OPINION
West Ham United haven’t exactly been a club associated with stability in recent years, but with a Premier League-winning manager now in tow, you’d think that might be about to change.
It still might, of course, but a report from reliable Hammers news source Claret & Hugh on Saturday has poured a little bit of doubt on that happening.
The report includes a quote from a club insider claiming that the Irons won’t open contract extension talks with manager Manuel Pellegrini until the end of the season, when he’d only have a year left on his current deal.
Now, that’s not as big a deal for managers as it is for players, but it’s still not ideal. Plus, Pellegrini could see the club’s reluctance to extend him mid-season as a sign that they don’t have total faith in his ability to conduct a successful campaign.
With that said, the West Ham supporters are surely scratching their heads at this stalemate. Pellegrini is on a three-year contract at the moment, signed when he joined the club last summer. He is now nearing the halfway stage of that deal.
His first year saw definite progress, but clearly the east London outfit need more evidence of the Chilean’s ability to take the club forward.
There’s nothing wrong with that in theory, but you don’t want to alienate the manager who, with his track record, would instantly draw admiring glances from elsewhere were he to consider leaving the Hammers.
This is a delicate balancing act, and so we can’t criticise the Irons too much just yet. However, they could end up losing their manager if they’re not careful, and that’s not what anyone wants.
