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Allardyce takes aim at Sullivan

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Former West Ham United manager Sam Allardyce has taken aim at the club’s co-chairman David Sullivan regarding their time together in east London.

The veteran boss spent four years in charge of the Hammers between 2011 and 2015, winning promotion back to the Premier League and establishing the club in the top flight. He wasn’t always happy, though.

“I had a bit of a problem with David Sullivan at West Ham,” he told talkSPORT [14/05; 08:55]. “I was clear from the start, from the very, very start: what do you want me to do? And he said ‘I want you to get us in the Premier League and keep us there’.

“So year three in the Premier League, when I decided to leave, it was about the fact that ‘well you’re not playing the right style of football’. Well, what’s the right style of football? By Christmas we were fourth in the Premier League, then we had some injuries and the results went off. And because the results weren’t as good we weren’t playing so well – that old lie of football again.”

OPINION

You can see why Allardyce is still a bit frustrated by what happened at West Ham. He did everything he was asked to do at the club and solidified them as a top flight team, which they have been ever since. He’s the one who put them there and then he was unceremoniously asked to leave – even though he still insists it was his choice to walk. You can see what he means here, though, and why he was frustrated with Sullivan. He feels that his style of football was fine throughout his time with the Hammers, but that as soon as results went downhill it began to be questioned. When things were going well nobody really seemed to care about what type of football he had his players playing. Yet it was a convenient reason for Sullivan and co. to give him the boot in 2015. Allardyce obviously feels that ‘the right style of football’ is a myth – an old lie, as he says. Perhaps he’s right. No one method is correct, it’s simply what works for your team.

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