Pellegrini has saved West Ham Gazillions with his astute Man Management

West Ham were one of the big spenders of last Summer splashing out over £100 million to strengthen a squad that was stale and lacking in the creativity needed to give fans their beloved 'West Ham Way' of football.

David Moyes had done a good job in steadying the ship and had cleverly repositioned Marko Arnautovic into a central role. However, the board decided that they needed to think big and brought in one of the World's top managers in Manuel Pellegrini.

The Chilean endured a difficult start with four straight defeats to welcome him back into the ruthless environment of the Premiership. But even as the media swarmed, sensing a possible sacking, Pelle stood firm about his plans and his style.

Wind forward to December and the Hammers are rocking - looking at possibly seizing sixth place by the end of Christmas and with a squad that is full of performing talent.

Few managers could have handled losing the likes of Lanzini, Reid and Yarmolenko, but Pellegrini has helped underperforming players like Michail Antonio and Robert Snodgrass rediscover their mojo. Both are looking back to their best and scoring goals having weathered confidence problems in front of the West Ham faithful.

Patiently, he has reintroduced them to the squad while maintaining a ruthlessness around selection. In short, Pellegrini rewards good performances and is ultra quick in dealing with substandard play. He is one of the few Premiership managers who has the courage to replace players at half time if things are not working out and has turned a number of games around with astute decision making.

Add to that the remarkable growth of Rice and Diangana and its pretty clear that Pelle has boosted the value of our squad considerably. The whole Premiership want to try and prise Anderson and Diop from the London Stadium but you get the sense that Pellegrini's relationship with his players is strong enough to allow them to stay at the London Stadium and to believe in the West Ham story - one that looks set to rise and rise in 2019!

With the January window about to open who would have thought in early September that the Hammers would be mostly disinterested in bringing in new players (apart from a Midfielder and a right back perhaps!). We didn't get to see much of Carlos Sanchez before his unfortunate injury but given how all the other signings have worked out you would speculate that he will be another diamond!

Happy days!!!

COYI!!!