
West Ham give Big Sam the Benefit of the Doubt

LONDON – After much debate between West Ham’s board members, the club has decided to give manager Sam Allardyce one last chance. Last season The Hammers finished in a reasonably good 13th position, but they were relegation zone for a big part of the season. This led to many fans wanting the 60-year-old out, but the board held confidence, claiming that firing the manager would lead to more consternation around the club.
Their decision to let Allardyce finish the season worked out for the better, and Allardyce kept The Hammers up. Despite keeping the club up, long talks were held over the future of the former Bolton manager, because certain board members didn’t believe he was the right man to take the club forward, mostly down to his style of football: he mainly employed a long-ball system, with almost no ground passes. But, the majority eventually decided to vote in favour of Allardyce, meaning he will get at least one more season to prove himself.
Allardyce was presented at Boleyn Ground at the start of the 2011/2012 season, after getting the sack at Blackburn in 2010. West Ham had just got relegated to the Championship, and it was Allardyce’s task to take them straight back to the top tier. He succeeded, but his style of football was questioned by fans, who said that the team played unattractive football. In the next two years, Allardyce kept the club up, but again there were “Big Sam Out” banners, mostly because of bad results and an ancient style of football. After a 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea manager Mourinho said that West Ham plays “19th-century football”. Still, Allardyce kept his job, and even won four consecutive games after the draw against Chelsea, getting him the April Manager of the Month award. Due to this good spell in April, the club finished on a high: 13th.
The manager claimed that he had high hopes for the new season: “I can assure you we’re going to make some great signings, and we won’t let go of many big names. With our new attacking manager Teddy Sheringham, there will be a lot more goals and better football, I can assure you that. I’m looking forward to training this team again and preparing for the new season.” With these words Allardyce has set the standard high for himself, as the fans will now really be expecting something else than the kick-and-rush football from the last two seasons.