Source: whufc.com
Back in 2012, Sam Allardyce took over as West Ham manager, and at the time I knew he was the right man for West Ham. Well, at least I thought he was. You can not deny that what he has done for the club has been amazing, getting us promotion in the way that he did with a squad that was full of despair and regret. He bought in experienced players to help us achieve promotion back to the big time, which was a very clever move from big Sam indeed. The fans was on his side – despite the club missing out on automatic promotion. He was the man that we needed at the time.
At the end of the season we were full of optimism for the premier league, new players coming in, including Andy Carroll – which definitely impressed the west ham fans. Everything looked great going in to the new season.
Our first year back was defiantly one to remember. A top half finish with 46 points – despite our star striker getting injured for a big chunk of the season. Not bad for a team that had just got promoted. After only losing 6 games at home, and getting results against the likes of Manchester United, it was the end of Big Sam’s contract. To the delight of the hammers fans, he renewed, and it was to be another season with Sam.
As you know, last season wasn’t the best of seasons. Forget the results for a second, the cockiness and offensiveness towards the West Ham united fans was disgraceful and rightly unappreciated. That’s the the thing that annoyed me, and most hammers fans most about Big Sam. Does anyone remember when he called the hammers fans ‘deluded’ back in 2012? I never thought he would insult the fans again after that. But he sure did.
Now let’s go back to the results. Here are some of the worst ones that are, well… worth remembering.
Manchester City 9 West Ham 0 (on aggregate)
Nottingham forest 5 West Ham 0
Now, I know they were only cup games, but if I predicted them scores before they happened – you would have called me crazy.
During the Forest game, Allardyce played almost a whole team of youngsters, which I found very disrespectful to both the opposition, and the 5000 fans that went on that long journey to Nottingham.
Not only that, Sam Allardyce was also caught laughing during that game which was again, looked at as very disrespectful. All of these points combined made me, and many other West Ham fans convinced that Allardyce had to go – but we all know what actually happened. At the end of the season, it was declared that Allardyce was in fact to remain as west ham manager as long as :
– He plays more attractive football
– Gains a top ten finish
* The board also said that they are going to have more involvement in who comes in to the club. The reason for this is because of the terrible signings that Big Sam completed (Maiga £5M, Diarra £2m, Carroll £17M etc..)
Of course – Sam Allardyce has promised to deliver the owners demands, and that is where we are now- Can we achieve success under Sam Allardyce? In my opinion, of course we can. If he is actually going to change his ways, then he will have the majority of fans back on his side. If he can lose his reputation of ‘long ball’ then it will attract bigger players to our club. I have always said – if he changes the way he plays then he will be welcome at West Ham, and he has promised to do so, which is why we need to get off his back and be on his side. The future looks bright for West Ham – moving In to the Olympic stadium, and the fantastic signings of Kouyate, Valencia, Cresswell and Poyet, who are all young talented players and have a bright future ahead of them.
For now, I’m on Big Sam’s side, and you should be as well. We can achieve success under Allardyce, and for the first time in a long time, I have faith in him. Tweet me your thoughts @whu_opinions.