Manuel Pellegrini would not deem Jose Mourinho his enemy or his friend as the long-time rivals prepare for a Premier League reunion on Saturday.
Pellegrini's struggling West Ham welcome Tottenham and their freshly installed head coach Mourinho to London Stadium this weekend, reprising a rivalry that has simmered for a decade.
Mourinho was publicly courted by Real Madrid before being appointed at the Santiago Bernabeu in 2010, replacing Pellegrini despite the sacked Chilean having led Los Blancos to a then club-record haul of 96 points as they finished runners up to Barcelona in La Liga.