He came to us with his mane of flowing grey hair. He oozed quiet confidence. This was to be our season and the Championship beckoned.
Reality bit immediately. We lost the first four games under his stewardship. After that performances went from average to poor. I think Pellegrini’s problem lay with his English. Have a look at his post match interview. My son asked me what he was actually saying.
‘We had to play the whole game in another way, the way we did it.’
‘We lose the confidence and the trust to play and now we are involved in a mess and we must find the best way to resolve’
My four year old grand-daughter could do better. He definitely has the worst English of any manager in any league. When he was offered the job, he must have said , ’That is very good offer. I try my best. You have confidence, the fans have confidence and the players have confidence. Is that Euros or Pounds and will it be cash?’
It is almost incomprehensible that a man who is being paid millions obviously can’t convey confidence and tactics. His formations and substitutions must have come from ’Football for Dummies’
But it would be wrong to blame Pellegrini for all our problems. I think they started with our move to the London Stadium. Our first game was a friendly against Juventus. After a Juventus goal, the commentator said ,’ It’s like shelling peas’. And that would be a good description of the second Leicester goal on Saturday.
Then, we went on to the embarrassment of the Europa League. Problems were there and they never went away.
The Olympic Stadium is a giant mausoleum. The sound disappears into the ether. At Upton Park, the opposition could be intimidated. Not here. By the time a chant starts in one part of the stadium, it has fizzled by the time it gets to the opposite side.
The opposition must love it. In addition, there is the problem of the play being so far from the crowd. No interaction and the away side must think they are playing an exhibition match.
It is going to take some kind of genius to turn things round. We seem to be sinking like a stone. Even Rice has been affected and put in an error strewn performance on Saturday. Making him captain was a stupid decision.
Saturday’s performance against a Leicester second eleven was a disgrace. Fredericks could be seen trotting back to defence when we lost the ball. Lanzini is a shadow of his former self. Mazuaku is brilliant in flashes, but a disaster otherwise. Antonio is not a centre forward. Sanchez, Snodgrass, Fornals are average and Ajeti is worse than that.
We are all in a lift which is going down not up.