message across, translated from the players to the fans what’s going.
“There needs to be a strategy to be worked out at the club.”
Claret and Hugh, the reliable Hammers news site, reported on Monday that the Hammers could appoint Manuel Pellegrini as their next manager within the next 48 hours.
OPINION
Ferdinand certainly knows the Hammers well, having risen through the club’s youth system all the way to featuring in the first-team. The current BT Sports pundit knows the expectations surrounding the club and what a manager must do in order to make supporters happy, aside from the obvious. It’s nice to hear Ferdinand issue such a positive verdict on Pellegrini, even if he suggests doing well as manager at the Hammers is different compared to other clubs. Hopefully the experienced manager is the one arriving at the London Stadium shortly to sit in the dugout as all signs suggest he will be a success at the club. However only time will tell as it’s hard to know whether any manager will be successful in the Premier League at this point, even if they’ve achieved success in the past. While Pellegrini may have won England’s top-flight with Manchester City, every season the league evolves to be a different challenge and the manager will have to adapt to some changes that have occurred during his time away.
