Managerial limbo at West Ham

Always a dangerous business taking a five-day trip to the Lake District where everything is offline. Returned to find West Ham have lost one manager and might be on the point of appointing an A-list manager in Manuel Pellegrini or, less likely, Rafa Benitez. 

Firstly, David Moyes did a decent job and was treated somewhat shabbily. He'd turned Arnautovic into a striker, clamped down on discipline in instances like those of Antonio and Carroll and done what he was asked to do in keeping West Ham up and ultimately finishing a respectable 13th. Yes, he was defensive-minded and very slow to use subs, but it would have been interesting to see what he could do with his own signings. He would probably have taken us on to be a top eight club in the fashion of Everton, which would have provided some much-needed stability. 

It seemed David Gold wanted Moyes to remain as manager, but it's Sullivan (and Brady?) who now have the main say. When he discovered that Shakhtar Donetsk gaffer Paulo Fonseca was round at Sullivan's gaff having talks, Moyes told the board to stuff their job. Ultimately Fonescu used the episode to get a better deal at his existing club. Moyes' preference for ending the culture of leaks and wanting control of transfers might also have counted against him. He should have been told to his face if the club no longer wanted him and the whole thing has been handled with a predictable lack of class. 

Dumping a middling manager is a high-risk strategy unless we can get the fabled A-list gaffer. Rafa Benitez would be classy (if also a little defensive) but has a history of complaining in public about troublesome chairman and would demand £100 million to spend and cost £6 million in compensation which might out off our parsimonious board. No arguing with what he achieved at Liverpool and Newcastle though. 

The latest likely gaffer appears to be Manuel Pellegrini, who earned he nickname of 'This Charming Man' at City and is a dignified operator. He's won the league at Man City and has done great things at Villareal and Real Madrid. At 64 he's a little old, but he would certainly be an exciting appointment as long as he's capable of working with an interfering chairman. 

And if that doesn't happen we should surely look at promising younger bosses like Eddie Howe (whom Nigel's mum thinks is a nice young man) and Huddersfield's Wagner who would certainly be our most musical boss. 

The next few days could be vital in the history of West Ham United. Unless it's all an elaborate bluff and we're just waiting for Tony Pulis…