West Ham United legend Tony Cottee is never backward in coming forward when it comes to his old club.
West Ham United legend Tony Cottee seems to be tying himself in knots over Manuel Pellegrini.
Four defeats from the opening four Premier League games saw the Hammers and their new manager under early pressure.
Pellegrini was given £100 million to spend in the summer and brought in 10 players, nine for the first team.
That saw expectations rise.
Most fans were knowledgeable enough to accept it would take time for the Chilean to implement his system, style and tactics in East London.
So many supporters were disappointed when club legend Tony Cottee’s knee starting jerking just four games in after originally backing the new manager on the club’s official website.
Days after Pellegrini’s unveiling in June, Cottee was waxing lyrical about the new manager on the club’s official website.
“We need nice, strong leadership now and someone that can really get hold of things and take the club forward,” Cottee told whufc.com.
“Pellegrini can do that.”
But just four games in Cottee had changed his tune completely, saying the club should have stuck with David Moyes (The Mirror).
“We had someone at the club in David Moyes who could have done that but no, the board decide to go and choose someone else,” Cottee said.
“I just don’t understand the appointment (of Pellegrini). I didn’t understand the appointment at the time. We should have kept David Moyes.
“It is alright saying Pellegrini is a great manager but when you are managing Manchester City and have the best players in the world it is a lot easier than coming to West Ham and having to motivate the players. I don’t get that impression that he is going to motivate and inspire the players.”
Cottee was left with egg on his face when West Ham beat bogey side Everton 3-1 at Goodison Park, were unlucky not to emerge victorious from a superb 0-0 draw against unbeaten Chelsea, beat Macclesfield by a record 8-0 scoreline in the cup and then deservedly beat Manchester United 3-1 to turn things around.
Defeat to Brighton last time out has tempered building excitement but in truth the Hammers should have won the game comfortably despite only really turning up for the second half.
But it seems Cottee has seen enough to perform yet another U-turn on project Pellegrini in a new interview with the club’s official website.
“It’s been a strange start to the season,” Cottee told whufc.com.
“I said publicly that I was worried after four games, with the team having not picked up a single point, but it’s also right to remember that the club went through a transitional summer.
“There hasn’t been a summer where as much has changed in one go, in terms of manager, coaching staff and players. It was a real upheaval and a reason behind the slow start, for sure.
“Everyone was hoping things would start to gel and they did so following a great performance at Everton. The team had a slight setback at Brighton, but a draw would have been a fair result. If anyone was going to score the second goal, it was going to be us. If we’d got the draw, you could say the second eighth of the season was really good!”
Everyone at West Ham loves Cottee, a Hammers goalscoring legend.
And fans understand he is one of them and is as entitled to his opinion as any of them.
But as a high profile club icon he must also be more aware just how unhelpful his kneejerk comments can be.
Let’s hope Pellegrini’s side do not give him reason to change his mind again in the near future.
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