[Archived] Sam Allardyce

[Mercer]

Congratulations and best wishes Sam.

Thanks for saving our club from the abyss back in Dec. 2008.

You will do an absolutely fantastic job at WHAM and I think you will go on and prove, yet again, what a very, very good manager you are. Strangely enough, I think that you will also find that you earn far greater admiration and respect with the Hammers than you did with Rovers.

[tonyoz]

I hope Sam wants Keith Andrews to join him at whu.

Maybe he fancies Gael. I'll drive him down to London - for the usual fee.

[imy9]

Unless he wins the CL with West Ham I think you'll be surprised how little respect he'll have from their fans. Probably second to Geordies on the dillisional scale.

[mickbrown]

Unless he wins the CL with West Ham I think you'll be surprised how little respect he'll have from their fans. Probably second to Geordies on the dillisional scale.

you reckon ? what about man ciry fans ?

[jim mk2]

If it had been me who as manager had refused to traipse off to India I'm sure that you'd have described my actions as racist not socialist.

In your case it would have been.

Spoken to three West Ham fans today who are all delighted - they reckon they will bounce straight back and say they know they won't be relegated under him. That's cockney confidence for you. None of them expect to win the Champions League however - that's only the sort of stupid statement you'd expect to see on a football messageboard.

[Mercer]

In your case it would have been.

Spoken to three West Ham fans today who are all delighted - they reckon they will bounce straight back and say they know they won't be relegated under him. That's cockney confidence for you. None of them expect to win the Champions League however - that's only the sort of stupid statement you'd expect to see on a football messageboard.

An old colleague / friend of mine works for WHAM and he's said that the reaction from both within the club and the supporters has been fantastically positive. It's a huge challenge for Sam with their financial position etc, moving to a new stadium and also with training facilities that are, IMO, not a patch on Brockhall.

[Gav]

Spoken to three West Ham fans today who are all delighted - they reckon they will bounce straight back and say they know they won't be relegated under him. That's cockney confidence for you. None of them expect to win the Champions League however - that's only the sort of stupid statement you'd expect to see on a football messageboard.

That won't last long

I'm putting my money on them not getting back up next season, nothing to do with Allardyce, but they'll struggle.

[Amo]

Unless he wins the CL with West Ham I think you'll be surprised how little respect he'll have from their fans. Probably second to Geordies on the dillisional scale.

Ain't you a teacher?

[LeChuck]

That won't last long

I'm putting my money on them not getting back up next season, nothing to do with Allardyce, but they'll struggle.

I don't think they'll come back up this season either.

Relegated sides rarely bounce straight back up. Look at this season, not even a play off place for last season's PL clubs. It's not surprising really, there is such much change to the playing staff at relegation clubs that it takes them a while to get settled. The likes of Middlesbrough and Portsmouth are still struggling to adapt.

[47er]

Sam's focus, as always, will be making West Ham hard to beat. That should stabilise them and allow for a serious promotion challenge the following season.

If he were to get them back in the Premiership in the first season though, would some people rethink their views of him?

NAH!

[ABBEY]

Well I've been told from the ubiquitous 'insider' that Sam refused to visit India when requested, this and a couple of other matters led to the sacking.

More inside info ....yay zzzz

More people in the inside than strangeways.

[Exiled in Toronto]

Sam's focus, as always, will be making West Ham hard to beat. That should stabilise them and allow for a serious promotion challenge the following season.

If he were to get them back in the Premiership in the first season though, would some people rethink their views of him?

NAH!

Equally, if he failed to win promotion, would others rethink their views?

I can't decide if the move by Allardyce is ballsy or hubris, because if he doesn't get them up in 2 years and stay up, he'll be sacked and finished. I'm tending towards the latter - I think this could be his Souness at Newcastle job

[K-Hod]

I think the fans of WHU will take to him like the Newcastle fans did- they really are delusional, and this 'playing the right way', being 'the academy of football' hasn't gone too well for them in recent years now has it?

If he's not in the top 2 by Christmas, I see trouble ahead.....

[yoda]

I think everybody is missing the point

West Ham is nearer to Barcelona than Blackburn or Bolton, but I am not the expert

[Gav]

Sam's focus, as always, will be making West Ham hard to beat. That should stabilise them and allow for a serious promotion challenge the following season.

If he were to get them back in the Premiership in the first season though, would some people rethink their views of him?

NAH!

You're right 47er, NAH.

We all saw enough of him over the past 2yrs to form a view point either way, one season in the championship and possible promotion won't change that, and nor should anyone expect it to.

When asked if he’d change his perceived style of play to match ‘the West Ham tradition’, he said:

“All I’ll say is it will be a tale of home and away. At Upton Park we’ll try to play the kind of game the fans want.”

Interesting.

[MarkBRFC71]

If West Ham are looking to get back up ASAP, it's a gamble. He's not managed at Championship level in about 10 years, and the expectations on him are different that what he's become accustomed to - they want promotion, they will be installed as favourites straight away, and the onus is on them to go and attack teams. Sam's spent the last 10 years fairly successfully playing basic, route one, defensive football, always with the primary aim of avoiding relegation (apart from perhaps Newcastle where expectations were set higher and he spectacularly failed).

Guess we're about to see whether or not he can live up to his enormous ego and the ludicrous claims of some on here ("best manager outside the top 4" ).

[47er]

Equally, if he failed to win promotion, would others rethink their views?

I can't decide if the move by Allardyce is ballsy or hubris, because if he doesn't get them up in 2 years and stay up, he'll be sacked and finished. I'm tending towards the latter - I think this could be his Souness at Newcastle job

I'd expect him to do it in 2 seasons providing he got the backing of the owners. If he does and fails-----yes, that would be a black mark.

[Exiled in Toronto]

I'd expect him to do it in 2 seasons providing he got the backing of the owners. If he does and fails-----yes, that would be a black mark.

Fair enough, although 'backing of the owners' at Championship level isn't an open cheque book. He's going to have to do it on a very tight budget, but no different to any other team down there.

[Gav]

Fair enough, although 'backing of the owners' at Championship level isn't an open cheque book. He's going to have to do it on a very tight budget, but no different to any other team down there.

Let us also not forget he's built his reputation on being able to work on a limited budget, (think he forgot that fact last summer)that was one of the reasons he was give the job at our place, so financial backing shouldn’t really come into it.

Time will tell.

[imy9]

Ain't you a teacher?

I am using an IPhone and hate it, keeps changing words and typing is awkward. I know hew to spel honesst

[imy9]

you reckon ? what about man ciry fans ?

No offense Mick, just the ones I have talked to at work(there are a few) and ones I've seen interviewed seem to want someone who has won trophies and plays an attractive style of football- that is difficult to find and maybe if they had stuck with 'Steady Eddie' Alan C things would have been better all round.

[booth]

Anyone else noticed the positive spin about Sam's appointment in todays press!

You'd have thought West Ham had brought Mourinho in!

Got to love Southern Journo's, they hated him everywhere else he's ever been

[Steve Moss]

Sam's spent the last 10 years fairly successfully playing basic, route one, defensive football, always with the primary aim of avoiding relegation (apart from perhaps Newcastle where expectations were set higher and he spectacularly failed).

Guess we're about to see whether or not he can live up to his enormous ego and the ludicrous claims of some on here ("best manager outside the top 4" ).

I think you've oversimplified Sam's chosen tactics. I saw a manager playing a mix of styles, dependent on the players available to him. At the Rovers, that meant primarily, but not exclusively, "route one" football.

I'd bet money that he'll bring WHU back up.

[PAFELL]

Can't see any of our players wanting to drop a division to play hoof ball

How can Allardyce do well without whu not doing well?

I know, maybe he could leave for Barca after winning the 1st 10 games

The classic between a rock and a hard place. Cannot have one without the other where whu are concerned.

[davulsukur]

I think Allardyce will get the job done, and West Ham will bounce back into the Prem. It will be tough to bounce straight back, also depends on how much cash is available to him. They will, no doubt lose players such as Scott Parker (To Rovers ), Ba, Green, Upson etc but i think he will have enough transfer knowledge and being "a bit of a name" in the championship he will be able to bring in some decent enough freebies and a couple of cheeky loans from his manager mates (Fergie, Steve Kean etc), along with the players they can retain (and not forgetting El Hadji Diouf as well) he will build a squad more than capable of getting promoted.

As for his tactics, it will remain to be seen how he goes about this one. You would imagine that he would stick to what he knows best, but i think it will depend alot on how his Summer transfer dealings go.