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The good news for West Ham is that Richarlison is still unavailable through suspension and on the evidence of the Huddersfield game Everton do not possess too many other players who can spring surprises or inject attacking pace. The bad news is that after Everton come Chelsea and Manchester United, meaning that if West Ham fail to pick up any points at Goodison they could still be bottom of the table in October. By that point Pellegrini and his employers will not just be worried about the start that has been made but concerned about how the rest of the season is going to pan out.

Anyone surprised that this fate should befall a club that spent nearly £100m on nine new players in the summer and recruited a manager who won the English title as recently as 2014 has probably not been paying enough attention to how demanding the Premier League has become.

Introducing a clutch of new players is rarely a guarantee of instant success, as Everton found last season, when Ronald Koeman had to make way after failing to find how to integrate his new recruits into an effective team pattern. Far better in many cases to stick with what you know and find a coach capable of improving the performance and on-pitch understanding of a given set of players, as demonstrated by Eddie Howe, Sean Dyche and Chris Hughton in recent seasons.