This article is part of Football FanCast's Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers...

Former West Ham United players Phil Parkes and James Collins have shown their backing for Manuel Pellegrini while speaking with Claret & Hugh and talkSPORT respectively.

What did they say?

There has been debate about whether Pellegrini should be sacked as West Ham manager, with the team on a run of seven games without a win in all competitions.

The West Ham board have backed the manager, as reported by BBC Sport, and the pair of former Hammers have shown they believe this is the correct decision.

Speaking with Claret & Hugh, Parkes said: "I agreed with the appointment and one run of bad games does not justify some of the maulings I’ve seen him getting on social media and elsewhere. He’s a top manager and there’s no doubts in my mind that he will sort it out so long as the players get their acts together.

"Too often the manager takes the stick when things go wrong – the screams of ‘sack him’ start, panic sets in and the truth is it’s not down to him but the players."

While Collins accepted Pellegrini's status could come under pressure at some point, he echoed Parke's sentiment that it's the wrong time to dismiss the Chilean while speaking on talkSPORT (8:48, Wednesday 13th November): “I think they’ve got to give him time, obviously his pedigree speaks for itself, look what he did at Man City, you don’t just turn bad in seven games, he’s got the squad there and their next two games are huge."

A matter of timing

The pair are right that Pellegrini should be given time, especially when the current circumstances at the club are considered.

Having Lukasz Fabianski out injured has been such a huge blow, and it's no surprise it's coincided with the winless run. Pellegrini at least deserves the opportunity to fix things when the Poland international is back between the sticks.

The six-game run without a loss in all competitions, that came before the current hapless succession of games, highlights that Pellegrini can get the team playing when he has his key players on the pitch.

In addition to that point, if Pellegrini was to be sacked, these conditions would not help out any incoming manager at all, due to the fact he would be using Roberto, David Martin or potentially Joseph Anang in goal.

Regardless of whether Pellegrini will be able to instantly turn things around after the international break, the Hammers are better off sticking with him for the time being.