Manuel answers ringmaster’s call
THE real Greatest Showman took centre ring in the West Ham circus and proclaimed to the fans that Manuel Pellegrini was the answer to all their dreams.
The original Prince of Humbug himself, PT Barnum – played by Hugh Jackman in the recent box-office smash musical – could have only applauded in admiration at the hyperbole surrounding the £7million-a-year appointment of a 64-year-old from a club midway down the China Super League.
“We have listened to fans who asked us to be ambitious,” co-owner David Sullivan proclaimed, holding out his metaphorical top hat and flicking out the tails of his ornate scarlet coat.
“We hope they agree it is an exciting appointment.”
Hence in his interview to the club’s own website – the 21st century equivalent of a billboard – Sullivan heralded Pellegrini as “one of the world’s most respected football coaches”.
And there was more in a helpful introduction to the new manager posted shortly after his appointment.
Pellegrini, it turns out, is “one of the finest managerial minds in Premier League history” and “his track record throughout a 30-year managerial career is truly outstanding”.
“But that is just one of the reasons West Ham supporters are so excited,” West Ham supporters were told.
After a “storied playing career in his homeland” – when he was “good enough to earn” 28 caps for Chile – he “crossed the Atlantic Ocean to join Spanish side Villarreal”.
The website was non-specific with regards to the size of his rowing boat.
In 2009 he was appointed manager of Real Madrid for one season in which they “amassed a then-record 96 points in La Liga”.
A record for Real, that is, not for Barcelona, who finished above them with 99 that year.
After three years at Manchester City, during which he lifted the Premier League title at the end of his debut season in 2014, he had “a successful two-year spell in Chinese football”, failing to qualify for the AFC Champions League in his first season having broken a number of transfer records and then leaving Hubei China after four wins in 11.
Now he has become the 17th manager in West Ham’s “illustrious history” and it was time for him to speak for himself, as the website put it, “of his vision for a team which will enthuse the Claret and Blue Army throughout his tenure”.
“Every time I spoke with the owner Mister Sullivan (sic) I always had the feeling that he wants me,” said the 64-yearold. “West Ham had a difficult season last season and I hope that next season we are going to play football that will delight the fans. I always play attacking football and we must try to reach important targets season.” What could go wrong?
As Jackman’s character says in the recent biopic, “Hyperbole is not the worst crime”, and West Ham have undoubtedly, for a price, landed themselves with a manager whose CV is strong, if not quite the stellar document Mister Sullivan and his website cohorts would have us believe.
Pellegrini has shown he is a capable manager even with a limited budget and that he is a winner.
Even without embellishment, his achievements in Spain with Villarreal and Malaga are laudable – genuinely achieving the levels of success with a limited budget which West Ham crave.
The irony is West Ham’s achievement in attracting the understated Chilean to east London needs no sugarcoating.
But with the whole London Stadium project in danger of unravelling before them, perhaps the ones who most need convincing that Pellegrini is the answer are the West Ham owners themselves. in the possibly