OPINION
This is not how West Ham’s season was supposed to pan out.
After spending big over the summer on a number of eye-catching names, the Hammers were surely expecting to be making a sustained bid for European football this term, but instead, they find themselves on the back of a run that has seen them pick up just one win in 10 matches, and 16th in the table.
As such, it is perhaps understandable that there are serious questions marks over Manuel Pellegrini’s future.
The Chilean is hanging by a thread at this stage, with reliable club source ExWHUemployee even going as far as to suggest that he has one game left to save his job in east London.
And if Pellegrini is given the shove, then it is understood, as per Football Insider, that the Hammers could turn to Under-23s coach Steve Potts and Under-18s coach Kevin Keen to take charge until a new permanent appointment is made.
Now, theoretically, there’s nothing wrong with that course of action.
Plenty of other sides have appointed interims before West Ham, and plenty more will do it in the future too. Even right now, Arsenal and Everton are operating under temporary management.
But the fact of the matter is that for the Irons to pull the trigger on Pellegrini without an alternative in place would be a step backwards.
Sure, they can’t keep sleepwalking towards a disaster, but equally, they can’t afford to jump into the abyss without a working parachute.
No offence to Potts and Keen, who are both talented coaches in their own right, but this should be an absolute last resort.
