They’ve already lost all four of their Premier League engagements so far, but West Ham could go on losing forever more and Manuel Pellegrini would still walk away with his contract paid up in full.
This is according to Matt Hughes in The Times, who reports that the Hammers were so eager to get Pellegrini on board that in their haste they added a clause into his three-year deal that, in the event of his premature dismissal, the 64-year-old is still entitled to the full whack (around £15million) unless both sides come to an agreement over a severance package.
No specific termination clause was included, which means the brilliant Davids Gold and Sullivan have apparently scuttled themselves with zero leverage.
Quite what was so impressive about Pellegrini’s results at Hebei China Fortune that such a deal was struck will likely remain a mystery, but those are the extravagantly cushy terms the Chilean was offered regardless.
As such, West Ham have ensnared themselves in a predicament of their own making where, fundamentally and contractually, there is no monetary jeopardy when it comes to the manager’s position.
They win; he wins. They continue to lose; he still wins. Disaster capitalism is all the rage these days.
The club also spent close to £100million in the summer transfer window to bolster Pellegrini’s squad as was seen fit, with all that carefully considered investment producing zero points, ten goals conceded and just two goals scored.
“I don’t think it is a bad start, it is a very bad start,” Pellegrini groaned after Saturday’s 1-0 home defeat to newly-promoted Wolves. “We must be very worried.”
True enough, but then again deep down some are more worried than others, we suspect.