Big Sam is brave to take on the West Ham job

I have to say that Sam Allardyce is either very brave or very stupid to take on the manager’s job at West Ham. He has no other option than to get them promotion straight back to the Premier League. He will probably lose the three or four genuine Premier League class players in his squad and he has to work for the board from hell!

Downside

That’s the downside but I suppose there is an upside as well. West Ham are a great club with great fans and a great tradition and they have offered Allardyce a way back into the game that he undoubtedly deserves after harsh treatment at Newcastle and more recently when he was ridiculously sacked by Blackburn.

Unfortunately, one of those points I’ve listed as an upside may well make life difficult for him at The Boleyn. That is the tradition. West Ham fans have always had and expected a team that plays the game on the grass, passing the ball and playing the game the way it was meant to be played. I’m afraid they might get a bit of a shock when Mr Allardyce puts out a team that by-pass the midfield, get the ball in the channels and try to win set pieces around the box which can put on the head of whatever giants he manages to sign for the club.

Equipped

Having said all that, as long as the two Davids and Karen leave him alone to get on with his job (unlikely), Allardyce is more than well equipped to get West Ham back into the top tier.

Speaking after he was unveiled as the new boss Allardyce said,

“It’s a fantastic club with a great tradition and loyal supporters. I wouldn’t have taken this job if I didn’t think we could bounce straight back into the Premier League.”

Losing

He went on to talk about the possibility of losing some of his better players, but the board have somehow persuaded him that they will back him in the transfer market.

“At the moment only Matthew Upson has left. It’s likely other players may leave but the financial support from the chairman and the board will help me to cover those players. I’m very impressed with the facilities and the determination of the chairman and the board to get back at the first attempt, which will give me the support to try and achieve everybody’s goals.”

Allardyce also tried to reassure the fans that his reputation for the ‘long ball’ game would not follow him to West Ham.

“That history that West Ham have I am very well aware of and we will play the West Ham way with the players we have got to achieve the ultimate, and that’s winning football matches. It’s a challenge for me to use my experience to get them back in the Premier League as quickly as possible. It’s a very exciting prospect for me and one I’m looking very much forward to.”

Luck

I really wish Allardyce luck working with the board at the club who treated Avram Grant with a total lack of respect throughout last season. I can’t see him standing for the the two Davids making ridiculous statements about him and the players in the press and media the way they did about Grant and the team over the past few months.

Allardyce is a good manager who embraced many of the European methods of managing and coaching long before other English managers did so. He had a fantastic record at Bolton where he got them into the Premier League and then even more impressively kept them and established them as a top half team. At Newcastle, he was doing OK when he was sacked and their subsequent relegation showed what a decent job he had been doing. The same nearly happened at Blackburn where he was doing a really good job before he was again sacked. Blackburn then only escaped relegation on the final day.

He works well with little money and scant resources and that will be a skill he probably needs again. If the board leave him alone, I strongly believe he will be a success. I don’t believe him when he says he’ll play the ‘West Ham way’ though!