Sam Allardyce has used his London Evening Standard to reflect on his four years at West Ham in something which closely resembles a farewell speech.
“I would just like to take this opportunity, in this final column of the season, to look back on my four years at West Ham. Progression is always the key word for any manager when he joins a new club. To do that, he must ask questions and find the answers. What are the difficulties? How do you overcome them? How do you achieve the targets set by the owners?
The ambition of the owners has to be balanced by financial availability. If they want to move forward quickly then you have to spend more money. If, however, you want to progress at a steadier pace, then you have to spend the money available more wisely. If you have little or no funds, then it’s difficult to move forward at all.
There’s always been investment since I’ve been here and that money has served the club very well in terms of bringing in players. Over the four years, the player turnover has been astronomical, particularly in that first season in the Championship.
That presents a huge task for the manager and you see many lose their jobs because, as their critics often say: “There was too much change, too quickly.”
We made those wholesale changes and not only coped in that first season but built a better team, one good enough to go back up to the Premier League at the first attempt. I had signed a two-year contract and my task was to help win promotion in that time. One of the hardest things in football is to do that in the first year — very few achieve that — but we managed it.
You can’t over-exaggerate the feeling of depression around a club when they are relegated and West Ham were no exception. There was desolation everywhere and you have to help rebuild the confidence, both of the club and the players — and do it quickly.
I remember sitting down at our pre-season camp, talking to the players individually, and 50 per cent wanted to leave.
We needed to work hard and quickly and the club sent out a big statement of intent when we signed Kevin Nolan. I thought the club’s financial commitment there was fantastic, signing an experienced Premier League player — one who scores goals and is a great captain — and convincing him to come to a club in the Championship.
That gave us a rock-solid base on which to build and then, later, around Christmas when the goals dried up, we signed Nicky Maynard and Ricardo Vaz Te, with Ricardo in particular adding that scoring power.
I thought then we were headed for automatic promotion but no one expected the surge from Reading, who came up on the rails and pipped us.
The play-offs did, however, provide me with my greatest moments of my time here at West Ham. The pleasure and delight of that play-off final win over Blackpool is a memory I will never, ever forget.”
Thanks hippo,goodbye.There,i said thanks 😉
Yep,hopefully goodbye.An end to his selfloving & bs interviews,lovely jubbly!!
There in a nutshell is why I dislike this man so much,firstly yes I thank him for bringing us back up but others could’ve done it. More importantly it’s the arrogant aren’t I marvellous wouldn’t they be making such a mistake getting shot of me attitude. He praises only Nolan,who again I thank for his service but sadly he’s now past his best,and not a word for the fans it’s all about him.
Good riddance Sam I feel pity for the next bunch you drain the spirit out of
Me and Mrs Nolan we have a thing going on ,and fuxk the rest of you,
And what a brilliant job I have done,
They must be weeping on the keyboard at wetpants.com,
Good riddance
Oh dear,Hippo has made me all emotional,i need a tissue to dab my tearful eyes.One more game to go,one more excuse laden post match interview(probably) & it should be over.Lets get our club rid of this negativity that has spread over the last couple of years.We need more than this one trick pony now.Apoligizes to the set of fans who get him next,i feel for you.It might seem great to start off with but soon you will be weeping at the term ‘respect the point’ 😉
Hopefully soon:
No more talking of clean sheets ten times before and after the match.
No more playing of favourites over better, quicker, more creative players only because they never played for Bolton.
No more respecting the point (although there are obviously certain games where it is justified to respect the point, but that should be decided once the game has been played, not before the first whistle.)
No more sitting back after taking a lead.
No more slouching in the dugout.
No more disregarding a club’s traditions, fabrics and its fans.
No more doom and gloom.
No more stupid and silly excuses.
No more negative football with 20% possession.
No more moaning about not taking our chances when we only have two shots on goal all game anyway.
Haha,you like coming here to unburden yourself of your dislike of Sam Football Hamburg.Then you can go back to wetpants & be a voice of reason & respectable man once more,when calmness descends on you again,lol 😀
ahah… Rads, but you don’t want to go to Newcastle and say hello to Sam?
No matte,i should have gone really,but after Villa last away match i cant take anymore.Especially my bank balance,lol.Im sick of it.My faith has been crushed,haha 😀
ahaha… That’s strange, I thought against Villa we played really well …lol 🙂 Keep the faith Rads, next year your money will be spent well. 😉
Goodbye Sam.
He deserves to be thanked for promotion and achieving premier league stability, but that’s where the thanking stops.
Would be delighted with him if we sent Toon down on Sunday though!!
How i would love to sack him at 23.59 just as the clock turns & his contract concludes.He could stick that right up his lardy ass!
Remind me guys to never take a look in at wetpants.Thank god i cant comment on it.Still guys wanting Sam to stay coz they are crapping their tight pants about it being ‘too risky’ to let him him go.Bleh…They make me need whisky,bottles of it;)
ahahhaahha… .. That’s incredible… they have an impregnable faith, Sam till the end of their lives… “Sam or Nothing” the new fragrance of the true Sam Lover… lol 🙂
Lmao,i know,it makes my eyes spin round when i read what some say.Some Sam lover actually says he is pleased with the way we have played this season.What a ****er!!
Some of the guys on there are scaremongerers,they are on Hippos staff i think.Otherwise there is no explanation for their too risky,sideways step,not an upgrade rubbish.Either that or they are Spuds trying to make people want to keep hippo to sabotage us 😉
Whu647580 doing his normal sh*t stirring about here.Has he ever thought we dont enter into ‘adult debate’ with him because he is an opinionated jerk & nobody particularly want to converse with him!
Haha,he is a barrack room lawyer mate.Nothing more nothing less.He admits he likes arguing.I dont have the time to indulge him in these debates he craves.Nothing to so with adult debate,but if i wanted to argue all day i would go to a political forum 😉
He is always the same he has been hidden all week and now with his light dimming he returns,every time he starts conflict and get put in his place because he can’t come up with the fact to back up his argument,he runs straight back to his followers bigging it up,
Your right stingray they are not worth the time,
What is going to happen to the dodo group when BFS is extinct ?
Start an appreciation society BFS Quartet Banjo,Ro,Kevin and Spoonie,do Britains got
Talent,cross dressing football juggling act,
Ahahahah…
Haha,that idiot 647580 is a monumental towrag though.Trying to stir it up with Hamburg about some ‘other’site slagging H off.I guess it would be aimed at us possibly? Aint seen any of us slagging Hamburg though,he is a top guy 😉
Hamburg comes here to talk sense about football when he can’t take the abuse or brainless answers he gets from a minority on wetpants.com
647580 is a typical playground bully looking for easy targets when that fails he uses abuse and when that fails he goes home and sulks,
Hie bedroom is going to look lovely with all that torn wallpaper when he pulls all his posters of BFS and Nolan down,
Silly me being a nerd he would have used blue tac