I often feel that Sam Allardyce doesn’t get the credit he deserves, often cited for his direct ‘long ball’ approach; which seems to have followed him wherever he has ended up, and considering he’s an established top flight manager you would of thought he would have been linked with a top job (no disrespect to my beloved Hammers) by now, Sam is a good manager although I’m pretty sure he’ll tell you that.
With that being said, I’m under the impression that not everybody is totally convinced that Allardyce is still the right man for the West Ham job. His approach to the game worked at teams like Bolton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers and they always seemed to have enough about them to stay just above the rest, but is that enough for us? What we currently have, and hope to maintain, is stability, if we want to progress we will need to invest wisely as we look forward to the move into the Olympic Stadium. What will come with moving into the Olympic Stadium is the added pressure and expectancy to succeed, that is where I believe Big Sam could come under some criticism.
Please forgive me for sounding pessimistic but if the worst should happen and we go through a bad sequence of results will some fans quickly lose faith?
Throughout this season I witnessed many ‘Allardyce out, Di Canio in’ type of chants, and this was when we were fairly comfortable and not too far off of safety, so I dread to think what will happen if things don’t start going our way; is it possible that the board will get pressured into acting quickly and replacing Sam Allardyce? Obviously Bolton, Blackburn and Newcastle perished to the Championship after he left and if I’m honest I don’t really hold him accountable for that; apart from his time at Newcastle, arguably?
Personally I believe Sam is the right man for us, for the time being, I know there are fans that want a manager that endorses the ‘West Ham way’ but honestly where has the so called West Ham way got us in recent years, nowhere worth bragging about.
This article appeared on Forever West Ham a couple of days ago. It’s a very well written piece by Sydney Hammers and pretty well echoes my opinion on Sam.
http://foreverwestham.com/2013/06/blog-topics/no-less-than-sam-allardyce-deserves?
To answer a couple of your points, any manager that suffers a bad run of results comes under pressure these days and the fact that Bolton, Blackburn & Newcastle were relegated after he left is to his credit, not his detriment. Bolton perennially overachieved under BS, He was building at Blackburn & look what’s happened since they got rid & Newcastle caved into fan pressure & they got what they deserved as a result.
Hi mate cheers for the comment. I sent this article in on Wednesday and for some reason it just got posted Today. I can definitely see the similarities though with the link you posted!
It got us to an FA Cup final and 9th place finish. The decline after that was due to a fair number of factors in my opinion. IE Curbishley, big contracts for injury-prone players, not to mention a banking collapse. Sam’s treading water now, but we have nothing in place for the future, which could be why his previous clubs have gone downwards after he departed. We have no real youth prospects and seem to be wasting a lot of money on players who are either over-valued or unused. @SharpleyD83
He should stand a chance… period… any Season ticket with a fair mind has seen a great mix for football this season.. away form not great.. but 10th Place in our first season… you have to respect the man… like him or not…
9th an an FA Cup final…. come on… 3 relegation’s in 10 years… 7:0 drubbings away from home.. the West Ham way was lost a long time ago… Shit is shit… whether is top flight or not.. and I for one have seen lots of it..
Stability, focus, team spirit…. and the manager not sleeping with players wives…. long may it continue… #COYI
Responding to Dan Sharpley
the decline for West Ham since the historic ‘Liver-Scallys stole the FA cup with ungentlemanly conduct’ game can be described as a perfect storm of mistakes, misfortunes and global economy.
it was the next season that brought in Tevez/Macherano involving some dodgy people and paperwork, can any of us look back now and say that was a good idea?
then Pardew couldn’t keep it in his pants leading to Curbs, who bought poorly, but he was given bundles of cash to save our season, which he did, by skin of teeth!?
then Mike Duxbury (who hired him and his dodgy eyebrows???) sells players behind his back and Curbs rightly got the hump?!
no sooner than Zola installed the worlds financial system collapses…
this is starting the become an epic, but there were many many reasons of West Hams demise Avram ‘Shambles’ Grant for one, Millwall legend that he is…
blimey,
and that is why Big Sam is exactly the right man for the job atm. He has bought promotion, consolidation and stability. A perfect platform from which to build which I’m sure he will continue to do
Anyone that wants Di Canio needs there brain tested. His complete and utter moron.
Dont get me wrong love him as a player but he doesnt have the personality to be a good stable manager!
Big sam has done wonders and deserves some backing if results do go bad
I agree re Di canio, great player but a nutcase. Watch Sunderland implode if they get a bad start.
I am still not sure about SAM in the transfer market.
If he didn’t have knowledge from his old Bolton boys, the rest of the dealings have been poor in my view.
Carroll £16m really – Torres touted for £15m he’ll get more goals than Carroll with service, see wha I mean Torres 20 goals vs Carrol 7.
£12m for Jarvis – Really ?
£6m Miaga – Who?
Diame – Give him that one but unfortunately will stroll on becuase of the get out clause.
The rest well pretty average.
I am happy the way he has turned us from a shambolic mess into a well run club, that was needed badly, so I think he’s done well on that.
Just would like to see him be more clever than all the eggs in one basket on Carroll. Known to be injury prone and gives us very few other options.
I think we should maybe try to nick Bent on a free as well, he knows where the net is or dare I say Defoe from Spuds with Carroll, now that would be lively up front.
Whatever the doubts I will always back the manin charge, apart from once with that baffoon Roeder !!!
I think your view may be a tad wrong. Firstly Jarvis was 10.5 Million and not 12 as you quote. In my humble opinion, he has been a great signing. Always lively, 100% and if you actually watch how much running (tracking back he does). Players like Jarvis are a must when trying to consolidate in the PL. Had enough of premadonnas. Besides, his crosses always look dangerous (in the main) and fit AC all season would surely have profited from this service. Not actually sure we paid 6 million for Maiga but on the occasions he has played, looks ok. Even if he was sold, I would imagine he would fetch most of his fee back. As for Bent and Defoe. Bent is lazy and one dimensional. Yes does score goals or should I say did (a year or so ago). Is he that good. I personally don’t think so. Defoe. Definitely not. Why would I want him after what he did previously. West Ham are doing well mainly because of how Sam has se them up and the camaraderie between players. Nearly every game last year, players worked their socks off and rightly so. Not every transfer is going to be a success. You missed out Collins who was excellent, Jussi likewise. JOB has been fantastic. Again, not a world beater but 100% man who does his job well. You need to understand we are not run by multi billionaires and have a budget. Carroll is key to our success hence the fee. I for one have been impressed with him and he offers far more than I thought prior.
Spot on Colin!
The fact that fans were calling for Di Canio was worrying. Di Canio was a great player for us but always a little…excitable. Sunderland looks like it’s turning into a circus. But there is a bit of an “anyone but Sam” feeling with some fans still. What we were last season was “solid”. Good at home, often good away. We either beat or at least drew with Man U, Man City, Chelsea, Liverpool and we won against those around and below us. I think we have to steadily build towards the move. He’s the right manager for that…and I’m not convinced that he’s not better than just that.
I don’t disagree that Sam is trying to create stability, only that I don’t think it will truely stand the test of time.
For now, we’re safe and it is a good platform to build on, but we were lucky to finish where we did. We only needed a tiny result swing and we would have been in the thick of it
In terms of the future, I am concerned that things will go downhill quickly. It’s alright working on the here and now, but we need a long term plan. None of our youth are getting the chance to grow and we certainly don’t have the money to bring in the quality that our first team we need.
Considering the huge chunk of capital we are investing in an injury prone striker who won’t guarantee us a massive return in goals, we will have to live off of loans and free transfers. It’s unlikely that we will have the quality we need in about 3-5 years time. This AC deal just brings back too many memories of Boa Morte, Freddie Lljungberg and Dean Ashton. I like Carroll and agree he benefits us, but in the way that a squad player would, an option, not the main outlet. God help us if he gets injured for a prolonged period… @SharpleyD83
All valid concerns expressed by Daniel.