Huge credit to West Ham’s owners

A mad rollercoaster ride doesn’t even begin to tell the West Ham story over the last six weeks or so. Even by the outrageously fickle, unpredictable and frustrating standards of our great club, the recent metamorphosis from ugly caterpillar to proud butterfly has been nothing short of astounding.

No one, and I don’t care if we are talking management, playing staff, so called expert pundits, or, most importantly, us, the lifeblood of West Ham United could realistically see any light in what was a huge, black and desperately long tunnel immediately after the Nottingham Forest and Manchester City maulings. I had witnessed some desperate Hammers days in the last 50 years, but nothing came even close to seeing the club become a national laughing stock, bereft of pride, fight, or worst of all hope.

The clarion calls for Sam’s head began to increase immediately after the aforementioned embarrassments, and in time became so loud, no body could continue to ignore them. Cue the two Davids to enter the deafening and bloody fray and tell us:

“Sam has been handed a near impossible task of coming through three crucial games in the space of six days with a squad of only 14 fit and available senior players. This is not an excuse it is a fact. We know Sam has not lost his ambition or desire and is committed to making West Ham United a great Premier League club”.

“Make no mistake, though; we are under no illusions as to the seriousness of our current predicament in the Premier League. But on the board we have a combined talent of running football clubs and we will draw on all of our nous to get West Ham United out of this situation.

“We have experienced difficult times before and we know what will get us results – hard work, determination and perseverance. To that end, we are all working round the clock to do everything in our powers to help arrest our slump in form.” They had also added the comment that if you were looking for a manager to keep you up, you’d appoint Sam.

For as long as we exist as a club, the views on Sam Allardyce will be totally split. It really depends on how you see things in terms of entertainment, progress, stability, leadership, quality…I could go on. In other words everyone has their own idea of what constitutes good and effective management. One mans three points and a dire performance is another mans defeat with style. No real right or wrong here, just different sets of values and expectations.

What is beyond any reasonable doubt, and lets all being perfectly fair and objective, is that one team in the Premier League have raised their game during February like no other, have climbed the table in truly dramatic fashion, have kept a record number of clean sheets, have started scoring goals regularly, have shown a passion and steel that stirs the blood, have revealed a clearly visible team spirit which has crystallised from the depths of despair, and that team is West Ham United managed by Sam Allardyce.

He is a rejuvenated man, look at the body language and demeanour, and his squad are pulling out all the stops for him. The disappointing Kevin Nolan, Matt Taylor, Mohamed Diame and Carlton Cole are now showing us what wanted to see; effort, commitment and some quality, whilst the “A” Team led by the increasingly brilliant Mark Noble and featuring James Tomkins, James Collins, Adrian (and now the returning Andy Carroll) are simply solid and reliable week in and week out.

With the twitchy rulers of Cardiff City, Swansea City, West Bromwich Albion and Fulham having made changes recently, and it must be said to very little effect, Mr Sullivan and Gold held an almost stately air as they publicly backed their man to come good and lead the Hammers to safety.

Many scoffed, many felt it was a cop-out, and some thought the size of the expected pay out to the outgoing boss was the main factor that triggered the outpouring of support. However, many also felt that to get rid of a strong, feisty character who had been there, seen all that a relegation battle could throw at you, and at all times survive, would have been a huge mistake, and would have unfairly ignored critical factors like no sign of the hugely important Andy Carroll, and injuries galore to key players.

As we stand, I really feel huge credit to the Davids is due for their single minded determination to stick with Sam Allardyce in the face of huge demands for his dismissal. They clearly felt, and indeed feel, that he is the right man for the job, and the recent upturn in results has proved them right. As very successful business men, I am sure they have faced many tough decisions over the years, and their experience and leadership have proved invaluable in this instance.

On the basis of the old saying credit where credit is due, well done Sam, and well done David S and David G. Your experience led you to make the right decision.

COYI !