Criticism part of the job, says Allardyce

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce has brushed off criticism from a section of the club’s supporters, conceding it is “part of the job”.

After a run of four consecutive victories in February, West Ham have lost seven of their last nine Premier League fixtures.

They currently sit five points clear of the bottom three with two games remaining, but Saturday’s fourth successive defeat – a 1-0 reverse at West Brom – led a section of their fans to unveil a banner calling for Allardyce to leave the club.

But in a press conference on Thursday, Allardyce explained such criticism came with the territory of being a football manager.

“Nobody wants to see things like that, nobody wants to be criticised, but at the end of the day – the game is the game,” he said.

“Hostility in terms of disapproval towards what you’re doing or what you’re not doing is part of the job.

“Everybody keeps telling me how to play and what performances we need to give – in our last four games all of our performances have been very good.

“But without result then comes criticism. It’s about results, not about what you’ve done for the 90 minutes.

“I can’t ever remember us playing as well as we did against Liverpool in the entire season – we lost to two penalties.

“When we went to Chelsea and they were all very happy – that was based purely on a well-structured defensive ploy with little possession play at all. But it is still hailed as a great performance.

“So, again, it points to the fact that it’s a results-driven business.”