Poor old Winnie hasn’t played a game since he mangled his knee in a heavy defeat against Swansea City in early March. It was a serious injury that ended his season prematurely, pretty awful coming soon after a groin injury that cost him most of January, and made even worse when he suffered swelling in the area during preseason in July which necessitated him going under the knife again to clean it up. He’s only played four competitive games in 2018.

This is the kind of injury that could have unpleasant repercussions for a 30 year old centre-back with a history of niggles and strains. Spending in excess of six months on the sidelines is never a fun task. Spending six months on the sidelines is giving six months of opportunities for somebody else to steal your spot, especially in Premier League football where the margins for error aren’t so much slim as they are extremely expensive and owners don’t tend to play fast and loose with their own dineros just as managers don’t take risks with their own employability. And you know what opens every six months? The next transfer window.

The good news is that Winston’s on the mend. In mid-September West Ham’s Head of Medical Richard Collinge presented an update on the club website: “Winston Reid is in a knee brace and he’s eight weeks down the line from his surgery and making good progress. He’s going to be a little bit longer, but he’s also making good progress.”

The initial prognosis was that he’d be out until a couple weeks into October at the very earliest, so we’re still on track for something like that. Realistically we’ve gotta give him a couple weeks room to breathe on the end of that so don’t anticipate him back before the start of November. Just a matter of doing what the physio says at this point and hoping it’s all good in due course.

In the time that he’s been injured though, a lot has changed at the club they call West Ham United. Not the least of all being his manager. David Moyes didn’t agree on new terms with the club, all a bit shady actually, and he was off out the door while Manuel Pellegrini was tabbed to replace him. Great pedigree for sure, a man who’s won a Premier League title. Also quite typical of West Ham to chase big names from big clubs. The same transfer policy that’s seen them end up with players like Pablo Zabaleta, Alvaro Arbeloa, Joe Hart, Javier Hernandez, Patrice Evra, Simone Zaza and Alex Song… all to varying degrees of success. But that’s what they do so that’s what they did.

With Pellegrini came a whole bunch of new transfers. Much needed transfers considering the issues the Hammers have had with this team. Basically the whole spine needed work and they sure didn’t skimp. Brazilian playmaker Felipe Anderson was signed from Lazio as the new club record transfer. Lukasz Fabianksi joined from relegated Swansea to be the new number one keeper. Jack Wilshere came in on a free (another big club offload), so did Ryan Fredericks. Lucas Perez up front, Andriy Yarmolenko out wide, Carlos Sanchez in midfield… and don’t forget centrebacks Issa Diop and Fabian Balbuena.

It’s the latter pair that are the relevant ones here, obviously. And their fates have kinda reflected those of West Ham’s this season. Last time the Hammers split their CB duties mostly between Winston Reid (1454 minutes), Jose Fonte (690 min), James Collins (1050 min), and Angelo Ogbonna (2880 min) with a few other jokers filling in now and then. Well, these days Reidy’s injured, Fonte and Collins have left the club and Ogbonna’s only started two outta seven Prem games. Instead it’s been Diop and Balbuena hogging all the games. Paraguayan Balbuena went straight in, he’d never played for a club outside of South America before but he’s got plenty of big game experience after his time with Corinthians and didn’t miss much of a beat. However Issa Diop, the 21 year old Frenchman who signed after three seasons in Ligue 1 with Toulouse, had to sit behind Ogbonna for a bit first.

Understandable. There was so much change going on with five new signings starting in WHU’s first Prem game (and another coming off the bench) so there was always going to need to be a transitional period. That was quickly confirmed when Liverpool whacked them 4-0. A 2-1 defeat at home to Bournemouth came with a little more accountability and Ogbonna was promptly dropped for Diop. The rewards were not exactly immediate. Issa Diop scored an own goal as Arsenal beat ‘em 3-1. He scored one at the right end in a League Cup win over AFC Wimbledon a few days later for a bit of confidence but then a 90th minute Adama Traore goal doomed them to a loss against Wolves and their fourth straight defeat to start the Premier League season, West Ham sitting dead last at the international break. There was talk of Pellegrini getting sacked. The whole thing looked a shambles.

Since then it’s been all goals and glory. A 3-1 win away at Everton got them rolling before a 0-0 draw with Chelsea booked a first clean sheet of the season and ended Chelsea’s immaculate start. A visit from Macclesfield Town in the League Cup was never going to be an issue if that form held and, mate, you’d better believe that it did. West Ham won 8-0 for their biggest win since 1983. What followed that? Just the small matter of dismantling a rattled Manchester United team 3-1 at home, sticking another nail in Jose Mourinho’s self-constructed coffin.

Ogbonna’s started both those League Cup games but it’s been Diop and Balbuena who have clearly emerged as Pellegrini’s first choice CBs. It’s funny how suddenly their whole season changed from absolute disaster to mass enthusiasm but that’s football for ya. The new signings (and manager) needed time to settle and that was never going to be a given with the frisky ownership at WHU but time they got and results they’re beginning to deliver. Winston Reid was already slipping being Angleo Ogbonna in the pecking order last season and now he faces the prospect of returning as the fourth choice fellow.

Reidy’s dealt with this before. It’s not his first trip to the physio’s bench after all. But this is about more than the club finding a little more depth in his position – there’s also a specific scent of the club moving into a new era here. Winston Reid famously scored the winner the last time West Ham beat Man United – the most memorable moment of his club career, probably. The last goal at Upton Park. That game was only two and a half years ago but Mark Noble was the only one of them who started in this game (MUFC, a club in even more transition at the mo’, had three players start both games).

Manuel Pellegrini’s appointment came with a few concerns about Winston’s place anyway given the Chilean does prefer a more front-footed attacking style than the old fashioned Reid is used to. It hasn’t been as rapid as the stuff he did at City or Real Madrid, naturally, but the Hammers have begun to look like a sharp counter attacking team lately. Reid has a very handy long ball in his toolbox and he’s a gun on the end of set pieces but otherwise he’s a fellow who doesn’t need to think too much about what he’s gonna do with the ball once he wins it, he’s just focused on winning it. But Pellegrini also values a strong leader at the back and Reid, with James Collins gone, is the last of those folks left. That’s his best attribute and it’s what sets him apart from the rest of the competition. It’s what he’ll need to rely upon if he’s gonna get back into this team.

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