By Toby Prince
Manchester City boss, Manuel Pellegrini, has been named the Premier League Manager of the Month for August while Swansea City’s Andre Ayew has picked up the player award.
Pellegrini has led City to a 100 percent start to the 2015/16 season, winning all four of their opening matches to put them top of the table.
City have not conceded a goal in those games while they have netted 10 times, with three of those strikes coming in a comprehensive 3-0 win over champions, Chelsea.
Last month, Pellegrini extended his contract at the Etihad Stadium until 2017, despite the club’s failure to retain the Premier League trophy last season.
Regarding the award, Pellegrini said on the club’s official website: “It’s very good. It means the team is doing things the way I want; I think we finished very well last season so it was important to start the way we did.
“The highlight was the way we played. It’s important to continue the style of football; the team won the four games in the way I like to play.
“The key maybe was linking with the other season. Of course, it’s not good for this team not to win anything last season so I made sure the players understood that and had a reaction.
“When you don’t win titles, it presents an important challenge. It happens to a lot of teams. When you win, you think you must continue in the same way, but mentally it’s not the same. Now we are mentally strong.”
Ayew was rewarded for a superb start to his career at Swansea with the Player of the Month prize.
The Ghana international signed for the Swans on a free transfer in the summer after parting company with Ligue 1 side, Marseille.
He has since scored three times, including the winner in a 2-1 success over Manchester United, in four appearances while also recording one assist.
