Happy Hammers: West Ham starting to reach heights promised before move to London Stadium under Manuel Pellegrini

The ugly scenes at the London Stadium towards the end of last season are now just a distant memory as West Ham sit pretty in the top half of the Premier League on the back of four straight wins for the first time in almost in five years.

It was just nine months ago when the fans protested against the running of their club, with directors being told to vacate their box after the crowd turned on them and four people invaded the pitch during a 3-0 home defeat by Burnley.

Going into this weekend's clash with Watford, the Irons appear to have left those dark days behind them and are now starting to move through the gears under the leadership of Manuel Pellegrini.

New beginnings

It was a summer of upheaval but the board looked to have finally made some astute decisions, one of which being to bring in Mario Husillos as the director of football, rather than choose signings themselves – no doubt a requirement insisted upon by Pellegrini, who worked with Husillos at Malaga.

Now the Hammers finally find themselves in a position they had been hoping for since their arrival at the London Stadium, a position they had been promised in exchange for the move from their spiritual home at Upton Park: competing for a place in Europe.

Just four games into the season and you feared the worst for the east London club, with echoes of last season's difficult start to the campaign resonating as they lost them all, conceding 10 and scoring just two.

Since then they have turned things around, beating Everton, Manchester United and rectifying that abysmal defeat to Burnley last season with a 4-2 win.

Four in four

It hasn't been a smooth ride for Pellegrini's men but they come into Saturday's game against Watford in ninth place, just two points off sixth, having beaten Newcastle, Cardiff, Crystal Palace and Fulham in their last four and have finally found their shooting boots.

It was always likely to take time for new players, new staff and a new system to come together, but on the evidence of recent results and performances, it really is starting to click in east London.

Felipe Anderson has been a revelation for the Hammers this season and must be a contender for one of the signings of the season.

The former Lazio winger has chimed in with six goals and two assists in the Premier League so far and given the side a new attacking potency, while the defensive additions of Issa Diop and Fabian Balbuena, along with goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, have provided a new resilience at the back.

But for all the new additions at the club, it is some of the pre-Pellegrini signings that have popped up to make the difference in recent weeks.

Robert Snodgrass, Javier Hernandez and a rejuvenated Michail Antonio after missing much of last season with injury, have all contributed crucial goals on their current impressive run.

Battle for Europe

There is every chance that West Ham can keep up their winning streak going into 2019 with winnable ties against Southampton, Burnley and Brighton on the horizon, but first they must face Watford who have an almost identical record in the league.

Both sides have won seven, drawn three, lost seven and conceded 25. The Hammers additional two goals scored puts them ahead of Watford in the league on goal difference.

Despite the similarities, the story of Watford's season has been quite the opposite. Javi Garcia's side won their opening four games with a sensational start to the campaign but have gradually slipped away, failing to win in the five matches prior to their narrow 3-2 win over Cardiff last time out.

It is as good a time as any for West Ham to face Watford and a run of fixtures against teams below them in the league will be crucial to their hopes of obtaining a spot in Europe for next season.

When asked about the possibility of winning five games in a row at the pre-match press conference, Pellegrini said: “I can’t expect it of course, you can never be sure. Maybe West Ham is not used to do it but we have talked so many times with the players, we must have a winning mentality. Now we have the chance to do it at home against Watford.”

The Argentine admitted following the 2-0 win at Fulham last weekend that finishing in sixth was “more than a target” and as they sit two points off of Manchester United with the halfway stage of the season upon us, West Ham have every reason to dare to dream.