Sam Allardyce has been dividing West Ham fans since his appointment in June 2011. Some dislike the style of play he has brought to the Hammers, with others bemoaning his transfer targets. But, with the Irons sitting pretty in the drop zone, is he the man to keep us up? Or is it time for David Gold and David Sullivan to cut their losses and move forward with another manager?
I’m pretty torn on this, as there are valid reasons for and against Sam slinging his hook. You could say (and you’d be right) that we were short sighted in our transfers pre-season, and putting all of your money on a striker and midfielder who are both prone to injuries was a bit of a stupid idea. Sam was in charge of whom we got in, and he messed it up a right treat, didn’t he?
Add that to the rest of the injuries we’ve amassed over this season and it makes a bloody depressing list. Currently on the treatment table are (you may want to take a deep breath): Winston Reid, James Tomkins, James Collins, Andy Carroll, Ricardo Vaz Te, Ravel Morrison and Stewart Downing. Although we may have underprepared, the amount of injuries we have just seems like real bad luck.
There is a horrible similarity between this season and Avram Grant’s last season in charge of the Hammers. We’d got into the semi-finals of a cup then too, and actually had more points with Grant at the same stage of the campaign we’re in now. The board didn’t know when to sack Grant, and so he was only relieved of his duties once we were already relegated. Who knows what the result would have been if he had been sacked sooner.
Another thing to take into account is just how much it would cost to terminate Big Sam’s contract. I’ve read that the board would have to shell out somewhere in the region of £8 million to pay-off the rest of his deal, and I can’t help thinking that that money could and would be better spent elsewhere, bolstering our injury ravaged squad.
Also, no club has ever been taken down by Big Sam. That is quite a massive stat in his favour, and as pointed out by Sky Sports after the West Brom game, and later Kevin Nolan, if Big Sam was available a relegation threatened club would want him as their manager.
El Capitan told the BBC: “It’s all about us sticking together as a club. We need to the fans to stick with us as well. I am sure we will be OK at the end of the season.Any of the six teams in trouble, if Sam was out of a job, they would hire him to keep them up. The chairmen have been brilliant with him and we’ll be all right.”
I did see a difference in the West Bromwich Albion game and although we didn’t get the win we desperately needed, the players showed more fight and passion than I’ve seen in a while. Hopefully they can build on that looking forward and Allardyce can keep the momentum going and team spirit up. The one change I would like to see is two strikers on the pitch at once!
To me, although he has made some colossal mistakes, I would prefer to keep Big Sam for now. I don’t think his pay-off is worth it, and any other manager will have the same set of players and injuries to deal with, so I can’t see it making a massive difference. I just hope our luck changes soon and once we get some key players back we’ll be back in business! Three points at Fulham is definitely a must.
That’s just my two cents. What do you think? Do we stick with Sam, or go elsewhere? And if we do get a new manager, who would be available that you’d want? Leave a comment or tweet me at @alwaysintune.
Bloody hope not!!!!
Nobody could be that bad, can they?????
Heitega could be a good start, can play across the back or sweeper.
The next is a food forward or 2. Have to buy, don’t want any
mercenaries for 6 months and take the money and run, having
got us relegated!!!!!
What is wrong with the Davids?
They made a big mistake at this time in 2011 and we were relegated. During the summer transfer window a number of excellent strikers refused to join West Ham because of BFS’s hump and hope strategy using only one striker – not them, but AC of course.
BFS has recently stated himself that a number of the potential strikers he would like to sign this January have made it clear that they don’t want to join the Hammers – and warm the bench week after week. Can the Davids not see that it is not West Ham that these strikers don’t want to play for? It’s BFS and his one man, one ring circus, show.
Every other team in the relegation picture have fired their manager recently and have since improved their performance and position in the table. Please, David & David, fire Allardyce and Nolan and bring in Slaven Bilic who has shown an interest in the job and has proven to be a much better manager than BFS. If the Davids can’t do it then Karren Brady CBE should step in and take command.
You spoilt that post talking of Brady the brown nosed nasty party future mp. She can’t even get the debt down only firing tea lady’s and announcers saving a few bob not millions.
3 points a must at Fulham wasn’t the same said about Sunderland ,palace , west brom , what if we don’t get 3 points at Fulham things will carry on as they are and we will be told 3 points is a must the next game , it’s all a shambles the clubs in a shocking state I just hope 2014 will be better
I would like to blame Sam for all our problems but I cant, and if we sell Morrision it takes me back to the Brown days Sell Sell Sell. And they where the bad days and the two Davids or doing just the same thing, selling our best players or allowing a buy out clause in the contract. If its not freebies its players that just don’t cut it, the other teams around us will be buying and there wont be any crying about the fair play rule [ that the 2 Davids keep crying about ] Its looking like the two Davids or cash strapped and they don’t have the money to buy the players that would cut it. Championship here we come
And brown was redeployed by the Brady bunch as a director with a few million as nobody else wanted to invest with west ham while they are running it. So yes back to the cearns and brown days again.
3 points is a must , or we are gone . How can you look at selling one of our best young players. SAME OLD WESTHAM. Lets get some young talent on the pitch and not old ones that no one wants. It does’nt take much to work out that two strikers are better than one SAM, i think he has lost the plot. COME ON U IRONS.
Have any of you ney sayers seen the injury list? We’re talking about 7 first team players people!! How can any team do well with 64% of your team injured?
Come on now and let’s get behind our beloved Hammers. Whining isn’t going to help!! Expect to win for a change.
As long as you get behind the team as you say nothing will change . Whining as you call it and demos are all this board will understand how yo feel not cheering us on as if all is OK .
(Adrian)(Potts)(Obrien)(Chambers)(Rat)(Collison)(Diarra)(Fanimo)(Moncur)(Lletget) (Tombides)
Substitutes: (Jääskeläinen)(McCartney)(Taylor)(Nolan)(Maiga)(C.Cole)(J. Cole) Demel) (Jarvis)(Noble)(Diame) Lee, Spiegel
The above being a squad rotation with Cup squad 1st & subbed with the 11 subs in brackets to be saved for as full strength a side as possible for Premier League games. There’s only a forward named Lee & a goalkeeper named Spiegel left fit & available if anyone else gets injured, on West Ham’s books! TOTALS ONLY 24 PLAYERS! Of 3 Goalkeepers, 6 Defenders, 11 Midfielders & 4 Forwards = 24 out of a squad of only 31! = 7 injured players as of 01/01/2014 being, Carroll, Downing, Morrison, Collins, Reid, Tomkins & Vaz Te. Most clubs have a much bigger squad than this & can absorb the loss of just 7 injured players easily.
Carroll, Reid & possibly Morrison are star quality & missed.
It’s only Carroll & Reid who’ve been out the most & Sam reckons we’d be in 10th position if these weren’t out. C’mon Sam. No excuses. West Ham just do not have a Premier League squad. 4 players need to be signed NOW! at the very least!
And no, this is far worse than an Avram Grant repeat. Avram Grant had far better players on West ham’s books than this lot that Allardyce has had over 2 ½ years to get together!
Everton reject prefers staying in their reserves, even though he has lost his place in the Netherlands national team because of not having played a single game all season. Let him stay in their reserves Sam, because if he was any good Evertyon would have him playing for them instead of trying to sell him, but it makes you wonder, that what is it with West Ham that makes people not want to come here? Lack of wages? I am sick of our owners allways saying they have no money, when even the 20th placed club will receive 60,000,000 for being in the Premier League this year & with Noble & Nolan & 7 others out, 20th is all we may finish at this rate. I am not worried as at least you can look forward to West Ham winning a game in the Championship. I mean these owners expect fans to shell out around 50 pounds per seat in exchange for just 2 lousy home wins all season so far. C’mon, get real, get a team together, or get Sam out, as he’s had over 2 & 1/2 years to do this. What a shambles!
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/25568426
Kevin Nolan you are an absolute disgrace. Your work contract with West Ham should be terminated immediately and you should be sacked on the spot. The same goes for your buddy in crime Sam Allardyce. Mr. Allardyce has wrongfully supported you when you should have been shafted long ago. You no longer deserve to wear a West Ham shirt. I have never ever heard of any player, let alone a West Ham player being sent off in a match twice within 1 month. You can piss off, Sam can piss off, and he can take that load of rubbish that he has signed from Bolton, Newcastle & Liverpool with him. West Ham need a new manager now. If they don’t sack Allardyce now, then I am going to stop following West Ham. I was born in Forest Gate, East London and only started an interest in soccer in the 1960s because the local team being West Ham were doing so well with 3 world cup winning stars in the team. I emigrated to Australia 37 years ago but always kept my interest in West Ham going, but I think I’ll focus more on my Rugby League team in Australia being the Brisbane Broncos in the future instead of West Ham & soccer in general from now. I am currently on business in Thailand and was following West Ham’s transmissions at the local café that I frequent. I cannot comment on yesterday’s match because I can no longer watch West Ham, because after many disappointing West Ham displays, with the debacle of the game at Old Trafford being the game that finally persuaded the management of the café broadcasting EPL games to avoid showing West Ham games altogether, unless West ham are playing a big team of which everyone always expects West Ham to get beaten. West Ham let in 2 soft goals at Old Trafford before half time, the owner of the establishment changed the channel to watch a different game. He asked me 1st. I said go ahead, as West Ham are a total embarrassment in front of the good local people here, who have really taken to English Premier League soccer, but do not want to watch West Ham as West Ham and are no longer enjoyable to watch because they appear to be totally out of their depth and don’t belong in the English Premier League. I was able to watch the game with West Brom, only because it was an early game & the only game being broadcast on it’s own, otherwise people always chose other games to watch, other than West Ham, if available. I don’t even want to top up my high speed internet to watch them on-line anymore, let alone purchase pay TV. I’d encourage all loyal fans that pay to watch the games to demand a refund on the 9 home matches that remain on their Premier League season tickets, and why should West Ham’s fans even think about purchasing League Cup semi final tickets, unless they sack Sam, sack Nolan & buy some decent players & give fans value for money for what they have paid for now. If they can’t do that, then they should sell the club. The owners keep on saying they have no money, well why are they in the football business then? As West Ham’s attendances are currently only 1,000 people down on Spurs matches. West Ham reportedly pay the players low wages, but even the 20th placed club will receive £60,000,000 for being in the Premier League this year. West Ham are headed for the Championship. The club need to put a halt on the Stadium deal and hang onto their Boleyn ground, otherwise they’ll remain in the Championship sharing a Stadium that are they are not allowed to own. I’ll tip 3 London clubs to be relegated this season and West Ham are one of them, along with Crystal Palace & Fulham. I suspect that is what the financier’s want, just a big 3 of London clubs being Arsenal, Chelsea & Tottenham. Nolan. You have let the club down. You have let everyone down. West ham needed those 3 points against a Fulham side who have a negative goal difference of -21 & we couldn’t even beat them. Goodbye
Is it really batten down the hatches time for Premier League survival? I do not know if it isn’t too late already.
Because if it is too late for Premier League survival? Then maybe a change of thinking is required in fielding a full strength squad for the League Cup semi final over 2 legs, so as to try & win something while we still have some Premier League level of players in the squad, as if West Ham get relegated then it may be a long time before we ever have a chance of winning a trophy again.
Morale has gone. We are gone. Get over it and plan for staying at the Boleyn Ground while being in the Championship, as West Ham do not need to maintain a presence in the Olympic Stadium if in the Championship. West Ham can almost fill the Boleyn ground while in the Championship, but the size of the Olympic Stadium would be daunting for any non Premier League club. West Ham at present, along with Sunderland, look like 20th position clubs.
Any bets on a West Ham v Sunderland League Cup Final? Look at Wigan. At least they won the FA Cup!
Kevin Nolan you are an absolute disgrace. Your work contract with West Ham should be terminated immediately and you should be sacked on the spot. The same goes for your buddy in crime Sam Allardyce. Mr. Allardyce has wrongfully supported you when you should have been shafted long ago. You no longer deserve to wear a West Ham shirt. I have never ever heard of any player, let alone a West Ham player being sent off in a match twice within 1 month. You can get out, Sam can get out, and he can take that load of rubbish that he has signed from Bolton, Newcastle & Liverpool with him. West Ham need a new manager now. If they don’t sack Allardyce now, then I am going to stop following West Ham. I was born in Forest Gate, East London and only started an interest in soccer in the 1960s because the local team being West Ham were doing so well with 3 world cup winning stars in the team. I emigrated to Australia 37 years ago but always kept my interest in West Ham going, but I think I’ll focus more on my Rugby League team in Australia being the Brisbane Broncos in the future instead of West Ham & soccer in general from now on. I am currently on business in Thailand and was following West Ham’s transmissions at the local café that I frequent. I cannot comment on yesterday’s match because I can no longer watch West Ham, because after many disappointing West Ham displays, with the debacle of the game at Old Trafford being the game that finally persuaded the management of the café broadcasting EPL games to avoid showing West Ham games altogether, unless West ham are playing a big team of which everyone always expects West Ham to get beaten. West Ham let in 2 soft goals at Old Trafford before half time, the owner of the establishment changed the channel to watch a different game. He asked me 1st. I said go ahead, as West Ham are a total embarrassment in front of the good local people here, who have really taken to English Premier League soccer, but do not want to watch West Ham as West Ham and are no longer enjoyable to watch because they appear to be totally out of their depth and don’t belong in the English Premier League. I was able to watch the game with West Brom, only because it was an early game & the only game being broadcast on it’s own, otherwise people always chose other games to watch, other than West Ham, if available. I don’t even want to top up my high speed internet to watch them on-line, let alone purchase pay TV. I’d encourage all loyal fans that pay to watch the games to demand a refund on the 9 home matches that remain on their Premier League season tickets, and why should West Ham’s fans even think about purchasing League Cup semi final tickets, unless they sack Sam, sack Nolan & buy some decent players & give fans value for money for what they have paid for now. If they can’t do that, then they should sell the club. The owners keep on saying they have no money, well why are they in the football business then? As West Ham’s attendances are currently only 1,000 people down on Spurs matches. West Ham reportedly pay the players low wages, but even the 20th placed club will receive £60,000,000 for being in the Premier League this year. West Ham are headed for the Championship. The club need to put a halt on the Stadium deal and hang onto their Boleyn ground, otherwise they’ll remain in the Championship sharing a Stadium that are they are not allowed to own. They’ll own nothing & may even get liquidated. I’ll tip 3 London clubs to be relegated this season and West Ham are one of them, along with Crystal Palace & Fulham. I suspect that is what the financier’s want, just a big 3 of London clubs being Arsenal, Chelsea & Tottenham. Nolan. You have let the club down. You have let everyone down. West ham needed those 3 points against a Fulham side who have a negative goal difference of -21 & we couldn’t even beat them. Goodbye