After a season of publicly displayed anger, West Ham fans inside the Transfer Tavern were excited when they heard that Manuel Pellegrini has been appointed manager.

He’s won the Premier League with Manchester City but more importantly, he built Malaga and Valencia up from mid-table minnows to Champions League quarter-finalists while playing exciting football.

Pellegrini told West Ham’s official website “I always play attacking football”, and that will be music to Hammers’ ears, but first the Chilean must go and buy the players to make a success of his system. Premier League managers don’t get much time and nobody knows this more than ex-Crystal Palace manager Frank de Boer who tried to implement a new style at Selhurst Park.

As we know, that turned sour pretty quickly, and he was sacked after four games and 77 days in charge, so Pellegrini certainly won’t want a repeat of this.

That mess can be avoided by the West Ham board backing Pellegrini in the transfer market to make sure has the players he needs.

The window has started well with the signing of centre back Issa Diop for £22m and Lukasz Fabianski for £7m, and now the Daily Star have reported they are in talks to sign tricky forward Bernard, albeit on a free transfer.

Gazzetta dello Sport claim West Ham are in talks to sign Lazio forward Felipe Anderson but are only prepared to pay £30m, while the Italian side are holding out for £40m.

This will be a major test of West Ham’s commitment to the Pellegrini project, so it’s time for the board to put their money where their mouth is.

They can choose to back their manager and show the fans why they left the beloved Upton Park or risk another season of protests, abuse and riots in the Transfer Tavern.